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The Brothers Grimm

Today I watched “The Brothers Grimm” featuring Matt Damon, Heath Ledger and Monica Bellucci.
The reviews I read about the movie weren’t that good, but I went on and rented it anyway, I don’t know why. And no, it’s not because Monica Bellucci is in it. Maybe it’s because I was a fan of the Grimm tales when I was a kid.

Anyway, the reviews were right, this movie sort of sucks.
It tells the story of brothers Will and Jake Grimm who are travelling con-artists, and how they encounter a genuine fairy-tale curse which requires genuine courage instead of their usual bogus exorcisms.

The sets are well done, the design and era is good, the special effects were nice, but the script and directing didn’t make good use of it all, making it a boring and pointless movie.

If you’re expecting Grimm tales in this movie, you’ll get nothing but small references or snips here and there.

If you were thinking of watching this one, go get something else. It’s not worth the time.

My score for it: 3/10.

Still, if you’re interested you can buy the DVD here.

Mr. Miyagi, Pat Morita, Dies

Actor Pat Morita, best known for helping teach a boy martial-arts mastery through household chores as the wise Mr. Miyagi in hit movie “The Karate Kid,” has died. He was 73.

There were conflicting reports about the cause of death. His daughter Aly Morita said he died Thursday of heart failure at a Las Vegas hospital; longtime manager Arnold Soloway said the actor died of kidney failure at a hospital while awaiting a transplant.

His role in the 1984 film defined his career. As Kesuke Miyagi, the mentor to Ralph Macchio’s “Daniel-san,” he taught karate while trying to catch flies with chopsticks and offering such advice as “wax on, wax off” to help Daniel improve his karate hand movements while doing his chores.

Karate Kid was one of my favourite movies growing up; I loved it and watched it over and over again. Mr. Miyagi was such an important character in the movie and to me too. Pat Morita brought so much charisma to the character and was so loveable in the role.
It makes me sad to hear about his death. It somehow feels like I lost an old friend.

[Source: ABC News]

Madagascar

Last night we watched Madagascar, a DreamWorks SKG animation, voiced by Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith and Cedric the Entertainer.

The movie is about a gang of four spoiled zoo animals that find themselves on an adventure in the wild of Madagascar.

I’ve seen the trailer a number of times and have been really looking forward to watching it.
And it turned out really cool, even though I thought it would be just a bit funnier, but I really enjoyed it.
I loved the psychotic penguins, they totally rock and are so funny! They have to be spinned off in a movie of their own.

I think this is one of DreamWorksSKG’s best animations yet. Something I like in their animations are the pop culture references, whether it’s in Shrek, Shark Tale or Madagascar.

I give this movie a rating of: 7/10.

Stealth

Last night I watched Stealth, an action, adventure thriller, as they call it, featuring Jessica Biel, Jamie Foxx and Josh Lucas.

The movie turned out better than I expected. The trailer actually doesn’t do it justice.

I really liked the flight scenes, they were very well shot, and the fighter jets looked awesome in action. The explosions looked cool too.
The characters were pretty well developed for an action movie, which is good for a change.

Other than that, the story isn’t something that extraordinary, revolving around three pilots and a renegade AI driven fighter jet.

The movie was directed by Rob Cohen, the guy behind ‘XXX’ and ‘The Fast and the Furious’. I personally think this is his best movie so far.

My rating for this movie would be: 6/10.

Crash

Last night we watched Crash, featuring a great cast with Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, Sandra Bullock, Brendan Fraser, Thandie Newton, Ryan Phillippe and a number of other talented actors.

I first heard about this movie when Jason reviewed it, and I thought it sounded like a cool movie.
And well it didn’t let me down, it’s a really interesting and good movie, that I truly enjoyed. It’s one of those movies where Hollywood actually does things right.

The movie is about several characters of different racial backgrounds who collide in one incident, The different stereotypes society has created for those backgrounds affect their judgment, beliefs and actions, in turn causing problems for each of them.

It’s one of those movies that takes bits and pieces of different people’s lives and then ties them all up together at some point.
It reminds me of Magnolia, only I really liked this one better.

The casting was great and all the actors did a very good job. Talking of that, did I ever say that I really like Don Cheadle? He’s a really talented and great actor.

I really recommend this movie for people who enjoy a good, interesting and well-done movie.

My rating for this movie is: 8/10.

Batman Begins

At last, I got to watch “Batman Begins”, a movie I’ve been wanting to see even before its release.

Before its release, I wasn’t expecting something really big, but then the reviews started coming in and they were positive, which made me want to see it even more.
And well, I wasn’t dissapointed at all, I have to say that I think this is one of the best Batman movies up to now.

As with all superhero movies, the part I love most is the beginning, so this movie hit that spot with me, and then went on developing the character in an interesting way.
The thing about Batman is that he’s unlike other superheroes who either come from another planet or go through a freak accident that gives them supernatural powers. Batman is like every one of us, he’s a normal human being, who is using an alter ego called “Batman” and a bunch of cool gadgets.
So, really Batman is closer to James Bond than he is to your regular superhero, and he’s easier to connect to.

Christian Bale is a good actor and he did a nice job as Batman. He was a good casting choice and I hope he goes on with the role in the future movies.

Something I found amusing in this movie is the name of Liam Neeson’s character “Ras Al Ghul”, which is in Arabic, and means “The head of the monster”.

My rating for this movie would be: 8/10.

Robots

Yesterday, we finally got to watch “Robots”, an animation from Fox studios, about a really cool robot world.

In this robot world, a young idealistic inventor travels to the big city to join his inspiration’s company, only to find himself opposing its evil new management and bringing hope back to the robots.

This is one of my favourite non-Pixar animations, putting Fox studios right behind them and ahead of Dreamworks.

It’s really well done, the story is a nice one, enjoyable by kids and grown-ups alike, the humor is good, and the characters are cute too.

I also like the message they’re trying to pass through the movie, that one should never lose hope, work hard and persevere, until they make their dreams come true.

I personally really enjoyed this movie and recommend it for everyone who’s into animation.

My rating for this movie would be: 8.5/10.

7 Seconds

A couple of nights ago, I watched 7 seconds starring Wesley Snipes. My cousins thought it was pretty good and gave me the movie to check it out.

I’m a fan of heist movies, and this movie kicked off with one. Anyway, even though the idea of how the heist was to be done was good, I personally think it could have been shot better.
Still, I think that remains the highest point in this movie. After that, it just goes downwards and slower.

The movie starts off good and then at some point it just loses it and gets boring.
It feels more like a pointless B movie.

Not really my cup of tea.

My rating for this is movie is: 4/10.

Sylvester Stallone Returning for Rocky 6

Sylvester Stallone is signing on to reprise his role as boxer Rocky Balboa in the sixth installment of the long-running film series, which he wrote and will direct.

The film, titled “Rocky Balboa,” will be co-produced and co-financed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Columbia Pictures and Revolution Studios and will be distributed by Columbia Pictures.

In the new installment, Rocky, lonely and retired in Philadelphia, comes out of retirement, intending to fight a few low-profile local fights. He’s approached to fight a match with reigning heavyweight champ Mason “The Line” Dixon, and soon his comeback ignites a media firestorm.

Some people just don’t know when to stop and say “That’s enough!”
For God’s sake, Rocky 5 was a big mistake already, isn’t that a good enough sign that this series should end?
Plus didn’t Rocky find out he was getting brain damaged or something, making him retire? How come now he can come out of retirement and fight? Does brain damage fade away with time?
I can’t understand why some people insist on screwing up great movies with really shitty sequels.

Another bit of madness is that it seems Stallone also wants to do another Rambo movie. When he originally conceived the idea around 2002, the plot involved Rambo going into Afghanistan to battle terrorists. Very original!!

Doesn’t he realize that he’s too old for all this?!

To make things better, it’s rumoured that Arnold Schwarzenegger will act in yet another Terminator movie. As if the piece of shit, that was the third movie, wasn’t enough.

Daniel Craig is the new James Bond

Sandy-haired English actor Daniel Craig was unveiled Friday as the star of the next Bond film, “Casino Royale,” due in theaters in November 2006.

Producer Michael G. Wilson said 200 actors had been considered, but Craig was the only one who had been offered the role.

Speculation about the new Bond included Clive Owen, Ioan Gruffudd, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Gerard Butler, Ewan McGregor, Colin Farrell, Hugh Jackman, Heath Ledger and Eric Bana.

I’ve only seen Daniel Craig in “The Road To Perdition” and “The Jacket”, and he was good.
But I don’t know why I don’t feel he fits the Bond character. Maybe it’s his blond hair, maybe it’s his not-so-bondish looks, maybe it’s something else; I don’t know. I’m just not too sure about this.
Looking at the bright side, he couldn’t possibly turn out worse than George Lazenby who did only one movie “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”. That guy is definitely my least favorite Bond.