December 12, 2004
Review: "Blade Trinity" (4 moose)
Last night Jenn and I watched "Blade Trinity" in Keene. I hesitated going because I was afraid it would just be a lot of blood and gore, but I was pleasantly surprised to find, for a movie of it's genre, it wasn't so bad.
And, for it's genre, it's a very good movie. Wesley Snipes plays Blade as well as he ever has, but the best part of the movie for me was the addition of Ryan Reynolds as Hannibal King, a wise-cracking member of the "Night Stalkers." The last few years he has been one of my favorite comedic actors, and he doesn't disappoint as on of the vampire-killing good guys in "Blade Trinity."
I give it 4 moose out of 5...
Posted by alan at 7:39 PM | TrackBack
November 21, 2004
Review: "The Chronicles of Riddick" (4.5 moose)
We had queued "The Chronicles of Riddick" on Netflix, but when I heard that one of my daughters was going to rent it yesterday, I picked it up at Kmart.
Boy I'm glad I did. No, "The Chronicles of Riddick" isn't a perfect movie -- but it is perfect at what it is supposed to be -- a non-stop action adventure flick. Vin Diesel plays the "I'd rather fight than talk" hero prefectly, the special effects pull you into the dark worlds of the story line, and the evil Necromonger kingdom perfectly walks the fine line of mythology and absurdity.
There aren't many movies where I've been watching them for two hours and I'm hoping it's not going to end any time soon...
As an amateur movie reviewer I really can't comment on the technical aspects of the film -- but if you like science fiction and action-adventure, then I think you'll agree that "The Chronicles of Riddick" deserves 4.5 moose out of 5.
(If you click on the image, you can purchase it at Amazon.com. I will not make any money from the purchase...I just am linking for convenience and because a nabbed the image from their site. Also, this review is for the director's cut widescreen version.)
Posted by alan at 5:31 PM | TrackBack
November 13, 2004
Review: "The Grudge" (3 moose)
I just got back from watching "The Grudge" with Sarah Michelle Gellar. It's the story of a house haunted by evil spirits that are driven by an anger-driven tragedy...and what happens to anyone who enters the abode...
Overall I'd say it was a well done horror picture, but I found two things lacking.
Stop here if you haven't seen it and plan on doing so...
Well, not that I'm really going to spoil it...
First of all, I don't go for movies where all the "good guys" die (or just one is left standing). That's strike one.
Second, the ending is really lame. I realize this was based on a Japanese movie, but I wonder if it was originally written by a French-influenced native of Japan :-)
(Some time I might tell you about a French movie my wife once watched about a guy and a truck of nitroglycerin. Wait, I'll do it now. Guy spends the whole movie precariously driving a shipment of nitroglycerin to its destination -- finally succeeding.
Then, he drives off a cliff.)
If it weren't for the lame ending, I'd probably give "The Grudge" 3.5 to 4 moose out of 5 -- but instead it gets only 3...
(You can catch a trailer and more at ifilm.com.)