Reviews

6 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
8/10
I can't point out anything bad, but nothing really stands out.
25 July 2008
I think my title says it all. Really, I was entirely entertained the entire way through. I'm not going to give away the story because this film was marketed wonderfully. Going in, thanks to great marketing, you won't (shouldn't) know anything about the plot and this helps create a real sense of mystery. By now you know it has to do something with psychics but you really have no idea.

The writing, just like the show, is pitch perfect. The character development between Mulder and Scully is never off and they even introduce new characters. These characters aren't great (I suppose at times Xibit is kind of annoying) but they work pretty well to move the story along. This film also does something many movies have a hard time doing and thats creating sub plots that don't fall flat. There's a great sub plot involving a boy with a terrible disease, and its emotional and you never don't care about his fate even though it isn't the central focus of the story.

The acting is great. Duchovney and Anderson both flourish as the main characters while newcomers Amanda Peet and Xibit (is he trying to pull a Rock on us and change it to his birth name?) do their job admirably but never steal a scene from the real stars of the film.

I know I have a ton of great things to say about this movie and, yes, I loved it. I'd rank it among the greatest summer films this year (for those wondering Dark Knight and Iron Man both trump this). This is on par with how I felt about The Incredible Hulk, which I also loved. I just can't say that it's great and honestly I'm not sure what it is. Probably that it felt like a really epic episode.

This feels right at home in the series and it's a real relief to say that because it could've been good but not at home within the series.

I give this film a B.
122 out of 207 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
The Happening (2008)
2/10
Believe it...
12 June 2008
I hate this. I want to tell you guys that this was Shyamalan's comeback and that this film is just as terrifying as you've been promised. But, I cannot.

The film starts off actually quite well. Minus some less than stellar acting (in fact, its horrible) and some just as bad dialogue, I really thought that maybe this film could pull it off. Disturbing death scenes ensue.

Then, bring in Mark Wahlberg. What happened to this guy? Nominated for an Oscar for his turn in The Departed, Wahlberg seems like a safe bet, but in actuality, he's playing a role that just isn't made for him. This role was made for someone nicer. Walhberg has been typecast time and time again as the angry and bad-ass guy, and now I see why. He's good at that and god awful at being nice.

No one else is particularly good either. Zoey Deschanel disappoints, John Leguizamo (Everyone in this movie has a name that's difficult to spell), and all of the extras are just as bad. There is not a single moment of good acting in this movie.

And all of that is because of how rushed this film feels. This is one of those movies that it seriously felt like the director was working on a very limited budget and then took the first take for every actor, none of them had a chance to get into their roles (or so I hope).

It's obvious who will get all of the blame for this (M. Night Shyamalan) and it's really too bad. I can't say that the plot is necessarily bad, it isn't, and with maybe one more draft the script would've been good. The faults of this film all land on Night's shoulders though. I hate to say it because I am very much not a hater of his (I love The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs) but I'm forced to say I hate this movie. Not so much for how bad it actually is (it's very bad) but because I really had faith in the director. The trailers almost felt promising and Shyamalan (am I even spelling this right?) promised me that I'd walk out shaking. Instead, I was shaking my head in disappointment.

One thing I'd like to add on though, I can tell that they were going for a Hitchcock vibe and the best way I feel that I can describe this is "a very bad version of The Birds." That is all.
832 out of 1,398 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
Great... if you wanna BAD effing movie
13 September 2007
A couple buddies and I do a movie night that we call BAD MOVIE NIGHT. We watch such classics as Invasion USA to Super Mario Bros. Everyone once in a while a great comes to the theaters. Dragon Wars fits that bill nicely.

Bad acting/story/special effects are all essentials elements of a BAD movie. Take for instance Big Trouble in Little China. Wonderfully bad movie. Shotty acting/story/special effects. Dragon Wars is all of these things without the Kurt Russell and Kim Cattrel. Its got "that guy from Roswell" and "Daryl" and some pretty cute chick (and I swear to god one of those actors was in a porno I saw titled "Busty Cops" but that's a whole other thing that I don't feel like getting into).

Also, this isn't a movie that's bad and unenjoyable (see "War"). Never does this get boring. When it does get to the supposedly boring parts the dialog is so laughably god awful that you are enjoying every damn minute of it.

I honestly can say that I see no reason why this picture shouldn't win Best Picture come Oscar season. I haven't laughed in a movie theater this hard since... I dunno, Snakes On A Plane. Damn fine movie.

Grade: A-
27 out of 57 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
"Live Free" didn't die too hard. (One tiny spoiler)
27 June 2007
First off, the big question is concerning the PG-13 rating. I have to say that I've never been a big lobbier for movies to have harder ratings than they need (FF2 for example was 10 times better than the original), but this time the R rating would have been the right choice.

The story involves super hackers trying to basically put America to an end and John Mclane won't have any of that. The story sucks. Who cares though, right? This is Die Hard, I want to see stuff blow up. And stuff does blow up, which is nice.

But remember what I said about the PG-13 rating? Well, it keeps this movie from being Die Hard 4. It makes it a pretty cool action movie with a character who is kind of like John Mclane of Die Hard 1-3. Minus the characters first interaction with with Matt Farrell (played pretty well by Justin Long), this John Mclane is a different person. He doesn't smoke, drink, swear... none of that. Never do they even mention it. He doesn't have a hangover or need a cig or anything. Gone is the banter and wise-cracking jokes of previous outings. Gone is the Die Hard in Die Hard 4.

But this is still a pretty fun, entertaining movie. I gave it a 7 remember? Lots of things go boom. Lots of things.

Oh did I mention the bad guy? Did I mention he SUCKS? I was so hoping they would link him to Hans or Simon or something where I'd give a crap about him. He looks like he's going to cry the entire time (He almost does). Why couldn't him and Maggie Q have switched places? She was cool and then she...

SPOILERS!!!! ...dies.

John's daughter is kind of hot so that works. And Maggie Q is too. But that's really it. This movie doesn't have the pop of previous outings in the series, but it's still got more flare than most acion movies out there. It's still an awesomely enjoyable flick with one of the coolest guys out there (I'm looking at you Justin Long!... okay joking) and I will no doubt watch it again. This isn't stuff they can't fix for Die Hard 5, but I'm not sure how they could go much more large scale than this.
2 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
Excellent, yet.... something's not quite clicking...
27 June 2006
I was as excited for this as anyone was, and I was not let down for the most part. The action sequences are some of the best in recent years and the special effects help too. Brandon Routhe does a fantastic job as Superman and Singer proves yet again he's brilliant when it comes to choosing the right people to play beloved characters (Jackman as Wolverine). Kevin Spacey does a decent job (not amazing but still quite good) as a Lex Luthor, but I do feel as if he tried to make him into something more comical than he should have. The score is something else, too. Amazing seems like the right word. Yet, I walked out of the movie feeling as if something just didn't quite click with me. I loved everything but there was just something that it didn't have. I have to compare it to other recent comic books and have to put Spider-Man 2 as the best. I can't say it's as good because it seems to change its attitude about halfway through the movie. Maybe it was me but I definitely recommend this film to EVERYONE.
0 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Nacho Libre (2006)
8/10
Save your money
14 June 2006
I hate to have to compare previous works but Jared Hess' original claim to fame, Napoleon Dynamite, even though not great, blows this out of the water. The thing about that movie was the charm that it had. It produced a level of charm that allowed for it to have a certain stupid humor. Most of all, extremely likable and somewhat realistic characters. Nacho Libre on the other hand, does not. They make too many fart/poop jokes (even a scene early on where someone has cow feces rubbed on their face) that even a fan of poop/fart jokes (really I am!) felt dumber watching it. There are scenes where fart sounds are inserted basically because with out them there, the scene would have been a little bit bland (which was one reason Napoleon Dynamite succeeded so well). This movie has nothing good to come out of it story wise. On the other hand, the film uses a vibrant color pallet fairly well. My only complaint was that after a while, it felt like too much and i was sick of it. Jack Black is funny... in other movies; his jokes here are lame and the same. I fear for Jared Hess' future; once a bright star in a galaxy filled with fading ones, now just seems to be another shooting star.
7 out of 19 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed