Sigh. It’s always disappointing when you see a film you were expecting to like and it ended up not being what you expected. It really seems they were trying hard to create a sequel to a film that had as complete an ending that you could think of. The result is a film that throws …
2009 Reviews
The busy weekend involving both my birthday and Easter has prevented me from posting my thought on this film until now. At the very least I can say that this was a funny film, even though it was clear that Seth Rogen’s character was a bi-polar sociopath and you technically shouldn’t be laughing at the …
I have to admit that Adventureland was not the type of film that I was expecting, since I found that it was more character-driven than comedy driven. However, I opened up to the film and found it a decent coming of age story. There are still fun bits within the film, usually courtesy of Bill …
One of the selling points for this film was how it was shown using “InTru3D.” As such, it was a must for me to see this film in 3D. I have to say that I was impressed. I think it was partially because it was a CGI movie, but the 3D was really seamless and …
That haunted house film is probably one of the hardest subgenre of horror to do. How do you portray ghosts on film without it being cheesy? This film was a mixed bag for me. I found that I was very passive for most of the film, with scenes that were supposed to be scary getting …
For Paul Rudd’s second leading role, he teams up with fellow Judd Apatow alumnus Jason Segel for this buddy comedy about male bonding. It seems that male-bonding or “bromance” is in these days (complete with an MTV reality show), so it was only natural that a movie be made. That said, the film would have …
When a film has the Disney label, you know that it is meant for families, so even though this film is more action-packed than the original Escape to Witch Mountain, it is still a fun family film. There isn’t really much else that I can say about the film. So, I will just end by …
After about two decades in development hell, a film adaptation of the acclaimed graphic novel Watchmen finally comes out. I found the movie to have a bit of a slow start, with the bulk of the first half dealing with the character’s back stories. However, once the action picked up in the second half, I …
While I have to wait until Tuesday to see Watchmen, I decided to fill my time yesterday to see this film about a cancer-ridden man that decides to go onto a cross-Canada road trip. The fact that the film stars Joshua Jackson raises the profile of this film a bit, since the Vancouver-born Jackson is …
Today I sat through the gruelling experience of watching the entire four hour and seventeen minutes of Steven Soderbergh’s two-part biopic about Ernesto “Che” Guevara. Each part of the film tells different stories. The first part deals with the Cuban revolution, while the second part deals with Che’s futile coupe in Bolivia. I have to …
This Canada/UK co-production was the closing film at last year’s Toronto Film Festival. The film tells the true story about a group of Scottish youths that break into Westminster Abbey to steal back the Stone of Destiny and reignite Scottish national pride. It was overall a nice little film. I have some Scottish/Irish background, so …
It’s almost worse to see a movie that you thought was so-so than a movie you didn’t like. If you do not like a movie, there would be no positive aspects to look at. For a film like this one, there were moments when it looked like the film would be better than it was. …
I can definitely say that this film has healed the wounds caused my Rob Zombies Halloween remake from last year. This film features an original story, which uses elements from the original films, instead of being a straight remake. As such, this allows the film to be its own entity instead of having to be …
After directing two feature-length stop-motion films under the production of Tim Burton (those being The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach), Henry Selick branches out on his own for Coraline. Of course, even though Burton is not involved with the film, you can feel a Burtonesque influence throughout. I thought the film …
The critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes for this film (which actually went from the 6% Fresh I reported yesterday to 14% Fresh) say that “The Pink Panther 2 is little more than a series of lame slapstick gags.” And to that I reply “So?” It really confounds me when people expect a comedy to be …
Apparently the North American release of this film was delayed so long that it was released is pretty much every other country, but here. I also found out that this version of Taken is an edited PG-13 version, instead of the more violent version that was released overseas. That said, I still found the film …
Paul Blart: Mall Cop is a film with a ridiculous promise and it’s aware of it. While, I have to admit that the opening of the film was a bit iffy, once the main plot got going, I started having fun with the film. It was alright film for a January comedy and I can …
You can almost call The Class a fictional documentary. With the exception of characters created specifically for the dramatic arc of the story, everyone in this film about life in a Paris classroom are real kids. Even the teacher is essentially playing himself. I found this film, which for the most part consists of classroom …
This film will probably be the final film in my 2008 catch-up and I was spurred to it after Kate Winslet won Best Actress for it at the Golden Globes. I did not know what to think of the the film at first. I did agree that Winslet’s performance was good, but I didn’t get …
The catching up on late-2008 films continues with this film, which I saw last night. If it is true that this film will be Clint Eastwood’s final acting role, I can say that he went out with a bang. In this film, Eastwood channels the spirit of Dirty Harry as a grumpy, old racist man, …
This was the final film that I wanted to see before compiling my top ten lists next week, and I am glad that I saw it. This film, which is based on a play, looks back to the famous series of interviews between Richard Nixon and the British journalist David Frost. The chemistry between Frank …
As we enter the new year, I am doing some catching up a few remaining 2008 films, mostly the ones that look to do well come awards season. One of the most notable of these films is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It’s interesting that this romantic fantasy was directed by David Fincher, who …