Summer Movie Musings

by Jes

Since there is a lack of interesting hockey news, I might as well do a little summer movie review. Why? Just because my brain is suddenly churning around thoughts about movies and I have no other outlet.

I invite you all to share your comments and recommendations.

Batman: The Dark Knight (9.5/10)

If you are one of the few people that hasn't seen it, then I can easily tell you that this movie definitely lives up to the hype. This is an incredible feat given how much attention this movie got after Heath Ledger kicked the bucket.

Yes, Ledger's performance is awesome, and even tops the great Joker that Jack Nicholson gave us. Lost in the hype machine is the fact that Aaron Eckhard gives a masterful performance as Harvey Dent/Two-Face.

My only beef with the movie is that we have no history/background of the Joker ... he just appears and creates chaos! It would have been nice to get some of the motivation behind his insanity.

Maggie Gylenhaal - To be shallow and blunt, this girl just looks weird. Definitely a big drop off from Katie Holmes in the looks department. Gylenhaal has this perpetual deer-in-the-headlights expression on her face, which makes me wonder how she got a career in Hollywood.

Hellboy 2 (8/10)

This summer's hidden gem is the least hyped and talked about superhero movies of the summer. The first Hellboy never got the recognition it deserves, and the sequel was just as entertaining.

Ron Perlman is one of the best, if not the best, actor-in-makeup/costume that I've grown up with. He plays the character beautifully.

The CGI creatures in this movie and the Troll Market are some of the most creative ... err ... creations that I've seen in a movie in quite some time. The 'tooth faeries' are brilliant, as is the giant nature elemental. I normally don't like too much CGI, but this movie does it so well that I didn't even think about it during the movie.

The downside? The relationship between Hellboy and his flaming girlfriend is really not explored enough, and the way the 'normal' people react to Hellboy is also just a little unreal.

Iron Man (7.5/10)

This was another enjoyable superhero movie that did a good job kick-starting another franchise. Downie Jr. is the perfect casting as Tony Stark, and Jeff Bridges made a fine villain.

This movie gives you a lot of laughs, which is not what most superhero movies do, and gives us a flawed character that is easy to like (unlike Batman, who is rather hard to like at times).

I just don't get why people are quite so gaga over this movie. It does lack a lot of action (we see way too much of Stark working on his suits), and the terrorists that Iron Man escapes from are way too dumb. You have to suspend belief just a little too much for my liking, especially since Iron Man tries to be quite realistic in its delivery.

Be Kind, Rewind (3/10)

This was a movie my g/f and I rented, and I was rather disappointed. The idea is a cute one (quite original) and there are quite a few chuckles, but there aren't nearly enough laughs and the characters in the movie are way too dumb to be believable.

Call it a concept that was good in theory, but poor in execution.

Superhero Movie (4/10)

Typical spoof movie. Lots of chuckles, too many fart jokes, but not enough jabs at the franchises outside of Spiderman. A decent rental if you want something brainless.

Young Triffie (0/10)

Ok, so I rented this some time back, but it was one of the worst pieces of vomit that I've ever let my eyeballs experience. I know it's Canadian and some people went gaga over it, but I'd suggest you never even consider watching this movie unless compensated in triple figures.

a. No captions, so my g/f couldn't watch it (a blessing in disguise)
b. The same "oops, the cop screws up" gags over and over and over again. Purely clumsy characters just aren't funny after the first couple of gags.
c. Mary Walsh, who is the female equivalent of Robin Williams (NOT FUNNY). She basically ruins any scene or show she is on. Everyone knows she was the weak link on 22 Minutes.
d. Slow ... like Molasses in July.

Futurama - The Beast With A Billion Backs (6/10)

Much weaker than Bender's Big Score, and one of Futurama's poorer efforts. I don't understand why so much production went into this movie when most Futurama episodes are better than this. A decent rental for Futurama fans, but not worth buying.

Bladerunner, The Final Cut (10/10)

OK, so this was about 99.9% similar to the Director's Cut I own, so it seems like a rather pointless remake. I did rent it to show it to my g/f, who *GASP* hadn't seen it.

Anyway, the non-narrated version (Which was the Theatre Cut) gets an easy 10/10. Amazingly, it hardly looks all that dated, even after 24 years.