Movie: Underworld: Awakening (2012)

Rating: C

One thing I really like about flights these days. It's a great opportunity to catch up on movies. Especially movies that you weren't quite sure that you want to spend money on at the cinema. Especially movies that cater to some guilty pleasure. Particularly true, for movies like Underworld: Awakening.



Like the rest of the sequels in this series, it's not a very good example of cinematic brilliance. It's not even an example of cinematic mediocrity. What it is, is just fun to watch.

Fun to watch Kate Beckinsale kick some butt in her skin tight black leather (well, probably faux leather). If you're expecting anything else from this movie or its franchise? You might want to get your head examined. You're delusional.

Granted, she's young. Granted, she's green. And granted, this role doesn't allow for her to fully explore her acting abilities, but the role of Eve, played by India Eisley was fairly lacking. It really felt like they just plucked a girl out of a crowd and put her into the movie. Of course, she only has but a few titles under her belt, so who knows...maaaayyybee she'll grow into it. Maybe. I guess we'll see huh.

~Cheers.

Movie: X-Men: First Class (2011)

Rating: B

After a couple of abhorrent, abominable, atrocious, and absolutely appalling sequels following a fairly inspired X-Men in 2000, X-Men: First Class is a much appreciated reboot...or pre-boot(?)...that's ambitious, smart, and surprisingly entertaining.



Kevin Bacon? Really?! I can't remember the last memorable role that he was in. Well...Footloose maybe? Haha. And yet, he seems to keep popping up everywhere. OK. Seriously. This movie is really about how Professor Xavier's relationship with Magneto. For the fans out there of the comic series, this prequel really doesn't follow the same story lines. That being said, it more than adequately addresses the beginnings of their relationship, their bond, and their struggles.

Using snippets of actual history, including actual footage of President Kennedy, X-Men: First Class does enough with actual events to make this movie pretty real. But one thing totally threw me off. The appearance of Brendan Fehr. No lines, not even a name! In the credits, they name him "Communications Officer". I tried looking it up, but I haven't been able to find any answers as to the reason he's nothing more than an extra in this film.

That being said, the film is great. It takes a little while to get started, and it does have a couple of slow spots, but other than that, it is fairly well thought out. There are also some brilliantly placed cameos and hints about the origins of some future X-Men characters.

*Ed.Note: There isn't anything to stay for after the credits. Forgot to include that.

~Cheers.

Movie: Predators (2010)

Rating: C

After the past few attempts of futility at trying to keep the Predator franchise alive, I didn't think that I'd have anything good to say about this rendition. Let's not kid ourselves, it's still a Predator movie and you're only watching it for one reason. And for that, Nimrod Antal does an admirable job.



Sometimes I wonder if Danny Trejo would find work without Robert Rodriguez. Sorry... A little non sequitur perhaps, but a random thought from this movie. Haha. Anyway, it's a little hard to get over some of the choice of actors; in particular, Adrien Brody as a Merc, but if you get over that, get over the gutteral cliche one liners and stop trying to make sense of the whole thing, Predators does have its moments.

For one, I never figured Alice Braga to be a military woman, but she's actually a pleasant surprise in this role. For another, the story does attempt to throw you a few surprises. And for a few fleeting moments, you get Lawrence Fishburne. Why? I have no idea. But there he is. Haha. It has its share of gun fights and fight scenes, trying not to be too repetitive, but let's face it. It's got nothing on the original.



~Cheers.

Movie: Priest (2011)

Rating: F

I'm trying desperately to find a redeemable quality to Scott Charles Stewart's Priest, which is entirely too loosely based off of a Korean Graphic Novel of the same name. Oh! It was in 3D! Does that count?



A total waste of talent to cast Paul Bettany in this movie. While Priest had some nice high-production scenes and cool editing and effects, this movie could have been made with a cast of nobodies. The plot was a long drawn out cliche. The script was worse. And this mish mash of horror movie / post-apocalyptic / sci-fi / vampire / religious drivel just simply ended up being that. Drivel.

I'm STILL trying to find SOME redeeming quality to this movie. There simply isn't. And the end of the movie implies that there might be a sequel? Are you kidding me?!

~Cheers.

Movie: The Bang Bang Club (2010)

Rating: C+

(Originally premiered for TIFF 2010, but wide release 2011) Through the news, photos, documentaries, and even movies, we're told time and time again of the destruction, tragedy, and conflict that people get into. Too rarely however, are we told the stories of the people that gave us that footage in the first place.



We've seen many of the Pulitzer winning photos in newspapers, magazines, and classes. But have you ever stopped to think about what the person behind the camera was thinking at the time? Why they took that photo and how they got themselves in to that particular spot at that particular time?

The Bang Bang Club is more of a dramatised documentary than move, but it nonetheless tells the story of a group of 4 young men in South Africa in the years leading up to the 1994 elections that freed South Africa from Apartheid. Because of this, the camera work really takes a while getting used to. And in the beginning, I found it fairly distracting to the film. As the story progressed however, it didn't seem to be as much of a problem. While the movie tells the story about The Bang Bang Club, they gloss over the demons that they fought within themselves. You really have to dig for yourself to get inside the photographers' psyches. But if they'd done that, the movie would have had to have been 4x as long. So while the movie glosses over most situations, it does still does the job in giving you a glimpse of who the photographers were. And I like that they didn't over-dramatise the movie, JUST for effect. It helped to keep the story of these four photographers somewhat authentic.

What remained a problem, is the lacklustre performances from both Ryan Phillippe and Malin Akerman. Oddly, it was Taylor Kitsch that stood out. But if you're a photographer, or a fan of photography, I nevertheless think this movie deserves a once over if for the simple reason to better appreciate the job of those conflict photographers who put their lives in harm's way so that you and I can understand the conflict better.

~Cheers.

Movie: The King's Speech (2010)

Rating: A

I was thinking about how to start this entry off in this little blog of mine, and the cliche, "A Crowning Achievement" came to mind. But upon further consideration, I decided that there's probably a dozen or so reviewers out there that would have used this eye-roll worthy pun. A war of nations paled by the war within a single man. Brilliant.



I've got to say, I've never really been a big fan of Colin Firth. But this was a stellar performance. The Oscars don't always get it right, but they were bang on for giving Firth the Best Actor Award this year. And it's great to see new stars rising behind the camera in Tom Hooper as well. Brilliantly crafted, the internal conflict of King George VI with the imminent threat of Nazi Germany breathing down Britain's neck keeps you holding your breath with every careful word uttered by the struggling King. People rise and cheer for sports and war movies, but at the end of this movie, it is an impassioned speech by a dedicated king that gives the audience a reason for elation and exultation.

I did however, find Guy Pearce to be a bit of a miscast in this one. With such brilliant performances from Helena Bonham Carter and the rest of the cast, nothing about Pearce's delivery stood out. Even Michael Gambon, who was in the movie for all of maybe 5 minutes, was able to connect with the audience. And yet, you look forward to moving on to the next scene every time Pearce opens his mouth.

Best movie of 2010 tho? I think I'll still give it to Black Swan.

~Cheers.

Movie: Lust, Caution (2007)

Rating: A-

It's not just new movies that deserve mentioning. And unfortunately, there's simply not enough time to watch EVERY movie at the cinema. Although, I've been meaning to take in Lust, Caution for a while now.

Such a waste to cast singer / songwriter 王力宏 (LeeHom Wang) in this powerful and lustful drama. Whomever told him that he could act needs to be shot. That, however, is pretty much my biggest criticism of this movie. Tragically sexy,  湯唯's (Wei Tang) performance was powerful and mesmerising. And as much as 梁朝偉's (Tony Cheung) portrayal of Mr. Yee was quietly brilliant, it was 湯唯 that stole the show.

Beautifully filmed, Ang Lee catches intensity and trepidation of his lead characters. But the strength and intensity of 梁朝偉 and 湯唯 completely outshines the rest of the movie, leaving me to feel like maybe Ang Lee didn't pay enough attention to the rest of the cast. The story, however, is riveting, thrusting the innocent schoolgirl 湯唯 into the dark, lurid world of espionage.

As titillating as the Lust, Caution is, it is MUCH better if you understand a little about the history in this time period. As powerful as 梁朝偉 seems to be in the movie, there's something that ISN'T said in the movie. He has the unenviable position of EVERYBODY wanting him dead. The Japanese don't trust him and the only reason they tolerate him is because he is of use to them. Given the opportunity, anybody working with him, would kill him for his position. All the other Chinese want to kill him because he is working for the Japanese. He needs to be equally ruthless and civil at the same time while always be vigilant of people trying to usurp him or kill him.

Watch for 湯唯's little soliloquy. It totally sent chills down my spine. It just goes to show, to what lengths people will go to in times of war. 

~Cheers.