Total Recall I like that instead of a straight remake they changed quite a bit of it. Although the underlying theme, some plot points and the odd line was there it didn't feel like I was watching the same movie with new actors.
Safe Haven They basically just remade Sleeping With the Enemy, except with one of the lamest plot twists I've ever seen involving a ghost. My wife wasn't even that into it.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Finally got around to seeing this one, and I have to say: what is it with Peter Jackson and scenes where people are either falling, sliding, or in danger of falling? He's addicted to the literal cliffhanger, and it just seems even more ridiculous than usual in this flick. Every character in the group probably fell a total of 1,000s of feet during the course of the screenplay, capped off with the goofy domino trees scene right at the end. Overall, it's not a bad movie, but not up to par with the start of LOTR. Jackson just seems more interested in wacky CGI excess (rock-em, sock-em stone giants???) than telling the story. Hopefully Smaug will be the payoff that they're hinting at for the second film...
Act of Valor I'm not sure if the real Navy Seals made this movie better or worse. I thought the beginning sucked but it redeemed itself by the end.
I think using real Navy seals guys made it worse. actors can get trained to do things like that and can act for the rest of the movie. hell, they had their faces covered for the action so what would it matter anyway?
Dark Shadows A bit silly but entertaining enough to watch once I guess. Mama Pretty average but again probably worth a watch once. That is all I have to say on those two, they left such an impression on me.
American Graffiti It might be worth watching for the classic cars and 1960's music. It didn't have much of a plot, and the acting and dialogue were pretty lame. It's supposed to be the quintessential teen comedy, but it only has a few mildly amusing moments, nothing laugh out loud funny. I guess it was meant to represent a simpler time in America, before the Vietnam War. I also fully expect alterego to chime in here, as I'm probably dumping on one of his precious "classics."
You're dumping on Roger Ebert and the American Film Institute. Four stars from Ebert and #43 on the AFI Top 100 comedy list.
If your answer is anything other than Dr. Strangelove, your precious fluids have already been fluoridated!
Ray Harryhausen, one of the more important figures in film FX, passed away today. Even though the stop motion technique he utilized is quite dated in terms of technology, the amount of personality that he got out the characters he animated is still impressive today vs. most contemporary CGI.
Soul Surfer It's based on a true story about a girl getting her arm bitten off by a shark while surfing. Unfortunately the movie tells the story in the most cheesy fashion possible, and with nauseatingly heavy-handed religious overtones.
It's probably obvious to classic movie lovers, but what movies are those shots taken from? I hated stop motion animation as a kid, I freaked me the hell out and looked dodgy. I was really happy the further CGI progressed throughout the 90's... Now, CGI is usually too obvious to me since you don't need 100's of millions of dollars to do it. The worst offenders of CGI were in the late 90's-mid 2000's period. Things are mostly better now, but CGI has become blasé to me. I actually long for more stop motion, and love the creepy feeling of unnatural motion it conveys.
Watched Django Unchained last night. Such a great film. Jaime Foxx great as always. We need more Wild West films.
It's not obvious unless you were a Harryhausen fan. Top is from Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974) and bottom is from 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958).
Thanks, I can imagine in my head how deliciously haunting they would look in motion. I might have to check out those movies when I'm feeling in a mood to watch something classic.
The Sinbad films were kind of like a slightly edgier knockoff of Disney family films of the era, but with lower quality scripts and actors. The Harryhausen sequences are definitely the main draw for those. And Caroline Munroe for Golden Voyage... ;D