xXx 2: The Next Level (State of the Union)

cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Ice Cube

The good: explosions, explosions!
The bad: Ice Cube replaces Vin Diesel
Xander Cage (Vin Diesel in the previous xXx) is now dead and a replacement is underway. Enter Ice Cube.

Now, I'd rather call Jennifer Lopez an actress than Ice Cube an actor. From Torque, to Ghost of Mars, to Anaconda, Ice Cube always manages to irritate me. Thankfully, there's not many Ice Cube (and his dialogue) in the film so that's atleast good.

The plot is paper-thin and the slightly-experienced movie-goer will probably guess the future events during a critical plot twist. But this is rather a good thing because the previous xXx got busy with a lot of mindless talk and not enough action. This sequel ups the ante of the action and drops down on the talking, thank you very much (hey, its fun not to think in a movie once in a while)! What you'll get are a lot of silly stunts, extreme explosions, shooting galore and a sense of lil bit of amnesia after you exit the theatre (you'll forget about the film the second you walk out of it).

The problem comes in two folds. First, Ice Cube is no Vin Diesel. The first movie was pathetically laughable but it HAD Vin Diesel. It was idiotic but it HAD Vin Diesel. These one is generally better but HAS NO Riddick!
Second, the explosions, stunts, and visually-helped action scenes are ridiculous to the point of absurdity. I'm no military expert but Tom Clacny tells me a few things. Tanks cannot evade turret shots of other tanks like an F1 car. Tanks cannot be made subject to jet conveyors (you know, the ones in aircraft carriers) because their too friggin heavy. Cars do not get additional speed when they lose their tires and run instead on a bullet train track. Tanks cannot be lifted by the things you use when setting up your private vehicles. Top-secret defense installations have guards (lots of guards with heavy firepower, not flimsy pea shooters!).

But if you ignore all these things, well then watch as long as you dont bring your girlfriend with you. (3/5)

*Fun Fact: I already forgot the movie and everything in it. Triple what?

The Jacket

cast: Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley

The good: Adrien Brody's acting
The bad: disappoints beyond measure
Movies with a great premise but with poor execution greatly breaks my heart for when you get excited about the possibilities of storytelling, you end up getting just a grandmother tale.

The Jacket is about a soldier who nearly (or did he?) dies during the war and returns to the US only to be stricken with a bad dose of luck when he gets wrongfully acussed of murder. Fortunately, he escapes jail time on an insanity defense but gets sent into a mental hospital instead. In here, one of the doctors places him in a severely unorthodox method where he is put on a straight jacket and locked up in a morgue cabinet for a few hours. The interesting part is that he travels through time (or does he?) into the future and meets up with the girl (now a lady in keira) who he helped just before the murder incident he was accused of.

Interesting and intriguing to be sure but the elements just dont fall into place. Psychologically, adrien's character is clearly not insane although the director tries nonentheless to try to stir things up a bit. Sci-fi wise, the time travelling isnt explained nor even hinted at, it just happens. No clues aside from the aforementioned insanity clause which doesnt work because adrien is obviously not insane. Therefore, the movie is just suspenseful enough to hold you till the credits are rolling but doesnt make you think (well, actually it does because you'd be wandering what the hell is happenning) or flinch in your seats.

To add to the confusion, adrien experiences a sort of visual recounting of events that happened before because he is now an amnesiac which does nothing to heighten the tension but only serves to irritate with its length and terrorizing-to-my-ears sounds. All in all, The Jacket is a good project handed over to the wrong team. (2/5)

*Fun Fact: Keira Knightley is only 20 years old and sure doesnt look like it.

Ring of the Nibelungs (Kingdom in Twilight)

cast: Kristanna Loken

The good: good set design, costumes
The bad: lackluster story
At first glance, one will think the movie is nothing more than a cheap LOTR rip-off. Well, supposedly this was one of the inspirations of author Tolkien for writing the multiple oscar-winning trilogy so you would think an action packed, epic tale is in the cards? Well wrong!

Nibelungs is more a romance tale than a typical fantasy flick. The story centers around 4 individuals, all of whom are of royal blood, entangled in a love quadrangle. So what starts of as an interesting fantasy action epci degenerates into a lot of dull, boring conversations. To its credit, the romance part doesnt really start until about 45 minutes into the film which means that 45 minutes is all the enjoyment that you will get.

After the hero slays a dragon guarding a vast trove of treasures and gold (The Hobbit, the precursor to LOTR finds a similar tale wherein Bilbo Baggins - Frodo's uncle - sneaks into the lair of the dragon Smaug to find lots of treasures) and thus gets the titular Ring of the Nibelungs, the movie goes straight downhill. Nevermind the bathing in the dragon blood for the hero thus clothing him with an impenetrable skin with a slight weakness of course because a leaf fell on his upper back before he took a dip into the dragon blood (Achilles of the Iliad had the same predicament, remember the achilles heel?) because no more action will be witnessed. Well there is still some but their minor and boring.

Even the Ring doesnt really fit into the story because as i've said, much of the story revolves around the love between the king, the other king, the sister of the king, and the far-away queen. Its a mess so dont bother to ask.

Bad things aside, the film does sport fairly decent production values with good sceneries, props, and costumes. They even managed to pull of the army vs army scene not unlike troy or alexander but sadly the scene is wasted because no battle actually takes place.

If you're looking for fantasy action, watch again LOTR. Romance? Look for crappy J-lo movies. (2/5)

*Fun Fact: Samuel West, who plays King Gunther in the film is none other than Frankenstein in Hugh Jackman's Van Helsing.

Finding Neverland

cast: Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet

The good: moving, touching, awe-inspiring
The bad: ...
Everyone loves Peter Pan so everyone should see this film about how author JM Barrie created him. Nominated for best film in the concluded 77th oscars, this film earned wondrous praise from the harshest critics and rightfully so as this is one of the best dramas you'll ever enjoy.

Johnny Depp is probably the best actor of our generation and he shines alongside Kate Winslet and his story kids with a display of amazing sense of character. Johnny Depp is JM Barrie in this film and it is utterly believable. The acting by the supporting actors are also top-notch particularly young british actor Freddie Highmore as Peter, from which Barrie derived the name Peter Pan.

Furthermore, the production design plus the costumes brilliantly transports viewers to JM Barrie's time creating a sense of closeness and relation. The creative ways of melding the story as it happened and how Barrie imagined it coupled with the inspiring music will make your skin hair rise.

Wonderfully scripted, directed, orchestrated, acted, and shot, this film is a crowning achievement and would move any sane person into tears. From the 5 nominated for best film in the last oscars, I already saw The Aviator and Million Dollar Baby plus this one. Of the three, I'd have to give the statue to this one. (5/5)

*Fun Fact: Freddie Highmore will appear alongside Johhny Depp once more in the upcoming Tim Burton flick, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Also, Finding Neverland was nominated for a total 7 oscars and one for best original score.

Guess Who?

cast: Ashton Kutcher, Bernie Mac

The good: charming performances by lead actors
The bad: not enough laughs
When a black girl finally introduces to his strict father her long-time boyfriend, events take a turn for the worse as the father finds out that the boyfriend is white!

This is the story of Guess Who starring Ashton Kutcher as the boyfriend and Bernie Mac as the father. At its heart, this is just an ordinary romcom (romance/comedy) perfect for that date you've been thinking about. And as you would expect from the premise of the flick, there's plenty of white guy vs. black guy humor which fortunately isnt taken to such a level as to make it offensive for either race.

Sadly, that conservatism also proves to be unfortunate as there's few big laughs in the film. There could have been more Ashton and Bernie moments which are the highlight of the film. In fact, the girlfriend and the wife could have been sent to a vacation and no one would care. Strong and charming performances from the two leads make the film very enjoyable for the casual movie goer. (3/5)

*Fun Fact: Zoe Saldana, who plays Ashton's girlfriend, is the immigration girl from The Terminal and the rowdy pirate from Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl...

Sahara

cast: Matthew whats-his-name, Penelope Cruz, Steve Zahn, William H. Macy

The good: steve zahn humor
The bad: lack of focus
Adventure films are a dime a dozen and few rise up to the occasion. Sadly, Sahara is not one of the few as its nothing more than a sub-par, thrill-free, confused romp through boring locales.

At first glance, Sahara might seem like a rip-off of Nicolas Cage's excellent National Treasure which was inspired by semi-historical civil war period America. Dirk Pitt (Matthew McConaughey), is a treasure hunter who is out to find a legendary iron-clad boat from the civil war era which is believed to have been shipwrecked somewhere in Africa. Now, this premise is quite tasty but the whole movie isnt really about this tasty plot, but rather about a bland save the world from pollution plot with the usual evil businessmen conniving with evil tyrant.

The film, therefore, goes in two directions as Dirk with partner Al (steve Zahn) sets out to find the ship while Eva (Penelope Cruz), a WHO doctor, tries to find the curse of a "plague" which is infecting the local populace.
Obviously, the two points somehow meet but to the expense of an extremely boring and slow-moving middle part. Besides, what few action scenes the movie has are quite frankly boring and not up to the pace of even standard act/adv films.

There's precious little dialogue which is sad because what this movie needs is more references to the history which semi-inspired it just like National Treasure did. If there is a saving grace it is the slight humor which Steve Zahn conveys. While Matthew seems like a paperboard character, Steve is alive and entertaining.

Overall though, this film aint worthy of your ticket money. Watch one year from now in HBO or wowow instead. (2/5)

*Fun Fact: Lambert Wilson, who plays evil businessman Massarde in the film is, of course, the all-too frence Meruvingian from the Matrix flicks.

Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi )

The good: overabundance of creativity
The bad: lame ending
Its rare to see a japanese film being recognized in the academy awards. Blame it on the still apparent discrimination agaisnt animated films of foreign origin. While they go about handing awards to mediocre animation like the incredibles, they ignore deliberately all those from the other side of the pond. But this isnt supposed to be a complain-complain post so I'll get to the film.

Spirited Away blew audiences away with its splendid animation beauty, its superbly crafted story, its level of detail and creativity and amazing sense of exploration. It finally put a Japanese anime film into the pedestal of the aforementioned awards body by winning the oscar for best animated film back in 2002 (i think).

This studio ghibli film from director hayao miyazaki chronicles the events that chihiro, a ordinary girl, witnessed and experienced during a chance trip into a otherworldy setting. She soon finds out that the world she has trespassed into is full of mystery, adventure, character, and for anime virgins, weirdness. Her parents, for example, get turned into pigs when they ate food from that strange realm. She then sets out in finding a way to survive in this world while simultaneously finding a cure for her parents.

Breathtaking is simply the right word to describe this film. The level of creativity bubbling from every scene is downright staggering! This film will bring out the best in every person's creative mind. And its not all art either, the story is simple but sweet. It doesnt babble on serious themes like other studio ghibli films but rather celebrates this world. True, the setting of the story is on another realm, but it is clear that the exagerrated potrayal of its environs is a reference to our own world, with all its beauty and variety. Those who are open-minded enough to try an animated film which doesnt rely on boring humor and 3d generated visuals would be stupid to pass off this classic of an anime. (5/5)

*Fun Fact: Back in '02, Spirited Away not only won the oscar for best animated film but also won all the categories in which it was nominated including best film in the Annie awards - the animation equivalent of the grammys for music. Its currently top 39 in the IMDB top 250 best films of all time.

Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka)

The good: fantastic story thriving with deep emotional overtones
The bad: to be honest, can't think of anything
I just watched a japanese animated film called "grave of the fireflies". been itching to get my hands on this title for a long time. thanks to my personal supplier landon for the dvd. anyway, this film was released like ages ago (1988 i think) but the quality of its entirety remains intact up to this day.

the film is set during world war 2 at war-torn japan. it features two kids (setsuko and seita) who gets orphaned when their military father died at sea and their mother getting killed during an air raid. needless to say, they have to depend solely on each other for survival. the ensuing scenes throughout the whole film screams with emotion, reality, and tremendous message. Everybody should just see this movie. Its not only one of the best anime films ever, its one of the best films ever. (5/5)

*Fun Fact: Acclaimed film critic Roger Ebert called this film one of the best war films of all time. IMDB lists this film as the top 151 of the 250 best films of all time.

The Ring 2: Samara

cast: Naomi Watts, David Dorfman

The good: tell me if there's any
The bad: no thrills, no frills, no anything
I hate to bash on the directing quality of this movie because it was directed by a japanese - a hideo nakata I think. But the poorness of the directing is apparent in its entirety and it alone proves to be this film's downfall. scenes are dragging, nonsensical, and leaves a "what is happening?" taste to the viewers. the poor acting by lead Naomi Watts also drives another nail into the coffin. Her character is stupid enough and her acting just compounds it.

one example of this movie's stupidity: naomi watts discovers that samara is back to her cruel ways when she finds out that a copy of the "videotape" has emerged. she burns the tape hoping samara will go the way of the dinosaur which is stupid because since when did the paranormal get affected by burning? in any other horror flick this might have been a little bit believable, but with the backstory of the original The Ring, its hard to believe that the character would actually believe that this would end the curse. moving on, her child gets all weird and wouldnt want to talk to her. she senses the problem but doesnt do anything. come on girl its samara!

later on, she sees samara in her son's room and a burning tree figure in their ceiling. of course they go out but she still doesnt seem to have a clue as to what's going on. horror flicks are almost always stupid but this one goes way overboard.

even if you're a fan of the ring series, this doesnt really add to the mythos. nothing new in terms of the tale is added and its just plain dissapointing. watch the jap versions instead. (2/5)

*Fun Fact: David Dorfman, who plays Aidan (the kid) in the movie is also the weird kid from Texas Chainsaw Massacre...

some intro...

i'm a self-confessed pop culture junkie. I love movies, books and videogames and i'm recently into anime and certain tv shows.

i've been into these stuff for as long as i can remember so i decided to keep a log of my pop culture happenings so check this blog out from time to time because im gonna update it often.

i'll review movies that I watched or movies which I have watched before, also animes and tv shows. i'll also review games and books as well as list what's been happening with my quest to experience as much pop culture as possible.

i have another blog, master-ryu.blogspot.com, and that's more of the serious stuff. check it out also. see ya! and feel free to voice out your opinions or comments!