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-James

Salt

Posted by james on Sep 4, 2010 12:00 AM

6

This one I really expected to hate. It had Angelina Jolie (-2 points) and had bad reviews (-1 pt), but we needed an action movie to see in the theaters so we went. And paid full price for it, too (no matinee or discount tickets), so I was prepared for severe disappointment.

I was really shocked. The movie was very good... great action, there wasn't a slow moment in the first 30-40 minutes of the movie. The story was a bit fun, and you kept guessing whether people were who the seemed to be (especially Jolie's main character). Everything was very intense, but not overdone. And that's what I really expected it to be - overdone. There wasn't much "try hard to be sexy" from Jolie, which most movies try to do for all their female action leads, and there wasn't over-the-top unbelievable flashy action (excluding, of course, the fun car-top chase). But I most expected the characters and dialog to be painful and cheesy, but thankfully it wasn't.

So overall, a really enjoyable movie. I remember saying to someone just a bit ago that I can't remember any recent movie that I've liked Angelina in - now there is one. It helps when she's not a) getting naked all the time, and b) trying to act cool/sexy. And Liev Shrieber? Always fun.

Green Zone

Posted by james on Aug 13, 2010 12:00 AM

7

This looked good - from the makers of Bourne Identity. Indeed, from Jason Bourne himself (Matt Damon). It was very suspenseful, and had a nice mix of middle-eastern city warfare action and political intrigue. The political side reminded me of Tom Clancy movies, but not as heavy.

Overall, I liked this one a lot. It's not one of my favorites, and doesn't nearly hold up to the Bourne-series (which have a lot more heart), but still a very good movie.

2012

Posted by james on Dec 2, 2009 12:00 AM

6

After seeing the previews, I thought two things; "This is like the sequel to 'Day After Tomorrow'", and "Oh man, I have to see this in the theater." I was well prepared for the complete package of stereotypical characters, bad acting, horrible plot and dialog, and of course an onslaught of special effects like the world has never seen. I went to see this at the local theater, which is decent, but I really wished I'd gone to the digital theaters (oooo) in Warwick. Not just for the size of screen or the digital projector coolness... more for the 'rumble you out of your seat' sound. Local theater sound is ok, but not great. Add on top of all my misgivings was seeing John Cusack in the trailer. Don't get me wrong, I like him in some movies (Don't I? Wait, which ones... can't remember now). But in general he seemed like a bad match.

At the end of the movie, I realized that I'd sat through 2.5 hours of disaster movie, and it didn't stink. That's pretty good for this genre. You pretty much know why you go; to see crazy special effects that the world is ending, the same type of reason you'd watch fireworks (sparkly!) or see something like Transformers (transformy!). The plot was standard fare, not overly cheesy. The actors were surprisingly decent (John Cusack, Amanda Peet... who knew). Overall, it was pleasant enough to sit through once in the theater, and once again at home given a good sound system (with tons of bass).

So yes, a decent disaster movie. Not great, nothing really worth writing about in particular, but pretty solid considering.

Twilight

Posted by james on Jun 25, 2009 12:00 AM

4

Man, what a weird movie this was. Such a huge buildup, but a pretty played-out topic with a huge splash of romance novel thrown in. I read the first two chapters of the book (out loud, no less) before watching the movie, so I had some idea of what to expect; not just with the plot, but also for the tone & style. The pacing was really off on this movie, with tons of time dedicated to awkward pauses and (supposedly) meaningful glances... and then a quick montage to skip past the "build the relationship" part. Absolutely no development there.

But the worst thing for this movie was the character direction, which pulled straight out of the book; tons of overacting, awkwardness, exageration, etc. I'm sure it hit home with the teenage girls that lived through this completely self-focused and overly dramatic time of their lives. A bit much for me.

So altogether, a throw-away film, which makes it completely surprising that it grossed so much. Even with all the fans of the book behind it, you would think even they would be turned off by the quality of the film. Despite my misgivings about the first film, I'm still curious about the second movie. I wouldn't go see it in the theater, but I might rent it for fun. I'm hoping it might be a bit better, due to a) less focus on the awkward get-to-know you stage of their relationship, and b) DIFFERENT director.