Friday, May 29, 2009

The Hangover


How do three grown men (well, actually 4) get so drunk that none of them remember the night before? That was my first thought when seeing the trailer for the Hangover. It is answered in the movie and it does make great sense. I should have guessed it.

How do you top Old School's lightning in a bottle of bawdy comedy? You put together a team of guys who have been steadily gaining steam over the years. Bradley Cooper: Wet Hot American Summer. Need I say more? Don't remember him? He gets buggered by Michael Ian Black in the sport shed. Midnight Meat Train? Terrible title; pretty bad movie, pretty good gore. He's the best thing about it (Vinnie Jones coming in second). 

Ed Helms? Jumping from the Daily Show to what was basically the Dwight of Stamford's branch and making the character his own. At this point, you don't remember a time when the 'Nard Dog was not on the show. That's impressive.

Zach. Oh Zach. Who let the dogs out indeed? Anyone remember his talk show on Vh1? I remember the commercials, does that count?

It comes out next week. Go see it if you find yourself at the picture place.

Did you enjoy it?
Yes.

Would you see it in theaters again?
Yes.

Would you rent it?
Yes.

Would you buy it?
Yes.

Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?
Yes. It remains to be seen at what point this movie will stop being funny to me.

Pixar's UP

Everyone has been saying online that Pixar may not land a hit with Up because it stars an old man. I could have sworn they said the same thing last year about Wall-E, which was one of my favorite movies of last year. And probably in the top 20 all time. Well, its Sunday night and Up is number 1 with 68 million. Crisis averted. 

This is a very touching story. It seems with the bank rolling up to Pixar, it lets them tell more heartfelt stories than cartoons or live action have made in a while. Especially for summertime fare. In there past two films Pixar has been able to put more heart into their movies without a word of dialog than I can remember. 

Where would I drop this gem in the pantheon of Pixar's stable. Probably 3rd or 4th. Wall-E, Incredibles, Toy Story, Up, Nemo, etc etc. There is some fluidity of those pictures, lets just call them the top five and leave it at that.

Did you enjoy it?
Yes.

Would you see it in theaters again?
No.

Would you rent it?
Yes.

Would you buy it?
No.

Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?
Yes.

Terminator Salvation

It's finally here. The war against the machines. Kind of... The machines have destroyed mankind as we know it. John Connor isn't the leader of the resistance as his mommy always told him. But he is helping out. There are some decent action moments in the film but it is really hard to care about anyone in the show. The closest you get is Kyle Reese and his little sidekick. Why does everyone have to add little kids to later pictures. If you've seen the trailers you know they give too much of the plot away in them. If you haven't seen the trailers, go see it and let me know how much they are telegraphing it from a mile away. 

Mildly entertaining with a great cameo at the end, if you're looking for a movie where things explode...go see Star Trek. If you've seen that, go see T-4. Or wait for something good to come out later. Or watch Dark Knight at home. 

Did you enjoy it?
Yes.

Would you see it in theaters again?
No.

Would you rent it?
Yes.

Would you buy it?
No.

Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?
Yes.

X-men Origins: Wolverine, a work in progress

All the hullabaloo behind the leak of workprint version of the movie did nothing to keep it from getting to number one at the box office. I'm glad it didn't because I wouldn't want to blame the internet. But I wish it had because what a terrible movie. 

Now I did see this in theatres, but being a fan of the whole movie process I did want to see the work print. I like seeing animatics, shots that haven't been movie magic'd yet. It was interesting to see what came from Fox with regards to the print. They said the print was before reshoots and the final version would have like 20 minutes of new stuff. When the movie finally came out it was immediately put to rest that the workprint was the same as the theatrical version. 

As for the product. I would act surprised that a series could go from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows so quickly. But to be fair what do you expect. Jaws II to Jaws: the Revenge (#4). Spider-man II to Spider-man III. X-Men the Last Stand had already paved the way for what a terrible film this would be. Because the movie sets up that Logan has been alive for a long time, you can't really tell what the date is for the majority of the main film. In theory it should be the 70's - 80's but you can just assume its present day. 

I feel I've wasted enough breath on this thing. Summer has started and this movie's time has passed. Let's get to the Q&A section:


Did you enjoy it?
No.

Would you see it in theaters again?
No.

Would you rent it?
No.

Would you buy it?
No.

Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?
Yes.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

Plot Pitch form GoGP: "What if we took A Christmas Carol, and turned it into a romantic comedy?"
"Is McConaughey available?"

...and scene.

How did it turn out? Not bad. Bright spots: Michael Douglas as McConaughey's dead uncle / father figure and Emma Stone as his first lay / ghost of girlfriends past. There are plenty of jokes to be had with this format as long as you can just go with the fact that its still a formulaic romantic comedy. 

Did you enjoy it?
Yes.

Would you see it in theaters again?
No.

Would you rent it?
Yes.

Would you buy it?
No.

Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?
Yes.

Star Trek 11

Summer is here. From the poster above you see that this, like Harry Potter, was supposed to be a Christmas holiday release. When the strike happened some things were moved back to fill their schedule. Regardless, Star Trek reboot / sequel is here. Its a sequel because it really takes place after all the shows and movies that have come before. But as the case with some of the episodes and part IV, we've got to deal with time travel. Boy does it work. I'm a casual fan of the Star Trek world. I watched the Next Generation. I saw the original cast movies in theatres.

I would compare this to the Friday the 13th remake remodel. They take the best stuff and make it something fresh and new. If you're not a fan of the show / series, you still have a good chance of loving this movie. If you're a hard ass STtOS fan you really can't complain because they stay true to the show's canon. I think this summer is going to have a long way to go to top this movie. 

That's not to say it doesn't have its flaws. First off, WTF is going on with all lense flares. Yeah, I get it, you didn't shoot in space, its special effects. That means you had to go above the usual stuff to add the flares. Cut it out. 

The second issue is what we'll just call "Bourne Syndrome". Fast quick cuts to mask the action. Batman Begins, Quantum of Solace, etc.  

Did you enjoy it?
Yes.

Would you see it in theaters again?
Yes.

Would you rent it?
Yes.

Would you buy it?
Possibly. I have 10 movies ahead of it to purchase if I want to be complete (plus every episode of every show / season).

Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?
Yes.