Are you a film critic?

yes, for a german tv magazine...

Sleeper, was hilarious at times, but overall just a little too over-the-top and silly for me. Still pretty good.

Key Largo was great. and that's bout all l have to say about that.

01. 01/07/05: Yi Yi (Edward Yang, 2000) A
02. 01/08/05: Vertical Ray of the Sun (Anh Hung Tran, 2000) B
03. 01/08/05: Ran (Akira Kurosawa, 1985) A+
04. 01/09/05: Sleeper (Woody Allen, 1973) B-
05. 01/09/05: Key Largo (John Huston, 1948) B+

I might unintentioanlly do this. I watched Troy and Anchorman this weekend, and I have borrowed from my friend a good five movies, which should get me through this week. That's seven movies in six days.

1. 01-07-2005: Troy (2004). Grade: 9.6/10 (A)
2. 01-08-2005: White Noise (2005). Grade: 7.8/10 (C+)
3. 01-08-2005: Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle (2004). Grade: 8.7/10 (B+)
4. 01-08-2005: Open Water (2004). Grade: 7.0/10 (C-)
5. 01-09-2005: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003). Grade: 9.5/10 (A)
6. 01-09-2005: Mindhunters (2005). Grade: 9.5/10 (A)
7. 01-09-2005: Face/Off (1997). Grade: 9.8/10 (A+)

I decided to just go back to my old number grades scale. Easier to remember. :wink:

Anyways, Face/Off is not only one of the best action movies, but one of my favorite movies ever. No other action movie has ever been more fun, entertaining, and had such a good story all into one mix. I love it.

well, l caught most of Out Cold on Comedy Central. meh...nothing special, at all...not even very funny most of the time. oh well.

01. 01/07/05: Yi Yi (Edward Yang, 2000) A
02. 01/08/05: Vertical Ray of the Sun (Anh Hung Tran, 2000) B
03. 01/08/05: Ran (Akira Kurosawa, 1985) A+
04. 01/09/05: Sleeper (Woody Allen, 1973) B-
05. 01/09/05: Key Largo (John Huston, 1948) B+
06. 01/09/05: Out Cold (Brendan & Emmett Malloy, 2001) C-

1. 01-07-2005: Troy (2004). Grade: 9.6/10 (A)
2. 01-08-2005: White Noise (2005). Grade: 7.8/10 (C+)
3. 01-08-2005: Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle (2004). Grade: 8.7/10 (B+)
4. 01-08-2005: Open Water (2004). Grade: 7.0/10 (C-)
5. 01-09-2005: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003). Grade: 9.5/10 (A)
6. 01-09-2005: Mindhunters (2005). Grade: 9.5/10 (A)
7. 01-09-2005: Face/Off (1997). Grade: 9.8/10 (A+)
8. 01-09-2005: Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004). Grade: 8.9/10 (B+)

Hilarious comedy. Ben Stiller is one of the funniest actors around.

1. 1/7/05: Troy (2004, Wolfgang Petersen) - B
2. 1/7/05: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003, Ki-duk Kim) - A-
3. 1/8/05: Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle (2004, Danny Leiner) - B
4. 1/9/05: Akira (1988, Katsuhiro Ôtomo) - C
5. 1/9/05: Being John Malkovich (1999, Spike Jonze) - A
6. 1/9/05: Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002, George Lucas) - B
7. 1/9/05: Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004, Alexander Witt) - B+

1/8/2005: Scream 2 -- 8.0/10 (A-)
1/9/2005: Scream 3 -- 7.5/10 (B+)

A good finale to the trilogy, but it succumbs to the same cliches as the original set out to revolutionize, but to an even great degree then the second film. The "killer" sequence feels tired and over-used, and the surprise twist wasn't as good. However, overall, the film was still very enjoyable and a fitting finale to the Scream Trilogy. [Trilogy Grades: Scream -- 9.0/10 (A), Scream 2 -- 8.0/10 (A-), Scream 3 -- 7.5/10 (B+)

2005-01-04 Mean Girls (6/10)
2005-01-05 Cop Land: Director's Cut (8/10)
2005-01-06 Hellboy (6/10)
2005-01-07 Super Size Me (7/10)
2005-01-08 Wimbledon (7/10)
2005-01-09 King Arthur: Director's Cut (3/10)
2005-01-10 Dodgeball (6/10)

I'm just not convinced enough to jump on the Stiller bandwagon. He is funny because of his ouftits more than because of his comedic talents. And so is this comedy. You laugh because the sound guys did a really great job with the balls striking the faces and the crotch, but when you leave the Dodgeball course it just isn't funny anymore. And since they run through the Dodgeball matches too quickly, they waste a lot of screentime with unfunny bits and pieces. The cameo from David Hasselhoff is comedic genious though

Why do you hate King Arthur so much?

Not addressed to me, but I will answer it anyway...

1. It in no way represents an accurate retelling of the Arthurian myth as the filmmakers would have you believe. Arthur is believed to be an amalgamation of several different men, and that still does not account for all his "adventures". Trying to present this as a historically accurate representation of what was happening is very mistleading. Just like Passion of the Christ. OH SNAP!

2. The acting, particularly in the first 5 minutes is absolutely horrendous.

3. The characters are written as too brooding and modern.

4. The action sequences lack vibrancy and realism... they each have their own weapons and some fight in very eastern styles. It feels too much like Ninja turtles.

5. The story isn't all that interesting quite frankly, and that makes the disappointment about it not following the Arthurian story more closely even MORE disappointing.

01. 01.01.2005 - Open Water. (2004) d. Chris Kentis. Grade: F
02. 01.01.2005 - Sideways. (2004) d. Alexander Payne. Grade: A
03. 01.01.2005 - King Arthur. (2004) d. Antoine Fuqua. Grade: C
04. 01.02.2005 - The Manchurian Canidate. (2004) d. Jonathan Demme. Grade: B
05. 01.02.2005 - Innocence: Ghost in the Shell 2. (2004) d. Mamoru Oshii. Grade: B-
06. 01.03.2005 - De-Lovely. (2004) d. Irwin Winkler. Grade: C-
07. 01.05.2005 - Notorious C.H.O. (2002) d. Lorene Machado. Grade: D+
08. 01.08.2005 - Million Dollar Baby. (2004) d. Clint Eastwood. Grade: A+
09. 01.08.2005 - Code 46. (2003) d. Michael Winterbottom. Grade: D+
10. 01.09.2005 - The Door in the Floor. (2004) d. Tod Williams. Grade: C+
11. 01.09.2005 - House of Flying Daggers. (2004) d. Zhang Yimou. Grade: B+

Poor Yimou. Only because of a weird distribution deal would he have to compete against himself for the title of best wuxia pian film of the year. For those that don't know... wuxia pian is basically the term for this type of filmmaking. Epic, poetic, romantic, historically set, martial arts films (http://www.kungfucinema.com/categories/wuxiapien.htm). Being that this is the third one in a number of years to cross the Pacific, it is bound to be compared to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and of course Hero. Especially Hero because it's from the same director, and especially because one of the stars of all three is the beautiful Zhang Ziyi.

House tells a very simple love story set against the backdrop of a war between "the government" and the Flying Daggers, who are essentially Robin Hood and his Merry Men... but they are mostly women... in green. Anyway, the great thing about House of Flying Daggers as compared to say... Hero, is that also the story is simple and familiar it is told well and the actors give a lot of weight to their performances. A couple of unforseen twists add to the story and the lack of external characters outside the primary four cast members keeps the emotions centralized and vital.

Visually the film is spectacular, again, unfortunately only trumped by Hero, which for us Americans only came out about 3 months prior. But still memorable, especially for the bamboo forest sequence. Unfortunately, some of the locations feel a little overused and action seems to be dependant on new locations rather than story elements. There is also an incredibly elegant dance sequence. Perhaps the sequence that worked best however, was the war in the flowers which is essentially the turning point of the film. The final confrontation is notable for the excellent, excellent fight performances given by the two actors involved (telling who that is would be a bit of spoiler).

The only thing keeping me from giving this a better grade was that during some parts of the film, either the script was off key or the translation didn't help carry the drama. I can't talk about the scene without giving it away, but it struck me like Will Ferrel jumping into the bear cage in Anchorman, yelling that he was coming for Veronica, and then when the bears woke up, whispered to Veronica "Why did you do that!?".

I'm not making any sense. Off to work.

check my website next week :wink:

Day 4 has begun! Today, I'll be watching Cruel Intentions. Maybe something else. \:D/

Day 4: 1/10/05: Wicker Park -- C-

At first, I was interested in the movie. I liked the unravelling of the story, although it was sometimes confusing. However, the last hour or so of the movie just drags on forever. The whole past has already been told, and you already know everything that happened to affect the characters this way. The last hour of the movie was just spent repeatedly showing Matt and Lisa missing eacher by seconds. After awhile it was just like okay, make them meet already and get over with it. In my opinion, if they had shortened it a little, it would have flowed nicer and been more enoyable.

1/8/2005: Scream 2 -- 8.0/10 (A-)
1/9/2005: Scream 3 -- 7.5/10 (B+)
1/10/2005: White Noise -- 7.0/10 (B)

An enjoyable, if somewhat flawed thriller. Good performance by Michael Keaton and the other supporting cast members. A few plot holes were evident, and the ending could have used a better explanation. Still an entertaining, disturbing film.

6. 01-09-2005: In Good Company (2005, Paul Weitz). Grade: 9.6/10

In some ways, "In Good Company" is a better film than "About A Boy". In other ways, "American Pie" is better than both. "In Good Company", out of the three critically-acclaimed Weitz comedies, is the most charming. It has the freshest look, more convincing acting, and best flow. The entire film is mature, and unlike many other films, "In Good Company" makes it's point loud and clear.

The biggest suprise in the entire film, is NOT Johannson or Quaid, but Topher Grace. Fairly unknown outside the few people who watch That 70s Show, Topher Grace really steals the show. Grace's character is able to connect with the insecurity many beings feel when dealing with people who are much older, outside of family, of course. But it's not ONLY the ability to connect. The best addition to the film are those few moments where you see Grace try oh-so-hard to keep his composure!

The one MAJOR qualm I have with the film is the romance between Johannson and Grace. And, no, it's not because I can't stand seeing someone else get on her (I'm not THAT nerdy ). It's just - it's a tad unrealistic. Who dates or even hangs out with your employee's daughter? It comes off as Monica Lewiski-ish. The other qualm with these scenes is that, they simply aren't funny enough. Ignoring the realism of it all, this material could've been used to their benefit. Like Meet the Fockers, it presents infinite possibility for humor. Then again, when you consider it, if you're striving to make a mature film, does the hit-or-miss formula/laugh-per-20-seconds formula really make sense?

All in all, In Good Company is very very strong. Even Dennis Quaid, dreadful in so many other roles, lives up to the standards placed by the other two young performers. A

01. Fallen B
02. Cowboy Bebob C+
03. The Warriors A
04. School of Rock C

05. Texas Chainsaw Massacre 21st Century Redux - D

1. 01-07-2005: Troy (2004). Grade: 9.6/10 (A)
2. 01-08-2005: White Noise (2005). Grade: 7.8/10 (C+)
3. 01-08-2005: Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle (2004). Grade: 8.7/10 (B+)
4. 01-08-2005: Open Water (2004). Grade: 7.0/10 (C-)
5. 01-09-2005: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003). Grade: 9.5/10 (A)
6. 01-09-2005: Mindhunters (2005). Grade: 9.5/10 (A)
7. 01-09-2005: Face/Off (1997). Grade: 9.8/10 (A+)
8. 01-09-2005: Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004). Grade: 8.9/10 (B+)
9. 01-10-2005: Cruel Intentions (1999). Grade: 9.5/10 (A)

What a fantastic teen movie. Sexy, stylish, seductive; all in one nice, pretty package. The score and soundtrack is also something to talk about; it's great. I wish I saw this movie a long time ago, but better now than never. My love for Sarah Michelle Gellar also increased quite significantly. She's so beautiful.

The 1931 Frankenstein is, for lack of a better word, bad (ok, well, l'm sure there's a better word for it than that). l'm not sure if this movie is generally considered good or not (although a 7.9 on imdb leads me to believe it is)...but if it is, l can't see why, at all. Besides being NOTHING at all like the book, (which l find to be quite enjoyable) this film has very little of anything of interest; indeed, l felt nothing at all watching it, besides boredom. It wasn't horrifying, although it is considered a horror; it's also called a drama, and yet there is nothing dramatic about it. It just kinda played up there on the screen, and l watched...but that's about it. Technically, it's also very flawed. The editting is not good at all, with many unneccesary and rather messy cuts. Plus it just doesnt look very good. Of course l can forgive all that, seeing as the movie was made almost seventy-five years ago.

It does get points for three scenes: the one with the creature and Maria (who herself is adorable, and one of the best parts); the scene with Frankenstein and the monster in the windmill (shot through that rotating wheel thing...that was cool); and, the scene in which the windmill is burnt to the ground, while it's inside with the monster. And it's only about an hour long, which is cool.

01. 01/07/05: Yi Yi (Edward Yang, 2000) A
02. 01/08/05: Vertical Ray of the Sun (Anh Hung Tran, 2000) B
03. 01/08/05: Ran (Akira Kurosawa, 1985) A+
04. 01/09/05: Sleeper (Woody Allen, 1973) B-
05. 01/09/05: Key Largo (John Huston, 1948) B+
06. 01/09/05: Out Cold (Brendan & Emmett Malloy, 2001) C-
07. 01/10/05: Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931) D+

1. 01-07-2005: Troy (2004). Grade: 9.6/10 (A)
2. 01-08-2005: White Noise (2005). Grade: 7.8/10 (C+)
3. 01-08-2005: Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle (2004). Grade: 8.7/10 (B+)
4. 01-08-2005: Open Water (2004). Grade: 7.0/10 (C-)
5. 01-09-2005: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003). Grade: 9.5/10 (A)
6. 01-09-2005: Mindhunters (2005). Grade: 9.5/10 (A)
7. 01-09-2005: Face/Off (1997). Grade: 9.8/10 (A+)
8. 01-09-2005: Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004). Grade: 8.9/10 (B+)
9. 01-10-2005: Cruel Intentions (1999). Grade: 9.5/10 (A)
10. 01-10-2005: Reindeer Games (2000). Grade: 3.5/10 (F)

You win some, you lose some... I guess. Incredibly lame and idiotic. Nothing about this movie is good.

Cruel Intentions- B+
Garden State- A
Basketball Diaries-A

1/8/2005: Scream 2 -- 8.0/10 (A-)
1/9/2005: Scream 3 -- 7.5/10 (B+)
1/10/2005: White Noise -- 7.0/10 (B)
1/10/2005: Garden State -- 9.0/10 (A+)

An amazing film, far beyond my expectations. Quirky, strange, but incredible. Earns a spot in my top 10 of all time, and my top three of 2004.

1. The Aviator -- 1/7 A+
2. Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle -- 1/8 A-
3. Anchorman: Unrated -- 1/9 A
4. Comedian -- 1/10 B

01. 01.01.2005 - Open Water. (2004) d. Chris Kentis. Grade: F
02. 01.01.2005 - Sideways. (2004) d. Alexander Payne. Grade: A
03. 01.01.2005 - King Arthur. (2004) d. Antoine Fuqua. Grade: C
04. 01.02.2005 - The Manchurian Canidate. (2004) d. Jonathan Demme. Grade: B
05. 01.02.2005 - Innocence: Ghost in the Shell 2. (2004) d. Mamoru Oshii. Grade: B-
06. 01.03.2005 - De-Lovely. (2004) d. Irwin Winkler. Grade: C-
07. 01.05.2005 - Notorious C.H.O. (2002) d. Lorene Machado. Grade: D+
08. 01.08.2005 - Million Dollar Baby. (2004) d. Clint Eastwood. Grade: A+
09. 01.08.2005 - Code 46. (2003) d. Michael Winterbottom. Grade: D+
10. 01.09.2005 - The Door in the Floor. (2004) d. Tod Williams. Grade: C+
11. 01.09.2005 - House of Flying Daggers. (2004) d. Zhang Yimou. Grade: B+
12. 01.10.2005 - Vampires: The Turning. (2005) d. Marty Weiss. Grade: F
13. 01.10.2005 - The Prophesy. (1995) d. Gregory Widen. Grade: D+

Don't ask... left on Starz tonight! Apparently this movie world premiered today, technically making it a 2005 movie (and I count it as a movie just the same).

Then there was The Prophesy, it was right after. And Viggo was Lucifer. It was neat for a few minutes.