Windbreaker!

THE INTERNATIONAL

Windbreaker — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 03:31:53 GMT

It won't be remembered as a classic thriller, but The International is not bad. I know, that's not glowing. But these days when you're looking through the aisles of Blockbuster and see only lame sequels or dime-a-dozen sadistic slasher indies, you could do much worse.

This is NOT your standard globe-hopping James Bond wannabe. In fact, the DVD cover is all wrong. It should have a picture with Clive Owen, staring at a pile of newspaper clippings with his reading glasses on. That's why I liked this movie. Clive used to be a beat cop, but he isn't an expert marksman with a wake of blood behind him. He's just a smart guy trying to bring bad guys to justice.

The final clips during credits were pretty good... shows the futility of some battles.

Rent it, don't buy it.

ADAPTATION

Windbreaker — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:08:09 GMT

I watched Adaptation several years ago but had almost no recollection of the movie until I was re-watching last week. Certain scenes would jump back to memory and I'd know what was coming, but only 10 seconds ahead. This should have been a strobing red light in my brain that I wasn't a huge fan. The premise is very creative -- like the story itself, there are a lot of cool and innovative ideas... I just think it came across boring on film. I found myself paying attention to Nic Cage acting as Charlie & Donnie Kaufman and Chris Cooper acting as the wild plant guy than necessarily caring about characters.

HEROES OF THE EAST

Windbreaker — Sun, 03 May 2009 21:06:38 GMT

Must see.

HEROES OF THE EAST contains:

Swords, spears, knives, hooks, darts, daggers, chains, fists, and large straw hats.

ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES

Windbreaker — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 18:30:24 GMT

I'm going through a Cagney phase, so I'm watching or re-watching his gangster movies in chronological order. Can't get enough of the early Warner Bros. films, and they look really good on DVD.

ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES is more about the conclusion than it is the 90 minutes leading up to the conclusion. It ends like just about any crime saga of its sort should end -- the bad guy takes a long walk down the prison hallway where he'll be strapped to some device and sent to meet his Maker. Father Jerry is a realistic portrayal of someone who plainly does what is right even if it means implicating a friend.

TWILIGHT

Windbreaker — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 12:48:44 GMT

I had zero desire to see TWILIGHT when it hit theaters. I had zero desire to see it when it hit DVD. But when most of the wives in the circle of friends raved, I checked it out. My thoughts: meh.

Content: It feels too much like the pilot episode of a TV show that only the die-hard fans will watch regularly. Think the two X-FILES movies.

Style: tried too hard to be overly artsy. Don't get me wrong, I like some oddball flicks, but trimming 15-20 minutes of fat would have made this a lot more tolerable. There's a reason CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON isn't 3 hours long.

THE LOST BOYS

Windbreaker — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 21:28:35 GMT

I've been sprinkling the Blockbuster Online queue w/gems of yesteryear... like THE LOST BOYS. I won't bother critiquing the plot. Instead, I will share 5 memorable moments:

(1) Jumping off a bridge because your friends tell you to.

(2) Death by stereo.

(3) Comic book store as a cover for the higher power of fighting for truth, justice, and the American way.

(4) Reading TV Guide so you don't have to watch TV.

(5) The perils of being at the mercy of your sex glands.

PANIC IN THE YEAR ZERO!

Windbreaker — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 02:04:54 GMT

First things first... as a rule, any movie with an exclamation point in its title is worthy of at least a rental. PITYZ isn't great, but it's not terrible as far as atom-bomb-explodes-on-American-soil plot lines go. Following one family on their vacation turned quest for survival is actually pretty gripping at times. Of course, as a child of the 80s, it was all I could do not to yell "WOLVERINES!!!" at the screen.

Indy jumps the shark

Windbreaker — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 15:53:42 GMT

We saw CRYSTAL SKULL last year when it came out, but apparently I never commented on it. I wouldn't be disappointed if I only saw it one more time in my lifetime. I didn't NOT like it, I just wasn't thrilled by it. The wife said she was almost bored and I couldn't really disagree with her. I think because Indy & Co. never seemed to really be in peril. Or the frest of the ree world, you know? If that Nazis got a hold of that ark, the world would change overnight.

I think the psy-ops plot device could be okay if we had a hint of its use. Like instead of Blanchet's character just trying to break into Indy's head, let us see the impacts of her ability. In the movie I felt like she may have been a con artist -- no psychic ability whatsoever. But I'm pretty sure Lucas/Spielberg intended her to have some sort of gift.

Also, way too many fake looking sets. What, is everyone afraid to shoot outdoors on location because of personal injury lawyers?! And one last comment: Karen Allen was obviously just stealing oxygen, grateful to be receiving a paycheck. The end.

One more thing... I was fine w/the semi-slapstick during the tank battle in LAST CRUSADE. And the monkey salute in RAIDERS was fine too. But the ground hogs in CRYSTAL SKULL? What was that, Caddyshack?!

THE MATRIX RELOADED

Windbreaker — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 15:26:18 GMT

Ahhh... Reloaded... It had just been too long since I watched this series. My fellow comic book geek Private America just pulled out his 10-disc set -- I haven't done that yet. But back to Reloaded... as soon as the credits played the Rage Against the Machine tune I wanted to watch Revolutions.

I know at the time it seemed overly complex, but now that all the characters are thoroughly ingrained, it seems very straightforward. I also watched the trailer for MATRIX and forgot how completely badass that trailer was!

SPEED RACER

Windbreaker — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 15:08:19 GMT

I liked this so much that I'm going to buy it one day for my offspring to enjoy. Who knew I'd get so into this?! Go, Speed Racer, go!!!