Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)

Resident Evil: Extinction

The Good:
The action scenes were pretty good.
I like the whole zombie holocaust idea, so that aspect of the plot appealed to me a lot.
I like Milla Jovovich as Alice.

The Bad:
All the decent parts of the plot were rip-offs from Romero or the earlier Resident Evil films... well, except for the whole new development in it, which was entirely ridiculous and even more unbelievable than the basic plot.
Not scary.
Not suspenseful.
The end was anti-climatic and didn't wrap things up very well.

Overall: Honestly, *sigh*, skip it. It's Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (minus the nuttiness) divided by Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave (minus the humor).

The Invasion (2007)

The Invasion

The Good:
It was an interesting take on the story, I wouldn't exactly call the ideas groundbreaking but the way it was put together was interesting.
It had a lot of the same feel as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, of course.
The concept of the origin of the "virus" was good.
I liked the fast-acting nature of this take on the invasion.

The Bad:
The big thing I was disappointed in was the itself. I did not feel for any of the characters or their motivations (as primal as they were).
The action was blah.
The suspense was lacking.

Overall: It could have been a lot better. It didn't freak me out like it should have. Honestly, I think the best version of this film/story is 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Halloween (2007)

Halloween

The Good:
Malcolm McDowell and Sheri Moon Zombie were decent in the film.
The story tried to explain a lot more about the character of Michael Myers.
The music was pretty good.
The opening story of Michael's young life was interesting.

The Bad:
It took forever to get rolling.
I found it to be completely unbelievable.
I didn't think it was scary.
The end seemed anti-climatic.

Overall: The original Halloween did it all better 30 years ago. I have liked Rob Zombie's film up until this one. It wasn't terrible but it wasn't anywhere near as good as John Carpenter's version.

Superbad (2007)

Superbad

Alright, time for a nontraditional Pope review.

People have been telling for a while now that I "had to see Superbad". I tend to think a movie with this much attention is going to be a letdown for me. I mean people build things up sometimes and you go into it with such high expectations that you can easily turn a decent film into a totally sad and anti-climatic experience. This was my fear with this film.

I have to say though... I loved it. A combo of people from Freaks and Geeks and Arrested Development set completely free to write and direct and star in a film that doesn't have to hold back the way television forces you too. It was golden.

I am not going to say it was quite a Super Troopers, but it was damn sure close (and to be honest, the rest of the stuff from Broken Lizard hasn't been nearly as good as Super Troopers - I have a lot more hope and faith in Seth Rogen and his crew). I highly recommend this film. It was so different than I expected and so more fun than I had thought possible from a "high school" film.

Tin Man (TV - 2007)

Tin Man

The Good:
The story itself was interesting, the best elements were definitely the character-driven subplots and characterization.
Following up on the above point, the whole "Tin Man" idea was very cool, the reason for the "lion's cowardice" was well-crafted and the no-brain thing was interesting if a bit weird.
I liked the fact they stuck with many of the story elements but came up with a whole new plot concept.
Alan Cumming was great as Glitch (the Scarecrow of sorts).
There were a lot of nods to the original The Wizard of Oz, well, the 1939 one at least. Some of them were good, some were cheesy.

The Bad:
It was just a hair too dark in scenery for me... I would have liked a little more of the vivid dream colors that made Oz, instead we got an improved version of Flash Gordon: The Series scenery.
The use of acronyms was annoying as crap, O.Z. and D.G.
D.G.'s acting was kind of blah.
A few loose ends were left at the end.

Overall: It was worth a watch, but be aware it is a 4 and a half hour commitment. It was fun and a hell of a lot better than a the fecal matter the sci-fi channel usually produces. It was no The Wizard of Oz to be sure, it's more along the lines of being a step-sister to Return to Oz. I liked it pretty good.

The Condemned (2007)

The Condemned

The Good:
If you enjoy fighting-game-style movies then the plot might appeal to you (though it has been done in one variation or another about 1000 times).
The characters were... hehe... characters.
I laughed one really good laugh during the film - not sure the part was meant to be funny though.

The Bad:
The fight cinematography was terrible! It was so jerky it made me feel sick to watch it.
The main character, played by Steve Austin, was absolutely ridiculous. Every line he delivered was unbelievable and trite.
The plot was predictable to an extreme.

Overall: I don't know why the WWE thinks it should be in the business of making films. I am not even sure why I watched the whole thing. This makes The Scorpion King look like a classic cinema (I make the comparison because the Rock is in it).

The Simpsons Movie (2007)

The Simpsons Movie

The Good:
The animation was neat.
There were about 5 damn good laughs.
One of the fun things in watching is recognizing the random characters from the show and the "scene references" to other films.

The Bad:
Way too short.
Only about as good as a decent episode of the show from the good years.
The Lisa plot was boring, the Bart plot seemed like a rehash of an earlier Maggie plot, and the Marge-Homer dynamic was anything but dynamic. Overall the plot was lacking.

Overall: I thought it was a bit of a letdown honestly. I would say instead of wasting your time renting the movie, rent or buy The Simpsons Season 8, because the second episode "You Only Move Twice" is ten times better than the movie and is in my opinion the greatest Simpsons episode ever(that's the Hank Scorpio episode btw - with Albert Brooks).

Disturbia (2007)

Disturbia

The Good:
Some of the directing was neat, but nothing extraordinary (especially not the last 10 minutes sadly).
Shia LaBeouf was decent, though he was better in Transformers.
Aaron Yoo, who played the main character's friend, was pretty good in his role.
It was an interesting premise.

The Bad:
The first 30 - 45 minutes is basically a waste. It's boring while not advancing the plot much at all.
Carrie-Anne Moss was surprisingly boring in her role.
I didn't think the interesting part of the plot - the basics are revealed in the movie poster above - was really delved into nearly enough... or maybe it was just not explored in very interesting way.
As the film progressed, it asked for too much suspension of disbelief.
The whole "love story" crap was terrible.

Overall: Alright, honestly I didn't expect to like it a lot... and I didn't. Watch Rear Window instead... duh.