John F'N McClane

I will start off by saying John McClane is one of my favorite characters of all time when it comes to cinema. Don't know why, maybe it was my impressionable youth when I saw my Die Hard for the first time, all I know is when I cried during Armageddon it wasn't because that character died, it was because I was thinking about John McClane.

Going into the fourth installment I have been very skeptical. I was NOT a fan of the third one, bigger doesn't always mean better. I was a fan of the centralized locations of the first two movies, it just works better. I don't even care if you add Samuel L. mother fuckin Jackson to the movie, it just didn't work for me. It also apparently didn't work too well for the audience either as it definitely didn't do as well as the previous two movies. With all that said, I was definitely skeptical of Live Free or Die Hard.

I can gladly say all my hesitation about the fourth movie was unwarranted, it was a kick ass flick.

Yeah, it's a bigger scale and it has a few ridiculous stunts, but so does every Die Hard movie. I thought Justin Long added a great deal to this flick and I don't know if it would have been enjoyable without that character. Kevin Smith was great as the "jedi", not saying too much don't want to ruin anything or give away too much spoiler wise, but everyone on this film just seemed to click. It wasn't a case like some movies where you question why that person was cast for a certain role, no, I think each and every part was chosen right, and they all worked like a well oiled machine.

I was worried that a much older Bruce Willis would bring down the role, it did not. That in turn gives me hope when it comes to the new Indy flick. If Bruce Willis can make a believer out of you at his age, Harrison can do the same with Dr. Jones. There was also definite hotness going on in this flick as well. I've had a thing for Mary Elizabeth Winstead since I saw Sky High and she played the part of Lucy McClane perfectly. She gave that attitude that papa has very well, and I bought it, which is always important for me to get a movie to work.

Timothy Olyphant, I was worried about his casting because he just gave off the prick vibe in almost every role I've ever seen him in. You probably know him best as the porn producer in The Girl Next Door. That being said, he also makes it work. That vibe works very well with that character, sure he's no Hanz Gruber, but no one really is are they?

In the end, this was a fun entertaining ride. If you just need some action to pump into your bloodstream, with decent enough acting that doesn't make you as nauseous as most actions movies, this is the movie to go see. You have your choice of this and Sicko this weekend, which I'm still gonna see. Thankfully Live Free or Die Hard came out yesterday and so there is no conflict, just a biding of time till Transformers.

Movie Review: The Black Dahlia

The Black Dahlia, starring Josh Harnett, Scarlet Johansson, Aaron Eckhart, and Hilary Swank.

I've been fascinated with the unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short for a long time, but I never really dug into the history of it until this movie. My roommate is a lover of all things serial killer so I know she was absolutely fascinated by this story, maybe the most notorious unsolved murder in California's history (we all know OJ did it). So Anita and I last night were looking for something to watch last night as we ate dinner and decided on The Black Dahlia, something we had both wanted to see last fall just never got around to it.

On the surface this movie has all the tools to be VERY successful. It has a two time oscar winner, Hilary Swank, the IT girl of the last few years, Scarlet Johansson, an award winning director, Brian De Palma, and a book by acclaimed writer James Ellroy. Aaron Eckhart was an extra bonus for me as I enjoy pretty much everything I've seen him in (Thank You For Smoking, Suspect Zero) and he will be our new Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight and I'm all kinds of excited to see how he portrays Two-Face. Everything seemed in place, so where exactly did it all go wrong?

For myself I think it has to do with the murder itself not truly being the centerpiece of the movie and more of a plot device to tell the story of Eckhart, Harnett, and Johansson. Even with that story you lose Eckhart's character halfway through the movie and it does a poor job explaining why he's doing what he's doing. They give you one line why this case is more personal to him then any other, but other then that (which doesn't do a good job of that) there is no real explanation. I loved the chemistry between Harnett, Johansson and Eckhart, but again there was no real explanation as to why they did the things they did, it almost assumes the audience knows that this kind of life is normal.

Mira Kirshner, wonderful actress (24, Crow City of Angels), is highly underused in this picture as well. We get to see her in screen tests, but that is the extent of that. I believe what the problem with this film is that it doesn't really look into the murder what so ever, sure they give you a killer and the like, but none of it is based on any kind of known fact. The murder is merely the backdrop where it needs to be the centerpiece if the movie is called The Black Dahlia. Though it is one of the few movies I've seen where I've actually found Hilary Swank attractive.

Sadly it appears that Josh Harnett is doomed to romance his best friend's lady after they die (allegedly in some movies). He actually did a well enough job acting wise to hang with four other actors who are much better then he is, but that doesn't help when there is loophole after loophole in the story and plot. I haven't read the book, maybe it fills those gaps and this could be a result of the studio having editing ability, but that is where the movie fails.

The Black Dahlia, C.

Spiderman 3

As I look out at the vast land of the blogosphere this morning and read other's reviews of Spiderman 3 I see a general consensus of the same thing. We all think Spidey 2 was so far the best comic book movie of all time. We all wish for that to improve on, but how do you improve on perfection? I don't know if you can, and they definitely didn't, but we all agree that we liked it and didn't like it all at the same time. That being said, let me talk about first about the things I absolutely loved about this movie.

1. I loved the fact that both Venom and Sandman had dead on costumes in this movie and Gwen Stacey had Gwen Stacey hair. I know this seems childish in a sense, but when you have movies like X-Men just completely throw off the costume idea, it's nice to see something that is such a visual art form stay true to that fact.

2. Sandman, wow, they did this character some justice in his back story and what his motivations were. I think you could have saved this character for the next movie and mix in some Lizard, but he was really well done.

3. Venom, it was from space, it became bloodthirsty, and I personally think they set up Carnage at the end, but then I may be the only one who picked up on that. Not just that, they stayed true to his weaknesses and the like, I though that was really well done. Actually, Venom and Sandman were both really well done, that was not the problem in this movie, it was something else completely.

4. Bruce Campbell and Stan Lee with their best cameos in this series in this movie. Their characters gave a levity that helped this movie and die-hard fans greatly at times where there was no action.

Problems with this flick

1. Kirsten Dunst, who I'm pretty sure hung out with Chong this entire film, just mailed this one in. I know Peter got the emo hair at one point, but did she have to actually be emo the entire time? We didn't need to hear her sing, no one cares about MJ, and this just isn't the right actress to play her, period. Other then the plot device to get Aunt May involved and Harry involved in the final scene. I think to me she is what was wrong with this movie, I just didn't buy the chemistry of Peter and herself. The better choice would be for at the beginning of the movie MJ to go off to LA to become an actress, which leads to Gwen and Peter and Eddie having conflict. Hell, you could have still killed her father and her blaming Spidey, just have Venom do it.

2. The wrong relationship was center stage, they wanted to focus more on MJ and Peter and this will they won't they bullshit they've had since the first once and the Harry and Peter relationship that had a chemistry I DID buy. The butler part wouldn't have been as cheesy if they had skipped the entire Peter as Fred Astair in the Jazz club. You could have seen a mental breakdown of Harry, seen him fight within himself, and come to the realization that Peter was right.

3. Not enough Gwen Stacey, and when she was used, it was improperly. MJ and Gwen were friends, almost best friends one would say. She was smart and loved the intellectual side of Peter Parker, not the bimbo model they portrayed her as half the movie. She still could have died in this movie, but to have any impact there would have had to been a romance between Peter and her and for some reason the powers that be refuse to allow us Peter's one true love.

It was at least a solid movie, not as bad as others, but I could just see the potential they had in it. Just the various things they could have done that would have made it oh so much better, but sadly they love MJ for some reason. Yes, I putting the blame of this movie on Kirsten Dunst and Mary Jane. Everything else was spectacular, it wasn't the problem of too many villains as some have suggested it's this worthless layabout who can't hack it on Broadway, whore.

Though I did pop for the Spamalot signs, which apparently MJ's play was in the same building since if I remember right from earlier this year, there isn't a theater right next to it.

Monday Movie Reviews

Blades of Glory, starring Will Ferrell, Jon Heder,Craig T. Nelson, Amy Poehler, Will Arnett and Jenna Fischer.

Will Ferrell has proven once again that he very well may be the best in the world right now when it comes to making comedies. Not just comedies, but comedies that sell and that almost everyone enjoys. My father didn't like Talledega Nights, but then again this is the same man who will watch The Edge whenever it comes on the TV.

Ferrell manages to chose rolls in which he creates a truly memorable character and has so many one liners one would think it was a Rock promo. I'm sure you have seen this in one of the many commercials for the movie where the review quotes are things said by Chazz Michael Michaels in the movie. To say that I would actually watch figure skating if Chazz was a part of it wouldn't be that much of a stretch. I still think my favorite line of the movie is, "That's how babies are made."

I'm not a big fan of Heder, Napoleon Dynamite was not as big of a hit for me as the rest of you, but I did enjoy him in this role. Jenna Fischer is HOT in this flick, but that's merely my opinion. Though the real life married couple of Will Arnett and Amy Poehler very nearly steal the entire movie. This movie is one of those that just click on every level and you don't want it to end and yes, some of my favorite scenes are when Olympic mascots get hurt in some fashion.

A-

TMNT Voice Talents Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mako, Patrick Stewart, Chris Evans, Kevin Smith and Ziyi Zhang.

I grew up a die-hard Ninja Turtles fan, I mean DIE HARD. When I went to visit my cousins in the hills, who lived on a ranch type property, we "trained" to be ninjas. I saw the first two live action movies, but was wise enough to bypass Turtles in Time as it was obviously a steaming pile. None the less, this movie follows those plot lines more or less and continues a few years after.

The only continuity problem I had was that ace reporter April O'Neil was now some antiquities dealer specializing in South American artifacts. Casey and April are living together, but their relationship is never truly stated until the end. They do do a solid job of keeping the type of characters they had in the movies, though thankfully they got rid of Splinter "making a funny".

This is a more serious version of the Turtles, one the RPG and comic book fans can enjoy, but not serious enough to drive away parents and children. The animation is absolutely fantastic and fits this type of movie perfectly. I would actually suggest this type of movie if they're not going to redo GI Joe. The movie itself is more about Leo and Raph's relationship and what happens when there is no one left to fight. What it does do is set up the franchise very well to continue on from this point, and I hope they made enough money to do just that.

B+