watchmen

'watchmen' is on TIME's list of 100 greatest novels of all time. alan moore does such a great job creating his own little dystopian world in all his graphic novels, this being no different. i loved this graphic novel, and was worried about it's translation to the big screen. i am not a fan of zack snyder and his works; i did not like his new 'dawn of the dead,' nor did i like '300.'

despite this i held out hope that this film would be good. the trailer looked awesome and i was hopeful because i heard it was long, meaning a lot from the novel would make it into the movie.

first off, i did not really like the opening credit/picture sequence that everyone seems to be raving about. the scene felt very staged, like i was watching a play where a stage director thought up this idea to convey a sense of time passing. i continued to get the feeling like i was watching a play/musical when i saw the sets. the city sets did not look like actual cities to me, like gotham city did in the dark knight, it looked like a set. watching it i did not get the feeling that the city continued off screen. it was like, what is on screen is all there is.


i found the soundtrack to be terrible. such a serious dark movie should have a symphony/score soundtrack rather than a modern soundtrack that seemed very out of place. cohen's 'hallelujah' during the sex scene actually took me and everyone in the theater out of the experience and produced laughter. a soundtrack should not do this in a such a somber dark tale.

the adaptation was extremely faithful, to a fault. comics, along with every medium such as books, must adapt when coming to the big screen. certain things that appear in the graphic novel are a bit corny and comic book like and should have been adapted or cut out for the movie. the nolan brothers did this perfectly for the 'dark knight.' 'batman' comics can be very cheesy at times, and they left those moments in the comic and instead, translated a very gritty realistic story.

i felt the movie got better as it went along. the actor's performances keep it flowing. Patrick Wilson does a great job. Rorscach was amazing, while the silk spectre was servicable. crudup as dr. mahattan was also fantastic. i loved his performance and every scene where he is on screen. i expected his voice to be different but i found it to work perfectly. it was apathetic like his mind was always somewhere else. awesome. on the other hand, sally jupiter was not good. her scene was very awkward, and it reminded me of a soap opera.

i watched the movie 'the thin red line' a few weeks after seeing this movie, and after viewing it i realized what is missing from 'watchmen.' it's missing a weightiness to the deaths that frequent it. it makes murder and other atrocious events seem so trivial. 'the thin red line' creates such a realistic feeling of people's lives where the viewer feels an immense burden when they do die. 'watchmen' has none of this.

this movie was ok; it is not the epic movie it should be. snyder was not the correct choice to direct this film, and i feel he does the best possible job he could have. it's category of a film is a bit puzzling also, because it does not come across as an art house cinema project, and it passes on the title of popcorn flick because of its immensly dark source material and content. all this being said i'll probably still own this movie because of what it is, a different medium for one of the greatest novels of all time. but honestly, i can't imagine watching it that often.

Slumdog Millionaire

Danny Boyle is one of my favorite directors. I loved shallow grave, trainspotting, the beach, 28 days later, and sunshine. And now his next movie... Slumdog Millionaire. This movie was fantastic, a great love story that had serious moments, sad moments, and often hilarious moments all wrapped up in the adventure of Jamal's transformation from little boy to teenager.

The soundtrack was awesome. A.R. Rahman did an exceptional job. It really captures the spirit of the movie perfectly.
The story is interesting, while the ending/climax had me almost in tears. The movie reminded me of 'city of god' but a lighter version, though it did have its dark moments.

I almost don't want to talk about this movie for fear of ruining it for the reader. You just need to see it. It is definitely the best film of the year and should win the oscar (previously i had 'doubt' as number 1). Families can enjoy it together; it is just for anyone who loves cinema.

Doubt

Phillip Semour Hoffman is a great actor. He always brings a great performance to every picture he stars in. him along with the premise of a catholic school in the '60's fighting change and scandal had me super excited for the movie 'doubt.'

first off, me along with my three friends that attended the movie were by far the youngest people in the theater. the film was a very slow moving character piece that i enjoyed thoroughly. it was very apparent that the film was an adaptation of a play, which i would like to also see.

interactions between all the characters are intense and really what keeps the movie exciting. Meryl Streep and Amy Adams along with Hoffman all bring oscar worthy performances to the table. they are truly that good.

the plot is also a major strong point. it never reveals too much and doesn't give a clear answer to what actually occurred. thus, the title 'doubt' because despite which view of innocent or guilty the viewer leaves the theater with, that little bit of doubt is always present. my friends and i discussed whether or not we feel Hoffman did it or not, he entire way home. this is the mark of a great movie: discussion afterward. before i watched 'slumdog millionaire' i felt 'doubt' was the best movie i saw in 2008.

if you like movies that make you think, with strong performances, or if you like plays with lots of symbolism and meaning, then i suggest you watch this film.

Valkyrie

Way back in the day Bryan Singer was my favorite director. This was when i saw 'the Usual Suspects' the two X-men movies, along with 'Superman Returns.' Needless to say i was pumped to hear that he was headed back to Nazi waters for the first time since 'Apt Pupil' which i also liked.

i'm a big history guy, and was interested to learn more about this particular plot to assasinate the fuhrer. Tom Cruise was solid in the film, nothing spectacular however. Something i really liked about the movie was the technique in how they attempted to explain why noone in the film spoke german or had german accents. it opens with subtitles and german speech and slowly faded to english, having it first overlapping with the german then slowly taking it over completely. so it was basically showing that in the movie the people were talking in german however we could understand it.

like tom cruises performance, the movie itself was good not great. it successfully creates tension particularly in the assasionation scene(s). the problem was that the movie tried too hard to be a thriller and should have focused more on being a drama/oscar worthy movie. it fizzles a bit as a straight forward thriller. more attention should have been spent on Cruises family and kids and what he had at stake in attempting the operation. it is hard for me to feel sad or any of emotion for the safety of his family because we hardly know them. the brutality in the final scene was realistically done and probably my favorite of the movie.

the camera work was excellent and the movie was directed well. the style was good. more substance would have been welcome. All in all, Valkyrie was a good popcorn movie, although i expected a little more from a project by bryan singer.

Curious Case of Benjamin Button

This movie looked really good. Brad Pitt, love him or hate him, rarely picks bad projects to star in and i am a big fan of David Fincher, whose last movie 'zodiac' was extremely good and misunderstood by regular movie-goers.

The story is unique as it tells the tale of a boy who was born as an old man and ages backwards. While i was most interested in the details on how the director would handle different aspects of benjamin's life, the movie focused more on his story and less with the scientific type story. The story, a love story between pitt's character and cate blanchett, is a good one however. it was very epic and reminded me of movies such as 'the notebook' and 'forrest gump.' after viewing it i wasn't surprised at all to find that the writer wrote the script for 'forrest gump' as well. even though i enjoyed the story i felt it was a tad on the long side, parts of the movie kinda drug on. a little more excitement would've been welcome.

this movie was very good, one i plan on owning in the future. the love story really comes together at the end of the movie, and it really works because benjamin's aging ailment complicates things and makes it interesting. while this movie isn't quite the timeless classic that some projected it to be, it is still a great love story based on a great concept and while i feel more could have been done when it comes to exploring his age vs. his looks, i still walked away from the movie satisfied.

Yes Man

i went into 'yes man' as not a huge jim carrey fan. i realize he can be funny i just feel he goes over-the-top too much and it gets obnoxious rather than humorous. jim carrey has been trying serious roles recently (not to alot of success). Despite this i respect his attempt at changing roles and i watched 'yes man' with an open mind, it being his first real return to comedy.

this movie was very funny. it starts at kinda slow but once it gets going, there are plenty of laughs to be had. jim carrey is more controlled which makes his overly goofy parts much funnier. carrey's promise to say yes to everything is explored in many funny ways. zooey deschanel was good too and her and jim carrey worked well together. rhys darby was also extremely funny in his clueless office role. he was essentially playing the exact same character of 'murray' that he plays in the great hbo show 'flight of the conchords.'

*SPOILER PARAGRAPH/LIST*
romantic comedy wise the story was nothing original. it played out entirely predictable. the 3 standard parts of a romantic comedy
1. intial great time to be had by all (he's in love with her, she's in love with him. everythings great.
2. she finds out a secret he was hiding, everything crumbles
3. everything falls back into place, they find a way to get over differences.

i've seen this format used in countless chick flicks, and takes back from the whole expierence.
however, jim carrey's performance in this film and many other funny moments hold the film together and make it one worth watching (not a must see for theaters but definitely rent it).

Consensus: Jim Carrey is back!

Quantum of Solace

I walked into the new james bond movie knowing that i really liked the previous 'Casino Royale' but also realizing i hardly remembered anything from the previous other than the opening freerunning scene. I liked how 'Casino' took a much darker realistic approach on the james bond franchise which in the past tended to include implausible scenes with cheesy dialogue and action.

'Quatum of Solace' continues this rebooted trend even further with loads of brutal violence and dark themes. Themes such as rape, bitter revenge, and James Bond's tendency to kill rather than bring people in these days are more well-received because of the overall darker tone of the movie.

I found the action disorienting at times, especially the opening scene (it was hard to tell who was doing what with the close-up fast editing style). However, past the first scene i thought the action was great and not particularly hard to follow. Likewise, this movie has plenty of gritty action, much in the mold of the 'Bourne' movies. While some did not like this supposed imitation i welcomed it. I felt Marc Forester did an excellent job at directing everything. Lush visuals, with great shots showed an experienced director was behind the camera.

The story was the main problem. It was hard to follow at times. Who was chasing who was confusing. Is that the CIA or MI6 after Bond? I did not feel the story was extremely weak, just the weakest part of a film i did in fact really enjoy.

All in all, i really like this latest installment into the james bond movie. It is darker, more violent, and altogether more real than the other ones, so not being a huge fan of the older cornball james bond movies i cannot complain one bit.