The Hangover Proves That Sometimes the Funniest Scenes are the Ones That Happen Off Screen
It’s a damn shame for Land of the Lost, I film that I liked unapologetically earlier this week that I have to follow it up with a comedy the caliber of The Hangover. While Land of the Lost gets its laughs mostly in the cheapest and sleaziest way possible (but, does get them), The Hangover reaches for the gonads of many of the standards of “guy” comedy and succeeds with much skill.
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Land of the Lost: Crude, Rude and Insulting…But Funny
I feel strongly that I’m about to issue a minority opinion of a film that is going to get a lot of crap from internet talkbackers. Even though you may have noticed from other reviews of mine, I almost never give an “unqualified” good or bad review to anything. One of my reviewing methodologies is to try to “qualify” my opinion by giving examples of what type of filmgoer may like or dislike a film on the opposite side of the fence of where I am. That being said, I feel that I must say before I give Land of the Lost a “qualified” personal and mostly positive review, I believe that I can accurately give you an assessment that will tell you whether there’s a snowball’s chance in hell that you’ll care for the film at all, so here it goes…
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Drag Me To Hell: Raimi Does Textbook Horror.
Here’s my prediction for the future of the Sam Raimi’s new horror film Drag Me To Hell. Next fall, when new textbooks are published for entry level film courses at USC and/or other distinguished film schools, the chapters on writing and directing are going to use Drag Me to Hell as the template for constructing horror films. While Raimi has spent the last several years making studio waves with the ultra successful Spiderman franchise, he continues to prove that the genre he knows as good or better than anyone else in the business is scares and thrills.
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Up: Thanks for the Adventure
I was worried about this one.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Pixar. I friggin’ adore Pixar. I’ve been a fan since my teacher showed us The Adventures of André and Wally B. back in the dim dark days of ninth-grade English. I was there opening day of Toy Story, and have been there every opening day since, always entertained, always delighted. Nine films and every one I’ve enjoyed, some more than others, but never disappointed.
But I was worried about this one.
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Terminator Salvation: Officially The “Feel Disappointed” Movie of the Summer
First I guess I should warn anyone reading this review considering Terminator Salvation that I am a mild apologist for Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Yes, I enjoyed that unapologetically even though I fully admit that it was a very pale followup to Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which I still consider one the greatest sci-fi action flicks of all time as well as number one on the list of most influential digital effects films of all time in the article I’ve been picking away at for the past 4 months chronicling the most influential digital effects films of all time. Okay, I’ll get around to finishing that article this summer. In any case, this makes it very difficult to reconcile the fact that even though I think Terminator Salvation is a much better movie than T3, I have some serious problems with it.
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Angels and Demons and Paratrooper Priests and Antimatter Bombs and Catholic Shame…
Since I’m not actually reviewing Ron Howard’s The DaVinci Code here I can freely admit that I caught it on cable and wandered aimlessly from it. It just never hooked me enough to keep from making multiple trips to the bathroom, kitchen, liquor store, whatever. With Angels and Demons, it seemed to have all the elements that turned me off of that film souped up on steroids. However, about 45 minutes or so into this 2 hour and 20 minute epic journey from common sense I was beaten into submission by the charm of Tom Hanks and the medicine ball sized-testicles of screenwriters David Koepp and friends who I can only guess smoked large quantities of controlled substances while pounding out this thing.
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Star Trek: These are the Voyages of the Starship Enterprise, and Just Maybe the Best Voyage Yet.
There can really be no denying that the amount of things that had to go right for JJ Abrams to pull off what I’ve witnessed this past day put his odds of success at pretty close to a million to one. To be able to cobble together the perfect recasting of one of the most beloved acting ensembles in television history was alone a daunting task. To find the right script is always a difficult task for any film project. Now, how do you put together a slam bang action sci-fi flick that will enthrall casual audiences as well as please some of the most finicky fan bases of any cult franchise?
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X-Men Origins: Wolverine–Big Shiny Claws, Very Little Bite.
Part of the problem with being in the midst of golden era of cinema comic book adaptations is that now that we’ve gotten a taste of what happens when a popular property gets translated with due respect into a good film we tend to get spoiled. Last year, we got two of the best yet, with Dark Knight and Iron Man. This may sound like I’m setting up to be an apologist for X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I wish I could, but it’s a tough movie to defend even in the wake of the vicious fan rape that was X-Men 3.
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The Soloist Stands on the Talent of a Pair of Great Performances
The overwhelming problem with The Soloist is that it the odds become ultimately unfairly stacked in its favor by having possibly one of the greatest current living actors Robert Downey, Jr. If there’s living proof that hardcore substance abuse is generally a positive if you and your loved ones can survive it, if you have any loved ones left after it’s over.
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Crank: High Voltage: Gratuitous Violence, Outlandish Erotica, and Something to Offend Everyone!
It’s been a while since I walked out of a movie feeling like I needed a shower, but Crank: High Voltage seemed to do the trick this time. I’m not sure what draws me in to a sequel to a film I never saw based on a trailer that looks utterly ridiculous. The fact is, though, that as outrageous as the trailer looks, it doesn’t even begin to tell the story of a movie as far out and crazed as Crank 2. Is that a good thing?
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