Today's Movie Monday might get a little bit cluttered, but I'll try to keep everything contained so that it is easy enough for you to understand. Let's start off with new releases in theaters this past weekend.
I tried to see both Tropic Thunder and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, but thanks to a wonderful misunderstanding, which I still blame on fandango, we missed Clone Wars last night. That's okay, I think, if only because Tropic Thunder was really good. I realized that (particularly for comedies) I really need to quit watching trailers because it always seems to ruin some of the good parts by knowing the punchline to the set-up. That being said, there were some great surprises in the movie that kept me laughing. The movie starts up with trailers for upcoming movies for Stiller, Black, and Downey's and I still think that they were one of the best parts of the whole experience (Downey's movie in particular). Tom Cruise has now lost some of his Scientology creepiness thanks to his awesome role in this movie, which is always a good thing. My main gripe with the flick is that the comedy seems a little forced at times, particularly with Jack Black's character. The other thing isn't really a gripe, but has to do with all the negative attention due to the use of the "R-word." It didn't really hurt the experience, but everytime I heard it, I felt those stupid propagandists nagging me and telling me not to laugh or enjoy that part. Neither of these is really a dealbreaker, and I found that Tropic Thunder (while maybe not as good as Pineapple Express) is definitely one of the funniest movies I have seen in a good while.
Leaving the theaters for a moment, a couple guys and I watched Layer Cake this week. Supposedly, this was the film that got Daniel Craig picked to be the new Bond for Casino Royale, and I can definitely see it. It's a good movie (made by the guy who made Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrells which I loved), but I don't really see how it could have secured Craig as Bond, if only for the reason that Mr. XXXX (his name in the movie) doesn't really like guns and gets his butt handed to him throughout the story. On the other hand, his character is very cool and calculated which lends to the Bond character quite well. On the whole, it was quite a good movie, and I'll give it my recommendation.
Lastly, as I mentioned last week we were going through the Harry Potter films. We finished up with Order of the Phoenix just in time for the announcement that Half-Blood Prince is being moved from a November release to sometime in July of 2009. I think that (as with the books) Goblet of Fire is still my favorite movie but that I think they do keep on getting better and better as the kids become more accustomed to acting and the characters they are playing (it also can't hurt that they know all the outcomes now). To put it quickly, the first two movies aren't exactly good, three is better, four is the best, and five is right in between three and four. How would you rank them?
And that's that. I'll see you tomorrow for Bookish Tuesday, where I will scramble to think of another great book seeing that I haven't turned a page of either of the books on my dresser in two weeks.
I tried to see both Tropic Thunder and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, but thanks to a wonderful misunderstanding, which I still blame on fandango, we missed Clone Wars last night. That's okay, I think, if only because Tropic Thunder was really good. I realized that (particularly for comedies) I really need to quit watching trailers because it always seems to ruin some of the good parts by knowing the punchline to the set-up. That being said, there were some great surprises in the movie that kept me laughing. The movie starts up with trailers for upcoming movies for Stiller, Black, and Downey's and I still think that they were one of the best parts of the whole experience (Downey's movie in particular). Tom Cruise has now lost some of his Scientology creepiness thanks to his awesome role in this movie, which is always a good thing. My main gripe with the flick is that the comedy seems a little forced at times, particularly with Jack Black's character. The other thing isn't really a gripe, but has to do with all the negative attention due to the use of the "R-word." It didn't really hurt the experience, but everytime I heard it, I felt those stupid propagandists nagging me and telling me not to laugh or enjoy that part. Neither of these is really a dealbreaker, and I found that Tropic Thunder (while maybe not as good as Pineapple Express) is definitely one of the funniest movies I have seen in a good while.
Leaving the theaters for a moment, a couple guys and I watched Layer Cake this week. Supposedly, this was the film that got Daniel Craig picked to be the new Bond for Casino Royale, and I can definitely see it. It's a good movie (made by the guy who made Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrells which I loved), but I don't really see how it could have secured Craig as Bond, if only for the reason that Mr. XXXX (his name in the movie) doesn't really like guns and gets his butt handed to him throughout the story. On the other hand, his character is very cool and calculated which lends to the Bond character quite well. On the whole, it was quite a good movie, and I'll give it my recommendation.
Lastly, as I mentioned last week we were going through the Harry Potter films. We finished up with Order of the Phoenix just in time for the announcement that Half-Blood Prince is being moved from a November release to sometime in July of 2009. I think that (as with the books) Goblet of Fire is still my favorite movie but that I think they do keep on getting better and better as the kids become more accustomed to acting and the characters they are playing (it also can't hurt that they know all the outcomes now). To put it quickly, the first two movies aren't exactly good, three is better, four is the best, and five is right in between three and four. How would you rank them?
And that's that. I'll see you tomorrow for Bookish Tuesday, where I will scramble to think of another great book seeing that I haven't turned a page of either of the books on my dresser in two weeks.
1 comment:
Boy do I need to get my butt to the movie theatre. I haven't seen a new flick since Wall-E.
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