Category: Movie Reviews

I first watched this movie in the theaters when it first came out. I didn’t expect much from it. Keanu Reeves is not known for his acting abilities, but in this supernatural thriller it suits him well. Reeves plays, John Constantine, a private investigator that battles demons and other creatures of the underworld not because he’s a good guy but to buy his way into heaven. Rachel Wiez plays a cop who seeks help from Constantine to explain her sister’s death but ends up finding more than she wanted.

The movie is a combination of The Excorcist and The Mummy. The movie has a lot of action and delves in a bit of the dark side of Catholicism. I’m not religious but the stories behind the movies are very interesting.

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Despite remembering anything from the original movie or the book I wanted to see this remake. Again, Johnny Depp plays his usual obscure characters in his movies. He continues to pull it off quite well. The movie is very interesting and is fairly funny due from mostly Depp’s character as Willy Wonka. The factory and all its gadgets, gizmos, and candy was anything but amazing. In fact, the Oompa Loompas were quite annoying, you’ll have to watch and see what I mean. The premise of the movie is that Willy Wonka, who is a recluse that lives in his mysterious and somewhat magical chocolate facotry, has hidden five golden ticket in his famous chocolate candy bars and those who finds it are invited to his candy factory. Tim Burton does a great job in telling the story. The kids in the theater seems to enjoy it quite a bit and overall it’s an entertaining movie.

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This is the movie I’ve been waiting to see for 2005. This is a remake of the original of the 1953 movie of the same name. Not only is this a remake of a classic movie but an adaptation of H.G. Wells novel. Spielberg who directed this remake tries to keep as much if the original feel of the classic movie as well as giving it a fresh modern look.

As with the trailers and the original movie, aliens begin to attack and take over Earth. Tom Cruise who plays a divorced father who tries to protect his two kids. They run from town to town escaping the wrath of the invaders. The aliens are menacing and indestructible. Those who are interested in sci fi films will be easily be immersed into the story and will feel the tension. And others will enjoy the special effects and destruction brought on by the aliens. The only gripe I had with the movie is the two children of Tom Cruise. It seems like they take turn being annoying and being in the way. At one point I hoped the aliens kill them.

Overall, this is a great movie and should be this summer’s blockbuster.

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Got to see Land of the Dead, and I must say I expected it to be better. This is Romero’s fourth installment of his zombie movies. It falls in line with his last three, but not as good. Land of the Dead steers away from the classic zombie movies where the zombies are mindless walking corpes feeding on the flesh of the living. In this movie the zombies are starting to think, and they begin to plan their attack against the humans. At this point, the terror of zombies is lost since they become so predictable. As a zombie-flick fan, I was disappointed, but there’s enough action in the movie to keep a non-fan interested. Still, George Romero could have written a better storyline.

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Two of the hottest looking stars acting together in the same movie is bound to be interesting. This movie got mixed reviews from critics, so I put it off watching it right away. Pitt and Jolie play secret assasins who happen to marry each other and neither is aware of the other’s double life. They soon find out, and they go out to kill each other. This is a decent chick flick movie with with a spy/assassin story behind it. I would have to say Angelina Jolie is gorgeous in the movie and Brad Pitt plays his usual self. If you’re not into the action type movie you can at least watch it for the eye-candy.

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After relentless annoying sequels of the Batman movies I thought the series would never come back as it did when Tim Burton directed the first two Batman movies. Now the Dark Knight is brought back to life with Batman Begins.

This movie is a prequel to all the previous Batman movies. You’ll see how Bruce Wayne transform himself from an ordinary man (an extremely wealthy one that is) to the Dark Knight. The story is decent and the setting isn’t too dark. The action scenes are exceptional. The nit-picky thing I would say about the movie is that you never get to see the whole batsuit. You definitely see his cape and cowl and the upper portion of the chest. Maybe it adds to the shadowy persona, but it would still be nice to see the entire suit.

This is the best Batman movie to date that many of the true comic fans will appreciate and enjoy.

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Global warming, pollution, and forest conservation are some of the environmental issues the world is facing. It seems like environmental issues are never a high priority for many world leaders to discuss. Maybe it will have to take something drastic to happen to make them realize the environment is not something that can be put off.

The Day After Tomorrow brings that drastic scenario to the big screen. Dennis Quaid and Jake Gylenhaal play Jack and Sam Hall, father and son. Jack is a environmental scientist that discovers that the Earth is going through some serious changes that is negatively affecting the weather around the world. The attention is brought up to the Vice President of the United States, who played by Kenneth Welsh which eerily resembles our current Vice President, Dick Cheney. The Vice President takes Jack’s claims lightly and ignores the issues. Hail the size of bowling balls rains in China, tornados ripping up Hollywood, and massive floods that takes out major cities all happen all at once. Sam, miles away from his father, trapped in a library with a few other survivors is hoping his father can reach them in time.

This is a really big movie based on global warming, but Roland Emmerich pulled it off pretty well. Like most tragic-event movies they tend to have a slow start until the disaster comes. The special effects and the possibility of it really happening is intriguing. This movie is fun to watch if you’re into destruction or meteorology. Besides that this is a mediocre disaster movie that could have been better.

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Pixar has been putting out top-notch movies, and The Incredibles can be added to that list of great movies. This movie mixes up with some of the Silver age and present comic style, and in a social satire sense this movie has super heroes being exploited by lawsuits and are being blamed for social problems. Super heroes across the nation are put into protective custody by the government to protect their identity from the public. Years later, Mr. Incredible and Elasticgirl, a super hero couple, who has since gotten married and have had three kids, each with their own powers, has been trying to hide from their past. Longing for his glory days, Mr. Incredible secretively takes super hero jobs to satisfy his taste for adventure, but he soon finds himself in more trouble than he can handle.

The Incredibles has lots of action, and is fun to watch the super heroes trying to mask and hide their powers from the unsuspecting public. If you’re a super hero comic fan, you’ll see the resemblance of super powers from Marvel and DC comic book characters. That’s too bad that this is Pixar and Disney’s last movie together. As the seperation leaves Pixar as the number one animation studio to beat.

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M. Night Shyamalan’s third major movie, Signs, is an interesting one. Following up on The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable is difficult. Signs is about a family living in a rual area of Pennsylvania whose crops have been vandalized by crop sign makers. The family then realizes their crop circles aren’t the hoaxes they thought they were.

I admit this movie starts slow, but its intended to lead to a dramatic ending. There are some gripping scenes that will keep you on your toes. Signs closely parallels many of the classic horror movies such as War of the Worlds and Night of the Living Dead. If you’re a Sci Fi fan then Signs is an exceptional movie. Otherwise it would be too abated for those expecting lots of action.

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This is Adam Sandler’s second football movie, the first one being The Waterboy. In this remake of the original movie, that starred Burt Reynolds, Sandler plays a former NLF MVP Quarter back that got banned from the game for shaving points. He ends up going to prison after taking his girlfriends car for a joy-ride and getting chased by the police causing a major accident. Once in prison, the Warden makes Sandler assemble a football team using prison inmates to go up against’s the Warden’s team for a “tune-up” game.

If you’re a big football fan you’ll recognize many of the NFL player cameos as well as cameos from professional wrestling and former SNL stars. The inmates that make up Sandler’s football squad are quirky in their own way, ranging from a no-talent pipsqueak to a giant human juggernaut with a childlike complex. This sports-comedy movie is hilarious and entertaining. I haven’t laugh this good in a while.

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