Actors: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison,
Martin Landau, Roddy McDowell
Rating:
8 out of 10, The epic movie that ended epic movies for a long time. The excess is all up on the screen for this
movie that has entered Hollywood lore for so
many reasons and on so many levels. The
new blu ray has most of the original footage returned and it is glorious and took me three nights to watch. Taylor and her
breasts are put through the paces by Julius Caesar (very good Rex Harrison) and
then Marc Antony (the besotted Burton)
and what seemed like a thousand costume changes. This truly did have a cast of thousands and the
sheer magnitude of the crowd scenes are astounding. The story is old and overdone but this was
fun to watch.
MVP: Harrison as
one of the most historically accurate Julius Caesars
Actors: Nicholas Hoult, John Malcovitch, Teresa
Palmer, Rob Cordrray
Rating:
9 out of 10, A love story set in a zombie apocalypse and the guy in love
is one of the walking dead; talk about your forbidden love. This is truly takes
the Romeo and Juliet story in a different direction, there’s even a balcony
scene! Against all odds, this movie works and is truly funny, especially the
first half as we see the couple get together after the guy, named “R” (all he
can remember of his name), kills and eats the brain of his future girlfriend’s
boyfriend. I know it sounds a weird, it is, but somehow it also comes
across as sweet. As usual Rob Cordrray, as R’s zombie buddy, makes the most of
a small part, delivering the most memorable line in the movie. This is the funniest movie of 2013 so far.
MVP: Hoult
as the undead but lovable R
Actors: Mary McCormack, Rory Cochran, Tony Perez
Rating:
6 out of 10, a very small flick depicting a dirty bomb attack on L.A. and the aftermath for
a young married couple, one infected and the other not. The film builds great tension but the key
points are almost rushed through as we spend endless time watching windows get
taped or on unanswered cell phone calls.
The cast felt very authentic – especially McCormack and Cochran who
totally nail their roles. There’s a neat
twist at the end that almost rescues all the time spent waiting for someone to
answer the damned phone.
MVP: Cochran as the tortured husband trapped
inside his home.
Actors: Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom
Skerritt, Robert Duvall, Sally Kellerman, Jo Ann Plug
Rating:
7 out of 10, Due to the popularity of the television show people tend to
forget it was based on a very good movie.
This was Robert Altman at his best as he pokes extreme satire on the
whole idiocy of war. Several counter
culture doctors operate at a forward Korean War hospital causing havoc only rescued
by their competence. This was made at
the height of the Vietnam War so it found a ready audience when it was
released. The film hasn’t aged well as a
lot of the jokes have become so iconic that they lost their edge. It was also kind of jarring to see the major
actors so young when all of them are still active nowadays at a slightly
advanced age. You can see the promise in
these young actors that forged those careers.
Lt Dish – still hot.
MVP: Kellerman
as the outrageous Hot Lips O’Houlihan
Actors: Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett
Johansson, Danny Huston, Toni Collette. Jessica Biel, James D’Arcy
Rating:
7 out of 10, I’m a huge Hitchcock fan so I was surprised that I had not
seen this flick. It’s a very interesting
look at the making of Psycho in 1959. Hopkins labors under a
mountain of makeup to portray the portly Hitchcock and sometimes seemed to be
trying too hard to channel Sir Alfred.
The film is rescued by Helen Mirren as Hitchcock’s underappreciated wife
and creative force behind some of his genius.
While the movie is enjoyable it plays too safe, staying on the surface of
things and avoiding looking too deeply. We get all of the oft repeated rumors
about Hitchcock’s foibles but again, just a light exterior look. My guess is that Hitchcock is still too
legendary a figure for anyone in the film industry to treat too harshly – probably
a good thing.
MVP: Mirren
as the long suffering Alma Hitchcock
Actors: Ewan Macgregor, Emily Blunt, Kristin Scot
Thomas, Amir Waked, Rachael Stirling, Tom Mison
Rating:
7 out of 10, this film is definitely not my normal fare as it lacks any significant
action but somehow it sucked me in. It revolves around a stodgy
British government scientist (Macgregor) and his begrudging efforts to help a
Yemeni sheik who’s also an avid fisherman start a salmon colony in Yemen. The Sheik’s assistant is portrayed by Emily
Blunt, who is so good in everything she does. This movie would have failed miserably if not
for the impossibly great chemistry between the two leads. There is also some very high comedy supplied
by Kristin Scott Thomas as seemingly the only competent person in the British
government – she’s got all of the best lines.
It was also nice to see some depth given to an Arab character who’s not
trying to blow something up. Against all
odds I really liked this saccharin sweet story – just well done.
MVP: Thomas
as the incredibly funny government press secretary.
Actors: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Forrest Whitaker, Peter
Stormare, Eduardo Noriega, Jaime Alexander, Johnny Knoxville, Genesis Rodriguez,
Luis Guzman, Rodrigo Santoro
Rating:
7 out of 10, Probably a very apt title for Arnie’s return to action
genre. He’s back, not a bad thing, at
least for the people of California
and pudgy maids (but I digress). This
flick is sneaky fun as it hearkens back to the 1980’s action flicks where Arnie
made his bones. It was kind of
interesting to see a sleepy Arizona border town
with an Austrian Sheriff, Thor’s Asgardian female buddy, the Brazilian guy from
Love Actually and 300 as a drunken townie, a Swedish bad guy helping out a
Spanish guy trying to portray a Mexican drug lord – it is Hollywood!
It’s a complete mess but a lovable one as Arnie doesn’t try to hide his
age but makes it one of the recurring jokes.
Forrest Whitaker is a real miss as a bumbling FBI agent and there’s no
where near enough screen time for the stunning Genesis Rodriguez. Still, a lot of harmless, mindless fun as the
town and the bad guys blow up spectacularly.
It’s 1984 all over again.
MVP: The
Governator proves he’s still got it.
