Monday, September 26, 2005

Constantine

Constantine: Keanu Reeves stars as a supernatural detective in this God Vs Devil thriller. I am not a fan of Keanu at all and it kept me away from this movie until last night when I gave it a spin. He plays the same character we have come to know him as….a dolt with no emotion or acting ability who some find cool. In a way the movie can be summed up as the Neo fights the devil – Keanu’s character, which has seen hell, is caught on earth in between the war of good Vs evil. Visually, the movie succeeds – the special effects and sound are a true treat. The story I found lacking as we have seen this kind of tale before and the acting can be summed up in 2 words…..Keanu Reeves. A few awesome scenes save this movie and force me to give it a marginal grade.
* *

With a running time of 121 minutes - Out on DVD
This film is rated R

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Fever Pitch

Fever Pitch: Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore star in this romantic comedy that revolves around the Boston Red sox season. The 2 characters start to fall in love during the off season, but once the baseball season starts, Ben’s (Fallon) true colors come out – a die hard Red sox fan. The thing I liked was the premise as I can relate to the idea of having to make plans around the sox games. Plus I liked the baseball humor; you will appreciate it more if you are a fan of the game. The movie does have it’s flaws, such as the fact that none of the characters really seem to be from Boston, so it does have a very fake feeling about it. The beginning of the movie, mainly the “first date” is just horrendous, luckily it did pick up from there.
* *
----- Also all this about how they filmed a new ending on the field when the Red sox won it……what an absolute waste of time, did not have to have it in there at all. In fact after seeing it I was mad they were even let on the field in the 1st place.

With a running time of 103 minutes
This film is rated PG-13

Friday, September 09, 2005

The Constant Gardener

The Constant Gardener: Ralph Fiennes stars in this conspiracy drama. The story centers around pharmaceutical companies and their testing of drugs to unknowing people in Africa. What the movie does good is present this major conspiracy in a foreign land, Africa is shot beautifully and more realistic of how things are than in past films. What I did not like was how the story was presented, we the viewers figure out what is going on pretty quickly and then watch the characters beat around the bush for answers when the truth is right in front of their faces. All the praise for this movie – I have to turn the other way on it.
* *
With a running time of 129 minutes
This film is rated R

Kung Fu Hustle

Kung Fu Hustle: Billed as “The Loony Tunes meets Kill Bill” you have a silly comedy dealing with gangsters and the art of Kung Fu. The story revolves around the dangerous Axe Gang and a housing complex they invade or ......try to invade. There were many funny, just plain silly moments. On top of that, the action scenes were done too good, by this I mean they were too good to go along with the comedy aspect of the film. I would have liked to see the action be a bit more silly than it was. Overall all it did have a solid 6-7 laugh out loud moments which makes this an easy recommend.
* * *

With a running time of 112 minutes - Now on DVD
This film is rated PG-13

Friday, September 02, 2005

Broken Flowers

Broken Flowers: Bill Murray stars in this Dramedy about a man who finds out he had a son 19 years ago, but is not sure who the mother is. Still a bachelor, Don (Murray) receives this news from an unmarked letter. Through some careful thought he knows it can only be one of 5 women. He sets out across the country and shows up at these women’s houses looking for clues if they are the mother of his child. The highlights of the film takes place in these funny Bill Murray moments – He orchestrates the audience as we wait for his reactions for a laugh. The film takes on a more series tone toward the end and this is where I felt it dropped the ball. Maybe I wanted too much, but I felt this came up short…..
* * and ½

With a running time of 107 minutes - In Theaters now
This Film is rated R