What Did You Watch Today?

[BlackFlagg]

Dodgeball - 7/10

[Ananas]

Van Helsing - *1/2 (3.5/10)

Stephen Sommers' "Van Helsing" is one of those movies that makes you look back at the end and wonder why? Why, for instance, did they make a film over two hours in length if they had barely more than 60 of decent material? Why did they write the vampires to look and sound like the French stereotype? Why, and this one is perhaps the most important, does a movie that cost $160 million to make and included location shots in the Czech Republic look like it was made entirely on a low budget enclosed set? It's questions like these that beg the biggest "why" question, why take a chance on a movie that seemingly turned out so awful? Well apparently the film, starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale, turned out to be a chance well taken; the film has grossed $300 million worldwide, but that still doesn't redeem it. Dracula (Richard Roxburgh) reminded me of the comedic version of the character portrayed by Leslie Nielsen in Mel Brooks' "Dracula: Dead and Loving It", and the Frankenstein character is oddly similar to the type of things seen in the "Scooby Doo" sequel. In fact, a lot of this movie is like that particular film. Just a terrible movie. Thumbs down.

[BlackFlagg]

In The Cut - 3/10

Edited December 24, 2004 by BlackFlagg

[BlackFlagg]

Rear Window - 8/10

[MalaCloudy Black]

Ed Wood - 9.5/10

A 1995 Tim Burton flick, I must say I thought this was a terrific movie. Depp's portrayal of Edward D. Wood Jr. was stupendous, Landau played a pretty good Bela Lugosi, and Billy Murray as Bunny Breckinridge was good - and shooting the entire pic in black-and-white was a great idea!

The only thing I remotely disliked about it is that in a few parts it seemed to drag a bit.

[St. Dubb]

40 Days and 40 Nights - 5/10

Average teen flick that was funny at some parts, but also completely predictable.

[BlackFlagg]

Friday the 13th - 8/10

Edited December 25, 2004 by BlackFlagg

[Ananas]

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - ***1/2 (7/10)

Wes Anderson is the type of director who likes to do more with less. He made The Royal Tenenbaums on $21 million dollars, and judging by the cast, much of that must have gone to salary. Much of the same with "The Life Aquatic", made on $25 million, and with a cast that includes Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Michael Gambon, Anjelica Huston, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum and Cate Blanchett the same can be said for this one. Bill Murray stars as Steve Zissou, a famed oceanographer and documentarist who after losing his friend to a shark, vows to track the creature down and kill it. Before he gets a chance to do this a man who may or may not be his son comes into his life (Luke Wilson). He, Ned Plimpton, and Steve set out with his famed crew and a journalist named Jane Winslett-Richardson (Cate Blanchett) in tow. On the line is more than just revenge, this is Steve's last chance to prove himself to the world that he still has "it" as a filmmaker, and to try to build a relationship with Ned. Wes Anderson has unsurpassed creativity, and shows it in everyone of his films. This is his first work without the writing assistance of Owen Wilson (who is currently occupied as he becomes one of the fastest rising stars in Hollywood), and Noah Baumbach seems to keep the screenplay as sharp as ever. As I've said, the film was made for a pittance, so how good this film looks is insane. Now I'm not saying this is a perfect movie. As the movie went on the jokes seemed to get strained, but another fantastic performance from Bill Murray brought it back from the edge of mediocrity. In the end, The Life with Steve Zissou is a very good movie, worthy of recommendation, even in the midst of a competitive award season. Thumbs up.

[BlackFlagg]

Friday the 13th Part 2 - 8/10

[Numbahs]

Collateral - 7/10

It's becoming quite obvious that I love this movie, and you'll hear just how much next month.

[Yitzy]

I, Robot - 9/10

I thought this was a really good movie, I have no idea why it got mediocre reviews.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Desperado - 9/10

"South of the border Pulp Fiction"? I'm so there.

[BlackFlagg]

Darkness - 4/10

[MalaCloudy Black]

Edward Scissorhands - 8.5/10

Good film, or perhaps my judgement is clouded by the fact that Depp and Tim Burton are personal favorites of mine.

[Numbahs]

Fat Albert - 5/10

[~The Missionary Guy~]

Meet The Fockers

7/10 - Some Funny Bits, Got a bit soft at the end

[Mysterio2000X]

Collateral - 7/10

Entertaining overall.

Scarface - 9.5/10

The ONLY thing holding this back is that it seemed to go on for ever, but even then this movie was still miles ahead of A LOT of other stuff, and still awesome.

[Ananas]

Flight of the Phoenix - ** (4.5/10)

John Moore directs and Randy Quaid stars in "Flight of the Phoenix", the retelling of a classic 1965 film starring Jimmy Stewart. It tells the story of a group of people who are stranded in the Gobi desert when the plane that is supposed to carry them home crashes. Instead of waiting for a rescue plane that may or may not come, when a man (Giovanni Ribisi) claims he can rebuild the plane, they set out to put his plan into action. It's hard to say too much negative about Flight Of the Phoenix, yet it's impossible to recommend. While it does charm in its performance (most noteably the delightully twisted performance from Ribisi), and the visuals are stunning, there is not a shred of originality in its plot. This may have something to do with the fact that it's pretty much a verbatim retelling of the original, and if the 1998 Gus Van Sant retelling of Psycho tells us anything, it's that remaking classic 1960's films requires a level of retooling for modern success. This film is unable to do so, and reads as an outdated film that fails to build any drama at all, ending on a ridiculously cheesy visual and failing to surprise the audience once. Thumbs down.

[reyrey619]

Collateral- 7.5/10 Good movie. Tom Cruise plays a very good and believeable villian in this movie. Jamie Foxx had the best performance I've seen out of him yet in his career(I haven't seen Ray yet) in this movie.

Fight Club- 9/10 Fantastic moive. Brad Pitt's character in this movie is one of my favorite characters, of all time. Ed Norton does a good job acting as always. The best thing about this movie IMO is that you never know whats going on it, really.

Jingle All The Way- 6.5/10 This movie is a pretty enjoyable Christmas flick. Arnold is funny as expected, but Sinbad steals the movie. I wonder whatever happened to Sinbad...

[MalaCloudy Black]

I, Robot - 5/10

Painstakingly average.