What Did You Watch Today?

[botchedpiledriver]

Pulp Fiction - 9/10.

Reservoir Dogs - 8/10.

Kill Bill Volume 1 - 7/10.

As you can see, I went on the theme of a Tarantino night.

[Laice07]

The Crow: 7.5/10

After the Sunset: 5/10

[Ananas]

Blade Trinity - ** (4.5/10)

David S Goyer, the man who wrote all three films, takes over from Guillermo Del Toro as director, and is met with disastrous results. Blade Trinity is the hopefully final film in the Blade saga, based on the Marvel comic series and starring Wesley Snipes. This time around the vampires have awoken the grand daddy of them all, Dracula. Blade isn't alone this time, though; he is joined by a team of leather clad Gen Y-ers known as the Night Stalkers. The leader of the group is Abigail Whistler (Jessica Biel), the inexplicable daughter of Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), and is seemed to be assisted the most by Hannibal King (Ryan Reynolds), or as he was probably referred to on the script, Comic Relief. Indeed, the only thing redeeming about this film is the big budget special effects, since both the script and acting performances are awful. Everybody's favorite wrestler Triple H takes on the role of Jarko Grimwood with the tenacity and acting chops of Justin Guarini and Shaquille O'Neil, while Parker Posey is laughable as the film's pseudo villain. Ryan Reynolds gives a good effort of bringing light to a dull script, but his character is so horribly written that it's hard to enjoy his bits. A mass of dull storylines with logic errors, unreal dialogue and uninspired performances make this not the worst, but possibly the most inexplicably made film of the year. Thumbs down; please let this be the last.

[ROC]

Runaway Jury - 7/10 or (**1/2) The best part about Runaway Jury is easily the performances. With John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Rachel Weisz, Dustin Hoffman, and Jeremy Piven ALL giving great performances, it manages to also look past a somewhat-stale plot. Good thriller and worthwhile viewing.

[The Punisher]

Scream: 6/10. It was getting good until the ending where it just got out of hand in the end.

The Crow: 10/10. Probably one of the best comic book movies of all time. It was just perfect with the gritty look and the way it was filmed. Recommended by all for comic book and non-comic book fans. Sad to see Brandon go, he would've been one of the biggest stars in Hollywood.

[BlackFlagg]

Blade Trinity - 7/10

[Numbahs]

We Don't Live Here Anymore - 5/10

[Ananas]

Alexander - ** (4/10)

When you're Oliver Stone, making a film about the life of one of the world's greatest war heros is never simple. You're going to attempt to get past all of the stories told about your main character and attempt to tell a story that Hollywood hasn't yet done. You're also going to shed no expense at making the action scenes unadulterated. Of course, even if you're Oliver Stone, this can go either way, and unfortunately Alexander goes to the wrong way for nearly three hours. Colin Farrell stars in this historical epic as Alexander the Great (before he was "The Great", mind you), while Angelina Jolie plays his mother Olympias, Jared Leto plays his lover and friend Hephaistion, and Rosario Dawson plays Roxane, his wife. Anthony Hopkins does double duty as both narrator and the older version of Ptolemy. When you think of the influential historical figures who are mentioned in this film (among them Alexander, Olympias, Aristotle, Ptolemy and Antigonas), there is potential for unparallelled cinematic delight. However, in three hours the viewer leaves the theatre feeling no more enlightened than when they came in. Colin Farrell is good, but only good in the lead role, while Angelina Jolie turns in one of her worst performances yet. If I only listen to the film with my eyes closed, Alexander was actually Irish and Olympias was Romanian, but I'll let the accents slip because really, it's not like they were speaking any form of English anyway. The script is completely lost in favour of blunt violence, dull sex and nill characterization. You could say that the cast looked good, but of course they did, they're Angelina Jolie, Rosario Dawson, Jared Leto and Colin Farrell. If you could make a movie just by virtue of looks, you could stick Kelly Clarkson and Britney Spears together and win Oscars. Unfortunately, "From Justin 2 Kelly" and "Crossroads" prove that wrong. Thumbs down.

Edited December 16, 2004 by Jar Jar Beatnik

[ROC]

Catch That Kid - 4/10 or (*1/2) It sucks. Plain and simple. Poor Jennifer Beals.....Wait, I feel bad for Jenny Beals. Whatever...

[Ananas]

The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement - ** (4/10)

Garry Marshall, expert at laying on the syrup thick, directs "The Princess Diaries 2", the sequel to the not really so surprising hit "The Princess Diaries" of 2001. This time around, Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway) is nearly set to take the throne of Genovia, but it is revealed that in order for a woman to take the throne, she must be married. What's worse, is that she is given 30 days to do so, and if she is unable to another person will be given the throne. That person is Nicholas Deveroux (Chris Pine), who she kind of likes and kind of hates. It's assembly line script writing that makes this film terrible. Other teen films are just predictable, but if you weren't able to see the end coming you might be suffering from some sort of mental disorder. It takes a long time to get going, and once it does get going, it really isn't that good. Julie Andrews is of course good as Queen Clarisse Renaldi, and even sings for the first time on film for decades, but even that is ruined when the song turns into a G-rated pop/hip hop tune. The real saving grace, and what keeps the movie out of the bottom of 2004's scrap heap, is Hathaway, who has made many-a-film redeemable through her accute performances. While seemably every other young actress has had her share of memorable trainwrecks, her films are made watchable by a charm unmatched in any of the current crop. If only she had Lindsay Lohan's taste in scripts. Thumbs down.

[ROC]

Billy Madison - 8/10 or (***) With a double shot of films in Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison in 1995, Adam Sandler went from SNL player to instant star. Adam Sandler also managed to frontload both films with many laughs. In Billy Madison, he focuses on juvenile humor that is balls out hilarious with gags and side-splitting humor out its anus. Add a hot chick (Bridgette Wilson, straight from her sexy breakthrough as Sonja Blade in Mortal Kombat), a wily enemy (Bradley Whitford), and some dumb friends (Norm MacDonald and.....that other guy), and you've got some stellar entertainment.

[ROC]

Extreme Ops - 4.5/10 or (*1/2) Consider this the first film I watch during my big Christmas break...and it sucks. In essence, it’s a snowboarding movie with slightly absurd plot twists, one-dimensional villains, and Bridgette Wilson-Sampras (and yes, tennis star Pete Sampras is now her husband). While the stunts look cool, it’s too weak and campy for its own good.

[ROC]

Grind - 5.5/10 or (**) This is like the eighth viewing of this for me. While it still holds its stupid stuff (don't get me started on the stupidity of Vince Vieluf), it also holds something watchable about it. Oh yeah, that's right. That thing is hot chicks. And since I'm in a giving mood, I'll raise the film's rating from my original grade of 5 to 5.5. I think I'm liking Christmas already.

From Dusk Till Dawn - 7/10 or (**1/2) Solid first act, with some good stuff all around (though, the dialogue wasn't hardly as crisp and killer in the movie following the first vampire attacks, IMO). Still a solid vampire picture.

btw, I'm quite liking this DVD box cover with Hayek in the center...

[Ananas]

Grind - 5.5/10 or (**) This is like the eighth viewing of this for me. While it still holds its stupid stuff (don't get me started on the stupidity of Vince Vieluf), it also holds something watchable about it. Oh yeah, that's right. That thing is hot chicks. And since I'm in a giving mood, I'll raise the film's rating from my original grade of 5 to 5.5. I think I'm liking Christmas already.

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[ROC]

Grind - 5.5/10 or (**) This is like the eighth viewing of this for me. While it still holds its stupid stuff (don't get me started on the stupidity of Vince Vieluf), it also holds something watchable about it. Oh yeah, that's right. That thing is hot chicks. And since I'm in a giving mood, I'll raise the film's rating from my original grade of 5 to 5.5. I think I'm liking Christmas already.

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Is Brody good in the film? I'm an "O.C." fan, so I might just have to check it out.

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[Guest UmpireAJS]

Blade 8/10-

The Matrix 10/10

Watching RIGHT NOW: Mortal Kombat [it's Johnny Cage vs Scorpion at the moment]

[Numbahs]

Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events - 6/10

Spanglish - 6/10

[ROC]

Matchstick Men - 7.5/10 or (***) Solid performances and great direction help this film come to life, even when it draws out a bit. Still, quite a solid film to watch.

Edited December 18, 2004 by TheROC-Revolt

[Jester of Death]

Ocean's Eleven - 10/10

Ocean's Twelve - 9/10

A sequel is rarely better than its original but I liked this movie

Edited December 18, 2004 by Jester of Death

[BlackFlagg]

The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King EE - 9/10