The Rat Pack 1998
4/5
Tonight I watched the HBO movie "The Rat Pack" after dinner. Overall I liked it a lot, though it was a bit disjointed near the end, probably from bad editing. I learned quite a bit about the Rat Pack times that I hadn't known, such as how deeply involved Sinatra was with the mob. I mean, I knew he had mob ties, anyone who's studied that time does, but not how deep they were.
Don Cheadle (Sammy Davis Jr) and Joe Mantegna (Dean Martin) absolutely blew me away! Even after having watched the original "Ocean's Eleven" a couple months back I felt like I was watching the real guys, these two were so good in their characterizations. Ray Liotta wasn't bad, but he didn't have the Sinatra body language down, that languid, fluid way of moving even when in a hurry. His eyes were correct even without contacts, though.
The other actors were all right, but Don and Joe just blew them all away. The guys who played the Kennedys didn't quite have the accent down, and I sure wish they could have gotten the actors from "13 Days" to play Jack and Bobby. There is a few minutes of rather explicit sex scenes, showing what the guys are up to one night. I found it all very well-done, and really bought how Sammy and May fell in love despite the incredible obstacles they faced in 1960.
The only goof I saw was Don Cheadle's height when next to his "wife"; in the beginning he was a good 2-3 inches shorter than her, but by the wedding scene they were seeing eye-to-eye. But who knows, maybe he got lifts or she stopped wearing heels, I suppose.
I highly recommend this movie if you're into Tinseltown history (or the actors, who really do an outstanding job) as it seems to tell the story factually, though you might want to pick up a book or two on the Rat Pack to fill in the occasional blank spaces left by bad editing.
Joan of Arc 1999 (TV)
4/5
First of all I have to say that this was a quality movie for a made-for-TV. If not for the obvious commercial breaks I never would have guessed. The only occasional goof I caught was machine sewing on some of the garments, but other than that it did seem to be historically accurate. I particularly liked the colors and indoor sets used; since much of it takes place in winter, they show people with their breath misting indoors which seems very realistic in the 1400s.
The acting was outstanding. Leelee Sobieski held her own with this talented cast, Peter O'Toole was his usual perfect self, and I was impressed by Olympia Dukakis wearing very little makeup with her hair pulled back. Shirley MacLaine has a brief but truly wonderful part as Madame de Beaurevoir, and also showed her age with no embarrassment. Most interestingly I could not pick out Robert Loggia, though he's credited as one of the priests. I've been a fan of his since "Magnum P.I.", though I think his best roles have been in "Independence Day" and "Innocent Blood".
Powers Boothe as Joan's father did do something totally unexpected and out-of-period-character, but only once in a movie this long isn't too bad. (This was a "What in the hell did he just say?" moment.) Though it did knock me out of the movie when it happened, the good thing is that I went right back into it and was completely absorbed within moments.
That said... not much new to the legend here other than some speculation on her childhood and family. The main thing I did like about this one was that the viewer never hears Joan's voices, you just see her reaction to them. And there was no Dustin Hoffman as the voice of her conscience, which was really strange in the "The Messenger" and rather ruined my enjoyment of that film.
Worth seeing if you like the story, are fans of the actors or the time period, but don't expect anything spectacular, just the familiar story with good, solid acting.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 2004
3/5
We watched this movie last night and I am still trying to decide if I liked it or not! One thing I can tell you, it's probably Jim Carrey's most serious role to date, even more so than "Liar Liar", "The Majestic", or "The Truman Show". He does no mugging or goofy stuff at all; what funny lines he does say are totally deadpan and he does an outstanding job as a quiet, depressed man. Kate Winslet is excellent as well, and never breaks accent (neither does also-British Tom Wilkinson; Costner could take lessons from them). The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous, and the rest of the supporting cast wasn't bad either although Kirsten Dunst was a bit out of her league. It's the story that's got me baffled and wondering. I may have to watch it again to see if I figured everything out right!
The Silver Stallion 1993 SPOILERS
2/5
I rented this DVD after doing a search for horse films on Netflix. First of all, let me say that I don't recommend it to anyone but hard-core horse fans. If you want to see gorgeous shots of Australia with a great story and excellent acting, see "The Man From Snowy River". If you want to see gorgeous shots of Australia with horses running across it but a rather confusing story and mediocre acting, see this.
Spoilers below, but since I had 'em figured out about 10 minutes into the movie I don't think it's that big a deal.
It wasn't all bad, but the story was so disjointed that it was hard to follow at times. Since it was based on a book I think that it was geared to those who had read it. The ending was pretty lame and felt forced, so it didn't even redeem the movie for me.
The acting was so-so, especially from the young girl and Russell Crowe though the mother was all right. He really wasn't that bad until the scene where the stallion steals his prize mare and he starts screaming into the air and pounding his fists in the mud, or the scene where the mare comes back and he shouts taunts at the horse. However, he was excellent in the riding and stunt scenes; it mentions him as a stunt performer in the credits. He was excellent with all the animals, horses and the dog as well.
There were some serious goofs, however. Not sure I remember all of them, but worst and most noticeable was the unsynchronized audio/visual of the horses' hoofbeats. This happened in almost every scene where the horses were running, either singly or in pairs. And to hear the sound of hooves on hard ground when the horse is running through snow... I also particularly liked the part where the voice-over says "The horses grew thick winter coats for warmth" and it shows a shot of a well-groomed "wild brumby" with a nice slick summer coat - and horse shoes! Quite a few of the "brumbies" in this movie were shod, including the main horse's herd stallion, as well as being very well-groomed without so much as a bramble or tangle in their manes and tails. A couple other good ones is where you can see the tire tracks of the camera trucks appear during a pan in one shot, and how Russell Crowe holds a rope ready to throw in one shot and in the very next only a second later, it's coiled on his saddle and he's got his whip. Whoospie!
HOWEVER, the horse stunts were outstanding. Especially the first couple fight scenes, though the very last one was pretty lame; I suspect they couldn't get the horses to do it safely and filmed around it. Also some awesome shots of horses with and without riders going up and down mountains and through forest, not to mention the scenery in general.
Dawn of the Dead 2004 SPOILERS
4/5
First, let me mention that shortly after this movie arrived at our house I read a review that said "Where else could you see a baby get shot in the face?" Well, for those of you who know me, this was an instant red light. However, I thought I could spot it coming and look away in time, which not only was the case, I missed a good ten minutes of the film because there's a pregnant woman as a main character and it wasn't hard to figure out where the baby comes from! I swear, every time she so much as twitched I looked away <sigh> So while I didn't actually see the "baby", Joe did and he said it was a silly animatronic thing that didn't look even vaguely real, so I'm going to watch it again without looking away. (Note posted later: I have since watched this part several times and laugh at my original squeamishness. It looks more like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle than a baby!)
Now, on to the rest of the movie; it's a worthy addition to the zombie genre. We saw the unrated version, which was supposed to have "much more" blood, guts, and gore, but was about on a par with the regular versions of Romero's last two. It must have been pretty tame in the theater, about as tame as a zombie movie gets anyway. Very cool zombie makeup, too, much more realistic than Romero/Savini's blue zombies in the original.
What it had that was great was jump moments! Hoo boy, did I jump and yelp and gasp even when I knew it was coming. I think the last time I made this much unintentional noise during a movie was when we watched "Signs", which was outright stupid plot-wise but well-made IMHO. So if you like a movie that will make you jump out of your skin and don't mind medium amounts of gore and heads exploding all over the place, this is the zombie movie for you.
The cast and acting wasn't bad, though I know Ving Rhames sure didn't live up to what I've seen him do in other movies. I adored him in "Dave", "Pulp Fiction" and "Holiday Heart", and due to the last movie know what great range he has. He played a rather stoic cop here, but still... everyone else was okay, good enough that you bought the story while not outstanding or anything. There's a great bit part played by Matt Frewer, who I really liked as Trashcan Man in "The Stand".
I was very impressed by the overall look/feel of the movie, it was done in avery straightforward way with no unusual or startling camera angles (unless you count the overhead shot on the morning of the zombie infestation) that fit the movie very well. I think Zack Snyder has a definite career in directing movies as well as videos and look forward to his next effort.
And if you watch it, look for the cameos! I kept letting out "oh look who it is!" and Joe had to keep stopping the movie and backing it up due to my interruptions. There are some really neat ones, including a store in the mall named after an actress in the first, a great cameo by my favorite actor in the original, Savini hamming it up, "Flyboy" makes a brief appearance, and more. Listen to the music carefully as well.
While I can't say I like it better than the original, it's up there with Romero's originals as one of the better zombie movies.
Shaun of the Dead 2004
5/5
I finally got to see it! I bought it on total impulse while at a bookstore buying presents today, only to come home and find that it had also arrived from Netflix. I was destined to see this movie...
Just let me say that as a zombie and apocalypse nut that I loved it! In fact I liked it a lot better than I thought I would. I had thought that it was a straight parody like "Airplane!", "Spaceballs", or "Hot Shots", but it's not; it is its own movie. (Look at that, I used every damn form of "its" possible, heh.) Anyway, it really does stand on its own and doesn't miss a trick when it comes to zombie-movie formula. The only bad thing is that you can't say much about it to those who haven't seen it because it's easy to give a lot away.
The Young Black Stallion 2003
3/5
Horsey folk, if you haven't seen "The Young Black Stallion", I highly recommend it. Non-horsey people, you may want to give this one a miss unless you like the sight of horses racing across the desert because, sadly enough, there isn't much more to it.
There are two versions on the DVD, the original IMAX version and an extended one with more story; I only watched the original and most of the extras. The story pretty much followed the book with no surprises, but the so-so acting from the lead actress and overall weird sound* was bad enough to be distracting. Also a few "shortcuts" in story had me saying, "What the...?!" Those included the girl taming the horse in about 10 minutes, the horse following her because she gave him a drink of water (when he already knew where there was water), the girl hopping on and riding him with no bucking or argument from said "wild" horse, a couple of speeded-up scenes during the race where the horse looked like Steve Austin in the opening of the original "Six Million Dollar Man", and more.
But again, if you're only after eye candy, this is worth the rental price. I wish I'd seen it at an IMAX theater but it only played for 2 weeks and I wasn't able to get down there to see it. The horses are stunning and well-trained--and all real Arabians despite Shetan's mother changing color at least 3 times--the scenery gorgeous, and the final race is, while not an edge-of-your-seat event, very well-done. The girl who plays Neera may not be much of an actress, but boy-howdy she can ride!
*= one of the extra features explained the odd sound. The IMAX cameras make such a loud noise that they have to re-record the sound after doing the actual scene, and it sometimes doesn't work exactly the way they'd like. This is why most IMAX movies are documentaries or, in the case of the newest one, very loud: Nascar racing. Of course that doesn't explain why the sound of horses' hooves on loose sand sounded much like horses' hooves on a packed dirt racetrack, but we won't go there...
Riding Giants 2004
3/5
Okay, so I'm weird. I've not only never surfed, I've never even seen an ocean or a sea. But I'm fascinated with surfing and am working my way through documentaries on the subject.
"Riding Giants" wasn't bad, it had some good footage (including real film from the 50s and 60s as well as some well-done reenactments) and a very interesting history of the sport. It also had some very unusual 3D photos that I've never seen the likes of before and would love to learn more about. However, I would only recommend this if you're really interested in the origins of surfing, of how the original "wild surfers" lived back in the '50s and what they're doing today. Plus the camera work got a bit tiresome with what I call the “MTV shiver 'n shake”, when they seem to think that bouncing the camera in and out and up and down makes a shot better. To me it's just annoying and distracts me out of the film.
And they never, ever show enough of Gerry Lopez, darn it! The Hamiltons are good and innovative and all that, but Gerry's always been my favorite of the big wave surfers.
Overall I'd say it's not bad, but I'd watch "Step Into Liquid" again before this one. My rating is mostly for the last half hour and the amusing outtake credit footage, which is great fun.
The Bourne Supremacy 2004
4/5
I can tell you the major thing about this movie in a nutshell: If you liked the first one, there's a 90% chance you'll like this one. And hopefully the next as well, which is due out in 2007.
The nice thing is that this movie doesn't just retread the first like so many sequels do, but that's probably because it's LOOSELY based on the books by Robert Ludlum. (My daughter read the first book and couldn't watch more than 15 min of the movie, and I was unable to read past the first 20 or so pages of the novel after seeing the movie. 'Loosely based' is putting it mildly.) This one really does continue Jason Bourne's story two years after the last one ended, when "they" find him again.
Overall I really liked it, though there are some disappointing parts in regards to some of the characters (let's just say you don't know who they will kill off next!), and the fights and car chase scenes are reminiscent of the carnival ride "The Zipper" if anyone's ever ridden that monstrosity. Up, down, around, sideways, you don't know what's going on until someone crashes or gets killed because no one just stops their car or gives up in this film. Don't these folks realize that the Steadicam was a good invention?! I loved seeing the European cities they filmed in since I will probably never see them IRL, and I know Joe enjoyed seeing Germany again.
Matt Damon is really coming into his own, let me tell you. It's almost unbelievable that this is that same cocky fresh-faced kid from "Good Will Hunting" when he gives the 'bad guys' that steely-eyed stare that means mayhem is about to break loose in all directions. I wish Affleck had made as many good career choices as Damon, because I like him just as much. Overall I'd say it's a worthy addition to the spy-movie genre and well worth seeing if you liked the first one.
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert 1994
4/5
This past weekend we watched "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert", which I had never seen all of; I'd caught bits and pieces of it on cable, but this was the first time I'd sat down to watch it from beginning to end.
What a fun movie! I can see where "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar" got its ideas, though it's certainly not an exact copy. Still, there were some clear similarities, esp. the age of the three drag queens (young, medium, older) and the general idea of the road trip. It does have some surprisingly intense parts, but it's well-balanced by quite a few LOL moments, mostly from Bernadette.
I have to say, Terence Stamp as Bernadette stole the movie hands-down; he just had the perfect voice and mannerisms for a man going through a sex change who wasn't quite there yet. Hugo Weaving (yes, Elrond!) was very good and Guy Pearce (yes again, from "Count of Monte Cristo" & "Time Machine") was adorably bitchy. The only problem with it that I saw was that the musical numbers they did in the middle of the Outback were better than the ones they did in the nightclubs!
And oh, the scenery! If you rent this movie you must see it in widescreen, trust me. The final shots of the "ladies" on the rocks were just stunning. Made me want to go to Australia even more; I swear, every movie set there does that to me. I probably won't ever get there, but I doubt the longing will ever stop and at least with movies like this I can get my fix.
