Saturday, June 20, 2009

#95 Punisher: War Zone (2008)


Now this is how you bring The Punisher to the big screen. Killing thugs, dismembering limbs, shotgun blasts to the face, straight up take-no-prisoners mantra from start to finish. No pansy bullshit like the Punisher movie. All business here.

War Zone is completely deserving of it's R rating and pushes it about as far as it can go. For no holds barred ass kicking, this has to be seen to be believed. I mean, he punches a guy's face in with his fist. How cool is that?

4/5

Thursday, June 18, 2009

#94 PUSH (2009)


On paper, this movie is cool as hell. The setting (shot on location in Hong Kong) looks great and is ripe for psychic battles in fish markets and alleyways. The lore has tons of potential, but it's wasted in a messy movie plagued with bad editing and flat acting. In capable hands, Push could have been a wonderful sci-fi action movie. Paul McGuigan directs what is ultimately a stylish movie with little substance. He did helm Lucky Number Slevin, which I think is great, but then again he directed a series of webisodes based on Need For Speed, too. Dakota Fanning is seen in her awkward growing up stage of her life which doesn't help. She has a pompous attitude and is overly sexualized - which works when you're 18, not 14.

See it for the atmosphere and then think of what could have been.

2.5/5

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

#93 Yes Man (2008)


Not Jim's best work, but it is funny enough to watch once. Jim is depressed after his wife wife left him three years ago and doesn't do anything. He ignores friends calls and has excuses anytime someone asks him to go to a party or hang out. He runs into an old friend from school that tells him about a seminar he went to that requires you to say yes to everything. From here on out his life is changed and he's doing all sorts of crazy things. Similar to Liar Liar and Shallow Hal - if you like those premises, you'll enjoy Yes Man.

3.5/5

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

#92 Traitor (2008)


Don Cheadle is a damn good actor. The entire movie you really aren't sure what side he's on. He plays Samir, a Sudanese-American and former special forces sergeant now working with a radical Muslim terrorist group, the Islamic Brotherhood. He stays conflicted throughout the movie because he's devoted to aspects of both sides and at the same time has utter contempt for ways both sides operate.

Great thriller/suspense film. Recommended.

4.5/5

Monday, June 15, 2009

#91 Southland Tales (2006)


This is a star-studded 2 1/2 hour sci-fi/black comedy/drama with a winding, confusing storyline. El Paso and Abilene, Texas have been nuked and America is fighting WWIII, the PATRIOT act has been extended requiring VISAs for interstate travel, fluid karma promises unlimited energy, time travel, parties on mega-blimps, cops quoting Phillip K Dick, musical scenes, conspiracy theories, liberal marxist terrorist groups, and floating ice cream trucks emanating a bright light while a draftee rides it and fires off a rocket launcher.

It's utterly crazy and requires further reading to take it all in, but it's brilliant.

4/5

Sunday, June 14, 2009

#90 Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)

I distinctly remember thinking that the trailers made this movie look retarded as hell and I never wanted to see it. Too bad for me, because it's an awesome movie. Seeing this in theaters would have been great. People were gushing over it, so I finally bumped it on Netflix and watched it. Really cool movie once it gets going. One of the earliest big budget all green screen movies (300, Sin City, came years later) and the effects still look unique and impressive today.

It takes place in an alternate history 1939 with futuristic technology and 'alien' machines invading and harvesting resources. Great visuals and a fun pace to the story. Really cool set pieces throughout - see it if you have any interest in sci-fi mixed with the 1930s.

4/5

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

#89 Righteous Kill (2008)


The parring of De Niro and Pacino was the main selling point of Righteous Kill. These two would be better off having never made this. They are alright on screen together, but the opportunity was largely wasted on a terrible script. Here we have two partners that are mad about criminals roaming the streets free or getting out of jail. One of them is a cop serial killer and is taking out drug dealers and rapists off the clock dishing out his own vigilante justice. In the end it's the other partner (big twist!) and everything we thought we knew was wrong. Wow. Boring.

When Rob Dyrdek did an ollie and then pushed a hoe into a taxi and told her to get to work and quit complaining and then got shot in the head while riding his skateboard, I knew it was downhill from there.

1/5

Monday, June 8, 2009

#88 Requiem for a Dream (2000)


Requiem for a Dream lets us see the destruction of four people's lives into delusional, drug addicted fiends. An amazingly depressing film. A mother who believes she is going to be on TV gets addicted to diet pills more akin to speed from a shady doctor, her son is and his friend are addicts trying their hand at drug dealing looking for a big break, and Marion is the girlfriend of one and because of her addiction she causes her own downfall into prostitution to satisfy her need to get high. These stories are the end result of what happens to people that don't get on A&E's Intervention.

Anyone who says Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, or Marlon Wayans can't act needs to see this.

And I finally know where that damn song came from that everyone uses in any and all Youtube videos.

5/5

Sunday, June 7, 2009

#87 The Hangover (2009)


Funniest movie of 2009 and probably of the last few years. I haven't laughed this hard in a theater since Borat. The Hangover is an instant comedy classic. You definitely won't expect what they throw at you throughout the movie. Zach is the star here, though the other guys hold their own, too. Pure insanity. The laughs start and never stop, even into the credits. Goddamn, this movie was great.

5/5

Saturday, June 6, 2009

#86 Minority Report (2002)


Rewatched this one with a friend that hadn't seen it before. Cool movie.

4/5