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Movies

Stand strong!

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I saw Jet Li’s Fearless this weekend. It was a very enjoyable movie, even if it stuck to “the script” pretty closely. The script being that of a warrior’s arrogance, over compensation, failure, and finally, redemption. Based on a true story, the movie was good drama with moments of the mellow dramatic. There were scenes where Li wasn’t able to completely convey the character’s emotions, but he still held his own. The supporting cast was good, even great in some parts. (The Japanese actor who played Jet Li’s final challenger, Shido Nakamura, was most excellent) The martial arts were amazing and the cinematography was gorgeous. Although it moved slow in places, I really enjoyed Fearless.

It’s a shame that it’s Jet Li’s “last” martial arts movie. He is art in motion.

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Ricky Bobby and other man-crushes

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(NB: This post is about a couple man-crushes of mine, Will Ferrell and Wentworth Miller. Proceed with caution.)

I had a chance to catch Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby over the weekend. Wow, talk about bringing the funny! Let me start by saying I am a huge Will Ferrell fan. While his portrayals of Alex Trebek and George W. Bush are awesome, his Harry Caray skits always leave me in tears. So I may a bit biased when I say that Talladega Nights is one of the funniest movies I have seen in a long time. I have never laughed as hard as I did during the “Grace at dinner” scene. You’ve seen parts of it in the trailers and previews, but those short glimpses do no justice for the scene as a whole. Holy-crap-on-a-crutch did that scene make me laugh.

I am not what you would call a NASCAR “fan.” I’m a casual observer of the “sport”, but Mrs. Buttonmasher’s parents live down the street from a NASCAR driver and is friendly with his family, so by extension I have some connection to NASCAR, if only peripherally. But I get the NASCAR (redneck) culture and the movie skewers it pretty well. I’m sure there were some inside jokes that I missed, but most were hard miss. The product placements were a bit obvious, but I see that as just another jab at NASCAR’s rampant love with its sponsorships. On a whole, though, the movie was enjoyable, with more than one more side-splitting scene. But the prayer scene alone was worth the price of admission. If you like Will Ferrel and his shenanigans, TN:tBoRB is for you.

I can resume another man-crush of mine tonight, as Prison Break‘s second season premier is tonight. I loved the first season of PB and I’m hoping the show continues its awesomeness. I can’t help if the lead character exudes 138% more manliness than anyone else on TV (except maybe this guy). I was a little disappointed with the ending of the first season but I see no reason why the show can’t pick up the action that it did so well in the first season.


“I get weak in the knees…“

Finally, college football season is right around the corner. Don’t even get me started on my college football man-crush!

Never break the rules.

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statham.jpgI saw The Transporter 2 this weekend. I’m a big fan of Jason Statham (even if he is going to participate in this trainwreck) and I really enjoyed the first Transporter. The second Transporter was an enjoyable diversion but it didn’t have quite the charm of the first.

In the first Transporter, there were a few “there’s no way” moments but not enough to stretch the suspension of disbelief too thin. Unfortunately, there were a few too many in the second one. In an attempt to out-do the first movie’s wow-factor, the Transporter 2 just went too far over the top. That’s saying a lot. Trying to out-do a movie that included deflecting a rocket with a serving tray (even though that wasn’t included in the US release) is a hard thing to do. The Transporter 2 tries to do it nonetheless. Everytime things started moving someting would happen that would make you go “there’s no way” and that just ruins the moment.

It was still a fun movie to watch but I wouldn’t pay full price for this one. Wait for the cheap theater or a rental for this one. Other good Statham flicks include The Italian Job and Cellular, both good movies.

War of the Worlds

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Saw War of the Worlds last night with the buttonWife. She wasn’t sure what to expect and wasn’t keen on seeing this particular movie. As we were walking out she couldn’t stop saying “Wow!” War of the Worlds is an intense, non-stop exercise in making your audience feel sick and helpless. I’m personally not a big Tom Cruise fan but I make exceptions for movies that look too good to pass up. I’m glad I didn’t pass this one up.

It goes without saying that the effects and sound were top-shelf. We’re talking about Speilberg here. I’m only casually acquainted with the source material but what I recall was faithfully represented. The noises those alien tripods make will definitely haunt my nightmares.

I thought this would have more social commentary than it did, but it seemed to shy away from it at times. I didn’t care for Tim Robbins’ side-ways political jab with his little “occupations never work,” comment but I’ll let it slide (if you’ve seen the movie, you’ll know why I’ll let it slide). While WotW surrendered to a few movie cliches it took itself serious enough to work but not overly so. Definitely makes you think about your own mortality and what’s lurking beneath the surface.

I give it a button-mashing thumbs up.

You ever dance with the devil…

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Went and saw Batman Begins tonight and I must agree with the consesus — it’s GOOD. It takes a while to get going but it really hums once the movie finds its pace. I was a little wary of Christian Bale being cast as the next Batman, and at first I thought he looked a little off, but seeing him in the mask, he just looked right. Keaton looked right. Kilmer and Clooney did not (certainly not Clooney).

The casting was great. Gary Oldman is one of my favorite actors and he plays his part so well. Freeman and Caine were great. Neeson was a bit of a stretch, but that is forgivable. People are panning Katie Holmes but I thought there was just enough of her – that is to say not a lot. The guy that plays the Scarecrow was pretty creepy.

I give it a thumbs up. Action was fast and chaotic, not mechanical and choreographed. Nothing felt hokey, it felt real. It was a great movie and a great foundation to who Batman is. Now there is depth to Bruce Wayne’s past, but I’m a little confused. I don’t know the whole Batman mythos but it was my understanding that Jack Napier (aka The Joker) killed Bruce’s parents. Well, that appears to not be the case in Batman Begins. I’m so confused… can anyone clear this up?

Update: Wikipedia sheds some light on the Joe Chill/Jack Napier issue. (Thanks, Amit!)