April 8, 2007

• movies I've seen recently...

  
  Grindhouse  (2007)  A-

  A celebration of B-movies, "Grindhouse" is a double feature that includes "Planet Terror" by Robert Rodriguez, "Death Proof" by Quentin Tarantino, and some fake trailers. The funny thing is that the fake trailers are actually the best part of the whole project. In terms of the two movies themselves, I found Planet Terror the better of the two, although Death Proof is great as well. I love the balls out fun that Rodriguez put into his movie, filled with tons of gore, violence, and some over the top plot. While Planet Terror retains that cheesy look to it, it also seemed to
  look a little too expensive for a B-movie type grindhouse film. I
  have to admit that while I am a big fan of QT's dialouge, Death Proof
  did have some "oh c'mon, and get on with it!" moments for me (actual text
  messaging on the big screen for one). A little more editing would have
  been nice, but moments like a continuous seven minutes dialouge
  scene shot at the diner were indeed excellent. Kurt Russell also needs some
  recognition for Stuntman Mike, although I was surprised at how little
  we actually did see of him in the movie. If you are a movie buff, go see Grindhouse, but I feel the casual movie goers just won't "get it."

  
  The Lookout  (2007)  B-

  Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been really good as an up and coming indie actor, and his work here in "The Lookout" by Scott Frank confidently puts him in the spotlight. The movie is a good character study on a guy; Chris Pratt, who is trying to redeem his life from a stupid mistake he did in the past that also gave him a mental disability. This movie is also a heist movie, which our main character gets dragged into. Matthew Goode plays an excellent role as the man who convinces Chris to help him with the heist. There are some significant problems with the movie though, with some plot holes showing up. I also had an issue with the fact that while the movie suggests that he can't have a normal life with his disability, they really didn't do a good job really explaining what the disability is, nor did it really impact him in ways where he can't have a normal life. Still, I did enjoy the movie, and the plot, and I look forward to the future work by the talent involved in it.

  
  Blades Of Glory (2007)  B-

  Yes, this is yet another Will Ferrell movie that involves some kind of sport. This time around, he shares the spotlight with Jon Heder, as figure skaters who hate each other at first, but will have to work together as the first all male pair team. "Blades of Glory" does follow a traditional predictable plot that usually comes from a movie like this. It's the comedy however that's the reason you would watch the movie, but at the same time, it's not as hilariously funny as I hoped it would be. Yes, there's lots of gay jokes, slapstick humor, and many "Will Ferrell" moments, but that's to be expected for a plot such as this. I did enjoy the many real life figure skaters making cameo appearance in this one, and the skating sequences were one of the best things about the movie. Overall though, it is an enjoyable movie, but not one that you necessarily have to see on the big screen.

  • 8:33 am
  • 1 Comment