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Okay, here are the reviews I forgot to post last year because I am a dork. Fortunately there's only 5, which is less than I thought.
13-1-2009
Frost/Nixon
I saw this way back last January, so forgive me if this isn't much of a review. I remember thinking the cast was really good - Langella looks nothing like Nixon but got the mannerisms down really well. I thought it was well-made, and well-paced - before I saw it I thought it would just be a talkfest, but the plot kept moving and there were clearly some liberties taken. The final interview was incredibly powerful. That's all I remember.
3.5 out of 5
15-6-2009
Mysterious Skin
This one stuck with me a lot more. It was a pretty upsetting film dealing with pretty upsetting material, but it had a lot of emotional power. The acting from Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Brady Corbett was very, very good, both of them milking their roles for all they were worth. JGL was particularly amazing. It had an interestingly dreamlike quality in parts, and its handling of issues of post-traumatic stress was interesting. It was also shot really well. I thought the supporting cast let the film down a bit, and it dragged in places, but I thought it was very good.
4 out of 5
11-7-2009
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
This was when I was going through my phase of having to see every single Chris Pine movie, and of course it was terrible (despite having Chris and Callum Blue as her suitors - spoilt for choice but she still couldn't charm her way out of a paper bag in this movie.) Poor old John Rhys-Davies does some real crap. CHRIS PINE ON A GIANT BICYCLE was about the best thing in this movie. It was filled with so much damn cheese. Still, at least little girls could do worse than Anne Hathaway in this as a role model.
2 out of 5
The Transporter
Look, this wasn't great, but I really enjoyed watching it. I do love Jason Statham, he has a lot of presence and awesome action star charisma. He had some wonky accent going on in this, but he drove cool cars, knocked people around brilliantly, and blew shit up. The girl was weirdly mesmerising, even though she seemed to barely be able to speak English - very twisty and slippery. Despite that, there was basically no plot to speak of. The scene that stuck with me the most was the escape from his house as it was shot up - very tense, well done. The cinematography was fantastic, and Luc Besson made full use of the gorgeous southern French locations.
3 out of 5
1-8-2009
Horton Hears a Who
This movie was surprisingly good - in fact, it was so good that when I caught it later this year on TV, I watched through the whole thing again. It's funny, the animation is sweet, and they flesh out the Seuss story just enough to make it more of a story than the kind of visual poems he wrote, without taking the essential Seussiness out of it. Some of the jokes were a bit silly (everyone singing 'Can't Fight This Feeling'?) but it was still filled with fun characters that kids would love. There was an absurdity to the humour that is something I always enjoy, it's my kind of humour (especially the weird little fuzzball Katie.) Definitely a must for parents who want something they can watch with their kids.
3.5 out of 5
And then the movies I've seen in the past week:
1-1-2010
The Princess and the Frog
I love Anika Noni Rose. She was totally ignored in 'Dreamgirls', but she was so terrific in 'The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency', and her voice is pitch perfect for this movie. It's nice to have someone in a Disney movie who you can tell is singing her own songs. I honestly think Tiana might be the only princess not to instantly irritate me. I love her ditzy friend Charlotte, too. I think kids would get a kick out of this movie, and the songs were pretty rocking (disregarding that Ne-Yo rubbish that ruined the credits.) The movie looked great, and the young woman who overcomes adversity and works hard was a good person to see - she wasn't just sitting around waiting for a guy to give her what she wanted. Prince Naveen was pretty funny, too, and the bad guy was genuinely scary - always a good sign.
The only major complaints I have is that there were a few moments that were derivative of other Disney movies, and that it felt a little overstuffed with characters. I could've done without a few of the sidekicks. Still, I found it enchanting and sweet enough that that didn't matter to me too much. It was just nice to see a real Disney movie, and I liked that the princess didn't suck. Neither did the prince, actually.
4 out of 5
3-1-2009
Herbie Rides Again
Yeah, this was pretty terrible, but it was on when I was watching lunch and I figured I'd finish it. I thought the old lady, played by Helen Hayes, was awesome. She kicked butt, fought the power, and kicked the grandkids out so she could have a date. I'd never seen Stefanie Powers before, but gods, she was gorgeous. Beautiful, killer smile. I liked her, she was very fiesty. She looks plastic and creepy now, of course. The male lead was boring, and the car had way less personality than in the other movies, and the plot was inane and stupid.
2 out of 5
Hannah Montana: The Movie
I was literally forced to watch this by my sister. The show is occasionally funny and has some good supporting characters, who were excised from the movie just to make it as boring and flat as humanly possible. If Emily Osment doesn't eclipse both her brother and Miley Cyrus in fame it'll be a shame, it was almost a different movie when she was there. Incredibly boring, deeply pointless, sickening, I played a game on my phone through most of the movie just so I didn't have to pay attention. Even the message was muddled. Move on with your life, but go back to your roots? Work hard? Be yourself? Who the fuck knows? All that said, some of it looked really good.
1.5 out of 5
I Love You, Man
Wow, I enjoyed this way too much. I absolutely rolled around on the couch laughing at Paul Rudd's awkward attempts to make friends, and the way he ran his mouth off when he got nervous. It was one of the cutest things I've ever seen. I love Paul Rudd. He and Jason Segel were so damned cute in this movie. They were funny characters, not just stereotypes, which was nice. It really was a bromantic comedy, followed all the rules - only having the fiancee as sidekick instead of the best friend actually worked surprisingly well. I didn't hate her. They should always do that, then maybe the women wouldn't be so painfully awful. Of course, then they also wouldn't have big enough roles. Sigh. I didn't find Jon Favreau funny at ALL, though, he creeped me out in this movie. It also suffered from the Frat Pack tendency to take a joke that is funny and stretch it out until it just isn't anymore. Still, I couldn't stop laughing at some of the gags, and I did think it was really, really cute. The face Paul Rudd makes to his female co-worker after dissing the irritating male co-worker should be mandatory for all Paul Rudd movies.
3.5 out of 5
I'm getting a kitten! I've been watching Supernatural, got through seasons 1 and 2 in a rewatch. Season 1 was so much about Sam, it's interesting how the show's turned around. Also: Boys. SO FUCKING PRETTY. GAH. Um, there was other news but I've forgotten it.
ETA: I remember! I got caught doing 20 over the speed limit with an expired licence. Fortunately the cop took pity on me and dropped my speeding down to the 0-15km bracket,
so I only lost two points, and I went and got a new licence today. It was temporarily very stressful, though.
Missing "We are as gods!", but still cool.
In my world everyone is a pony, and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies
Green Queen
13-1-2009
Frost/Nixon
I saw this way back last January, so forgive me if this isn't much of a review. I remember thinking the cast was really good - Langella looks nothing like Nixon but got the mannerisms down really well. I thought it was well-made, and well-paced - before I saw it I thought it would just be a talkfest, but the plot kept moving and there were clearly some liberties taken. The final interview was incredibly powerful. That's all I remember.
3.5 out of 5
15-6-2009
Mysterious Skin
This one stuck with me a lot more. It was a pretty upsetting film dealing with pretty upsetting material, but it had a lot of emotional power. The acting from Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Brady Corbett was very, very good, both of them milking their roles for all they were worth. JGL was particularly amazing. It had an interestingly dreamlike quality in parts, and its handling of issues of post-traumatic stress was interesting. It was also shot really well. I thought the supporting cast let the film down a bit, and it dragged in places, but I thought it was very good.
4 out of 5
11-7-2009
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
This was when I was going through my phase of having to see every single Chris Pine movie, and of course it was terrible (despite having Chris and Callum Blue as her suitors - spoilt for choice but she still couldn't charm her way out of a paper bag in this movie.) Poor old John Rhys-Davies does some real crap. CHRIS PINE ON A GIANT BICYCLE was about the best thing in this movie. It was filled with so much damn cheese. Still, at least little girls could do worse than Anne Hathaway in this as a role model.
2 out of 5
The Transporter
Look, this wasn't great, but I really enjoyed watching it. I do love Jason Statham, he has a lot of presence and awesome action star charisma. He had some wonky accent going on in this, but he drove cool cars, knocked people around brilliantly, and blew shit up. The girl was weirdly mesmerising, even though she seemed to barely be able to speak English - very twisty and slippery. Despite that, there was basically no plot to speak of. The scene that stuck with me the most was the escape from his house as it was shot up - very tense, well done. The cinematography was fantastic, and Luc Besson made full use of the gorgeous southern French locations.
3 out of 5
1-8-2009
Horton Hears a Who
This movie was surprisingly good - in fact, it was so good that when I caught it later this year on TV, I watched through the whole thing again. It's funny, the animation is sweet, and they flesh out the Seuss story just enough to make it more of a story than the kind of visual poems he wrote, without taking the essential Seussiness out of it. Some of the jokes were a bit silly (everyone singing 'Can't Fight This Feeling'?) but it was still filled with fun characters that kids would love. There was an absurdity to the humour that is something I always enjoy, it's my kind of humour (especially the weird little fuzzball Katie.) Definitely a must for parents who want something they can watch with their kids.
3.5 out of 5
And then the movies I've seen in the past week:
1-1-2010
The Princess and the Frog
I love Anika Noni Rose. She was totally ignored in 'Dreamgirls', but she was so terrific in 'The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency', and her voice is pitch perfect for this movie. It's nice to have someone in a Disney movie who you can tell is singing her own songs. I honestly think Tiana might be the only princess not to instantly irritate me. I love her ditzy friend Charlotte, too. I think kids would get a kick out of this movie, and the songs were pretty rocking (disregarding that Ne-Yo rubbish that ruined the credits.) The movie looked great, and the young woman who overcomes adversity and works hard was a good person to see - she wasn't just sitting around waiting for a guy to give her what she wanted. Prince Naveen was pretty funny, too, and the bad guy was genuinely scary - always a good sign.
The only major complaints I have is that there were a few moments that were derivative of other Disney movies, and that it felt a little overstuffed with characters. I could've done without a few of the sidekicks. Still, I found it enchanting and sweet enough that that didn't matter to me too much. It was just nice to see a real Disney movie, and I liked that the princess didn't suck. Neither did the prince, actually.
4 out of 5
3-1-2009
Herbie Rides Again
Yeah, this was pretty terrible, but it was on when I was watching lunch and I figured I'd finish it. I thought the old lady, played by Helen Hayes, was awesome. She kicked butt, fought the power, and kicked the grandkids out so she could have a date. I'd never seen Stefanie Powers before, but gods, she was gorgeous. Beautiful, killer smile. I liked her, she was very fiesty. She looks plastic and creepy now, of course. The male lead was boring, and the car had way less personality than in the other movies, and the plot was inane and stupid.
2 out of 5
Hannah Montana: The Movie
I was literally forced to watch this by my sister. The show is occasionally funny and has some good supporting characters, who were excised from the movie just to make it as boring and flat as humanly possible. If Emily Osment doesn't eclipse both her brother and Miley Cyrus in fame it'll be a shame, it was almost a different movie when she was there. Incredibly boring, deeply pointless, sickening, I played a game on my phone through most of the movie just so I didn't have to pay attention. Even the message was muddled. Move on with your life, but go back to your roots? Work hard? Be yourself? Who the fuck knows? All that said, some of it looked really good.
1.5 out of 5
I Love You, Man
Wow, I enjoyed this way too much. I absolutely rolled around on the couch laughing at Paul Rudd's awkward attempts to make friends, and the way he ran his mouth off when he got nervous. It was one of the cutest things I've ever seen. I love Paul Rudd. He and Jason Segel were so damned cute in this movie. They were funny characters, not just stereotypes, which was nice. It really was a bromantic comedy, followed all the rules - only having the fiancee as sidekick instead of the best friend actually worked surprisingly well. I didn't hate her. They should always do that, then maybe the women wouldn't be so painfully awful. Of course, then they also wouldn't have big enough roles. Sigh. I didn't find Jon Favreau funny at ALL, though, he creeped me out in this movie. It also suffered from the Frat Pack tendency to take a joke that is funny and stretch it out until it just isn't anymore. Still, I couldn't stop laughing at some of the gags, and I did think it was really, really cute. The face Paul Rudd makes to his female co-worker after dissing the irritating male co-worker should be mandatory for all Paul Rudd movies.
3.5 out of 5
I'm getting a kitten! I've been watching Supernatural, got through seasons 1 and 2 in a rewatch. Season 1 was so much about Sam, it's interesting how the show's turned around. Also: Boys. SO FUCKING PRETTY. GAH. Um, there was other news but I've forgotten it.
ETA: I remember! I got caught doing 20 over the speed limit with an expired licence. Fortunately the cop took pity on me and dropped my speeding down to the 0-15km bracket,
so I only lost two points, and I went and got a new licence today. It was temporarily very stressful, though.
Missing "We are as gods!", but still cool.
In my world everyone is a pony, and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies
Green Queen
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From:
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I love you, Man is AWESOME. It made me laugh so much. I just got the DVD and I need to watch it again. My love for Paul Rudd knows no bounds.
From:
no subject
I loved it, I laughed so hard. Paul Rudd is awesome. He will forever be Desmond Fellows to me, though. "The leftover gum?"
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I need to watch Debasement Tapes again, it's been ages.
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Also that icon will never not make me LOL.
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lovercompanion in the novels) as a princess' suitor is too weird to imagine.From:
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They should've just made a Mason movie, he's everybody's favourite anyway. And Ellen Muth is starting to look like she crawled out of a horror movie.
From:
no subject
That's an idea. They'd still have to work around not!Daisy, though - unless it was a prequel to DLM.
And yes, Ellen Muth is looking really scary now. *shakes head*
From:
no subject
Yeah, prequel!
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The adventures of a group of reapers in 1960s London would be beyond amazing. But then again, I'm obsessed with the era...
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I adored I Love You Man. I need to get it on DVD.
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YAY SUPERNATURAL.
YAY MOVIES.
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We have frighteningly similar opinions of The Transporter (right down to the wonky accent thing).
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