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Runelady
Age: 34
Location: Erie, PA
Favorite Show: Red vs. Blue
Favorite Movies: American Beauty, Boondock Saints, Breakfast Club, Clerks, The Departed, GODZILLA (Japanese releases ONLY), The Exorcist, Holy Grail, Kentucky Fried Movie, Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Lost Boys, Magnolia, Moulin Rouge, Mystery Men, Nightmare Before Christmas, Office Space, Pirates of the Carribean, the Princess Bride, Pulp Fiction, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Living Dead, Terminator, TRANSFORMERS (animated and live-action), the Usual Suspects, V for Vendetta
Stuff about me: I'm very selective about Comedy. I generally watch horror, drama, thriller, suspense, etc. Red vs. Blue is by far the funniest thing I have ever seen. I also have a tendency to insert my own dialogue while watching tv or movies, (gotta love MST3K).
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Wanted (2008)
The Little Action Movie That Couldn't
Wanted was hyped-up to be one of 2008's summer blockbusters. There are some satisfying action scenes in this movie, but the overall after-taste is slightly above average.
A young man, living a meaningless life, is forced into becoming a great assassin like his father, who was one of the greatest assassins to ever live.
This film has some great special effects, but the storyline could have used some improvement and the majority of the action scenes were ridiculous. I was scoffing at this movie more than I was enjoying it.
Angelina Jolie is a pretty face used to sell movies, but she's not a very convincing actress. Morgan Freeman is one of the best actors in Hollywood, but his ability could not help him in this situation. James McAvoy was great in the Last King of Scotland, but was mediocre-at-best in this film. All of the characters were poorly-developed and lacked connectivity.
The excessive use of violence, swearing and shooting overshadows any deeper meaning that the story may have held. There were some interesting twists near the end, but not enough to compensate for the rest of the film being lackluster.
My rating: 6/10 Stars.
The Happening (2008)
The Happening is Definitely Not Happening
M. Night Shyamalan started with a great idea for this movie: Mother Nature taking revenge on mankind for abusing the planet. This could have been a truly amazing film. What this turned out to be is something that should have been left on the cutting room floor to be swept away and left to rot in a landfill. In terms of quality, this movie makes Manos: the Hands of Fate look like the Silence of the Lambs.
The movie starts out okay. Mark Wahlberg plays a quirky science professor. His class discussions suggest some foreshadowing and expertise behind future events; however, these expectations fall dreadfully short from being fulfilled. Actually, all expectations for this film are refuted. The storyline is bland and has no real plot. Early in the film, one event sets the wheels in motion for the rising action. That's pretty much where the movie plateaus. There is no driving force to carry you through to the end.
The dialogue is synthetic and clumsy. If I were facing a life-threatening, environmental crisis, I would be discussing things relevant to the events at-hand. These people had the most odd, insignificant things to say. It was absolutely ludicrous. Some scenes were so bizarre that all I could say was "WTF?"
The actors' performances were equally as hollow as the individuals they portrayed. The characters have no depth and offer no additional substance to this film; no glimpse into something that might ignite a plot twist, or, even more importantly, A PLOT. The general over-all feeling was as if everyone were fumbling their way through the script for the first time. Mark Wahlberg is typically a very good actor. In this movie, his acting seems forced and unnatural. The closest comparison I can think of is watching his reaction to someone repeatedly snapping a rubber band against his face. Zoey Deschanel's character seems oblivious and disinterested in the events surrounding her. John Leguizamo was slightly more convincing, but very awkward.
I thought the Fantastic Four sequel was awful, but this by far takes the golden turkey for the worst movie I have seen in the past year. I would rather chew on broken glass and gargle lemon juice than watch this again.
My rating: 1/10 Stars.
The Dark Knight (2008)
One Word: Epic.
I am not a big comic book fan; however, The Dark Knight is unequivocally one of the best movies I have seen in years. For those who have followed Batman over the decades: You will not be failed.
Jonathan Nolan's screenplay is nothing short of a masterpiece, and brother Christopher Nolan's direction is flawless. It is a cinematic tour de force. The blend of drama with intense action will keep you at the edge of your seat while obscure plot twists will keep you guessing and leave you astonished.
Performances by the star-studded cast were thoroughly convincing and brilliant. Heath Ledger's maniacal portrayal of the Joker is legendary; Christian Bale leaves Michael Keaton in the dust in his role as the caped crusader; Aaron Eckhart made me a firm believer in Harvey Dent, and Gary Oldman was very impressive as the steadfast Lieutenant Gordan.
This is a film you will want to see again.
My rating: 10/10 stars.
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Incredible Smash!
If you are a fan of the comic books or loved the Incredible Hulk series in the 1970's, you will love this movie.
The Incredible Hulk embraces the elements that make a motion picture worth watching: Good script, well-developed characters, decent acting, great special effects, and a storyline that has a pulse. There wasn't a dull moment in this movie. The story has a smooth pace, plenty of action, well-defined character relationships, and a harmonious balance of good versus evil.
Hats-off to Edward Norton and Liv Tyler for their performance in this film. Bravo!
4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
A Major Disappointment
I viewed this movie at a local dollar theater. After all was said and done, I wanted my dollar back and the time I had wasted viewing the film.
Hollywood is on this comic book and superhero kick, and the movies being produced could be something truly amazing. Here lies an example of a movie where the public recognizes the title and wants to see it, but is filled with garbage. The script was terrible. The acting was terrible. The storyline was terrible. I give this movie a "3" instead of a "1" because I like Michael Chiklis and the CGI was good. That's about it.
My rating: 3/10 Stars.
Red vs. Blue (2003)
Funniest Series on the Internet
Red vs. Blue is a Machinima comedy series based on the XBox game Halo.
The series takes place on an alien planet, where two armies, (Red Team and Blue Team), are at war with each other in the middle of a box canyon, (Blood Gulch). Although there isn't a lot of fighting, there is a lot of humorous bickering.
I had the pleasure of viewing all 100+ episodes and spoof Public Service Announcements created by Rooster Teeth Productions. The writing and humor is BRILLIANT. The characters are well-developed and have their own distinct personalities.
If you're looking for a good laugh and a lot of memorable quotes, I highly recommended watching this series on DVD. This is easily the most hilarious thing that has come from the internet.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
Expect Something Different
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull proved to be entertaining and a great addition to the other Indiana films; however, you may want to go into the theater with an open mind. This movie has a different over-all feel than the others. If you are expecting the nostalgic 1930's era films that we grew to love, you will be very disappointed.
Indiana Jones movies are made for action, and this film provides plenty. If you're looking for a movie that is believable, you're probably looking in the wrong place, but then again, if you wanted that, you wouldn't have watched the first three films.
The storyline and plot of this movie are a little far-fetched, and the action scenes are over-the-top, but what Indy movie didn't have a storyline or scenes like that? Remember Indiana & his father departing the Hindenburg on an airplane in the Last Crusade? Now you get my drift.
The downside to this movie is that the relationships between characters were under-developed, Cate Blanchett's performance wasn't very convincing or intimidating, and Karen Allen's performance could have been a bit less artificial.
Amazingly, Shia LaBeouf's performance wasn't that bad. I think the movie could have done without the Tarzan-esquire scene, but the motorcycle chase on the college campus was rather amusing. John Hurt also shines in his role as Professor "Ox" Oxley.
Harrison Ford meets all expectations as he reprises his role of Dr. Henry Jones, Jr.
Transformers (2007)
If you liked the 80's cartoon, you will LOVE this movie!
I wasn't sure what to expect when I went to see this film, but I prayed for the best. When I first saw the previews over a year ago, I swore to everyone that I would see it during the sneak preview... and I did. I was a huge fan of the cartoon in the 1980's.
This is the ONLY film I have viewed in the theater more than once, (6 times to be precise). Normally, I am rather picky about dialogue and acting, which were sub-par at best in this film, but the action and special effects generously compensated for what it lacked. I was thrilled to hear the voice of Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime, and the personalities of the Autobots were dead-on!
As much as I loved this film, I was slightly upset that Jazz wasn't a Porsche like he was in the original series. I suppose the Pontiac Solstice was a close enough match. He did look pretty cool. I was quite impressed with the new image given to Bumblebee. He was, by far, my favorite character in this movie. Also, Megatron does not morph into a gun. I didn't mind that either. Even though it was great in the cartoon, it just would not have worked in a live-action film.
One thing, however, was way off: Devastator was a tank. Now, for those of you who remember the original series, Devastator was a giant robot formed by the Constructicons. The only tank in the original series was Warpath, who was an Autobot. I personally think Michael Bay could have done something different here, but for the sake of entertainment, it worked rather well.
Regardless of the discrepancies, I thought Michael Bay did a remarkable job with this film.