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Reviews
Birds of Prey (2002)
Loved the original airing and the DVD (except for the musical substitutions)
I would have rated this show higher except that now, watching the recent DVD release, I am utterly jaded by the musical changes made on the DVDs.
The most annoying ones are the theme song itself being swapped and in the final episode the removal of the apt-fitting "All the things she said" by TATU with some other song that I found jarring.
The actresses did well with what they were given although a couple of the episodes were rather eye-roll inducing but I've seen that in many series that were given more of a chance than BoP was.
Overall, it was an enjoyable series with characters that were more flawed and human in their behaviour than typically expected of "superheroes" and that's part of the draw of this far too short-lived series.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
What a massive disappointment! (Spoilers included)
First off, let me say that I have always been a Harrison Ford fan and I adored the original Indiana Jones films.
When I first heard about Harrison Ford signing on to do another film, I went from elation to trepidation in seconds because I realized that it would be a challenge for the new movie to capture the same feeling as the previous ones.
When I ended up seeing it earlier today, I went in with lower expectations because I felt that would guarantee me a positive viewing experience since it would be unlikely that I would be let down.
I was let down.
Ford looked pretty good. But that was certainly not enough to carry a movie.
Shia's character was annoying and off-putting and I cannot believe that with all the actors in Hollywood that he was cast as the son of Indy and Marion.
Perhaps they wanted to capitalize on his face recognition from his role in "Transformers" or they legitimately thought he fit the bill but I have to disagree.
Overall, my greatest problem with the film was that I was incapable of suspending my disbelief enough to sink into Indy's world and thoroughly enjoy it (as I would have liked to).
Here is a list of the scenes that irked me the most:
- Indy surviving the blast at the nuclear test site by hiding in the nicely-labeled lead-lined fridge which is blown through the air by the blast and yet he is basically fine after the clean up
- the Tarzan-esquire scene of swinging on the vines and catching up with the car chase
- the straddling of two vehicles involved in a chase (and the hot-potato game with the crystal skull) and getting one's crotch smacked by greenery
- going over 3 waterfalls and all the passengers managed to stay aboard their land/sea vehicle until the final waterfall
- a student asking Indy a question after he has slid under a table in the library with a motorcycle (too cutesy and trying for levity)
- the extended jungle chase and all the fighting, swapping vehicles and the back and forth with the skull... it went on too long.
- freaking aliens? from another dimension? WTF?!?!?!
This movie lacked a cohesive and intelligent plot as well as well-drawn out characters. Indy was almost a parody of himself. Marion was an after-thought and Irina was a stereotypical bad guy.
Two thumbs down for this one.
Though, maybe after reading this -- other potential viewers will have lowered their expectations enough to eventually eke a modicum of enjoyment out of it.
Lie with Me (2005)
Canada can do better
Just watched this and read some of the positive reviews.
To me - this was not a love story.
It was about neediness and disassociation and not understanding or experiencing love and instead trying to understand life solely through sex.
And it was about how confused and messed up people are when it comes to love, sex and connecting with another human being.
It showed how fleeting and insubstantial many younger people make their interactions with others either because of their own issues or because they haven't been taught any differently.
This was a wanna-be artsy film that spent too much time skirting the edge of soft-core pornography and not enough time in creating riveting characters.
Instead we had characters as shallow as the plot, as shallow as sex often is perceived in today's world. But that correlation doesn't make it stunning or brilliant, what would have made the movie for me would have been if they'd taken it somewhere new or at least less explored.
This left me with a "been there, done that" aftertaste.
And as much as I enjoy Eric Balfour as an actor and musician (Fredalba is the band he is the lead singer of) - this is not a good example of his work.
Batman Begins (2005)
Colour me disappointed...
I rented this movie with high expectations. Expectations that were not actualized.
I really could have done without almost all of the first 42 minutes of the movie.
I felt this movie lacked cohesion and motivation within the storyline, such as it was. There were a number of talented actors in this film whose characters were not fleshed out to create credible relationships, angst, pathos et cetera.
I loved that there were actual bats in the film but it was over-used. Horribly so...
Scarecrow was fantastic and I would have enjoyed him, or his unseen boss being someone other than Neeson. Rather than having the minor villain of the crime boss and all the BS with Neeson's character.
The League of Shadows made no sense. Their apparent purpose for destroying Gotham made no sense. Training Bruce in an attempt to make him lead them made no sense, especially since, from the prison scenes Bruce had already learned to fight quite well. I think there could have been a more cohesive and riveting back story as to how Bruce Wayne became Batman and this movie was *not* it.
I hated this particular incarnation of the Batmobile, I liked much of what it could do, but the appearance really turned me off.
What would have made this a better movie? A more credible back story, tighter plot points, more development of some of the secondary characters. More Scarecrow and/or a *credible* ultimate "Big Bad" figure pulling the strings.
And what was with Bale's annoying voice as Batman and as Bruce every time he wanted to sound "tough" *ugh!!!* It was horrible and distracting.
The monorail irked me. Partly because I kept thinking of The Simpsons episode with the monorail and in part because I am sick of subways, monorails, trains etc being used in action films.
My best friend thinks David Boreanaz would have been a better choice for the starring role in this feature because he is not as stiff as Angel/Angelus as Bale was in this role.
We thought after seeing "American Psycho" that Bale would have a real definitive edge and a dramatic separation from his Bruce and Batman personas... but, it was not to be.
The revelation by Batman to Holmes' character doesn't seem plausible. The whole thing about having a secret identity is keeping it secret and yet we have 4 characters (Neeson, Freeman, Holmes and Caine's character all knowing - and yes, Alfred should know, I'm just making a point).
On that same note, all the equipment he uses can too easily be traced back to Wayne Enterprises... again, shoddy story lines.
What I did like...
- Scarecrow and the drug effects (and special effects related to this) - the Batsuit and the cape - Mr. Oldman, Mr. Caine & Mr. Freeman (though we'd have liked to see more of them/their characters) - the scene with Bruce and his 2 dates where he says he's buying the hotel
Wow, not much... But, if there's a sequel, I can hope that it can only get better.