Weekend in Review

[Naxos]

And no this is not Saturday Night Live recap

Well we got a lot of snow this weekend in the Philly area so the wife and I had some time to watch some movies. Here is the recap.

Broken Flowers: A Bill Murray movie along the lines of some of the other independant movies he has done. Basically he is an aging Don Juan who gets a note that he has a son and decided to visit some ex flames. Sounds better than it actually is. In a word: SLOW. Good premise but you can only take so much of watching Bill sit in a plane, his rental car, or on his couch. The wife hated it and even me as a fan can't seem to give this one a passing grade.

The Dukes of Hazzards: For a movie that was universally dissed and total butchers everything that was good about the orginal series. It actually has its moments, though most of them involve the car itself, and most of those are in the extras. The best part of the DVD was showing how they launched the General into the air. I think every jump in the movie was actually a crash landing. The wife actually didn't mind this one however I was crushed growing up as a fan to see Johny Knoxville and Stifler butcher the role of Luke and Bo.

The Island: probably the highlight of the weekend movies. Pure popcorn but a fun time watching it. The action was good in parts and the story does come to a satifiying conculsion. The wife was definetly into this one and though you can see most of the movie coming before you get to those parts, the feeling of discovery as you watch the main character discover his world still works.

last one... Rememeber we did get 16 inches of snow so we were not going anywhere.

Into the Blue: A reason to see Jessica Alba in a swimsuit. Almost a good enough reason by itself to see the movie but I was pleasently surprised to find that this flix also had a story. Gold, guns, drugs, and a twist. This movie actually had some very nice elements to it and yes even Paul Walker and Scott Cann provided some decent enough acting to the mix. The wife's favorite movie from the weekend. She is a sucker for pretty fish swimming in the water and this movie had plenty of quality underwater visuals.

[swerb]

I understand Dukes of Hazard is a must see for the JSimpson scenes. Having never watched this show as a kid, I won't even be offended by the butchering of the other roles by Knoxville and Stifler.

Ths Island ... I definitely want to see. Love Scarlett Johannson, heard some good things about it from a couple people I respect, even though the reviews were mixed.

Broken Flowers I gotta see simply based on the fact I loved Lost In Translation. One of many disagreements DJK and I have on movies.

And Into the Blue, for the Alba Factor alone, is a DVD rental at some point.

Nice capsules Nax ...

[Guest]

I gave the Island two stars. Tons of promise with the whole futuristic cloning debate thingy...then it gets totally fucked up by Michael Bay who turns it into an implausible chase flick. Why is it that almost 100 years into the future, the cars look almost exactly the same as they do now...but you have flying motorcycles?

And when the hell is Sean Bean going to stop doing the exact same fucking roles? He's too good of an actor to keep this up.

It's probably better than 2 stars as it is an entertaining flick...but I was just disgusted that Bay had so much potential and then totally squandered it. Steve Buscemi, as always, is worth another 1/2 star just by being in the flick.

Went out and rented "The Legend of Zorro" this weekend. Not too bad, but really stupid in some parts. An OK popcorn flick in its own right, but when you compare it to the first one with Anthony Hopkins...it really pales.

Best movie from the weekend was watching "The Upside of Anger" on HBO. Fantastic job by Joan Allen as the boozy, pissed off suburbanite whose husband has ran off with the Swedish secretary. And once again, Costner rules if it has anything to do with baseball or horses, playing a genial drunk of an ex baseball player who lives next door to Allen.

I'll probably try to see Broken Flowers as well, for the same reason Swerb mentioned; my high opinion of Lost In Translation.

[Naxos]

I have to agree on the action scenes they did take away from what I really enjoyed about "The Island" and that was how Ewan's character comes to deal with his newly discovered world and the people in it. Buscemi playing almost any part is always a plus.

I actually just rented "The Legend of Zorro", "Band Camp", and Willy Wanka". Got a week to watch them. Let you all know what I think when done.

[Naxos]

Watched "Legend of Zorro" with the wife last night after going out and doing all the necessary Valentine's stuff.

By the end of this movie I was just praying for it to end. I actually fasted forwarded the last 5-6 minutes to the credits. They tried to make a popcorn flix with this one but darn does it drag itself down. The major flaw in this piece has to be the editing and pacing. Scenes are just way too long and anytime the momentum pcks up there is another slow scene to wreck it. Another sequal that has it's moments but overall doesn't recapture what made the orginal one fun to watch.

[Jumbo]

Late to the thread...

I liked the Island (say, three stars worth), but agree that the first half was better than the second. Some of the action was nice, but it cost the edge of the first half of the movie.

Dukes of Hazzard: Eh. I watched it on DVD, and was literally bored to sleep.

Sean Bean: Actually, I'm getting concerned that Lord of the Rings was the exception to Sean Bean's acting ability. Unless I'm missing some better roles that he's done, whether he's played a good guy or a bad guy he doesn't do anything differently other than...be Sean Bean. Saw Flightplan last week, and it could've been the same guy as the villain from The Island or National Treasure.

[consigliere]

Dukes of Hazzard was probably my favorite show as a kid. That and CHIPS. (That's a thread for another time....favorite 80s TV shows). Have yet to see the Dukes of Hazzard movie....mostly because I know it will suck to see Bo and Luke be butchered by Knoxville and Stifler. The only one who was perfectly cast is Jessica Simpson, as she looks unbelievble as Daisy Duke in the previews I saw.

I watched the Island about 3 weeks ago on PPV.....solid flick. Like Minority Report and I Robot, thought it was a fresh idea for sci-fi movies. But, I thought it got kind of whack once Obi-Wan left the underground facility and entered the real world.

And I agree on Steve Buchemey (sp).....anything that guy does is great. One of my favorite actors.

[Naxos]

Watched Willy Wanka (at the same time as the Cav's game tonight). Ah the wonders of a Tivo and and a DVD.

Now the Cavs game was awesome. 3 stars since we should have never let it get to OT but still a great game.

Now Willy, poor Willy. Zero, zip, zilch, nada. Bad Bad Bad. And thats about the only nice thing I can think to say about that movie. Yuck.

For a good movie recommendation check out "Band Camp" Yes I am still laughing thinking about that movie.

[swerb]

Now Willy, poor Willy. Zero, zip, zilch, nada. Bad Bad Bad. And thats about the only nice thing I can think to say about that movie. Yuck.

Nax, for a frame of reference, did you like the original Willy Wonka?

That was one of my favorite flicks as a kid.

[Naxos]

Nax, for a frame of reference, did you like the original Willy Wonka?

Yes, Rich. As a kid growing up I had fond memories of Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka. I didn't come into Johny Depp's version expecting the same however I did expect something interesting. What I found was some interesting parlor tricks (for special effects) and not much else. Though I am still trying to figure out how they actually made Helena Bonham Carter look so plain but I guess if "Big Fish" could turn her into a witch then Willy can make her look plain. Anyway, the kids were all annoying, except Charlie, so you were rooting for the little buggers to bite it and the Oompa Loompas were slighty disturbing. Not nearly a distirbing as Depps role as Wonka which was down right scary.

If you like the Gene Wilder version, go rent it again and stay away from this one. Even if you did not like the Gene Wilder version stay away from this one. Even if you like John Depp stay away from this one

[Guest]

We're on the exact opposite ends of the spectrum on Willy.

I thought the Gene Wilder flick was one of the worst movies I've ever seen in my life. I would rather go through a triple feature of Starship Troopers, Death To Smoochy, and Bewitched while drinking flat Coke and eating stale popcorn than to ever see that ghastly show ever again.

With Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, it's still saddled with the same lame story, but Depp's performance and Burton's twisted directing make it actually watchable.

[consigliere]

I absolutely loved Willy Wonka when I was a kid. One of my all-time favs.....as Mitch points out, when looking at it now as an adult it really lacks bigtime....but it is just that childhood memory things that wins me over every time and not how bad it was written/produced/directed.

Now, as for the new one with Depp.....I have to admit, up until the last month I thought it was a SEQUEL to the original. Not a remake. I have yet to see it, but when I heard it came out and saw the title, I thought that it was based on Charlie "all grown up" and would be a new story with him as the chocolate factory caretaker.

Now that I know it is a remake, I just can't bother with it. The story was stupid to begin with, so since it has no emotional attachment to me like Wilder's flick does, I could care less.

[Naxos]

Ah memory, it can definetly play tricks on the mind. I remember "Willy Wonka and The Chocolat Factory" fondly but by no mean am I going to go out of my way to see it again. I doubt it would hold up to viewing now.

Now on a sort of related note about favorite kid flixs. I watched "Goonies" for the first time with the wife a week or so ago and that movie, my friends, still holds up quite well even after all this time. One of my all time favorites as a kid and as an adult.