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The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

mizidy — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 16:35:16 +0000

Terry Gilliam of Monty Python fame creates one of the more bizarre, yet fun stories I have seen.? Hailing back to the day when a plot wasn't too important and imagination runs wild, this movie has flying disembodied heads, escaping from the belly of a sea monster and a war between the French and Turks.? As I said, this movie is not really going to make much sense, but is a fun ride through a bunch of different adventures.? At times the movie is a bit too bizarre for my liking, but that does not detract too much from the overall experience.? The acting was nothing great, but again, it did not harm the movie either.? I will admit that the effects look a bit dated now with the movie being over 15 years old, but a little bit of suspended disbelief goes a long way.? This will not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you want a nice fantasy story that doesn't take itself too seriously, give it a look.

Cellular

mizidy — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 02:29:45 +0000

At less than an hour and a half, this movie starts going less than 5 minutes in and keeps going until the end. A "thriller" where a kidnapped woman manages to contact a random cell phone user and has him help with her escape. The story just keeps getting more elaborate from there until a decent ending that actually manages to wrap things up nicely. There is an attempt to throw some humor in occasionally, which was interesting, however a bit confusing in a rather serious movie. Overall, it was good for a movie that was less than 90 minutes long.

Best of SNL – Will Ferrell – Volume 2

mizidy — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 02:10:27 +0000

I enjoy Will Ferrell and purchased the first volume, so I thought it would be worth checking out the second one. I was disappointed there was no second Celebrity Jeopardy, and I thought that some of the scenes were not some of his top work. If you enjoyed Will Ferrell on SNL, I would recommend the first volume, but you probably don't need the second one.

The Aviator

mizidy — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 14:59:16 +0000

I can promise you that this review will not be nearly as long as this movie.? That being said, the movie was still well done even for the length.? It touches on many of the common perceptions about Howard Hughes and expounds on them some.?? There were a number of things I also didn't know about Hughes that the movie introduced.?? The relationship between Hughes and Katherine Hepburn is the most prevalent one throughout the film, played well by both Leonardo DiCaprio and Cate Blanchett. The visuals in the film were also wonderful, often portraying the sense of scale that was Hughes' life.? If the movie's job was to introduce me to Hughes and get me intrigued with his life, it did do that.

The Polar Express

mizidy — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 03:52:46 +0000

This movie didn't make it before Christmas, but it was still worth watching now.? It used an interesting mix of computer animation with motion capture to create the characters in the movie.? Also, Tom Hanks played about 6 different characters in the movie, so that was interesting experiencing him doing different voice acting.? The story loosely follows the classic childrens book of the same name, however the movie embelishes different parts of the book into more detail.? More detail includes a random guy riding the train and the conductor doing all sorts of crazy things.? It was a fun movie, not really a classic, but fun nonetheless.

The Ladykillers

mizidy — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 02:34:58 +0000

Another Coen Brothers film, The Ladykillers stars Tom Hanks and a bunch of other folks. The movie is kind of a crime caper with lots and lots of dark humor in it. There are random deaths, a garbage scow, a casino and more. It was a good movie, however just a bit to random for my overall liking. It isn't bad by any means, but it just wasn't great.

One other rant, this one about J.K. Simmons. You have probably seen him in a number of things recently since I am sure that a show can't be made without consulting him first whether he is interested in participating. I actually don't have a problem with him, he is a good actor and is good in almost all roles he plays. The issue is that for the longest time, the only thing I saw him in was Oz on HBO. For those of you who havn't seen the show, it isn't for the faint of heart being about life in a maximum security prison. It is a soap opera basically, but with lots of killing, scheming, etc. J.K. Simmons is the head of the Aryans in prison, and is a really really bad man in the show. Now when I see him in anything else, I am reminded of that role and it just diminishes it a little bit. After some time it has gotten better, but it is still going to take some time before he will just be another actor to me, kinda like this guy.

O Brother, Where Art Thou

mizidy — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 04:19:16 +0000

I had heard a number of good things about this movie, but no one ever told me what it was about. When the title credits said it was based on the Odyssey by Homer, I was more intrigued. George Clooney stars in one of his more unique roles as Ulysses, leading a group of felons through Mississippi during the Great Depression on a journey to find treasure. There is an oracle at the beginning, sirens on the water, a cyclops and more references to the Odyssey thoughout the film. Even if you arn't familiar with the book it is based on, the story moves at a good pace and throughout the film the music helps make the movie. I really can't say enough about the soundtrack, you should check it out if you havn't already. I have found that the soundtrack is even better after having seen the film. This is a top movie, I am sorry it has taken me so long to see it.

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

mizidy — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 04:13:13 +0000

I went into this film with very low expectations. I thought it was be very dumb without much humor at all. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it wasn't as dumb as I thought it was going to be and has some great cameos. Between Shatner, Hasselhoff and Lance Armstrong, I would have been happy if nothing else really happened in the film. Luckily there is a pirate and "Jimmy James" from Newsradio to keep the movie going along as well. Not as crude as Baseketball, but almost as funny, this was a nice surprise for me.

Team America: World Police

mizidy — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 03:40:13 +0000

The puppet movie by Matt Stone and Trey Parker is both mildly entertaining and really annoying at the same time. While I don't have the phobia of puppets that I do of clowns, puppets are still kinda creepy. Unfortunately I found myself being creeped out more than I was laughing. I did laugh quite a bit at the film, which says how much I was creeped out as well. I am glad I saw this movie, but I doubt I will be watching it again anytime soon.

Daredevil

mizidy — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 03:33:58 +0000

We actually watched this a week or so ago, I have just been lax in posting a review. This was originally chosen after watching a number of the other Marvel movies and deciding that we should check it out. Comparing it to Spiderman or X-Men isn't really fair, but Daredevil does a decent job of portraying Matt Murdock. Although it was a little more Daredevil than Murdock that I would have preferred, it was still a pretty good movie. My only disappointment was the casting of Michael Clarke Duncan as Kingpin. This is not to say that he was a bad choice, my opinion is that they should have done some combo of Duncan and CGI to make a truer representation to the comic. Besides that, I thought the movie was pretty good.