Feb
27
Monthly Movie Roundup
Posted in: movies| A Serious Man |  |
|
|---|---|---|
| Genre: | Comedy/Drama (2009) | |
| Director: | Ethan Coen, Joel Coen | |
| Starring: | Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed | |
| Rating: |  |
|
| Comment: | Hey, it’s the Cohen brothers. How can this possible be anything short of completely great? And it sure was good. Albeit there were just a little too many open-ended story lines for my taste. | |
 |
Assault On Precinct 13 | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre: | Drama/Crime/Action (1976) | |
| Director: | John Carpenter | |
| Starring: | Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston | |
| Rating: |  |
|
| Comment: | This is said to be a classic, and I can kinda see how. It is a pretty cool crime movie that has this strange zombie feeling to it. The badass murderer dude looks kinda corny by today’s standards and there are a few unexplained plot issues. But other than that, good stuff. | |
| Dante's Inferno |  |
|
|---|---|---|
| Genre: | Animated (2010) | |
| Director: | Boris Acosta | |
| Starring: | Jeff Conaway, Dino Di Durante, Silvia Colloca (all voices) | |
| Rating: | |
|
| Comment: | First off, I’ve got to admit that I’ve never read the Divine Comedy so I can’t comment on whether this is a good adaptation or not. But what I can say is this: it’s gory as shit and I love it. Plus, since it’s based on first class world literature you don’t even have to feel bad about it ;-) | |
 |
Fist Of Legend | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre: | Drama/Action (1994) | |
| Director: | Gordon Chan | |
| Starring: | Jet Li, Billy Chow | |
| Rating: | |
|
| Comment: | To be honest, I don’t remember all that much about this movie except that it is a remake of a Bruce Lee flick (which I haven’t seen either). But the choreographer is Yuen Woo-ping so you know it’s gonna be good. | |
| North By Northwest |  |
|
|---|---|---|
| Genre: | Comedy/Drama/Crime/Thriller (1959) | |
| Director: | Alfred Hitchcock | |
| Starring: | Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason | |
| Rating: | |
|
| Comment: | My (former) roomie recommended this one to me, and he was spot on. What I love about old movies is that they are usually cut rather slowly so you can actually enjoy the show. Unlike most contemporary action flicks where there’s a cut like every two seconds. Cary Grant is insanely charismatic and this may very well one of the best films ever made. | |
 |
The Great Buck Howard | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre: | Comedy (2008) | |
| Director: | Sean McGinly | |
| Starring: | John Malkovich, Colin Hanks, Emily Blunt | |
| Rating: | |
|
| Comment: | To me, John Malkovich is one of the most unique actors of our time with an incredible stage presence – I’m having a hard time not to like this movie just because of him alone. Fortunately, the movie is worth seeing in and by itself, although I wouldn’t wanna bet that it would work with some actor other than Malkovich. Go see it. | |
| The Invention Of Lying |  |
|
|---|---|---|
| Genre: | Comedy/Romance/Fantasy (2009) | |
| Director: | Ricky Gervais, Matthew Robinson | |
| Starring: | Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe | |
| Rating: | |
|
| Comment: | What if nobody could lie? Wouldn’t that make the world a better place? Probably not, unless you’re Ricky Gervais. I love the idea behind this movie, I love Ricky Gervais and his kind of humor. The movie loses a little steam towards the end but nonetheless very funny. | |
 |
The Kingdom | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre: | Drama/Thriller/Action (2007) | |
| Director: | Peter Berg | |
| Starring: | Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman | |
| Rating: | |
|
| Comment: | This is raw. Watching The Kingdom raises a feeling of angst in you that you just can’t shake. The cold and ugly truth that this is not at all that fictional just lurks perpetually in the back of your mind. The showdown is the most insistent gunfight scene since Heat. A movie that is a true thrill ride that leaves you thinking. | |
| The Protector |  |
|
|---|---|---|
| Genre: | Drama/Crime/Thriller/Action (2005) | |
| Director: | Prachya Pinkaew | |
| Starring: | Tony Jaa, Xing Jing, Johnny Nguyen | |
| Rating: | |
|
| Comment: | Here’s a simplistic story if I ever saw one: boy loves elephant, bad guy steals elephant, boy looks for elephant and beats the shit out of everyone in his way. Pair that with really cool fighting scenes, well-dosed comic relief and solid acting and you got yourself the perfect popcorn movie with a plot you can easily follow even after a couple of beers. | |
 |
Vexille | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre: | Animated/Action/Sci-Fi (2007) | |
| Director: | Fumihiko Sori | |
| Starring: | Colleen Clinkenbeard, Travis Willingham, Christine M. Auten (all voices) | |
| Rating: | |
|
| Comment: | While there wasn’t really anything utterly innovative about this movie (Ghost In The Shell and Final Fantasy come to mind), it was still very enjoyable. And it did have some of the most stunning visuals I’ve seen in an animated movie in a while. | |