Archive for January, 2006
Red Eye (2005)
Starring Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy, and Brian Cox, Red Eye is a short compact fun thriller by Wes Craven that I could watch a bunch of times.
Right away Craven starts to layer in the underlying stories of each of the characters, mostly McAdams, a friendly manager at a high rolling hotel who is always trying to keep others happy. On a plane flight back from her grandmother’s funeral, she meets Murphy, who although creepy, serves as some company through the flight, which she is uneasy about.
We soon realize that Murphy wants something, and he takes McAdams hostage in her plane seat, anticipating her every move. Every attempt she makes to escape, or get help is thwarted until the end, until the plane lands. The only really graphic part of the movie, Adams jams a pen into his throat, and makes a run for it. Then Craven takes over with his signature Scream type style climax, with McAdams trying to save her father at her home, while trying to stop Murphy.
A good compact little thriller at just over and hour and twenty minutes, if you don’t like thrillers at all you won’t want to see this obviously, but even for me, I don’t like some thrillers, and this was the perfect mix, a more mainstream version. The acting is decent, McAdams is always ravishing and captivating, and Murphy has quickly established himself and the up and coming creepy psycho to watch. The dialogue and their interaction in the beginning isn’t awkward and forced, but when the plot escalates, it is enveloping.
I recommend this to almost anyone, it has a widespread appeal with a nice cast of actors.
Batman Beyond Return of the Joker (2000)
What a great movie this is. I think that if you have any interest in the Batman mythos, this is a such a great story, dark, pathological and possible inside of a world ruled by a man dressed like a bat with a rogues cast of villains twice as psychotic.
Batman Beyond is set in the future, Bruce Wayne is very old, and has not been Batman for a number of years. Along comes Terry McGinnis, his father is murdered, he is smart, stumbles on Wayne’s secret, and wala, you have the typical story for any new Batman supporting cast member.
But this particular story isn’t reliant on you accepting this new kid as Batman, and this new futuristic cast of villains. Instead, this mixes history with the future, and brings back the Joker in a style only he could pull off.
The story goes, that one day, while on patrol, Tim Drake (Robin) turns up missing. After a number of agonizing days turn into weeks, an invitation is sent to Batman, to return to old Arkham. There in the ruins, Joker and Harley Quinn have tortured robin for all of this time, turning him basically into a little Joker with the creepy smile and laugh. In the end Batman rescues Tim, Harley Quinn falls off a cliff, and Tim shoots Joker.
After a year of therapy, Tim is back to some semblance of normal. Now in the future, the Joker seems to have reappeared and all ties point back to Tim Drake. Soon enough it is revealed (that although hard to believe, suspend it for a bit) Joker has implanted Tim with a chip that basically has slowly let him return in Tim’s body, taking it over.
The best part is, Tim Drake is a communications expert. So no laughing gas or Joker fish. This time it is a piece of machinery for defense satellite jamming that allows him to blast Gotham city with a 400 foot wide beam.
In the end, Batman wins, beats the Joker at his own game, frys the chip in Tim Drake, and things return back to normal. But what a cool and original idea.
If you like Batman, and the cartoons, this is for you. That is probably a narrow audience, but anyone who appreciated the darker cartoons from the early to mid 90’s, would love this one.
The Hot Chick (2002)
Starring Rob Schneider, Anna Faris, Matthew Lawrence, and Rachel McAdams, this is a Happy Madison movie so you know that it is going to be goofy but fun.
Basically, these mystic earrings that McAdams(Jessica) steals from a jewelry store have ancient powers, able to switch two bodies of the two people who each wear one earring. By a silly set of circumstances Jessica and Schneider switch bodies, putting the girl in a man’s body. This is the running gag the whole movie, how a girl would react to being in male form, especially a superficial one.
This movie was decently funny, I rented it for Rachel McAdams, but this was one of her first movies and she was barely in it, acting mostly as the drunken criminal Schneider whose body she was stuck in.
Adam Sandler has a bit part, as a white reggae who likes weed and to bang on the drums. If you like Sandler’s movies through his product company, you may want to see this one. It isn’t the funniest, but it is a decently entertaining Friday night popcorn movie. If you found like Van Wilder, Dude Where’s My Car, and Mr. Deeds funny, you’d like this. Minus the girls who all want to see “the package”.
Mean Girls (2004)
Starring Lindsay Lohan, Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Rachel McAdams, Lacy Chabert, and a handful of other SNL alum, this movie kept popping up on my radar. Written by Fey, this movie gives us a parody of harsh young female interaction can be at the high school level.
Lohan is a new student who is just trying to fit in, when she is noticed by “The Plastics”, and elite group of three girls who are highly exclusive. Lohan’s friends want her to feign interest to get close to them and then somehow ruin them because of how mean the three of them are. But soon Lohan gets drunk on the power and attention herself, becoming what she hates.
This isn’t a particularly funny movie, the girls are all really pretty to look at, but is focused more on the caddy self centered attitude of these clickish girls. A pretty interesting look, and Fey is really funny in the movie just like she is on SNL which she writes for as well as is the anchor for “Weekend Update”.
The reasons to see this movie? If you have a girl that is just starting her teens, she would like this, or if you have a crush on Lohan (Before she was anorexic) or Rachel McAdams. An exaggerated view on everything, it could be a fun Friday night movie, just don’t expect to laugh as hard as I did.
Without A Paddle (2004)
Who’s in it
Seth Green, Matthew Illiard, Dax Shephard, Burt Reynolds
What was good
Seth Green plays a couple of roles really good, and in this movie, he played a super phobic doctor who wasn’t much of a risk taker and was this unlucky straight laced guy among a bunch of frat dudes essentially. Dax Shepherd had some funny lines as the womanizer of the film, but it was mostly Green’s character that was funny especially in the bear scenes. Illiard was not at all funny in this one, more of an attempt as dramatic, relatively speaking.
What sucked
I wasn’t that entertained. It isn’t a joke after joke type of movie, there is a touch of serious air about this movie, and I just don’t think I would watch it again.
Who should go see this
Fans of Seth Green will be happy, and I think it may be worth seeing once as a cheap rental on a Friday, or from the library from me. But I wouldn’t recommend this to most of my friends even as a super funny movie, so be cautious.
Waiting (2005)
Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris, and a bunch of people you may have seen before but don’t really care about their names. This movie is one big parody of what life might be like for the whole staff of a popular bar type restaurant like O’Charlie’s. It pokes fun a the workers, the politics, and the corporate idea of a restaurant chain. But mostly, it is just humor about different body parts, sex, and other dirty stuff.
The movie revolves around one guy, and his decision about what to do with his life. He kind of accidentally ended up working at this restaurant, but is scared about taking the next jump. But a series of circumstances, seeing how one of his old classmates had advanced, being offered a permanent manager position, all make him stand up and really evaluate what he wants to do. In the end, he quits without a plan, but that is better than feeling stuck.
A funny movie, Reynolds is always a funny jerk and pulls it off great. This movie is really vulgar though, so I wouldn’t recommend it to all of my friends, and I don’t think that I would necessarily watch it again either. If you liked Old School you will like this, or you are into Ryan Reynolds humor. But otherwise, take some caution, most of the movies humor may be to far under the rim.
Legend of Zorro (2005)
Starring Antoine Banderas and Catherine Zeta Jones, this follow up to the highly successful “Mask of Zorro” from 1998 was way too much entirely too late.
The story revolves loosely around Zorro not being able to give up being Zorro, being needed by the people. There is tension between Zorro and Elena, but it all becomes convoluted with a blackmail, lust, and jealosy. Elena gets a divorce from Zorro and ends up with an social elite man by the name of Armand. Not very subtle, the whole thing is a ruse, Elena blackmailed by the US government to spy on Armand who is a member of Orbis Unum, whose members are all descendants of European royalty and determined to keep their nations among the world’s strongest.
That little tie to history was the coolest thing about this movie, aside from the glycerin that Orbis Unum is gleaning from bars of soap to give to the Confederate army, sending the worlds super power into a self destructive civil war.
Somewhere in here, Zorro gives some help, so does his cute smart ass little kid. There are subplots of how Zorro is bad parent to his child, but wants the best, but they all work against each other, taking away from the main plot with these highly cliche stories.
I can’t place my finger on it, maybe it was too light in lighting, I remembered the first one being darker light, and the characters seemed more hungry. It was all too campy, and Zorro was not nearly as entertaining to watch.
Unless you really feel the need to see this, I would pass. There is not any interesting characters aside from Armand, and if you are like me, you will be watching the clock, waiting for it to end.
