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'Out of Gas' picspam.
The lost 'Firefly' episode. Actually, more like the movie - most of the episodes don't follow this format.
O captain, my captain.
New Tonks & Lupin picture from Deathly Hallows. ;(
'Unstoppable' trailer, in which Chris Pine is shirtless and married to Hannah from 'Veronica Mars', who looks waaaaay too young to have a kid that age. Looks predictable, but hey, Chris Pine. And, to a lesser extent, Rosario Dawson and Denzel Washington. I'll watch it.
Movie review catch-up:
17 July 2010
The Invention of Lying
This could have been a good movie. The premise starts off strong, pulling some funny moments from the concept of a world where no-one can lie and making use of Ricky Gervais's slightly oily everyman quality. It makes some weird jumps, though, in order to fit the romance, and fails to really capitalise on what it could have been. There's also the fact that all the characters who only tell the truth are incredibly similar, as though it's lying that gives us our personality, or if you can only tell the truth you have to constantly blurt out everything you're thinking. The religious stuff is intriguing in a way, and I enjoyed that subversive side of the movie. Ultimately, the movie fails to meet its promise.
2 out of 5
18 July 2010
Collateral
See, now that's how you make use of Tom Cruise. He is a shark in this movie, a killing machine, all that creepy charisma channelled into a single-minded assassin whose interplay with Jamie Foxx's underachieving taxi driver are gripping and whose kills are effortlessly cool and scary. This is a very clever, gorgeously shot movie - perfect use of Los Angeles at night as a backdrop - and it keeps you on the edge of your seat almost throughout. Mark Ruffalo is fantastic as the only cop who doesn't think it's Jamie Foxx doing the killing, and the movie is mostly very well-paced. I found that it was the Jada Pinkett-Smith storyline that really let the movie down, though. It stretches plausibility to believe that she would take so much interest in Foxx's taxi driver, and I found her really unconvincing. I also felt that there might have been one too many kills in the middle, that the movie went on too long and made us wonder, for a while, where we were headed as the audience.
3.5 out of 5
28 July 2010
Adventures in Babysitting
From the opening moments of this film - Elisabeth Shue singing her heart out to an 80's pop song while getting dressed up, flinging her magnificent 80's big hair around and kicking her leg-warmered feet - I knew that I had to watch this movie. It's the kind of movie I love. Having said that, she has to be the most irresponsible babysitter in the world. Seriously. This movie should be called Adventures in the Dereliction of Duty of Care. I still enjoyed it a lot - I love that 80's kids' movies and teen movies actually put their
protagonists in real peril, and the kids in this movie were against carjackers, thugs, and - worst of all - their parents finding out what they've been up to. I liked the unrequited crush storyline, even if I don't like the Anthony Rapp (!!!) storyline or that awful centrefold business. The strange shoved-in love interest didn't appeal either - I was kinda hoping she would end up wanting to date the bad boy carjacker who helped them out. I LOVE the little girl who was obsessed with Thor, though, that was awesome.
Also, surprise!Bradley Whitford is, as always, surprising.
3 out of 5
I watched Newsies tonight, but I'll review it hopefully tomorrow so my posts aren't too badly out of order.
Cheese it, it's the bulls!
Green Queen
The lost 'Firefly' episode. Actually, more like the movie - most of the episodes don't follow this format.
O captain, my captain.
New Tonks & Lupin picture from Deathly Hallows. ;(
'Unstoppable' trailer, in which Chris Pine is shirtless and married to Hannah from 'Veronica Mars', who looks waaaaay too young to have a kid that age. Looks predictable, but hey, Chris Pine. And, to a lesser extent, Rosario Dawson and Denzel Washington. I'll watch it.
Movie review catch-up:
17 July 2010
The Invention of Lying
This could have been a good movie. The premise starts off strong, pulling some funny moments from the concept of a world where no-one can lie and making use of Ricky Gervais's slightly oily everyman quality. It makes some weird jumps, though, in order to fit the romance, and fails to really capitalise on what it could have been. There's also the fact that all the characters who only tell the truth are incredibly similar, as though it's lying that gives us our personality, or if you can only tell the truth you have to constantly blurt out everything you're thinking. The religious stuff is intriguing in a way, and I enjoyed that subversive side of the movie. Ultimately, the movie fails to meet its promise.
2 out of 5
18 July 2010
Collateral
See, now that's how you make use of Tom Cruise. He is a shark in this movie, a killing machine, all that creepy charisma channelled into a single-minded assassin whose interplay with Jamie Foxx's underachieving taxi driver are gripping and whose kills are effortlessly cool and scary. This is a very clever, gorgeously shot movie - perfect use of Los Angeles at night as a backdrop - and it keeps you on the edge of your seat almost throughout. Mark Ruffalo is fantastic as the only cop who doesn't think it's Jamie Foxx doing the killing, and the movie is mostly very well-paced. I found that it was the Jada Pinkett-Smith storyline that really let the movie down, though. It stretches plausibility to believe that she would take so much interest in Foxx's taxi driver, and I found her really unconvincing. I also felt that there might have been one too many kills in the middle, that the movie went on too long and made us wonder, for a while, where we were headed as the audience.
3.5 out of 5
28 July 2010
Adventures in Babysitting
From the opening moments of this film - Elisabeth Shue singing her heart out to an 80's pop song while getting dressed up, flinging her magnificent 80's big hair around and kicking her leg-warmered feet - I knew that I had to watch this movie. It's the kind of movie I love. Having said that, she has to be the most irresponsible babysitter in the world. Seriously. This movie should be called Adventures in the Dereliction of Duty of Care. I still enjoyed it a lot - I love that 80's kids' movies and teen movies actually put their
protagonists in real peril, and the kids in this movie were against carjackers, thugs, and - worst of all - their parents finding out what they've been up to. I liked the unrequited crush storyline, even if I don't like the Anthony Rapp (!!!) storyline or that awful centrefold business. The strange shoved-in love interest didn't appeal either - I was kinda hoping she would end up wanting to date the bad boy carjacker who helped them out. I LOVE the little girl who was obsessed with Thor, though, that was awesome.
Also, surprise!Bradley Whitford is, as always, surprising.
3 out of 5
I watched Newsies tonight, but I'll review it hopefully tomorrow so my posts aren't too badly out of order.
Cheese it, it's the bulls!
Green Queen
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From:
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Now you have true insight into why I am the way I am. I watched that movie probably a hundred times as a kid.
NOBODY LEAVES THIS PLACE WITHOUT SINGIN' THE BLUES.
I don't remember a whole lot about Collateral anymore, but I do remember liking it, and thinking it was comparable to a book that Dean Koontz would write, which, for me, is a huge compliment.
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At least they could have given her purple hair.
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I also really liked Collateral despite my dislike of most of the cast (Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx and Jada Pinkett Smith) (most of the time I can't stand ALL of them). But doesn't it take place in downtown LA? Mark Ruffalo can do no wrong. He's wonderful in everything. Have you seen The Brothers Bloom yet? (Are you seeing a trend in this comment?)
From:
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I don't know if The Brothers Bloom ever even came out here. I remember being excited when everyone was talking about it, and then...nothing. If it's out on DVD I'll track it down.
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From:
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