Transsiberian

Good thriller. Lots of twists and turns in the story. Very tense. Good cast, too. Ben Kingsley is great, which goes without saying. Woody Harrelson is a pleasant surprise. It's refreshing to see him in a completely serious role for once, which he is excellent in. The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous. The beautiful snowy landscapes are sublime. Definitely worth watching, if not owning.

Pulp Fiction

Brian has been doing the heavy lifting on this blog, and doing a great job. Aside from the fact that I've been on a business trip the last eight or nine days, the truth is Brian sees more movies than I do, and more current ones. I rarely see new movies in the theatre; I mostly rent them from Netflix, and lately I tend to choose older movies that I've already seen years ago, or somehow missed when they came out...

Speaking of Quentin Tarantino, I watched Pulp Fiction again, and it is even better than I remembered.

The first few times watching a movie I tend to focus on the story. Pulp Fiction certainly has some interesting (and odd) stories, and the non-linear way they are presented requires some attention to keep them straight. This time I focused much more on the characters, the acting, and the cinematography, all of which are outstanding.

My favorite character was and continues to be Jules (Samuel L. Jackson), who goes through a major epiphany and appears set to get out of the gangster business. But this time I found his partner Vincent (John Travolta) more complex and interesting. Through most of the movie he's a shallow jerk, but in other parts he's a sympathetic (if somewhat pathetic) character. You could argue that he gets what's coming to him, but I just feel (slightly) sorry for him. But here the non-linear timeline allows us to see him and Jules exit the diner together on a hopeful note in the final scene...

Inglourious Basterds

Inglourious Basterds is, in a word, boring.

Quentin Tarantino is like an old man who loves to hear himself talk. He's always been heavy on dialogue, but his past two movies have been more talking than anything else. Unfortunately, Basterds fails to break that chain. The movie opens with a ten plus-minute-long prologue, the vast majority of which is one character flapping his lips. It's cute and quirky at first, but it gets old quickly. And that's pretty much how the rest of the movie goes. The violent scenes are fun and exciting, but they're not nearly as bountiful as the previews might lead one to believe.

I wouldn't go so far as to say Basterds is a bad film. Just boring. It's worth a watch or two, especially if you like Tarantino. Just don't expect constant stimulation.

The Mist

One of the better film adaptations of a Stephen King work. Good cast. Marcia Gay Harden deserves an Oscar for her performance. Her character is only annoying at first, but she is absolutely contemptible by the end of the film. The special effects are decent, if not a little shoddy by today's standards. Though I feel the movie doesn't quite capture the weird horror of the novella, it's still pretty horrifying. The ending is different and, quite frankly, better than the book. (Stephen King is on record as saying he wished he'd thought of it.)

District 9

This one is different. It starts out as a documentary, giving the audience exposition without boring or unnatural dialogue, then switches to a narrative pretty smoothly. The plot is pretty simple and easy to follow, but it's also very imaginative. While there aren't any real twists or turns that will shock you, there's plenty of excitement to make up for it. I also have to give props to the filmmakers for creating a character that has no actor behind it but still manages to gain sympathy from the audience. Definitely worth catching in the theaters!

Harry Potter 1-5

I finally gave in and watched the first five Harry Potter movies. All in all, they're pretty much what I expected. I'll try and give a quick review of each of them.

Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone: A decent saga-starter. I don't have any complaints with it per se, but I found it hard to get into since it's more of a kid's movie than anything else. Worth watching.

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets: A bit more enjoyable than the first movie, but still a little too kid-oriented for my taste. Of course, anything with a giant spider will peak my interest.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: This is one is my favorite for several reasons. Alfonso Curon (Y Tu Mama Tambien, Children of Men) brings some weight to the series without making things too dark. Gary Oldman is always a joy to watch, and this movie is no exception. Also, I like Michael Gambon as Dumbledore better than Richard Harris.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: This one I had a hard time with. The editing is really jumpy, which made following the plot difficult for me. Goblet's plot is definitely the weakest of the series thus far. That being said, the conclusion of the film makes up for the rest of it. You'll know what I mean when you see it.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: This is when sh*t gets real. The overarching plot of the first four films finally moves to the forefront and becomes the main focus of Harry and his friends.

I like many aspects of these movies, but my favorite is the way in which they all fit together like a puzzle to tell one, big story. It reminds me of how TV shows like Dexter and Deadwood use individual episodes to weave a story together over a whole season. Even though I didn't love any of the Harry Potter movies, I definitely recommend them.

Transporter 3

Better than the suckfest that was Transporter 2, but still pretty dismal in comparison to the first movie. The plot is pretty lame, which is sad considering that it was co-written by Luc Besson, the genius who once produced great stories like Leon (aka The Professional) and The Fifth Element. Frank Martin was an interesting character back when Jason Statham was new to American audiences, but now he's just boring. The film's only redeeming qualities are the fight sequences, over-the-top stunts, and Natalya Rudakova, whose genuine cuteness makes up for her iffy acting. All in all, Transporter 3 is worth a watch or two.

Eagle Eye

Very enjoyable action/adventure film. Reminds me a lot of Enemy of the State, but more fun. The pace moves pretty quickly while giving the audience brief intervals of time to breath and get to know the characters. The acting is good, too. This is the first movie starring Shia LaBeouf in which I haven't hated him. In fact, I liked him in this one. Everybody else does a decent enough job, as well.

There are numerous little things I could call flaws in this movie, but why bother? I don't think Eagle Eye was made to break any boundaries. It's just a fun action movie.

United 93

I really don't know what to say. I think it's safe to say that this is the most powerful film I've seen. The realism is so effective that the whirlwind of emotions I felt on September 11, 2001 returned as if they had never left. I hesitate to even critique it as a film.

Among other things, this movie is very, very tense. It had my heart beating harder and faster than any movie I've seen in the past six years. I was on the edge of my seat from the moment the hijackers prepared to take the plane right up until the moment it crashed. I was on the verge of tears on more than one occasion.

I'm sure there are those who object to the making of this movie, believing it to be cashing in on an American tragedy. I couldn't disagree more. I'm glad this film was made, and I have to give the filmmakers endless props for their achievement. United 93 is history. Decades from now, people will watch this film and have at least a faint understanding of how it felt to be alive on that day.

Brainstorm

I had heard/read about this movie many times, usually as the one Natalie Wood was filming when she died, but I finally watched it last night. One of a handful of directed by Douglas Trumbull, who is better known for his special effects work; I liked his Silent Running, but both movies show that he can get too distracted by visuals and geeky stuff to be a great director. Still, Brainstorm was better than I expected, and not bad for a 1983 movie. Had some interesting ideas, and some good acting (especially Christopher Walken, trying to play a more straight lead role before he "settled in" to playing vaguely unsettling characters). The evil military theme is tired, but watching them get thwarted by robots is kinda fun. And Trumbull gets extra credit for finishing this film at all; after Wood died the studio wanted to scrap it, but he did some creative editing and finished it, and I didn't really even notice anything obvious wrong. A solid B movie, mildly interesting/quirky, worth a Netflix rent.