Bridge to Terabithia 2007 mild spoilers

4/5

If you were--or are--a child with enough imagination to be told "get your head out of the clouds" or "pay attention to reality", you will definitely sympathize with the two leads in this film. I was deeply touched by this story, although I did feel that much of the ending was not necessary and overdone for the sake of dramatization (a.k.a. "My Girl" or "Pay It Forward"). Still, this movie is well worth seeing and despite the sudden turn from funny and cute to depressing, I give it four stars.

I also have to mention that amazing acting job done by all the actors in this film, the kids in particular and most of all by the child who plays Jesse's little sister, she was easily as good as Drew Barrymore at the same age and totally steals the movie.

X-Files: Fight the Future 1998

5/5

I was ready for this to be "just another episode" after reading some of the reviews, but was pleased to find that this is a fine movie on its own and outstanding in relation to the X-Files' universe. The "big" question is indeed answered with new mysteries hinted at. I was also impressed by the overall production quality, special effects, cinematography, and acting from all involved (although I sure would have liked to see more of The Lone Gunmen). There is a new twist to the Mulder/Scully relationship for us "will-they-or-won't-they" junkies, and even though you know that most of the main characters survive to film more seasons of the show there is a definite edge-of-your-seat ending that wraps up beautifully. This film is far more than just an episode of the show, but fits in perfectly between seasons 5 & 6. Definitely a don't-miss for X-Philes.

The Simpsons Movie 2007

5/5

I have to say, this movie was far better than I thought it would be, and I've been watching the previews avidly for months. As a Simpsons fan I was very pleased not only with the story, but with how they did the slightly-better but not really different animation. There were a lot of outright belly-laugh moments, and with the dozens of little in-jokes that were salted throughout everything stayed true to the "Springfield universe"--right down to the very end of the credits. BTW, don't leave before you see the production company's logo. If you're a Simpsons fan, don't miss this--and if you're not, it's worth a try. If there's one thing this film isn't, that's boring--and they did not show all the good parts in the previews.

Nora Roberts' "Montana Sky" 2007 (Lifetime Movie Series on iTunes)

3/5

It's been a few years since I read the book so I really can't compare, though I did think that the movie timeline seemed a bit rushed. Nora Roberts' books are, if predictable regarding the relationships, always well written and with good stories that make them worth reading despite knowing which people will end up living happily-ever-after. Regarding the movie on its own terms, it was very well acted with stunning locations (Vancouver) but with a fragmented, choppy, and badly-predictable script. I think they attempted to both cram too much into the 1:26 running time, and spread it out so that there wasn't too much happening at any one time.

However, I did like the actors that were picked, despite being a bit confused when John Corbetts' character mentions going to high school with Willa, who is clearly a good 10-15 years younger than he. Tess was a bit over the top in parts where she shows her "Hollywoodness", and I wish they'd shown more of Lily and Adam, and Diane Ladd as the housekeeper.

Overall, worth seeing if you don't expect too much and enjoy the scenery and few LOL moments between the "sisters" such as the hot tub scene and discussion before the wedding.

Wild Hogs 2007

4/5

Fun, fun, fun. Light fluffy fun, despite a few stabs at being serious. It was pretty much what I expected, with excellent chemistry between the actors that gave it an extra depth. Just watching the four leads interact is worth renting the disk, and while much of it is just outright silliness there are a few priceless moments, often due to Travolta's facial expressions. William H. Macy has been my favorite actor for years and he doesn't disappoint here as the loser of the bunch. Lawrence and Allen, both stand-up comics, play particularly well together in their scenes. My only gripe with the disk is that there are few extras; a very brief if funny goof reel and a making-of featurette. I didn't listen to the commentary is it's the director and writer, I can only hope they come out with one from the four actors that ought to be funnier than the movie itself.

The Island 2005

4/5

Despite a few plot holes big enough to drive one of their futuristic helicopters through, "The Island" is a pretty decent story with excellent acting and absolutely stunning action sequences and stunts. The beginning reminded me a lot of "Logan's Run", but the last half was more "Terminator 2". Still, it all worked together once the 'real' story is revealed.

Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson have good chemistry and clearly relish the action sequences, in fact Johansson has a great heroine's scream--not too girly and very realistic. Sean Bean as the 'bad guy' really stole the movie IMHO, he was just outstanding in this role. Michael Clarke Duncan, although he only has a small part, is also noteworthy. Steve Buscemi is perfect for the 'too stupid to know better' guy who gets McGregor's character thinking, and Djimon Hounsou is his usual incredible self as a bad guy with a heart.

Overall, well worth seeing mostly for the amazing live-action stunts and action sequences. The part that I recognized from being in Detroit's abandoned train station were particularly cool, as was the 'dumbbell' truck sequence. Don't expect a lot from the story, ignore the gaping plot holes, turn off your brain and enjoy the action.

Fido 2006

5/5

This is probably one of the most clever, original, and funny movies I've ever seen of any genre; think of it as "Pleasantville" meets "Shaun of the Dead". Everything and everyone are spot-on; K'Sun Ray and Billy Connolly have good chemistry from the start and are quite believable as a boy and his dog--I mean, zombie. Carrie-Ann Moss is perfect as the neglected but far from powerless wife, while Dylan Baker is just right as the emotionally-dead father with a more-than-normal fear of zombies. A mention must be made of Tim Blake Nelson and his "zombie girlfriend", which was much more subtle than it seemed and an excellent subplot that played out well to the end. The story is done just right, without too much exposition and just enough twists and turns to keep me off-guard and pleasantly surprised more than once. The little homages to both '50s sitcoms and zombie movies are amusing, most notably the look/feel of the movie--I'd swear they made it in original Technicolor if I didn't know better. This movie may not be for everyone, but if a bit of zombie gore and sexual innuendo doesn't bother you, give "Fido" a shot--I mean, a try ;-) Definitely one of the bests movies I've seen this year, and one that I'll proudly add to my zombie film collection.

An Inconvenient Truth 2006

5/5

First of all let me say that I used to recycle stringently in the 1990s, until I saw a news report that showed the recycling trucks from the city I lived in dumping the recycling items into a landfill. Over the years I've felt guilty that I stopped and while I didn't recycle like I used to, I still do things like reuse plastic bags instead of throwing them away and using them for packing material instead of buying packing peanuts or bubble-wrap, and buying a low-mileage car instead of another pickup or SUV when I had to get a new car. Interestingly enough, just a week or so ago I saw a segment on "Ellen" about a 5 year old boy who does recycling like I used to, and the thought went through my mind that if this child could do it, so I could I--again. We didn't get a recycling bin when we moved to this house in 2000, so I got some paper bags and began sorting recyclables into them after going to our city's recycling website and researching what they required.

This did make me feel somewhat better while watching this movie, but also guilty that I didn't do it for so long. And determined to make up for it as much as I can.

This film does have a strong political message, which means that a lot of people either won't watch it or will totally blow off the message it tries to get across. While that's a shame, I don't see any way around it because once people get an idea in their heads--especially about religion or politics--it's darn near impossible to change. I wish that the political message could be removed and just the facts laid out so that more people would listen and react, because I watched this movie despite the politics in it rather than because of the politics. I'm not a big political person; I pretty much ignore politics until a few months before elections, when I cram on the issues and candidates so I can be an informed voter--and I do always vote. Normally I don't pay attention to movies that have anything to do with contemporary politics, hence my seeing this a year after it came out. But that little boy on "Ellen" made a big impact on me, and I wanted more information.

Overall, I felt that the film did what Gore wanted it to do, which was get the message across regarding global warming, but unfortunately I don't think it's going to reach enough people due to the politics in it. Perhaps if he could get a party-neutral celebrity to do another film... but people like to stick their heads in the sand and not admit to pending problems until it's too late, and in this case some of us will live to see who is right and who is wrong.

As to the film itself, I was deeply impressed both by Gore's story of how he came to be interested in global warming and climate change and how it was presented. Even if ONLY HALF of what was shown in this documentary is true, we could be in deep doo-doo as a species. Again, ONLY HALF of the facts presented are true it means we are presently making the Earth uninhabitable for our descendants if something isn't done. More than once I gasped or felt my jaw drop when I saw the footage and graphs presented; I had some knowledge of global warming, but had no idea it was as bad as shown.

In the meantime, I'm going to be recycling as stringently as I had planned as well as making more of an effort to buy recycled/organic products and have joined several "virtual marches" to help lobby for global warming controls. We've also agreed to neutralize our carbon footprint by buying renewable energy credits; as a household, we were aghast at how much carbon we're throwing into the air after doing the calculation.

And if you're still unsure whether or not global warming is a reality or a theory, I challenge you to watch the film and double-check the facts and make up your own mind on it. I know I did.

"1408" 2007

4/5

Since the sleeve notes and the DVD menu on this disk said different things I'm not quite sure if we saw the unrated version or the director's cut, or the original ending or the alternate one. Regardless, I really enjoyed this movie, mostly due to John Cusack being a fine enough actor able to carry most of it himself. Samuel L Jackson was a perfect contrast to him, and I wish he'd had more screen time though I'm not sure how they would have fit him in.

For a horror movie this didn't have a lot of jump moments, maybe two during the whole film and one right at the end. Still, it was very creepy and atmospheric and made me shudder to think of going through the whole thing myself considering what the room does. If you have a skeleton or two in your closet (and who doesn't?) it's a pretty unsettling thought, trust me.

I have to make a special note of the room set and fantastic continuity, because no matter how much the room changed during the course of the movie certain things, which were very important, stayed the same. There were also some subtle tricks, like the letters on the cover of the Bible when he throws it down, that give you a sense of foreboding without the characters noticing it.

While not one of my favorite horror movies, I'm glad I saw it and I would recommend it to folks who like something a little more subtly cerebral than outright terrifying. Heck, it's worth seeing just for Cusack and Jackson together, but it does help that they have a good story to work with.

28 Weeks Later 2007

4/5

I have to say, this film was not only a good sequel, it wasn't a bad movie in its own right despite a few goofs. You should see "28 Days Later" to understand the base story regarding infection, but other than that it stands fairly well on its own. The only real gripes I had were, first, akin to the fast zombies in the "Dawn of the Dead" remake--here the Infected can come out in bright daylight, which is simply not done in the first movie. Nothing is said about it, which might have made it work if it was explained that the Infected had gotten used to sunlight or something. I don't like it when one movie makes a rule then another, set in the same "world" if you will, just ignores it; that tends to throw me out of their world and back into mine and lessens my enjoyment of the movie. Second is how the infected but rage-free "carriers" work--it's never fully explained and what is told is rather lame. But I did enjoy the rest of the movie enough that I was able to let those two things go and ride with it.

The acting, esp. from Robert Carlyle and Harold Perrineau, was as good as the fine work in the first movie. Other than those two, the only outstanding one was the little boy, interestingly enough named Macintosh Muggleton, who pretty much steals the movie from everyone around him other than Carlyle.

There was quite a bit more explicit violence and gore in this one so be prepared for that if, like me, you have a low tolerance for intense violence. Still, they telegraphed most of the worst gore well in advance, although there are some great jump moments throughout the movie. A quick mention should also be made of the music, much of which is from the first and used in a similar enough way to help tie the two together.

It wasn't as predictable as I'd thought it might be, though the ending wasn't as satisfying as the original. Overall I'd say to definitely see if you liked the first one.

10 Items or Less 2007

5/5

This clearly isn't a movie for everyone, but if you enjoy watching fascinating characters develop and incredible actors work, this may be the movie for you. It's simply about two people unexpectedly thrown together and an unusual day in their lives, as well as how they affect the people around them. Although there are quite a few other characters, everyone else falls by the wayside.

As I've seen said in other reviews, it does appear that Morgan Freeman may be playing himself but if so, he is a wonderful person that I'd like to get to know better even if he is so wrapped up in the world of acting that he's amazed at seeing a Target store. Paz Vega is absolutely perfect to play against him as the world-weary clerk with tentative hopes of something better. Together they forge an unlikely but totally believable and endearing friendship, and every moment they're on the screen together is a treat and a half. Just the singing scene in the car is almost worth watching the whole movie for--note that it was done in one very long take and isn't forced in the slightest. I think that this is one of the most finely-crafted films I've seen since "Whale Rider" and one of the best indies ever. I already can't wait to see it again.

Dark Water 2002 (Japanese original)

3/5

After having enjoyed "Ringu" a lot more than "The Ring", I watched the American remake of "Dark Water" with Jennifer Connelly and of course I had to see the Japanese original. While I did like this one better than the remake, I really didn't care for the storyline of either movie. Without giving away the ending, that was what ruined it for me--it didn't make any sense in either case. This version has better acting and atmosphere, though neither was what I'd call a really scary or jump movie. With this one, several things happened that I didn't understand until later--they don't tell you who her lawyer is so that's a bit confusing, and at the end I didn't get how the building looked so bad yet the apartment was like new. Still, I enjoyed watching the actors work here and the creepy overall feeling of the movie. I'd say if this looks of interest, see them both and decide for yourself but don't expect too much.

Note on the inaccurate Netflix description: The red bag belongs to the little girl, it was not the mother's when she was a child. This story is the same as the American version, there are no major plot changes.

I Am Legend 2007

5/5

First of all, let me say that Will Smith has surpassed William H. Macy as my favorite actor. Sorry Bill, but watching Will carry this entire movie by himself just impressed the hell out of me. Between him and the dog, there was enough charisma on the screen for any dozen people.

This was a good version of the story, although far from true to the book. I like it better than "The Omega Man" by far, and about equal with Vincent Price's "The Last Man on Earth". I felt the script could have been better had it stuck closer to the book/Price's version, but this one wasn't bad at all though it did miss some of the emotional punch of the latter two regarding Neville's family. Smith really does convince you that he's been alone for a couple of years, between his dependance on the dog and mannikins for company and how he reacts when his little world is disturbed.

The scenes of New York three years after the plague are just devastating if you've been there in the last year or so, and my jaw hit the floor when I recognized the posters for Broadway shows in the Times Square of the movie that were up over the past summer when I was there. I can't imagine how tough it must be for native New Yorkers to watch the bridges be blown up and to see grass growing in the streets around Grand Central Terminal and on Park Avenue, because it hit this visitor right in the solar plexus.

My only mild complaint was the CGI'd animals--they weren't very good. Most of what is shown in the previews is what's in the movie, and when I originally saw the badly-done deer and lions I'd hoped that the CGI just wasn't finished--but it was. One close-up of a whitetail deer was particularly bad--its hind legs bend the wrong way--and I was very disappointed. The CGI animals in "12 Monkeys" were much better, sad to say.

Also, I can see that the filmmakers haven't been to the Central Park Zoo recently. I was there just this past summer and did note that the only large, dangerous carnivores in the zoo are a pair of polar bears--so where did the lions come from? There are plenty of lions at the Bronx Zoo, but even if they could get over to the island of Manhattan with the bridges blown up--why would they want to? I'm sure there's plenty of prey on the mainland. But I digress, and have to admit that the bit with the lions was a very telling scene about Neville's personality not to mention a great jump even when you knew it was coming from the previews.

The action was just outstanding, from everything to the car stunts to the "dark seekers" to the final battle with much better CGI than the animals. Not so much that one would get blase about it (like in a Rambo movie) but enough that it never got boring and kept the audience's attention. And kind of like "Transformers", which is a two-hour GM commercial, Neville drives nothing but Fords in this movie although I didn't mind watching that Shelby Mustang cruise around, believe me you.

Overall, it was just as good as I'd hoped it would be, with plenty of eye candy both in Will Smith and the German Shepherd dog as well as just he right amount of suspense and tenseness to keep you riveted. I'll probably go see it in the theater one more time, and can't wait to own it on HD. Highly recommended.