This summers blockbusters, while some let downs (Pirates 3 and Shrek 3) and others ok but not living up to the high standards of the great originals (Spiderman 3), have been pretty good in my opinion. It has been a fairly entertaining couple of months and much better then previous years. Movies that I thought would tank given the competition (Die Hard 3, Oceans 13) have done very well and others that I thought were real long shots (Transformers) have done ridiculously well.

Summer movies are supposed to be about pure and simple fun. They aren't shakespear. They should however have plots (mild ones at least) and should be entertaining and I think this years batch have been the best (in quantity anyway) that I can remember in a long time.

Recent Movies

I have watched the following recently.

Sunset - old bruce willis movie from 1988 about the 1920's and a film version of the life of wyatte earp. James Gardner plays wyatte eary who is a consultant on the film and it's directed by blake edwards. Ok movie...not great but ok.

Catch and Release - pretty interesting chick flick...funny in parts...but pretty much paint by numbers....worth a rental.

Spiderman 3 - yes comic snobs everywhere hate it....much like they did X-men 3....it's better then X-men 3 but not as good as the first two. A bit too much going on in the movie and some ridiculous dance sequence scenes that should never have made it in the movie....but I a pretty good movie in all...it just had some mighty big shoes to fill.

1969 - 80's movie about hippies and the vietnam war with keifer sutherland and robert downey jr. OK movie....kind of reminded me of a made for tv movie though.

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints - pretty good, little seen, movie with Robert Down Jr.....premise is kind of like Sleepers....rough neighborhood and bad childhood force kid to leave and he comes back and has flashbacks etc etc. Definately worth a rental.

recent viewings

Things I have watched recently

Season 3 Part 1 of Entourage - I will say it again...if you love hollywood/movies and want a funny funny take on the whole process yo umust watch this show. It is very very good. Jeremy Piven is the bomb.

Reign Over Me - More drama then comedy and very much in the same vein as The Upside Of Anger which was also directed by Mike Binder....basically a series/tragic event, in this case Adam Sandlers family is killed in 9/11, and the way a person (Sandler) deals with the issue. There were some very touching/funny moments by Sandler and Don Cheadle...and Sandler's performance in general is very very good.

Against All Odds - old movie I never have seen....and really wasn't worth seeing...ok but not great.

Volver - Penelope Cruz is hot....but movie itself was just ok...not sure she deserved an oscar nom though...although my view is tainted as it was a SUBTITLED MOVIE.

The 7 Year Itch - funny in parts...but very dated....Marlyn Monroe plays the ditz part pretty well...however I was rather surprised about one thing....the movie was made in the 60's and the basic premise is a husbands family goes away and he is left alone for the summer and apparently can't remain faithful for one day.....the whole idea of him cheating on her was very ho hum for that date in time....almost seemed like it was OK/accepted for a hubby to go chasing after skirts.

The Long Riders - Interesting movie from 1980....it's the story of the Jesse James Gang....and for some reason (odd casting) they decided to cast the various brothers in the gang with real life actors who are brothers. So the whole cast is made up of the Caradines, the Keaches, the Guests and the Quaids...not a bad movie but not great.

movies

Saw the following movies recently:

Victor/Victoria - OK movie....not really a big fan of Blake Edwards...I like 10 and the original Pink Panther but most of his other stuff is just not my type of movie. This one falls into that category. It was a good performance by julie andrews but just not that great to me.

The Holiday - good movie....the quintesential chick flick/date movie. It got dreadful reviews at x-mas during it's theatrical release but I thought it was good, very funny in parts. Some observations though, if I had to pick one or the other I would definately go with kate winslet over cameron diaz....I just don't think diaz is attractive at all. Also is jude law ever going to do a movie that is a hit? He is really good in this movie but none of his films have made any money.

Empire of the Sun - Good movie but too darn long. Christian Bale was impressive as a child actor. One of speilbergs underated movies in my opinion.

300 - A decent pop corn movie. These are the type of movies that hollywood is gradually moving toward, lots of green screen and cgi. For some movies it works but overall I think it takes away from the movie experience. I like to see actors and the trend is to "fix" everything after it is shot via the computer.....again sometimes it works...sometimes not so much.

Recent Movies

Watched the following movies recently:

The Greatest Show On Earth: Story about Ringly Brothers circus...directed by Cecil B Demile (Ten Commandments). This movie stars Charelton Heston as the ring leader of the circus and Jimmy Stewart as a clown in the circus. Ok movie that gives you a pretty good insight on the lives of carnies. Heston is always hit or miss with me...and most of his movies are a bit dated...but overall a good movie.


One False Move: Ok movie that an early billy bob thorton wrote and stared in. Also has john paxton. Basic premise is Thorton kills a drug dealer for his stash of drugs and money and then is on the run and he ends up in a small town where paxton is a white trash sheriff.


Devil In the Blue Dress:Pretty good movie with denzel washington, don cheadle and tom sizemore. Basic premise is blackmail because a politician is dating a women (jennifer beals) who he is telling is a white woman but is actually black...secret gets out and people are trying to kill beals and anyone else who knows. Washington plays a stooge who is hired to find beals without knowing the full details. Cheadle plays his crazy friend and he basically steals the movie. There are some laugh out loud funny moments ala pulp fiction. Some good quotes. Cheadle is Mouse.

Easy Rawlins: A man once told me that you step out of your door in the morning, and you are already in trouble. The only question is are you on top of that trouble or not?

Mouse: You said don't shoot him, right? Well I didn't; I choked the brother... If you didn't want me to kill him, why did you leave me alone with him?

Meet John Doe:A Frank Capra movie. Not as good as Mr Deeds goes to Washington or It's a Wonderful Life but still pretty good. This one has Gary Cooper in it. Capra's movies...for their time in the 30's and 40's are pretty great...they talk about morality and politics and have very very good dialogue for that time frame. This is another good example...not the best but good.

Side note:

I still can't believe they are considering making a Spiderman movie without Maguire and Raimi....IDIOTS. Also is it me or has Lost gotten...well Lost.

stupid hollywood

Does anyone else out there think hollywood is purposely trying to suck it up and aggravate us movie goers. I ask because I just read they are planning on making another Spiderman without Tobey Maguire and Sam Raimi. This is a couple of months after it is reported that they will try to make the Hobbit and a LOTR prequel without Peter Jackson. So let me ask the obvious question....HOW FREAKIN STUPID ARE YOU???? In their minds they must figure if we make a few bucks but totally destroy a franchise and alienate it's huge fan base it's worth it. Seriously do either of those moves stand a chance of being remotely as good as the franchises now? No they have 0% chance of success. Professors used to tell me in college that there are no absolute guarantees in life...nope this is absolute....both franchises will be destroyed....worse then star wars. This has got to be something new for our day and age. Can you imagine putting out Godfather 2 without copola directing and with say rob schneider instead of al pacino. No. It would be unthinkable and the reason being is back then they had integrity. Now all we apparently care about is $$$$$$$$$$$. It's a sad sad world....it really is.

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Movies I have seen recently

Stranger Then Fiction - good movie. Very well cast. I am starting to really think Will Ferrell is going to be a great great actor and not just some funny guy. He seems to be making a lot of good decisions lately. I give this movie particular kudos for it's originality.

Let's Go To Prison - why you ask would anyone (me) rent this movie? Well it's because sometimes I take advice from others and give some borderline movies a chance....and this is a good example of why I shouldn't do that. Basically it was a sucky movie and it had a couple of funny parts. Not worth the time.

A Good Year - excellent movie, a bit subdued but a really well acted film. Nothing particularly original about it...think it's a wonderful life with wine...but still very well done.

School for Scoundrels - Not really that good. Billy Bob Thorton has got the market cornered on how to play the "dick" character. Bad Santa and this movie are basically identical in that respect....but this one is kind of well stupid. It has some humerous parts where him and napolean dynamite are mean to each other but other then that it's pretty much a waste of an 1.5 hours.

Ghost Rider - I cannot put into words how badly this movie sucked. Nick Cage should stop acting if this is the crap he is going to put out....and lately this is the type of crap he is putting out. The plot has huge...screw it there was no plot...it was basically a bunch of guys that got together and said let's put nick cage as ghostrider and have him fight demons....ok let's shoot. They only good thing about the movie was watching eve mendes....and they are going to make a sequel...joy.

Gunfight at the OK Corale - good movie...dated but good. Very much the same story as Tombstone...one of my favorite westerns of all time. It's got all the same char, doc holiday, wyatte earp and ringo. Well worth the rental...but kirk douglas is no doc holiday...only val kilmer can claim that.

recent movies

Saw the following movies recently

Norbit - stupidly funny....once again reminding how funny eddie murphy can be. Is it shakespeare no, is it a great comedy that I would watch again over and over...no but it was a pretty good movie to see once....kind of like the nutty professor etc. People are giving Murphy grief because after his great dramatic performance in dream girls he should be doing more challenging work....hey that's his call and as long as the movies don't suck (I Spy, Pluto Nash etc) then I think they should leave him alone.

Music and Lyrics By - something about Hugh Grant in a funny romantic comedy always seems good to me....again is it ground breaking....now...but it was very entertaining...the opening credits show him in a cheesy 80's video with long hair...think Wham...that bad....and it was truly funny to watch...all in tongue in cheek. The rest of the movie is color by numbers...pretty funny in parts...somewhat heartful in others....was it his best...nah probably not...but it was definately worth seeing.

Inherit the Wind - very rarely do I see older movies that still hold up extremely well and seem ahead of there time...this is one of those movies. Done in Black and White in the early 60's this is a true story set in the early 1920's where a teacher was trying to present Darwin's theory of evolution in a highly religious area in the south. Great dialogue and great cast with Spencer Tracy, Gene Kelly, one of the Darin's from bewitched and a bunch of others. Well worth a rental.

Marie Antoinette - great visuals and a pretty solid material to make a movie on but quite honestly the Sophia Copola blew it on this movie. It was interesting to a point and the performance by kirstin duntz was ok but the end sucked and it was a bunch of stylist crap that really didn't go anywhere....but was set to a retro soundtrack....kind of like romeo and juliet....but not as good...as if that was any good either

Flags Of Our Fathers - ok movie....different from most war movies...it was more concerned with the propaganda and the story off the battle field then it was with the actual battle.

Half Nelson - different movie...about a teacher who is a crack addict....compelling story about drug addiction and then just a dumb ending...

Conversations with Other Women - different movie...filmed very strangely....and entertaining in parts...as much as a movie can be where there is only two actors talking in every scene...ala until sunrise etc....but not as good.