Re: Rate the last movie you saw.
01/06/14 12:07 pm | #4838
Plowed through the backlog again this week.
Epic (Blu-ray, 1st viewing) – I liked it better than your average animated feature. The visuals were very impressive on Blu-ray; the colors really jumped off the screen. I also found the battle scenes to be very engaging and a wonder to watch. They had some talented actors lend their voices to the characters, so that was good too. Overall, it’s a stronger than average animated feature, and one you’re likely to enjoy as much as your children do.
6/10
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (Blu-ray, 1st viewing) – I think I’ve owned this on DVD or Blu-ray for at least the last 3-4 years without watching it. It’s actually a pretty decent action/adventure film, with another strong performance from Crowe. Apparently this is an adaptation of a long-running series about Crowe’s character. This was released near the Pirates films, so it probably never received the attention it deserved. It doesn’t have the sense of fun or humor that those particular films do, but it definitely more adequately captures the reality of being a sailor in the late 18th – early 19th centuries.
6.5/10
Toy Story 2 (Blu-ray, 2nd viewing) – A definite reduction in quality from the original, but it continued the trend of solid Pixar films (though I would argue a bit over praised). My major complaint with this entry is their decision to create the most annoying character ever, Jessie. I like all of the central characters that belong to Andy, but found the new additions to be pretty poor overall.
6/10
The Pelican Brief (Blu-ray, 1st viewing) – I haven’t seen all of them, but of what I’ve seen of the Grisham adaptations, I like them. This isn’t as good as A Time to Kill, but it’s a decent thriller and combines Roberts and Washington well enough to be fairly entertaining and engaging. I would agree with most critics that they shouldn’t have tried so hard to develop some of the sub-plots, as some of the discoveries and characters serve only to waste time. I also had a difficult time keeping up with some of the characters and I think some aspects of the story could have been better explained. All in all, the two leads have done better work, but it’s a decent entry for both.
6.5/10
Toy Story 3 (Blu-ray, 1st viewing) – It easily claims the mantle of my favorite animated film of all time. I thought they did a masterful job of closing the story with Andy. As with most Pixar films, there’s a pretty solid underlying message that even older folks will find sad. The original will always be a top contender, but after the disappointing second entry, this was everything you could hope for from the final entry in the trilogy.
8/10
Killers (Blu-ray, 1st viewing) – Picked this up a long time ago (probably 6 months, at least) in the $5 Blu-ray bin at my local Wal-mart. This is a very shallow action comedy that does a terrific job of wasting the considerable talent involved. Kutcher, to me, is a serviceable actor, but he and Heigl have almost no chemistry in the leads, and the supporting roles are all undersold and again, a waste of talent. It passes by relatively quickly, but doesn’t leave much in the way to be remembered.
4/10
Contact (Blu-ray, 1st viewing) – Zemeckis isn’t a top 5 director for me, but he’s got a solid body of work with many films that I don’t consider favorites, but are nevertheless strong films. This addresses some of the conflict between religion and science, and I found it to be very realistic. If there is extraterrestrial life out there, I believe this is how we’d interact and behave with them. For a sci-fi film made in the late 90s, it’s held together very well, too. Mcconaughey and Foster make an excellent leading duo, and there are some good actors in the supporting roles too. If you like your sci-fi to have some depth, this is still a good film to check out if you haven’t yet.
7/10
The Firm (Blu-ray, 1st viewing) – Another solid Grisham adaptation, but I think A Time to Kills still remains in the top spot as far as his adaptations go. This doesn’t have the emotional impact that it did, but it’s a solid thriller, with some good talent putting forth solid work. I think one thing that makes Grisham novels so popular, and consequently the adaptations, too, is the realism the stories contain. I’m obviously not a practicing lawyer, but the stories seem plausible.
6.5/10