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Some time ago we made the decision to stop posting to this blog in favor of placing our movie reviews on Doug's main blog:


JeepCruzer.com


We'll look forward to seeing you there.

Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)

Three of Five Stars

Interesting wrap up to the saga. Turned out to be a less compelling story oveall though.

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

Four Stars
Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen

Details coming soon, for now, WOW! What a great movie!

Finding Neverland

Three and one half stars
Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet

This was a wonderful movie in most every respect. A story based in reality regarding a beloved tale with a creative exposition of the plot. The supporting cast was excellent and executed thier jobs beautifully.

The only thing that kept me from granting this film a four star rating was the overuse of artful forshadowing. The climax of the film is impending for quite some time and there are several instances that lead you to belive that a poetic end has come to the film. There were enough that when that ultimate poetic end arrives, it was less distinct and powerful than it night have been otherwise.

Hulk

One Star
Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly

Wow, what a crappy movie. The plot is bloated, the motivations hollow, the story boaring and Bana and Connelly are HORRIBLE in this movie. They perform as though they have a permanat haze around them, forcing them to speak in a intospective monotonous voice.

In contrast the supporting cast is over the top and unrealistic, becoming aggrivating and irritiating by the end of the film. Ang Lee let me down in this film as he tried to conquer a "Mulit Point Of View" layout in many sequences. The seemed to me more of a mickey mouse reach at a unique feel than a full fleged vision. Hannah wondered if he was trying to bring a comic book feeling to movie. If this was the case, it would have been more worth while to make a good movie, than remind the audience that your movie is based on a comic book character.

Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Two Stars
Uma Thurman

I was excited to see Kill Bill (1) and anticipated a love affair with this movie so many people had raved about. I think however that the only people who saw this film must have started out Terentino fans, becasue this, his latest directorial offering, left me like his other films - feeling mediocre.

Kill Bill (1) felt like Pulp Fiction on steroids with a twist of kung fu. Terentino takes you on one his patented flashback roller coaster rides. For me this served to make my overall view of film favorable, but make the smaller sections distracting and confusing. It's always entertaining to see how he rolls everthing up at the end though, and in this case, it was more intriging to see him forshadow the second half of the saga, Vol. 2.

The best part of the movie was The Bride's pilgimage to Japan to seekout a renown blade maker. This portion of the film carries some great comedic interludes and is punctuated by Japaneese martial arts mysticisim with overtones of samurai honor and religious devotion.

Relative Values

Two and one half stars
Colin Firth, Julie Andrews

Relative Values is realativly enjoyable. A comedy manners based on the glory days of Hollywood and the englishman's view of the industry as it collides with the propriety of thier world. Julie Andrews is really the saving grace in this film. She offers a compelling performance and warms your heat even when being brash. Playing Andrews Nephew in the film, Collin Firth is the perfect sounding board for her without being lost in her lime light. Firth is delightfully boisterous in a role similar to others he's played.

There are many gems in this film and perhaps that's the real joy in watching becasue the plot is not thick, and the resolution not unique. In fact I rated this film a low as I did becasue it hugs tightly to a genre for it's bread and butter. There is little appeal if you are not a fan of films involving english nobility, thier servants, and the quirks of these relatoinships.

Wimbledon

Two and one half stars
Kirsten Dunst, Sam Neil

Tennis never seemed this fun while I was playing it. Of course, I didn't know any Kirsten Dunst's either. The best part of Wimbledon is that it knows what it wants to be and does it well. It is first a Tennis movie, and more so a movie about the grandest of the grand slam's. The romance is secondary and the writers and producers hold true to this formula. Becasue of this, the romance is true and chemistry is good and moreover it doesn't feel contrived because the characters are true. I was almost ready to go for three stars, but Dunst is still learning to work the kinks out of her performace and there are a couple scenes that don't follow the flow or let effects distract from that flow so I withheld a half star.

Mona Lisa Smile

Two Stars
Julia Roberts

I'm not a big fan of the women that star in this movie and I'm not a big fan of the "Prep school professor" genre. This movie however had a little something extra that made it enjoyable. There was a poingiant whit that gave an edge to a story we've seen before, but not through these eyes. It wasn't wonderful, but suprisingly, I enjoyed Mona Lisa Smile.

Out of Time

One Star
Denzel Washington

This movie was more predictable than my daughters cartoons. It had more forced and contrived false suspense than any movie I've seen. It was filled with more inplauseablities than the Michale Jackson trial. This was NOT a good movie. Poor Denzel, he's such a great actor, I guess he needs a new agent.

Ray

2 and one half stars
Jamie Foxx

Jamie Foxx rightly deserved an Oscar for this portrayal of this music mogul. The movie was fascinating and engaging but not enjoyable. There was no redeaming value to this film. I was rivited to the screen and enthralled with the music but there was no feeling at the conclusion that made me feel like I was glad I watched this movie. I do not advocate a buble gum happy ending - becasue surely this is not a part of Ray Charles later years. I really don't think the movie could have been made any other way but I also can't draw any other outlook on the film I watched. It is what it is and I recomend it.

The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

One Star

Oh man, we've got the Three "C's" going on here. Corney, Contrived, Crappy. The first movie wasn't great but it was quaint and it had Julie Andrews. This movie has lots of everything that was bad about the first film and only one thing going for it: Julie Andrews. Even a bad movie gets a star just for having her on the set.

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

Two Stars

Even for a fun Ben Stiller comedy this movie was lackluster. The story is repetitive to say the least: Stiller plays a wacky, over-the-top character. He has an enemy who is an average joe and comedy ensues. It wasn't enough to keep this story going. There were plenty of great sight gag's, and no one can deny it's funny to watch someone take a hit to the head, but that's really all this movie has going for it. Don't expect much from Dodgeball. Oh, and Thank You, Chuck Norris.

Collateral

Four Stars
Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx

Wow! This movie was more than I expected. It drew me in and wouldn't let go. The resolution was fascinating the execution was smooth and flawless and I loved the charecters at the heart of this movie. I loved that we focus in on Foxx and Cruise and let the chemistry the create move the show along. Both give outstanding performances and I think Foxx deserved to win an Oscar for his rendering of that charater.

The music was haunting, the story was eye opening and the mind bending morality debate was truly inspiring. There were a couple times the cop's side of this movie threatened to runaway but the writers and producers remain true to the heat of the story. Crusie seems to be selecting scripts in a certain vein lately and appreciate his tastes.

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Two Stars
Will Farrell, Christina Applegate

The best way to describe Anchorman is "It's a Will Farrell movie." Not his funniest work, but there's some great jokes here. a lot of worthless plot lines and bloated dialoge milk the jokes to exhaustion and the cameos are so plentiful they cease to be quaint and funny.

I have been told that when it come to life in a news room there is a grain of truth to every scene in this film and that's where the true fun and hunmor of this movie lies. Each time they leave the studio, it's just not that funny anymore.