Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen review

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen last night. I have so much to say: the movie was loud, rowdy, and not engaging. The direction was terrible, and just as I was thinking that Michael Bay had started to redeem himself after watching the first Transformers film, he goes back to his mindless, in-your-face action roots. The acting was also as terrible, particularly Megan Fox. She and her character are so shallow, that she seems to exist in the film for the sole purpose of eye candy for macho high school and college freshman males. The story and visuals are a mess: you can hardly tell what is going on and the story is incoherent and childish, and is filled with useless, childish moments (A transformer who transforms into a human female? WHAT?! Really? Lame and disgraceful to the classic cartoon.) and unfunny and corny comedic relief: Humping dogs and robots? What WAS THAT ABOUT?! Scenes with Sam's crazed mother at her son's fist day at college were completely childish, stupid and unnecessary. Sam's roommate was annoying and not very interesting. And Shia Labeouf's performance was shallow and dull. As I was sitting my chair, I kept looking at my cell phone, watching the clock, desperate for this mindless, loud action "spectacle" to end. It was way too long for its own good, because the movie dragged, piratically towards the ending.

The first Transformers was solid, popcorn munching fun. It even made you feel for the Autobots. In this one, not even - SPOILER - the death of one makes you feel or shed a tear. It was actually almost laughable. This one is not even worthy of being called its sequel. It was childish, stupid, incoherent and I actually want to think to myself, "What were they thinking?". If I could rate the film no stars, I could, but I have to rate it 1 out of 4 stars.

That's all for today, till next time!

Slumdog Millionaire and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Okay, so over the weekend, I was able to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire, two of this year's Best Picture nominees at the Oscars, with the latter winning the prize.

First up, Benjamin Button: I thought the story was quite creative and well constructed, although a little strange for my tastes, but creative and entertaining, nether less. It features great performances and a lovely look all its own. It was a story with a lovely meaning behind it and I enjoyed the haunting score. I give the film Three stars out of Four.

Up next, Slumdog Millionaire, the winner of this year's Best Picture Oscar. While, in my opinion, it did not really deserve to win, it was an entertaining picture, it had solid performances and the film managed to hold my interest until the end. The soundtrack really rocked, too. While the story was a bit slow to develop, it developed well in the end. I liked the look of the film, it seemed like a film straight out of Bollywood. I also give it Three Stars out of Four.

Finally, I decided to watch Gaslight again with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer. While Ingrid won the Oscar and gave a great performance, I couldn't take my thoughts off of Charles Boyer. It was a marvelous performance, and man, does his accent make me melt! I was a little annoyed by Angela Lansbery's accent, but she gave a good performance and it was her feature debut. Thrilling and entertaining film with a beautiful look and wonderful performances.

That's all for today, everyone - till next time!

Up Review

Yesterday, I saw Disney and Pixar's latest film, Up. As I came out of the theater, I could not help but think, is there anything Pixar can't do? Can Pixar ever disappoint? The answer, for me, is no. The guys and gals at Pixar are geniuses of animation - storytelling and visual marvels who break new ground with every film that they make. I also though that there traditional animated short shown before the actual film was the best animated short they have created - it's Partly Cloudy, and it was cute, funny and poignant. Entertaining, funny and extraordinarily poignant, the film is indeed the best animated film since Wall-E, another Pixar film. Its creativity and excellent story makes for a fun and visually stunning film with valuable life lessons - certainly Pixar can do no wrong, and here's hoping for more animated gems from them. I give Up Four stars out of Four.

At home, I saw Roman Holiday for the millionth time. It is still a timeless, romantic and heartwarming romantic comedy. I love Gregory Peck's performance - and Audrey Hepburn was so cool and classy. It is one of my favorite romantic comedies, and even though the ending was not what you expect, it was fresh and realistic.

Well, that's all for today, till next time, enjoy!

Rants and Ravings - 6-10-09

This weekend, I saw for the God-knows-how-many-times The Maltese Falcon and It Happened One Night. First up, The Maltese Falcon never gets old. It's still exciting, fresh and darn, does Bogie kick serious booty! The only thing that bothers me about the film is Mary Astor's haircut...it may have been seen as stylish to some, but it is horrid, in my opinion. Thank God that it does not distract much from the film - unlike Tom Hank's hair in The DaVinci Code...LOL. It's great fun and it is suspenseful all the way, even though it is best the first time when you do not know spoilers - because the fill has various plot twists, but at the same time, even if it's your 1,000th time seeing it, it is still very entertaining and one of the great classic Film Noirs. Indeed, it is "the stuff that dreams are made of".

Next up, It Happened One Night. A witty and charming romantic comedy. Man, oh man - was Clark Gable HOT. And man, could he act! He and Claudette Colbert had a very strong chemistry. I admit I was a little upset that they did not kiss in this movie, but at least their feelings are acknowledged. All in all, it is one of the most romantic movies of the 1930s and of all time.

Also, a few days ago, my nieces persuaded me to watch Hotel For Dogs with them. The story acting and dialogue were overly corny for my tastes, but not so much as 2001's Cats and Dogs, and it was much more realistic. Furthermore, it is a typical film for children and animal lovers, and it is a film which they could identify with and I suppose that is why my nieces like it. However, there is really nothing adults would like, with corny performances by charming actors like Don Cheadle and Lisa Kudrow - although I do not blame them, I blame the writing and story. Overall, it was charming for children, lame for adults. One Star and a half stars out of Four.

That's all for today, folks, till next time!

To Catch a Thief/High Society

This weekend, I had a mini Grace Kelly marathon and saw To Catch a Thief once again...it is a rather suspenseful and witty thriller with awesome performances by both Cary Grant and Grace Kelly (The rest of the cast was great, too), and they had a strong chemistry - their love scenes were pitch prefect. I loved how Hitchcock lightened up the story with witty and smart comedy - there were a couple of scenes that made me chuckle (SPOILER: The final scene is one...). Overall, it is a great as I remembered it and it remains a great Hitchcock thriller.

Next up, I saw High Society and this one was for the first time. I liked the nods to The Philadelphia Story, and how some things are more fully explored (IE, The relationship between Connor and Liz, Dexter's and Tracy's honeymoon ext.) - however, I can't help but liking Cary Grant and James Stewart better than Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, and Grace Kelly - who was awesome in the film - had better chemistry with Cary and Jimmy in To Catch a Thief and Rear Window. That's not to say I do not like Bing and Frank, though. Overall, I did enjoy the film and I though it was very cute. Three stars out of four.

Till next time, fellow movie lovers!