Christ Centered Gamer

Star Wars: The Clone Wars 8.5/10

I liked it, the animation was a little weird but I never got bored during the movie so it had to have been good.

Ha, I've seen Pineapple Express twice too iamscott! Love that movie! I'm going straight from my college campus the day it comes out and I'm BUYING IT!

I just saw Tropic Thunder. Again. It's probably Ben Stiller's best movie, for two reasons: Robert Downey, Jr. and Tom Cruise. I used to be a Cruise hater, but he was so incredibly funny (and almost unrecognizable) as the owner of a studio in this. He had me rolling on the floor with laughter. Just the fact that the actors don't mind making fun of themselves makes it hilarious. And the fake trailers before the movie were priceless.

So I did it. I saw The Last Samurai again.

I'm curious as to how the film has poor direction; this isn't a bait for an argument, but simply a request. I'd be very curious to see why, exactly, it does.

As for my feelings about the movie, they go something like this. The cinematography was majestic, recalling both Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Legends of the Fall. The music was epic and triumphant, and while this was suitable, the tone of the film felt far more melancholy. In meeting with that, the score only did so once, as the main character was getting dressed for the final battle.

No, this isn't Gladiator. No, it's not Apocalypse Now. And it's not Dances With Wolves. But it's a film that has a place, a message and, perhaps most importantly, a story to tell. That story, though clunky in a couple of spots, ended up being elegantly beautiful, resulting in the film being an elegiac tribute to a bygone era, a bygone culture.

If there is any fault with this film, beyond the patches of clunkiness within the story, it lies on the shoulders of Tom Cruise and the homages to Asiatic filmmaking tradition. Cruise is, perhaps, too big of a star for this movie; his acting was the best that I've seen it since Rain Man, but that doesn't mean anything when the viewer sees Tom Cruise. Add into that sometimes flaw some misplaced homages to Asian cinema (i.e., ninjas jumping through a paper door... what?), and this film becomes something that it wasn't meant to be.

B+

Rain Man

Wow. Just wow. I saw it four years ago, but this time I was really able to appreciate just what a fantastic film this is. I have to give as much credit to Tom Cruise as Dustin Hoffman, as both of them made their characters completely believable. But still. What Hoffman did was a true achievement in acting.

Yeah. This is a classic.

A

The Condemned.

It's an interesting movie--it turned out to be way more than I expected it to be. Rather than the mindless action ride that was The Marine (another WWE film, and a lot of fun to boot), this is a gritty, violent picture that goes surprisingly deep into criticizing our lust for violence. For those of you that don't know, this film is about a multimillionaire who takes 10 death row prisoners to an island rigged with cameras and has them fight to the death as a game show for the whole world to watch. One will leave alive. The problem here is that the movie's camera doesn't bother to look away (luckily it did before a rape scene, but it kept watching during plenty of brutal beatings and tons of other violence), making it just a bit hypocritical. On the other hand, it points the finger at us, the viewers, for cheering the vicious pounding of the movie's most brutal character and other deaths that are played for slightly comical effect. But that doesn't change the fact that I (who prides myself on having a strong stomach), had to look away during some sickening brutality. Per se, it wasn't terribly gory, but seeing a man beaten to within an inch of his life is something that should not ever be shown, even if used as a device to preach a little social commentary. Besides the two scenes that I had to skip, the rest of the movie is pretty good as an action flick. B-

Collateral



This movie... was beautiful.

A

Harold and Kumar: Escape From Guantanamo Bay

Uhm. Wow. Part of me can't believe I kept watching it. It was far more inappropriate than the first one. It wasn't quite as funny, either. On the other hand... there seemed to be a lot more thought put into it... as well as character development and relationship. Bizarre, I know... to think of a stoner comedy as one that has a bit of political satire and shows the significance of valuing friendships.

Well, last night I stayed the night at a friends house and we watched Napoleon Dynamite. It's a very funny movie, but after a while it gets kinda old.

Napoleon Dynamite irritates me.

I just watched Office Space. One of the best comedies ever made.

CountKrazy wrote:Collateral



This movie... was beautiful.

A

You finally saw it?

My happiness is happy.

Heartless_Gentleman wrote:Napoleon Dynamite irritates me.

I just watched Office Space. One of the best comedies ever made.

Amen to both sentiments, brother.

Be Kind Rewind - Meh. The best parts were the not-so-subtle jabs at Blockbuster (I friggin' hate Blockbuster), aside from that it was pretty dull. I didn't even finish watching it, if that says anything. C-

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead - The critics loved this; personally, I thought it was good, but not great. There was something about Ethan Hawke that really got on my nerves, but I think his character was supposed to be that way. B+

I liked Be Kind Rewind a little better than that, but after Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, this one just made me a little sad as I thought of what could have been. And the ending sucked.

The Mummy 3

7/10

Cloverfield. It was ok. Very much a one-trick pony. But at least it was relatively short. There were some pretty cool parts, but the camera was way too erratic even for a movie in this style. I mean, they were trying to be realistic but we had to rewind several times to catch what was happening. Overall I think it was a missed opportunity, the ending was stupid, and it was too violent to be rated PG-13. C

The Shawshank Redemption

My first time seeing it. And it was a beautiful thing. Definitely the masterpiece that I've heard it claimed as. It's just a shame that it came out the same year as Forrest Gump and lost all the Oscars it should have had.

A+