Recent theatrical viewings

[Rev. Powell]

MACGRUBER: A cowardly, incompetent ex-80s action hero must save the world from a nuclear warhead.  Action film parody with a few chuckles, a "hero" you can't possibly root for, and lots of grossout scenes.  From a Saturday Night Live skit.  2/5.

[BoyScoutKevin]

Ye-es.

"Robin Hood" w/ Russel Crowe, Cate Blanchett, William Hurt, and Max Von Sydow.

Russel Crowe was an acceptable Robin Hood, but his performance--for me--did not surpass the performances of many of the actors who previously performed in the role.

Cate Blanchett was a good Marian, but did she surpass Olivia De Haviland's and/or Audrey Hepburns performance in the role? No.

Eileen Atkins was a good Queen Eleanor, but did she surpass Katherine Hepburn, who played the character twice, performance? Again no.

And thus it goes. Most of the performances were acceptable, but none of the performances surpassed the previous performances of that particular character.

And the weaknesses?

The villains.
Both the factual and the fictional.

You had to love Oscar Isaac's pefromance as Prince John, but he came nowhere near Claude Rains' performance in the role.

As for Mark Strong as the fictional Godfrey, you really needed someone more like Basil Rathbone's Sir Guy of Gisbourne.

Claude Rains and Basil Rathbone. Now there were two great villains. The brain and the brawn.

And the ending . . . ?

That had to be one of the worst endings I've ever seen for a film. It should have ended with John signing the Magna Carta, which it didn't. Instead, they had to leave an opening for a sequel instead of an ending that was satisfactory.

It was intersting that seemingly from the very beginning they seemed to be trying to make a film that appeared to Scotsmen, Welshmen, women and children. Even though the language, nudity, sex, and especially the violence made it one of the most unacceptable films for children I've seen.

The first are apparently new, but the appeal to women and children was neither new nor original, as there has been . . . "Robin and Marian," "Son of Robin Hood," "Robin Hood, Jr." etc.

Thus call the film an interpretation for 2010, but they have been interpreting and reinterpreting the role since Douglas Fairbanks, sr. took on the role of Robin Hood almost ninety years ago.

And if you are going to reinterpret something, it better surpass the most of the interpretations. And this one doesn't.

Thus, it was not a bad film, but neither was it that good, just mediocre. Like so many of the films I saw this year and last.

While I can't totally recommend the film, I can recommend the paperback tie-in by Davud B. Coe. As like many book tie-ins to a film, it fills in plot holes and adds added depth to the characters.

[Newt]

Thus call the film an interpretation for 2010...it was not a bad film, but neither was it that good, just mediocre. Like so many of the films I saw this year and last.

Sounds about right then: as an interpretation for 2010.

[HappyGilmore]

MACGRUBER: A cowardly, incompetent ex-80s action hero must save the world from a nuclear warhead.  Action film parody with a few chuckles, a "hero" you can't possibly root for, and lots of grossout scenes.  From a Saturday Night Live skit.  2/5.

Personally, I'd rank it a little higher.  Maybe 3.5/5.  Val Kilmer gave a few laughs in it.  MacGruber using his partner as a human bulletproof vest, always removing his car stereo so it doesn't get stolen, the celery as a distraction bit, and finally getting his revenge on the owner of the car who made fun of his car.

[Jim H]

I just saw Clash of the Titans (2010).  I ended up enjoying it a bit more than I expect to.  Probably helped that I saw it with a free ticket thing.

Liam Neeson is well-cast as Zeus, but he has literally like 10 lines.  Hades has like 15.  It's kind of strange having big name actors in these parts with very expensive costuming and heavily featured in the ads, but then they have such small amounts of screen time. 

Otherwise..  Perseus in this one is a very bland character.  He has no real motivation other than revenge.  Sam Worthington is OK in the part, but he isn't given anything to work with - for some perspective, his character in Avatar is similarly played but more fleshed out (despite still being a pretty flat character).  He has several guys that go with him, and even a monstrous character that teams up with him, and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM is a more compelling character.  So are all the villains.  This is a very common problem in newer films, and even books (like the Harry Potter books, where Harry himself is the blandest character in the entire series, right down to minor supporting characters). 

I understand the need to have a grounded character, but that doesn't mean make him boring. 

Plotwise, it's kind of eh.  Follows a similar structure to the original.  The new twists involving the god's source of power seems strange to me.  Just, kind of blah.

Still, there are some entertaining action sequences, a few good CG beasties, and even though the lead is boring, many of the side characters are worth watching (I liked the djinn best).

6/10.

[Rev. Powell]

MACGRUBER: A cowardly, incompetent ex-80s action hero must save the world from a nuclear warhead.  Action film parody with a few chuckles, a "hero" you can't possibly root for, and lots of grossout scenes.  From a Saturday Night Live skit.  2/5.

Personally, I'd rank it a little higher.  Maybe 3.5/5.  Val Kilmer gave a few laughs in it.  MacGruber using his partner as a human bulletproof vest, always removing his car stereo so it doesn't get stolen, the celery as a distraction bit, and finally getting his revenge on the owner of the car who made fun of his car.

I could be talked into going as high as 2.5, but no higher!  You mentioned most of the funny parts.  I laughed out loud a few times, but that was it.  Would have been OK as a DVD rental, not worth the price of a matinee ticket IMO.   

[HappyGilmore]

MACGRUBER: A cowardly, incompetent ex-80s action hero must save the world from a nuclear warhead.  Action film parody with a few chuckles, a "hero" you can't possibly root for, and lots of grossout scenes.  From a Saturday Night Live skit.  2/5.

Personally, I'd rank it a little higher.  Maybe 3.5/5.  Val Kilmer gave a few laughs in it.  MacGruber using his partner as a human bulletproof vest, always removing his car stereo so it doesn't get stolen, the celery as a distraction bit, and finally getting his revenge on the owner of the car who made fun of his car.

I could be talked into going as high as 2.5, but no higher!  You mentioned most of the funny parts.  I laughed out loud a few times, but that was it.  Would have been OK as a DVD rental, not worth the price of a matinee ticket IMO.   

Prices at the movies are insane.  Paid $9.50 just for the ticket.  Went to get a SMALL soda and it was $3.95 and I just laughed at the girl, walking away not buying it.  Me personally, I thought it was worth it, but I'm a fan of the skits on SNL (which, if you've never seen, all last about 45 seconds and end with him blowing up.)  The fact that they were somehow able to stretch it into a 90 minute film that's more than him just blowing up gets some credit in my opinon.

Granted, it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I will be buying the dvd.

[Rev. Powell]

MACGRUBER: A cowardly, incompetent ex-80s action hero must save the world from a nuclear warhead.  Action film parody with a few chuckles, a "hero" you can't possibly root for, and lots of grossout scenes.  From a Saturday Night Live skit.  2/5.

Personally, I'd rank it a little higher.  Maybe 3.5/5.  Val Kilmer gave a few laughs in it.  MacGruber using his partner as a human bulletproof vest, always removing his car stereo so it doesn't get stolen, the celery as a distraction bit, and finally getting his revenge on the owner of the car who made fun of his car.

I could be talked into going as high as 2.5, but no higher!  You mentioned most of the funny parts.  I laughed out loud a few times, but that was it.  Would have been OK as a DVD rental, not worth the price of a matinee ticket IMO.   

Prices at the movies are insane.  Paid $9.50 just for the ticket.  Went to get a SMALL soda and it was $3.95 and I just laughed at the girl, walking away not buying it.  Me personally, I thought it was worth it, but I'm a fan of the skits on SNL (which, if you've never seen, all last about 45 seconds and end with him blowing up.)  The fact that they were somehow able to stretch it into a 90 minute film that's more than him just blowing up gets some credit in my opinon.

Granted, it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I will be buying the dvd.

I think I paid $5 for a bargain matinee.  The prices really are outrageous.  I'll often see things at the "dollar" theater, where I can pay $3-5 per ticket.  Concessions are ridiculous, but I really want that popcorn... and I can't eat it without a drink to wash it down... 

[aaachuemm]

My last viewing was The Dark Knight. I am exicited with it .

[dean]

I think I paid $5 for a bargain matinee.  The prices really are outrageous.  I'll often see things at the "dollar" theater, where I can pay $3-5 per ticket.  Concessions are ridiculous, but I really want that popcorn... and I can't eat it without a drink to wash it down... 

I WISH we had a dollar theater here: the cheapest we get is about $10 on 'Cheap ass tuesdays.'

[Rev. Powell]

A PROPHET [UNE PROHETE]: An uneducated Arab is sent to prison on a minor assault charge, and finds himself coerced into joining the Corsican mob; it turns out that he's an organized crime prodigy.  Excellent prison/crime drama with plenty of factional intrigue, backstabbing and a few action sequences; pretty close to THE GODFATHER with subtitles.  5/5.

[Jim H]

I just saw Splice.

Maybe it'd be better to let it sit for a while..  But as is, I thought it was a pretty good film with a bad ending. 

In brief: good acting (special mention to Delphine Marceau, who makes a very believable performance out of purely physical acting), some good writing, the film looks good.  Great effects work on Dren.  The basic, ah, "human" drama is generally good and believable.  The horror elements are actually fairly minor up until the last like 15 minutes, then they're amped up and the film kind of lost me.  To say more would get into heavy spoiler territory.  It wasn't HORRIBLY bad as an ending, just disappointing, and didn't feel like a natural transition (despite the earlier horror scenes suitably leading up to it) - pun intended.

7/10.  A good ending could have easily brought this to an 8. 

[Rev. Powell]

I just saw Splice.

Maybe it'd be better to let it sit for a while..  But as is, I thought it was a pretty good film with a bad ending. 

In brief: good acting (special mention to Delphine Marceau, who makes a very believable performance out of purely physical acting), some good writing, the film looks good.  Great effects work on Dren.  The basic, ah, "human" drama is generally good and believable.  The horror elements are actually fairly minor up until the last like 15 minutes, then they're amped up and the film kind of lost me.  To say more would get into heavy spoiler territory.  It wasn't HORRIBLY bad as an ending, just disappointing, and didn't feel like a natural transition (despite the earlier horror scenes suitably leading up to it) - pun intended.

7/10.  A good ending could have easily brought this to an 8. 

I think you're not alone in that opinion, Jim.  A number of reviewers seem to be complaining about the ending.  I still may see it.

[Jim H]

I think Vincenzo Natalie may have problems with endings.  Cube suffered from a somewhat similar problem, though it was much, much worse in Cube (Cube's ending ruins the logic of the entire film). 

Still, I do think the film is worth seeing for its other merits - and I think the film is relatively brave content-wise for such a wide theatrical release (some 2500 screens, if memory serves), so I'm glad to support it.

[Rev. Powell]

I think Vincenzo Natalie may have problems with endings.  Cube suffered from a somewhat similar problem, though it was much, much worse in Cube (Cube's ending ruins the logic of the entire film). 

I don't recall having a problem with CUBE's ending.  I'll have to pay attention next time I watch it.