OK, so, I saw Australia in theaters Thanksgiving day and then went to the store and saw Jackman on People magazine's cover as "Sexiest Man Alive!" and immediately made the connection.
Aside from the completely out-of-the-ordinary, bucket-of-water, slow-motion, un-asked-for shower scene with Jackman, I totally loved this movie. I got all weepy and crap a few times, stupid allergies...
My small complaint would be regarding the lack of a continuous theme, or a main theme for that matter. Sure, the story flowed and everything was connected, but I was left wondering what Baz (Director of Moulin Rouge and Romeo and Juliet) wanted me to take away from his masterful film. What was the moral? You can't tell me that the creator of the Red Curtain Trilogy made Australia without a moral in mind.
I was also glad to see the Australia club starring in the film. Hugh Jackman (Wolverine and the best Curly in Oklahoma I've ever seen), Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge, The Golden Compass, The Invasion), David Wenham (300, Van Helsing--also with Hugh Jackman--, and Faramir from The Lord of the Rings) , and Jack Thompson (Original Sin and Leatherheads).
Honestly, pretty much the whole cast was from Australia, even King George.
I'm glad I got to see this movie, and Baz has proved once again that he is a masterful and diverse director.
But seriously, Wolverine's borderline Chippendales shower scene??? At least he had his jeans on...
-MovieKnight
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Twilight---Romance or Thriller?
Even though I had to pee like a racehorse during the opening credits, I couldn't get out of my seat for one minute of Twilight.
The movie starts out almost exactly like Last of the Mohicans, and ends winking to the audience of the trilogy yet to come.
From start to finish I totally loved the cinematography of Twilight. The directing and editing styles didn't remind me of any other movie I've seen before--totally original. Director Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen, Lords of Dogtown) must have a lot of creative juices. They must have mounted a camera on Peter Parker's shoulder for some of the shots, it seemed.
And, I admit to being wrong about my predictions of Twilight being miscast. The cast was almost perfect, with the exception of Rosalie and perhaps Dr. Carlisle.
The character Rosalie is lame enough to begin with, but Nikki Reed's (Thirteen, Lords of Dogtown) performance of her was even more lame. A very lame lame. Guess it helps to be friends with the director...
And Dr. Carlisle's character was supposed to be young but wise, however, Peter Facinelli's portrayal was just young and creepy--like a narrow-nosed version of Odo (shapeshifter from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine).
Bella and Edward (Kristen Stewart from In the Land of Women and The Messengers; Robert Pattinson from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) were not only perfectly cast, but went together perfectly.
In the books (I read them in case you haven't figured it out) Bella was always awkward, and Edward was always serious and seemingly in pain. The whole relationship was portrayed perfectly. Pattinson, despite all my doubts, was the perfect Edward. Stewart was born to play Bella as well. She's beautiful, but she's not from another planet.
My only complaints, I suppose, were that the story seemed rushed. It was two hours long already, and there wasn't anything I would have cut out, but it felt rushed.
But, in all honesty, the first movie's job is to introduce the relationship between Edward and Bella, and to introduce Stephanie Meyer's (author of the Twilight book series)version of vampires.
The special effects were, sometimes, distractingly obvious and low-budget. I think I saw similar effects in Xena: Warrior Princess.
Overall, I completely loved this movie even though I thought it was just going to be a flop designed to lure Twilight fans.
For those who don't know; a Twilight fan would see this movie THREE TIMES even if it was terrible and directed by Ed Wood's retarded nephew or someone. I congradulate the Twilight's film crew for doing a fantastic job even though, honestly, they didn't have to.
I'm still left with the question, however:
Romance or Thriller? Has a film ever been both? If you count Will Smith's relationship with a certain manakin in I Am Legend then yes.
But I don't count that.
Either way, bring a date.
-MovieKnight
And I peed for over a minute in the bathroom after the movie, in case you were worried.
The movie starts out almost exactly like Last of the Mohicans, and ends winking to the audience of the trilogy yet to come.
From start to finish I totally loved the cinematography of Twilight. The directing and editing styles didn't remind me of any other movie I've seen before--totally original. Director Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen, Lords of Dogtown) must have a lot of creative juices. They must have mounted a camera on Peter Parker's shoulder for some of the shots, it seemed.
And, I admit to being wrong about my predictions of Twilight being miscast. The cast was almost perfect, with the exception of Rosalie and perhaps Dr. Carlisle.
The character Rosalie is lame enough to begin with, but Nikki Reed's (Thirteen, Lords of Dogtown) performance of her was even more lame. A very lame lame. Guess it helps to be friends with the director...
And Dr. Carlisle's character was supposed to be young but wise, however, Peter Facinelli's portrayal was just young and creepy--like a narrow-nosed version of Odo (shapeshifter from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine).
Bella and Edward (Kristen Stewart from In the Land of Women and The Messengers; Robert Pattinson from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) were not only perfectly cast, but went together perfectly.
In the books (I read them in case you haven't figured it out) Bella was always awkward, and Edward was always serious and seemingly in pain. The whole relationship was portrayed perfectly. Pattinson, despite all my doubts, was the perfect Edward. Stewart was born to play Bella as well. She's beautiful, but she's not from another planet.
My only complaints, I suppose, were that the story seemed rushed. It was two hours long already, and there wasn't anything I would have cut out, but it felt rushed.
But, in all honesty, the first movie's job is to introduce the relationship between Edward and Bella, and to introduce Stephanie Meyer's (author of the Twilight book series)version of vampires.
The special effects were, sometimes, distractingly obvious and low-budget. I think I saw similar effects in Xena: Warrior Princess.
Overall, I completely loved this movie even though I thought it was just going to be a flop designed to lure Twilight fans.
For those who don't know; a Twilight fan would see this movie THREE TIMES even if it was terrible and directed by Ed Wood's retarded nephew or someone. I congradulate the Twilight's film crew for doing a fantastic job even though, honestly, they didn't have to.
I'm still left with the question, however:
Romance or Thriller? Has a film ever been both? If you count Will Smith's relationship with a certain manakin in I Am Legend then yes.
But I don't count that.
Either way, bring a date.
-MovieKnight
And I peed for over a minute in the bathroom after the movie, in case you were worried.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Quantum of Solace---Fantastic but Lacking...
Quantum of Solace picks up shortly after where the last one ended. Bond has Mr. White and is being pursued by bad guys who, I assume, want White back.
What happens after that all seems pretty clear. The plot didn't leave me confused like Casino Royale did. And we are reintroduced to most of the same cast as Royale.
I want to say that I was disappointed with Daniel Craig's (Bond) acting during the first half of the movie, but really he did ok. I can't specifically identify what I didn't like, but I know that something was missing.
He lacked that "I-just-killed-you-so-piss-off" attitude that he had in Royale.
It was like M (Judi Dench) kept playing off some kind of bad-boy Bond attitude that wasn't even there. She might as well have been talking about someone else half the time.
Sad.
---massive complaint---
Even though the characters all connect to Casino Royale, and they talk about those Royale events throughout this film, I failed to see the PLOT connection between Solace and Royale. It was like the movie's writers were saying, "oh look, they're connected! See! He just said that Vesper chick's name so OBVIOUSLY the plots are connected!"
I wasn't fooled though...
---end of massive complait---
But the plot was original.
The main bad guy, Dominic Greene (the oober-creepy Mathieu Amalric who's been in nothing but French films 'til now), reminds me of the character Renard (Robert Carlyle) from The World is Not Enough. Creepiest CEO I've seen in a film.
---Note: Renard was the bald, creepy Russian psycho who couldn't feel pain.---
The film DID have some really intense and well-crafted fight scenes that did NOT disappoint. Start to almost finish was non-stop action.
I loved this movie, but, still, was mildly disappointed.
-MovieKnight
PS-In Solace's defense, I didn't like Royale the first time I saw it either. I plan to give this another go around.
What happens after that all seems pretty clear. The plot didn't leave me confused like Casino Royale did. And we are reintroduced to most of the same cast as Royale.
I want to say that I was disappointed with Daniel Craig's (Bond) acting during the first half of the movie, but really he did ok. I can't specifically identify what I didn't like, but I know that something was missing.
He lacked that "I-just-killed-you-so-piss-off" attitude that he had in Royale.
It was like M (Judi Dench) kept playing off some kind of bad-boy Bond attitude that wasn't even there. She might as well have been talking about someone else half the time.
Sad.
---massive complaint---
Even though the characters all connect to Casino Royale, and they talk about those Royale events throughout this film, I failed to see the PLOT connection between Solace and Royale. It was like the movie's writers were saying, "oh look, they're connected! See! He just said that Vesper chick's name so OBVIOUSLY the plots are connected!"
I wasn't fooled though...
---end of massive complait---
But the plot was original.
The main bad guy, Dominic Greene (the oober-creepy Mathieu Amalric who's been in nothing but French films 'til now), reminds me of the character Renard (Robert Carlyle) from The World is Not Enough. Creepiest CEO I've seen in a film.
---Note: Renard was the bald, creepy Russian psycho who couldn't feel pain.---
The film DID have some really intense and well-crafted fight scenes that did NOT disappoint. Start to almost finish was non-stop action.
I loved this movie, but, still, was mildly disappointed.
-MovieKnight
PS-In Solace's defense, I didn't like Royale the first time I saw it either. I plan to give this another go around.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Eagle Eye---Not Dumbed Down.
I had high expectations for Eagle Eye and they were exceeded.
I'm a big Shia LaBeouf fan, and I loved him in this movie.
I'm also a Michelle Monaghan (Mission Impossible: III, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) fan, so this was a movie I'm surprised I didn't see sooner. She's a beautiful actress who still looks like an actual human being, instead of something plastic.
My only complaint is that sometimes the action scenes, namely the car pile-ups, were played out in ways that left me unable to follow them. I'd watch LaBeouf plow through a green light and cops behind him would suddenly start crashing and I'm sitting there going, "What happened? Did that cop hit something?"
Director D. J. Caruso needed to assemble those scenes better.
There was some really cool stuff in this film too.
I don't want to give too much away, but some of the scenes were very well choreographed.
Another thing I appreciate, something many film-makers are afraid to do, is that this movie doesn't "dumb things down" for you. If you aren't paying attention you will miss important, subtle little things and you won't know what's going on.
I always admire movies that aren't afraid to assume that I am intelligent.
I enjoy movies a lot more when I hear some 13-year-old punk behind me going, "I don't get it."
Ha ha, stupid punk. Go to college.
Eagle Eye.
Good, good movie.
Great for a date too.
-MovieKnight
I'm a big Shia LaBeouf fan, and I loved him in this movie.
I'm also a Michelle Monaghan (Mission Impossible: III, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) fan, so this was a movie I'm surprised I didn't see sooner. She's a beautiful actress who still looks like an actual human being, instead of something plastic.
My only complaint is that sometimes the action scenes, namely the car pile-ups, were played out in ways that left me unable to follow them. I'd watch LaBeouf plow through a green light and cops behind him would suddenly start crashing and I'm sitting there going, "What happened? Did that cop hit something?"
Director D. J. Caruso needed to assemble those scenes better.
There was some really cool stuff in this film too.
I don't want to give too much away, but some of the scenes were very well choreographed.
Another thing I appreciate, something many film-makers are afraid to do, is that this movie doesn't "dumb things down" for you. If you aren't paying attention you will miss important, subtle little things and you won't know what's going on.
I always admire movies that aren't afraid to assume that I am intelligent.
I enjoy movies a lot more when I hear some 13-year-old punk behind me going, "I don't get it."
Ha ha, stupid punk. Go to college.
Eagle Eye.
Good, good movie.
Great for a date too.
-MovieKnight
War, Inc.---Not for Duff Fans.
Not totally unrealistic (unfortunately), War, Inc. was a very entertaining movie.
The plot is simple enough, easy to follow, and sometimes predictable.
The acting was great, esp John Cusack. He makes a surprisingly good action star.
Strange though. At one point Cusack pukes after watching Hillary Duff dance, and that almost turned me off to the extremely hot pop-music star.
Almost.
But, Marisa Tomei's performance was hardly up to par with what I expected from the Oscar-winner. She's apparently a very loud kisser too.
However, Tomei is still extremely hot for an almost-44-year-old...
Dan Aykroyd and Joan Cusack were very funny. They were minor leads, and garnished the film with hilarity.
Towards the very beginning Aykroyd has a wire-meeting with John Cusack's character, Brand Hauser, while Aykroyd is taking a crap.
I can't wait to see Aykroyd in Ghostbusters 3...
(Google that!)
Overall, I liked this movie. Having followed politics, knowing something about the shituation in Iraq, and knowing how big businesses think, I found this movie very true-to-life, accurate, witty, and entertaining.
If you are a Hillary Duff fan you won't like this movie though, cause you won't get any of the jokes.
Although, I confess, for years I thought Hillary Duff was Hannah Montana... so what do I know?
-MovieKnight
The plot is simple enough, easy to follow, and sometimes predictable.
The acting was great, esp John Cusack. He makes a surprisingly good action star.
Strange though. At one point Cusack pukes after watching Hillary Duff dance, and that almost turned me off to the extremely hot pop-music star.
Almost.
But, Marisa Tomei's performance was hardly up to par with what I expected from the Oscar-winner. She's apparently a very loud kisser too.
However, Tomei is still extremely hot for an almost-44-year-old...
Dan Aykroyd and Joan Cusack were very funny. They were minor leads, and garnished the film with hilarity.
Towards the very beginning Aykroyd has a wire-meeting with John Cusack's character, Brand Hauser, while Aykroyd is taking a crap.
I can't wait to see Aykroyd in Ghostbusters 3...
(Google that!)
Overall, I liked this movie. Having followed politics, knowing something about the shituation in Iraq, and knowing how big businesses think, I found this movie very true-to-life, accurate, witty, and entertaining.
If you are a Hillary Duff fan you won't like this movie though, cause you won't get any of the jokes.
Although, I confess, for years I thought Hillary Duff was Hannah Montana... so what do I know?
-MovieKnight
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Changeling---Oscar for Jolie?
I haven't had a movie move me like Changeling did in quite some time.
The acting was fantastic. Angelina Jolie breaks her slutty type-cast streak by playing the frustrated, desperate mother, Christine Collins who is fighting to get her REAL son back.
The movie also combines all of the elements that went into this dramatic story, all of the related side stories.
The whole thing was fascinating to watch.
And the set crews and costume designers effectively created a legitimate-looking 1928 California.
The whole time I'm watching this I'm wondering how much of this really happened, and, if it is all true, I feel so bad for the real Christine Collins, and what she must have went through.
Afterwards I did some homework, and the writer of Changeling used authentic writings, records, and recordings for his whole script. He said that 95% of the script for this film came from old records like that. Very genuine.
That's why it felt so real.
Go ahead, watch the trailers, they won't spoil anything.
Prediction:
Changeling will make quite a show at the Academy Awards.
-MovieKnight
The acting was fantastic. Angelina Jolie breaks her slutty type-cast streak by playing the frustrated, desperate mother, Christine Collins who is fighting to get her REAL son back.
The movie also combines all of the elements that went into this dramatic story, all of the related side stories.
The whole thing was fascinating to watch.
And the set crews and costume designers effectively created a legitimate-looking 1928 California.
The whole time I'm watching this I'm wondering how much of this really happened, and, if it is all true, I feel so bad for the real Christine Collins, and what she must have went through.
Afterwards I did some homework, and the writer of Changeling used authentic writings, records, and recordings for his whole script. He said that 95% of the script for this film came from old records like that. Very genuine.
That's why it felt so real.
Go ahead, watch the trailers, they won't spoil anything.
Prediction:
Changeling will make quite a show at the Academy Awards.
-MovieKnight
Friday, November 7, 2008
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans---Can't Wait...
Of Course this film hasn't come out yet.
I just wanna say how totally and completely happy I am that it's coming out at all.
Thank you Lakeshore International for answering all of my wishes and making this highly anticipated, fervently prayed-for, extremely looked-forward-to final trilogy installment.
The first one is one of my favorite films. I wondered what happened next, and how did the Lycans rise?
The second one disappointed, but showed me what kick-butt stuff happened next. It left me still wanting a prequel about how the Lycans rose...
This third one will be the prequel to end all prequels.
Rise of the Lycans seems to maintain the successful, fitting and dramatic directorial style of the first two.
It uses the same blues and dark shades that made the first two such feasts for the eyes.
And it's always difficult to make a prequel with stars who are 6 years older than they were when the first one came out.
It's also hard to resist the temptation to make the characters from the past have better technology than their descendants in the future...
Oh wait, no, that's stupid... who does THAT?
I wanna watch Quantum of Solace next week and then fast-forward to January 23rd so I can watch Underworld III.
And I want to go up to Rhona Mitra and tell her she's the new Robin Wright...
Random but true.
-MovieKnight
I just wanna say how totally and completely happy I am that it's coming out at all.
Thank you Lakeshore International for answering all of my wishes and making this highly anticipated, fervently prayed-for, extremely looked-forward-to final trilogy installment.
The first one is one of my favorite films. I wondered what happened next, and how did the Lycans rise?
The second one disappointed, but showed me what kick-butt stuff happened next. It left me still wanting a prequel about how the Lycans rose...
This third one will be the prequel to end all prequels.
Rise of the Lycans seems to maintain the successful, fitting and dramatic directorial style of the first two.
It uses the same blues and dark shades that made the first two such feasts for the eyes.
And it's always difficult to make a prequel with stars who are 6 years older than they were when the first one came out.
It's also hard to resist the temptation to make the characters from the past have better technology than their descendants in the future...
Oh wait, no, that's stupid... who does THAT?
I wanna watch Quantum of Solace next week and then fast-forward to January 23rd so I can watch Underworld III.
And I want to go up to Rhona Mitra and tell her she's the new Robin Wright...
Random but true.
-MovieKnight
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