review
The Third Man
Orson Wells!
I was able to watch a few movies over the last several weeks. A few were classics reworked on Blu-ray. The first film was The Third Man. I’ve watched it a few times before and each time I’m reminded that Orson Wells, who plays Harry Lime, portrays an ultimate scumbag very convincingly.
Rating: Matinee
Watchmen
Hey, it’s the Watchmen!
The graphic novel finally comes to the big screen. It translates fine and looks great on a big screen. There was a lot of information to digest in the 2-hour 40-minute movie, but some of it not working for me. See it on the big screen if you can - or get it on blu-ray (when it comes out) and see it on a nice HDTV.
Rating: Matinee
Eagle Eye
It started out as a promising thriller but devolved into a forgettable action film. The leads are both likable, but they cannot save this movie from its flawed rehashed storyline.
Rating: Cable TV
Kung Fu Panda
Finally saw Kung Fu Panda on blu-ray. A simple straightforward movie, with humor and action that is appealing to both kids and adults.
Rating: Matinee
Mr. Brooks
A surprisingly solid and suspenseful film. Solid acting all around by William Hurt, Demi Moore, Dane Cook, and even Kevin Costner.
Rating: Matinee
Australia
Watched Baz Luhrmann’s Australia on blu-ray this weekend. The movie seemed to be two movies in one. The first part was light and breezy. The second half had a more serious tone. Fair acting by most of the cast. Some of Nicole Kidman’s hysterics were getting on my nerves though. The film is beautifully shot, with gorgeous scenery throughout the film. If you watch it in HD or blu-ray you may enjoy it more.
Rating: Cable TV
How I Rate Movies
I’m changing the way I rate movie reviews on the site. I started with an old standby - the letter grade. I recently moved to a liked it slash didn’t like it scale, but I found that didn’t have much flexibility. It was too black and white. Now, I’m moving to actually a scale Farrah and I use in the real world. The scale, which I am sure is used somewhere else, is based on how much you are willing to pay to see a movie.
The scale is as follows:
- Full Admission - Willing to pay for a full-price theater ticket, especially on a crowded Friday night.
- Matinee - See it in a theater, but do it as cheap as possible.
- Rental (DVD, Blu-ray, whatever media you choose) - See it right when it hits the retail market.
- Cable TV - You can wait until it shows up on cable to watch.
I’m sure there are other ratings that can be placed in there (e.g. cheap theaters, broadcast television) but I don’t find those ideal situations to watch most movies. Plus I don’t have a cheap theater near me and broadcast television has too many commercials to suffer through.
Here are a few samples of movies I’ve reviewed and how I would rate them on this new scale:
- Full Admission - 300, The Dark Knight, Wall-E, Juno
- Matinee - Quantum of Solace, Grand Torino, Knocked Up
- Rental - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Transformers
- Cable TV - Nights in Rodanthe, Spider-Man 3
This makes sense, right?
Quantum of Solace
Solid action from beginning to end. But the story falls short of the superb Casino Royale. The Bond character doesn’t develop as much as he did in the previous movie. Daniel Craig still kicks butt though.
Gran Torino - Quick Review
Eastwood’s solid acting skills are on full display in this movie. The other actors, some apparent first-timers, are not so great. The movie moves at a brisk pace, with a mixture of humorous and dramatic moments. Eastwood’s character is more William Munny than Dirty Harry.
Grade: B+
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Quick Review
On a previous version of janella.com…
…when I would write a movie review it would be long. Time is short, so my new movie reviews - when I have a chance to watch a movie - will be short. It won’t be extremely insightful, but it will convey what I feel about the movie.
For The Curious Case of Benjamin Button:
Brad Pitt grows young while Cate Blanchett grows old. Acting done well by both, and Fincher’s direction was spot on. But the ending left me unsatisfied.
Grade: C-
Rachael Yamagata @ Cafe Du Nord
The other night Farrah and I went to Cafe Du Nord to see Rachael Yamagata perform. We enjoyed her first album, Happenstance, which is a somber but strong debut album. We downloaded and listened to pre-released tracks from her new album, Elephants…Teeth Sinking Into Heart . Some of her songs on the album go into a more uptempo direction.
Cafe Du Nord, in size, reminds me of the old Cactus Club in San Jose. Except Cafe Du Nord is much darker and has the vibe of Bimbo’s 365 Club. We had dinner reservations which gave us reserved seating. We could see the stage without obstruction, able to enjoy the show while sipping a nice cold beer.
Rachael started off with Be Be Your Love and Letter Read, the first two songs on her debut album and two of my favorite songs. Letter Read was actually the first song I heard from her, a song where she sounds like Fiona Apple. Anyway, after hearing those songs I knew the show could only get better and it did. Rachael moved from the keyboards to an acoustic guitar which she didn’t plug in at first. She then explained she was battling the flu with some Jack Daniel’s. She was a trooper through, continuing with her set and engaging the lively audience.
She played for about 90 minutes total, going through songs like
- Worn Me Down
- What If I Leave
- Would You Please
- Elephants
- Meet Me By The Water
- Faster
- Accident
- Would You Please
- The Reason Why
Part of her encore was Would You Please, a request from the audience. Rachael wasn’t sure she knew all the words but gave it a go, prefacing that she could not be criticized if she f’d up. She got through about 90% of the song. I really enjoyed her last song, The Reason Why.
I’d go back to Cafe Du Nord to see another show. The drink and food prices aren’t bad, but parking can be an issue. Well, it’s San Francisco, so parking is always an issue.
You can also find another review of this concert here.
Handsfree
Beginning in July, California went ‘handsfree'. Now, I don’t talk on my cellphone often while driving but Farrah does. And so I did some research on a solution that would work for her.
The iPhone comes with a nice standard headset for listening to music and taking phone calls. It can be used in the car as long as you only use one earbud while driving. I do this often, but it can be uncomfortable, and I think Farrah finds this so as well. Farrah also finds Bluetooth headsets uncomfortable.
I heard Leo Laporte speak of the BlueAnt’s Supertooth Light Bluetooth Handsfree Speakerphone as a good solution, and so I ordered it from Amazon and let Farrah give it a try.
The unit charged quickly, with Farrah being able to try it the next day. The main unit attaches by magnets to a metal clip you can fit into your car’s visor. Having the clip allows you to easily move the unit from car to car, or simply detach it from the clip to hide the unit in your glovebox. To activate the unit, you extend the mic boom.
The sound quality is very good. I was able to hear Farrah very clearly while she was driving, and she was able to hear me without my yelling. The unit also comes with a built-in ringer so you won’t have to hear your cellphone ringing unless you have the BlueAnt turned off. The BlueAnt holds a very good charge. We’ve only had to charge it twice since having it, but people who talk often may have a different experience. The only negative experience we’ve had with the unit is when pairing it with two different phones. The unit appears to forget the first phone it was paired with, but works fine with the ethe second. If you are the only one using the BlueAnt, then this will not be a problem. Overall, Farrah finds the BlueAnt solid and reliable, as do I.
There is a newer unit available, the BlueAnt Supertooth 3. I think this unit has a voice-activated calling, but I have no personal experience with it. You may want to read the reviews on that unit, but it does cost about $30 more.
Review - The Dark Knight: IMAX Experience
Anyone who knows me knows that Batman is my favorite comic book character. When The Dark Knight was announced, I couldn’t be more excited to see it. After all, I think Chris Nolan did a great job with Batman Begins. With my high expectations - believe me, I tried to lower them - Farrah and I headed into the IMAX theater at the Metreon to watch The Dark Knight. Did we like it? What do you think?
Following my standard review format, here’s what I thought of the Dark Knight.
The Netflix summary:
Batman (Christian Bale) teams with Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) to continue dismantling Gotham City's criminal organizations in this sequel to Batman Begins. But a psychotic new villain known as the Joker (Heath Ledger) threatens to undo all their good work. The star-studded cast includes Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman, Anthony Michael Hall, Michael Caine, and Eric Roberts.
What I Liked
The acting all around was great. By now you’ve heard Heath Ledger does a great job as the Joker. Farrah and I, as well as probably many others, found this a sad fact. It was such a well-rounded, strong, and memorable performance. It is a shame we will no longer see him on screen. But the acting by Christian Bale, Eckhart, Gyllenhall, and others are on par with Ledger, making this a well-rounded Gotham City.
Gotham City itself is impressive, as is Batman’s journey to other places. The cool toys are just enough to get by, and the movie moves at an impressive pace. It does not slow down, making the 152 minutes fly by.
What I Didn’t Enjoy
I still have an issue with Bale’s Batman voice, something I pointed out in my review of Batman Begins. It’s scary, I suppose, but something just does not click with me when he’s talking.
Final Thoughts
I would not think it possible, but The Dark Knight exceeded my expectations. For me tops Iron Man (**** out of 5) and Indiana Jones (***) as my favorite film of the summer.
Rating: ***** out of 5
Review - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
I wasn’t sure what to expect when Farrah and I sat down to watch the latest Indiana Jones film. It has been nineteen years since the last movie in the trilogy - well, I guess it’s no longer a trilogy but a series of films - with many action films to wow us during that time. Could Indiana deliver the ‘wow factor’ still?
The short answer is yes.
OK, here is the Netflix summary of the movie:
Hollywood icon Harrison Ford returns to the role of the adventurous archaeologist Indiana Jones nearly 20 years after he last donned the famous fedora and bullwhip to save the world from imminent peril. Joining Ford for this latest installment of the Steven Spielberg-George Lucas collaboration are Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett, Ray Winstone, Jim Broadbent, Karen Allen, John Hurt and Shia LaBeouf as Jones's headstrong young sidekick.
Not much of a summary, huh. The movie takes place 19 years after the last one, placing the movie action in 1957, This changes the bad guys from the Nazis to Communist Russians. The action begins in Nevada, then moves to the university where Indy teaches, and to parts of South America. The action is fluid and almost non-stop, just what you expect from an Indiana Jones film.
What I Liked
It’s great to see Harrison Ford back in the saddle as Indiana Jones. After a string of so so films (e.g. Firewall, Hollywood Homicide, and Random Hearts to name a few), it’s good to see Ford not losing a beat with the Indiana character. He just slips back into the character like a comfortable pair of shoes.
The supporting cast proves pretty solid as well. Karen Allen is the only returning character from the Indiana Jones mythology, and it’s great to see her next to Ford. The rest of the actors provide solid support, with Cate Blanchett proving to be a nasty foe.
As I mentioned previously, the action sequences are what you expect in an Indy film. They were long enjoyable sequences, well most of them were.
What I Did Not Enjoy
Some of the latter action sequences involved a level of CGI which was noticeable. Due to the nature of the film’s content toward the end of the film (it involves some science fiction elements), the use of CGI was difficult to avoid.
Final Thoughts
It’s great to be in the world of Indiana Jones again. I say don’t hesitate and go see it. It may not live up to your previous Indy experiences, but could it really? Believe me, once you hear the theme music and see the iconic fedora on Harrison Ford’s skull, you’ll forget about your expectations and just go along for the ride.