Monday, February 15, 2010

There are some weeks that you really look forward to going to the movies. I really thought that this week was going to be a good one. There were 3 films that all cam out during the Lunar New Year. The 3 films were, The Wolfman (2010), Valentine Day and Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and sad to say, I did not like any of the 3 but each for different reasons.

The first film up for a review is the one that I was looking forward to the most, The Wolfman is a remake of the 1941 classic horror film of the same name. I have seen the original many times during my childhood. I now think that nits a very basic film, but the film was and still is entertaining. I wish, I could say the same for this film.



The film, to me, looked very pretty and looked great in a digital theater but it was a very empty film. The film had no real heart, no real anything to cheer for. The original film scared me as a child, this film only made me scratch my head and wonder why they remade a classic film into a huge miss.

When you see how one of the conflicts of this film is resolved, it really made me ask, what CGI drug was the cast taking, because I did not believe any of it. It also appeared to me that Sir Anthony Hopkins either mailed in his role of the script never really let him take the next level in this horrid film.

Please pass on this film.

Grade: D








Film #2: Valentine's Day is a 2010 American romantic comedy film directed by Garry Marshall.



The plot of this film (Wikipedia)


On an airplane to Los Angeles, Kate Hazeltine (Julia Roberts), a captain in the U.S. Army on a one-day leave, meets Holden (Bradley Cooper) who has recently become single again. In Los Angeles, florist Reed Bennett (Ashton Kutcher) eagerly proposes to his girlfriend Morley (Jessica Alba) who accepts his offer, much to the surprise of Reed’s friend Alphonso (George Lopez) and best friend Julia (Jennifer Garner). Julia, a primary school teacher, has recently fallen in love with Dr. Harrison Copeland (Patrick Dempsey) who might just be hiding his true agenda. Meanwhile one of Julia’s students, Edison (Bryce Robinson), is trying to send flowers to his Valentine, while his babysitter, Grace (Emma Roberts), is planning her first sexual encounter with boyfriend Alex (Carter Jenkins). Meanwhile Edison’s grandparents, Edgar (Hector Elizondo) and Estelle (Shirley MacLaine), are facing the troubles of a long marriage while Grace’s friends, Willy (Taylor Lautner) and Felicia (Taylor Swift) are experiencing the freshness of new love. Shawn Jackson (Eric Dane), a closeted professional football player, is contemplating the end of his career together with his publicist Kara (Jessica Biel) and his agent Paula (Queen Latifah). Kara, a close friend of Julia’s, is organizing her annual ‘I Hate Valentine’s Day’ Party but is starting to become interested in sports reporter Kelvin Briggs (Jamie Foxx) who has been sent out by his producer Susan (Kathy Bates) to cover Valentine’s Day because of a lack of sports news. Paula has recently hired a new receptionist called Liz (Anne Hathaway) who has recently started dating mailroom clerk Jason (Topher Grace). However,what he doesn't know is that Liz is actually a phone sex operator.

When a large ensemble cast comes together you get 2 results, The first one is a film that seems that its exactly right, for example "Love Actually" Where all of the stories seem to work together. Or, you get a film like this, a film that seemed about 3-4 stories too many and by the end of the film, myself and the rest of the audience was wondering why this film was even made. What I found even more depressing was that they are going to make a sequel to this film and the next holiday will be "New Years Eve".

To me the film lacked, intelligence, drama, hope and what a love film really needs, love. The major roles were miscast, too many stories and no one really is an anchor for this film. It just fails on every level for me. If this is a date film, then its the sum of all fears for a bad date and there will not be a 2nd one.

Grade: F

Film #3 Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (known as Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief in the UK and Australia) is a fantasy-adventure film directed by Chris Columbus. This is the first book of the Percy Jackson Series in another attempt to find the next Harry Potter series.



Of all of the 3 films, I saw this week, the Korean audience was really into this film the most. I have no idea if anyone in the audience had head of the books but after the film was over, they were giving me smiles and a few thumbs up for this film.

It was about 2-3 minutes into this film, that I realized that I am not the target audience for this film. I can see teens and young college students really into this film. The film talks about what young love and friends can accomplish together and if they make the other 4 films, then I think that this film will do good in the DVD market due to the films good shots that looked OK in a digital screen.

I really agreed with the Washington Post blip about this film, "the movie suffers by taking itself a little too seriously. It's not just that it's a lot less funny than the book. It's also a lot less fun." I had not read any of the books but I could even tell that something was missing. Once again we are given a pretty film but alas an empty one that doesn't deserved to be seen by anyone over the age of 22.

Grade D+

1 comment:

John from Daejeon said...

I know how you like John Wayne, but I've been giving a few other movie cowboys a shot (Westerns Channel). I finally got around to watching the other half of "The Searchers," the John Huston film with Audrey Hepburn and Burt Lancaster, "The Unforgiven." A native child kidnapped and raised by white settlers.

Other great western actors are Joel McCrea, Gary Cooper, Henry Fonda, Randolph Scott, etc. This doesn't even get into the genre of singing cowboys like Gene Autry. So, if the current crop of recent films aren't worth a lick, give some of the classics of yesteryear a viewing. Hard to believe, but my younger sisters' favorite actor has been dead for over twenty-five years (Cary Grant) and he didn't make a single film during their lifetimes as they were born in the late 70's and early 80's.