Title: Hamlet
Year: 1996
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Writer: William Shakespeare, adapted by Kenneth Branagh
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Richard Briers, Julie Christie, Nicholas Farrell, Derek Jacobi, Michael Maloney, Kate Winslet
Music: Patrick Doyle
Distinctions: Oscar nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Score, Best Art Direction/Set Decoration and Best Costume Design
Length: 242 minutes
Synopsis: a prince discovers that his uncle killed his father
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), June 2008
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for pacing, special effects/design and music) c. 3.2/4 (Very good).
I probably couldn't have followed it if I hadn't just read the play. But I did, so it was great. I don't see how you need to put a swelling score under all the monologues, though. And as long as it has to be four hours long anyway, might as well go for five and not rush things. The special effects/design couldn't have been better for the most part, but there is the little matter of the ghost. And its completely sucking. But overall it's a good movie: one of the best stories ever written, with a great cast.
June 10, 2009
June 9, 2009
Up
Title: Up
Year: 2009
Directors: Pete Docter & Bob Peterson
Writers: Bob Peterson & Pete Docter, story by Peterson, Docter & Thomas McCarthy
Starring: Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai
Music: Michael Giacchino
Length: 96 minutes
Synopsis: an old man uses balloons to fly his dead wife's dream house to South America
How I saw it: in the theater, yesterday
Subjective Rating:9/10 10/10
Objective Rating: 10/10
Wonderful movie. It's not perfect - the whole talking dogs thing (there are dogs, and they can talk) seems out of place, the three dog villains are lame/undeveloped, and Carl's infirmities are wildly inconsistent. But any flaws are barely noticeable. I liked Wall-E better, but then I'm a science fiction geek so I guess that's to be expected. I'll be surprised if this doesn't turn out to be my favorite movie this year.
Year: 2009
Directors: Pete Docter & Bob Peterson
Writers: Bob Peterson & Pete Docter, story by Peterson, Docter & Thomas McCarthy
Starring: Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai
Music: Michael Giacchino
Length: 96 minutes
Synopsis: an old man uses balloons to fly his dead wife's dream house to South America
How I saw it: in the theater, yesterday
Subjective Rating:
Objective Rating: 10/10
Wonderful movie. It's not perfect - the whole talking dogs thing (there are dogs, and they can talk) seems out of place, the three dog villains are lame/undeveloped, and Carl's infirmities are wildly inconsistent. But any flaws are barely noticeable. I liked Wall-E better, but then I'm a science fiction geek so I guess that's to be expected. I'll be surprised if this doesn't turn out to be my favorite movie this year.
June 7, 2009
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Title: Boksuneun naui geot
Year: 2002 (Korea), 2005 (US)
Director: Chan-wook Park
Writers: Jae-sun Lee, Mu-yeong Lee, Yong-jong Lee, Chan-wook Park
Starring: Kang-ho Song, Ha-kyun Shin, Du-na Bae
Music: non-original music (as far as I can tell)
Length: 129 minutes
Synopsis: a kidnapping gone wrong leads to violence
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), today
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent).
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for characters and pacing) c. 2.9/4 (Good).
Very slow. Interesting, but no fun. Basically a series of unpleasant things are happening around a pair of unsympathetic characters. It's not a bad story, but it's far too miserable and joyless for me.
Glenn Gould: On and Off the Record
Title: "Glenn Gould: Off the Record" / "Glenn Gould: On the Record"
Year: 1959
Directors: Wolf Koenig & Roman Kroitor
Writer: Stanley Jackson (commentary)
Starring: Glenn Gould
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach, Glenn Gould
Length: 30 minutes (each)
Synopsis: a documentary crew follows Glenn Gould, to his home ("off the record") and to a recording session ("on the record")
How I saw it: on video (rented on VHS from the library), July 2008
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 6/10 (points off for story, cinematography, special effects/design and acting (n/a)) c. 2.8/4 (Good).
Not a great documentary - very low budget - but you can't go wrong with the subject.
Year: 1959
Directors: Wolf Koenig & Roman Kroitor
Writer: Stanley Jackson (commentary)
Starring: Glenn Gould
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach, Glenn Gould
Length: 30 minutes (each)
Synopsis: a documentary crew follows Glenn Gould, to his home ("off the record") and to a recording session ("on the record")
How I saw it: on video (rented on VHS from the library), July 2008
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 6/10 (points off for story, cinematography, special effects/design and acting (n/a)) c. 2.8/4 (Good).
Not a great documentary - very low budget - but you can't go wrong with the subject.
The Dark Knight
Title: The Dark Knight
Year: 2008
Director: Christopher Nolan
Writers: Jonathan Nolan & Christopher Nolan; story by Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer; characters by Bob Kane
Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman
Music: James Newton Howard, Hans Zimmer
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Supporting Actor (Ledger) and Best Sound Editing; Oscar nominations for Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Makeup, Best Visual Effects, Best Editing and Best Sound; currently #7 on IMDb's Top 250
Length: 152 minutes
Synopsis: The Joker hatches schemes
How I saw it: in the theater, July 2008
Subjective Rating: 10/10 (Favorite of my favorites).
Objective Rating: 9/10 (1 point off for cinematography) c. 3.8/4 (Great).
Not the Perfect Super Hero Movie it's hyped to be (it is a contender for the Best Super Hero Movie, though). I think Batman Begins might actually have been better movie, although I liked this one a lot more, thanks to the Joker. Heath Ledger is amazing, and then some. But then there's Two Face. . . Not a bad performance. Even a good one by most standards. But when the climax of the movie is him opposite Gary Oldman, following the Joker's big finale... "good" is way out of its league. And Two Face's special effects are unbelievably terrible. It's very anti-climactic, ending with that rather than the Joker. But this is mostly nit-picking; as you can see from my rating, I love this movie.
Year: 2008
Director: Christopher Nolan
Writers: Jonathan Nolan & Christopher Nolan; story by Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer; characters by Bob Kane
Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman
Music: James Newton Howard, Hans Zimmer
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Supporting Actor (Ledger) and Best Sound Editing; Oscar nominations for Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Makeup, Best Visual Effects, Best Editing and Best Sound; currently #7 on IMDb's Top 250
Length: 152 minutes
Synopsis: The Joker hatches schemes
How I saw it: in the theater, July 2008
Subjective Rating: 10/10 (Favorite of my favorites).
Objective Rating: 9/10 (1 point off for cinematography) c. 3.8/4 (Great).
Not the Perfect Super Hero Movie it's hyped to be (it is a contender for the Best Super Hero Movie, though). I think Batman Begins might actually have been better movie, although I liked this one a lot more, thanks to the Joker. Heath Ledger is amazing, and then some. But then there's Two Face. . . Not a bad performance. Even a good one by most standards. But when the climax of the movie is him opposite Gary Oldman, following the Joker's big finale... "good" is way out of its league. And Two Face's special effects are unbelievably terrible. It's very anti-climactic, ending with that rather than the Joker. But this is mostly nit-picking; as you can see from my rating, I love this movie.
Enchanted
Title: Enchanted
Year: 2007
Director: Kevin Lima
Writer: Bill Kelly
Starring: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall
Music: Alan Menken
Distinctions: three Oscar nominations for Best Song ("Happy Working Song," "So Close" and "That's How You Know")
Length: 107 minutes
Synopsis: a Disney fairytale princess comes to the real world
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), July 2008
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 5/10 (points off for dialog, cinematography, special effects/design, acting and music) c. 2.3/4 (Okay).
Fun movie, only good for one watch. There were lots of chances to turn this into a terrible movie, but they managed to get through. It would have been nice if they'd used old school animation for the fairy-tale world; instead it's a modern style, which is strange since modern "2D" animation isn't typically used for much other than TV shows. Although the acting and music are both bad, it doesn't really hurt the movie; they're both what they need to be.
Year: 2007
Director: Kevin Lima
Writer: Bill Kelly
Starring: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall
Music: Alan Menken
Distinctions: three Oscar nominations for Best Song ("Happy Working Song," "So Close" and "That's How You Know")
Length: 107 minutes
Synopsis: a Disney fairytale princess comes to the real world
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), July 2008
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 5/10 (points off for dialog, cinematography, special effects/design, acting and music) c. 2.3/4 (Okay).
Fun movie, only good for one watch. There were lots of chances to turn this into a terrible movie, but they managed to get through. It would have been nice if they'd used old school animation for the fairy-tale world; instead it's a modern style, which is strange since modern "2D" animation isn't typically used for much other than TV shows. Although the acting and music are both bad, it doesn't really hurt the movie; they're both what they need to be.
June 6, 2009
The Bodyguard
Title: Yojimbo
Year: 1961
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Writers: Akira Kurosawa & Ryuzo Kikushima
Starring: Toshirô Mifune
Music: Masaru Satô
Distinctions: Oscar nomination for Best Costume Design (black-and-white); currently #132 on IMDb's Top 250
Length: 110 minutes
Synopsis: a wandering samurai tries to get rival gangs to kill each other
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great)
Objective Rating: 10/10 c. 3.8/4 (Great)
Great, fun movie. Mifune's character is probably one of the best (or at least most important) ever put on film. This movie's not quite as good as the spaghetti westerns it inspired, though. (Interestingly, it isn't just the plot and characters that Sergio Leone ripped off, but also the style. And the few aspects of the style Leone missed got picked up by Quentin Tarantino in Kill Bill.) I would just give it a 7/10, but I bumped it up a point simply because of the music. My new favorite film score.
Dark City
Title: Dark City
Year: 1998
Director: Alex Proyas
Writers: Alex Proyas, Lem Dobbs & David S. Goyer
Starring: Rufus Sewell, William Hurt, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly, Richard O'Brien
Music: Trevor Jones
Length: 100 minutes / 111 minutes (director's cut)
Synopsis: a man wakes up with no memory, apparently a murderer; oh, and aliens control the world
How I saw it: on video many times (have on DVD), most recently (director's cut, rented from Netflix) August 2008
Subjective Rating: 10/10 (Favorite of my favorites).
Objective Rating:10/10 c. 3.9/4 (Great).
This is such a bizarre and interesting movie. Sutherland's acting is a little off, but otherwise everything is nearly perfect.
As for the director's cut, there are two major changes, and both are significant improvements. However, there are also a million other tiny changes, adding a line or two of dialog here and there that contributes nothing and sometimes makes the flow of the scene awkward. There's a lot more explaining, of things that never needed explaining; just sort of introducing details for the sake of explaining them. It still gets the same 10/10 as the original version, but I'd have to say it's not quite as good.
Year: 1998
Director: Alex Proyas
Writers: Alex Proyas, Lem Dobbs & David S. Goyer
Starring: Rufus Sewell, William Hurt, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly, Richard O'Brien
Music: Trevor Jones
Length: 100 minutes / 111 minutes (director's cut)
Synopsis: a man wakes up with no memory, apparently a murderer; oh, and aliens control the world
How I saw it: on video many times (have on DVD), most recently (director's cut, rented from Netflix) August 2008
Subjective Rating: 10/10 (Favorite of my favorites).
Objective Rating:
This is such a bizarre and interesting movie. Sutherland's acting is a little off, but otherwise everything is nearly perfect.
As for the director's cut, there are two major changes, and both are significant improvements. However, there are also a million other tiny changes, adding a line or two of dialog here and there that contributes nothing and sometimes makes the flow of the scene awkward. There's a lot more explaining, of things that never needed explaining; just sort of introducing details for the sake of explaining them. It still gets the same 10/10 as the original version, but I'd have to say it's not quite as good.
June 5, 2009
Othello
Title: Othello
Year: 1965
Director: Stuart Burge
Writer: William Shakespeare
Starring: Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Joyce Redman, Frank Finlay, Derek Jacobi
Music: Richard Hampton
Distinctions: Oscar nominations for Best Actor (Olivier), Best Supporting Actress (Smith), Best Supporting Actress (Redman) and Best Supporting Actor (Finlay)
Length: 165 minutes
Synopsis: a villain convinces his enemy that his wife is unfaithful
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), August 2008
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh).
Objective Rating: 3/10 (gets points for characters, cinematography and acting) c. 2.1/4 (Okay).
It did the job - I wanted to see Othello performed, and that's what this movie is: a performance of the play. But I don't really care for the play, and they didn't bring anything to it to change that. The acting is good, but not as great as you would hope given the cast, and not as engaging as what I imagined when I read it. I specifically rented this version because it's the entire play, but this play just isn't interesting enough to warrant filming the entire thing.
Year: 1965
Director: Stuart Burge
Writer: William Shakespeare
Starring: Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Joyce Redman, Frank Finlay, Derek Jacobi
Music: Richard Hampton
Distinctions: Oscar nominations for Best Actor (Olivier), Best Supporting Actress (Smith), Best Supporting Actress (Redman) and Best Supporting Actor (Finlay)
Length: 165 minutes
Synopsis: a villain convinces his enemy that his wife is unfaithful
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), August 2008
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh).
Objective Rating: 3/10 (gets points for characters, cinematography and acting) c. 2.1/4 (Okay).
It did the job - I wanted to see Othello performed, and that's what this movie is: a performance of the play. But I don't really care for the play, and they didn't bring anything to it to change that. The acting is good, but not as great as you would hope given the cast, and not as engaging as what I imagined when I read it. I specifically rented this version because it's the entire play, but this play just isn't interesting enough to warrant filming the entire thing.
Fawlty Towers
Title: Fawlty Towers
Year: 1975, 1979
Network: BBC
Creators: John Cleese & Connie Booth
Directors: John Howard Davies (series 1), Bob Spiers (series 2)
Writers: John Cleese & Connie Booth
Starring: John Cleese, Prunella Scales, Andrew Sachs, Connie Booth
Music: Dennis Wilson
Episodes: 12, c. 30 minutes (two series of 6 episodes)
Synopsis: an angry jackass runs a hotel
How I saw it: online (streaming from Netflix), September 2008
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great).
Objective Rating:8/10 (points off for cinematography and special effects/design) c. 3.3/4 (Very good).
I hadn't bothered to watch this for the longest time simply because the premise sounded dumb, but in fact this is John Cleese at his best.
Year: 1975, 1979
Network: BBC
Creators: John Cleese & Connie Booth
Directors: John Howard Davies (series 1), Bob Spiers (series 2)
Writers: John Cleese & Connie Booth
Starring: John Cleese, Prunella Scales, Andrew Sachs, Connie Booth
Music: Dennis Wilson
Episodes: 12, c. 30 minutes (two series of 6 episodes)
Synopsis: an angry jackass runs a hotel
How I saw it: online (streaming from Netflix), September 2008
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great).
Objective Rating:
I hadn't bothered to watch this for the longest time simply because the premise sounded dumb, but in fact this is John Cleese at his best.
The King of Kong
Title: The King of Kong
Year: 2007
Director: Seth Gordon
Starring: Steve Wiebe, Billy Mitchell
Music: Craig Richey
Length: 79 minutes
Synopsis: disputes over the Donkey Kong high score world record
How I saw it: online (streaming from Netflix), September 2008
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating:5/10 (points off for concept, cinematography, special effects/design, acting (n/a) and music) c. 2.6/4 (Good).
Entertaining and interesting, and I found myself still thinking about it afterward. The best documentaries always seem to be the ones that make you ask, "Why on earth would you make a documentary about that?"
Year: 2007
Director: Seth Gordon
Starring: Steve Wiebe, Billy Mitchell
Music: Craig Richey
Length: 79 minutes
Synopsis: disputes over the Donkey Kong high score world record
How I saw it: online (streaming from Netflix), September 2008
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating:
Entertaining and interesting, and I found myself still thinking about it afterward. The best documentaries always seem to be the ones that make you ask, "Why on earth would you make a documentary about that?"
June 4, 2009
The Honeymooners
Title: The Honeymooners
Year: 1955-1956
Network: CBS
Director: Frank Satenstein
Writers: Marvin Marx (16 episodes), Walter Stone (16), Leonard Stern (14), Sydney Zelinka (14), Herbert Finn (9), A.J. Russell (9)
Starring: Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, Audrey Meadows, Joyce Randolph
Music: Jackie Gleason (theme song), Sammy Spear
Episodes: 39
Synopsis: a scheming bus driver and his wife in a run-down New York apartment
How I saw it: on video (rented partly on VHS from the library, partly from Netflix), September 2008
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great).
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for cinematography and music) c. 3.2/4 (Very good).
I don't like 1950's sitcoms, but this show is great. Not "funny for the 50's" or "funny for a sitcom" - just plain hilarious.
Year: 1955-1956
Network: CBS
Director: Frank Satenstein
Writers: Marvin Marx (16 episodes), Walter Stone (16), Leonard Stern (14), Sydney Zelinka (14), Herbert Finn (9), A.J. Russell (9)
Starring: Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, Audrey Meadows, Joyce Randolph
Music: Jackie Gleason (theme song), Sammy Spear
Episodes: 39
Synopsis: a scheming bus driver and his wife in a run-down New York apartment
How I saw it: on video (rented partly on VHS from the library, partly from Netflix), September 2008
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great).
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for cinematography and music) c. 3.2/4 (Very good).
I don't like 1950's sitcoms, but this show is great. Not "funny for the 50's" or "funny for a sitcom" - just plain hilarious.
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl
Title: Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl
Year: 1982
Director: Terry Hughes & Ian MacNaughton
Writers: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones & Michael Palin
Starring: Chapman, Cleese, Gilliam, Idle, Jones, Palin
Length: 77 minutes
Synopsis: film of a concert of a reenactment of sketches from Monty Python's Flying Circus
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), September 2008
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 5/10 (points off for concept, story, cinematography, special effects and music) c. 2.1/4 (Okay).
Sort of the And Now for Something Completely Different for people who hate production values. It's kind of pointless that it exists, but it's still funny.
Year: 1982
Director: Terry Hughes & Ian MacNaughton
Writers: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones & Michael Palin
Starring: Chapman, Cleese, Gilliam, Idle, Jones, Palin
Length: 77 minutes
Synopsis: film of a concert of a reenactment of sketches from Monty Python's Flying Circus
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), September 2008
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 5/10 (points off for concept, story, cinematography, special effects and music) c. 2.1/4 (Okay).
Sort of the And Now for Something Completely Different for people who hate production values. It's kind of pointless that it exists, but it's still funny.
June 3, 2009
Kind Hearts and Coronets
Title: Kind Hearts and Coronets
Year: 1949 (UK), 1950 (US)
Director: Robert Hamer
Writer: Robert Hamer & John Dighton, based on the novel by Roy Horniman
Starring: Dennis Price, Valerie Hobson, Joan Greenwood, Alec Guinness
Music: Ernest Irving
Distinctions: currently #135 on IMDb's Top 250
Length: 106 minutes
Synopsis: an estranged descendant of a Duke murders his relatives for an inheritance
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for cinematography and music) c. 2.9/4 (Good).
It's only occasionally funny enough to get a laugh, although it is consistently entertaining otherwise. Alec Guinness plays eight roles (all of them fun characters), and I might not even have guessed they're the same person if the blurb (and the opening credits) hadn't pointed it out.
I Am So Proud of You
Title: "I Am So Proud of You"
Year: 2008
Director: Don Hertzfeldt
Writer: Don Hertzfeldt
Starring: Don Hertzfeldt
Music: non-original music
Length: 22 minutes
Synopsis: the continued misadventures of a man with unspecified neurological problems
How I saw it: in the theater (part of An Evening with Don Hertzfeldt), October 2008
Subjective Rating: 10/10 (Favorite of my favorites).
Objective Rating: 10/10 c. 3.8/4 (Great).
Beautiful and funny. The sequel to "Everything Will Be OK" (which can be seen on volume 3 of The Animation Show). It's not as silly as earlier Hertzfeldt cartoons, but it's certainly one of his best. The expressiveness of the stick-figure animation is mind-boggling.
Year: 2008
Director: Don Hertzfeldt
Writer: Don Hertzfeldt
Starring: Don Hertzfeldt
Music: non-original music
Length: 22 minutes
Synopsis: the continued misadventures of a man with unspecified neurological problems
How I saw it: in the theater (part of An Evening with Don Hertzfeldt), October 2008
Subjective Rating: 10/10 (Favorite of my favorites).
Objective Rating: 10/10 c. 3.8/4 (Great).
Beautiful and funny. The sequel to "Everything Will Be OK" (which can be seen on volume 3 of The Animation Show). It's not as silly as earlier Hertzfeldt cartoons, but it's certainly one of his best. The expressiveness of the stick-figure animation is mind-boggling.
June 2, 2009
The Sarah Jane Adventures: Season One
Title: The Sarah Jane Adventures: Season One
Year: 2007
Network: BBC
Creator: Russell T. Davies
Directors: Alice Troughton (4 episodes), Charles Martin (4), Graeme Harper (2), Colin Teague (1)
Writers: Gareth Roberts (5 episodes), Phil Ford (4), Philip Gladwin (2), Russell T. Davies (1)
Starring: Elisabeth Sladen, Yasmin Paige, Tommy Knight, Daniel Anthony
Music: Murray Gold (theme song), Sam Watts
Episodes: 1 at 60 minutes, 10 at 25 minutes
Synopsis: Sarah Jane Smith teams up with a gang of children, age target-viewing-audience
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), October 2008
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating:5/10 (points off for concept, characters, cinematography, special effects/design and music) c. 2.1/4 (Okay).
Okay for a kid's show. It's no Doctor Who, but it's somewhat entertaining and watchable.
Year: 2007
Network: BBC
Creator: Russell T. Davies
Directors: Alice Troughton (4 episodes), Charles Martin (4), Graeme Harper (2), Colin Teague (1)
Writers: Gareth Roberts (5 episodes), Phil Ford (4), Philip Gladwin (2), Russell T. Davies (1)
Starring: Elisabeth Sladen, Yasmin Paige, Tommy Knight, Daniel Anthony
Music: Murray Gold (theme song), Sam Watts
Episodes: 1 at 60 minutes, 10 at 25 minutes
Synopsis: Sarah Jane Smith teams up with a gang of children, age target-viewing-audience
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), October 2008
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating:
Okay for a kid's show. It's no Doctor Who, but it's somewhat entertaining and watchable.
The Go-Getter
Title: The Go-Getter
Year: 2007
Director: Martin Hynes
Writer: Martin Hynes
Starring: Lou Taylor Pucci, Zooey Deschanel, Jena Malone
Music: M. Ward
Length: 93 minutes
Synopsis: an angsty teenager takes a road trip in a stolen car
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), October 2008
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating:8/10 (points off for concept and cinematography) c. 2.9/4 (Good).
It's got a lot of Bad Indie Movie tropes, but manages to be a pleasant romantic comedy despite itself. Not the sort of movie I like (we just rented it because of M. Ward - it's the movie responsible for the formation of the band She & Him), but I liked it anyway.
Year: 2007
Director: Martin Hynes
Writer: Martin Hynes
Starring: Lou Taylor Pucci, Zooey Deschanel, Jena Malone
Music: M. Ward
Length: 93 minutes
Synopsis: an angsty teenager takes a road trip in a stolen car
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), October 2008
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating:
It's got a lot of Bad Indie Movie tropes, but manages to be a pleasant romantic comedy despite itself. Not the sort of movie I like (we just rented it because of M. Ward - it's the movie responsible for the formation of the band She & Him), but I liked it anyway.
June 1, 2009
Step Brothers
Title: Step Brothers
Year: 2008
Director: Adam McKay
Writers: Will Ferrell & Adam McKay; story by Ferrell, McKay & John C. Reilly
Starring: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Mary Steenburgen, Richard Jenkins
Music: Jon Brion
Length: 98 minutes
Synopsis: Two middle-aged guys who live with their parents become step brothers
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), December 2008
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for story, cinematography and music) c. 3.0/4 (Good).
Will Ferrell: Man-Child. That's all I need to say. Either you think it's funny or you don't. If you don't, something may be wrong with you.
Year: 2008
Director: Adam McKay
Writers: Will Ferrell & Adam McKay; story by Ferrell, McKay & John C. Reilly
Starring: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Mary Steenburgen, Richard Jenkins
Music: Jon Brion
Length: 98 minutes
Synopsis: Two middle-aged guys who live with their parents become step brothers
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), December 2008
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for story, cinematography and music) c. 3.0/4 (Good).
Will Ferrell: Man-Child. That's all I need to say. Either you think it's funny or you don't. If you don't, something may be wrong with you.
Hellboy
I felt the need to post this one to balance out my negative rating of Hellboy II.
Title: Hellboy
Year: 2004
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Writer: Guillermo del Toro; story by del Toro and Peter Briggs; based on the comic book by Mike Mignola
Starring: Ron Perlman, John Hurt, Selma Blair, Rupert Evans, Karel Roden, Jeffrey Tambor, Doug Jones
Music: Marco Beltrami
Length: 122 minutes
Synopsis: a demon raised by the US Government fights supernatural badguys
How I saw it: in the theater, 2004; on video a number of times (used to have on DVD), most recently a couple years ago
Subjective Rating: 7/10
Objective Rating: n/a (too long since I've seen it, but I'd guess 7 or 8/10)
Lots of fun. The title character is instantly likable. The villains are original. The story is far from perfect, but compared to the typical genre/action movie (especially some of the crap that comes out of adapting comic book characters), it's excellent. Probably one of the top five superhero movies I've ever seen.
Title: Hellboy
Year: 2004
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Writer: Guillermo del Toro; story by del Toro and Peter Briggs; based on the comic book by Mike Mignola
Starring: Ron Perlman, John Hurt, Selma Blair, Rupert Evans, Karel Roden, Jeffrey Tambor, Doug Jones
Music: Marco Beltrami
Length: 122 minutes
Synopsis: a demon raised by the US Government fights supernatural badguys
How I saw it: in the theater, 2004; on video a number of times (used to have on DVD), most recently a couple years ago
Subjective Rating: 7/10
Objective Rating: n/a (too long since I've seen it, but I'd guess 7 or 8/10)
Lots of fun. The title character is instantly likable. The villains are original. The story is far from perfect, but compared to the typical genre/action movie (especially some of the crap that comes out of adapting comic book characters), it's excellent. Probably one of the top five superhero movies I've ever seen.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Title: Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Year: 2008
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Writer: Guillermo del Toro, based on the comic book by Mike Mignola
Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Jeffrey Tambor, Luke Goss, Anna Walton, Seth MacFarlane, John Hurt
Music: Danny Elfman
Distinctions: Oscar nomination for Best Makeup
Length: 120 minutes
Synopsis: an elf tries to rule the world with mythical robots
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), November 2008
Subjective Rating: 3/10 (Bad).
Objective Rating: 1/10 (gets a point for pacing) c. 1.5/4 (Eh).
They did manage to get Hellboy into the movie for a few minutes, but that's about the only good thing about any of the ideas here. When a movie has Ron Pearlman and John Hurt and I can't even give it a point for acting... something is very, very wrong. Maybe I'm being harsh because I had high expectations. Probably not.
Year: 2008
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Writer: Guillermo del Toro, based on the comic book by Mike Mignola
Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Jeffrey Tambor, Luke Goss, Anna Walton, Seth MacFarlane, John Hurt
Music: Danny Elfman
Distinctions: Oscar nomination for Best Makeup
Length: 120 minutes
Synopsis: an elf tries to rule the world with mythical robots
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), November 2008
Subjective Rating: 3/10 (Bad).
Objective Rating: 1/10 (gets a point for pacing) c. 1.5/4 (Eh).
They did manage to get Hellboy into the movie for a few minutes, but that's about the only good thing about any of the ideas here. When a movie has Ron Pearlman and John Hurt and I can't even give it a point for acting... something is very, very wrong. Maybe I'm being harsh because I had high expectations. Probably not.
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