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Total entries in this category: Published On: Oct 23, 2008 10:15 PM |
Thu - October 23, 2008Mini-review: Journey to the Center of the EarthThe Professor gives it a
C-.
If you missed Journey to the Center of the Earth in the first-run theaters, you didn't miss much. I caught it at a second-run theater, and missed my $3 and my 90 minutes. This poor excuse for 3-D effects was aimed solidly at the 12-14 year-old-male audience. Brendan Fraser gave a better performance in "George of the Jungle." Or, it may just be that his amusing muscular charm was wasted on this lack of a script. With dialogue like "I call dibs on the [pretty blond female] mountain guide," eviscerating Jules Verne's tale, I spent my time trying to look at my watch and wishing I'd sat on the end of the row. Please don't spend money to see this turkey. Posted at 10:15 PM Permalink | | Spoilers (if any) | | Sun - August 10, 2008"Mamma Mia!" Mini-ReviewThe Professor gives it a
B+.
OK, it's a musical. It's also a farce. These are good things. It's certainly an amusing bit of fluff, well worth the theater admission. There's no deep meaning here, other than that the 70's generation are now parents, and the consequences thereof. Some of the bits that were meant to be amusing were not obvious enough early enough in the script for the anticipation to build... but that's why the B+, not an A. Posted at 02:14 PM Permalink | | Spoilers (if any) | | Wed - July 30, 2008"WALL-E" Mini-ReviewThe Professor gives it an
A.
"WALL-E" is a charming little anthropomorphic robot love story -- and a powerful indictment of present USA society. It does this with humor, tact and hope. Not just for kids, by any means. If you haven't seen it yet, definitely worth a theater admission. Posted at 06:56 AM Permalink | | Spoilers (if any) | | Sun - July 20, 2008"The Dark Knight" mini-reviewThe Professor gives it an
A.
Posted at 10:32 PM Permalink | | Spoilers (if any) | | Sun - June 15, 2008"Kung Fu Panda" Mini-ReviewThe Professor gives it an
A+.
Two A+ Kung Fu movies in a row? Yes, if anything "Kung Fu Panda" is better than "Forbidden Kingdom." I read the L.A. Times reviewer who panned "Panda" and wonder if we even saw the same movie! How did she miss the subtlety of the Po's (the panda) weaknesses becoming his strengths? How did she miss the respect that the Furious Five grudgingly began to pay to him as the movie progressed? How did she miss the fact that his irrational and ingenious persistence "accidentally" put him in the position to be chosen as the unlikely Dragon Warrior? The dialogue even spelled it out, and still the Times reviewer missed it: "I'm not a big, fat panda. I'm THE Big, Fat Panda!" The Big, Fat Panda indeed. Kudos to Dreamworks, Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, and Jackie Chan. Well done. Posted at 11:40 PM Permalink | | Spoilers (if any) | | Wed - May 21, 2008"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" Mini-reviewThe Professor gives it an
A.
Better than the first film. A MUCH darker story, and darker than the book as well. Not as preachy, either. Effects are at the same excellent level. Worthwhile, though if you're into the allegorical and sanitized it may not be for you. Posted at 06:35 AM Permalink | | Spoilers (if any) | | Tue - May 20, 2008About Two Hours -- Plus IntermissionThe Hubby took me to see a production of "Fahrenheit 451" Saturday night.
It was the same theater company as last
time, produced by Ray Bradbury himself (though The Master was not
there; sometimes he is, and sometimes not, evidently. Oh
well.)
Given the association with Bradbury, I will take the following quote from the director in the program as being a semi-official view: Q: What is "Fahrenheit 451" about?And it's not. Two hours of play, and three hours of conversation afterwards. Most worthwhile. Posted at 05:59 AM Permalink | | Spoilers (if any) | | Thu - May 15, 2008"The Forbidden Kingdom" Mini-ReviewThe Professor gives it an
A+.
Go see this film. Go for the skillful skewering of all the Chinese Martial Arts movies extant. If you've never seen a martial arts movie in your life, go for the great story, the skillful acting, the workmanlike cinematography, the subtle detail. Go for the fight sequences like graceful dance. Then go again. I have. Posted at 06:15 AM Permalink | | Spoilers (if any) | | Sun - May 4, 2008"Made of Honor" Mini-ReviewThe Professor gives it a
C+.
I did laugh a lot. It's hard to give a really bad grade to a comedy that makes me laugh. OTOH, much of that laughter was due to embarrassment. And the Scottish Parliament should really protest this one for its remarkably cliche-ridden and offensive portrayal of Scots culture... In fact, cliche-ridden is the best description for this. Don't go expecting originality, because it has none. Go expecting a funny-once romantic comedy, and you won't be disappointed. Posted at 10:44 PM Permalink | | Spoilers (if any) | | Sat - March 1, 2008"The Other Boleyn Girl" ReviewThe Professor gives it a
D.
 IMDB plot synopsis: Two sisters contend for the affection of King Henry VIII. Oh my gawd. Gag me with a spoon. For sure. The costumes were gorgeous. The cinematography, interesting (although some hand-held, jerky shots rather jarred.) I'm trying to find something more nice to say, but I'm grasping at straws, here. Let's put it this way. Someone in the audience was zapping the screen with a laser pointer. There were nervous giggles from the audience at the intended "points of tension." And, given that it's a historical about Anne Boleyn -- the "eeuuuww"s from the audience were NOT about the executions. That's all I'm sayin'. And could Natalie Portman have chewed more scenery? Could Scarlett Johannsen have been more sweetly insipid? Gack. Yes, it's worse than "The Spiderwick Chronicles," which were merely formulaic and boring. I am not going out to buy the novel. Save your money. Posted at 10:44 PM Permalink | | Spoilers (if any) | | Mon - February 18, 2008"The Spiderwick Chronicles" ReviewThe Professor gives it a
C.
 IMDB plot outline: Upon moving into the run-down Spiderwick Estate with their mother, twin brothers Jared and Simon Grace, along with their sister Mallory, find themselves pulled into an alternate world full of faeries and other creatures. Lest you think that my life is a vast ocean of angst and depression, there are occasional islands of delight. Last Friday, for example, I took myself on an Artist's Date. I stayed in downtown Pasadena after my work day ended; I had a delicious if inexpensive meal at Rubio's. I found a pair of warm, fuzzy slippers on closeout at DSW. Then my island of delight ended at the shark-infested waters of "Spiderwick." Ho-hum. The Kid With Serious Behavior Problems Saves His Family And The World (tm). A pity that some decent performances and excellent animation were wasted on this bow-wow of a script. I was trying to look at my watch before I was 20 minutes into the film (I think; my glow-in-the-dark watch needs repair, darn it.) I should have known what I was in for the moment I saw that Nickelodeon was one of the production companies. It would have made a decent TV movie. Only the animation saves this from being a D. But unless your taste runs to "How DID they animate the Sylphs?" I'd suggest giving this a pass. Posted at 11:10 PM Permalink | | Spoilers (if any) | | Mon - February 4, 2008Encounter with the MasterSaturday night, the Hubby took me out to a small
live theater. This is one of his favorite things, with which I go along, since
generally I prefer movies. But, there are LOTS of small live theaters in Los
Angeles (surprised? Take that, you New York snobs...) For Saturday, the hubby
had gotten tix for a production of three one-act plays by Ray Bradbury.
We were expecting the usual enthusiastic low-budget production by aspiring
actors honing their craft. We sat in the second row, behind the wheelchair
cutout, waiting for the curtain, when we would be less than 10 feet from the
action.
But wait, what's this? Every curriculum vitae on the program had tons of credits... in Ray Bradbury productions. The Master himself was listed as co-producer. And just before the curtain rose, a white-haired, elderly gentleman was wheeled into the cutout in front of us. Yes, we spent the evening behind Ray Bradbury, listening to him discuss upcoming library visits and long-past play productions. And after the final curtain, Hubby bought a copy of one of Bradbury's books for me, so that I could get his autograph. By that time, I was such a puddle of hopeless fangirl goo that I was afraid to converse with the man, as my usual crisp General American speech had reverted to my girlhood South Texas ignorant redneck accent that is damn near incomprehensible north of San Antonio (think Boomhauer from"King of the Hill"). I walked away sobbing and clutching my signed collection of short stories. He's about the last of the SF authors alive who influenced me when I was 10-14 years old, all those years ago in South Texas and later in Oklahoma. Mind you, he wasn't my absolute favorite, as his stuff was comparatively opaque, but he was in the pantheon. Thanks, Universe. And Hubby. That was a nice one. Posted at 06:02 AM Permalink | | Spoilers (if any) | | Thu - August 23, 2007"Stardust" ReviewThe Professor gives it an
A+.
 IMDB.com plot outline: In a countryside town bordering on a magical land, a young man makes a promise to his beloved that he'll retrieve a fallen star by venturing into the magical realm. Wonderful! I've already seen it twice... The logline above is accurate, but does not do it justice. Neither do the TV commercials. It has the humor of "Shrek" without being a parody. It has the charm of a fairy tale without the saccharine blandness inspired by Disney. It remembers that folk tales, after all, had some really terrifying and disgusting stuff in them, without getting bogged down or over-serious. Definitely my "see it many times" movie for 2007 so far. Posted at 12:33 AM Permalink | | Spoilers (if any) | | Mon - February 5, 2007"Pan's Labyrinth" ReviewThe Professor gives it an
A.
 IMDB.com synopsis: "Pan's Labyrinth" is the story of a young girl who travels with her pregnant mother to live with her mother's new husband in a rural area up North in Spain, 1944, after Franco's victory. The girl lives in an imaginary world of her own creation and faces the real world with much chagrin. Post-war Fascist repression is at its height in rural Spain and the girl must come to terms with that through a fable of her own. Erm... I'm not so sure I agree with the IMDB synopsis. It's one way to look at the story, and covers the major events without spoilers, so I suppose I'll let it stand-- but the "imaginary" world has a lot of "real" world effects... This is not a movie for kiddies. If you don't believe me, believe the R rating which it richly deserves. I am not a fan of horror or gory films in general, and there are parts of this movie during which I was peeking through my fingers at the screen. The story is not straightforward. It can be taken on many levels -- allegory, anti-war propaganda, folk tale, ... and I'm sure this was intended. Señor Del Toro has written a story in which you can't just root for the good guys and boo the bad guys. Who ARE the good guys? The insurgents? But the film makes clear that their methods are hardly better than those of the Franco regime. The Fair Folk that Ofelia encounters? But the Unseen World has brutality that matches that of the mundane world. Perhaps the only good guys are those who are yet too young to have gone really bad... though even they can make mistakes. Visually, the film has a dark, brooding design which suits its difficult theme. The images of the labyrinth in particular hark back to both pre-Christian mythology and to early Christian architecture, in which the labyrinth as a spiritual tool figures prominently. Yes, it's all symbolic. Truly the opposite end of the fantasy spectrum from the facile good/evil of Eragon and the prettified fairy tales of Disney, go to this prepared to think and wonder at its conundrums, and you will be rewarded. Posted at 06:23 AM Permalink | | Spoilers (if any) | | Tue - January 16, 2007"Happily N'ever After" ReviewThe ex-Professor gives it a
B.
 IMDB.com plot summary: An alliance of evil-doers, led by Frieda [the evil stepmother], looks to take over Fairy Tale Land. But when Cinderella realizes her stepmother is out to ruin her storybook existence, she takes a dramatic turn and blossoms into the leader of the resistance effort. I actually enjoyed this slightly more than "Arthur and the Invisibles." The animation wasn't nearly as good -- but the plot could at least be followed. In fact, it was possible to be way out ahead of the plot, waiting for the predictable lines... I could think of a couple of twists easily to make the ending less predictable and more amusing. It's something to take the kids to, if they're not too sophisticated on storylines. OTOH, you could go see "Happy Feet" again before it disappears from theaters totally on Friday-- a much better option. Posted at 07:06 AM Permalink | | Spoilers (if any) | | |
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