rating: **** out of 5
quick shot: continuing the revenge story of the bride from kill bill volume i.
what i liked about the film: slightly different tone from the first movie. i like the dialog an interaction between bill and the bride towards the end of the movie.
what i didn’t like: the audience members who didn’t realize movie’s contain dialog. yeah, this volume is more talk-y then the first but give me a break…it’s tarantino!
rating: ***1/2 out of 5
quick shot: smartly written tina fey comedy. a cut above your average teenager movie.
what i liked about the movie: the way it treated most kids with some intelligence. i also liked that the adults weren’t totally oblivious either. smart script all around.
what i didn’t like: the movie bogged down a third of the way through, though it picked up in the end.
rating: *** out of 5
quick shot: men at sea battling a faceless (for most of the movie) enemy, and amongst themselves. you can feel the isolation at sea, and the camaraderie the crew feels. russell crowe leads by example and charisma.
what i liked about the movie: the chemistry between crowe, bettany (who plays the ship’s doctor) and crew was very good. the chase and battle scenes were excellent.
what i didn’t like: the movie felt a little lengthy. i think it could have lost about 15 to 20 minutes and still been effective.
rating: **1/2 out of 5
quick shot: jack and diane try to find love at there age! overall good story of may-december romance and how it works for both genders. the writing is good, though gives up in the last ten minutes of the film.
what i liked about the movie: jack and diane have good chemistry in the film. i like the fact that they bared more than their emotions in the film.
what i didn’t like: keanu is as wooden as ever. again, the ending is predictable but satisfying i suppose.
rating: **** out of 5
quick shot: a tale of bloody revenge tarantino style. loved the bloody brutality mixed in with the animation and poppin’ tarantino dialog.
what i liked about the movie: the bloody mess. the fight scene with the cray 88’s was cool.
what i didn’t like: that i didn’t see this movie in the theater. thank g. for dvd, but still would have been nice to see it on the screen.
john or lotte, you gotta translate this!
rating: **** out of five
quick shot: a man lost. a woman ignored. friendship [and more?] follows.
what i liked about the movie: the acting, direction and pacing of the movie was very well done.
what i didn’t like: the movie seemed short.
rating: ** out of five
quick shot: decent run at the vampire mythos. werewolves versus vampire war is somewhat effective, though the story gets bogged down on who did what to whom too much. dave commented that the sequel would probably be better than the original (which i kind of agree with). kate beckinsale makes a kick-ass vampire though.
what i liked about the movie: the movie looked very slick, matrix-like. the fight scenes were interesting enough.
what i didn’t like: that this is clearly setup for a second movie - which may never come. (but i could be wrong)
rating: ***1/2 out of five
quick shot: good small movie. somewhat predictable half way through, but overall an enjoyable film.
what i liked about the movie: fresh faces and good acting. the characters were some people i recognized and could relate to on some level.
what i didn’t like: some of the direction in the latter half of the film was hokey. for most of the film i didn’t know where it was going, but in the last third it seemed to be predictable.
