***** Don't miss; Excellent; Moved me.
**** Pretty good; well worth your money; Not a lot of plot holes and good continuation of action
*** Not bad; Worth a rental; lacking in some things, but entertaining
** Pretty much lacking in charecter development, plot holes and overall not very entertaining.
* Don't waste the energy or the brain power to look for it, rent it or even mention its name in civilized society.
Sinbad has the talents of a lot of famous action actors, really great action and a cool plot filled with action. Did I mention the action? The background art is almost to the level of the best of Anime. I am reminded again of truly great anime when I downloaded two of the Animatrix stories from enterthematrix.com. I saw Detective Story and Program. The anime action and philosophy were so subtle, yet dominating. Cartoons for adults. Sinbad had most of the same artistic features in its backgrounds, but the character animation continued to be the same that I�ve always come to expect. Technically, it was a little disappointing, but the best American style animation I have yet seen. Perhaps we can get some anime style films from US producers that would run mainstream. Yeah, and maybe they come out with a DBZ motion picture. Oh wait, there is one of those coming. Sometime.
As far as plot, it was believable, as far as Greek mythology goes, and the characters themselves were funny and emotionally compelling, but a little forced. I felt the emotions thrust upon me and it didn�t flow as well as I would�ve liked. But that simply leads to the next little complaint: it was too short. A longer film would have provided more background and room for more adventures, which I wanted. Oh well. It was really good, but not great.
Finding Nemo: *****
Finding Nemo is the best movie I have seen this year. I loved every minute of this adventure. I found myself emotionally involved from the very start. The bond between a father and child is seemingly tenuous sometimes. The mother is usually the glue that holds a family together. Nemo and Marlin have a bond from adversity at the start of the movie. Eventually the bond is so strong that nothing, not even the great Pacific Ocean can hold it back. Tears come soon in this picture that touched me.
The wonderful animation from Pixar is truly amazing, while the dialogue, plot and energy are not forced and flow wonderfully into each scene as the dual adventures of father and son are spun for us. There is no holding back the good feelings, the joy and the sadness that come under the unforgiving waves.
Of course, all good stories have happy endings, as this one does. I loved it. Five stars for the picture of the year for me.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix *****
After reading the book, I got the same feeling I usually get when I finish a book or a movie I particularly liked and by which I was moved. J. K. Rowling�s characters are unusually able to leap off the page and thrust themselves into the emotional state of the reader. Rowling writes such that one can�t help but be drawn into the fight and the plight of her characters while remaining sensitive to their emotions. While directed toward younger (high school age and younger) readers, the plot remains fresh and exciting for any reader with any strand of imagination.
The latest twists in the battle of good (Harry, Ron, Hermione and Dumbledore) versus evil (Lord Voldemort, et al) come with alacrity, maintaining a steady diet of action and intrigue. The latest Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is of course at the center of the plot again. Only this time she is particularly cruel to our hero in more ways than one.
The one thing I found that puzzled me a little was the way Harry�s romance seemed almost tacked on and in the end, a non sequitur. It seems Harry and Ron can�t quite grow up. By the age of 15, the age they are, I was dating with somewhat regularity, but that�s a different story. I also wasn�t consumed with the learning of magic and trying to stop an evil wizard from taking over the world.
I was out of breath by the end and I must confess I had to read the climactic battle over again to catch some of the nuances of the action which comes at the frenzied pace of Jack Du Brul or Clive Cussler in their finest form.
I don�t know if this qualifies as a review but how about the new Harry Potter book sales? I mean, jeez, I�ve never seen anything like that for a book. Normally one would see such frenzied mob behavior if it was a movie or something. But it�s a book! What a great day for teenage literature. Of course there are renewed calls for the book to be burned and such. I struggle, seeing the obvious anti-religious connotations in the book and the fact that wizards are mentioned in the scriptures as bad.
But the lit guy in me says, at least the kids are reading. I�ve read all the HP books and I must say it�s a fabulous story. And, even if it is wizards, it still is the whole good versus evil thing. I think the reading aspect is the most important. One could say that the reading isn�t good if they weren�t good books. And �good� is relative. But, the plot, action, and mystery are intriguing and well written, if for a teen audience.
I am looking forward to reading the book, in two weeks, after I get paid. I could give a review for the site then.
In the mean time, I�ve also decided to give some book reviews. I don�t get to get a lot of new books, but I�ve been concentrating on a new author for me, Jack Du Brul. What I do is find an author I like and read all the books written in the hopes that the subsequent books will be as good as the first one I read. So, I found the action author Du Brul. I�ve read three books: �Charon�s Landing,� �River of Ruin� and �Pandora�s Curse.� All three books feature the daring adventures of the earth�s smartest geologist, Philip Mercer, or just Mercer, as he likes to be called. Mercer travels the globe cleaning making sure bad guys don�t have their evil plots come to fruition.
The first book I read, �Charon�s Landing,� was a good thriller with a fairly intracate plot of an ex-KGB agent who was featured in the first book by Du Brul, �Vulcan�s Forge,� which I haven�t read. Mercer is drawn into the caper right away, a theme of the books I have read, and the action doesn�t really stop for very long. There are enough complications that I had to go back a reread some parts to find out what I seemed to have missed.
I like �River of Ruin� less than �Landing,� but it picked up in the end. The whole Chinese in Panama to blow up the Canal was kind of weird, and looking back, I can�t seem to remember the plot as well as the other two. But there was gold involved and a whole lot of action and international politics and intrigue.
I enjoyed �Pandora�s Curse� almost as much as �Landing.� The secret weapon found by the Nazi�s and stolen out of Russia during WWII turns up on ice and out hero saves the day in bloody and dramatic fashion.
These novels aren�t the greatest literary finds, but they satisfy the summer paperback, mystery adventure needed for a good time when you have a few hours to read.
I also wanted to try and list some of my favorite fiction books. (For the ones that are a series, the books kind of all come together to represent a character. They are all somewhat similar in characters, but differ in the details and storyline of course.)
1. Red Storm Rising, Tom Clancy *****
2. The Luckiest Girl, Beverly Cleary *****
3. Plum Island, Nelson Demille *****
4. Debt of Honor, Tom Clancy (and most of the Jack Ryan books as well) ***** and down from there
5. Sahara, Clive Cussler (and most of the Dirk Pitt novels with some exceptions) ***** and down from there
6. The Elvis Cole series, Robert Crais (By the way, a new Elvis Cole book came out and I didn�t know!) ****1/2 and down
7. The Harry Potter series, J. K. Rowling ***** and not much down from that
8. The Myron Bolitar series, Harlan Coben ****1/2 and a little down
9. The Philip Mercer series, Jack Du Brul **** for all the ones I've read
10. The Darwath Trilogy, Barbara Hambly ***** for all.
That�s a good list for now. Until I remember whatever I left out.
6/23/03
The Matrix Reloaded: ****1/2
Coming into the Matrix Reloaded, I had read of reviewer�s being tired of the clich�d action, built on the original Matrix action, and the heavy handed directors� message and itsover importance. All I can say is, thank goodness I�m not a movie reviewer to have to sit through Matrix rip offs all day. Because when the lights went down and the previews finally relinquished their hold on the audience, I was treated to the kind of movie I wanted to see.
I can�t help it. I am a sucker for stylized violence. The Matrix Reloaded is the king of action. The cheesy over edited action movies that I have seen recently with sound bite style sound and non sensible scripts were left outside in the summer heat to examine themselves and try to find out why there are no other films like the Matrix. I can�t help but think that the Wachowski brothers are the best at what they do and the editor is a genius.
It didn�t take long to establish the identity of this film with a visit form the now black clad agents. (I seem to remember that Smith and the boys in the old film wore brown suits.) Neo seemed a little slow in the fight with Seraph (Colin Chow), but I�m guessing anyone this side of Jet Li would look slow. The fighting was the best choreographed fighting I�ve ever seen. It was totally for the big screen and comes across as so sophisticated as to never have been done before.
I took off � star for the seemingly unnecessary sex scene and weird Zion rave party. I guess, in Zion, there are only young people, but for the council. And they like to get down in the �Temple� as part of a ceremony that was started by the �opening prayer,� the likes of which I never heard in church. But I guess if consciousness is their god, and hell is the Matrix, or being entombed in the Matrix, then they celebrate all that is sensual of themselves in the real world. I don�t know. it seemed superfluous in terms of the movie, which was to show the battles that take place inside the Matrix to win the war. At least that�s what I wanted to see.
I also kept thinking of Dragonball Z. especially when Neo gave off so much energy that the whole building erupted in a blast of flames. When I saw that I bolted up and almost let out a whoop! This is the pure, unleashed energy of one who can do whatever he wants inside of that world. And when it translated to real life, I was further amazed.
The movie got me thinking and the action stuck in my head for days afterward. I liked it, and would recommend it to those who like a good action movie. But not only that, the thoughts it provoked, though not original by any stretch, were interesting to dwell on for a while.
Stick around till the end of the movie for another treat. Let�s hear it for November! Two days before my birthday, the Matrix Revolutions comes out. What a present.
Veggie Tales Movie **1/2
So I was expecting something funny, and what do I get? Well, it was a little funny. But not "Silly Songs with Larry" funny. Dissappointing and overbearing, VTM was like the chick you dated thinking you would have a good funny time, and instead she takes you to church. I'll never forget though, my dad imploring us to see this movie to show those movie execs that a "Christian" movie can make money, then asking him if he went and saw it, and sheepishly admitting that he didn't.
The story could've been better. Instead of leaving us with the image of Jonah, the failed prophet, mired in his own hubris, perhaps a more uplifting story or funny story. I guess since all the famous ones have already been tackled by this bunch, the pickings are slim. Perhaps for some more interesting tales, the book of Judges would be fun. Chapter 19.
K-19, The Widowmaker (rental): ***1/2 (Almost four stars. I was moved a little)
Summary: I am always confused as to why an actor would, when speaking English, but portraying someone who is from another country that doesn't speak English, like Harrison Ford playing a Russian, would speak with an accent. I didn't like the accent. Half the actors used an annoying Russian accent while speaking English, while the other half just spoke plain English. That just bothers me. Now that I've gotten that off my chest, I want to give my congratulations to National Geographic for making a movie. It was good. I was touched by the tortured sailers forced to sacrifice themselves for the good of the boat. It would be the hardest thing to do to either send men to their death or to knowingly go to my own death. Knowing that the reactor leak repairs would lead to my own death, I wouldn't know if I would chicken out crying or go and do my duty. This was the pivotal point and the whole point of the movie, which is the heroic acts of submariners in a Russian submarine. After hvaing worked with Russians now for the past two years, I can say that how the Russians build anything that would work underwater without killing everyone is a mystery to me. We're talking about a country that can't build a clock radio and they are playing with nuclear materials. I watched 2010, The Year We Make Contact with my wife last night and I refuse to believe that the Soviets could've built a ship like the Leonov in any way, shape or form.
Here's my other issue. The hero in the Soviet Union is a contradiction in terms. In the state where the people come first, the hero, the individual is still recognized. But they are not recognized by the government. I guess I know why Communism and Socialism fail is that you can't keep the human desire to succeed down and while subverting it in the name of the people. When there is love for fellow men or all suppress the desire to better one's condition, then maybe. But to steal from the productive and give to the unproductive is still stealing, no matter who is doing it. The productive have to want to give. That is the key. There needs to be the desire to help those who are at the bottom of the income chain. That isn't communism or socialism. It's love. That's why communism will always fail. And that's the end of my Soviet union diatribe. Thank you.
Lilo & Stitch (rental): ****
Summary: I was pleasently surprised with L&S. I was expecting something like Atlantis, full of holes and little or no charecter development. But what I got was a movie that, once it got past the rough beginning, settled down into a very fun and funny movie. Full of action and unexpected thrills, I enjoyed this movie that got a little dusty in the end. So dusty, I got a tear or two. Naturally, the prerequisite happy ending came along and left me feeling pretty good about this underrated Disney adventure.
Lord of the Rings; The Two Towers: ****1/2
Summary: I was very keen on watching this one in the new stadium theatre in town. Once I got the chance, I was all over it. I'm glad I did, because this is one of the great movies I have seen in the theatre. There's some movies that just make you say, "I wish I saw that one on the theatre," and this fits the bill. I was captivated from the beginning and I wasn't released until the rude cleanup boys tried to get me to leave during the credits. But in between, oh man! What a movie! Transported through time, I was left trying to remember what was going to happen in the book next. But I was distracted by the sweeping visuales and realistic special effects. I remember my jaw dropping as I saw the granduer of Gandolf flying down the hill with the riders of Rohan at his back. It was an amazing bit of filmmaking. Can't wait for the next and final installment. It'll be 5 hours long. By the end I'll have to pee even worse than this one, which was pretty bad. But it was worth the discomfort.
Star Trek Nemisis: ****
Summary: Not the best Star Trek I've seen, but it's an even numbered movie, and that's all you need to know. The battle scene, while I read one who thought it was too long, was the best battle scene I have ever seen. I enjoyed the 8 mm look of the planet where they found B-4. The gritty documentary look was a nice gimmick. But what stole the show was the battle of Picard and Shinzon. That was particulary interesting seeing them battle wits with massive warships flying around. Just what I wanted. Seriously, I can't get over that battle. I'll see it again when it comes to the cheap theatre. Just for fun, here's my list of Star Trek Movies that I like in order.
Matt's Top Ten Favorite Movies...
I am about to take the plunge and list my top ten favorite movies of all time. I may get the order slightly wrong, but who cares, it's my list.
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark
2. The Empire Strikes Back
3. The Big Blue (American Version)
4. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
5. The Natural
6. The Russia House
7. The Lion King
8. Harvey
9. The Matrix
10. Die Hard