4 Movies in one day
I spent the entire fourth of July at the movies.
Here are some brief reviews:
1408
This movie was very creepy- and had Stephen King all over it! From the walls bleeding (in the fashion of The Shining) to the camera on a circular dolly around John Cusack’s and Samuel L Jackson’s first encounter (a la Carrie), there were telltale signs of the horror master’s craft. What a tale! The ever cynical Cusack is set out to debunk the horror mysteries of haunted hotel rooms. Never having seen a ghost before, he is skeptical to say the least. However, when he enters 1408 (on the 13th floor- since there is no 13th floor, and 1+4+0+8 = 13) he goes in with a cynical demeanor, but what happens in the room causes him to reconstruct his beliefs. The walls change, the thermostat goes up and down, windows slam shut, people who are not there appear out of nowhere; everything about the room is evil. Add to that the open wounds of losing a daughter to illness, and you have a roller-coaster ride of asking “what is real?” and “what is hallucination?” The most interesting part is when Cusack’s character sees his father. His father says “As I was, you are; as I am, you will be.” It really makes you wonder- it doesn’t say whether his father is dead or crazy, but he is clearly institutionalized in the vision. It leaves you wondering if the character will die or go crazy or… you make the call. This is definitely a film to check out, folks.
Evan Almighty
This movie is a good movie to take the kids to see. I believe that they may have thrown in a “hell” or “damn” or “piss” for rating values (since a rating of PG is the kiss of death, but a PG 13 gives a movie a better shot) but if you can allow your kids to see that, you will probably find it worth your while. Steve Carrell reprises his role as Evan from the Bruce Almighty film, but we see more “Michael Scott” and “Andy the 40 Year Old Virgin” than Evan. Wanda Sykes is not given a lot to work with, but it’s fun to watch and see not only the animals, but how many of “The Office” characters you can find in the crowd. The CGI of the flood was terrible, but at least they used the real animals instead of CGI animals. The flood was really nothing impressive either, and nobody is killed, keeping in the true spirit of “Family” movies. But it is a pretty good movie.
Knocked Up
This movie is NOT for the kids!!!!!!! It is filled with raunchy sophomoric humor, sidesplitting hilarious one-liners, and it actually shows the baby crowning towards the end of the movie. But it is so very funny. I thought that maybe they would be pushing the envelope with a two hour and fifteen minute comedy, but it has so many very funny scenes, you hardly notice the time passing by. This movie trumps so many other comedies which have done so much better- it is better than ALL of the American Pie movies on all levels- it is funnier, raunchier, and better in so many ways. SEE THIS MOVIE!
Ratatouille
This was a pretty good movie. It was no “Finding Nemo” but it was still cute. It follows the typical animated format- the underdog who dreams of better things, the unsupportive family, the hero who has to break away to achieve his destiny and the one who helps him do so. The characters were as well defined as any cartoon, but what was interesting about this particular one was the fact that the rats speak English to each other, as do the humans (while living in Paris, which was a little confusing.) But when the rats speak to the humans, the humans only hear squeaking. That was an interesting touch. It’s a cute movie for the family.
Coming next time:
Bobby
The Bourne Identity
The Bourne Supremacy
Derailed
The Good Shepherd
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The Woodsman
And coming soon:
The Bourne Ultimatum
A Mighty Heart
V for Vendetta
Dreamgirls
Superbad
Here are some brief reviews:
1408
This movie was very creepy- and had Stephen King all over it! From the walls bleeding (in the fashion of The Shining) to the camera on a circular dolly around John Cusack’s and Samuel L Jackson’s first encounter (a la Carrie), there were telltale signs of the horror master’s craft. What a tale! The ever cynical Cusack is set out to debunk the horror mysteries of haunted hotel rooms. Never having seen a ghost before, he is skeptical to say the least. However, when he enters 1408 (on the 13th floor- since there is no 13th floor, and 1+4+0+8 = 13) he goes in with a cynical demeanor, but what happens in the room causes him to reconstruct his beliefs. The walls change, the thermostat goes up and down, windows slam shut, people who are not there appear out of nowhere; everything about the room is evil. Add to that the open wounds of losing a daughter to illness, and you have a roller-coaster ride of asking “what is real?” and “what is hallucination?” The most interesting part is when Cusack’s character sees his father. His father says “As I was, you are; as I am, you will be.” It really makes you wonder- it doesn’t say whether his father is dead or crazy, but he is clearly institutionalized in the vision. It leaves you wondering if the character will die or go crazy or… you make the call. This is definitely a film to check out, folks.
Evan Almighty
This movie is a good movie to take the kids to see. I believe that they may have thrown in a “hell” or “damn” or “piss” for rating values (since a rating of PG is the kiss of death, but a PG 13 gives a movie a better shot) but if you can allow your kids to see that, you will probably find it worth your while. Steve Carrell reprises his role as Evan from the Bruce Almighty film, but we see more “Michael Scott” and “Andy the 40 Year Old Virgin” than Evan. Wanda Sykes is not given a lot to work with, but it’s fun to watch and see not only the animals, but how many of “The Office” characters you can find in the crowd. The CGI of the flood was terrible, but at least they used the real animals instead of CGI animals. The flood was really nothing impressive either, and nobody is killed, keeping in the true spirit of “Family” movies. But it is a pretty good movie.
Knocked Up
This movie is NOT for the kids!!!!!!! It is filled with raunchy sophomoric humor, sidesplitting hilarious one-liners, and it actually shows the baby crowning towards the end of the movie. But it is so very funny. I thought that maybe they would be pushing the envelope with a two hour and fifteen minute comedy, but it has so many very funny scenes, you hardly notice the time passing by. This movie trumps so many other comedies which have done so much better- it is better than ALL of the American Pie movies on all levels- it is funnier, raunchier, and better in so many ways. SEE THIS MOVIE!
Ratatouille
This was a pretty good movie. It was no “Finding Nemo” but it was still cute. It follows the typical animated format- the underdog who dreams of better things, the unsupportive family, the hero who has to break away to achieve his destiny and the one who helps him do so. The characters were as well defined as any cartoon, but what was interesting about this particular one was the fact that the rats speak English to each other, as do the humans (while living in Paris, which was a little confusing.) But when the rats speak to the humans, the humans only hear squeaking. That was an interesting touch. It’s a cute movie for the family.
Coming next time:
Bobby
The Bourne Identity
The Bourne Supremacy
Derailed
The Good Shepherd
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The Woodsman
And coming soon:
The Bourne Ultimatum
A Mighty Heart
V for Vendetta
Dreamgirls
Superbad
posted by Susan at
7/09/2007
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