georoc01's blog: "movies"

Went to see this movie this weekend. It is a Rob Reiner film that deals with death and how these two guys played by Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson deal with a prognosis that they have terminal cancer and months to live. It makes for a movie that while it has some great comedic moments, its about a difficult subject. How do you handle that type of news? What would you do in such a situation? How about faith? Would such a notice cause you to find god? As they travel the world, there are dialogs on how different cultures handle death and the afterlife. Overall, I enjoyed the film. Its a good story with good actors. The comedy is enough to help you connect with the characters so the impact with the end comes, does evoke an emotional response. At least it did in the theater I was in. IT definitely makes you think.

After watching the History Channel episode, I had to go check out the movie. While the movie was good, the History Channel show was actually more revealing and a wilder version of what happened than the movie. The only real difference is that the movie is rated R so you get some T&A back in Vegas. The movie has its humorous moments and yet ends with the morality of finishing a job when you start it and how as a country we cut and run once the battle is won only to lose the war. Definitely catch the History channel version. If you are still interested after that, catch the movie.

Saw this yesterday. The movie is a fantasy story that reminded me quite a bit of Fellowship of the Ring, the first of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It deals with oppression of the government and necessity of freedom as told through a number of characters as this group is developed for future stories. The books are a trilogy, and this story is certainly told as the first of many. The daemons add a unique effect as additional characters in the movie. And the Icebears are impressive, being very large polar bears. Its the size expectation I had for Aslan in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. This movie is not for small children, and has a couple of very dark scenes that are pretty intense. Overall I enjoyed it, and look forward to the future sequels if this did well enough in the box office to justify.

Having seen this one in the theater, I knew the story going in. Basically its a story of breaking down racial barriers in the 60's. Its a fun story, but what makes it a curiousity and bizarre for me is John Travolta playing Edna Turnblad. As in the the theater, this position as the lead character's mom, is played by a cross dresser. But to see Travolta singing and dancing in this role is surreal. And when Christopher Walken comes out as Travolta's wife and is seducing him, that is really over the top making it worth seeing just for that. This movie is way down on my summer movie list, but it was worth catching on my last long flight.

Went to see this last night. As far as the acting goes, Will Smith bring in yet another credible performance. He is definitely up there with the top actors currently working in hollywood. In this movie he basically has to carry it. His co-star would be his dog Sam. As far as the story goes, think Castaway meets 28 days later. A deadly virus has taken over the planet, and Will Smith's character, Neville is immune and a military doctor working on a cure. Alone in NYC. Visually the movie is cool. There are a couple of plot points that seem to come out of nowhere, but hey, its a movie. I think though, wait for the rental. Other big movies to go see on the big screen.

Watched this movie last night. Tough one. Looks like a Waynes World meets Napolean Dynamite. IF you like those type of movies, this one may be for you. Effectively Rod believes that he comes from a line of daredevils and in order to save his stepdad decides to do a stunt to raise the money, get the girl, etc. After seeing him in Deadwood, I wondered what Ian McShane was doing in this movie. He seemed to be a waste to talent. I hope he was paid well. I'd rather watch reruns of Waynes World or ND before seeing this again. Spend your money elsewhere.

Watched this movie last night on my flight. It is darker than the other Harry Potter movies, but I thought it is very good. Its basically more of the same in that its Harry vs the forces of Lord Voldemort. He has been building power and he is certainly making it harder on Harry. Some of the magic appears to be gone. Some of the fun things of the original movies, learning to fly, quidditch, the new discoveries as he learns magic are gone. Instead we are to the nitty gritty of the storyline. I'd certainly strongly recommend seeing the earlier movies before delving into this one. But for Harry Potter Fans, I think it lives up.

I saw this movie yesterday. Its interesting for a couple of reasons. The number one is technically, its visually impressive. The 3-D animation process is probably one of the most lifelike movies every made of this genre. That said, there is a reason this movie is PG-13. The sex and violence in this movie has a different feel than in a 2-D movie. You see Angelina Jolie in all her beauty nude on the screen. Probably the most we have seen of her since GIA. She is breathtaking as the seductress, even enough that she was taken back by how she looked in the movie. The storyline is well known as a Norse fantasy tale with dragons and demons. So if you enjoy that genre this movie is a must see. Seeing it in 3d is the reason to spend the extra money to see it in the theater. An enjoyable couple of hours.

Last weekend I went to see American Gangster with Denzel Washington and Russel Crowe. Overall I thought it was a good movie, not a great one. It was probably apropos that a commercial for the Sopranos Video collection ran prior to the movie, as that was what it felt like, a 2 1/2 hour ep of the HBO series. Maybe its shows like that that desentize us to the violence so movies like American Gangster don't have the same impact that classic movies of this genre, like Casino, Goofellas, or the Godfather had when I saw them the first time. It will be a good rental down the line.