Le Havre This French Drama and Comedy was just the right measure. Today was a challenge to pick a New Release. All the movies that came out today weren't interesting. Then I saw this on a list and I said, "Let's give it a try." It was cool. It deals with immigration, racism, and people with a lot of heart. It was short and sweet. It was released under Criterion. So, it has to be good, right? Well, I've seen some Criterions that are a bit boring for me. This kept me interested. Worth to check out.
Lockout This was an awesome sci-flick. Good dialogue. Lots of interesting not so boring scenes. Crazy characters. When I saw the pure CGI scene near the beginning, I thought that was going to suck big time. That scene made it seem like a video game and not very good at all. But, luckily, the movie wasn't pure CGI. All the space stuff was good. I could rewatch this movie just for the first One hour and 15 minutes. I didn't like the last part of the movie at all. What was in the briefcase? Why did they make this person the bad guy all of a sudden? And no, I'm not talking about our main hero here. I was disappointed. But all the space stuff and Guy Pearce acting like Bruce Willis in Die Hard and kicking ass was awesome. Okay to check out. If the ending was better, this would of been a great buy and a sci-fi classic in years to come.
Every fourth Friday of every month this year, I'll be checking out a kung fu movie of any period. Gives me an excuse to kick the walls and break blocks of wood. Also gives me the excuse to go to I Luv Video or Vulcan Video and catch up on some great kung fu flicks out there.
Legendary Weapons of China Awesome Kung Fu flick. Lots of weapons. Lots of action. Lots of dubbed swings and chops. It was almost two hours long but the quality was pretty damn good. Like most kung fu movies, there's a lot of characters that it confuses me in the beginning. After a while, I get the hang of it. So fast. I like the voodoo doll move. Basically, a guy holds a voodoo doll and has control on how this other guy fights. It was cheesy and awesome at the same time. This is from The Shaw Brothers and has Gordon Liu in it.
It was kicking good time. The only part was that this dragged on a little bit for me but it might of felt like that because I was watching this pretty late.
A must for the Kung Fu section.
I had me some homemade pork filled wontons with orange sweet and sour sauce served with a TsingTao. Match made in China! I think.
Footnote Pretty good movie from Israel. I liked that this was part drama and part comedy. Very original and clever story. The ending left me incomplete, though. That was probably the only flaw for me. But, I get why they did that. My favorite scene is when the dad starts investigating several documents towards the end and figures out stuff. This was nominated for Best Foreign Film at this year's Oscars. Being a fan of all kinds of foreign films, my goal is to check out all of the nominated ones, and see which one I would of preferred to win. So far, I saw this one, In Darkness, and Bullhead for this year's nominees. As of right now, my personal favorite is Bullhead.
Wanderlust This was pretty funny and little entertaining. With these kinds of movies, one shouldn't expect a lot. Just a simple story, a few laughs, and maybe a happy ending. Nothing to make a big deal about. I'm getting tired of Jennifer Aniston and her comedy roles. I used to be okay with it, but now comes a point where I'm not feeling it anymore. My favorite character here is the nudist who makes his own wine and he's a writer as well. He was pretty funny. Okay to check out. I wouldn't buy it.
Since these people in this community were mostly hippies and they ate nothing but vegetables and other stuff, I decided to make vegetarian fajitas and drink organic beer for the first time.
Friends With Kids This was pretty good at first but then it turned out to be not that original and tried to be a little too Hollywood with its ending. We all have seen these types of stories before: best friends of the opposite sex fall in love. I was liking the concept in the beginning. There were some good moments. A lot of the cast here are people from Bridesmaids. I would of loved to see more of Kristen Wiig, though. Two favorite scenes are when the friends visit for the first time after "the baby experiment" and of course, the dinner scene at the lodge in Vermont. Other than those scenes, the rest were okay. As far as laughs go, this didn't deliver laugh out loud moments. It was a bit of a smart comedy. If you see this movie, don't expect to see anything new. One movie that comes to mind is "The Switch" with Jason Bateman and Jennifer Aniston.
The Dark Knight Rises Speechless!! Well, I got lots of information to process. Don't worry, I don't give out spoilers, especially to movies like these. I loved the movie. I enjoyed the hell out of it at the IMAX. Beautiful!! Well done, Mr. Christopher Nolan. Well done. A nice closure to the "Nolan" Batman trilogy. Lots of emotions. Suspense, surprises, and little bit of sadness. But, above all, happiness. I liked the story except for some things towards the end. I rather not talk about it because then I might spoil stuff here. But nothing bad that takes away the magic of the movie. I was truly entertained. Must see movie for sure. That's a no brainer. There's no way you should avoid this movie in 2012. Very possible top 10 favorite movie for me.
Every third Thursday I'll comment on a home invasion movie I've never seen before. When I saw Kidnapped from Spain last year, I decided to start a home invasion section for my collection. Might as well do a special on this.
The Aggression Scale This had a very good premise. Lots of potential. While I did enjoy the whole movie, there were some parts that made me a little mad. They made these characters stupid. But, I love the "Home Alone" but deadlier idea. This kid was like a disturbed James Bond. He was doing all kinds of clever things. There was a part in this story that would of made this movie 100 times better. It was the part where the kid was hiding above the truck and then he held the shotgun to the guy's face. It's kind of obvious what I would of wanted there. But, there was some nice bloody surprises. It gets more psycho towards the end. Good for a home invasion movie. Could of been one of my favorite movies this year, if they would of done a few things different. But, good to check out.
A nice typical homemade meal goes good with this home invasion. I had a chopped steak covered with mushrooms, onions, and gravy with grilled corn on the cob, peas, and bloated mashed potatoes. And of course, with a Sweet Leaf Iced Tea from Austin, TX.
Get The Gringo Better than expected. This movie was a lot of fun. Mel Gibson kicks some ass like his other action films. We got mariachi music. We got crazy gangsters inside a "mexican prison." We got a bloody mess towards the end. I thought this was going to be one of those cheesy grindhouse tributes that ends being a little lame. But glad this turned out pretty sweet and awesome. The kid in the movie was cool and likeable. Good movie to see. And if you're a beer lover and you see it, make sure you watch this one with a Modelo.
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen Movie was a bit sweet and a bit sour. I like that the whole salmon fishing idea is also a metaphor for these two love birds. It went kind of smooth. It was cool to see salmon jumping out of the water enjoying the breeze. Ewan McGregor does what he does best, just a quiet charmer. Emily Blunt, not so funny girl, does her usual good dramatic performance. Sometimes, I'm in the mood for a nice little independent drama. And with this movie, I got just that. Nothing else. This went well with a grilled salmon topped with mango salsa:
Man On A Ledge This movie was two things: Predictable and entertaining. This is a lot like "The Negotiator." Similar storyline but different situation. Here, we are dealing with a guy accused of stealing a diamond. He tries to prove his innocence all while he's standing on a ledge. Is he innocent? Of course he is. We know the bad guy halfway through. A few predictable surprises and we are on the edge of our seats. Could of been a lot worse. I expected worse. But I was entertained. Good popcorn thriller. If you like "The Negotiator" and you're wanting to see a similar movie and you don't want to commit to a good storyline, check this out at your redbox near you.
The Pirates! Band of Misfits Cute pirate Animation. Took my son to watch it today. He was into it the first half and then he fell asleep. I enjoyed some of the moments and music. But, as a whole, it was somewhat okay. I'm not into movies and story about pirates. So, the idea was not that interesting. Some of the moments made this movie pretty good. Comparing this to the only other Animation I've seen this year, The Lorax, I would say Lorax was better. Okay to see if you're into pirates.
A Single Man Okay, so this was sitting on the movies to watch shelf. I had to see it one day. And today was that day. I put this one on early today around lunchtime. It was pretty good. Solid drama. It was plain and simple about a gay man who loses his love of his life and wants to commit suicide. Colin Firth does his usual good performance. I say usual because I've seen him in four other movies, and he does pretty good. This story takes place in the 60's. Everything felt real. This is not my kind of movie but it was okay to watch when you're in the mood for a solid drama.
Every 2nd Wednesday of every month I'll be checking out a movie from any country in South America. My goal is to see one movie from each country. This excludes any films I see at film festivals.
Tonight's movie is from Bolivia.
American Visa This Bolivian movie was pretty okay. It was going good then it got a bit stressful. I didn't like the way it turned out. But, oh well. It had a little bit of comedy, a little bit of suspense, and some drama. The director takes us to the streets of a Bolivian city. It looked like Juarez to me in a way. Everything was going okay until the American Visa official came back towards the end. We get it, there's corruption in the government. They get the money and they still deny visas. The point was made. But still, they wanted to let the audience know once again that they're corrupted (just in case, we were dumb enough not to see it clearly in the beginning). Next month, I'll be watching a movie from Peru for South American Cinema Night. We'll see how that one goes.
Being Flynn Not bad of a movie. I expected a sappy drama but the first half was entertaining. Didn't know this was somewhat based on a true story. I enjoyed the story. Robert DeNiro did good playing a grouchy distant father who abandoned his son when he was very little and claiming to be a good writer. Kudos for the Robert DeNiro's character working as a Taxi Driver in the first half of the movie. Get it? Taxi Driver. Paul Dano, does his usual performance. Lots of homeless people. This would make a decent double feature with Resurrecting the Champ. Both movies share some qualities but way different stories. It was okay to see this movie. Maybe not to buy.
Norwegian Wood Sweet but weird Japanese movie. That's a bold statement. It was actually pretty smooth. I love that this is set in the 60's in Japan. Good Beatles inspired music we have here. Excellent cinematography. I enjoyed it a lot with a few sushi rolls. I thought it was going to be boring and long but it was the opposite. Nothing big happens here just looking at the lives of these people. A few tragic scenes and a few cute romantic scenes. Look, I'm a sucker for Foreign films (especially Asian), so I didn't mind this one. If this was made in America, this probably would of sucked and would of been bland.
Some Guy Who Kills People This is an okay independent dark comedy. I heard about it during this year's SXSW. What makes this movie is the main cop. Without him, this movie would of been weak. Funny moments. There's a little twist at the end that kind of ruined the story a bit. But, oh well. Overall, okay to check out.
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies Tonight, we got us a French spy comedy double feature. From the director of The Artist and also starring the same actor from The Artist, comes this great spy comedy with a few giggles and entertainment. I enjoyed it a lot. Now, I have a confession. I've never seen any James Bond movies in my life. Maybe one year I'll have a James Bond Night and catch up. So I'm not too familiar with all those movies but I've seen clips and art covers that I know this movie as well as other movies, like the Austin Powers movies, make fun or pay homage to the classic James Bond movies. I like the intro here. I like the music. Favorite scene: the chicken fight scene, literally. This had the authentic 60's and 70's feel to it. No wonder the director did good with "The Artist." Good times in the muslim world with nazis, I mean, Cairo. Must see entertaining and exaggerated spy movie.
OSS 117: Lost in Rio This sequel was fun but not as good as the first one. It had Mexican wrestlers in Brazil. Never heard that one before. Once again, another homage and at the same time, a parody, to the James Bond and other spy classics. OSS 117 is now breaking more hearts and kicking ass in Brazil. While the story didn't really stand out as much as the first one, the whole thing was okay. We got more nazis here but they weren't as hardcore as the other nazis from the first one. This movie was good as a double feature with the first one. Other than that, okay to check out if you're a spy movie fan.
God Bless America Bad ass movie from start to finish. Never a dull moment. I first heard about this movie from my friend, Ramon, who sent me the trailer. Good freaking trailer. Bobcat Goldthwait has done it again. I'm already a fan of World's Greatest Dad. Now comes another dark comedy that's even a whole lot better. Lots of funny moments. Lots of "damn, that's crazy" moments. This is going to be a cult classic. I mean, the minute that it ended, I wanted to watch it again. I wish the whole world can see it so that maybe we can all learn something for the better of mankind. This is a big "F. U" to America and what better than to see this movie on the 4th of July movie. A must buy for the collection. Now, I need to check out some of Goldthwait's other films and maybe start a director section for him. We'll see.
The Hunter This was okay. Nothing exciting really happens. It's a slow build up to an ending that was so and so. I'm a big fan of Willem Dafoe fan so I had to see this. Didn't really care much about the other characters. I wanted this to be a bit more of a thriller or at least a man vs. nature kind of story. But I didn't really get what they were trying to do. Nice Australian landscape, that's the only good thing to say about this movie. Okay to rent. I wouldn't personally buy this movie.
[Every first Monday of every month is 80's Monday. There's a lot of movies that came out in the 80's that were so popular that I haven't seen. I'm an 80's kid, so this segment will give me a chance to catch up on some of those popular typical movies from this period.]
Top Gun This was so 80's cheesy!! Never took it seriously but I know a lot of people grew up with this movie and it's probably more serious with them. But I enjoyed it for an 80's night. The songs, the style, and dialogue just reminded me of those times. "I feel the need. The need for speed." Didn't know what Top Gun was about except that it was about planes with a young Tom Cruise. I think I was going to watch this one time when I was collecting Tony Scott films. But I never did. This All American movie would probably be good with an All American beer like Budweiser. Next 80's night, I'll be watching St. Elmo's Fire.
