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My grandparent's thought It's Complicated was really funny, if it's ever on HBO or something I'll watch it but I probably wouldn't rent it.
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Baby
Directed by Juwan Chung.
2008. Rated R, 100 minutes.
Cast:
David Huynh
Ron Yuan
Tzi Ma
Christina Stacey
Peter Cho
Feodor Chin
Kenneth Choi
After seven long years in prison, Baby (Huynh) is pushed back onto the dangerous streets of LA. They keep saying prison, but it has to be juvie. Our little antihero is only 18, after all. Let’s move on. After a brief stint as a dishwasher and unable to get over the sting of his old flame not waiting for him and generally not seeing eye to eye with his dad, Baby finds himself again involved in a life of crime. Let’s stop right there, for a moment. Yes, you’re math is right. Both parties of the couple in question were 11 when he went in. More on that, later.
It wants to be an Asian-American Boyz N the Hood. It even says so right on the DVD cover. Sadly, it fails for several reasons. First, his age is supposed to make the movie more powerful but really just makes it goofy. Even if you’ve been locked up so long you’re social growth has been stunted beyond repair, you still shouldn’t say “I thought you were gonna wait for me” with a straight face to a girl who was 11 the last time you saw her. Next, he’s a dull character, seemingly incapable of independent though and bereft of charisma. There is nothing drawing us to him.
The biggest problem, however, is the story barrels toward its inevitable conclusion with complete hoplessness. The kid doesn’t seem to stand a chance and there never appears to be light at the end of the tunnel. What makes Boyz N the Hood great, what makes it stick with you is we can see a way out of the despair for characters we’ve become vested. Since we can see that hope, it hurts us when not only is it snuffed out, but we recognize and feel helpless to stop the cycle we see perpetuating itself. Here, the cycle is the same but we care less because Baby never really seems to be on the way up. He’s the kid we were right about, all along. Imagine if, instead of us spending plenty of time with Ricky and Tre, we were entirely focused on Doughboy. This is what Baby does.
MY SCORE: 5/10Comment
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Salt
Directed by Phillip Noyce.
2010. Rated PG-13, 100 minutes.
Cast:
Angelina Jolie
Liev Schreiber
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Daniel Olbrychski
August Dehl
Hunt Block
Daniel Pearce
Olek Krupa
Andre Braugher
Evelyn Salt (Jolie) works for the CIA and has endured a lot for the good ol’ USA. Still, one day a man claiming to be a Russian defector shows up at the agency and says that she is really a spy from his homeland. Naturally, more and more doubt is cast upon her allegiance to the stars and stripes as parts of the man’s story seem to check out. Of course, through much mayhem and Houdini-like escapability, she gets away from the law and goes on the run. The question is whether she’s trying to clear her name or commit the assassination the defector says she will.
This is a movie filled with breath-taking stunts, brutal fight scenes and narrow escapes. There’s hardly any “down time” but what little there is perfectly sets up what’s to come. It also gives us just enough insight on the title character for us to care. No, we’re not talking grade A character development, but it’s more than sufficient for an action flick.
Helping all this out are a few very deftly performed sleight of hands that keep us guessing what’s really going on. Eventually, it’s not enough, but only because the number of possibilities is limited, at best. There simply aren’t enough characters to keep the mystery going. To keep the ruse up as long as it does is remarkable.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t compliment the star. This is not a role which will get Angelina Jolie nominated for an Oscar. However, it’s a role she plays perfectly. It helps that the role is tailor-made for her. I’m hard pressed to think of another woman who could do the role justice with both her acting and athleticism. Uma Thurman? Milla Jovovich? Lucy Liu? Kelly Hu? I say maybe on all of them, but no doubt on Jolie.
In the end, Salt is very much a female version of The Bourne Identity. You can knock it for that and for the ending blatantly setting us up for a sequel. And frankly, the program said to be causing all this trouble is a flimsy foundation for a story. All of this would drag down a lesser movie. I didn’t mind any of them because they’re all minor and the movie is slick enough to overcome its faults. The overall ride is just flat out fun, even though it is undeniably preposterous. Question my judgment, if you must, but I loved every second of it. Why yes, I am anxiously awaiting that sequel.
The Opposite View: Rex Reed, New York Observer
What the Internet Says: 6.6/10 on imdb.com, 61% on rottentomatoes.com, 65/100
MY SCORE: 8/10Comment
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How do you watch most of these movies dell? Netflix?Comment
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For some reason this made meOriginally posted by dell71
ANYWAY, I'm not sold on Salt.
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Indeed, it does.Originally posted by jeffersondavis
Off topic: jeffersondavis screen name, Lincoln avatar...hmmm...interesting.Comment
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Have you seen Pan's Labyrinth?Comment
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Why yes, I have...(looking through flash drive to find the saved review)...Ah, here it is (quickly updating imdb score)...
Pan's Labyrinth
Rated R, 119 minutes.
Directed by Guillermo Del Toro. Starring Ivana Baquero, Sergi Lopez, Maribel Verdu, Doug Jones.
Plot: In war-torn Spain in 1944, Ofelia (Baquero) goes with her mom, Carmen (Ariadna Gil), who is in the late stages of a troubled pregnancy and joining her husband, the sadistic Army officer Cpt. Vidal (Lopez) on the base he commands. Once there, Ofelia discovers the fantasy world within a nearby rock-labyrinth where she is believed to be a long-lost princess.
The Good: Though it's a fairy tale, it's hardly for kids. Alongside the Disney-style story-line we get a brutal war movie. It intertwines the dual plots very well so neither side gets neglected. The visuals alternate nicely between the fantastical & the brutal. Baquero, our young leading actress, fares very well. She didn't annoy me, which is a really good sign for a child actress. On top of that, she actually managed to convey emotion with facial expressions as opposed to that creepy blank stare or blood-curdling scream we usually get from Dakota Fanning. Sergi Lopez plays a nice villain. His Cpt. Vidal not only seems to delight in torturing and killing people but lets it be known that dying in battle is the only way to go. Maribel Verdu (Mercedes) gives perhaps the best performance as her character plays both sides of the fence. I must also mention Doug Jones who pulls creature double-duty as Pan, the faun & the unforgettable Pale Man. Still, the star here is director Guillermo Del Toro who deftly weaves the two main plotlines & various sub-plots seamlessly.
The Bad: It's a bit too derivative. For the fantasy side of the story it seems to have taken Alice in Wonderland & amped up the tension factor. The war side of the story has been done before, as well. To it's credit, the two have never been done together, so this flaw is forgivable. The ending is telegraphed just a bit. Again, this is forgivable because it still works. Finally, the special fx work really well for the most part but there are a few instances where they're off just enough to notice. A little bit bigger budget would probably have helped. But hey it won 3 Oscars, including one for Best Achievement in Art Direction, so what do I know?
The Ugly: El Capitan sewing his own face back together. Yeesh!
Recommendation: If you're a fan of fantasy movies, then this is a must-see. It's certainly a fairy-tale for people too old for fairy-tales. If your kids can handle the blood & guts parts then they probably would like it as well but that's for you to decide, it is rated 'R' after all. A warning to all subtitleophobes, its in Spanish. I'm not sure if there's an English track on the DVD. Unless I'm watching with someone else, I don't even bother checking.
The Internet Says: 8.4/10 on imdb.com (#70 on top 250 of all-time as of 9/17/10), 96% on the tomatometer.*
MY SCORE: 9/10Comment
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Ah ha, I saw it when it first came out when I was about 15. I liked it then, but I can appreciate it more now.
I loved the 2 major story lines, they were in some weird way independent of one another but they worked together perfectly. If there was no war going on then Pan still would've completed her task, and if Pan wasn't there the "rebels" still would've won the war. It's literally 2 independent things and the director made them seem dependent on one another.
It's funny to see. Pan is no human princess that is trapped, she means nothing to the rebels who don't even know she exist. And at the same the war outside of her bedroom is the least of her concerns. Both sides are running around oblivious to the other side. Mercedes is really the only thing that bring the 2 together.
My favorite part is at the end when the captain tells them to tell his son the time that he died and Mercedes says "No, he won't eve know your name" and then shoots him. I lul'dComment
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you seen Romper Stomper, Dell?
ducka ducka duckaComment
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Gamer
Directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor.
2009. Rated R, 95 minutes.
Cast:
Gerard Butler
Logan Lerman
Michael C. Hall
Amber Valetta
Chris “Ludacris” Bridges
Terry Crews
Kyra Sedgwick
Kable (Butler) is a death row inmate but has achieved worldwide fame as a character in a real live first-person shooter. You see, in this version of the future, gaming has truly gone next level. Many people pay to control others, or get paid to be controlled, in video games using real people as characters in a game that looks like “The Sims”, only with actual human beings.
As far as that shooting game goes, only death row inmates are used for that and that is where Kable comes in. He has survived longer than anyone else. If he survives one more battle, he will earn his freedom from both the game and prison. However, it’s not entirely up to him. During gameplay, he is controlled by Simon (Lerman), who has become a superstar in his own right due to his gaming prowess.
The premise is intriguing as all get-out. It is especially so for those of us who remember the genesis of home video-gaming and wonder just how far it can go. We get a movie that’s entertaining in the way only non-stop remorseless and graphic violence can be. It’s also visually stimulating because it mixes that violence with collages of odd behavior and nude or scantily clad bodies stitched together by quick cuts. Unfortunately, the story never mines the potential depths of its subject, preferring instead to stick with the tried and true approach of having a megalomaniacal villain try to take over the world. The effect is we can have fun watching it, but may have trouble remembering anything about it once we hit the “open” button on our DVD player. Well, memories of the several dance moments may linger for a bit, but that’s not a good thing.
The Opposite View: Vadim Rizov, LA Weekly
What the Internet Says: 5.7/10 on imdb.com (9/11/10), 30% on rottentomatoes.com, 27/100 on metacritic.com
MY SCORE: 5.5/10Comment
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