Reviews

Last week when my first scheduled interview for my book fell through while sitting waiting for them to call, I did what I often do when I am a little down. I went to the movies and munched on popcorn and soda (Coke, of course).

So I saw The International with Clive Owen. It was a good thriller. I always liked Clive. He has a regular guy look, but with a really cool British accent.

There was one amazing line in the movie that I can’t get out of my kid. One of the other characters was being interrogated by Clive (an Interpol investigator). Owen wanted answers on the plot he was investigating when the other person said:

There is a difference between truth and fiction. Fiction has to make sense.

Wow! I loved that. I thought that was so true when it comes to life. It immediately resounded with me because it was also a great summary of my book.

Real life isn’t squeaky clean and fun, like stories in movies. It’s much messier and more confusing.

Friday is for fun, so let’s have some.

This weekend I stole away and saw Taken with Liam Neeson. I really like it. It was very good and full of action, which is always good.

I have to warn you. It deals with the very heavy subject matter of trafficking woman. In the movie, the main character’s daughter get’s kidnapped while on vacation in Europe. Let’s just say, he takes matters into his own hands.

I like Neeson. I always have. In this movie he is extraordinarily skinny. I know it fits the character, but it looks painful. He is a very tall guy (6’3″ I think). But he was so skinny in this film, he didn’t look tall at all.

Taken took me for a ride for 90 minutes.

I saw the new Bond film Quantum of Solace yesterday. It was very good.

Action, action, action. That’s what Daniel Craig brings to the character of James Bond. I see it take form in two ways in the way he plays the role.

He makes Bond somewhat emo. That is to say, there is some pain and unresolved internal pain that helps form his approach to finding truth. Craig’s face even seems to communicate pain very well. It is love lost, in this case (and possibly an isolated upbringing contributes too). It helps to explain why he is so devoted to his craft. In many ways, he is very much a Bond that grew up in Generation X. So bond has feelings. It helps form the basis of his sense of honor and loyalty and explains why he can kill and pursue a goal so singularly and without conscience (if it is a threat to the object of his love).

He is brutal. This probably build on his whole emo thing. Craig plays such physical and savage rendition of Bond. I really like this take on the character (kind of like the recent take on Batman too). He is a licensed killer, after all. Someone who can kill so efficiently has to be off-center a little.

Quantum of Solace is a huge success.

Somehow on our date Saturday I tricked my wife into seeing Tropic Thunder. Usually I have to go see some romantic comedy, but this time I won. And boy did I win.

The only thing I can really say is that I laughed until my stomach was killing me. This movie may have been one of the funniest films I have ever seen.

It totally pokes fun at all the pretense and shallowness of Hollywood and all its players. It was a relief to see some popular actors make fun of their own profession.

Robert Downey, Jr. was absolutely brilliant.

Tom Cruise (yes, he was in it) was amazing.

BE WARNED: don’t see it if you are easily offended. The language was a little much and it was very politically incorrect (which is also why I can’t put a favorite quote here/I like to keep this site PG13).

Tropic Thunder caught me by storm and rumbled my funny bone for two hours.

I saw Batman: The Dark Knight last night.

I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, but it was amazing. I
was nervous going in because the media was hyping it up. That always
makes me cautious. If the media hails something, whatever the case or
arena, I usually don’t connect with it.

I love the really
ethereal and dark (not to be funny) take on the mythology. It makes a
lot of sense for the character that is Batman.

Christian Bale does a spectacular job playing Batman. I have always liked him ever since I saw him in Empire of the Sun.

Heath
Ledger was also unbelievable as the Joker.  The media was also hyping
his performance, which made me cautious again. He was so meniacle and
evil that all I could do at certain points in the movie was to let out
a little nervous laugh.

So brighten up your day and go see The Dark Knight.

I remember when I saw the first Hellboy. It looked kind of ‘B’-rate and I didn’t expect much. I was pleasantly surprised.

I saw Hellboy II this weekend. It was so good. I loved it.

The effects were great. The guy who did Pan’s Labyrinth (which I hated but the effects were amazing) directed it. The story was good. And it was filled with that hilarious Hellboy humor.

Ron Perlman plays the role well. Even though he is technically a B-actor, I always liked him.

So go to Hell[boy] and see it!

I saw two movies this weekend. First, my wife and I went on a date and saw Get Smart. It was hilarious! We laughed the whole time.

I just love Steve Carell. He is a great comedic actor. Anne Hathaway did well too. Somewhere along the way after doing The Princess Diaries she seems to have tuned into a woman.

I grew up watching reruns of the show and they did it justice. I highly recommend this movie.

Get Smart is a wise choice for a date night.


I also saw The Incredible Hulk. They did not really market this one as a sequel to the last one they made a few years back. So I was a little confused as to the timeline.

But it was good. The effects were intense as were the action sequences. I would say for a movie about superheroes, the story and emotion were pretty high-concept.

I think Edward Norton is a great actor (loved him in American History X and Fight Club). He did a great job of playing Bruce Banner as a man who is caught in a dilemma and wants to go back to the way things were. Liv Tyler did well too. She looked different in this movie. She looked good, but maybe just more mature than I am used to seeing her.

Hulk was a smash!

We took all the kids to see Kung Fu Panda this weekend. It was awesome!

Jack Black did the voice for the the star, Po (the panda), and he was amazing. The movie was absolutely hilarious. Jack was perfect for the role of a lazy, fat, nervous eater. Me and the dad behind me couldn’t stop laughing.

It was a great story in the line of the antihero with a little anxiety and quirkiness for good measure. It showed that you don’t have to be perfect to accomplish something great.

My kids loved it too. Even the baby was good in the theater. If you have kids I definitely recommend this movie as a family outting. My favorite line in the movie was:

“Squadoosh!”-Po said it as he laid the smack down on the villain in the end of the film.

But something about going to the movies with my kids always seems to bother me. It’s that all the things before the movie (the trailers, commercials, mockumentaries etc.) always have something inappropriate for kids in them. This time there was a commercial for the upcoming movie Get Smart(which looks hilarious) that doubled as a ‘please turn off your cell phones’ announcement. In it one of the characters said ‘damn!’

Am I knit picking? I hate this stuff. It’s not like the theater doesn’t know kids are going to be there. What do you do with a 6, 4, and 1 year old? Do you not go to the movies? Do you talk to the manager?