Review Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

The Good:
The special effects were great. The subtle touches like Davy Jones' beard made his character "real".
The fight scenes were good and touched with humor.
The acting was decent.

The Bad:
I was not into the plot at all.
The characters seemed more 2D in this film.
I started wondering, "When will this end?"
It is a complete setup for a sequel, couldn't stand alone.
They reveal too much to the audience during the film.

Overall: Well, honestly I say watch the first film again instead. This one is just not on par with it.

*Special thanks to my buddy Dan Anderson for letting me borrow the film.*

Review of Children of Men (2006)

Children of Men

This is a perfect example of how a director and a cinematographer can completely shape a film. From the steady camera work at the beginning to the frantic war documentary style near the end. From the choice of music to set the mood to the St.Francis of Assisi aura around the main character. The tone and feel of the movie is amazing. The plot and characters were not really that extraordinary, but the acting coupled with the pacing and direction crafted a story that draws you in completely. A truly great film.

Review of Lightspeed (2006)

Lightspeed

Don't put yourself through this sleep-inducing poor excuse for a superhero film. It is bad bad bad. That's all the time I am devoting to this review.

Review of V for Vendetta (2005)

V for Vendetta

So when I finished watching this film, I turned on CNN and the first story I hear is that NYC Police monitored many rap artists and groups that were part of the protest over the 2004 GOP national convention that was held in New York. Then trying to find this story online, I ran into an article on this new War Czar... are we living in 1939 Germany? Homeland = Fatherland, invasion of countries preemptively under the guise of national security, "Free Speech Zones", secret police monitoring peaceful assemblies, warrantless wire-tapping, we need a War Czar? I was frightened when we passed the Patriot Act, but things have gotten worse. Cleave to your liberties while you still have them, guard them closely. When our government decides to blame any one type of individual, then run.

Or maybe I am extra paranoid because of the amazing film I just watched. Two thumbs ups :-) Absolutely Awesome!

Next I will have to read the graphic novel, luckily I have a copy of it thanks to a friend of mine.

Review of 28 Weeks Later (2007)

28 Weeks Later

The Good:
I really like the "Rage Zombies", both in horror style and as a story element. The rage aspect of the disease/infection is a wonderful way to make interesting statements about human nature.
The first 15 minutes is great, it is exactly the way a horror movie should begin.
It had a lot of the flavor of Day of the Dead in it, while staying true to the specific niche in the genre that the first film created.
The parallel and contrasting of military as a whole and zombies as a whole, and of individuals in the armed forces and specific zombies, was very well done.
A good addition to the zombie genre archive.

The Bad:
Robert Carlyle's character was great in the beginning and had fascinating avenues of his psyche to explore, but they blew it, he became the worst part of the feature to me.
Characterization was barely existent, I cared little for anyone in the film honestly (in that respect it was quite different than the first film).
I found much of it predictable.

Overall: I am glad I went to see it in the theater, the overwhelming surround sound really added to the experience. I did like the movie a lot, but fell short of being another 28 Days Later...

Review of Bloody Mallory (2002)

Bloody Mallory

The Good:
The single best part of the movie was a massively powerful telepathic little girl called Talking Tina. She was cool as hell and funny.
The film was a nice horror/comedy/action film.
The story wasn't a genius plot or anything, but it was a neat supernatural tall tale.
The gadgets were great... in that "lol" kind of way.
Olivia Bonamy is quite the looker.
The monster makeup was pretty good.

The Bad:

The fight scenes were terrible.
Some of the characters, story elements and the plot were a bit paper-thin.
There were a few plotholes and a couple of "why didn't she do ______" times.

Overall: I enjoyed it far more than I expected. I thought it would be another horrible low budget horror failure... it was not. It was light-hearted and fun and didn't take itself too seriously. Right along the lines of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the movie, which I liked, not the series, which I didn't like).

Review of Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price (2005)

Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price

I love a good documentary and this one was pretty good. I honestly feel like I need to find religion and get forgiveness for ever shopping at Wal-Mart. If only a portion of the information in this film is true, Wal-Mart has usurped one of the principle roles in Hell from Mammon. Their practices are anti-union (that's enough to make me stop shopping their alone), anti-worker's rights, anti-living wage, pro-use the government, pro-perjury, might makes right, and happy to destroy small business. It is a persuasive film. I vow not to shop at the belly of the beast any more. You should watch this :-)

Review of The Garden (2005)

The Garden

The Good:
The plot was kinda neat, good vs evil stuff.
Lance Henriksen was quite good in the film.
It had some interesting parallel story elements going on.
It had strong, if a bit strange, religious overtones that is was unapologetic about.

The Bad:
Some of the symbolism was a bit garbled.
Lance Henriksen at one point hands the boy what is supposed to be the first appearance of Spider-Man (which I think he calls Spider-Man number 1, but is actually Amazing Fantasies number 15), but the comic is obviously from much much later, probably the early or mid nineties.
I thought Sean Young's character and the little boy's 'girlfriend' were completely superfluous.

Overall: It was a lot better than I expected. It wasn't great, but wasn't terrible. It was a middle of the pack movie. Henriksen carried much of the movie though. A decent battle of good versus evil. I would rank it somewhere near Teen Wolf.

Review of Deliver Us From Evil (2006)

Deliver Us From Evil

This documentary film pulls you in quickly and keeps you captured until it's over. It will make you so very sad and then so very very angry. As soon as it was over I felt like a piece of heart had been ripped out. I don't think I could ever watch it again, but it is an important documentary that speaks for the victims of childhood sexual abuse by priests and accuses the Catholic Church (rightfully so) of a systematic cover-up and conspiracy. I honestly feel a bit ill. I highly recommend this film. Powerfully moving, and so depressingly real.

Review of The Gathering (2002)

The Gathering

The film is okay, it is a decently directed movie with adequate performances and a fairly novel plot if a bit predictable. It does ask a few interesting questions about freewill vs predestination, about what is obscene and what is punishment, is the truth always better than a lie, do bystanders shoulder any of the blame for violence that happens in front of them... I am going to give this movie about a 7 out of 10 (10 being great), not because it truly warrants it as a film exactly, but because it does bring up interesting issues to think about, or at least it did with me.

Review of One Night with the King (2006)

One Night with the King

I was thoroughly unimpressed with this movie. The was the story of Esther from the Bible. The girl who played Hadassah/Esther, was fine as Esther but terrible as Hadassah. The scenes were choppy. The intrigue was not intriguing. I didn't care about any of the character's fates. Yawn, yawn, yawn... I suppose the reconstructed CG scenes of Persia were ok. Don't bother with this one... sorry, Peter O'Toole, John Rhys-Davies, James Callis, and Tommy 'Tiny' Lister (and director Michael O. Sajbel), I did not like your movie.

Review of Bandidas (2006)

Bandidas

The Good:
Well, the beauty of these two ladies (Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek) is worth mentioning first and foremost in this film, wow.
It was very much a buddy movie/comedy, Steve Zahn helped in the comedy a good deal.
The action was better than in Smokin' Aces (sorry, I watched this right after Smokin' Aces).

The Bad:
Well, it was a standard buddy movie plot, with touches of a normal Zorro story thrown in.
Nothing too novel about it.
It wasn't that funny or that action-oriented.

Overall: Is it as bad as you're thinking? No it isn't. I enjoyed it. It was light-hearted and had two gorgeous women in it. It's on par with a Shanghai Knights, without the marital arts action.

Review of Smokin' Aces (2007)

Smokin' Aces

The Good:
An ensemble cast.
A variety of of weaponry and styles of hitmen.

The Bad:
The story was paper-thin, made worse by the use of overly dramatic music.
The action wasn't that exciting really.
The end... dumb.
The end... not just dumb but completely predictable and dumb.

Overall: I have a better idea, watch the paint on the growing grass dry. Seriously, it's like a music video gone ridiculous, like if a eleven-year-old wrote a screenplay, so very Fargo.

Review of A History of Violence (2005)

A History of Violence

The Good:
I liked the story, it was engaging.
The acting was very good.
The shots and general cinematography was done well.
Another graphic novel to film adaptation.
The violence was disturbing and crisp.

The Bad:
Some of the characters were a little thin.
The script was a bit lacking at times in the way of character interaction.
I was left wanting resolutions to some of the issues in the film.
Some of it was slow.

Overall: A good movie. Not for the kiddies. Like a reverse Godfather, minus the awesome writing and intricate plot elements and the all-star cast... ok, so nothing like the Godfather, but still good.

Review of Deja Vu (2006)

Deja Vu

The Good:
I liked the special effects a lot, they were really neat (made for some interesting scenes).
Denzel is believable.
A lot of pseudo-science, I love that stuff.
Paula Patton is stunningly beautiful and a decent actress too.

The Bad:
I found a few plot hole or paradoxes, but the time theory used might be able to account for them if you stretch you imagination.
I believe this story idea almost exactly mimics a tv show from a few years ago called Seven Days and its close to the Jean-Claude Van Damme classic Timecop.

Overall: It's worth a watch, it's decent enough, and actually pretty good for a Jerry Bruckheimer or Tony Scott film. But for a great time travel film I recommend 12 Monkeys or Time Bandits (both Terry Gilliam films).

Review of Spider-Man 3 (2006)

Spider-Man 3

I was fortunate enough to be able to see the 12:01 AM showing of Spider-Man 3 last night. The theater was about 95% full and contained a wide range of ages, sexes, races and social economic backgrounds that had gathered for the first taste of a modern icon's new film. It made me happy, hopefully and even more excited to watch the movie.

The Good:
The same cast and crew made the feel of the movie perfectly in line with the previus 2 films.
The score was again awesome, but it's Danny Elfman so what else would you expect.
The special effects were incredible.
It really felt like a comic book brought to life.
It had humor, action, romance, drama and Bruce Campbell (making his 3rd appearance in the trilogy).
The fight scenes were great!
I thought the symbolism was done very well, classic symbolism.
It was a lot of fun to watch.

The Bad:
I found some of the foreshadowing a bit too heavy-handed (In complete honesty, I figured out the complete plot and story sequence in the first half hour).
I would have liked about 5 more minutes of each of the bad guys.

Overall: I really dug this film, I will be purchasing it when it comes out on DVD. I still liked Spider-Man 2 the most, but this is an excellent addition to the series. Good show Mr.Raimi!

Transmigration of the Blog

I do this for my own satisfaction and because often times I forget exactly what I thought about certain movies. I enjoy films and always have, I consider them the medium of choice for spinning a good tale that can be ingested in one sitting. Feel free to comment on anything, ask a question, debate something with me, or just loiter... I honestly will be doing this irregardless.

I originally blogged at MySpace, but after getting frustrated too many times with errors and "maintenance", I decided to blog somewhere else. This is that somewhere.

A list of my initially blogged movie reviews can be found on the first page of my second site, click here. For the movies I watched after 2/23/07 until now, you can sort through the small number of them yourself (included are some as illustrious as 300 and some as craptastic as The Legend of Bloody Jack), click here for the blog.

I will begin my newest incarnation of Pope's Movie Reviews tomorrow, where I intend on reviewing Deja Vu and Spider-Man 3 (midnight showing).