Archive for the 'Movies' Category

More Awesome Things from The Dark Knight

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Austen
on July 24, 2008
in Movies
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Not exactly why it’s amazing movies, but just the awesome touches. Obviously there are spoilers.

1. The pencil magic trick
 Everyone in the theater freaked out during this scene. It was so sudden and unexpected and just so downright evil in every sense of the word.

2. “Although I did bloody tell you so”
Even though this is probably the darkest PG-13 movie ever, it had little bits of humor that didn’t seem misplaced in any way. Alfred’s joke worked incredibly well for the scene.

3. The Batpod
Specifically the 360-wheel (it turns sideways also!) and the awesome wheelie up the building wall.

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Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

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Austen
on July 20, 2008
in Humor, Movies and Websites
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Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog actually isn’t a blog, but a 3 part online mini-series-show-thing. I’ll do my best to explain it. It’s about a guy who’s an evil genius and wants to take over the world, and the vlog that he has where he posts updates on his newest evil inventions, including the Freeze Ray which can freeze people and other things. But he’s also a normal guy who has a crush on the girl at the dry cleaner’s. And it’s also a musical.

I know, totally random. It’s by Joss Whedon (who made Firefly, Serenity, and an episode of The Office) and this apparently came out of the writer’s boredom that Whedon faced during the writer’s strike. It’s a completely independently-funded project and… it’s very interesting. Even though it has a weird and crazy plotline, it works. Here’s the trailer:

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You can watch each of the 15-minute episodes for free using Hulu’s excellent player at DrHorrible.com or download each of them on iTunes for $2 each. (A bit much, considering each is only 15-minutes long) But hurry, because the free online episodes will disappear Sunday night and be replaced by a download method that can actually pay for all the people who worked on the show.

Even though the set-up is incredibly weird, for the most part the musical vlog love story works for the most part. I liked the first two acts better than the third, but that isn’t a reason to not watch this fresh and exciting show - both because of it’s content and because of it’s distribution method.

Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog | Wikipedia | iTunes link | Related web comic

Top 10 Reasons The Dark Knight is AMAZING!!!!!

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Austen
on July 19, 2008
in Movies
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Despite being the most hyped movie of the summer, The Dark Knight was AMAZING!!!!! Yes, I said AMAZING!!!!! So, even though there are already a bunch of top 10 lists out there in regard to The Dark Knight, I will add mine to the mix…

1. Heath Ledger as the Joker
In playing the Joker, Heath Ledger was able to do something very unique - he was both funny and disturbing, even at the same time. It’s hard to explain, but in some scenes you laugh at him because he’s crazy and just weird but at the same time you’re disturbed that he this one man can cause so much damage just my rallying together the criminals.

2. Amazing action sequences

It’s not uncommon for movies these days to have amazing action sequences, but somehow both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight managed to fit in exhilarating chase sequences. And the one in The Dark Knight far surpasses the original. One word: Bat-moto-bicycle-tank-pod-thingy.

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THE DARK KNIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Austen
on July 18, 2008
in Movies
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I’m seeing it tonight. 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and this amount of hype has made me way to excited.

Mini Review: Once

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Austen
on January 29, 2008
in Movies, Music and Reviews
. 3 Comments

If I could sum up Once in only 3 words, I would say: Rent it now.

once.jpg98% on Rotten Tomatoes and me should be reason enough to see it. Yes, I am wholeheartedly recommending this movie because it is amazing. Ok, let’s start from the beginning…

Once is really a modern form of a musical. It works just like a musical, there’s a basic story and songs that interweave with it to further intensify the characters’ emotions. Only this is a super low budget independent film, and instead of showtunes music, it’s - how do I say this - real music that you wouldn’t be afraid to have on your iPod. The actors in the film are actually musicians and the music is theirs.

I don’t want to give too much of the simple story away, but basically: Guy meets girl. Girl has kid from previous marriage. Guy is struggling street musician whose previous girlfriend cheated on him. Guy and Girl record CD together. Not going any farther, it’s a really a great little story with some really great music (be sure to buy the soundtrack after seeing the movie, it’s worth every penny.)

A.O. Scott mentioned in his review of Once that all the glitz and millions of dollars that are poured into movies like Dreamgirls don’t quite equal the heart and soul of Once. (I’m using more mushy words in this review than usual)

So, all in all, if you enjoy music, see Once. If you enjoy movies, see Once. If you enjoy both, well, you should have already seen it. But yeah, see Once. After this review, I have nothing more to do than give Once:

[rating:5]

Mini Review: The Fountain

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Austen
on January 2, 2008
in Movies and Reviews
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thefountain.jpgAlthough it had a good deal of hype, The Fountain didn’t get great reviews when it came out during the winter of 2006. Essentially, it was marketed as the story of a man who can live forever, chronicling his journeys from the 1600s to today, and to approximately the year 2600.

The story is… well, not so straight-forward. These things happen, but certainly not in a way that makes very much sense. The movie is confusing as it jumps around between the three different time periods, each featuring Hugh Jackman as the hero.

At first, the stories don’t seem to relate. It’s not the story of a man living for ever - but rather 3 stories with the same actor that have a parallel plot structure and seemingly fit together in the end… kind of. The special effects and filmmaking is beautiful, but sometimes the story lags.

So, the movie was entertaining, in a sort of meditative “I-don’t-understand-what’s-going- on-but-I’d-love-to-theorize-about-it” way. I guess I just feel it was marketed wrong. However, it is an interesting story that I enjoyed even though it was a bit sappy for my tastes.

[rating:3.5]
______________________________________________________________

This will be the first in a collection of my “mini reviews” that I’ll be writing about movies. I’ve seen a bunch of good movies over the past month or so, but I don’t have the right history teacher, and therefore enough time, to write a full-fledged reviews for each one.

A Narnia movie a year

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Austen
on July 29, 2007
in Movies
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Wow. According to Cinematical, Disney announced at Comic-Con that they would be releasing a new Narnia film (there are 6 more to go) every year. That’s a pretty big goal to set. The Harry Potter films have come out every year and a half, which is in itself a very short amount of time for that type of movie.

Most films take 2 or 3 years to make, depending on the amount of special effects and money involved. So releasing a movie every year for the remaing 6 films (the next one comes out next summer) is a very ambitious plan.

I personally liked the first Narnia film, but I have to agree with Cinematical that at this speed they are probably going to be really rushed, and I worry about the quality of the upcoming movies. But if they do pull of all 7 films it will truly be amazing.

“Get Smart” trailer

Published
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Austen
on July 12, 2007
in Movies and Videos
. 1 Comment

I saw this trailer in the previews for Harry Potter 5 yesterday. (Review coming soon)

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I’m so glad that Steve Carell is doing this. He’s the absolute best person to do this movie. It’s genius how he just pouts when the door doesn’t open.

Movie Review: The Prestige

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Austen
on July 6, 2007
in Movies and Reviews
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It’s not often that a movie really makes you think. Not something like Crash - that made you think about the issue being presented, but it didn’t make you actually think. The Prestige did that for me.

The Prestige stars Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman as two rival magicians who keep trying to out-do each other. Every time that one does a new magic trick, the other attempts to find out how it was done and duplicate it. They each become so obsessed with out-doing the other that they start going to crazy lengths, eventually dealing with more than just typical magician trickery.

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Movie Review: Eragon

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Austen
on July 2, 2007
in Movies and Reviews
. 1 Comment

Let’s say that we have a really good book. It’s a book by someone who is only a teenager, and his coming-of-age shows through in it. It’s a very good book. Then, some greedy Hollywood filmmakers crapmakers come along and turn it into, well, crap.

That’s exactly what happened with Eragon. Christopher Paolini, who was only 15 when he started writing the book, wrote it in such a way that teens could relate to. It was a great fantasy book that seemed slightly familiar *cough*Star Wars*cough*Lord of the Rings*cough*. But it was all good. Until the movie was made.

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Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean 3

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Austen
on May 31, 2007
in Movies and Reviews
. 2 Comments

Okay. I’m going to try and be as truthful as possible with this review, and not let any reviews that I’ve read or things that I’ve heard persuade me in my opinion of this movie. Which is hard because on one side I have Rotten Tomatoes telling me it’s a “glazed, inhuman, cluttered piece of work” and then kids at school telling met that the end fight scene was “So awesome!!! That whirlpool was amazing!” Now, I try to mix both of these sides into my review fairly…

After the somewhat dissappointing Pirates of the Caribbean 2 I wasn’t originally planning to see the 3rd film in theaters. But the magic of advertising got me excited about it and, well, I saw it last Monday.

“Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End” is really not a good name for the movie. Sure, they go to the end of the world. But a more aptly named title would be “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, in Singapore, in Antartica, and of course the Caribbean.” The movie is all over the place. They’re in Singapore, then snap they’re on the largest waterfall you’ve ever seen, then snap they’re back in the Caribbean. Much like the second movie, the storyline is confusing because the characters seem to suddenly be on the other side of the world whenever they need to be.

I’m not going to explain any of the storyline, because there’s just too much. And you probably know most of it. But anyway, Gore Verbinski and Jerry Bruckheimer tried to mix in waay to many stories into this movie. Having so many stories and substories is confusing and just drags the movie on longer.

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Pirates!

Published
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Austen
on May 28, 2007
in Movies
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Why is this movie series so popular? One word:

Pirates.

Everyone loves pirates. I mean, who doesn’t. I mean - they’re pirates! Don’t you just get giddy when you hear that word? Pirates, stealing treasure, and riding the seas in ships. Wearing eye patches, etc.

Of course, the whole killing, robbing, and burning down villages thing is usually left out of the Playskool toys, but who cares? It’s pirates! That’s why everyone loved the first one: It was a pirates movie with the special effects available to recreate the world of pirates. Awesome!

Unfortunately, the last 2 movies have been just a bit too much. Too many plots and too many special effects. But still, these movies are so fun to watch! I mean, it’s pirates we’re talking about. Mixed with the hilarious Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, sword fights, huge sea monsters, Davy Jones and buried treasure the Pirates of the Caribbean movie have always managed to give me a fun time. I’m seeing the 3rd one today, not as a “work of art” but as a popcorn flick.

I mean, come one - it’s pirates!

Bad sequels make me mad

Published
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Austen
on May 24, 2007
in Movies
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Bad sequels make me mad, and so far this summer is litered with them. Spider-Man 3 could have been a wonderful ending to trilogy, taking it’s place next to it’s previous two films as perhaps the best superhero movies ever. But no, it didn’t. 61% on RT.

Shrek 3 was preceded by two great movies, but no: 42% on RT. And now, Pirates of the Caribbean 3: preceded by a great movie and a mediocre one: 54% on RT, giving it the same score as Pirates 2. So basically, it’s just as good as the last one.

It should be noted that I haven’t seen any of these movies (yet) but from Rotten Tomatoes and other reviews that I’ve read, all 3 of these 3rd installments appear to not live up to their predecesors. But they do good in the box office, so now Spidey 4 is probably going to happen, Shrek 4 is already in production, and Pirates spinoffs are being hinted at. And how often in a movie series has there been a bad one, and then a good one. Like, almost never. One one of the movies isn’t good, the rest of the series is usually ruined.I like sequels - as long as they’re good. Spider-Man 2, Shrek 2, Empire Strikes Back, Harry Potter 2, The Lost World - those are all good sequels, and they make me happy. But that doesn’t happen too often.

So bad sequels make me mad. They take a great movie, and try to do it again, or do it better, or just make money, and it doesn’t work and they completely ruin the other movie because it will be forever associatted with the sequel.

How many of you think that Rush Hour 3 is going to be any good? I can almost guarantee it’s going to be horrible. WHY CAN’T HOLLYWOOD JUST MAKE GOOD SEQUELS, OR NOT MAKE ANY SEQUELS AT ALL????? Because all they care about is the money, basically. But that’s not right.

Borat

Published
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Austen
on May 21, 2007
in Movies
. 2 Comments

I just saw Borat last night. This isn’t a full-fledged review, just a quick tidbit about it…

It was… hilarious, stupid, racist, rude, and funny. Some of my favorite scenes:

  • NYC Subway scenes
  • Borat thinking that the elevator was the hotel room
  • The bear in the ice cream truck! And it roaring at the little kids! Hilarious!
  • Bag of crap… no comment
  • The antique store. Sometimes I just wish that I could do that

If you, like me, are wondering about how many of the scenes were real or staged, be sure to check this out. It seems like the Pamela Anderson thing was staged, but aside from that it all seems to be real. I understand the controversy over the movie but… it makes for some really good comedy. And he’s really a comic genius… although his tactics are a bit… extreme.

Movie Review: The Departed

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Austen
on May 13, 2007
in Movies and Reviews
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Note that this movie is rated R (and for good reason) and should not be watched lightly. I refer to a couple of graphic scenes during this review.

Whooooaaa. Wow. Oh my god. The Departed is… an amazing movie. The acting is incredible, and so is the directing. It’s just… great. Great filmmaking.

The Departed is the winner of 4 Oscars: Best director, editing, best adapted screen play, and of course best picture. And yes, it deserved it. The Departed is directed by Martin Scorsese and stars Jack Nicholson as the head of the Irish Mafia in contemporary Boston. Matt Damon plays his mole in the Boston police department, and Leonardo DiCaprio plays the police department’s mole in Nicholson’s mafia.

The story generally follows DiCaprio and Damon, both who are terrific actors in this movie. Damon is great, but DiCaprio really steals the show. (DON’T think Titanic) He does an amazing job playing a good guy playing a bad guy. Both DiCaprio and Damon’s character’s stories unravel and relate to each other over the course of the film, and when they finally meet it’s great. Jack Nicholson is, well, Jack Nicholson. He delivers a great performance even at 70 years of age.

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