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Film
Prophet's Movie Reviews Page 12
Jules et Jim (1962)
Starring Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner, Henri Serre, Vanna Urbino, Boris
Bassiak
Film Prophet's Review...
Director François Truffaut demonstrates how to be as vague as possible
while getting away with it, sort of. This is due to the vacillation and
unreasonable logic of whim decisions through a friendship and bond
between two males and a mutual affection for an unpredictable woman
named Catherine, Moreau. Jules, Werner, and Jim, Serre, meet in Paris
and become fast friends. They form an effortless friendship surrounding
the eccentric Catherine right away spanning for a couple of decades
starting before the First World War. The black and white French romance
shows how each three in every scene together adapt to no matter where
they are to suit the continual idyllic relationship as long as they can.
They choose an easy route of pleasure that may not lead into a happy
coming as consequences may happen. The movie commences with an over the
top cheerful and blissful beginning of a mood. Strangers become friends
too fast and they meet right away cheerfully in a rush. They don’t
rationalize anything and meander around carefree on their free time
which happens all the time in the first half. All intentions during this
time are irrational as they just happen with no reasoning. Although the
film’s title has the two lead men in it, the dominant character is the
female lead, Catherine. Catherine's affairs are indistinct and the
ambiguity towards Jules and Jim continues. Their sensibilities and
actions are so random that when they come out of a play, they sound so
educated and intellectual on their feet, which is just so odd and out of
place. The indecision of the three don't plan and mind about the
forthcomings. Truffaut’s style to capture the expression of impulsive
decisions is by the camera techniques, like panning shots that never end
as backdrops of scenes keep changing as the characters move along
easily. Truffaut also uses the narration to illustrate the tale. The
omniscient voiceover narration is too expedited to comprehend, as this
film is adapted from an old novel. He tells the story through a narrator
instead of meaningful events. The narration even speaks once, ‘Jim had
asked,’ and adds nonsense things to complicate things in attempt to
explain anything but what follows is vague scenes that last a couple
minutes. Sometimes Catherine narrates when she is in the scene but not
fully pictured. The camera hardly stays still on one object as it pans,
splits screens, and zooms around and the scenes are moving along
rapidly. The representation of war scenes is embarrassing, random, and
inscrutable. The first half goes quick for the characters and everyone
so that the nothing standouts. Every scene is spent showing the three in
playful vistas, like a beach or bike riding in the fields, with little
worries and grief, except of marriage. Let's not forget the outstanding
performances by the three who go so flawlessly without a time to truly
notice in the film because they keep up the lighthearted manners
continuously with breeze before they are interrupted by groundless short
outbursts, the jumping into a river. However, the characters are quite
unlikable so the film doesn’t draw total affection to them for the
audience. There is not one interesting thing about Catherine and her
bewildering actions. Catherine suddenly has a daughter after the first
act when they fill their vacant lives with literature explanations and
war rekindling when the movie slows down when they settle and get closer
with devotion to Catherine. They mature through the years slowly leading
to tragedy, sharing their doubts like, ‘Catherine has no use of me
anymore.’ They get into relationships, change, and laugh about it all
for no reason. They discuss her lifestyle and how they fit in her
presence and try to weigh each other's love to Catherine. The once
exuberance in the gleam first half turns into a gloomy state of worrying
where they stand.
Final Grade: B/B-
The Simpsons Movie (2007)
Voices by Dan Castellaneta, Nancy Cartwright, Harry Shearer, Hank Azaria,
Julie Kavner, Yeardley Smith
Film Prophet's Review...
Arguably as the most successful animated sitcom created, the franchise
is finally put to big screen after nearly twenty booming consecutive
seasons on television and many years of wondering if there will even be
a motion picture to follow. The new seasons leading up to this film have
been very bland, silly, and static as the franchise has fallen in terms
of popularity and significant meaning to keep watching it. Happily and
with pleasure to announce, this is a movie that will make the earliest
and all fans proud. Despite the whole several years too late to have a
movie misconception, one fallacy before entering the movie was that
there’re too many of the franchise’s hundreds of secondary characters
lined up to play a role that they could fall as unfunny short
appearances like cameos. Nevertheless, the movie follows The Simpsons as
a family in this family comedy, particularly starting after the
midpoint. To those other Springfield residents, they all fit in
fantastically well to support the comedy pieces, especially Ralph from
the opening to end - ‘I like men now,’ Moe, and Grandpa - ‘I'm part of
the mob.’ Ned Flanders has a lot time in the beginning, and so does a
pig. All characters are presented in character as they would on
television, like Lisa coming in defense to the global warming issue. The
movie parodies a lot quickly and teases environmentalism and the
government. As prototypical for the cartoon series and seen throughout
Homer’s career, the animation allows the characters to take tons of pain
and hits by animated objects, such as the itchy and scratchy opening,
from anywhere and anytime for impractical humor that can’t be acted in
live action without harm to a body. This film certainly has joy at its
part in doing so, but a huge leap to the film’s laughter was words
forming hilarious short phrases on screen somewhere on something. It’s
visually effective with comedy where speech or actions don’t even need
to happen, like just looking at a movie poster saying ‘diaper genie’
works. There’re clues and puns on words signifying suggestions to laugh
at. It also makes a few jokes about how the audience is now watching a
movie and not just any primetime episode. The franchise pokes fun at
itself on the big screen and it’s rewarding almost like watching three
classic episodes in a row for the first time. ‘I can't believe we’re
paying for something we get on TV for free.’ At some points, there are
laughs in joy till tears like old times. There’s plenty of mocking one
another in erratic play. Almost every few seconds in the first half
hour, there is a joke on the screen or a gag somewhere to startle abrupt
laughter. The slapstick and violence are clever on the lowest and
highest of intellectual levels. ‘Knowing things is overrated.’ The story
reflects back to the timeless episodes of the dysfunctional family where
Homer carelessly and mistakenly is on the verge of destroying
Springfield sometimes. Among all of Homer’s frolics in the movie, one
scene that comes to mind is when Homer tries to barricade the house
front door and imitates a chainsaw by using his voice in attempt to keep
people away. There are no ideas that overcomplicate the story, as the
closest thing coming to it is maybe Maggie’s sandbox gulfing trick. The
voices are so fitting and appropriate where no one has to go, ‘that
isn’t the voice of that character.’ The colors in the animation are
shining and bright like in recent episodes where the shadows are in
formation. The experience of seeing the franchise on the big picture
with a live audience is incredible. Fans laugh at the stuff they would
have home at the show. The movie pulls out a new level of some obnoxious
funny material suited for the franchise on the big picture and there’s
an abundance of jokes to harvest several screenings.
Final Grade: A-/B+
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007)
Starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Jessica Biel, Dan Aykroyd, Ving
Rhames, Steve Buscemi
Film Prophet's Review...
The movie expresses two male heterosexual firefighters, Sandler and
James, who pretense as a homosexual married couple in order to qualify
for their department's domestic partner insurance benefits. The two fake
and imitate characteristics and traits to match the style of such a
couple. Evidently, their behavior must adjust to others as the
government sends an inspector, Buscemi, to make sure they are an actual
couple. ‘He went through our trash; he said it's not gay enough.’ As
they ploy together to act gay, jokes are released from anywhere in about
every scene. Almost every scene was contained by comedy confines by the
writing alone along with James and Sander's skills. When each scene
begins, it is expected that it'll carry forward. Sandler has plenty of
humorous one-liners to say within situations early on. ‘Balls and
wieners all the way.’ Sandler's entourage of females and James falling
from a ladder and then Sandler arriving at his place when after a guy
from the pension department is inside are a hoot. It works fine as a
plain comedy, but there are so many small gags that are funny at the
moment that are forgotten later when a typical courtroom hearing pulls
through about acceptance and tolerance near the end. The movie plays the
homosexuality card for laughs in a parade of flamboyant antics by
backing away and also confronting it between two straight guys. There’s
the phobia and the slight sexual humor. They act the acting of
strong affection for each other when they have to pretend. The examples
of this in the movie when they have to pretend are very comical and
they're the high points after they sign the papers so most of the review
would have to point out scenarios that involve the awkward bonded
chemistry but that would ruin anyone's first time view of the movie. To
keep it brief and to topic, the conversation in the Canadian taxi cab is
hilarious, just like the uw-ey scene at the diner table, the postman's
puns on mail delivery, and the shower scene. There are also too many
cameos and decent supporting acts that add to the flippant approach of
the depiction of gay life that sink and should rise to the bulk, like
James' tap dancing son, the Jessica Biel temptation part, and Ving
Rhames’ character. Other than the gags of faking it all through the
movie to a jesting scale, it follows through somewhat in domestic
partnership rights succinctly. It’s really an enjoyable and lighthearted
situational humor film by arranging stereotypes and discrimination
towards an overload of gay incidences in context of the film.
Final Grade: C+/B-
Transformers (2007)
Starring Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Jon Voight, Tyrese
Gibson, Rachael Taylor
Film Prophet's Review...
In the first sensational live action Transformers film, the Deceptions
are hunting on Earth for the Allspark, a cube which would grant power
over mechanical forms by providing energy. Sam Witwicky, LaBeouf, is
informed he has the location of it on his ancestor’s eyeglasses. He is
protected by his first car he buys, which happens to be the Autobot
Bumblebee. The Autobots come looking for the glasses, while various
invasions occur. An Air Force base in Qatar is also attacked. It's a
prime summer blockbuster, however, optimal for an exhibition of humans
in disturbance action more to the eye than the Transformers’ own
encounters. The title of the movie is Transformers, so it should have
more Transformers fighting each other than humans defending themselves
ominously. Humans in the sense of danger against Deceptions, who have a
wretched small amount of time, is not fully acceptable. There are plenty
of animated episodes where humans don’t even appear, even the ones
located on Earth, because they don’t have to and as Megatron would agree
with this – they are insignificant creatures and organisms. Note in the
Starring part above this review that they are all performers who play
humans in the Transformers’ battle on Earth. Director Michael Bay
focuses too much on the human characters and reduces the real stars to
side characters, but then again, too much on the Transformers would end
up being tagged as a kids’ movie. There are more robots versus human
attacks than robot versus robot attacks. More interactions between the
bots are necessary and conversations alone without humans around too.
It’s more of a human perspective from the military and Sam. The movie
bears little resemblance to the animated movie over twenty years ago by
furthering or modifying the franchise. Most generation one animated
episodes involved the Decepticons devising a reprehensible plot right
away to steal energon cubes, defeating the Autobots, or taking over the
planet Earth, only to be thwarted by the Autobots. The movie is
top-heavy with a long account of humans and exposition to show the
humans before the Transformers. Humans play potential victims released
in mayhem upon who treat the situation like an alien invasion. They have
no chance against gigantic metal robot creatures and it’s unfortunate
because the direction stresses these hostile circumstances towards them.
After a decent thirty minutes or so, only one Deception and one Autobot
appear to unknown identity of name or side for about an hour. There’s
one part where the Autobots are hiding around a house, all in silly play
however. There’s plenty of silly humor all around. For instance,
Bumblebee’s songs the car’s music tuner selects to play to help Sam to
gain Mikaela Banes, Fox. Megan Fox as the leading lady is a dark hair
female stunner in this picture. The cast is fine for the human roles so
that none are really on the elite caliber list which makes the robots
the true stars of the film, supposedly. Shia shines with his exuberant
yells and acute edginess as Spike who is in the movie more than anyone
else. ‘Are you on drugs.’ Peter Cullen reprises his voice role for
Optimus. Hugo Weaving is Megatron’s voice instead of Frank Welker. It is
notable that Michael Bay is behind the production of this film and his
trademarks show with hollow surroundings, loud and blaring sound, wild
cameras, and advertisements such from camaro, porsche, ebay, and burger
king, all with his signature of fast editing and jumbling action. There
are a ton of humans so that makes the Transformers’ scenes too short.
Each Transformer has a slightly new robot design and color too in
attempt to satisfy the long-term fans of the series to the golden
screen. They have lips and flashy eyes too. The animated times to move
all those digital parts when transforming are amazing. This movie is
excellent at providing yet another reason to fully hate all cops, so go
Autobots. Cops and aggressive law officers actually had more evil time
than the Deceptions in the first half. Specifically, the agent acted by
John Turturro had more grown evil personality than any Deception in this
picture. The movie is something like a one-hundred forty five million
dollar budget film of CGI effects and stunt work. It’s is not going to
make all the fans and everyone content though. It is fantastic and
pleasant to the eye and even Spielberg is backing it. To pinpoint the
action from the movie, it is in the final, and only complete Autobot
versus Deception match near the end. It begins at the Hoover Dam and
concludes in Los Angeles. This entire Autobot versus Deception combat
rests in the final long action sequence of debris on the streets of a
city. The entertaining parts during this are when the robots actually
speak to each other, which was infrequent, but mainly with one-liners
like, ‘You failed me yet again Starscream’… instead of the Autobots
blocking the Deceptions’ attacks on humans in their way on the congested
streets in the loud obliteration of chaos. Some of the battles on the
streets had so much in it with rapid fires coming from everywhere with
everyone and everything getting damaged that it’s not always easy to
pick out who is what bot as they look alike. Whereas, the original
cartoons were so fast with its combat scenes between bots that it was
like it was for kids with attention deficiency disorder. Besides Optimus
Prime, full close-ups of the Transformers are hard to come by in the
film. There are lots of explosions to compensate the lack of all this.
Nevertheless director Michael Bay can deliver action where it counts.
Final Grade: B+/B
Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
Starring Bruce Willis, Justin Long, Timothy Olyphant, Maggie Q, Mary
Elizabeth Winstead, Cliff Curtis
Film Prophet's Review...
‘All you got to do is pick up a kid down at Jersey and drive him down to
DC, how hard can that be, huh.’ It's all about the action and that is
all of it. The longest action scene is this one entire movie. As soon as
the action starts, it is just about a two hour non-stop action sequence
that’s very staggering. The story centers on a cyber-attack on a
national computer infrastructure around the Independence Day holiday
that begins to shut the country down step by step. Just by that line, it
may seem juvenile. However, it develops ten minutes after the opening
credits with action-depth and tricks past the pre-notion of it. Then, it
leads to the action of concern of safety by Bruce Willis as John McClane
who has an unlikely partner as a computer hacker. Justin Long is a
comedy relief sidekick who is dragged along since the opening act since
McClane is always and still is outnumbered and working with fewer
weapons. ‘Did you see that – I saw it, I did it.’ Willis reclaims his
action role as John McClane as the macho and relentless force. To his
character arc, he now has a grown adolescent daughter, meaning a
liability, as time has elapsed since the last film was released when his
communication with his estranged and divorced wife he was always
hesitant to call. McClane involved in a juvenile stunt is really a
terrorist threat and might just be the ultimate spectacle of that deal.
Don’t let the PG-13 rating fool anyone. The others were R-rated, as this
has less profanity but the same amount of violence if not more. It is as
violent as its predecessors with its pyrotechnics blasting on free will
causing carnage and destruction. The Die Hard formula is with this movie
and it is still probably the ultimate strict action series. It’s
spectacular like the third one as McClane runs all around the city and
areas. McClane takes his share of bumps, bruises, and sinister laughs of
outsmarting the others. He is the man who never dies. Where this film
gets creative is where it belongs, and that is solely the action. It all
around explodes with action and it barely lets up as that's what this
movie is stoked about. It pumps viewing adrenaline with startling
schemes and incidences. For example, one early on by programming traffic
lights in villainous ways to demolish certain things or people. Timothy
Olyphant is an excellent performer in this role, as too for Maggie Q in
hers. ‘Please John, I'm trying to have a conversation.’ It appears they
have unclear motives, who they are, or how they are doing it, but it’s
all cleared up during the film. The main villain, acted by Olyphant, and
his hackers toy and fool around with McClane and others with conniving
techniques in a battle of ploys and traps. The helicopter versus cop car
chase on the streets, evading off an attack from an F-16 while driving a
truck, and the encounters by computer hacking duels scenes are unique
action devices. Just check out the traveling tunnel gone out of control.
The first half’s action initiator was all controlled by computer hacking
so the freedom of what to do is extraordinary. It’s a mass array of
disarray and it’s not all shoot and run. The action is boundless,
unlimited, and unpredictable. There are a bunch of last second rescues
escaping death with far-out action scenes that are riveting to watch and
never sure where it'll go or end up. The movie is epic as a modern
full-fledged action film can get. It has its combination of explosions
and humor and defeats any ordinary amateur blockbuster that comes close.
The spectacle matches up quite well with the predecessors and this forth
is a treasure to keep in the Die Hard series collection.
Final Grade: B+/A-
Sicko (2007)
Starring Michael Moore
Film Prophet's Review...
The expected arrangement of the movie is to open the audience's view of
American healthcare in new and different ways they haven't imagined or
thought of before. To brace Michael Moore’s opening statement that there
are about fifty million Americans with no health insurance, he provides
an interpretation mainly towards free universal healthcare found in
other countries. Numerous long interviews where the participants talk
for an extensive amount indicate troubles and burdens in expense that
sum up the film’s opening act. They're there to address the health care
problems and support Moore’s assertions as he narrates over the film
rather kindly. He matches those with his belief that is best for the
consumers. He asserts that American healthcare companies’ main objective
is to maximize profits by minimizing care to patients and with
healthcare directors who save the company money than saving the lives of
people. People are denied care in troublesome situations. Personal pasts
are testified and failed lawsuits are spoken. People without health
coverage speak in gloom and sadness of tragic illness. In simple terms,
it suspects overblown by the weeping around bankrupt families who can't
afford the help of co-pays, but the film soon matures. It does center on
the frustration of people in despair and out of hope in America as the
footage has no room for any happy tones during the opening American
parts. Moore cracks a joke ‘and if you're not getting any sleep take
pharmaceuticals’ as the closest it’ll be of lightness. Moore is not seen
in the film himself or even speaking next to the camera during these
parts. He is visible till about fifty minutes within to have
conversations with people, starting in Canada with the Canadian system,
as he does with and almost similar to Bowling for Columbine in regards
to weapons, violence, and safety, and even with Britain’s relatively
free system about the National Health Service. Moore makes an argument
in which social services like the fire department and libraries are
free, then why not healthcare. His direction is calm but not tedious and
keeps the attention throughout with montages of engaging news clips that
provide short and quick specifics. Compared to his previous two big
pictures, this one has a less political influence with political issues
aside. It moves without a huge sign of political influence among diverse
parties, despite the Hilary Clinton as first lady healthcare
contributions segment, as the focus remains on the denial from American
health maintenance organizations and insurance companies than the
government sometimes. Moore mostly narrates and puts the sole focus on
the most glaring gloomy individuals of health problems and their
stories. The example of Bluecross rejecting certain people's
applications based on the body mass index seems unbelievable, but it
provides evidence and a leeway from again, the people. Various other
forms from letters to voicemails are all in regard to denial of
healthcare also. The point is that health insurance is not always a sure
thing to earn, even in the worse of conditions. Some parts explore the
eligibility especially to the ones that are certain to get it, and not
something like plastic surgery, but tumors and cancers. ‘We don't
consider that life threatening’ so then what exactly are extreme cases
since the ones Moore shows are not approved… the movie covers the
central issues, but never opening why these companies denied care than
just stating to save money. Therefore, this part is simplistic and less
forceful. Some may say it is all documented healthcare advice by a heavy
man himself transferring the anger to the audience. Though, it’s most
affecting during these American story scenes when it narrows down on the
intimate struggles of people financially ruined by healthcare costs and
misshapenness. Moore's voice simply drifts the belief to every story
after another composed and not opinionated based on the transition of
stories and sympathy to the individuals' affecting misfortunes. The ‘I
want to know why my husband wasn't given the chance to live’ story is
quite heartrending and memorable out of the pile. The film does lose
some steam when it goes into Britain for a lengthy time saying that
Europeans live longer than the average American as it stops the
depressing stories in the center of the film. Moore is visually more
involved in these European and cross-border manners however too. As he
asks, ‘what are your other big expenses,’ the guy replies, ‘holidays.’
Though, the heart of the film returns when it shifts back to America for
the final segments beginning with the ground zero volunteers and the
Cuba trip and visit. There are bunch of hypothetical questions like ‘who
are we’ and ‘is there a reason why our government and media want us to
hate the French, are they worried we might like the French.’ In
conclusion from the movie, it shows there are more happy people in
Europe than in the states with healthcare because it is free of use in
other countries. It’s not about individual, but as a community.
Final Grade: B
Ratatouille (2007)
Voices by Patton Oswalt, Lou Romano, Janeane Garofalo, Ian Holm, Brad
Garrett, Peter O'Toole, Will Arnett
Film Prophet's Review...
The Pixar chefs have done it again with another tasteful picture. This
is an enriching CGI animation to see from the masses and replications of
the banal ones with penguins and sequels. There’s an abundant amount of
warm-hearted fun and joy and way more than from the simple gags or stock
characters commonly presented in others. It’s a dazzling and bright
animation that has all the crisp moving ingredients that are essential
and so exquisite. From Disney’s Pixar productions, Remy is a rat who has
a tremendous sense for scrumptious food and risks his life in an
expensive French restaurant to become a chef. He has higher ambitions
than most rats and can read. Yet, this is a tough dream for a rat since
the irony here is that kitchens fear rats. The opportunity arises when a
young garbage boy for the restaurant, who despite his lack of cooking
abilities, discovers and partners with the young Remy. It’s up to the
two of them to avoid the true attention of the groundless head chef, the
other cooks, old famous food critics, Remy's rat family, and much more
all in France. Rats and French cooks might not exactly be the thing to
get kids or parents excited, like toys, but the warmth and sharp
artistic enthusiasm during the film are striking. It’s so striking that
audiences will grasp the rush of Remy in his situations and obstacles of
not being found in the kitchen as the boy tries to take care and protect
the rat in ways that he can't been seen from others while still helping
him cook. Remy has to be one of Pixar’s finest characters. He is
expressive and offers an incredible voice. Early on, it begins with a
running away sequence in a cabin from a granny shooting with a rifle.
Director Brad Bird visualizes colorful bursts so that viewers of all
ages can enjoy the movie, especially in a family environment. The
inventions and creations in the plotline have a brisk pace to it keeping
a strong involvement to the film as it is supposed to be. It is actually
inspiring and edifying to cook to excellence after seeing the etiquette
display in the restaurant's gourmet kitchen. The voices, the computer
animation, the stirring sounds, the appropriate music scores, and the
delicious cuisines are all flawless. Plus, there are no musical numbers
either to fill up for tiresome scenes. The movie manages to stay away
from pop jokes and cliché fairy tales and sticks to the actions and
reality of the situations to the movie. The vivid story has enough to
fill up a big appetite for more than just a rat with its kid humor and
clever, delightful account that offers a number of funny moments and
personalities. It places the audience in the shoes, or well, in the
perspective of talking rats and their lives with one in particular with
gifted high senses. As his father says, ‘Now shut up and eat your
garbage.’ There’s a flow to it overall and it’s not jammed as the
hilarity spots are at pleasant moments. Natural laughter occurs, such
when the stubborn chef runs out of kitchen to a calm dining room in to
stop a dish being served. Remy trains the boy as the rat does not
communicate to him verbally but through nods and signs. The persistent
universal message from the movie is that ‘anyone can cook’ complemented
by minor themes such as telling the truth and not stealing. Views can be
now altered to see the same things in the kitchen from both a rat and
human perspective. The involvement to the film is unstoppable as it’s
thoroughly engaging to the animation. For example, when the chase of the
head chef and the rat in the clear daylight of Paris' riverside happens
is pinnacle. Its’ downright a human versus rat story with the rat
stereotype in front of it as Remy goes on a journey of succeeding just
like this movie.
Final Grade: A-/A
1408 (2007)
Starring John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, Mary McCormack
Film Prophet's Review...
The movie tells the tale from Stephen King’s short story of a vulnerable
horror author, Cusack, skeptic of paranormal occurrences who encounters
real terror when he checks into room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel. John
Cusack, who goes overlooked sometimes as a high mid-list actor, carries
this movie with his versatility and sensitivity as he appears in about
every scene. It beats his other horror movie titled Identity that has a
similar conflict of being stranded at a wild hotel except here it's
restricted to one room and he’s alone. There's no illogical timeline or
too many characters either and it opens for the author at night as it is
too rainy and late to drive further so he visits a hotel as this is what
he’s been doing to try to disprove his cynicism of apparitions and
ghouls. It begins like a short story and gets straight to renting out a
room, not the exact one of room 1408 that night, and introducing the
main and almost the only character in the film. The movie pressures its
terror to frighten the audience right around the center of the film with
a lot of little ghostly visuals and sounds rather than shoddy violence
and gore like in Hostel and Saw. It’s more mature than the level of
teenage terror and fear. Noises, flashes, false hallucinations, and a
bottle of Bourbon all add up to the film’s frightening emphasis. A
fictional horror novel writer finally finds his genuine paranormal event
to endure at none other than a hotel room to his insisting fulfillment.
‘Nothing would make me happier than experience a paranormal event.’
Without the spooks, he'd have nothing to do but walk around the room and
hang out. Most of the movie focuses on Cusack alone in the room with the
incidents he’s trapped with. On the movie poster, Samuel L. Jackson's
shares the poster with half of his face with Cusack 's half face as if
he shares half of the screen title with him which isn't correct. There's
an upward sense of dread after a lecture for almost twenty minutes as
the plot's setup act by Samuel L. Jackson trying to convince him not to
stay in the room. The room is awaited for after seeing photos of gore
and records of deaths, but the room is what appears to be an ordinary
lavish dull room. Verbal communication is made up for as the author
narrates what he sees and witnesses to an audio recording device. The
room eventually gets outrageous with little random moments that go
awkward but effective from the acting alone by Cusack rather than it
looking just silly. The scares are okay and steady and none that are
gross or gratuitous. The movie goes wild and open to anything when it
gets going after forty minutes from televisions to faucets to spirits to
ghosts jumping out windows to cracking pavements to the paintings
altering. Although, some of the scares aren’t rewarding because it’s
known they're coming and short-lived in the same environment to the same
man so there’s never really a sense of true death to him. Sometimes it
suspects as a formulaic and predictable tale because of its recycled
horror elements as King tends to reuse his ideas and it’s probably why
it seems all familiar. Often, a decent horror storyline setup is
faltered by an unsatisfying finish and result, though this movie
delivers an amazing final minute so that it clarifies suspicions. The
bizarre and out of the blue final twenty minutes reminds the audience
that the plot is too free and floppy that there really is none at all
because it's so unrestricted that anything, yes anything, can happen as
Cusack as the author realizes that he and the movie have lost all
control.
Final Grade: B-/B
Ocean's Thirteen (2007)
Starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin,
Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle
Film Prophet's Review...
The usual group effort with a bag of tricks and schemes to heist at
casinos loses the slick slyness in substitute for listless babbles and
tiresome arrangements. The main posse of guys returns to the show. They
play, once again, literally shrewd thieves who are rooted on by the
audience to steal off the richer, evil casino guy. Some dress in sharp
disguises and outfits going incognito and they do it so flawlessly with
expertise. However, much of the above stands out in the first two films
and not here. The cunning craft and innovation in planning a heist was
charmingly present in the first and through some parts of the second.
That's what people liked about those couple films because it was all new
with the sophisticated humor too, which this one is lackluster of.
There’s still the sneaky ways of conning others, like with Pacino's
character. Pacino’s character is opening a new Las Vegas casino using
land and money swindled from entrepreneur Reuben Tishkoff, Elliott
Gould, so Ocean’s group gets revenge and jumbles up his opening night
operations. The movie brings back the same starring cast that led the
previous two. The male cast has the familiar chemistry especially
between Pitt and Clooney who were so well in the second and keeps it for
the third, for some parts. They’ve worked twice before and they seem so
comfortable around each other. Somehow, though, for three entire movies
all the guys’ personal interactions have yet to be full-grown as they’re
just too casual. They look tired and their character are still bleak,
where the bank heist movie, The Lookout, earlier in the year beats this
in lots of ways. The synopsis of the story begins with bickering about
estate property that is flat. The dialogue is chunky to follow along
constantly except with it's short and fun instead of rambling on for
mindlessness minutes to discuss hotels, diamonds, and banks to bypass
the legality of it all with a bunch of 'how' lines. It sums up as a
dreary and knotty male chatter like a rambling mess. The recruits to
join the group to help out make for lazy scenes and they play very minor
roles while the music attempts at giving the film a needed energy when
it's very plain and uninteresting until everyone gets together after
sorting through extreme measures so the film is ready and set. Though,
the setup is all over the place in a clutter. It reaches lengths of
tedium before the diversions and it takes over half of the film to set
up the heist. The Cheadle diversion to Pacino in his office when a
monitor behind Pacino shows the guys’ face photos remodeling as they’re
being hacking is probably the most amusing scene. The amount of action
remains at minimal and not just for explosions or gunfire because
there’s none of that, but the casino heist is saved for about the last
twenty minutes. Director Steven Soderbergh didn’t arrange the film to
fully produce peril or suspense in the characters or even genuine goofy
humor. It's dull for the most part with no excitement or crafty funny
material… just frustrations for everyone until the actual heist, but not
measuring up to the previous two movies. If this was the first movie of
the series, there would be no series of sequels after it.
Final Grade: C
Knocked Up (2007)
Starring Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Jay
Baruchel, Jonah Hill
Film Prophet's Review...
The contemporary success of comedy writer and director Judd Apatow
explores the youth transition to adulthood with comedy incidences placed
in the background of the undecided pregnant situation. Bawdy attitudes
of the typical male behavior in defining free spirited adolescence in a
comedy movie begins the movie for Rogen and his male friends, but moves
further onwards in mounting original comedy without ending like an
unfunny cliché going beyond typical expectations. Paul Rudd coming out
with a cake to sing happy birthday or the message Seth Rogen leaves to a
doctor’s voice mail are precious. Ben Stone, Rogen, a slacker who spends
his days getting high and tracking nudity in films for a new website
with his buddies, receives word eight weeks later after a one night
stand that Alison Scott, Heigl, is pregnant with his unborn baby.
Consequences problematically revolve around a pregnant woman acting
fairly rational as the movie clearly shows the two are both at faults as
expressed during various aftermath segments. There are some gratuitous
censored sex scenes, so it does center on an incident that is somewhat
shown on screen. The sad thing about this is that a wide audience of
probably single mothers connects with this incidence. There isn’t much
complaining as one would expect from the female side as Heigl assures
her character isn’t going to sink too far in the hole of dejection. She
plays her role with such decency and can even give disgusted looks well.
Heigl’s affection in her role shines and shows sweetness, vigor, and
vulnerability in the times of nervousness where she and Rogen share the
comedy well. Ryan Seacrest's early cameo self-satire is amusing and
truthful after his segment on E! News… which is amusing like a later
part of a scene stealer in Leslie Mann who rants on a judgmental bouncer
at a club’s entrance. Ben looks to the baby books for advice to help
relieve rash and sudden decision making, as those books are part of some
funny one-liners. Alison lives with her sister and her sister’s husband
who have two very young daughters as Alison works in the Hollywood
industry. Ben and Alison are not quite living parallel lives as one is
on a rise in a Hollywood career. Since the movie takes place in
Hollywood, it points out some people just care about the unimportant,
superficial stuff in the Los Angeles society like portrayal of body
image. In the early opening, the movie passes around crude and lowbrow
male humor in hefty conversations that even the daughters pick up on it
all. The flimsy humor is distasteful, somewhat unfunny, between the same
genders of friends. ‘Oh another beer joke.’ Noticeably, it takes the
Internet as the main source of pop culture and spins it to the film’s
advance like ‘google it’ or ‘we should put this on youtube.’ Then, after
a short while, the movie widens with some sense and improves with a
balance between raunchy and romantic material. The comedy is steady but
not out of control laughter. Still, the grace of the development of the
relationship moves past the dirt to charming splendor. Everything plays
out towards an important function in the film. It progressively evolves
on the comedy by developing the unplanned pregnancy relationship past
the insolent beginning to sweet, joyful, and candid sparks. The acting
was fine but the writing could have improved with more visual gags than
plain short jokes on the big picture screen of modern mainstream comedy.
It’s like the story came from an old sitcom story episode, but the story
carried out its smart script with examples of sharp, funny, and awkward
conversations that lead to distressing and disagreeable banters when the
loud music in the club is off. Many scenes poise the film of its comedy
status, such as the perverted male house friends, ‘it's another day at
the office,’ when Alison visits them for the first time and they are
watching their films for the website. “They got the top ten group shower
scenes… why didn't you think of this!” Ben’s first conversation at the
breakfast table with the two daughters, ‘he's trying, he's making an
effort’ continues to try to define himself within the confines of the
situation. He’s a gentle and friendly Ben to be more responsible. The
movie’s cross value of traditional relationships and parental duties
moves with amiability and not lectures from others. Even at a restaurant
table, the chemistry of Rogen and Rudd succeeds just like this movie
succeeds from Apatow’s earlier gimmick in the virgin movie by miles as
this is more satisfying and less offensive by far. The movie’s attention
on Ben and Alison's affection for each other lifts the romance and the
comedy blends. The heartfelt growing pains are as warm as it could get
in the pre-parenthood environment of practices and shows that flawed,
profane relationships can have a tender romance.
Final Grade: B+
Rumble Fish (1983)
Starring Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane, Nicolas Cage, Dennis
Hopper, Laurence Fishburne
Film Prophet's Review...
At a small Oklahoma urban town, an adolescent street fighter, Dillon,
looks up to his older brother, Rourke, dubbed the motorcycle boy, who
returns to town in the fading days of gang warfare. This movie is
forgotten when mentioning movies directed by Francis Ford Coppola or
from anyone featured from this fresh immense cast. The on the rise young
cast gives frantic yet calm and collective performances. Dillon almost
sounds and acts like a young Stallone with a rigid suave and probably
has his finest lead here. Cage plays a role under Dillon which is
abnormal to watch as Dillon leads each scene. Diane Lane provides the
attractiveness and Chris Penn has a part of the gang. The movie is
gleaming and stylized in an atmospheric black and white picture towards
a cogent effect. It brings a retrospect time period with its wardrobe
like tank tops, leather, jeans, and even the local shops, diners, and
pool halls matches the fifties era, but it is supposedly could be in the
eighties as well in a setting lapse. Technically, it has extensive use
of shadows and flowing camera angles for expression in the ambiance with
smoke in the air showing a clear homage to avant-garde cinema. There’s
an abundant amount of lucid images, such as dark, young, and appealing
vignettes to astound the audience with its cinematography and emotion
more than anything else. Adultery behaviors, such as sexuality and
alcohol, are all too soon for their age perhaps, but this is similar to
how they react to their identity crisis, again all too soon. Only one
real vacant lot fight happens where friends circle around a terrific
duel brawl. The movie then takes a turn after the opening gang
exposition and the fight when the movie was full of adolescent youth.
Similar to a theme to S.E. Hinton's other novel The Outsiders, it’s
about not wasting time and making choices, whether right or wrong, as
the moral. Gangs don't live that long and people adjust to the future
without ending in incomprehensible situations. So the violence and
fighting narrows down to virtually none in the center of the film after
the first fight when the brother arrives, as he focus then shifts on the
brother relationship. The Motorcycle Boy was a notorious gang leader, as
he plays an enigmatic figure in the movie, and his younger brother,
Rusty James, is living up to his brother's reputation leading a dying
gang in an industrial town. Even though Dillon's performance as Rusty is
the basis to the story, parts are narrated to an extent by The
Motorcycle Boy. Their mother has left them, their father constantly
drinks, and their relationships are somewhat sour. The movie has an
amount of violence and swearing, but most of the time, it’s about
amends. Rourke is at ease giving a very relaxing tone and notch down
while the other roles are reduced significantly in the later acts.
Tranquil talks shape to the attitude of the composed and liberated
brother. He communicates softly about family matters around the town
with Rusty as they stroll around and muster at night. He really is the
adult figure in the film since true parents aren’t around and the
neighborhood cop hates the guys. Rusty is not so about the brains as his
concerns are with fighting to solve situations. In a truthful statement,
he says, ‘the only reason I’m going to this school is because my friends
are here.’ The side from grace kicks in representing a metaphor to the
film's title. Comparing guys and fish in a tank, they fight, sometimes
to the death, when put together in confined spaces. The only bright
colors in the film are these pet fish in the movie that signifies
freedom.
Final Grade: B/B+
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
Starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush,
Naomie Harris, Bill Nighy
Film Prophet's Review...
In the third pirate adventure, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, and Captain
Barbossa sail off while navigating treachery and betrayal. Their first
mission is to restore the life of Jack Sparrow who was last seen being
swallowed by the Kraken as he is trapped in Davy Jones’ locker, which a
long sand island. Onwards from that, the picture almost reaches three
hours of running time of characters trying to explain the storyline and
their personal motives to each other. Others manage a crew of pirates
together to fight off the British… then there is a heart beating in a
chest box and the ninth of eight keys or something. This third movie is
in a similar thread of the previous sequel, but slightly better. Like
the second, the plot in third is too long-winded to follow. The first
was exceptional in this area because it was easy to understand and not
convoluting itself while still being simple with fun comedy means. The
characters make it harder as it’s not simple all the time since there
are moments of secrecy for others to decipher or interpret. Though, each
scene captures the audience's attention span with the incredible amount
of detail from everything in the picture from the costumes to the ships
to the icy landscapes making it easier to sit back and enjoy the rope
swinging and cannon firing when they happen and disregard the futile
plotline. It's a whirlpool that engulfs full of charades, deception, and
imaginary substance with a disrupted and meandering plotline of no
meaning. The action in this is less occurring than the previous ones,
but the battles here are on a grander scale of effects and stunts.
There's only really one sword fight that sticks to mind, and that duel
comes near the end on top of a ship. Hans Zimmer's score is of course
outstanding. The concentration on the story shambles and jumbles up like
it is making up the narrative as it goes along. Once again like in the
second, there’s betrayal, declaring loyalties, accords, and
manipulations to fill up the talk with periods of legend and treachery
chat. They foil plans where the movie is so wide open that the
allegiances don’t come to a surprise because they’re all paired with
each other in one form of manner sometime in the film. It’s so off the
wall especially as soon as the Sparrow hallucinated clones appear. The
architect of this screen writing is really for a wild and unbelievable
fantasy and nothing else. Besides grossing out the audience with CGI
creatures and weird small things, the movie adds more humanity to Davy
Jones and Will Turner's father past their hideous visual
representations. Will and Elizabeth's sporadic love arc also continues.
There’s similar squid face distractions on screen and some new tricks
like stone crawlers sailing a ship on sand. Barbossa has been overlooked
in the franchise and enlivens this movie. ‘…lost in places that can't be
found.’ Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa steals the show with his
character and as an actor. The humor of the main actors, Depp and Bloom,
wasn't matched in the first and Barbossa takes over. The slight and
subtle humor is quite remarkable like the impressive ship action and
artwork. One can learn the traits of a pirate, like dishonesty,
selfishness, and they can hold their breath for a really long time under
water. However, it’s all incomparable to the charm and fun buccaneer
adventure in the original.
Final Grade: B-/B
Fort Apache (1948)
Starring Henry Fonda, John Wayne, Shirley Temple, Ward Bond, John Agar
Film Prophet's Review...
Directed by John Ford, an Arizona cavalry captain, Wayne, sees his new
veteran stubborn colonel, Fonda, lead his solider troops into an Indian
massacre. Set in the rugged west, the black and white picture is crystal
clear and shot beautifully pioneering old horse carriages, uniforms,
landscape, and lifestyle presenting authentic scenery of its production
quality. It is at first a men driven story nevertheless still showing
the women side on the frontier very often. The colonel is a widower who
brings his young daughter with him named Philadelphia, Temple, and a son
of sergeant major, who is a new solider, woos her. Each personality with
social characterizations is different when pronouncing dialogue and it’s
not all in the same tone which is great to distinguish. The women are
shown like darlings. The young female role by Shirley Temple fits right
in nicely as she is not under or overbearing. They bring delightful and
calm moments with light music on. Fonda yields the most screen time and
he’s an accomplished actor to balance out Wayne’s charisma so Wayne
isn't required to do too much. Usually when Wayne’s role is lessen, the
pictures are greater and his role is more significant and anticipated.
Fonda is the first to appear then Wayne about ten minutes later. The
chemistry between the two show that they act like pros when acting
together on screen. Fonda is straight on as the stubborn and upright
colonel ordering for traditional regulations. He is not truly happy to
arrive and work at his new outpost after he was transferred when losing
his Civil War rank as general. He’s tremendously arrogant with military
form and to destroy the Apache chief. He cares much for his daughter's
safety though when the young solider spends gentle time with her. Wayne
is subservient and second in role. The movie is slightly over two hours,
and the best parts are not of the action but the exchange of following
orders, giving orders to subordinates, and reporting at posts. The
cavalry lines are on the spot sounding believable especially when Fonda
typically enforces his high standards. Its sharp wit on discipline to
absorb the intellect depicts charming slight composure. The writing is
clever during the first half when the officers clash over commands and
formal rules. ‘What, no debate this time, Captain.’ Learning how to
shoot a rifle, training to ride on horses, and whiskey tasting at a
tavern shop are all parts of several stops before the fighting scenes.
The Native Americans involved in the battles later don't appear until
much later in the film and when they do, the film goes downward. After
half of the movie, it leisurely slows down with derivative pieces trite
to the superb first half that took its time to get to the main story
before the Indian fighting. It then starts introducing them as Shirley
Temple's role is reduced. The written drollness is more outstanding than
the tiresome ending Indian battles.
Final Grade: B
Lost Highway (1997)
Starring Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Robert Loggia, Balthazar
Getty, Robert Blake
Film Prophet's Review...
Anonymous and obtuse videotapes portend a jazz musician and his
girlfriend on an astray. Directed by David Lynch, irregular imagery and
pacing solidify throughout the whole course of the movie and opens in a
very mute fashion. Lines, mostly spoken soft, are less often than vacant
pauses and long dark frames of transitions in the movie of weightless
content. It’s pictured in a dark saturated tendency full of shadows and
no words. Jazz music is the mere sound produced from the saxophonist
himself at a nightclub. The most noise comes from telephone rings during
the scenes where they just walk slowly in murky hallways. The characters
are very lethargic individuals who are always in gloomy and unhappy
surreal appearances due to Lynch's unconventional photography. The
opening long act is left with two characters to rest around in dark room
areas in their home because their minds are troubling them to do
anything else. These parts are similar to the subsequent because all the
others like to bare skin for each other. It visually degrades females in
sultriest ways and they’re reduced to skin without a significant role to
anything really just like everyone else. The performers don't look like
they know what they're doing as they try to look somber just like the
dismal movie. The over the top gangster performance is full of
haughtiness and the rest of the second act is dull and apathetic
disconnected to the crowd. This premise right here plainly never
illustrates - Set in a location warily like Los Angeles, a jazz musician
tortured by the perception that his wife is having an affair finds
himself accused of her murder later. In a parallel story, a young
mechanic is drawn by a temptress who is cheating on her gangster
boyfriend. These two tales are linked that both women may be the same
woman. The videotapes are of their house or what occurs inside it and
they are unexplainably uneven. It’s so bizarre that even a cameo by
Richard Pryor was seen. Unsettling visual moments and an empty mental
life fill up on the direction trying to tell the audience of exactly
what's happening. Lynch lets the audience experience it from the main
characters of a blank mind, which results in no viewing satisfaction. At
times, they move their mouths but no resounding words are heard. Mute
the whole movie and it’s expounded with viewers’ own thoughts which are
mostly likely planning on turning up the volume. Then, when they do
speak, it's tedious to even tune in because there's stirring clear
dilemma to care about. They chat about uninteresting things quietly and
they show no life, as the dialogue is embarrassing. It really is all an
empty facade and not a cinematic experience at all to its amorphous
structure. It’s pretentious and pointless where in the end there is no
such reward to watching it all where viewers have to draw their own
conclusions but they’re too bored and neglected to care to. The movie is
awfully slow, using dull colored lighting, and unhurried with a terse
opening storyline. Just like a ride down a desolate highway, it’s dim
and never endless. It’s monotonous for a family or friends’ film as
there’s no excitement or a linear story to start up the audience. The
atrocious storytelling goes without entertaining, educating, or scaring
and it acts like a brick. Lynch’s work here is different to the American
norm but similar to his rest.
Final Grade: D/F
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Starring Charles Laughton, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone, Herbert Mundin,
Eddie Quillan, Dudley Digges
Film Prophet's Review...
On a two year voyage from eighteenth century England, the crew’s mission
is to transport breadfruit from Tahiti to the West Indies as an
inexpensive food source for plantation of slave laborers. Capriciously,
the men are flogged and mistreated by the ship’s cruel Captain Bligh,
Laughton. Mr. Christian, Gable, and his shipmates later overthrow the
captain after numerous deaths and set him adrift. Even though Midshipman
Byam, Tone, takes no part in the mutiny, he must face an English court
and defend himself against charges that he supported Christian. Winner
of best Oscar picture, it’s an adventure production for its time. Gable
arrives early in the movie with his trademark smirk without his mustache
and sports a sailor’s pony-tail. His presence is felt through his
approach to others and delivery of words with charisma. He’s barely the
only actor with it. The British law allowed unwilling men to be pressed
into sea service and the Bounty's crew is pushed by its sadistic
captain. With that premise, there should be plenty of reprimanding
actions. There’s only one ship and the enemy is aboard. ‘I expect you to
carry out whatever orders I give, whenever I give them.’ The captain
starts off whipping men with a short rope, but there's just lots of
dialogue that's said on the ship voyage, more so than cruelty. In fact,
the rainstorm does more damage to the crew and the ship throughout the
main initial voyage. The wind and sea abuses the crew and the ship in
more parts throughout the whole movie than the captain does really. The
lines are quite fast and the responding lines are rapid which allows
short natural time for a person to think. The narrative of the movie is
quite literate and dialectic as there’s much prattling incessantly. The
boat is in stuffiness of male sailors. The attentive instances for the
audience are when characters raise their voices and when the captain
orders someone after a mess-up or clutter on board. The supporting male
performances all blend in and they're given scenes without the two main
leads playing a role in them. It looked like stage acting sometimes when
they would express words and wit very subtlety where modern audiences
won't catch all of it. The film was taped on an actual ocean so the
actors are transferring their trained work on the stage and studios to a
real environment which is a reason why this film was such a spectacle on
a saga scale then. There are plenty of small conversations on the ship
that are not important to the story or to hear besides the agitation.
The actors exaggerate a bit to reach a notch of dramatics since there
aren't powerful effects or pounding music all the time to the show.
Then, there are times where they climb up the sail’s ropes to fix the
sails as they make their voyage proper. Other times are with tedious
chores and dialogue that become forgettable and ignored where it’s
stressed and apparent more than actions. The small incidences of
brutality were not enough punishment as expected. The deaths are short
and go almost unnoticed and low-key. The conflict between Gable and
Laughton is obviously the main clash of the film and isn’t really
resolved near the end. Causalities are unsympathetic and submissive.
It’s over two long hours though it seems like half of the movie the crew
is on the island of Tahiti giddying with its women in a surplus amount
of time. The voyage is demanding but when they finally arrive in Tahiti,
they go bare skin and shirtless roaming around the small island like it
is paradise in very gratuitous scenes as they scroll along adding no
viciousness at all because the scenes are too kind and mundane away from
the panic of the captain. Scenes are unfussy and not busy in the center
of a ship-wreck middle. Byam who plays as the voice of reason shines
later near the end with pride.
Final Grade: B-/C+
American Psycho (2000)
Starring Christian Bale, Chloë Sevigny, Samantha Mathis, Jared Leto,
Willem Dafoe, Josh Lucas
Film Prophet's Review...
Based on a novel comes this black comedy and social satire of the
corporate eighties. A young male Harvard graduate Patrick Bateman, Bale,
works as a commodities broker in New York City and looks just like
everyone else in his crowd. When asked by his fiancée, played by Reese
Witherspoon, ‘why don't you quit your job,’ he responds solemnly,
‘because I want to fit in.’ Sadistically and ironically, it's what he is
against, which are compromised lifestyles. He is an epitome of
controlling the faceless in an amoral society. He’s a regular man living
alone in an apartment in the city. There are no horror undertones
visually yet and it plays more like a mesh of several genres not one in
particular that breaks through the most. Though, it's a portrayl of the
center modern man in society and the frivolous rich social stature.
Besides a few deaths, the horror is also in Bateman’s monologues
expressing his frantic and indestructible attitudes of the skeptics on
his mind. Yet they’re narrow and wide open to possibilities of his
dissolute actions throughout his demeanor in the story. It’s clear
however there is ambiguity on his mind. The movie opens to delicate
desserts served to the wealthy at a diner. The red stuff was not blood
but of fruit and sauce which are implications of false perceptions, such
as later in the movie when Bateman asks a woman to leave because he
might hurt her when she think it's not physically and he perhaps does.
From his first scene, the hilarity in Bale’s smug and grin on his face
articulates his brash yet kind charisma, which Bale certainly has enough
of for Bateman early in his career to fill in this main role. Bale’s
miraculous, carefully planned performance on every level and every scene
has a straight man approach to the role of his uncaring smug moods. He
has the biggest role and all others are equal underneath his weight all
acting wonderfully. His lines from this grand script are magnificent and
he’s affirmative on them especially with the dark humor unintended to
really be funny. ‘Sabrina, don't just stare at it, eat it.’ He jokes
around in a conceited and vulgar way, firmly in a resolute manner. In
today’s society and instead of its eighties culture and attitude, people
can’t really get away with a line like, ‘if you don't shut your mouth, I
will kill you’ in a heated argument. He often plays the returning some
video tapes as an excuse to leave places and utters on pop vocal songs
and their lyrics. The movie in parts has a young vibe with all its
dimmed pop songs, fancy attires, and cocktail parties. His acquaintances
are gullible and superficial where all they care about is what they
spent money on and not other human beings. They discuss dinner
reservations most of the time, like at Four Seasons restaurant or River
Café, and nitpick on their tastes on their vice president business cards
they purchase. ‘Listen what about dinner.’ No one really cares about
anyone so there is no ordeal, but just have a simple time. Bateman
eventually destroys the lives of these conventional people including
several prostitutes. The deaths are short and shocking yet they're too
easy for him to commit. When he carries out a dead body in a bag, one of
his acquaintances asks, ‘Oh, where did you get that overnight bag,’
which is another example of people caring about things and objects that
cost money and not people or the intangibles like danger or death. ‘Can
you keep it down; I'm trying to do drugs.’ However, he undergoes workout
and tanning regimes on his fit body which is quite sardonic seeing he
could be empty himself. The superb direction brings a regular pace with
solid camera cuts to the film's sequences with interesting mild-scenes.
Capturing the emptiness of white men finding success with money, it’s a
satire of morals and values of the working young upper-class in the
city, coined as yuppies then.
Final Grade: A-/A
Rio Grande (1950)
Starring John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Ben Johnson, Claude Jarman Jr., J.
Carrol Naish
Film Prophet's Review...
A southern cavalry commanding officer, Wayne, in charge of an outpost on
the Rio Grande encounters his estranged son trooper who comes under his
command. They have not seen each other in fifteen years. The mother of
his son, O'Hara, also comes to visit and she wants him out of there.
Noticeably from that premise, there is no actual storyline. Lots of
soldiers in uniforms riding horses on dusty plains carrying flags after
horns are blown initiate the western’s opening. However, this happens
again and again on several occasions in the movie. The western
conventionalisms, such as setting, pace, characters, and moods, are all
very plain and ordinary. Collaborating the romance and western genres,
the black and white film directed by John Ford is not an ideal archetype
from his collection of western directed films. This one is missing a
brisk spark that other Ford and Wayne films have and it’s not an
advisable choice to start in the collection. Wayne's characters usually
look and even act alike in Ford's other western films. He has a
moustache for this role and he’s an officer when usually he is an
outside citizen or loner. He has passion to his commanding position as
officer and not yet for his affection to his son. He has lots of
ascendancy than usual. Ford suggests the theme of a father and officer’s
roles, with the focus of the movie on the relationship between him and
his son, wife, and subordinates. The tension of disconnect and
detachment between the trooper son is hardly there because the son acts
more like a trooper first than a son in general. ‘You said the word,
solider, that's enough for me.’ Since Wayne is in charge of training new
young men recruits, there’s a few training sequences with young men but
they are more amused by fistfights and song singing. The movie is early
scented of the story-arch in Red River, but here the two individuals
growing on their own don’t go toward an insufferable ongoing conflict
like an impressive cattle drive. The actor in this son role is
unoccupied of stamina Clift had also. Later in the movie, Wayne develops
fervor for his wife, the only woman in the film really. This is ironic
because he tells his son from the start to not get involved with a
female yet there weren't any to be found in the movie at the point so
far. The wife moments limp in dialogue, like at the time a group of men
sing for them, which is the first of many, or when they're eating a meal
together. The romance is all quite unremarkable and preventable relating
to the main western story, if any. The other characters don't engage the
audience and none are quirky like in other films. There is no constant
enemy, like the Indians, on opposite sides or opponents to foe with.
When there is an opponent of the Indians, the action between them is
just shooting on horses. The action is monotonously forced. There are
arid scenes off the story. For example, there’re plenty of moments where
regimental male singers just sing slowly together because they don't
have anything else to do. Those songs are avoidable since they’re
basically singing out of boredom. A conflict hasn't risen past the
futile offspring drama, just lots of mediocre grief really. Instead,
it's left with more useless forlorn scenes without adding any other
cultural or family values. This film has no real villains or values so
therefore, no real western drama.
Final Grade: C
Hot Fuzz (2007)
Starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Timothy Dalton, Jim Broadbent, Paddy
Considine
Film Prophet's Review...
In the British action and comedy film, Sergeant Nicholas Angel, Pegg, a
top London cop is relocated to a dull country rural village. He arrives
in the small town and immediately begins applying the law. He soon pairs
up with a buddy cop who is dissimilar to him in a cliché to other
contemporary buddy cop movies, most notably Bad Boys II and Point Break.
The first third-quarters of the film fail at the hilarity notch and the
last quarter of violence and armed weapons parodies surpasses. Though
the British comedy is not really universal or international, it doesn't
translate to American humor well. The comedy runs through the audience's
mind without exiting from the mouth of laughing noise inconspicuously.
Punchline jokes are too quick to catch or just too plain to constantly
pay attention to. Part of this is due to the film’s fast editing
resulting in condensed lines and minor visuals in a small time frame.
Especially in the opening overlong ninety minutes of the film, useless
five to ten second scenes of quick movements that aren't really scenes
at all occur. They are film bits cut too sudden with close-ups, such as
to opening doors, serving alcoholic drinks at pubs, or hanging up
shirts, to keep its prompt pace up. It exaggerates the conventions of
other action movies with fast cuts, which is the film's action in
general to watch how fast the zany cuts go. Pegg is okay as the rigid
and unbending police officer in a slipshod town. The townsfolk who
appear around him don't live up past their rapid introduction. They are
childish and they would look like children just by the sound of their
dialogue and when they pronounce their lines from their adult bodies.
The people he encounters in the town are all minor, dim-witted people
underneath his role when ironically they have the knowledge and
ascendancy in their areas of expertise like a doctor or priest but none
to his superiority. His partner is a chatty and blundering hefty guy as
both are opposites of each other in appearance and personality, though
the friendship grows in gawky scenes. As a cop and the central character
in a primary comedy film, the cop’s sense of humor is dry while nearly
every other person responds to him with hasty quips. Their comical
absurdities are unfunny, the type of manners where they act in the
unison sometimes, while he holds his professionalism overrun with
various locals. It’s filled with too many bore antics and the film’s
obvious ones weren't too clear. A nonexistent plotline is tiresome early
on and looks like Wicker Man often. Until the murder angle, the movie
goes without a plot to follow. The editing is too fast and the storyline
is too pointlessly slow. The action scenes until the grand finale are
thin and short of trying to catch someone in a chase. “Accident implies
there's nobody to blame.” When the murdering angle enters, the genre of
the film becomes a hybrid of too many marbles at once. The gore was very
over the top, but the film improves slightly when it drops all humor and
tunes into the complex murder part of the story where Pegg is against
the community odds during the third chaotic act where the audience has
enough to share his frustration. Overall, the film is very noisy and
loud in sound. Sounds are always going on from nearly anything in the
setting, such as sirens, or from the background music at such an
energetic rate. The manic cuts and music stretches out with a tired
story. It’s not interesting until things start getting outrageous.
Startlingly after the movie exhausts its momentum, the storyline
thickens and improves when Nicholas Angel seizes control and raises the
bar from the faltering commencement. The final act is outlandish and
action-filled with gun slaughter where the parodies of buddy cop movies
are coherent and entertaining when it’s about the action first then the
comedy with absurd mayhem.
Final Grade: C+/C
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Thomas Haden
Church, Topher Grace
Film Prophet's Review...
In continuing the adventures, Harry Osborn holds a grudge to destroy
Spider-Man in his father’s commanding wishes. Flint Marko, a fugitive
with a damaged family tie, becomes Sandman. Meanwhile, Peter again tries
to balance his relationship with Mary Jane and another female, Gwen
Stacy, along with all the other showdowns on the horizon. Heroics and
villains attempt at rescuing the spectacle from redundant preceding
ingredients. The movie cheats and retrieves a lot from the first two and
plays them over again in different visual ways. Routinely, Parker’s
costume is torn apart several times from the pounding against walls and
walls that fall and shatter. The production cycle might just be the only
aspect greater than in the first two movies. The action in the
photography is a step up in the special effects department with innovate
zooms and angles during the sequences to heighten the discharges. Late
new developments happen in terms of villainous positions. Nevertheless,
the new Goblin played by James Franco is still the character other than
the title role with superhuman powers that yields the most attention in
the story still. This third one in the series fills in the storyline
holes and reworks them from the previous movies into this movie. As it
opens, it carries the steam of what was left with previous feuds. This,
like almost the rest of the drive in the movie, forms vengeances from
deaths and all of which appears familiar. Bonds go kaput and they’re
very unstable and shaky. There are plenty of super gushy breaks between
Peter and nearly anyone from the main cast in a given time frame that’s
appropriate but foreseeable. The Mary Jane love triangle with Peter and
Harry is also regurgitated in bits from the past and Peter has his
typically troubles in professing his love to Mary Jane again, but in a
higher format. However, there are a lot of moments in for hilarity, even
the line where Flint Marko says to Parker, ‘I don't want to hurt you.
Leave now.’ Insert the French host waiter and Peter strutting for about
ten consecutive minutes gives the movie a different kind of attitude. It
is not the attitude of violence or enticing stunts, but the aura and
suave of Peter Parker occasionally near the center of the film. It’s the
aggression from an inexplicable black crawling parasite that goes
without explanation, much like the ordeal and origins of Sandman during
his regeneration. The new villains are Sandman and Venom, where the
Venom stuff is awkwardly introduced. Usual themes open up at the end and
the ending action scene in that unfinished tower of a building is
congested and tacky. As
this time for the themes it’s about choices, replacements, and fixing with its movie
purpose of remaining a blockbuster entertaining popcorn film. Compared
to its predecessors in the series, this third one finishes in third
place.
Final Grade: C+/B-
Disturbia (2007)
Starring Shia LaBeouf, Aaron Yoo, Sarah Roemer, Carrie-Anne Moss, David
Morse, Jose Pablo Cantillo
Film Prophet's Review...
The movie revolves around a troubled high school student who is still
grieving over his father's death, as he's sentenced by the court to
house arrest for three months and monitored by an electronic ankle
bracelet that signals the police. If he leaves his home estate
boundaries, the police will pay him an unfriendly visit. This creates a
plight and a dilemma after a while when he notices from his bedroom
window that his neighbor appears to be a serial killer. He’s stationed
in a predicament caused by several losses including stability and it
becomes more than a self conflict. Distractions of attractions from
windows for a teen in an isolated neighborhood home turn into
vulnerabilities, inklings, and trespassing. One thing for sure is that
neighbors ought to shut their curtains at night. Shia LaBeouf as the
secluded individual is as charismatic and explosive as can be in the
role of a teen placed under house arrest. He eventually believes to
witness an account of murders while spying on his suspicious neighbor.
Hold that thought because it hinders for later on in the movie. The
premise is similar to Rear Window but in a junior version as an
unofficial interpretation for teens who don’t watch older movies. Shia
is quite multipurpose in this role. He’ll have his humorous face
reactions from comical undertones in the dialogue and sights and then
have a maddening part of anxiety. He has seamless chemistry with anyone
on screen with him or just plainly when it's just him alone in the
house. ‘It's a lot harder than it looks on the Internet.’ That ending
with his beloved father is heartrending and saddening in the beginning.
After his character is under house arrest, he finds ways to entertain
himself by taking up responsibilities, or not, and to entertain the
audience so the introvert is not in total boredom. He does enough in the
first half to keep the viewer's mind from forgetting that there is a
murderer subplot later to be distinguished. He has several playful tools
at spare to play with and these electronic gadgets, like cameras and
cell phones, come to story use. ‘Ok just relax, that's sixty gigs of my
life.’ Jose Pablo Cantillo is superb as the cop who looks to humiliate
him at first when Shia is trapped in troubles. There are times when Shia
is in those troubles when he uses his inquisitive imagination and
affability that lets the audience use imagination as well picturing in
his situation. Most of the second act consists of adolescent
observations with binoculars like a spy from suburban teenagers
sleuthing around, but it’s very tolerable to watch every minute of it.
The movie sets up to be believable to an extent, especially with its
setting in a regular suburban neighborhood. It grasps the audience the
way any capably made movie does with a balance of frights, mystery,
romance and comedy on an even steadiness. The movie is light and
carefree and then taunts at hostility adequately. Morse brings the
sinister angle to his villain vibe real well to add the startling factor
in. He is substantially interesting as the role develops to a convincing
threat. Slim stimulation amounts tying in the entire main cast and it
elevates the pulls and tugs when the movie is curious in building
tension. In general, the movie is very slightly above mediocre and it
foils adequately.
Final Grade: B/B-
Grindhouse (2007)
Starring Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodríguez, Kurt Russell, Marley Shelton,
Josh Brolin, Rosario Dawson
Film Prophet's Review...
The recipe to advocate a raunchy film ignites a moody and stark homage
to old-age exploitation movies that combines two feature-length segments
into one double-bill designed to replicate the grind house theatergoing
experience several decades prior to. In the first directed by Robert
Rodriguez titled Planet Terror, a rustic Texan small-town hospital and
sheriffs' department have to deal with an outbreak of murderous,
infected people in an ultra-violent mayhem. In the second directed by
Quentin Tarantino titled Death Proof, an aging sleazy and lunatic
stuntman driver, Russell, wrecks women with his car. In between the two
films will be an intermission by previews of fake coming attractions. It
is two movies and two directors for the price of one, but that also
equivalents to one long violent, fierce film for approximately three
hours. It’s basically two ridiculous exploitative films blending a
horror and action experience that highlight a genre most people don't
know about or forgot. It’s where bad movies, drugs, violence, and sex
were rampant in trashy settings, but it’s a vintage in a futile, though
very ingenious and fantastic way. If either two movies were shown
separately, neither would have been the same, especially the shoddy
Death Proof. Neither movie can be taken seriously because of their tacky
and cheap tastes, but the eye-catching stunts and attractions are
graphic and inappropriate revulsions in somewhat illicit settings and
scenery that are inventive. Special effects consist of far-fetched
explosions, trauma, and crashes with excessive violence for nostalgic
entertainment in both exploitation features. The picture looks worn out
and grainy for that lower class effect that’s not main-stream. In the
slasher film, it begins with mindless conflicts and lines but soon after
a while, they steadily improve hysterically one after another. “I’m
gonna get my dick wet - she's got one leg - easier access.’ ‘You find a
use for every useless talent you have.’ The survival after thirty
minutes heats up. The gore became very original and creative and worth
getting exciting about. Some incredible, original moments are the
stirring and magnificent ride out on the road full of zombies and the
helicopter attacking on ground. Even the parts like the missing reel
segments are crafty. Freddy Rodríguez, the male lead in Planet Terror,
definitely has the stamina for his character to match McGowan’s. Callous
guys and alluring babes are insensitive and ruthless pending on horrific
deaths. Ferociously torment, distress, and gore moments are the ones to
catch in the film and those are the ones people usually try to refrain
from watching ordinarily. Infections spread and people struggle with
body parts. Limbs and attachments are wobbly and the environment is in a
wild and extreme chaos with no control. Exceedingly, there’s an amount
of times where people slash zombies and zombies massacre people. Plenty
of it reaches the quota of satisfying the number of zombie slashing
scenes. Through all the gross viral diseases, obscene language,
offensive images, cannibal and sick tone, massive ugly red colors, and
blood trails, it’s outrageous and fluid for what it contains. The music
score, sounds, and photography are effective and all that is needed to
construct an exploitation visual piece. As for Death Proof, there’s a
turning point in the middle of it where a new set of women soon fall
prey to Russell's wreck. Nothing precious happens besides the car bumps
and chases and it takes a while before the motor gets going. There’s no
threatening outside influence for a long time in relation to Planet
Terror. Characters are concerned about ordering shots at a bar in an
awfully and considerably slowed down content lowering the amount of
exploitations compared to what rush it had before. It’s mainly immobile
constant chatter of the girls at the bar that comes across flat. The
best part of the movie is a minute before it ends when they throw fists
wildly. Both directors’ efforts in creating stirring fresh ideas are
visually done well. Lines especially in Death Proof are mindless where
girls converse in cars and bars at a slower, less action pace. One can
say those girl parts were for the female audience since the first half
was a total man film. It’s superb when lines don't fill up the movies
for consecutive minutes.
Final Grade: B+/B
The Lookout (2007)
Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jeff Daniels, Matthew Goode, Isla Fisher,
Bruce McGill
Film Prophet's Review...
“I'll say it again… you better write it down this time; whoever has the
money, has the power.” The first scene features a high school hockey
star with his friends who are soon to be disabled in a car accident
after a brisk youthful carefree car night ride. Four years later, he
admits to his mundane low self-esteem day to day life, but eventually he
joins a group of criminals who plan to rob a small town bank where he
works at as a janitor. Scott Frank’s directional debut spawns ample
atmosphere to boost the building opposition efforts leading up to the
final third act where it all lets eclectic. It’s daring and bold and the
movie goes by the main character’s slow transition from his past scars.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt leads the cast of solid acting performances and it
starts at the helm with him who frankly appears in all the scenes. It's
his character’s story and it’s a character study that’s slipping into
the heist in which the movie markets it towards. Suffering from brain
damage and living with his blind roommate friend played by Jeff Daniels,
he is later pressured to help a new group of pals with their adultery
ways with a robbery. It queries a wrong crowd versus a solitude living
though dependent on others. Before the heist begins, there’s plenty of
development. The characters go first in this film before tossing them in
a tiny bank vault on a winter's night. It focuses on the social
consciousness daunted by a head trauma memory lapsing to the old
accident and people reminding him of it. There is no sight of a planned
premise of a heist until much later in the movie, but how it connects
this story in the beginning of memory loss and deals with its
shortcomings is precise. Through these scenes, the acting, sharp
dialogue, and the silences carries and pushes the movie through with
expression. It opens up the state of mind and subsequent troubling
experiences and saves the heist. The scenes blend into his experiences
daily including not remembering people in the past, so he carries around
a little notepad. That notepad is integral in several later moments, but
a note taking instance earlier at a bar is humorous. The first
conversation between Jeff Daniels and Isla Fisher is as well. Yet, it
still deals with a large amount of their characters than the premise. As
it steadily heads near the brink, the story constructs a young man who
is unable to let go of his past because of the uncertainties in his
future. Out of desperations, he begins speculating the people in his
life. He is told by this new group of pals that he will have the central
position as the lookout at the small bank of security loopholes. Matthew
Goode is excellent as the head of this group who can instantly change
from charismatic to cold. Here, it thickens and enriches as the movie
proceeds towards the small heist on a snowy night. The pressure mounts
grippingly, especially with a deputy doughnut cop in play. The action is
sparse like in The Punisher and A History of Violence, but when it's
there, it's in profundity. The audience of the movie comes to sympathize
with Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s vulnerable role after he strikes up
tentative decisions after dilemmas.
Final Grade: B+/B
Blades of Glory (2007)
Starring Will Ferrell, Jon Heder, Amy Poehler, Will Arnett, Jenna
Fischer, Craig T. Nelson, William Fichtner
Film Prophet's Review...
A frivolous comedy out of two male figure skaters competing is the
premise. As expected, that's what it really is. There’s comic foil
during very small bickers and quip tantrums. The story surrounds itself
in professional ice skating that follows two former rivals featuring
Will Ferrell and Jon Heder, who were recently suspended and stripped of
their gold medals from the Winter Games from the men's singles Olympics
figure skating, to team up to compete in the pairs category. In the
world today, male skaters aren’t necessarily icons of masculinity.
Unexpected, it seasons to be far away from being vigorous early on and
it’s uninteresting. It saves it for the final dozen or so minutes, and
thus losing a constant attention to all the dialogue and the story in
the middle. Although it's not at all slapstick, some of the lines are
quirky between Heder and Ferrell, but hardly occurring much. When they
are suspended, there's not a care towards what happens, despite some
overreacting. It just lingers any pleasantry moments and the guys turn
into sloth, unfunny characters. Awkward fans who try to be faintly
outrageous for small laughs appear during this time. A substantial
portion of the movie has to do with complete failure with the male
skaters and inadvertently, it falls to that concept for quite an
extended length too soon until near the end. The captive situation near
the end seems compulsory but it's the only attentive escapade in the
movie, which includes a humorous chase on ice skates outside of the ice
rink. Ferrell and Heder train as a pair under a coach reminiscent from
the movie Dodgeball. These sequences, at the low point of the movie,
attempt at puerile gags and try to meet the ration of decorative sex
jokes. The villains of the movie are a heterosexual brother and sister
pair and their younger sister is enslaved to their duties. The movie
does for figure skating what Ferrell did for auto racing in Talladega
Nights by meshing two separate fan bases from the performers and the
sport in a satire with pride. Many parts of the movie are satirized and
every ice skating performance in the movie is superficial and clearly
fake. People are naïve and buy into the tranquil music along with the
calm, mindless audience at attendance. This movie is terrific at
ripening the gullibility of it all with harsh, unkind managers, medals
ceremony, and overbearing parents. The skating performances of routines
and moves don't deal with the true flexibility. Mannerisms and physical
gestures are part of the uncomfortable sight gags when the newly form
pair skate together in crude choreography and positions. Ferrell and
Heder are fine at the emphasis of the immature physical and verbal
material. It's a body language and motion comedy in flippant forms where
if the music was turned off and the setting wasn't an ice skating rink,
it would just be one person dancing in a wide open space. The movie sets
up quite fast in the beginning where the action occurs, at the ice rink.
Throughout the whole movie, the television side-commentary is perky. For
example, ‘oh boy look at them, they are really having fun with this’ in
an overexciting tone as the movie has fun with their lines. However, too
much of the commentary makes it almost like a bad documentary because
the writing and storyline is awfully exhausted. It’s like a fluffy
filling with a slim taste. As one of the fading ice skaters says, ‘I'm
going to have to get a real job.’
Final Grade: C/C+
TMNT (2007)
Voices by James Arnold Taylor, Nolan North, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Chris
Evans, Ziyi Zhang, Patrick Stewart
Film Prophet's Review...
As an avid fan of the recent animated series, the movies, the original
animated series, and plenty of merchandise, it was a return to the
fundamentals of amusement watching this feature in the modern and
standard CGI technique. The new animated series that started exactly
four years prior to the release date of this movie is more violent and
grim along with the comic books than anything the nineties decade
delivered, though the turtles were still a major part of pop culture
then. An impulse is urged to distinguish how the franchise has been
reinvented in virtually two decades carrying a steady nostalgic wave
including an identical edge in the recent series. Director Kevin Munroe
clearly complements what has gone on before in the franchise in regards
to early cartoons, movies, and the newer animated television series,
with likes of Karai, Leo's faulting leadership, and the new sewer home,
leading up to this project. The Turtles’ bandanas, weapons, attitudes,
and personalities are kept intact. There are no live action dotted
turtle costumes with mouths out of sync like in the third one in ancient
Japan. The heart of the turtles setting is back in Manhattan. They are
more discreet, but still their goofy selves. However, most of the
original fans of the franchise are still attached to the early cartoon
series and still want to see some of those characters in a movie to fill
in voids. Still, none of the four movies have featured Krang or the
Technodrome, based from the original cartoon series, but too bad, make
way for Max Winters and some immortal stone warriors from primeval
times. At least this movie has Karai introduced, who is featured in the
latest and superior cartoon series, carrying on the legacy of her
deceased master, The Shredder, and leading the Foot Clan. April O'Neil
is not a reporter and looks years younger as an antique dealer. She
wasn’t recognizable at first in this movie, and she also suddenly
developed ninja fighting skills though she previously never had any real
desire in any previous series. The story is more on the sci-fi side than
usual since animations nowadays can certainly expand certain production
areas of stories. The movie opens in South America after an ancient myth
background tale that happened centuries ago as Laurence Fishburne
narrates. So, it doesn’t begin with the Turtles or an enlivening team
effort sequence like in the first two live action films. Monster
medieval giant stone warriors that almost look like the ones from the
old Dimension X portal take their place and the Turtles are launched
individually in separate persona threads. The Turtles are grown apart
and divided after their defeat of Shredder. The criminal level for them
to fight as a group isn't there anymore. Soon, a group of ancient
creatures threatens to take over the world and the turtles’ family
attempts to reunite to save the world. Thirteen monsters escaped from a
time warp and the turtles need to send them back home and out of
Manhattan. The main subplot of movie revolves around Leonardo’s quest to
become a better leader for his family in order to reunite the Turtles’
family and this is what fleshes out to be the storyline that gets the
most attention. Splinter, the Yoda like master and mentor who is quick,
small, old age, and soft-spoken, is the grumbling and pensive rat who
has some humorous material in this film. He is the one who hints at the
theme and resolution for the turtles, which is teamwork. In many
occurrences, Ralph exits the family with a temper and heads on rooftops
with Casey Jones at nights. The brother rivalry in the middle of the
movie with Leo appears as the main story than the enemies really,
especially Max Winters’ light influence. Ralph has taken on a solo
vigilante as the Night Watcher, a motorcycle crime stopping character
that the turtles don’t know about. This gimmick actually has more screen
time than any present evil. A chunk of the movie focuses on Leonardo and
Raphael, like a character driven story. The evil is not too menacing or
threatening as the opening elucidation once promised with ancient
monster antagonists. Somewhat all of the police and detective
involvement is astray, except for the sirens that are overheard as a
signal for the turtles and company to disappear before they show up. The
sunshine and daylight was very absent, as the story took place mostly
during the night time. Along with the lighting, there weren’t many
bright colors; dark sewers and underground layers, and racing and
jumping on top of buildings brings somewhat of a darker tone to comics
instead of a childlike cartoon display. The various surfaces, textures,
and effects to the overall look of Manhattan city are dusky and worn.
The rooftop rounds in the city are nicely represented. A duel in the
rain looks particularly astounding. The music scores cover almost every
momentous scene that’s revitalizing and meditative. Also, no songs, so
no ninja rap. The most accurate voice was probably Michelangelo’s. There
is a warm sentiment between the brothers at times, and the comedy
balance is superb with jokes played off past affairs. Once the small
action scenes arrive, the movie is fluid as the camera flows
simultaneously where the action moves. For example, the foot clan battle
in a city park with those attractive, atmospheric trees in the
background. Yet, the movie has too short of a final battle that leaves
viewers salivating for more. The movie is a satisfying experience for an
hour and a half, but it’s no complete and full TMNT masterpiece.
Final Grade: B/B-
In the Mood for Love (2000)
Starring Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Ping Lam Siu, Rebecca Pan
Film Prophet's Review...
Directed by Kar Wai Wong, the Chinese movie is set in sixties Hong Kong
mainly in a compact apartment dwelling surrounding a married man and a
married woman. Chow, Leung, is a newspaper editor who moves into a
rugged building with his wife. At approximately the same time, Su
Li-zhen, Cheung, a beautiful secretary and her executive husband move in
right next door. With their spouses absent and away often, Chow and
Li-zhen spend most of their time together secretly as friends until they
realize soon that their spouses are having an affair. These spouses are
faceless characters, with vacant screen time, to indicate the distance
from not only to their spouses, but to the audience watching. The
spouses are rarely shown and they are unseen. Under minor distress, they
are weak to do anything about it but glance with small gestures and eat
noodles. Nothing intimately happens between them, though they are in
each other’s comfort and relief. They are, however, aware and conscious
of their behavior and its repercussions, if any, to not to be like their
unfaithful spouses. Chow and Li-zhen cross paths in the rigid, small
halls of their building and don’t speak to each other for a couple dozen
minutes. Camera techniques have close zooms in jammed areas and low
camera angles are many of which start at the lower waist, especially at
Cheung, and pan upwards then zooms out to give the impression scenes are
recurring. Same settings, images, and violin music selection are used
and almost every scene has a black dissolve into the next. The scope of
the film is covered in photography, the acting, and the evocative music.
The art interiors of the film are a study of physical appearance, body,
and dress that is radiant to the camera. For example, the silky shirts,
hair, and dress skirts, as the costumes and colors do say something
about the characters. Office workplaces, rugged apartments, and the old
Hong Kong backstreets feature the sad, gloomy, and sincerely lonely
lives of the characters. Soft ballads are played out during slow motion
montages that match with the polite and passive pair. The tale is at
minimal and authentic, but the dashes of the two characters are there to
expand and advance the tale than the melancholy plot itself. Kar Wai
creates sincere characters out of negligible substance and the acting
was done fairly well, despite the plain bleak material. The opening
consists of brief scenes of what appear useless. It was quickly
dissatisfying by its dim approach because it had no plot, energy, or
motivation. Their desk jobs were like space fillers as the movie runs at
about an hour and a half. Separation is the source of the tale at the
interactions between Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung. Little between them
ignites, just like the film. The two talk over noodles and about
marriage incessantly. They are frail, sensible, and despairing human
beings, listless and lethargic like the indolent movie… the
communication is bleak and slight in the last thirty minutes. The movie
is rationally draining and droning as it’s an expression of a delicate
unrequited twosome.
Final Grade: B-
Zodiac (2007)
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony
Edwards, Chloë Sevigny, Donal Logue
Film Prophet's Review...
Directed by David Fincher, the story centers on the men who sought
Zodiac, the infamous serial killer who troubled San Francisco for over a
dozen years. Beginning in the late sixties, Zodiac taunted the police
department with ciphers and letters written to the San Francisco
Chronicle and other newspapers. Soon they grew to the case, and a
cartoonist and former boy scout was fascinated with the unsolved crimes.
Two books about Zodiac are by this Robert Graysmith, Gyllenhaal, and he
was fancily obsessed and involved with the malfunctions in guesses and
assumptions continuously. ‘There's more than one way to lose your life
to a killer’ is an accurate, enticing tagline, though the movie
underplays to a never-ending dose of drabness. There are no cheerful
moments. Coded ciphers and phony fingerprints were all the police had
for evidence as the candidates for the identity of Zodiac were through
accusations, poor evidence, coincidences, and handwriting. While the
indecisive killer was at large, the police investigated in offices by
digging through papers and tossing around names and assuming facts that
led no where. Their lives were gradually preoccupied by the unsolvable
mystery surrounding the Zodiac killer and they became tired and
exhausted as much as the movie becomes. The movie does relate to tidbits
of paranoia, for instance Graysmith’s family in the movie, but none of
it is action. There’s a madman on the loose and all he does is have a
few early scenes to murder. Thankfully, Fincher does not lead this
project into horror territory, or dealing with the victims’ close ones
after homicides. There’s briefly any background information on the scope
of the soon to be victims and the killer, so the movie is revolving
around the alluring traces and puzzles that the police find out. The
first note appears in writing ten minutes within, so not too soon or
late. There is an immense supporting cast dealing with miscellaneous
apathy phone calls and such, but the voice of opinion that matters to
audience is the author of the future books portrayed by Gyllenhaal. He
decodes symbols and reads books from libraries, but like the police, it
is all in unfinished ordeals that last a long time. The movie draws the
time and dates in with subtitles showing the elapse of hours later or
even years. The police looked frustrated with thought, swapped with
scenes of the Zodiac quietly harassing victims followed by abrupt severe
painful results; notably is the film’s most cringing and realistic scene
by lake early on. With the grim subject matter, the men respond to the
pressures of the investigation and manhunt. Their theories go no where
but to fill up film space and conversations as this film’s length is
close to three hours. It goes dreary and unexciting like their jobs are.
Dread rolls on, and there isn’t much seeking drama like in All the
President's Men. It is the exact opposite of anything that the director
was capable from achieving in Se7en and The Game. Men examine and
discuss writing styles and try to figure out scenarios and it’s dreadful
on any action. It’s an uninteresting piece showing the devotion of the
men’s lives to track down Zodiac wasting a lot of time, as this is where
the tagline works. However, an absence of chases, stunts, a musical
score, and effects including a serial killer with a minimum amount of
scenes because he has no pattern and has never truly been identified is
quite numbing. Restless and tedious scenes form unmemorable parts that
fade away and tune out. A couple scenes are occasionally gripping, but
since there is no real conclusion, the end result is one of those long
descriptions to read on the screen. Like the tagline, men lost their
lives in time due to the disruption and vagueness of guessing names and
it was a drag for everyone.
Final Grade: C+
300 (2007)
Starring Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic West, David Wenham, Vincent
Regan
Film Prophet's Review...
Sly sequences, fantastic attires, illustrious backdrops, and masculine
warriors all give this spectacle a demonstrating notch but only towards
its super stylish graphical art display. The story tells of the
three-hundred elite Spartan warriors in Greece led by their bold King
Leonidas, who thwart the charge of Xerxes and his massive Persian army
at the battle of Thermopylae. King Leonidas and his men attempt to
defend a mountain pass for the ancient Greek states against Persia's
attack at Thermopylae. The movie’s ancient Greek empire story is also
based on a graphic comic book by Frank Miller. Sparta faced a much
greater force and it was outnumbered by an army of soldiers. Not just
soldiers, but deformed figures, elephants, and animated creatures used
in the battles to add a digital glow on a fantasy scale. Inexplicable,
fictitious animals to mankind existence appear in this middle earth like
story. Taken to a high appealing stride, bluescreen techniques
duplicated the background imagery from the comic book with human
performers. Most, if not all, of them were men. The one female, the wife
and queen, made of the most blandest and unmoving parts, sadly. From
this movie’s perspective, it shows a Greece nation and civilization as
brutes, monsters, and full of strange creatures plus one pressured,
dragged female, all inaccurately. The men of beasts urge of rage, but
the movie isn't necessarily capable of excelling in a hefty conversion
unless some males raise their voices in urgencies and impatience. Words
like Sparta, Persia, slaves, and madness float around often as the lines
were badly written. Most of what they said were short blustering
speeches in loud haughty tones. Standard battlefield scenes where
numerous extras combat, slay, and fall in flesh become slowly
repetitive. The sparse action is so cluttered and fast and one can't
tell who is defeating who which is ideal to depict the restless
confusion and jammed space to operate in. However, there is one big
fighting scene in the first hour and not enough attention drawn into
anything else to grab a consistent pull. Blood splats, swords and spears
swish, and men fight in a merciless kind, reworked in a slow-motion and
accelerated cycle to watch. As the narrator speaks, ‘they shout and
curse, stabbing wildly.’ Audiences have seen it all before somewhere
else. For a few comparisons, it is a mismatch to the sharp fighting in
Kill Bill, the creative and groundbreaking style in Sin City, or the
entertainment found in the superior similar setting in Troy. Monstrous
villains were present, but not enough evil was granted. Leaders were
there, but not enough strategic pinpoints or plans were there. Glorious
skies and fires, tireless marches, spears, small swords, and heavy
shields plus enormous odds were stacked against Sparta soon. The
delivery of the story is conveyed by this, but it is rather tedious in
presentation of an anecdote. The movie is more of a fluid hyper-reality
sight in visual terms in many dimensions than a yarn being expressed.
The story is told through a somber voiceover narrator about heroism and
his explanation of the prologue and the rest of the movie all the way to
the end, culminating at the start of the Battle of Plateae one year
later, incessantly.
Final Grade: B-/C+
The Number 23 (2007)
Starring Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen, Logan Lerman, Danny Huston
Film Prophet's Review...
Directed by Joel Schumacher, the movie follows a man who is obsessed
with a book titled The Number 23 his wife purchases and becomes
convinced that the book is based on his own life. It is baffling to see
how a person can get so scared when the mind plays tricks and when there
is probably nothing there to begin with. In this movie, there is nothing
paranormal to be worried about… there are no spirits or ghouls, and not
even Jim Carrey style of alluding jokes worth a laugh. Where it all
exists is in the insipid vision and obsession of the main character
through his skeptic voiceover reading narration and winded back
storytelling devices. While it is predictable to know the answer when
Carrey begins to formulate, there are some rapid fast additions of math
to the number 23 where the audience can’t catch up. Numbers, mostly as
ages and dates, formulate to the number 23 before the audience has time
to think of a numeric addition or get to the one going on. These numbers
come from Carrey’s everyday objects or routines from memory that sum up
to exactly the number 23. It eventually drives him into some madness
that makes him believe the book is really about him, but it forgets
important things like the plot. The movie surrounds him in the
appearance of the number and looking for the number everywhere. The
thing one can walk away with from this movie is to know how interesting
the number 23 can be. It pounds with numbers but solves no mysterious
equation. There are 23 letters in the phrase, ‘numb displeasure but so
what…’ Hang on, that’s a miscalculation. Just as unsuccessful that is,
it’s the same towards developing the theory of the number into a
gripping level of entertainment that all incidents are directly
connected to the number 23. Instead, the movie is a slow and futile
outing that goes nowhere of effect and uncovers little of the title. It
underachieves to come up with anything to dazzle with the end result of
the same number. Add up the digits minus a few numbers and works out,
sort of. The audience soon forgets them after just hearing them since
they are so useless and lose interest in caring. Early empty character
rationales don't add any drive to the already anemic story of
uninteresting nonsense unless it deals with the movie's title. He is so
obsessed in attempt to be ludicrously fixated, so one can assume he has
no hobbies or anything else to do than to engulf into the relations of
the book to his lifeline, that floppy childhood and dream sequences are
equivalent to a fiasco. This causes for perplexing time of settings
where certain scenes in relation with the book occur towards his memory,
fantasy, or dreams losing the audience's attention somewhere before the
third of the movie. When he begins to read a chapter from the book, it
usually accounts for another tedious interval of blandness. Coming down
to the congested end, there aren’t any true psychological or mystical
acts in which the number applies to later in the movie. Along with his
wife and son, they try to find out the real meaning on a small chase,
and there are some redeeming agendas near the end such as in the grave
or with the anonymous killer, but it resolves in an incomprehensible,
yet plain fashion. Anyone can catch the humdrum resolving point a mile
ahead, which harks back in similar chucks to the dreadful Secret Window.
Nowadays these are common and subsequently mundane and derivative.
Falling short of its trailers, the number 23 is no special than just the
number and the movie is reduced to far lesser.
Final Grade: C/C-
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