Ananas

Are you saying Angel was big budget and low-rated, or Dead Like Me? ←

Man on Fire - ***1/2 (7/10) From director Tony Scott, "Man on Fire" is a raw, action packed revenge movie that runs a bit too long, but entertains so well that it's hard to notice. Denzel Washington stars as Creasy, a former Marine who takes on the task of protecting a young girl named Pita, played with such wonderful charm and accuracy by Dakota Fanning. Pita breaks his resolve to solitude and he begins to open up, but when despite his best efforts she is kidnapped, he begins to practise vigilante justice towards anyone who may be involved in the crime. Not only are the two stars superb in their roles, but supporting performances by Christopher Walken, Mark Anthony and Radha Mitchell elevate the film to a whole new level of performance. I also enjoyed the bold directorial style Scott employs, which in this film filled with twists and turns is perfect. As I've said, it's about 10-15 minutes too long, and the plot is bogged down a bit by the overabundance of characters, but the core cast are so talented and Tony Scott is so creative behind the camera, not to mention Brian Helgeland's screenplay, that it's hard to not recommend the movie. This is just a very good film. Thumbs up.

Buh-bye Suck Suck. The real gain in trading Carter is that his mother leaves the city forever. I don't care if he's the best player in the league the day after he leaves, I'm glad to see him go. Whiny bitches don't go over well in T.O.

I can only hope that the reason Breaking Benjamin has not yet appeared is because they're especially bad and will show up later.

Seriously...why shoot the damn thing then? ←

The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement - ** (4/10) Garry Marshall, expert at laying on the syrup thick, directs "The Princess Diaries 2", the sequel to the not really so surprising hit "The Princess Diaries" of 2001. This time around, Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway) is nearly set to take the throne of Genovia, but it is revealed that in order for a woman to take the throne, she must be married. What's worse, is that she is given 30 days to do so, and if she is unable to another person will be given the throne. That person is Nicholas Deveroux (Chris Pine), who she kind of likes and kind of hates. It's assembly line script writing that makes this film terrible. Other teen films are just predictable, but if you weren't able to see the end coming you might be suffering from some sort of mental disorder. It takes a long time to get going, and once it does get going, it really isn't that good. Julie Andrews is of course good as Queen Clarisse Renaldi, and even sings for the first time on film for decades, but even that is ruined when the song turns into a G-rated pop/hip hop tune. The real saving grace, and what keeps the movie out of the bottom of 2004's scrap heap, is Hathaway, who has made many-a-film redeemable through her accute performances. While seemably every other young actress has had her share of memorable trainwrecks, her films are made watchable by a charm unmatched in any of the current crop. If only she had Lindsay Lohan's taste in scripts. Thumbs down.

There were nude scenes in Closer (the new movie), but director Mike Nichols edited them out. There's a bootleg going around, that I heard has the edited scene, but you'll need to search for that on your own. God, the things we do to get off... ←

Retroactively, Rosario Dawson in Alexander.

I figured it'd be better to just have one big topic for all of the Award Show winners and nominees. Here are the ones to be released so far: L.A. Film Critics Awards (Winners)

Alexander - ** (4/10) When you're Oliver Stone, making a film about the life of one of the world's greatest war heros is never simple. You're going to attempt to get past all of the stories told about your main character and attempt to tell a story that Hollywood hasn't yet done. You're also going to shed no expense at making the action scenes unadulterated. Of course, even if you're Oliver Stone, this can go either way, and unfortunately Alexander goes to the wrong way for nearly three hours. Colin Farrell stars in this historical epic as Alexander the Great (before he was "The Great", mind you), while Angelina Jolie plays his mother Olympias, Jared Leto plays his lover and friend Hephaistion, and Rosario Dawson plays Roxane, his wife. Anthony Hopkins does double duty as both narrator and the older version of Ptolemy. When you think of the influential historical figures who are mentioned in this film (among them Alexander, Olympias, Aristotle, Ptolemy and Antigonas), there is potential for unparallelled cinematic delight. However, in three hours the viewer leaves the theatre feeling no more enlightened than when they came in. Colin Farrell is good, but only good in the lead role, while Angelina Jolie turns in one of her worst performances yet. If I only listen to the film with my eyes closed, Alexander was actually Irish and Olympias was Romanian, but I'll let the accents slip because really, it's not like they were speaking any form of English anyway. The script is completely lost in favour of blunt violence, dull sex and nill characterization. You could say that the cast looked good, but of course they did, they're Angelina Jolie, Rosario Dawson, Jared Leto and Colin Farrell. If you could make a movie just by virtue of looks, you could stick Kelly Clarkson and Britney Spears together and win Oscars. Unfortunately, "From Justin 2 Kelly" and "Crossroads" prove that wrong. Thumbs down.

I > Suck. Tis all that counts.

Blade Trinity - ** (4.5/10) David S Goyer, the man who wrote all three films, takes over from Guillermo Del Toro as director, and is met with disastrous results. Blade Trinity is the hopefully final film in the Blade saga, based on the Marvel comic series and starring Wesley Snipes. This time around the vampires have awoken the grand daddy of them all, Dracula. Blade isn't alone this time, though; he is joined by a team of leather clad Gen Y-ers known as the Night Stalkers. The leader of the group is Abigail Whistler (Jessica Biel), the inexplicable daughter of Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), and is seemed to be assisted the most by Hannibal King (Ryan Reynolds), or as he was probably referred to on the script, Comic Relief. Indeed, the only thing redeeming about this film is the big budget special effects, since both the script and acting performances are awful. Everybody's favorite wrestler Triple H takes on the role of Jarko Grimwood with the tenacity and acting chops of Justin Guarini and Shaquille O'Neil, while Parker Posey is laughable as the film's pseudo villain. Ryan Reynolds gives a good effort of bringing light to a dull script, but his character is so horribly written that it's hard to enjoy his bits. A mass of dull storylines with logic errors, unreal dialogue and uninspired performances make this not the worst, but possibly the most inexplicably made film of the year. Thumbs down; please let this be the last.

Ocean's Twelve - *** (6/10) Ocean's Twelve is the Steven Soderbergh directed sequel to the remake of the film that defined a generation of filmmakers. Whereas it's predecessor was almost a serene tribute to the original 1960 picture starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr (along with the lesser Rat Packers), this film branches out and attempts to be something distinctly unique. The gang is off to Europe this time around, in an attempt to make enough money to pay back their begrudged former victim Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia). Of course, the name indicates that there's someone new on board, and I can only guess that is Julia Roberts' Tess. It might have also been Isabel Lahiri (Catherine Zeta Jones), but I suppose the fact that she's an ex-Lover of Rusty (Brad Pitt)/detective counts her out. Whereas the original was a brightly put together and highly original film that turned corners every step of the way until the final brilliant ending (although not hardly as brilliant as the Rat Pack version), the sequel relies more on humour than inventiveness. Effective examples of this humour include much of Matt Damon's work in this film, as well as the back and forth between the Malloy Brothers (Casey Affleck, Scott Caan). George Clooney's work seems a lot like most of Sinatra's movie work; uninspired. This is not a traditional Soderbergh film in that it doesn't really break any conventions, but the similarities between this and his previous work is that he finds a way to make the efforts come to something. In this, some sadly average directing and unoriginal storytelling are offset by some great humour and a solid cast. A marginal thumbs up.

Ocean's Eleven - ***1/2 (7/10) Steven Soderbergh hones in a star studded cast in Ocean's Eleven, a movie which casts off all false conceptions of legitimacy to focus on pure entertainment. With A-list stars such as Matt Damon, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Elliot Gould, Andy Garcia, Bernie Mac and Carl Reiner all on board, it's easy to be intimidated by the blinding star power. However, the real star of this movie is Soderbergh, who's conscious and slick filmmaking brings this film from a likeable yet flawed effort to a popcorn masterpiece. There are several shots that stick with me from this film, including some of the montage camera work, the side to side shot of the group at the end, and the SWAT truck pulling back into the garage. Ted Griffin's screenplay is perfectly sufficient, respecting the "cool" air of the original. While it may not be quite as creative as the original plan, or as captivating as the original ending, Steven Soderbergh's 2001 update is a refreshing, more entertaining movie. Thumbs up.

Ray - ***1/2 (7.5/10) From Taylor Hackford (Proof of Life, The Devils Advocate), Ray is the biopic of legendary vocalist Ray Charles, a man whose influence on the music industry can still be seen today. Jamie Foxx leads the cast as the singer himself, and does a powerful job of bringing this character to the screen. Kerry Washington plays his wife Bea, while Regina King plays Margie Hendricks, backup singer and mistress to Charles. It's this combination of an incredibly powerful cast and perfectly presented music sequences that make this work. I also enjoy the fact that it made no effort to fit in nicely with typical biopics of its day. There was no beatification here; Ray Charles was no angel and Hackford made no attempt to present him as one. The line "nobody's going to feel sorry for you because you're blind" is a perfect representation of the movie's theme. I think the movie may have ran on a bit, I felt as if it was going in circles for about 10 minutes or so in the middle, but all in all this is a very good movie. Thumbs up.

Why is it "fairly ridiculous"? A show should be rewarded for seasons past? If it was good 2 years ago, it was eligible 2 years ago. I don't see anything ridiculous about it. ←