Friday, September 19th, 2008 at 11:09 am
The Incredible Hulk is a 2008 superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character the Hulk. It is directed by Louis Leterrier and stars Edward Norton as Dr. Bruce Banner / the Hulk. The second Hulk film after Hulk (2003), it is a reboot that establishes a new back-story, where Banner became the Hulk as an unwitting pawn in a military scheme to create supersoldiers. On the run, he attempts to cure himself of the Hulk before he is captured by General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (William Hurt), but his worst fears are realized when power-hungry soldier Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) becomes the Abomination. Liv Tyler also stars as Betty Ross, Banner’s girlfriend and General Ross’ daughter.
Marvel Studios reacquired the rights to the character after the mixed reception to Hulk, and writer Zak Penn began work on a loose sequel that would be much closer to the comics and the television series. Norton rewrote the script after he signed on to star, which clarified the film’s new back-story. Leterrier aimed to make the film realistic, giving a more frightening direction for the look of the monsters, while redesigning the Abomination from the comics’ reptilian humanoid into a mutated man with bony protrusions. Filming mostly took place in Toronto, Canada in 2007, where the production attempted to be environmentally friendly.
Normally I would pass on this movie all day long but with the recent crop of decent comic book flicks I thought, why not? I’m guessing you are more or less supposed to forget about the previous attempt by ang lee which isn’t hard to do. This one feels more like a full film and even though the bad guy is mostly made up, he is pretty cool. This one is definitely better than the previous hulk film but there is still work to be done on this franchise. Maybe the filmmakers can take some lessons from Iron Man or TDK for the next go at a hulk movie. I’m loving the fact that Marvel is making their own movies now though. Seems like the creative control that they have is really making for better movies.
please wait...
Rating: 3.0/5 (1 vote cast)
Posted in J.C., Movies, Reviews by J.C. 
No Comments »
Tags: Christina Cabot, Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Lou Ferrigno, Louis Leterrier, Martin Starr, The Incredible Hulk, Tim Blake Nelson, Tim Roth, Ty Burrell, William Hurt, Zak Penn
Friday, July 11th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Vantage Point is a 2008 mystery thriller film from Columbia Pictures, written by Barry Levy and directed by Pete Travis. It stars Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker with Sigourney Weaver, Édgar Ramírez and William Hurt.
This Rashomon-style thriller in which an assassination attempt on the president of the United States is detailed from five unique perspectives. As the president arrives in Salamanca, gunshots ring out. An American tourist (Whitaker) has captured footage of the would-be assassin on videotape, and now, as the stories of the other four witnesses unfold, each essential piece of the puzzle quickly falls into place. Only when all of the stories are told will the chilling truth to this shocking crime finally emerge.
Vantage Point isn’t the best assassination attempt on the president movie, but it does have the most well thought out and planned assassination plot I have ever seen on film. Towards the end I found myself rooting for the bad guys because they just planned it so well, I would hate to see them fail. Of course none of it is based in reality and could ever happen but it must have been fun to think of it.
Since the movie is seen through a bunch of different characters POV, there really isn’t a star of the movie or a hero. The whole cast has pretty much an equal part of the movie. This whole Vantage Point idea though gets kind of annoying in the beginning because we have to see things we already saw before all over again from a different angle but when certain things are finally revealed, it starts to find its rhthym, and how beautiful it is.
As the plot starts to unravel, so does the assanination plan, and it packs one surprise after another. In any other film it would be rediculous, but it is done so well and believable in Vantage Point that you forget how rediculous it really is. The car chase scenes are also really well done and the best I have seen in a while.
Dennis Quaid does a great job of staring like the sun is in his eyes the whole movie and Forest Whitaker looks more worried than a man in a bear fight throughout the whole film. Obviously not their best performances, but they don’t need to be in a movie like this.The whole movie is about who is who and what is what. It does that job really well.
The DVD features are nothing to exciting. Just the usual director’s commentary, cast and crew interviews, behind the scenes stuff and outtakes which are pointless to watch because after watching the same scene throughout most of the movie, why keep watching it.
Posted in DVD, Josh by Josh No Comments »
Tags: Barry Levy, Dennis Quaid, Edgar Ramirez, Eduarodo Noriega, Forest Whitaker, Matthew Fox, Pete Travis, Shelby Fenner, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, Zoe Saldana
Sunday, April 27th, 2008 at 10:46 am
A couple of first timers team up to make this big budget movie with enough Hollywood stars to rack up $60 million at the box office. Too bad that’s all it has going for it. Following the attempted assassination of the president, the movie is told from many different perspectives and the same story is told over and over again. You see the same twenty minutes of life over and over again and then out of nowhere it stops and does some gay rewind effect and starts over through another person’s point of view.
Pete Travis had only done TV shows before this and it shows by the editing. Trying to keep up a fast pace is hard when you are telling the same story over and over again so maybe you should have tried to improve the material starting at the source. This is the first time writer’s Barry Levy’s first attempt at a movie and it amazes me that he sold this. I mean did anyone read this? It’s the same story just repeated! It gets old and it’s not like there is a huge surprise at the end that makes it all worthwhile. The writer just came up with a creative way to stretch a tiny idea into a full-length script and then out comes the Hollywood garbage.
Posted in J.C., Movies, Reviews by J.C. No Comments »
Tags: Barry Levy, Dennis Quaid, Edgar Ramirez, Eduarodo Noriega, Forest Whitaker, Matthew Fox, Pete Travis, Shelby Fenner, Sigourney Weaver, vantage point, William Hurt, Zoe Saldana
Wednesday, February 20th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Sean Penn is back at the director’s helm for this tale about a young man who gives up everything he has to be a drifter. Based on the book by Jon Krakauer which he based on Christopher McCandless’ diary entries the film follows McDandless(Emile Hirsch) on a spiritual journey that eventually leads him to Alaska.
McCandless has just graduated from Emory University as one of the top students and athletes. He has $24,000 in the bank for graduate school and is on his way to a rich life. Then suddenly he donates his money to a charity and cuts up his id and heads west never looking back. He gives up his family, relationships, and all his obligations. His eventual aim is to head to Alaska, but along the way he takes some side journeys for some self exploration and meets some friends. When he does make it to Alaska, he thinks he has it made and then something he did not plan for happens leaving him up in the air without many solutions.
Sean Penn crafted a beautiful screenplay here. He takes some journal like source material and gives it a nice heartwarming transfer to the visual form. The shots are pretty much all beautiful, I mean when you are shooting in Alaska and the Grand Canyon it really helps out but even the shots on the trains and inserts are well thought out and put together well. The acting is what puts this movie on the map. The supporting cast is excellent and Emile Hirsch is downright perfect for this role. I cannot believe that he hasn’t gained more attention for it. He changes his appearance so much for the role not to mention the emotional changes he endures. The sense of freedom you get just watching him do anything that he wants makes you want to go out and do it too. But I would watch the movie first just so you know not to cross that certain river in Alaska. Did I say too much?
Posted in J.C., Movies, Reviews, Scripts by J.C. No Comments »
Tags: Catherine Keener, colorado river, Emile Hirsch, into the wild, Kristen Stewart, Marcia Gay Harden, sean penn, Vince Vaughn, William Hurt, Zach Galifianakis
, 
content rss