Movie Weekend Review

This past weekend was particularly eventful for the 'ryder-'doku household, and a particularly rainy one at that. What perfect way to spend a miserably wet and rainy Southern California weekend than to watch a couple of movies? I shouldn't complain too much; I suppose it's better to be rained on than snowed on (hello to the Midwest!).

This weekend's movies included a newbie (or a sequel to an oldie) and a not-so-oldie-oldie: Tron Legacy and The Lake House.

TRON: Legacy



 Hopefully @DavidisALLright, tsudoku, and I will get to watch this come Friday night! Daft Punk, ENCOM, Disney = win. I haven't even looked at the game trailers yet, and I'm usually a bit wary when it comes to games based off of movies...although I haven't been disappointed by Scott Pilgrim yet.

End of line.

[UPDATE 12/17/10 4:15 PM: just bought 3 tickets to see tonight's showing of Tron: Legacy in IMAX 3D! We'll be out in the rain waiting for the nice theatre people to let us inside for the 12:50 AM showing. Come say hi to me - we'll be at the Irvine Spectrum.]

Tonight's Soiree: Back to the Future



What year is it, again?  

Tonight one of my good buddies and I are going to go see the 25th anniversary digital re-release of Back to the Future at our local AMC theatre! Twenty-five years ago on October 25, 1985, one Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) literally drove back in time and accidentally messed up the past and realized he needed to fix it, otherwise there would be no future!

I was two when this movie was first released in theatres and I remember watching it over and over again when I was five to well into my preteen years (it's what happens when your parents own a video store). I can't wait to recapture my single-digit youth with a box of popcorn and a theatre full of excited and rowdy twenty- and thirty-somethings :)

Movie of the Night: Tank Girl

As I'm writing this post the wonderful Lori Petty is squawking in the background in a role that was practically written for her by none other than Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett. Yes, that Jamie Hewlett, the awesome artist who along with Blur frontman Damon Albarn created the super-awesome-fantastic legitimately animated band the Gorillaz. Yup, Tank Girl is on the tube (thank you, Netflix)!

I never got to watch Tank Girl before tonight, nor have I ever read the comic book, but seriously! I must've been living under a rock or something because this movie is awesome (even though it was critically panned but who listens to critics, anyway), and here's why:  

Watchmen Review

*Warning, some spoilers may be detailed below. If you don't want to know, don't read it!

Finally! I got to see Watchmen last night and let me tell you, I was NOT disappointed, even though they did change up the ending just a bit, and I have to agree with @Agent_M that music did play a pretty pivotal role in the film.

And in true Zach Snyder fashion a la 300, there is a minute-long (or it seemed like it) sex scene between Silk Specter and Nite Owl (played by Malin Ackerman and Patrick Wilson, respectively). Can we say O face??

...more after the jump

The Watchmen

"Who watches The Watchmen?"

I will. March 6, 2009

Best Picture of the Year

Fanboys

This movie just opened Friday, Feb. 6. Please, please, please, someone go see it with me!!!

What's with all the movies posts?

Hmm...you may have realized that the past couple posts have been about movie reviews...what gives? Well, every year I go on a movie binge right before the Academy Awards just to see which movies can own up to a nomination (Slumdog Millionaire) and which ones I'd feel would be completely worthless to even get a nod (Gran Torino). Gimme a break, it's one of the most important movie events of the year and I haven't missed a beat since I was like, 5. The Oscars are a huge deal, whether or not you're a movie buff (which I'm not compared to my friend Darkhorse David).

Until then, I'm gonna keep watching as many movies as I possibly can before the show...or as long as my budget can hold out. Yay solo film festival for me!

Waltz With Bashir

...won a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film! Directed and written by Ari Folman, this animated documentary tells the story of Folman, who goes on an investigative and eye-opening journey to reclaim the memories he had lost, memories specifically dealing with the Lebanon War in 1982 and the Sabra and Shatila Massacre. His only "memory" is that of he and his two other comrades floating and bathing by the seaside in Beirut before flares descend onto the city.

Animated using a combination of computer animation and frame-by-frame, (not rotoscoping as I had hoped but still delightfully pleased), Waltz With Bashir offers history novices like myself a surreal look at the travesty of war and the suffering of those who can still relive those memories, and for those who cannot.

Though definitely not a date movie, artists and historians alike will surely appreciate how the subject matter is portrayed throughout the film. Superb. 4.5 out of 5 stars, 90 minutes. (Some people walked out during the film--how rude! It's a documentary, so you have to keep in mind the slow pace of the film.)

Slumdog Millionaire

Released in December 2008 and directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later - two of my favorite movies of all time), Slumdog Millionaire is the story of Jamal, his brother Salim, and their childhood friend (and Jamal's love interest) Latika set all throughout India from Bombay to Mumbai and how Jamal decides to be a contestant on India's version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" in order to reconnect with Latika, who's gone missing from his life several times due to kidnapping and violence. Based on the book Q and A by Vikas Swarup, Slumdog is not to be missed and is not just any love story, where many of the recurring themes include that of friendship, loyalty, and "one for all and all for one." M.I.A. and modern Bollywood music make for a fast-paced, energizing soundtrack. Be sure to stay for the credits for a complete Bollywood-style dance performance featuring the two main actors, Dev Patel (Jamal) and Friedo Pinto (Latika), among 100+ backup dancers.

Five out of five stars, 120 minutes. Don't sleep through this one!

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best line of the film:

Daisy (Cate Blanchette): Sleep with me.
Benjamin (Brad 'Man-Cake' Pitt): Absolutely.

Now if we edit that just a bit for it to say.....

Brad: Sleep with me.
Me: Abso-freakin'-lutely!!!



WHY IS HE SOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOT!?

The movie was lovely by the way; cinematography was excellent and from what my friend Darkhorse David told me, it was shot using digital film. Overall, it was a prettily filmed movie. I cried like, every half hour, and I managed to question my own mortality. I'm sure F. Scott Fitzgerald didn't have a god like Brad Pitt in mind when he wrote the story, but I should applaud David Fincher (director, Fight Club), for always keeping my Man-Cake in mind for roles where shirtless, wet, gyrating men are needed.

Go see the film; 4.5 stars out of 5; 2.5 hours. Better go use the bathroom before the previews hit, folks.

Max Payne

Starring Marky Mark and Meg from Family Guy. Out in theatres Oct. 17, 2008.

BioShock -- the movie

You've all heard already right? BioShock the video game is now coming to the big screen. According to IGN.com, joystiq.com, Reuters, and even KROQ's morning deejays Kevin and Bean have all announced that Gore Verbinski (acclaimed director to such films as The Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, The Ring, The Mexican, and my personal favorite, Mouse Hunt) is set to direct the film based off of "...the hit video game about an underwater utopia gone disastrously wrong." No financial deal has been discussed as of yet, and it looks like due to the success of the game itself, Take-Two, BioShock's and GTA's game label, has announced plans to create a sequel. The Big Daddies and Little Sisters are waiting for you...can't wait to see how that'll play out on the big screen. With Verbinski directing, I highly doubt there'll be actual movie blood shed...think Samara (of The Ring) and Davey Jones coming after you underwater...perhaps the Cracken will make a cameo? Read more here.