Posts Tagged ‘Movie’

Review: Superbad

Aug
19
2007

Scene from Superbad courtesy of Columbia PicturesSuperbad was supergood. The film follows a pair of not-so-popular best friends, foul-mouthed Seth and sweet-natured Evan, who goal is to de-virginize themselves before they graduate high school and go on their separate ways before college. The interaction between Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) is fun to watch as they tackle their way through the challenge of scoring alcohol for a graduation party that’s hosted by Seth’s dream girl.

Enter McLovin, aka geek icon Fogell (played by newcomer Christopher Mintz-Plasse). With his fake ID, McLovin is the third wheel to this enjoyable duo, and adds lots of laughs to the film. When two wacky cops (played by the Seth Rogen and Bill Hader) take McLovin under their wing a long, wild night ensues.

Real life friends Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg actually wrote the script when they were back in high school (hence the names of the title characters). Judd Apatow co-produces the film alongside Shauna Robertson (The 40-Year-Old Virgin) and the aforementioned duo. Greg Mottola directs.

A witty script, Superbad certainly has it share of R-rated dialogue (including a rather graphic recollection of one of the character’s former penis-drawing addiction). The jokes are constant and each member of the cast plays off each other well and with ease.  At the times in the film where it looks like the jokes have gone too far or have been overplayed, it’s made up by the heart of the story and the likable characters.  You’ll definitely have fun watching this movie.  I superdid.

Tags: ,
Posted in Movies | No Comments »

Review: The Bourne Ultimatum

Aug
05
2007

The Bourne Ultimatum - Photo from bourneultimatum.comIt’s very rarely that I’ll watch a sequel and say, “Wow… now that was a great sequel”. Okay, I don’t actually say that, but The Bourne Ultimatum certainly lived up to, if not surpassed, the success of it’s predecessors.

The film follows amnesiac Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), who is struggling to fit together the pieces of his violent missing past, as well as stay one step ahead of the agency that wants him terminated. Now I never pegged Matt Damon as the action type, but after the Bourne Identity he’s proven to audiences that he’s a well rounded actor. The film is complemented with strong performances by David Strathairn, Joan Allen and even Julia Stiles.

Not only is the acting superb, but the cinematography is well-executed. The camera-work actually makes you feel like your there on the run with Bourne, and the scenes of the many international locals adds to the rush.

The action sequences will have you hooked with excitement. If you stick around for the end credits you’ll realize how much choreography and stunt-work actually went into making this film one filled with incredible chase sequences and fight scenes. The amount of international stunt people involved is probably 6x the amount of the actual cast.

If you enjoyed the first two Bourne flicks, you’ll definitely enjoy this one. It leaves the trilogy with a sense of closure, yet open-endedness that will leave the audience wondering if another successor will rise to the surface.

Tags: ,
Posted in Movies | No Comments »

Review: The Simpsons Movie

Jul
28
2007

Still from The Simpsons Movie - Courtesy of 20th Century FoxMeh!

That pretty much sums up my review of The Simpsons Movie. It wasn’t bad, per se, but for a big screen movie I felt it was missing something new to be discovered about the town of Springfield or one of it’s characters. If this was an 87 minute epsisode airing on Fox, then sure, I would think it was a pretty good episode.

In the movie, catastrophe-prone Homer, polluts Lake Springfield after a strong attempt by the town to clean up their act. This leads to some political action that has major consequences for everyone who lives there. And yes, a pig is involved.Monique’s Simpson’s Avatar

The movie has a steady flow of laughs (especially Bart’s skateboarding sequence), a great three-dimensional feel from some of the scenes that used digital tracking shots, and a peppering of famous scenes from cinematic history peppered throughout the script.

If you’re a fan of the television show, then, you’ll enjoy it. But I would probably save it for one of those discount days at the movie theatre. Like Homer said in the beginning of the film, “What kind of idiot would pay for something we can get for free, on TV?”

I must admit though, the official site for the movie is amazing. Check out my Simpsons avatar!

Tags: ,
Posted in Movies | 1 Comment »

Transformers… Transform and Roll Out!

Jul
04
2007

TransformersI just came back from watching the much anticipated Transformers movie. It was highly entertaining, if I do say so myself. Michael Bay executed this film in a way that will connect the audience to the characters, no matter if you were an avid watcher of the 80s cartoon, or never heard of Autobots before.

The film starts of action-packed, set in the scorching deserts in Qatar, and from there we are introduced to Sam Witwicky (played effectively by Shia Lebeouf), an ackward teen coming-of-age with passion for getting a car and the girl (Megan Fox as Mikaela Banes). Top secret government files are stolen (as they often are in these types of films), and people are seeing strange things… machines… transforming (and a lot of stuff blowing up, all Armageddon-like).

Here’s where the Autobots come in. With Optimus Prime at the head of the pack (including Autobots’ Bumblebee, Jazz, Ironhide and Ratchet), they are sworn to protect human life from the evil Decepticons. The $150 million budget and collaboration with Hasbro was clearly put to use, as the humanoid machines looked very realistic.

The action is well balanced with the ‘humanized’ storylines, but personally, I loved seeing Optimus Prime and his crew beating up Megatron (voiced by Matrix/LOTR alumni, Hugo Weaving) and his evil minions. Lots of comedic moments in this film as well as some heart-felt moments. If there’s any summer blockbusters on your list this season, this is one to check out (even if the plot seemed kind of ‘meh’… the action and comedic moments makes up for it). It’s a lot of fun to watch. I’m definitely looking forward to the sequels.

For some strange reason, I feel like leasing a yellow and black Camero now…

Here’s a clip from Robot Chicken doing a little parody of the popular 80′s cartoon:

YouTube Preview Image

Oh, one more thing: Make sure you reach the theater before the trailers start rolling. There is one in particular that will take your breath away. I won’t spoil it for you, but if you like action/sci-fi/thriller flicks, you’ll be racing home after Transformers and head to the Internet, trying to figure out what the untitled, top-secret, J.J. Abrams-produced trailer is all about. All I can say is that it’s release date is 01.18.08, and it’s one of the coolest trailers I’ve ever seen…

Tags: ,
Posted in Movies | 1 Comment »