[DVD]
I think Netflix must have an exclusive on the blu-ray of this movie because I can’t find the blu-ray anywhere save Netflix. Not that I’d know since Netflix deems it necessary to Long Wait or Very Long wait any blu-ray in my queue that is relatively new. So HD on Netflix Watch Instantly it is.
How does Sir Ben Kingsley get to be in movies where he beds such younger women. I mean here it’s Penelope Cruz (though he also was with the great Patricia Clarkson). In The Wackness [Blu-ray | DVD] he got with whichever of the Olsen twins was in that movie.
I thought this movie was pretty good. I can’t speak to how true it is, but the situation feels true enough. An older man involved with various women, dealing with falling in love. The situation, the age difference, his life making him doubt the very life he’s created. You could buy that Penelope Cruz could actually love him and then be broken hearted by him. Not experiencing or dealing with the same issues he dealt with. Though another dead end love for her named David (see Vanilla Sky [DVD]).
I think Dennis Hopper and Peter Sarsgaard played pitch perfect roles of the lothario friend and the troubled son respectively.
Kingsley was great in this. The drudgery of his time post love, post friendship, kind of post life. They were all so subtle, all very deep, but all played out on the surface. The reappearance of Penelope’s character is a surprise and sad.
The pace of the movie really slows down in the third act. But I don’t think it’s a problem. It kind of fits the mood of the film at that point.
I heard great things about this movie. Just didn’t do it for me. Maybe it was that I was preoccupied watching and not giving it my full attention. Maybe it was the subtitle problem. Or just didn’t fit my sensibilities. I just wasn’t entertained by this movie. It didn’t hold my attention at all. I think it’s a worthwhile movie to watch. And if the premise interests you, I think you should watch the movie. I won’t say not to watch it, but I won’t say TO watch it either.
[DVD]
This certainly wasn’t Super Size Me [DVD]. It was definitely Spurlock’s kind of humorous, straightforward style. I find his style of filmmaking isn’t as baiting and edit based as Michael Moore. The movie was interesting. And I think Spurlock really covered a lot of ground and viewpoints.
However, the movie seemed sort of inert. It’s not like I expected Spurlock to FIND Bin Laden. And he did a lot of traveling and interviews with all kinds of people. But it just went nowhere. Did it reveal something about the Muslim world that wasn’t known? I don’t think so. And if it did, it was directed to a less educated audience. Though I think a less educated audience wouldn’t even watch this movie and thus would miss out on the lessons in it.
The movie was entertaining though. Not quite up to Super Size Me, but that’s a high bar.
[DVD]
The trailer made this seem like a cute little romantic comedy. With a few nice quips and zingers and whatnot. Umm, not really. Well it was supposed to be a romantic comedy, but it was boring. Any any clever lines were already shown in the trailer. This was written and directed by Jeff Garland. It shows a little promise on the writing front, but I just don’t know if Garland is feature material. He was believable in a sad sack, Paul Giamatti sort of way, but I was honestly just bored throughout this movie. Sarah Silverman played the same role she always plays. And nice to see Bonnie Hunt. But totally forgettable movie.
For some reason I don’t think the reunion of Clive Owen and Julia Roberts was as big a deal as when she got back with Richard Gere and Hector Elizondo in Runaway Bride [DVD]. Duplicity is a clever caper-romance movie. Though for an entertaining caper flick, it certainly moves at a leisurely pace. I’m not sure exactly what it was though. Perhaps the stylized split screen transitions? Or maybe the repetitive nature of the dialogue? Whatever the reason it felt every minute of it’s roughly 2 hour run time.
Julia Roberts seems to have a love/hate thing going for her. In these binary terms, I fall in the love camp. I think she’s not a great actress, nor is she drop dead gorgeous. But I think she’s just very winning. Very likable. While she plays one of the main characters, I don’t think the role is as juicy as Clive Owens’s character. He’s allowed to play a large range of emotions and manages to make them believable. Also, for what it’s worth, the man can wear a suit, and while I’m a fan of Daniel Craig’s Bond, I think Clive Owens would’ve been great in the role as had been rumored pre-Craig.
Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti are excellent as they usually are. Giamatti really bites into his role, chews a little scenery, but that’s okay. Wilkinson plays the kind of character his character in Michael Clayton [Blu-ray | DVD] died at the hands of. Wow, that was kind of a shitty sentence. And instead of fixing it, I’m just adding rambling commentary about the poor quality of my writing.
Anyways, kind of slow, but entertaining. Sort of a Mr. and Mrs. Smith [Blu-ray | DVD] meets the Ocean series [Blu-ray | DVD].
[DVD]
This isn’t a particularly good movie hop over to this web-site. Not even all that funny. A series of ten shorts stories based on the Ten Commandments. They are loosely tied together via overarching characters or plot lines. I think the funniest bit was the animated portion about the Lying Rhino and his amazing poop, or perhaps Winona Ryder and her puppet love. It was an all-star cast of great actors. And could’ve been good, but felt like a missed opportunity.
[DVD]
This is a pretty sweet, heartfelt comedy. I don’t know if I believe a 40 year old way out of boxing could hold his own in a regional competition, though I know in boxing more than ever there’s always the so-called “puncher’s chance.”
For a movie of this budget, I thought the fight scenes were pretty impressive, especially the climatic one. This one had a bit of everything: a buddy flick, a romance, and a old-dog-young-pip-rivals-to-friends-mentor-mentee relationship. Usually when a movie tries to incorporate so many elements, I find it falls far short of its goals. This time, perhaps because it is more light-hearted fare, I thought it worked pretty well.
An entertaining flick, nice little diversion for the hour and a half or so it ran.
[DVD]
I thought the concept of this movie was neat, if slightly unoriginal. I mean a greater power finding humanity so compelling that all is spared, that’s kind of well tread material. I think how they unfolded the mystery of the story was okay. I’m a Ryan Reynolds fan, and as such I’m glad he’s worked toward less base humor kind of material. The movie is a decent enough way to pass the afternoon.