Hello Everyone,
I did not see this movie this weekend; I saw it last weekend. I saw the play in November with my in-laws Kirk and Linda and my wife Veronica, with the intention of seeing the movie and I knew that Tim Burton was adapting the play into a film version when I agree to go see the play. I, however did not get a chance to see the movie when it was in theatres; I think I got caught up with other films and Christmas and such. It is quite a bizarre musical; one part horror, one part musical. The plot is one of revenge, so that was a quick draw for me.
To the film itself. The costumes and the set design and all that looks really amazing; the film is totally enamoured in the old tyme England (do not ask me what period because I cannot remember). The acting was great; Johnny Depp is always good, I have nothing against Helen Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman is very good and everyone else in the movie does not suck. Oh yeah, Sacha Baron Cohen is evil and funny in this movie. I recommend this movie to anyone who is into revenge movies, horror (there are murders and blood and so on) and those who enjoy musicals (remember there is blood, so if you are queasy at the sight of movie blood be aware otherwise enjoy).
Now, can anyway in the film actually sing? Yes, they all can, but Tim Burton and the producer Richard D. Zanuck did not know if Johnny Depp could sing well into pre-production and were relieved to hear him sing and know that he was good or at least passable. The songs are not as catchy as those in Grease or Rent or Phantom of the Opera but they are very well written and are good songs.
Possible Spoiler
Just to let you know, do not expect a happy ending; the movie is pretty dark and does not falsely prepare you for one. The film ends the way that it has to end. If you cannot see that the film has to end the way it does then email me and I will tell you why I believe the film has to end this way.
Thanks again for reading.
Sincerely,
F@nb0y D&\/E
Sunday, April 13, 2008
ReVolver
Hello Everyone,
I have been interested in seeing Revolver (Guy Ritchie's latest film) since I heard about it being screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, but sadly it was in limited release in Canada, so I did not get a chance to see it at the movie theatre, so alas I rented it.
People, I have heard, did not respond well to this film. I think this is because the film starts off as a Guy Ritchie gangster film and then morphs into a delving into the world of Freud (not fully). The narrative style is that of Ritchie's other films; sound bridges joining separate characters in separate locales to convey important plot points. I am a big fan of Jason Statham; all always enjoy his performances and have been told by a mike friend of mine to see his latest film The Bank Job. The narrative towards the end gets very perplexing and convoluted because it gets bogged down by big ideas; those of Freud and the Ego. I think that Guy Ritchie is getting bored with the comedic thriller gangster film; I hope that I am wrong because he makes films in this trifecta hybrid genre so well. Andre Benjamin from Outkast puts in a decent performance; in the future I would not mind seeing him more in films; I think that he is really trying to be a better actor and is making progress. I doubt that I will buy this film but was glad that I got to see it because I have Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch in my DVD collection and like them both.
If any of you would like to know more about this or any other film that I have seen or any film that you have questions about please contact me and I would love to talk to you. Take Care and thanks for reading.
F@nB0y D&\/E
I have been interested in seeing Revolver (Guy Ritchie's latest film) since I heard about it being screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, but sadly it was in limited release in Canada, so I did not get a chance to see it at the movie theatre, so alas I rented it.
People, I have heard, did not respond well to this film. I think this is because the film starts off as a Guy Ritchie gangster film and then morphs into a delving into the world of Freud (not fully). The narrative style is that of Ritchie's other films; sound bridges joining separate characters in separate locales to convey important plot points. I am a big fan of Jason Statham; all always enjoy his performances and have been told by a mike friend of mine to see his latest film The Bank Job. The narrative towards the end gets very perplexing and convoluted because it gets bogged down by big ideas; those of Freud and the Ego. I think that Guy Ritchie is getting bored with the comedic thriller gangster film; I hope that I am wrong because he makes films in this trifecta hybrid genre so well. Andre Benjamin from Outkast puts in a decent performance; in the future I would not mind seeing him more in films; I think that he is really trying to be a better actor and is making progress. I doubt that I will buy this film but was glad that I got to see it because I have Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch in my DVD collection and like them both.
If any of you would like to know more about this or any other film that I have seen or any film that you have questions about please contact me and I would love to talk to you. Take Care and thanks for reading.
F@nB0y D&\/E
Got Blood?
Hello Everyone,
More on another crazy movie weekend. First off, I would like to thank my friends John and Heather-Anne for coming over last night and watching There Will Be Blood with my wife Veronica and I. Secondly, I would like to apologize to them for the movie being crappy. I am sorry guys I did not know. I would like an apology from Paul Thomas Anderson for his crappy movie. I would not call myself a fan of his but I did enjoy Boogie Nights and Magnolia, but I never did see Punch Drunk Love but I heard it was weird and stupid or crappy I cannot remember. This does not bowed well for me and PTA; the last two of his films that I saw were turkeys. He has got quite a hole to dig himself out of with me. I probably will not get that apology much like my desire to get an apology from M. Night Shyamalan for Lady In The Water, which I have cleverly (well obviously) nicknamed Lazy in the Water. However, I am a fan of M. Night Shyamalan so I will keep seeing the films that he puts out even if the last one of his was crappy. Anyway, I am going off on a huge tangent; back to the movie.
First of all, There Will be Blood was probably about 40 minutes too long; the running time was about 2 hours and 40 minutes. The pacing was very slow; an intolerable slow, not A History Of Violence or No Country For Old Men slow (I highly recommend that everyone see those two films). This film was the turkey in the Best Picture Oscar nominees; it is the only of the Oscar nominated films that I would recommend you skip, however if you really have to see if for yourself then do so. If someone said not to see it too me, I would still have to see for myself, so I do understand. In order of most favourite to less favourite of the five Best Picture Oscar nominees, according to me; No Country For Old Men, Juno, Atonement, Michael Clayton and There Will Be Blood. This film won for Best Cinematography, which should have really gone to The Assassination of Jesse James (I cannot remember if this was nominated or not. I am not a fan of Daniel Day-Lewis; I have nothing against him. I have only seen him in Gangs of New York, which I did enjoy and he was great in it. Daniel Day-Lewis plays a sly and clever Oil Tycoon were well; he is very smooth talking and had me going; I was ready to let him drill for oil in our backyard, but I do not believe that he should have one for best actor. He has been nominated for for Best Actor four times and has one twice. So he is batting at 50%; so it seems like every few movies he gets an Oscar nom and every two noms he gets an Oscar. I am not sure that this is totally deserving. I have heard that he was great in My Left Foot, which I have not seen but would like to. I think that Tommy Lee Jones should have won for his performance In The Valley of Elah , but I have not seen Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises, so perhaps he is more deserving, I do not know. Paul Dano (The Girl Next Door, Little Miss Sunshine, Taking Lives) puts in a great performance as Eli, a preacher who tries to use the oil flowing in his hometown to his own uses, as Daniel Day-Lewis does to same, as he tries to exploit the town. Paul Dano should have at least been nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting role; this seemed to be lost on the members of the Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences of America. So, it appears that this year I am a step ahead of them; hahahaha. The music in this movie at times was annoying and at other times made me feel uneasy like something horrible or shocking was going to happen. I am puzzled as to the title of this movie for two reasons; first, the book to which the film is based on is called Oil and second, there was actually very little blood seen or spilt in this film. I can only speculate that the actions of Daniel Day-Lewis at the end of the film justify (somewhat) the title of this film.
Thanks for reading everyone. Take Care.
F@nB0y D&\/e
More on another crazy movie weekend. First off, I would like to thank my friends John and Heather-Anne for coming over last night and watching There Will Be Blood with my wife Veronica and I. Secondly, I would like to apologize to them for the movie being crappy. I am sorry guys I did not know. I would like an apology from Paul Thomas Anderson for his crappy movie. I would not call myself a fan of his but I did enjoy Boogie Nights and Magnolia, but I never did see Punch Drunk Love but I heard it was weird and stupid or crappy I cannot remember. This does not bowed well for me and PTA; the last two of his films that I saw were turkeys. He has got quite a hole to dig himself out of with me. I probably will not get that apology much like my desire to get an apology from M. Night Shyamalan for Lady In The Water, which I have cleverly (well obviously) nicknamed Lazy in the Water. However, I am a fan of M. Night Shyamalan so I will keep seeing the films that he puts out even if the last one of his was crappy. Anyway, I am going off on a huge tangent; back to the movie.
First of all, There Will be Blood was probably about 40 minutes too long; the running time was about 2 hours and 40 minutes. The pacing was very slow; an intolerable slow, not A History Of Violence or No Country For Old Men slow (I highly recommend that everyone see those two films). This film was the turkey in the Best Picture Oscar nominees; it is the only of the Oscar nominated films that I would recommend you skip, however if you really have to see if for yourself then do so. If someone said not to see it too me, I would still have to see for myself, so I do understand. In order of most favourite to less favourite of the five Best Picture Oscar nominees, according to me; No Country For Old Men, Juno, Atonement, Michael Clayton and There Will Be Blood. This film won for Best Cinematography, which should have really gone to The Assassination of Jesse James (I cannot remember if this was nominated or not. I am not a fan of Daniel Day-Lewis; I have nothing against him. I have only seen him in Gangs of New York, which I did enjoy and he was great in it. Daniel Day-Lewis plays a sly and clever Oil Tycoon were well; he is very smooth talking and had me going; I was ready to let him drill for oil in our backyard, but I do not believe that he should have one for best actor. He has been nominated for for Best Actor four times and has one twice. So he is batting at 50%; so it seems like every few movies he gets an Oscar nom and every two noms he gets an Oscar. I am not sure that this is totally deserving. I have heard that he was great in My Left Foot, which I have not seen but would like to. I think that Tommy Lee Jones should have won for his performance In The Valley of Elah , but I have not seen Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises, so perhaps he is more deserving, I do not know. Paul Dano (The Girl Next Door, Little Miss Sunshine, Taking Lives) puts in a great performance as Eli, a preacher who tries to use the oil flowing in his hometown to his own uses, as Daniel Day-Lewis does to same, as he tries to exploit the town. Paul Dano should have at least been nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting role; this seemed to be lost on the members of the Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences of America. So, it appears that this year I am a step ahead of them; hahahaha. The music in this movie at times was annoying and at other times made me feel uneasy like something horrible or shocking was going to happen. I am puzzled as to the title of this movie for two reasons; first, the book to which the film is based on is called Oil and second, there was actually very little blood seen or spilt in this film. I can only speculate that the actions of Daniel Day-Lewis at the end of the film justify (somewhat) the title of this film.
Thanks for reading everyone. Take Care.
F@nB0y D&\/e
Saturday, April 12, 2008
He is...Awake
Hello Everyone,
Another crazy movie weekend is upon us. So far, I have watch two new films this weekend and am likely to watch two more. Last night, my wife and I watched Awake and Reservation Road. Today, I aim to watch There Will Be Blood (the last Oscar nominated best picture that I have yet to watch) and Revolver (Guy Ritchie's latest film; the one without Madonna in it). Some SPOILERS may follow; I apologize in advance, but you have been warned.
Awake
First off, I have to say that if my wife had not rented this film then I probably would not have watched it. I am not a huge Hayden Christensen fan, but some of his films are actually good; Shattered Glass, and Life As A House. Terence Howard is also in the film; I love this guy; the last 3 or 4 years this guy has been in everything or a lot anyway. The film is about a rich business man (Hayden) who needs a heart transplant and is hiding his relationship with his mother's assistant (Jessica Alba) and against his mother's wishes (Lena Olin), he marries Alba and that night gets a call that a heart is read. The rest of the film surprised me because I had no expectations for where the film was going to go from there. The remainder of the film was an interesting mix of thrilling and dramatic conventions. My only problem with the film was that all the shocking/surprising plot points were spewed out all at once; it would have been smarter to weave these plot points with the dramatic elements of the film; his mother's overprotective nature and her not wanting to lose her son because he is all she has; her husband died in an accident year previous; this is discussed in the film, so I will not get into it. I previously did an entry on Jumper; which was cool at time but on the whole was a waste of time. If you like Hayden or are interested in both films, do yourself a favour and rent Awake; do not waste your time on Jumper; it will only disappoint you.
Reservation Road
This film was a little bit of a disappointment to me, which is really perplexing because I had very minimal expectations for the film, because I knew little or next to nothing about this film. It has some great stars in it, so that was really the draw for my wife and I to see it. I am talking about the always good Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo. Also, Jennifer Connelly and Mira Survino are not terrible; Survino did win an Oscar for Mighty Aphrodite. The story is about a couple (Joaquin Phoenix and Jennifer Connelly) that loses there son in a hit and run accident when a distracted Mark Ruffalo hits their son on the side of the road. The film juxtaposes the grief that Joaquin is feeling and how he is trying to deal with his son's death and the regret and fear that Ruffalo is feeling. Where it goes from there I cannot say. The performances from Joaquin and Ruffalo are very well done. I thought the ending was sort of abrupt; there is a part of me that wants total closure, but the film basically ties up the loose ends; through a little bit of extrapolation on the viewer's part with, regard incidents that they have witnessed previously that tells them how the story will end, eventhough it is not shown.
Well that is all for now. Take Care everyone. I hope that you have enjoyed my babbeling.
Fanboy Dave
Another crazy movie weekend is upon us. So far, I have watch two new films this weekend and am likely to watch two more. Last night, my wife and I watched Awake and Reservation Road. Today, I aim to watch There Will Be Blood (the last Oscar nominated best picture that I have yet to watch) and Revolver (Guy Ritchie's latest film; the one without Madonna in it). Some SPOILERS may follow; I apologize in advance, but you have been warned.
Awake
First off, I have to say that if my wife had not rented this film then I probably would not have watched it. I am not a huge Hayden Christensen fan, but some of his films are actually good; Shattered Glass, and Life As A House. Terence Howard is also in the film; I love this guy; the last 3 or 4 years this guy has been in everything or a lot anyway. The film is about a rich business man (Hayden) who needs a heart transplant and is hiding his relationship with his mother's assistant (Jessica Alba) and against his mother's wishes (Lena Olin), he marries Alba and that night gets a call that a heart is read. The rest of the film surprised me because I had no expectations for where the film was going to go from there. The remainder of the film was an interesting mix of thrilling and dramatic conventions. My only problem with the film was that all the shocking/surprising plot points were spewed out all at once; it would have been smarter to weave these plot points with the dramatic elements of the film; his mother's overprotective nature and her not wanting to lose her son because he is all she has; her husband died in an accident year previous; this is discussed in the film, so I will not get into it. I previously did an entry on Jumper; which was cool at time but on the whole was a waste of time. If you like Hayden or are interested in both films, do yourself a favour and rent Awake; do not waste your time on Jumper; it will only disappoint you.
Reservation Road
This film was a little bit of a disappointment to me, which is really perplexing because I had very minimal expectations for the film, because I knew little or next to nothing about this film. It has some great stars in it, so that was really the draw for my wife and I to see it. I am talking about the always good Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo. Also, Jennifer Connelly and Mira Survino are not terrible; Survino did win an Oscar for Mighty Aphrodite. The story is about a couple (Joaquin Phoenix and Jennifer Connelly) that loses there son in a hit and run accident when a distracted Mark Ruffalo hits their son on the side of the road. The film juxtaposes the grief that Joaquin is feeling and how he is trying to deal with his son's death and the regret and fear that Ruffalo is feeling. Where it goes from there I cannot say. The performances from Joaquin and Ruffalo are very well done. I thought the ending was sort of abrupt; there is a part of me that wants total closure, but the film basically ties up the loose ends; through a little bit of extrapolation on the viewer's part with, regard incidents that they have witnessed previously that tells them how the story will end, eventhough it is not shown.
Well that is all for now. Take Care everyone. I hope that you have enjoyed my babbeling.
Fanboy Dave
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