Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Jaws - Steven Spielberg (1975)

  I think everyone has seen this, but I just recently re-watched it and I forgot how good this movie is! I've probably watched it once a year since I was five for the past 15 years and still everyone time the shark jumps out of the water I jump. I feel like this movie needs no plot summary. It is pretty much as the poster advertises...A giant Shark harassing people. Really though this shark is huge...I've seen the model shark at Universal Studio's as well, Its impressive, but equally as scary too...I love this movie because it frightens you in a way that makes you think, "shit this could happen" Jaws kinda makes you think for a second and remember that we as humans aren't always the biggest and baddest things out there...Scary thought.
  The fact that this movie was made in 1975 is crazy to me, I mean they created a shark that looks pretty damn real, well real enough to make you never want to go in the ocean again. Getting chills just thinking about it again. Steven Spielberg did an amazing job frightening people from ever enjoying the beach again..Great scary movie.

Barbarella - Roger Vadim (1968)

  Barbarella starring Jane Fonda, Directed by Roger Vadim, her husband at the time...Makes some sense since this entire movie is basically Jane Fonda in skimpy clothes writhing around like a cheap 70's porno....yet I love this movie..Its so classic. Originally a comic book this sexy sci-fi takes place in the 40th century where Barbarella has to save the earth. The President of this future world sends her off into space to rescue Doctor Durand Durand from the planet SoGo..Probably the best part of the movie is that in this future people no longer have sex sex, they get off by a pill that takes care of everyone.....It isn't until Barbarella meets a local on planet SoGo that she is introduced to the way sex used to be, and lets just say she CLEARLY enjoys it..
  After Barbarella's sexual excursion she is transformed into a sex kitten seducing everyone...I almost want to say she smolders....This movie is actually pretty ridiculous. Barbarella meets and angel name Pygar who in turn she seduces as well. In her attempts to save Doctor Durand Durand from his captor she is in turn captured and tortured in an Ex-SEX-Sive Machine which is meant to kill people by overwhelming them sexually, but our seductress Barbarella overpowers the machine...Basically this movie is a cheesy sex filled classic and even if you end up not loving this movie you have to at least admit that Jane Fonda had it going on back in the day...First person to rock a Lady Gaga onesie perhaps?

Thirst - Chan-wook Park (2009)

I see A Lot of movies, A LOT, and this is by far in my top ten now of all time. Probably the best movie I have seen all year. This is an amazing movie, its in Korean which if you are lazy and dislike reading subtitles....this movie is not for you. For those of you out there who actually don't mind thinking, Thirst is a must see! If I recommend anything ever, it would probably be this movie.
Thirst, by the director of Oldboy is a film about a priest, played by Kang-ho Song, who joins a vaccine test because he feels its the right thing to do, since everyone else it has been tested on has become sick and died. The priest eventually succumbs to the disease, but just when we think he is dead he is inexplicably alive again! Covered in bandages due to the blisters that follow the illness we don't see his face again, until he comes to the realization that he needs blood to ward off this disease everyone thought he fought.
 Although he has now become a "vampire" he doesn't wish to harm people, being a priest and all, and is torn on what to do. He even attempts suicide a couple times. Kang-ho Song's character is extremely likable you feel for him and how he is torn by the old him, and this new life he faces....Along with the changes of being a vampire he begins to experience other temptations of life such as love...well lust in the beginning is more like it..being a priest kinda kept him sheltered from things like that his whole life. 
Quickly though we see the priest manage his illness as he matures through it, and opposite of that roll is a very child like love interest of Tae-ju played by Ok-bin Kim. She is kinda crazy, but in an amazingly eerie way. You can't help but love her!.....She is trapped in life just as the priest was, but where as he has a firm grasp on control, she is released from her prison and begins to run wild!........She has that vibe of a little puppy running around destroying everything, but they are so cute and they don't know any better, you kind of let it slide for a while, not knowing that she actually knows what she is doing.
I love this movie because just when you think you understand the movie the director brings another level of depth to the film and its characters. Besides the fact that this movie was shot beautifully...literally, you could watch it with the sound of and it would still be stunning...The special affects make you forget what you are watching isn't actually real, its just that fluid, but in the end it is the actors that round out this movie and make you love how evil they can be...This movie is amazing.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

According To Greta - Nancy Bardawil (2009)

Greta, probably a movie very few people have heard of, but is actually pretty good. Starring Hilary Duff and Evan Ross in roles I would have never seen for them. Hilary Duff plays a troubled, death obsessed teenager who is sent to live with her grandparents while her mother fixes marriage numero 3. Evan Ross who has extremely stepped up his acting since ATL plays a line cook with dreams of owning his own restaurant. Hilary Duff who usually as cheesy as her movies are is very easy to watch, she is usually pretty nice, but in this movie she irritates you beyond control...Half way through the movie you are sick of her "poor me" attitude...Its like she is a beautiful, thin, smart teenage girl staying in a rich beach town in New Jersey for three months with no obligations to anyone....I wouldn't mind that..
I was impressed that Hilary Duff was a producer on this movie, and although the storyline is kinda sappy and coming of age, I think its certainly worth watching.. Kind of a Juno meets Georgia Rule.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief - Chris Columbus (2010)

Percy Percy Percy...Why did you let me down so? I am a huge fan of this book...I mean whats not to love? Its like Harry Potter meets the Greek Gods! Who wouldn't love that. I think the kid in all of us is intrigued by this story line, I mean its a book meant to entertain pre-teens, but is able to pull in adult readers..Thats pretty impressive on its own.
Percy Jackson is a kid with some issues. He struggles in school. Has ADD, and is dyslexic...Sounds like he has it tough. The reason he is unlike your average kid is because his father turns out to be no other than God of the seas Poseidon. He lives on earth with his Mortal mom, making him what they refer to as a demi-god. Its pretty cool. He finds out why he is the way he is because of his God blood. He is basically genetically designed for battle and reading ancient Greek. Meeting friends along his epic journey Percy deals with some crazy stuff we've all read about in some Mythology book at one point or another....For example: Harpies, Medusa, Ares, Hades AND his crazy 3 headed dog, AND at some point Zeus. This book is amazing, but the movie...not so much.
I am very surprised Chris Columbus didn't stick true to the book at all...He did such a wonderful job on Harry Potter, but with this he just went somewhere else. Maybe they allowed more creative changes than Harry Potter, who knows....I mean I have seen a good portion of books turned to movies, and i'll always be the one to tell you not to expect the movie to be as good, but geez I expect it to be at least the same damn story...Is that asking too much? I believe people who have never read the book might enjoy the movie, and kids too, its very kid friendly...But in my opinion the best thing about this movie was the promise of telling the actually story in the spectacular trailer..I mean it was pretty impressive.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Alice In Wonderland - Tim Burton (2010)


  Where to begin..ahh I did not like this movie at all! I am a huge Tim Burton fan, so I have been anticipating this release for almost 2 years. Maybe it was the build up over time expecting it to be better and better that when I finally go to see it opening day I was extremely let down..

  The movie starts out with a young Alice having nightmares she describe's as what we all know to be wonderland, but her father convinces her it is just an odd nightmare. Tim Burton's style is completely lost in this movie, the young Alice looks like she is wearing a cheap wig and very ill...Dark circles under eyes, pale skin...Last time I checked this was not Twilight...We cut to Alice 13 years later equally annoying as the actress who plays her as a child...
 I should mention the first half of this movie is lacking the CGI like the majority of the film and maybe thats why you feel like Tim Burton did one take and figured it was good enough..According to Tim Burton his take on Alice is that she is different from others, kind of a trouble maker...She runs away from her incredibly hideous fiance' to be and decided to follow a rabbit who leads her down the rabbit hole.





Once down the rabbit hole there is no explanation for whats going on. We are whisked through a blur of psychedelic CGI which should enhance an amazing story, but which instead ends up as a distraction from the horrible lack of acting and decent plot. I can't even explain what happens next because honestly I was so bored watched this movie...Tim Burton relied on the shock and awe of big names like Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, And Helena Bonham-Carter masked by the heavy make up and CGI instead of caring to check if there acting was even decent!...I saw better acting in The Princess Diary's...And as A movie buff I expected way more from Tim Burton....I couldn't suggest this movie to anyone honestly....Actually maybe if you were a fan of Across The Universe you might enjoy this, both movies were equally waste's of time and money...Disappointing :(