Category: Movie Reviews

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Movie Reviews

I AM LEGEND

I went and saw this movie on Sunday and really enjoyed it, however, I was expecting just a little more. At times it was slow and the ending was a little anti-climactic. There is also a lot of CGI and it was very obvious with some of the deer and the zombie creature people things. So I recommend renting this movie even though I think it has a brilliant moral – Light up the darkness.

No Country for Old Men

For part of the movie I was on the edge of my seat, but at the end I was literally annoyed – wait, I said, “the end” which would be a misnomer because there really isn’t an end in this movie. Nothing is wrapped up nicely and packaged with a pretty bow the way we want it to be. The acting is brilliant, the story line is cool, but why in the world didn’t they write an ending? I say rent it, but know the end will disappoint.

Enchanted

I actually really enjoyed this romantic comedy. I mean who doesn’t love Patrick Dempsey? He’s good looking, but he isn’t arrogant, he’s likeable and vulnerable. And who is that delightful red head? She’s effervescent and fresh. I want to marry her, she enchanted me. Go see this movie with someone you love, or someone you’d like to fall in love with you.

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Culture God Movie Reviews Observations Politics

The Golden Compass – Yawwwwnnnn…

I was bored and nothing else was showing. I know, I know. I should not have thrown any money at this movie because it is a movie that is supposed to be about killing God. I saw the previews and I thought, “How can this be about killing God?” I hadn’t read this information on Snopes – click here to read it.  The first move isn’t about killing God, but there are all these kids with “Demons” which are these little animals that follow them around and talk, like a kindred spirit. This was disturbing because when have we ever thought of demons as being friendly little kindred spirits? Demons have always been associated with Hell and none of them have ever been sweet bunny rabbits that talk.

One thing about this first movie is that it just isn’t all that appealing. There are a lot of weird things, like “the Gobless” or “the Gobblers?” who are stealing kids and trying to separate them from their demons. Being separated from your demon puts you in a state of “Indecision”. I just didn’t get it.

With a little tweaking this movie could have been another Chronicles of Narnia or Lord of the Rings, except there isn’t anything redeeming about this movie. The little girl is sassy and rebellious, Nicole Kidman, while beautiful is frigid and frightening and while there was a part of me that wanted to like the movie and believe that all this information written about it was just a bunch of hype, but it’s not. 

When I was younger my parents were fond of saying things like, “That is just a tool of the Devil”. I used to roll my eyes at them, they seemed so backward and like such Bible thumpers sometimes. Now that I am older I see it so clearly now. This movie, certain television shows and even some music is nothing more than a clever way to desensitize people to the truth.

I’m an optimistic person by nature. I see the good in people and in the world, but lately, I see more and more of the bad. So much sin is just accepted and sometimes even applauded.  Standing up for what is moral and right is now dangerous. If you want to be ridiculed, just take a stand for morality and truth. There is a world of people out there who laugh at the idea of God and absolutes. For those people I fear that they live in fairytale land where there is no evil, no God, no right and wrong. Culture and government decide what is and isn’t morale.  For their sakes I hope they open up their eyes. Take a look at the world around them, Google a few choice words on the internet and see the seedy underbelly of this world that is supposedly making progress.  Race and gender and sexuality no longer seem to be hot buttons, instead, what I see as the greater issue is tolerance and indifference. Like STD’s we treat the symptons, we spend millions on a cure instead of elminating the root of the problem.

I like to believe that the world is still filled with hope and love and that for a while longer these virtues will continue to shine bright in an ever-darkening world.

Merry Christmas.

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Movie Reviews

Mr. Woodcock

Yep, the title induces giggles and so does the film, however, I was a little disappointed in the movie. The previews set you up to think that this movie is going to be about a boy who was verbally and sometimes physically abused (baseball bat to the crotch to see if you are wearing a cup) by his middle school PE coach played by Billy Bob Thornton.

Sean William Scott does a brilliant job acting, so much so that Braun, my buddy who was with me, didn’t even realize that he was Stiffler from the American Pie trilogy.  Scott plays a self-help guru who has written a best-selling book called, “Getting Past Your Past”.

So Mr. Woodcock is about to marry Susan Sarandon and of course Stiffler isn’t happy abou this and then some hilarity ensues, but for the most part the movie turns sappy and predictable. A few times I caught myself yawning. Unfortunately, brilliant movies like Blades of Glory with John Heder and Will Ferrel have really raised the bar and so other comedies really have to work in order to truly be effective comedically. (is that a word?)

So I give this movie a 2.5 out of 5 stars. A big plus because it isn’t filled with tons of raunch like so many movies today, but a minus because of a poor and disjointed story that really had the opportunity to be something spectacular.

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Movie Reviews

Shoot’em Up

Oogey at times with some perverse sexual scenes that involve dead corpses, but other than that it’s quite the thrill ride. Unbelievable stunts and Paul Giamatti is one of my favorite actors. He’s so dang good at all of the roles he plays and they are all so distinct.

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Hygeine Movie Reviews

Superbad… and the title should have clued me in.

Last night a friend and I went to the movies. It was my second night to go to the movies, which use to be normal for me, but now that I have a house I don’t really seem to have much time to do anything other than “house stuff”.

So I asked Josh, “What do you want to see?” and he said, “Superbad”. I told him I didn’t want to see it and then later I told him that I did want to see it because the reviews (The ones I heard on TV that should never be trusted) were really good. That should have been my second clue.

As I sat there watching and in the first 15 minutes they start to talk about porn casually and what monthly subscription to purchase and using every sexual word imaginable I knew that I had made a mistake. The good angel on my right shoulder told me that I needed to walk out, but the lazy demon on my left told me that it was probably going to get better and that I could ignore the crass humor and let it slide.

After 2 ours of hearing the F word about 300 times, the D word no less than 400 times, and the V word more times than any other movie or gynecologist has ever uttered in his entire career I once again told myself that I should leave – but I didn’t. I sat there laughing on occasion and being grateful that I hadn’t paid for the movie myself. Even worse, I was with Josh who I should be mentoring and keeping from trash like this, but in reality, it’s not something we haven’t seen or heard, it’s just that it’s not something that you want your kids to ever see or hear and so the horror of it wasn’t that I was watching it with 23 yr. old world savvy Josh, but that teens would be watching this movie and laughing hysterically about a movie that had no single redeeming quality. The entire film is about sex and the various forms of sex and the quantity and multiple partners of which someone should be having sex with.

Soooo…. don’t go see it. It’s actually worse than Grindhouse – not as hard on the stomach or the eyes, but the ears… my dear word will they ever be clean again? I think not.

 On an upnote… tonight I have date #3 with Mary… We’re going to dinner with some old friends of mine – there will be 7 adults and 3 kids and so I don’t even know if you can call this a date – this is really in the “dating” realm of things. We seem to be moving along swimmingly as they say.