A Huanting in Conneticut

Let me say this at the beginning; I saw the Discovery Channel show that told the true story with interviews (and cheesy reenactments) with the actual family. I liked the original story far better than the movie version. I encourage people to rent the Discovery Channel versions – just try not to laugh too hard when you realize that the Discovery Channel is shooting a shower scene.

This wasn’t a bad movie. It wasn’t particularly scary, but it wasn’t horrible. It also wasn’t new. It is the story of a family living in a haunted house (in Connecticut) with a sick teenager (who, because he is sick, can see the world between the living and the dead better). Not a particularly new topic to mine. There were scares here if you haven’t seen a horror movie before, but if you have, then there is very little that is unexpected. An excellent film for a novice, or a young teen, but for the rest of us, watch an old favorite haunted house movie instead.

Fast and Furious

Well, what is there to say about this movie? Very little. This review is late, so plenty of people have had time to say it better and probably funnier. Still I feel an obligation to write something, so here goes.

This movie is exactly what you expect. And incomprehensible mess about guys driving fast cards, doing car stunts and engaging in car chases. The opening car chase / stunt (stealing gas in Latin America) is excellent. The rest of the movie and its antics just didn’t excite me that much. The editing style was a little too jumpy for my taste. The cuts were to quick for me to be able to actually enjoy the action or build tension.

The less said about the plot the better. Just let me say this: Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) is the worst FBI agent ever. Worse than the Keanu Reeves character in Point Break. The actions of the villains make no sense, the actions of the heroes make no sense, so just sit quietly and watch the pretty cars zoom by.

Monsters vs. Aliens

Sadly, we did not see this movie in 3-D so I am not able to comment on how it looked there. But I suspect that I didn’t miss much by seeing it in 2-D, there weren’t that many scenes that screamed out for the 3-d expierience (except one at the beginning, but for heaven’s sake it was the clichéd paddleball). Now that that is out of the way, let’s continue with the review.

I liked this movie. It wasn’t high art, or the funniest movie I have seen, but it was pleasant and silly. Thing One and Girl Du Jur enjoyed it as well. Thing Two thought it was too juvenile. Which, if that is the harshest criticism that you can come up with for an animated movie, then you are doing fairly well. The plot was fairly simple and not overly complicated. The whole ‘you go girl’ attitude was a bit heavy at times. The supporting characters were really fun; I love the mad scientist cockroach, and Bob, the amorphous protoplasm. I didn’t love the President or W. R Monger nearly as much, but they weren’t horrible. The alien menace was fun, and not altogether scary (it really is a movie for kids). If you want to take the kids to a movie, this is a fairly good choice. The adults will find it amusing, and the kids will have a good time.

The movie paid homage to many, many other movies, which was a little bit fun to look for (even when Thing Two wasn’t loving the silly gags, he did manage to play spot-the-homage). And it is always nice to see a kids movie that clearly respects its elders.

And to be honest – there were previews for a lot of movies that I want to see and didn’t know were coming out (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs – I loved that book as a kid).

Watchmen

We went to see the afternoon showing of “Watchmen” and I have never been so happy to step out into a warm, sunny afternoon, then I was when we left that movie. It took a lot of sunlight tow wipe that dark apocalyptic, depressing vision out of my head. It was a long, dark movie with a dim view of humanity.

I found the plot to be a bit hard to follow, not because it was overly complex, but because of the number and length of the flashbacks. There were just so many back stories that had to be told. I typically feel that any movie that introduces more than 3 main characters tends to feel a bit bloated – and in this there were way more than three.

The music and costuming, were actually so good that I found it distracting. Let’s be honest, the mid 1980s were not great for fashion. Seeing those giant shoulder pads again just made me shudder. And the big blue guy, he really should have worn the cod piece way more often. The music was also authentic, but did I really need to hear 99 Luftballons”; (in the original German no less), again? Listening to Lenard Cohen’s Hallelujah, while still excellent, is definitely not upbeat or cheerful.

The special effects weren’t anything particularly new or exciting and the story just wasn’t that thrilling. If you aren’t a huge fan of the book, then there is no reason on this planet to go see this movie. Save yourself the 2 hours and 45 minutes and find a way to enjoy a spring day instead.

The Reader

I asked a friend what he thought of this before I went to see it. His response: “I liked it – it had sex and Nazis, what’s not to like?”

Well,  that about sums it up.

It is true, it is a movie with sex and Nazis, and excellent performances (Kate Winslet even has the awards to show for it) but while I enjoyed it, I felt that there were themes touched on but not fully explored. The nature of duty, the nature of the law, the need for a scapegoat, all of these were touched upon, but not fleshed out to their full extent. There were other flaws that I found in this movie as well. The character of Hannah (Kate Winslet), was either incredibly dumb, or incredibly brilliant – depending on the situation.  She clearly had a sense of shame, but did not really understand the consequences of her actions, even after the war.  And the women who had been prisoners in the concentration camp didn’t make any sense to me either (so, no one survived the burning of the church – except this woman, and her daughter, and neither of them have burns – what made them credible witnesses exactly?).

Yes, overall it was a good movie, but it left me feeling as though I had missed something. Left feeling like there should have been more to this movie. I suspect that the book that this movie was based on was a rich and complex novel that just could not be contained in a movie that only lasts 2 hours.

Bottom line, it’s enjoyable, but you may be left with some questions.

Taken

Well, this is a little action movie with an actor you don’t expect to be an action star.  Unfortunately, there was nothing new in this movie.  Nothing you haven’t seen before.  I admit it was refreshing to have a straightforward villain for once.  No corporate issue, just a man taking young girls and selling them into prostitution.  If you have seen the trailer for this movie, then you have seen most of the movie.  I wasn’t bored, but the fight scenes  were edited in such as way that I just didn’t enjoy them.  The obligatory car chases were not exciting because there were far too many jump cuts.

All in all, it might be worth renting, but definitely not worth seeing in the theater.

Friday the 13th (2009)

I really had high hopes for this movie, and sadly it did not live up to them.  This was a movie with dull characters, who did not seem to fit together well (why were all those kids on a trip together – they didn’t seem to even know each other, let alone like each other).  The scares were horribly predictable (Thing Two was able to predict the dog scare accurately), and several of the deaths were clearly foreshadowed (Thing Two pointed out a weapon of death 45 minutes before it was used).
I also did not really love the new Jason.  I don’t need to think about where Jason sleeps, I was happier when he was a creepy supernatural being who couldn’t really be killed, not a creature who sleeps.  I was also happier when Jason was just an unstoppable killing machine, one who killed anything in the woods, not just people who weren’t locals.
All in all, this movie bored me.  I didn’t really enjoy it.  It didn’t have the campy fun of Jason X or even the Friday the 13th Part VII (Jason takes Manhattan), and did not have any genuine scares or thrills.  Unless you are a die hard fan, there is really no reason to see this movie.

Gran Torino

Wow! Well, I admit I did learn a few new words while watching this movie.  Not words I’ll ever end up using mind you, because I’m not a big fan of the racial epithet, but it is always nice to broaden one’s horizons.

Luckily, I’m not easily offended.  I actually found the language and tone of this film to be very funny.  I loved the relationships between the characters.  They might say horrible, rude things to each other, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t care.  They respected the actions of others far more than the words.
It is a joy to watch a movie that does not feel the need to spell everything out for you.  The movie leaves just enough gaps for you the viewer to fill in.  The plot doesn’t have to be hammered into you, not every action has to be foreshadowed.
All in all, it was a great movie.  It is not a blockbuster, nor a big action picture, just a sweet little movie about people.  Well worth watching.

My Bloody Valentine 3D

If any of you are regular readers here at the ‘Tuss Reviews, then you know this fact already – for those of you who are not, let me say this clearly: I love 3D movies!
And this is the best of the new technology that I have seen. The 3D effects were really horrifiying, and still fresh and fun. The trailer promises a gory, exciting 3D adventure, and frankly, I felt like they delivered. This movie has hands down the best opening 20 minutes of a movie I have seen in a while. There is no tedious back-story, just straight into the bloody action. Amazing effects and gore almost instantly. I fell in love with the movie right then.
This was a great remake. They managed to keep some of the iconic scenes, while updating the story. It was a real throwback to a good old fashioned slasher movie, without falling into torture porn.  The story was pretty good, I was guessing till the very end who might be hiding behind the killer’s mask.
Not everyone will love this movie (Thing One didn’t love it, and Girl Du Jour wasn’t prepared for the gore), but if you love old school slasher movies, then run to the theater and watch this the way god intended; on the Big Screen in all its 3D glory.
Or, if you are a guy, then all I have to say is this – 3D sex scene.
Enjoy.

Slumdog Millionaire

In the spirit of full disclosure, let me admit something here at the beginning. I like many Danny Boyle movies, not all of them, but the last several, so I go into his movies expecting to like them.  He is one of the directors that is able to move across genres easily and well.  28 Days Later is hands down one of my favorite zombie movies, and Millions is a delightful family movie.  I even thought that Sunshine was visually stunning (see Jeddler’s review here).   This movie was no different. And I really did like it.
The story telling device is unusual while still having a good simple story. The relationship between the brothers was complex and believable. They were constantly fighting, fractious but also trying to take care of each other. Yet this relationship was not even the main focus of the movie (to some extent) and the love story was also very pleasant. This was a sweet, endearing, lovely little movie.  I can highly recommend it, and it does actually deserve all the awards it is winning (and being nominated for).   Although to be honest, I will be surprised if it actually wins an Oscar.