Kimputer's Weblog

This movie snuck up quite quietly, and even had my small country listed as the sole world premiere venue for a while. That can’t be a good sign ? Previous cases have proven direct-to-video-or-DVD stuff. But it had prominent names headlining it (Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore and Jessica Biel), so it’s all been straightened out the last minute (tiny European and US day-to-date opening), but I could shake off that bad gut feeling.
With a typical action director (Lee Tamahori, xXx and Die Another Day) helming a movie, you can always hope for a really special break-out hit (like Michael Bay’s The Rock from 1996), but my gut-feeling proved to be quite correct. Where Lee could have shine (inventive action sequences), he let us down by using third-grade CGI special effects (trees, anyone ?).
Furthermore. the story has more holes in it than our most famous cheeses, and there’s no real humor or characters to liven things up. Acting is just about acceptable for the main actors, but all the others have B-movie potential, with the bad guys no better than direct-to-Betamax quality.
Then the ending, which is an attempt to make it look like it’s smart, is more of a slap in the face.
All in all, it’s not boring per se, it’s just that hopes were set too high, despite that gut feeling warning me beforehand.6-.

Despite 2 new thrillery invasion, Disturbia remained to top spier, still leading with $13.5 million. Second was Anthony Hopkins/Ryan Gosling starrer Fracture, with $11.2 million. Still in need of the zamboni machine, Blades of Glory is at the third place with $7.8 million, now passing the $100 million total mark after 4 weeks.
Second new entry is Kate Beckinsale/Luke Wilson starrer Vacancy at number 4, with $7.6 million. Rounding out the top 5 is Meet the Robinsons with $7.1 million.

Unconventional director Danny Boyle has now really made a name for himself. Many movies he can make interesting for just a dime and a nickle, for this one he has a moderate budget (still his personal highest now though, $50 million). Many big name directors squander $100+ million to a shitty movie, but mr. Boyle does it quite differently.
With only a handful of actors, lavish special effects (sun up close and personal and all), and a gritty thrillery sci-fi back drop, he makes the most of it. The actors are pushed to a performance that’ll give you a sunstroke. How about an incredible performance by Chris Evans ? Quite a long shot from his frolicking around in Fantastic Four, I can tell ya. Same goes for everone else, including lesser knons like Troy Garity (Barbershop 1 & 2).
Then there’s the story which has the same intense qualities as the first Alien movie. Edge of your seat is where you’re heading. Even though it’s not a character piece, the moral dillemmas will keep you quite occupied.
From the trailer, you might think it’s some kinda Armageddon ripoff, but this is exactly the opposite of that.8-.

The trailer made it look like it was gonna be silly (and not in a good way), and this time, it’s true to its word. Most of the dialogue is silly at best, and the simplistic story matches it perfectly. And that makes it, even though it’s about for past-middle-aged men on a bike road trip, feels like a kiddy picture. It uses only the most simplest form of humor, and the only saving grace is the pace, so even though it’s not that entertaining, at least you won’t fall asleep.5-.

Teen thriller Disturbia managed to wipe the two ice skaters off the field, taking over the top spot. The Shia Labeouf starrer managed to sneak in $23 million.
At two, Ferrell and Heder aren’t taking off their skating blades though. With another $14 million, it takes them only one or two more weeks before the cross the $100 million total mark. At three, also falling one place, is Meet the Robinsons, taking in $12.1 million.
At four, Perfect Stranger fails to impress (and rightly so), and stays out of sight with an $11.5 million premiere. Rounding the top 5 is Are We Done Yet?, with $9.2 million in its second week.

Nice attempt at a costume drama, but in the end fails to deliver, mainly because of the disjointed story and direction. Also, the acting of some might be strong, but set in this movie, it doesn’t mean anything. Can’t really recommend this one, even if it has Natalie Portman in it.6-.

Perfect Stranger ? Deceptively, it’s a not so perfect movie. It has everything against it. It’s not really thrillery. And there’s no real build-up to speak of. The story has it’s twists and turns, but it just falls flat on its face. The script and dialogue seems like a ridiculous copy & paste job, with no real cinematic feel to it. Like most of the time, no-name directors and writers (ever heard of James Foley and Todd Komarnicki ?) just deliver no-thing.5+.

Great retention at the box office, most holding on around 30% of last week’s admissions. That means the top 2 stays the same, resp. Blades of Glory (with $23 million) and Meet the Robinsons (with $17 million).
The first new entry is at number three, Are We Done Yet?, the sequel to Are We There Yet?, again starring and produced by Ice Cube, is at least done for thise week for $15 million.
Superhyped double-bill movie, doesn’t pack a punch, even with 2 major directors behind the cameras (Robert Rodriguez and Quention Tarantino). Grindhouse, which is over 3 hours of scary movie, only reels in $11.6 million. These directors usually do $20+ million openings on their own (i.e. Sin City, and Kill Bill).
Rounding out the top 5 is The Reaping, where it didn’t scare a lot of people, as they left it sideways with only $10 million, despite Hilary Swank starring (usually having a better choice of script).

Expectations for any Marvel production are always high. Where will it land ? In top the top range (Spider-Man, X-Men), or in the mediocre range (Daredevil, Fantastic Four) ? Well, this one is closer to the latter category, but it’s still lightly entertaining.
It’s a bit predictable, and the story isn’t really bulky. Characters are pretty thinly written. Also, the quality of the special effects (while the budget is above $100 million) are hovering around the lower ranges (most CGI is too obvious and synthetic).
Still, it’s fun to watch, mostly because of Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes. Just don’t get your hopes up like you do when a new Spidey flick comes along.7.

After an excellent Training Day, Antoine Fuqua descended to mediocre filmmaking the following years (Tears of the Sun, King Arthur). This one however, is ever so slightly just above mediocre.
From the start, the suspense kicks in and keeps rolling. A bit of action, a bit of thriller, with the pace of a train. And it has to be, because the story itself isn’t too complicated. Nor are the characters delved into properly. For sheer pop-corn fun though, it will do just fine.7+.

The trailer doesn’t shine the correct light on this movie, ‘cept that the “from the makers of Shaun of the Dead” is dead on. In that, that it’s not what you’d expect. Seems like a normal action comedy ? Certainly some elements are there, but the director goes on a frenzy, with horror elements, and an over-the-top-finale. And for that, I’ll forgive the straight forward, single-focus story telling, and give it half a thumb up.7.

Internationally, Yimou Zhang made quite a name for himself a few years back, with the a graceful and quite unforgettable Hero (and along, bringing the best out Jet Li). It was later followed by an almost as brilliant House of Flying Daggers (this time headlined by the beautiful Ziyi Zhang).
For this movie, the ante is WAY up, as we no have the biggest budget for a chinese movie, ever. And it shows. The production design is marvelous. Both exterior and interior shots are an attack on your eyeballs, with rich colors and texture, immense detail, and just sheer beauty. If set decoration and/or costume design don’t reign in a battlewagon full of awards, I’ll drop down dead where I stand. (I just looked it up, and I guess the people at the Oscars need a battlewagon full of glasses, since they actually snubbed the award away in favor of the standard costume drama Marie Antoinette)
Grand as it visually is, it’s actually an intimite look in the life of an Emperor and his family (wife and 3 brothers). It plays out like the tragic opera you’ve come to expect, and some here and there, the emotion doesn’t get transfered quite correctly. While I can’t say it has a full 100% WOW factor, it’s definitely a nice sidestep from your average Hollywood production.7½.

In this low-competition release week, Blades of Glory slides its way to the top spot. This comedy, starring Will Ferrell and Jon Heder as figure iceskating rivals, earns champion-worthy $33 million.
The only other competing flick was Disney’s animated movie Meet the Robinsons. With $25 million, this family can’t really complain.
Left-overs finish the top 5, respectively 300 ($11.2 million), TMNT ($9.2 million) and Wild Hogs ($8.4 million).

A decade has past (the first movie, Bean, was realeased in 1997), and this movie kinda comes in a bit under-hyped. A good sign for a change ? No.
With 10 years to spawn a sequel to a luke-warm received movie, itself a sequel to a highly funny series, was it enough time ? Apparently not. I now upgrage my judgement that ANY of the 18 episodes (running from 1990 till 1995) is more memorably than BOTH movies together. That’s basically because of the non-existent story and the lack of the outrageously selfish character you’ve loved to hate. This one relies on weak jokes that wouldn’t make it into one of those aforementioned episodes (also totally lacking any surprise punch to it), and a bit on Rowan Atkinson’s mime skills (again, belly-achingly funny in his Live show from 1992, but not so much here). In essence, it’s not memorable at all.5½.

Again swords and shields reign the box office, ‘cept it’s a different kind at the top spot. TMNT, the CGI follow-up to the eighties, then live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. People were eager enough to shell out a total of $25.5 million to this movie with a host of high profile voices (Sarah Michelle Gellar, the late Mako, Kevin Smith, Patrick Stewart, Laurence Fishburne, Ziyi Zhang).
This means 300 will have to take the runner-up spot, still with an admirable $20.5 million.
At 3, Shooter opens with $14.5 million. Not a spectacular premiere by any standard, but it’s probably to get its mid-budget returned ($60 million) when it ends its run.
Leftovers round out the top 5, with Wild Hogs adding $14.4 million and Premonition adding $10.1 million.