Movies of 2007 Review

300

• War Sci-Fi Historical

The battle of Thermopylae in comic book fashion by Frank Miller. Cartoonish and full of blood and gore, the movie also has an interesting plot and action packed storyline. Pretty much another green-screen Miller film. The subplot with the protagonist's wife is an excellent addition to the film, thought provoking and a reflection on modern politics. Overlooking the oversized creatures, and ridiculous embellishment on an actual historical battle, the film provides for plenty of action and gore. The film also has some artistic quality and is a very thoughtful adaptation of a graphical novel that had to be a real challenge to make into a movie. Finally, it is a film that can be watched more than once since the outcome is known from the start. For some reason politically liberal nerdy types seem to hate this movie. The nerds that hate this movie will probably like the film Transformers, and the nerds that hate that film will probably like this one!

3:10 to Yuma

• Contemporary Western

As is sadly all to often the case, this is an absolutely butchered remake of a great classic from 1957. I started watching this with an open mind, and followed half way though keeping my hopes up. The ending was so stupid that it made me angry and I vow to never watch this piece of crap again. Russell Crowe is the outlaw, and does okay with the script he is forced to digest. The characters do things that don't make any sense. What was a believable psychological testing of human nature created by Delmer Daves in 1957 was hacked up and made into a confusing movie with mindless action and stupid characters. The great western film era is past, and modern directors that try to adapt classics to fit the short attention span action seeking modern audience should be hung from a tall tree with a short rope. Hopefully this hack doesn't take on The Ox-Bow Incident next! If you're not afraid of black and white, find the original Delmer Daves version starring acting legends Glenn Ford and Van Heflin which is truly an underrated classic movie. Forget this remake even exists. On a side note, a few modern westerns get it right, like the remake "Tombstone" in 1993 and more recently "Open Range" in 2003, which were both 5-star anomalies in a time when good Hollywood westerns are as scarce as real cowboys.

Bridge to Terabithia

• Fantasy Drama

It is an innocent young boy and girl romance in a fantasy world they created and shared together, until one of them dies and the other feels responsible. A new girl comes to a young boys school. He is an outcast and she rescues him from being miserable. He rejects her at first, and then befriends her. Not only does her presence improve his life, but also it has a profound impact on other students at the school, including the bullies. Then, he betrays her (in a subtle way) just once and she dies! Perhaps my only criticism is that the films lets the boy off a bit easy, which is a reflection on modern times were people fail to take full responsibility for their actions. The director does a good job making the audience feel the same emotions as the main characters. The movie might be a little too sad for younger children to watch.

Death of a Ghost Hunter

• Horror

Twenty years after a minister and family were killed by the wife a noted "ghost hunter" is hired to investigate the house. For a low budget movie this story is haunting. Most recently the type of jerky monster special effects in just about every other horror movie is totally avoided here. This one is unique and almost plays like a docu-drama. A reference to Blair Witch Project is made in the movie which, without doing, the film may have reflected on that script. This is a good atypical horror movie that is different from anything else released recently. Recommended.

Netflix

Good Luck Chuck

• Comedy

Another typical and predictable comedy with every nerd's dream girl Jessica Alba. While she pretends to act, Dane Cook looks worse than he has ever looked and does a disservice to his immature acting career. He was much better in Employee of the Month, co-staring with someone that has little acting ability, Jessica Simpson. With that said, Simpson would have put more into the role of this film had she been cast instead of Alba, but since this film lacked a script it had no chance. Shallow characters. Predictable. Formulamatic. Much like a vegetarian dinner, it leaves you feeling empty inside and light in the head. Watching it twice would be a violation of the Geneva convention or perhaps more effective than water-boarding.

Juno

• Comedy Drama

It is no surprise that left wing Hollywood critics love this film. It legitimizes teen pregnancy and, to some degree, makes it seem interesting enough that young viewers want to "try it for themselves." The offbeat music and quirky characters are presented in the directors attempt to be different, resulting from trying too hard. The presentation is ultimately cliché and reoccurring themes to the humor become painfully obvious as this long, boring, drama about an irresponsible teen plays out. The director must have watched Napoleon Dynamite a dozen times and then hung out at a California Planned Parenthood for a week before working on this project. If you watch the film with your daughter, tell her getting knocked up is no big deal, and explore a peer to peer relationship with her rather than being a parent, then this left side of the culture war flick is just for you. Setting the political agenda of the film aside, it tries too hard, lacks any quality of uniqueness, and won't be the last film with the same tone and character mannerisms. Bad message. Bad film.

Knocked Up

• Comedy

What's the odds this slobby fat loser gets to nail a hot blond babe? (actually she's not that great, but that's not the point.) Well I suppose it happens from time to time, but I doubt she would want anything to do with him the day after, pregnant or not. The movie has some Hollywood insider type situations with people that are in completely out of touch circles that makes it impossible for most average viewers to connect with their lives. So, the movie is something like: if you're a hot looking Hollywood insider that gets knocked up by an unemployed slacker after a night of a few too many drinks, and you decide against an abortion, and try to give it a shot with the star trek watching geek, this is what might happen. How the people act and their decisions are a tough sell. Some of the comedy is forced. Yet actor Seth Rogen does his character almost flawlessly in what is likely his only shot at playing a leading role in a popular movie.

The Heartbreak Kid

• Comedy

Remake of 1972 movie. This one stars comic genius Ben Stiller. At first his new wife played by Malin Akerman seems somewhat attractive and interesting, then she quickly becomes a nightmare. Stiller's character is extremely flawed and compulsive. This film seems like it will follow a formula to a predictable ending, then pleasantly surprises the audience with something refreshing and extremely comical. The movie will not let you down or make you wish it hadn't been remade. The Farrelly brothers may have outdone themselves with some help from an existing hit, remade, and worth watching. Not cliché! Stiller does such a good job with the character you are as frustrated with the idiot character as you are impressed with the legendary comic actors portrayal. This movie is pretty ******* funny!

Hot Fuzz

• Comedy

Top cop hero gets shipped off to small middle-of-nowhere town because he's making the rest of the force look like slackers expects to be bored out of his mind in dullsville... but not exactly. It's a parody of police detective dramas and high action films that are all too common today. It is a parody that is both timely and well played. Hot Fuzz delivers an intelligent balance of slapstick comedy and gut busting one-liners that in the tradition of Monty Python type humor, makes you laugh until it hurts. The end of the movie just gets totally out of hand in the way that only the British can do wisely without making you roll your eyes. This movie is a totally silly must see laugh a minute cop caper you'll want to watch again and again.

I Am Legend

• Post Apocalyptic Action

This movie was really weak and there were just way too many logic failures to bother pointing out, so allow me to elaborate on a few of the most obvious ones. Who's running the power plant? All AM frequencies? I guess someone didn't study radio theory. It reminds me of old 1950's last human being alive type movie from the time of extreme low budget Sci-Fi and scripts that were written the night before filming. It's a silly movie that completely fails to render a legitimate world after some type of zombie virus apocalypse. There are better movies with the same theme and a much more believable world situation. The only positive point to this film is the quality acting of Will Smith. Lets face it; he is an underrated actor that performs well even when handed some really dopey scripts. Unfortunately, he exercises little discretion on what movies he agrees to do. Update: the more I think about this movie the more I realize it is simply stupid and I doubt I will invest time in watching it again.

No Country for Old Men

• Dark Crime Thriller

Has the world really come to this? That is the question this movie leaves you with. It leaves you feeling defeated and with no hope for the future of humanity. There are people that should never watch this movie because it could cripple them emotionally. I can't decide if I like this movie or not. I wanted to see the old Vietnam War vet survive. Vietnam is about survival, and the things some of those in infantryman went though are enough to harden a man forever. But Anton Chigurh is pure evil an absolute in his purpose. It was fun seeing former Natural Born Killer, Woody Harrelson, play such an ineffectual villain getting snuffed so easily. It was disappointing seeing Josh Brolin's character get killed, I wanted him to survive; but he did put up one heck of a good fight. It was painful seeing Kelly MacDonald's character die, because it was so pointless. It was refreshing seeing Tommy Lee Jones act his age and not be an on-screen egomaniac. But who is this Javier Bardem guy? What an ultimate bad-*ss! What's the point to his character being in an auto accident at the very end of the film? It will take time to sort all the meaning to this movie out in my mind.

Stephen King's The Mist

• Horror

A thick fog descends upon a rural community and claims the lives of people that are not inside with the windows and doors closed. The main character the movie follows becomes trapped seeking refuge with a small band of survivors in a small town grocery store. The movie features Punisher star Thomas Jane and Laurie Holden from The X-Files and Silent Hill. This is not only a chilling "from another dimension" horror movie, it is, most importantly, a down to earth human drama that lets you invest yourself in the storyline. You may end up recognizing some of the characters as a bigger threat than the creatures outside. At the end of the film the main character does something that seems out of character, and will definitely catch many viewers off guard. Ultimately, after he performs this controversial act, a predictable conclusion follows. Even so, the conclusion will give viewers something to think about after the movie is over. The practical military solution is down to earth and makes some people want to see how the final conflict plays out beyond the scope of the main character, which is not incorporated into the movie and probably for the best. Critics say this film is a story that has already been told and similar to "Night of the Living Dead." I disagree. This movie has something for science fiction, horror movie, and character drama lovers alike.

Superbad

• Comedy

I was expecting another mundane stupid teen movie and instead I got a laugh a minute comedy about some dorky boys looking for booze, girls, and fun with a fake ID. Maybe it is a comming of age movie, or just a raw mindless comedy, either way, it's funny. There's some time period confusion, similar to Napolen Dynomite. The movie probably ran a bit too long for the material they had but the characters carry the audience through to the end. There were some very clever and entertaining scenes that make this movie very memorable. Even the second time around this movie is good for some serious laughs.

There Will Be Blood

• Period Drama

Daniel Day-Lewis is the driven and amoral Daniel Plainview, who rises from a man with nothing but a dirt hole and broken leg to becoming a powerful oil tycoon. He hates people, in fact he has a total dislike, distrust, and hatred for people in general, but knows how to work their minds. His misanthropy doesn't prevent him from connecting with people just enough to get what he wants. He is a laborer, thinker, salesman, and visionary. He is raising an orphaned child that he tries to install his drive into. This child ultimately proves to resent him after the child loses his hearing in an accident. Plainview trades his deaf son for someone claiming to be his half brother. The impostor is a broken man with no spirit or backbone. Plainview wants so bad to have a prodigy with his motivation and traits he embraces the impostor but ultimately figures out the truth, and punishes the impostor by killing him. Plainview has to exercise humility, which is against his nature, to a fraud preacher to get what he wants. In the end Plainview is alone with no child, no family prodigy, and just his money, but he gets one last moment of satisfaction in squashing his last enemy. This movie is slow paced but always interesting, gritty, and the music and masterful cinematography plus actions of the characters tells more of the story as the sometimes sparse dialog. We are supposed to learn from a reflection on capitalist greed and how it decays family and morality. Yet, despite his sacrifices, Plainview meets his goals and is very accomplished, he wins, he defeats his enemies, but he loses his family. The director of this film, Paul Thomas Anderson, also did the movie Boogie Nights.

Transformers

• Ignorant

This movie is absolute rubbish! You should be paid by the theater to sit though the entire length of this pathetic pop culture, follow the lemming piece of crap. Michael Bay should give up directing since idealism and the total absence of genuine creativity seem to hinder his efforts. This movie is more about propping up political correct idealistic characters that's social position is so unlikely to allow them to be what we are supposed to believe they are in the movie, gang banger inner city l33t computer hackers, airhead blond top Pentagon cryptographers, and a wimpy young boy battling evil robots, give me a break. Could have been a good movie. Military scenes, desert battle with scorpion like robot is the best part. Bad movie physics. Huge robots taller than 4 story building tip toe suburbia and manage not to crush anything or leave 20 foot deep foot prints in yards or awaken any neighbors. Really stupid movie. Go watch the cartoon for a 500% increase in quality, and that's not saying much. Avoid! Makes Jurassic Park seem intelligent or Titanic seem deep (pardon the pun!) Those who enjoyed this movie may also like Harry Potter and flushing their heads in public urinals without prior flushing. Crap like Harry Potter I won't even consider watching. Had I known, I would never have watched this movie either.

We Own the Night

• Crime Drama

In the 1980's police faced a new challenge when the Russian mafia hit the scene. This movie has a strong lead of actors, Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, and Robert Duvall. You've got two brothers that are opposites, one that is judgmental, and the other the family black sheep. Their two worlds meet when their father (Robert Duvall), gets the nightlife brother involved in a police plan to bring down an emerging branch of the Russian mafia. In the end the bravest member of the family comes to show there's a little bit of ol dad in all boys. The good guys win but not without paying a high price. The movie plays out well, the action is well balanced with character development, and there's nothing to sensational to kill the interesting story you follow though to the end.