I'll see if I can write some little reviews here of movies I have seen lately. The place I stayed in Melbourne had a good selection of DVDs (I watched the first four Die Hards all in a row), and I've seen some since back in NZ. I don't think I have seen a movie in the theatre since the second Hobbit movie in Malaysia (reviewed many pages back).
RED
I saw this in Melbourne and then again today. I haven't seen RED 2 yet. RED was a great romp. Comparisons to The Expendables are inevitable given the basic cast consisting of old movie stars but it is like comparing, say, pork chops to giblets. RED is a fun comedic action movie playing on how the characters actually are retired but still lethal. The Expendables was a movie trying waaay too hard to pretend the characters aren't retired and doubly fouling it up by taking itself waaay to seriously, which was a huge mistake. Bruce Willis makes a great action star, but as he has aged he has resorted to basing his characters around smirking and murdering. He is now much better as a comedy action actor, which he does exceedingly well in RED. Helen Mirren is all class, John Malkovich is crazy as a alley-cat (so, no acting there then). If I was going to give a rating, it would be high. I definitely want to see RED 2.
Stardust
This is the sort of movie where you either like the style (whimsical fantasy) or you don't. I do, so I loved it. Claire Danes is beautiful, which I didn't get from Terminator 3 many years previously. It sort of reminds me of The Princess Bride in the tone and setting. In fact if you like that movie then you'll like Stardust.
John Carter
A bit of a shaky start and I went into it not even expecting to like it, but it turned out to be a fun (but silly) story after all and the CGI was good. The bouncing around in the lower atmosphere got old real quick though, and there was a certain amount of "most recent Star Wars movies" which did not appeal.
Ted
I wasn't sure I'd like this but I did. Mark Wahlberg is a good actor (and twenty years ago I would have bet good money I would never be writing that sentence!), Mila Kunis is alright (I don't like her and her voice is like a rusty knife through my brain, but she generally does an adequate job), and the teddy bear dies so that was good. I think the movie tried a bit hard to be edgy yet at the same time is reigning itself in to avoid a restricted rating. Not the best mix.
Goodbye Pork Pie
I haven't seen this in years and although a classic NZ movie it is, um, kind of all over the show without really having a proper focus on where it's going. I wouldn't recommend it as a movie to seek out.
Sleepy Hollow
The movie, not the series. The one with Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane. It's quite good, although Ichabod does somewhat resemble a blade-less Edward Scissorhands. And while I quite like Christina Ricci, she should not try to play adults! She just looks like a little kid in dress-up. Christopher Walken makes a good insane horseman, but that goes without saying. It's Christopher Walken!
RED
I saw this in Melbourne and then again today. I haven't seen RED 2 yet. RED was a great romp. Comparisons to The Expendables are inevitable given the basic cast consisting of old movie stars but it is like comparing, say, pork chops to giblets. RED is a fun comedic action movie playing on how the characters actually are retired but still lethal. The Expendables was a movie trying waaay too hard to pretend the characters aren't retired and doubly fouling it up by taking itself waaay to seriously, which was a huge mistake. Bruce Willis makes a great action star, but as he has aged he has resorted to basing his characters around smirking and murdering. He is now much better as a comedy action actor, which he does exceedingly well in RED. Helen Mirren is all class, John Malkovich is crazy as a alley-cat (so, no acting there then). If I was going to give a rating, it would be high. I definitely want to see RED 2.
Stardust
This is the sort of movie where you either like the style (whimsical fantasy) or you don't. I do, so I loved it. Claire Danes is beautiful, which I didn't get from Terminator 3 many years previously. It sort of reminds me of The Princess Bride in the tone and setting. In fact if you like that movie then you'll like Stardust.
John Carter
A bit of a shaky start and I went into it not even expecting to like it, but it turned out to be a fun (but silly) story after all and the CGI was good. The bouncing around in the lower atmosphere got old real quick though, and there was a certain amount of "most recent Star Wars movies" which did not appeal.
Ted
I wasn't sure I'd like this but I did. Mark Wahlberg is a good actor (and twenty years ago I would have bet good money I would never be writing that sentence!), Mila Kunis is alright (I don't like her and her voice is like a rusty knife through my brain, but she generally does an adequate job), and the teddy bear dies so that was good. I think the movie tried a bit hard to be edgy yet at the same time is reigning itself in to avoid a restricted rating. Not the best mix.
Goodbye Pork Pie
I haven't seen this in years and although a classic NZ movie it is, um, kind of all over the show without really having a proper focus on where it's going. I wouldn't recommend it as a movie to seek out.
Sleepy Hollow
The movie, not the series. The one with Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane. It's quite good, although Ichabod does somewhat resemble a blade-less Edward Scissorhands. And while I quite like Christina Ricci, she should not try to play adults! She just looks like a little kid in dress-up. Christopher Walken makes a good insane horseman, but that goes without saying. It's Christopher Walken!
