Charlie Logan is under a hex that any girl he sleeps with will marry the next guy she meets, which complicates his relationship with Cam, the girl of his dreams.
When I saw Film Brain's review of Good Luck Chuck, I was so appalled at the movie that I knew I'd have to watch it myself to officially confirm whether or not it really was one of the worst movies I've ever come across. And, as expected… seeing the review first kind of softened the blow a bit.
But that doesn't make the film any less reprehensible! Right from the opening scene, with the ten-year-old children experimenting with sex, I was thinking, "What sick fuck came up with this?!" The sex-obsessed Stu is by far one of the most annoying characters in all of cinema. I even hated the movie's attempts to prove that Charlie's a good guy by making him a complete Good Samaritan: it's blatant overcompensation – especially since he steps into full-blown insanity later on! And let's not even get into how despicably sexist the movie is!
Oddly enough, though, Charlie and Cam do seem to legitimately hit it off in their first scene. But the whole curse aspect shoots any of that potential dead in its tracks.
In conclusion, while it's not one of the absolute worst movies I've ever seen, it was still a tough sit. Apart from being immature, annoying and sexist as all hell, a lot of the humour is just sickeningly tasteless.
My rating: 20%.
When Roman general Maximus is betrayed and his family murdered by the emperor's corrupt son Commodus, he gets his chance for revenge when he comes to Rome as a gladiator.
I don't like to use the word "overrated", but I certainly couldn't get into Gladiator as much as everyone else seems to. Why? Well, several reasons.
For one thing, I'm not a Russell Crowe fan. I've always found him soporifically bland, and this is no exception.
The movie does so little to effectively establish its many plot threads that the whole thing just seems unfocused. Even Maximus's central quest for revenge ends up getting lost in a sea of other wrestling plot points. Some of them did perk my interest, like the Senate's plan to get rid of Commodus, but nothing ever comes of that. The third act in particular devolves into a completely disjointed mess; I was just thinking, "What do any of these events have to do with each other?" And how does Commodus find out about the scheme against him?
The fight scenes are some of the worst ever! This is one of those movies that succumbs to the sad cliché of over-editing, so sometimes I couldn't even tell what was going on.
I really wanted to love this movie, but in the end it just came off to me as okay at best. I liked parts of it, but they were just a few bright spots in an otherwise confusing, pretentious mess.
My rating: 60%.
Well, now I've finally got back to the line-up of films I've downloaded, interspersed with the James Bond series. :) First up, a movie that I watched just because it's on the Movie Compatibility Test on Flixster, followed by an 80s cult classic.
Henry Roth meets Lucy Whitmore and thinks he's finally found the girl of his dreams, until he discovers she has short-term memory loss and forgets all about him the next day.
Just because Adam Sandler was in this, I was already dreading it, but I'll give anything a chance. But it turned out to be far worse than I could have expected!
First of all, as you can probably guess, the overly crass humour just annoyed the fuck out of me. Any of Rob Schneider's screen time was especially insufferable. But on top of that, the romantic side of the story is so sappy that it really gives you whiplash when it's playing off such vulgar humour. So it fails as a romantic comedy because the romance and the comedy contrast too sharply.
And don't even get me started on my issues with the film's morals! That's a discussion for a full review. But here's the gist of it: even though everyone had good intentions, I just felt like they were all simply exploiting Lucy regardless. Henry himself clearly has a conscience and knows it'd be wrong to take advantage of his fear of commitment… but he does so anyway. And as for Lucy's father and brother… well, the longer you keep up a charade, the harder it's likely to bite you in the ass.
So there you go. I hated almost everything about this movie, and I just felt bad for Drew Barrymore for appearing in it.
My rating: 20%.
Ren McCormack moves from the city to a small town where dancing and rock music have been banned, and his rebellious spirit threatens to change that.
So now I've seen both the two 80s dance movies I've seen get the most attention. :) Perhaps surprisingly, I liked Dirty Dancing, but this one just didn't do much for me.
It's interesting, though, that this movie is the polar opposite of Dirty Dancing in some ways. :) What really made Dirty Dancing was the bond between the two leads, but the romance here is not in the forefront of the story, and it's just kind of mediocre. Ariel is established as a fiercely rebellious spirit before we even meet Ren, so it just seems like they were meant for each other anyway.
Also, I felt the only letdown of Dirty Dancing was the villains. But the main antagonist here, the Reverend Shaw Moore, is not just a simple stick-in-the-mud who won't listen, but is actually a three-dimensional and kind of sympathetic character.
But I think the main reason I couldn't get into this movie is because the prejudiced environment comes off as very peripheral. Ren getting into trouble at school, the townspeople violently turning against him and his mother… all these ideas are hinted at, but none of them are fully fleshed out.
So if you like Footloose, if it inspired you, great. I just found it to be really nothing special.
My rating: 55%.
Okay, today we're going to talk about two more movies that I watched on a whim: one that a friend recommended I bump up my waiting list and watch immediately, and then just another one that I've long been impatient to see.
First, True Romance.
When Clarence and his new wife, former call girl Alabama Whitman, unintentionally steal a suitcase full of cocaine from her pimp, they attempt to sell it in Hollywood. But the gangsters who own the drugs are on their trail.
True Romance, to my knowledge, is one of only two movies that Quentin Tarantino has written but not directed. And this movie definitely spells "Tarantino" all over it, with its sardonic overall tone, its gleeful depiction of violence, and conversations on pretty trivial subjects. And boy is it awesome! :D
One of my favourite scenes is when Christopher Walken is interrogating Dennis Hopper, because you never know if he's going to be diplomatic or turn violent. And, when Alabama is getting brutally beaten, I was actually laughing in that the guy had the sheer balls to beat a woman like he would anyone else!
Sadly, though, the overall direction does let the film down quite a bit. In terms of acting and camera work, it all feels a bit too raw; it's not as polished as Tarantino would have made it.
On a side note, the Drexl character really fascinates me. Maybe it's because I know it's Gary Oldman, but it just sounds like he's putting on an accent. Does the character talk like that just to fit in with his peers? I really want to know! :)
Overall, if the movie had been a little less sloppy in its direction, I might rank it up there with the best of Tarantino.
My rating: 75%.
And secondly, Akira Kurosawa's classic Yojimbo.
A wandering ronin comes across a town torn apart by two criminal gangs, and decides to end the town's trouble by playing them both against each other.
Now, I'll be tackling this movie in perhaps a very different way. I saw A Fistful of Dollars (the spaghetti western remake) first, so I couldn't help comparing the two as I was watching it.
In terms of story, A Fistful of Dollars follows Yojimbo almost beat for beat. The key difference is the attitude of each movie. Fistful of Dollars plays it with much more humanity: you sympathise more with the law-abiding Baxter family. But in Yojimbo, both sides are as corrupt as the other, so you can't help but agree with the samurai: the town would indeed be better off with both of them dead.
The samurai himself is a fascinating character, too. He seems completely uninterested in almost everything unless it involves violence. I especially love the scene early on where he gets both clans on the brink of battle and he just sits back to watch! :D
By a certain point, the proceedings were just different enough for me to start to appreciate Yojimbo in its own right – helped all the more by the fact that I felt as if I'd settled into the town environment.
Overall, this is an excellent tale of bringing balance to a savage community, and I certainly look forward to seeing it again when I don't have Fistful of Dollars on the mind.
My rating: 80%.
A while ago I saw Stoker, and was so crushingly disappointed that I just had to look at Park Chan-wook in his prime. So I spent the day watching the whole Vengeance Trilogy.
I know Oldboy is conspicuously absent here, but I think the reason is obvious: I've already seen it. For the record, I love the first twenty minutes and a lot of the later scenes, but at times it gets a bit too talky and a bit disjointed, so I can't quite say I love the movie as a whole.
But anyway, here's my take on the other two. :)
In Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, a deaf-mute man kidnaps the daughter of his former boss in order to pay for his sister's life-saving kidney transplant. But at a certain point, things start to go disastrously wrong.
When you get down to it, this is a very simple premise, especially compared to the other two instalments of the trilogy. It's just a domino effect of one thing leading to another in a never-ending spiral of revenge. But for me, its simplicity is what makes it so compelling.
What I especially like is that neither of the two leads are good or bad guys per se; it's just two men who are both seeking revenge for entirely personal reasons: one for the death of his sister, the other for the death of his daughter. Even the kidnappers aren't detestable: they actually get friendly with the girl and make sure she enjoys herself. While you could make the argument that this only makes the kidnapping worse, at least they're by no means sadists.
Now, I obviously won't spoil the details of either main character's ultimate fate, but let's just say neither makes it out okay. You could say they're either both justifiably punished for doing bad things, or that they both end up as victims of a most tragic set of circumstances.
I love this movie. I don't know how many of you will agree with me, but I'd say this is my personal favourite of the trilogy.
My rating: 85%.
Lady Vengeance is sometimes called Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. Personally, I prefer the shorter title.
After her release from prison for the kidnapping and murder of a young boy, Lee Geum-ja begins to orchestrate her plan for revenge against the real culprit – while reuniting with her estranged daughter.
Just to let you know, this review will contain a spoiler for the climax.
I'll probably get some flak for this, but I think this is easily the weakest of the trilogy.
For one thing, while Sympathy for Mr Vengeance and Oldboy were presented relatively straightforward, I feel as if this one is trying way too hard to be artsy, with its nonlinear narrative structure and philosophical moments.
I really didn't like how the daughter subplot was handled. There was great potential for the mother and daughter to develop their relationship despite the language barrier, but that's barely touched on. As a result, the daughter seems completely secondary to the revenge plot (even, dare I say, expendable), so I just didn't care how their relationship worked out. I think they needed to either devote more screen time to that, or just cut that subplot from the film altogether.
The highlight, however, was the final scene, where the families of all the killer's victims take turns exacting their revenge. That's brutal! :)
In conclusion, while I don't dislike this movie, I certainly think it's a big step below the other two. It might grow on me more with repeat viewings, but for now at least, I think it's just okay.
My rating: 60%.
Today's subject is two DC Animated Universe movies that I decided I'd waited long enough to watch.
Firstly, Wonder Woman.
When fighter pilot Steve Trevor crash-lands on the peaceful island of Themyscira, home of the Amazons, Princess Diana is tasked with bringing him home again. But a second purpose is soon added to her mission when Ares, god of war, escapes from his prison and sets out to regain his power.
I have to admit, I'm having trouble structuring my thoughts on this movie. But in short, I really liked it.
I don't read comic books, but I still understand the essence of the Wonder Woman character, and this movie seems to stay pretty true to it. Besides, it's right up my street anyway, since I'm a huge fan of Greek mythology. :)
It's a dark enough movie that I really wouldn't recommend it for young children – in fact, right off the bat, it starts with a surprisingly brutal battle scene – but it's not completely mean-spirited. There's a brilliant dry sense of humour to the whole thing. I especially love the scene where Steve is speaking his mind completely honestly, then realises it's because his foot's in the Lasso of Truth! :D
Speaking of comedy, as soon as Diana and Steve arrived in New York, I was expecting a lot of painfully awkward attempts on Diana's part to interact with the real world. But, to my huge relief, that didn't happen! :)
So on the whole, I'd definitely recommend this to non-comic readers as an introduction to the character. It's equal parts funny and intense; it takes itself seriously, but not too seriously.
My rating: 80%.
And secondly, Green Lantern: First Flight.
Test pilot Hal Jordan gets a power ring handed down to him by Abin Sur, a dying Green Lantern who's crash-landed on Earth, and is recruited to the Green Lantern Corps. He is taken under the wing of senior officer Sinestro, and they set out to find the truth of Abin Sur's death.
This is more what the 2011 live-action Green Lantern should have been like. It doesn't try to cram three films' worth of material into one; it picks one plot and sticks to it. This allows for much more manageable pacing, meaning the film as a whole is a lot more fleshed out and so much more entertaining.
The story itself is nothing really special, but it's still a terrifically fun adventure; every scene fits perfectly into place. Plus, Sinestro is one of the best villains ever: his motivation does almost get you on his side.
There's really only one problem with the movie, and sadly it is kind of a big one: Hal Jordan himself is so depressingly bland. What especially bothered me was how, at the beginning, he just takes an alien encounter completely in stride; nothing about it fazes him! I think the movie really could have used some build-up where he gradually gets used to the ring.
To sum it up, this isn't a great movie, but I didn't really expect it to be. I just wanted something better than the live-action movie, and I most certainly got that! :)
My rating: 75%.
To cut right to the point, I loved this game. I mean, how could I not? It's fucking Batman! :)
The plot is that, after Batman returns the Joker to Arkham Asylum, the Joker breaks free, takes control and makes a public threat that ensures Batman is left alone to stop him.
Simply setting the game in Arkham Asylum is the perfect excuse to throw in as many Batman villains as you want. And, while they do include quite a few, I'm glad they didn't let it get to the point of insanity; they're all well integrated into the story. One of my favourite boss fights is Bane – who, for my money, has never looked better.
The gameplay is also right up my street. :) It's more about stealth than full-on action, which really was the perfect approach. I am not a hardcore gamer and definitely don't consider combat my strong suit, so I'm glad they restricted it to a few basic commands during hand-to-hand combat; you just tell Batman basically what to do and watch him do his thing. :)
And do I even have to mention the casting of Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill – in my opinion, still by far the best versions of their respective characters?
To sum it up, you take perfect gameplay, a variety of enemies and gadgets, and throw it all into a concoction very true to the Batman mythos, and you have one of the best Batman games you could possibly ask for.
My rating: 95%.
Here's another review that I didn't get round to writing until more than a week after the fact.
Based on the true story of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, The Conjuring focuses on the case of the Perron family.
I was really hoping this movie would live up to the hype, but I didn't realistically expect it to. I'm usually not the least bit scared by supernatural horror, and I didn't like James Wan's previous film, Insidious. And, as it turned out… it was the breath of fresh air I was hoping for, but nothing mind-blowing.
The main reason it trumps so many modern horror films is because it doesn't rely on jump scares. It doesn't just shout and scream and yell and try to make you jump every thirty seconds. Instead, it builds up a genuine sense of unease through a string of very believable false climaxes. There are many, many times when you think it's building up to a jump scare… and it doesn't. For example, there's a scene where one of the daughters goes to look under her bed, but then shrinks back again – as anyone would. Beautiful! :)
And whenever there is a jump scare, it's not conveyed through a stupid orchestral sting, but from a loud crash in the next room or something.
All this means the fear comes from the situation itself, not manipulation on the part of the filmmakers. It didn't give me a complete sense of authenticity, but close.
In short, this is one of the best horror movies in several years, but it's more impressive than it is scary.
My rating: 75%.
And, because I was feeling bored the other day, I decided to check out the 1983 Cosgrove Hall production of The Wind in the Willows.
I haven't yet read the book, so the only other incarnations I can compare this to are the Disney version and the 1996 live-action version. And, while the Disney version is also very clever indeed, this version is just so heavy on atmosphere that it's quite possibly even more engaging.
The stop-motion animation is of course delightful – and, I think, the best way to bring these characters to life.
I also like how, looking back, it's implied that the weasels planned to get Toad out of the way.
I can definitely see children having nightmares over the scene where the weasels terrify Mole in the Wild Wood. It's not like the film's very upbeat to begin with, so the idea of having a scene like that, that's meant to make you feel low, is just downright cruel! :)
One thing I can say: since this film shares a couple of songs in common with other versions, that got me curious to see if those songs came straight from the book. (Yes, they do.) It's interesting how my two favourite songs in the film – The Open Road and When the Toad Came Home – both happen to be associated with Toad! :D And, ironically, one is from the book and the other isn't. :)
Its only downfall, in my opinion, is that the final battle isn't all that spectacular.
But overall, it's endlessly charming, and one of the best Wind in the Willows adaptations you could ask for.
My rating: 85%.
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