Tag: Movies

Saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory yesterday: great movie. A lot has been written of Johnny Depp’s performance being reminiscient of Michael Jackson. Um, no. And further: who cares? It wouldn’t take away from the movie if he did.

This is definitely a Tim Burton movie: the visuals are fantastic, cartoonish, and a little eerie. The performances by Depp, Charile and Waking Ned Devine are great too. Burton really did the book justice.

It’s a great family movie.

Recommended.

Hey, memes are fun. Some are invite only, but this one doesn’t seem to be. Take the top 100 grossing movies: italicize the ones you’ve seen, bold the ones you liked. Appears I liked the ones I did see. I was surprised to see that there are roughly a quarter of the films I haven’t seen. I’m sad to note that The Waterboy is anywhere near this list…and that I’ve seen it. Here’s my list:

1. Titanic (1997) – $600,779,824
2. Star Wars (1977) – $460,935,665
3. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) – $434,949,459
4. Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) – $431,065,444
5. Spider-Man (2002) – $403,706,375
6. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The (2003) – $377,019,252
7. Passion of the Christ, The (2004) – $370,025,697
8. Jurassic Park (1993) – $356,784,000
9. Shrek 2 (2004) – $356,211,000
10. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The (2002) – $340,478,898
11. Finding Nemo (2003) – $339,714,367
12. Forrest Gump (1994) – $329,691,196
13. Lion King, The (1994) – $328,423,001
14. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) – $317,557,891
15. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001) – $313,837,577
16. Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) – $310,675,583
17. Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983) – $309,125,409
18. Independence Day (1996) – $306,124,059
19. Pirates of the Caribbean (2003) – $305,411,224
20. Sixth Sense, The (1999) – $293,501,675
21. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980) – $290,158,751
22. Home Alone (1990) – $285,761,243
23. Matrix Reloaded, The (2003) – $281,492,479
24. Shrek (2001) – $267,652,016
25. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) – $261,970,615
26. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) – $260,031,035
27. Jaws (1975) – $260,000,000
28. Monsters, Inc. (2001) – $255,870,172
29. Batman (1989) – $251,188,924
30. Men in Black (1997) – $250,147,615
31. Toy Story 2 (1999) – $245,823,397
32. Bruce Almighty (2003) – $242,589,580
33. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) – $242,374,454
34. Twister (1996) – $241,700,000
35. My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) – $241,437,427
36. Ghost Busters (1984) – $238,600,000
37. Beverly Hills Cop (1984) – $234,760,500
38. Cast Away (2000) – $233,630,478
39. Lost World: Jurassic Park, The (1997) – $229,074,524
40. Signs (2002) – $227,965,690
41. Rush Hour 2 (2001) – $226,138,454
42. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) – $219,200,000
43. Ghost (1990) – $217,631,306
44. Aladdin (1992) – $217,350,219
45. Saving Private Ryan (1998) – $216,119,491
46. Mission: Impossible II (2000) – $215,397,30
47. X2 (2003) – $214,948,780
48. Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) – $213,079,163
49. Back to the Future (1985) – $210,609,762
50. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) – $205,399,422
51. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) – $204,843,350
52. Exorcist, The (1973) – $204,565,000
53. Mummy Returns, The (2001) – $202,007,640
54. Armageddon (1998) – $201,573,391
55. Gone with the Wind (1939) – $198,655,278
56. Pearl Harbor (2001) – $198,539,855
57. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) – $197,171,806
58. Toy Story (1995) – $191,800,000
59. Men in Black II (2002) – $190,418,803
60. Gladiator (2000) – $187,670,866
61. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) – $184,925,485
62. Dances with Wolves (1990) – $184,208,848
63. Batman Forever (1995) – $184,031,112
64. Fugitive, The (1993) – $183,875,760
65. Ocean’s Eleven (2001) – $183,405,771
66. What Women Want (2000) – $182,805,123
67. Perfect Storm, The (2000) – $182,618,434
68. Liar Liar (1997) – $181,395,380
69. Grease (1978) – $181,360,000
70. Jurassic Park III (2001) – $181,166,115
71. Mission: Impossible (1996) – $180,965,237
72. Planet of the Apes (2001) – $180,011,740
73. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) – $179,870,271
74. Pretty Woman (1990) – $178,406,268
75. Tootsie (1982) – $177,200,000
76. Top Gun (1986) – $176,781,728
77. There’s Something About Mary (1998) – $176,483,808
78. Ice Age (2002) – $176,387,405
79. Crocodile Dundee (1986) – $174,635,000
80. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) – $173,585,516
81. Elf (2003) – $173,381,405
82. Air Force One (1997) – $172,888,056
83. Rain Man (1988) – $172,825,435
84. Apollo 13 (1995) – $172,071,312
85. Matrix, The (1999) – $171,383,253
86. Beauty and the Beast (1991) – $171,301,428
87. Tarzan (1999) – $171,085,177
88. Beautiful Mind, A (2001) – $170,708,996
89. Chicago (2002) – $170,684,505
90. Three Men and a Baby (1987) – $167,780,960
91. Meet the Parents (2000) – $166,225,040
92. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) – $165,500,000
93. Hannibal (2001) – $165,091,464
94. Catch Me If You Can (2002) – $164,435,221
95. Big Daddy (1999) – $163,479,795
96. Sound of Music, The (1965) – $163,214,286
97. Batman Returns (1992) – $162,831,698
98. Bug’s Life, A (1998) – $162,792,677
99. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) – $161,963,000
100. Waterboy, The (1998) – $161,487,252

You done laughing?

Let me tell you how I choose to see a movie, before you start laughing again.

First, I have to be generally interested – that’s changing and getting harder to do as I get older. Second, when the movie comes out, I’ll read Roger Ebert’s review. He’s a candy man: he likes a lot of movies and rates them high. Then, I’ll read what the reviewers at the Globe And Mail write about it: they hate everything just to spite you. They’re the snotty type that criticize everything because their own lives have no happiness.

Based on their reviews and these rules, I’ll then deem the movie worthy of viewing:

1. Ebert gives it ** or lower: don’t see it.
2. Ebert gives it *** and Globe And Mail gives it **: worth seeing.
3. Ebert gives it *** or higher and Globe And Mail gives it ***: go see it.
4. Ebert gives it **** and Globe And Mail gives it ****: ha ha, that’s a trick – Globe And Mail doesn’t give anything worth seeing ****. Anything with **** from the Globe And Mail may be truly brilliant, but watching them is usually is super depressing and you would never, ever want to see the movie again. (Some examples: Monster’s Ball, Monster). I’ve stopped doing it.

Where was I?

Oh yeah, Mr & Mrs Smith. It passed rule 3. The Globe And Mail was right, it was a good movie for the first two acts, but then devolved to an action movie in the third. But the first two acts are totally worth it. And hey, it broke up a real marriage, right?

Recommended.

I saw the final episode in the second trilogy of the Star Wars Saga today.

I liked it; it was a good end to the abysmal trilogy, and it filled in the only back story that anyone cared about: how Darth Vader came to be. I’d say that Lucas could have escaped all that ridicule if he focussed more on that story, instead of his esoteric tangents on trade embargoes and such that hurt the first two episodes.

I’ve written before about how Star Wars has been around my entire life. My troubles with this trilogy have at least something to do my age: I’m more critical of things like acting, dialogue and plot, rather than being captivated by the magic of the story. This film brings back the magic. The scenes where Vader is made are excellent and just as chilling as you’d want them to be.

Go see the movie.

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Mild Spoiler Alert

The part that got a chuckle out of me was some dialogue on the lava planet:

Anakin: “ If you’re not with me, you’re my enemy.”
Obi-Wan: “ Only a Sith deals in absolutes.”

Anakin’s line sound familiar?