Posts Tagged ‘Summer

04
Jun
11

This X-Men Movie is First Class!

By Yoda808 2 Comments
Categories: Now Playing
Tags: , , , ,

James McAvoy is Professor Charles Xavier . . . the original incepter.

Ladies and gentlemen . . . the summer movie season has officially started! Just got back from a late showing of X-Men First Class and I have to say that I was pretty blown away by the film. I’d been hearing good buzz from the blogosphere, but that didn’t prepare me for how good this movie was going to be. Just how good is X-Men First Class? It’s the first movie of the summer that I want to see again! Here are some quick highlights:

  • THE CHARACTERS: Almost all the characters are portrayed pretty well by the actors. Everyone had be believe that their characters were authentic and I generally felt for each of them when each character faced their own particular hurdle in the film. The two best though definitely anchoring the film had to be . . .
  • THE CHARLES/ERIK RELATIONSHIP: They are arch enemies in the comics, but their history as portrayed in this film I felt was really spot on. They were once friends and we get to see why. Their friendship and relationship felt genuine. However, you could see the train wreck coming the whole time, but you still had to watch and see how they would go their separate ways. McAvoy and Fassbender were great in the two lead roles.
  • AWESOME POWER USE: How the X-Men and mutants in the film used their powers and how those powers were portrayed were really well done. Most of the time power use in the film was for practical application–which was fine because it fit within the story. Sometimes I feel comic book movies overdo power use and make things more than they need to be, especially when CGI and special effects are involved. Thankfully their use of powers was appropriate when necessary and larger than life when necessary.
  • IT FIT WITH X-MEN 1 & 2: This film perfectly lined up with the characters in the first two films which added to the awesomeness of this film–character motivations in future films are apparent in this one. And of course this film fit . . . it was produced by the director of the first two, Bryan Singer.
  • KEVIN BACON: I know, call me crazy, but I liked Kevin Bacon in the villan role. He could have played it SO over the top, but he didn’t. You could have laughed at him because he did Footloose (ok well, you do laugh at that, but then the movie goes on). Again, another good casting choice in my opinion.
So yeah, I’m pretty over the moon about this film, and after having said all that did I find anything wrong or bad with it? Well yeah, there are a few things that didn’t quite fit (accuracy of character origins) and some technical issues (not the greatest CGI in some scenes), but for the most part . . . the awesomeness of the film FAR outweighed any negative aspects.
Definitely fun, and definitely a great summer movie.

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Other Local Reviews:

coconutwireless‘s review at The Tiki Outpost

Myong Choi’s review from Nonstop Honolulu

30
Sep
09

(23) Movies of Summer . . . Part Deux

By Yoda808 Leave a Comment
Categories: Reviews
Tags: , , , , , ,

So my co-blogger posed this question to me last week as she was writing her post and I felt compelled to give my own assessment of the summer. Overall all, I thought Summer 09’ was pretty good, granted this year’s superheroes weren’t Batman or Iron Man sized (see X-Men Origins: Wolverine, or maybe you shouldn’t see it), but there was still a lot of good fare out there with Hangover propping up June and Basterds and D9 closing out summer with a bang. And while the first three movies are the same as hers, our reasons for liking them somewhat differ.

Here in no particular order are my five favorite movies from this summer:

Star Trek

StarTrek_cast

I’ll come right out and say it . . . I’m a Trek guy. Have been since TNG. Wasn’t crazy about TOS, but I have seen all the movies as well. Two, three years ago when I heard that they were doing a reboot and that JJ was at the helm, I was pretty darn excited and I almost knew that this movie was going to be good. Then it came out in May and I actually saw it–I definitely had mixed feelings the first time. However after the second viewing I really warmed up to it. Reboots are never easy but I thought the way they decided to acknowledge the previous version but in the same token go in a new direction was brilliantly done.

(500) Days of Summer

500_Days

This was my surprise “I really enjoyed it” movie of the summer. I had no real expectations going into this movie other than it was a possible “chick flick.” However, the situations that Joseph Gordon Levitt’s character was put though are some things that all guys can relate to at some point and made the movie extremely entertaining. From analyzing the minute details of dating and interacting, to being diluted into seeing what you want to see, to being just frustrated with women–it’s all there. I’ll never listen to Hall & Oates the same way again.

District 9

district9_1

Ok, so not only am I a Trek guy, I’m a sci-fi guy as well. When I first saw the teaser trailer for D9 I knew it was going to be an interesting movie. A documentary style movie about aliens landing and our reaction to them. One of the things I loved about the movie was the setting–it was somewhere other than LA or NYC. I think this helped the film in many ways, one because it was a setting most of us aren’t familiar with both in real life and through movies and two, because of the obvious comparison with apartheid. First time director Neill Blomkamp, with a little help from Peter Jackson, really gave us a gem.

Inglourious Basterds

Basterds

While there’s a possibility that a lot of the movie references in this movie will go over your head, that doesn’t stop you from really enjoying Basterds. The way the story is laid out probably makes this Tarantino’s most conventional movie yet. From the opening “act” where we meet the main antagonist of the movie, we know that this guy is good at what he does–and we should hate him for it. The movie’s title is somewhat misleading as the “Basterds” aren’t really the focus of the movie, but definitely still worth watching and exceeded my expectations.

The Hurt Locker

HurtLocker

I love war films, especially modern day ones, and when I heard that a new Iraqi war film was coming out, one that actually focused on the conflict on the ground, needless to say I was excited. The Hurt Locker is the modern day war movie we’ve been waiting for. It’s not a commentary on ‘should we or shouldn’t we be there.’ It puts you in the trenches, so to speak, with a bomb squad unit as they go about their daily routine and let’s you see what they go through. Jeremy Reiner’s performance is nothing short of amazing and I’m going to be bold enough to say that if this movie doesn’t get AT LEAST two oscar nominations (combo between picture, actor, director, and screenplay) then Hollywood has officially failed!

25
Sep
09

(23) Movies of Summer

By Chi_Ho 1 Comment
Categories: Reviews
Tags: , , , , ,

As of Tuesday, Summer is officially over. Though most movie critics and bloggers have already done their summer 2009 movie recap, I decided I wanted to wait. I wanted to cherish the movie blitz we get from May – August and savor the tastes… both sweet and sour. But now… it is time.

May 2009 | Star Trek

In total, I have seen 23 movies in theater this summer (May 2009-August 2009)… some for work, more for pleasure and is it just me or was this summer like March Madness… you knew which films were favored going into the dance but there were a lot of underdogs that upset the favorites. After 15 min of looking at my list of summer movies, I was able to pick 5 that made this summer worth living for… Here are my top 5:

I’m a girl and I’ve never been a fan of Star Trek… I don’t have a really good reason why… I thought it was boring when we used to watch it on TV (but this was also when I was a little girl playing dress up and sneaking lipstick out of my Moms make-up box). So when they announced that JJ Abrams was doing a Star Trek movie, I just went – “meh”. Opening weekend was a smash and everyone had nothing but great things to say about the film… I still remained “meh”. But finally, I couldn’t avoid it any longer as my fellow Red Band Project blogger convinced me that I needed to see it…so I went… and I lost my socks. I was rocked so hard and sucked in so badly to this movie. It had action, comedy, and a story that really hit home for me(I’m a sucker for time travel). As a n00b to the Star Trek world, I didn’t get any of the lingo but I didn’t leave the theater feeling excluded from the story, which I thought was amazing. It felt like I didn’t miss anything and that this was just the beginning  of my love for Star Trek.

May 2009 | Up

May 2009 | Up

Disney and Pixar… oops you did  it again. Up was such a great film that took me on a roller coaster of emotions… it was the first time that I cried in a movie because I was sad and happy. At first I thought the story was too heavy, but at the very end when everything came full circle, I realized the perfection of the movie. Just thinking about it makes me all fuzzy inside in a sad but happy way. Amazing.

June 2009 | The Proposal

June 2009 | The Proposal

I’m going to be totally honest… I thought The Proposal was going to suck so badly. I had to see it for work (4 times mind you) and I remember the first time I sat through it I went home with a smile on my face.  I was shocked by how well Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock clicked. They were so funny and awkward at the right moments… it felt like real life. I thought Sandra Bullock was going to be too old for this role, but obviously she still got it… I mean, did you see her bod? She gave Ryan Reynold’s a run for his money. I loved it.

August 2009 | District 9

The teasers for District 9 that came out early in the summer did not excite me. I thought it was going to be another stupid sci-fi movie… nothing special. But then I went to Comic Con and Peter Jackson made me a believer. What I loved the most about this film was the evolution of the main character, Wikus. Sharlto Copley was so believable  that I felt like the film could’ve been real life… it really felt like a true documentary. Ok and I will say the same thing that everyone else said, the special effects were awesome. I especially liked the way that people disintegrated when they were shot by alien weapons… very impressive.

July 2009 | (500) Days of Summer

I saved the best for last…. I cannot put into words how much I loved (500) Days of Summer. It was so witty and funny and aggravating at the same time. Can I just say that I looooove Joseph Gordon Levitt (not in G.I. Joe…no.) and have loved him since 10 Things I Hate About You….  I just needed to put that out there.  My favorite scene from this film was the dancing in the street to Hall & Oates “You Make My Dreams Come True”…. *sigh* it was the highlight of my summer of movies. I think this movie was the first enjoyable Chick Flick from the guys perspective. Usually the girl is always the one getting screwed, but it was really refreshing to see it flip-flopped. This was my absolute favorite for the summer and potentially the year.

That’s my 5 favorites… I would write about the movies I hated this summer but it’s not even worth it. You all know which ones sucked… (Dance Flick, Year One, Wolverine… I could go on) and I think we should go into Autumn with only happy thoughts. So instead tell me which films were your favorite. I’ll be checking in.

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