Movie Review: X-Men 3: The Last Stand

Tania says:
I was sad that Josh and I never got to see this movie in the theater because like I said before – I totally dig these movies. So I wanted to be a part of the theater viewing experience but that didn’t happen because we are lame and never go to the theater. So we netflix’d it and watched it right away after volume two. And I have to say – I didn’t like it as much as the previous 2 installments AND I got a little bored and I believe I fell asleep for like 10 minutes. I don’t want to get bored in an action movie. But then I told Josh – Hey that was a little boring and he said it wasn’t boring but it was trying to cram too many stories into one film. That is true. It is about Jean Grey and he crazy new mutant powers and it is about this mutant vaccine and it is about Kelsey Grammer in some blue makeup.

Again I never read the comics but it is my understanding that each of the stories they tried to tackle were pretty big stand alone stories in the books so I am not sure why they wanted to cram all this stuff in. The movie is unfocused and busy and all of that combines to make me lose interest pretty fast when the movie is whipping around from one story to the next. James Marsden still sucks super bad and where did Nightcrawler go? I want him back! Like I said – they add Kelsey Grammar who did a fine job. Again – don’t know the character but when I heard Kelsey was going to be an X-Man I laughed and laughed but it all seemed to work out. And then they added that freaky girl from “Hard Candy” as Kitty Pryde and she didn’t do much at all and I wondered why they added her now? Is this the last movie in the series? Anyway again I enjoyed Hugh Jackman and Captain Picard and Gandolf. They always bring it. So – I don’t know if I recommend this movie – I guess I do because it is still X-Men which better then a lot of the action crap people are throwing at us nowadays.

Josh Says:
I too was disappointed at not catching this one in the theater (although the plasma is a pretty sweet substitute) then I saw it and wasn't disappointed in anything but the movie itself. It's trying to tell way too much in far to much detail in too little time and loses a lot for that. After hurting my head a little trying to follow the action, I eventually just tuned out.

Quick semi-related side note:
He ruined the Silence of the Lambs series, he's killed the X-Men series but the incredible success of Rush Hour 1, 2 & 3 just keeps hollywood knocking on Brett Ratner's door...........hmmm.....come to think of it, I did just read that Peter Jackson got nixed for the LOTR prequels...........NNOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Movie Review: X2 - Men United

Tania Says:
I remembered really liking this movie when I saw it in the theater. I liked it enough that I actually decided to buy it for some reason. I think it might have been Hugh Jackman and Alan Cumming that made me purchase the dvd. Two singing and dancing Broadway stars and I am so there. So when we decided to finally watch it (the dvd was still in plastic – oops.) I was pretty excited to revisit it.

And I did like it the second time! It is a fun action movie with cool characters and cool actors. This installment of the series focuses on some crazy dude with a mutant son trying to steal Captain Picard’s cool Ceribro invention and the ongoing story of trying to rid the world of mutants. Hugh Jackman is super cool, so is Alan Cumming. James Marsden is horrible but pretty fun to watch and make fun of. Overall it is exactly what I would expect an X-Men movie to be. I admit I never read the comics or watched the cartoon so maybe the movies aren’t keeping it real but I like them and I enjoy the series. It is mindless entertainment and people with powers. Powers are neat. And all this leads nicely into our next review of X-Men 3!

Josh Says:
Um..................it's X-Men. It's good in most of the the ways it should be. Which I guess is good cause the Matrix sequels weren't good in the ways they should have bee.....oops. Future blog spoiler, sorry about that.

P.S. it was really funny when I got Tania's review which originally read: "James Marsters is horrible but pretty fun to watch and make fun of"

Movie Review: Mr. and Mrs. Smith 2005 Director Doug Liman

Tania says:
Mr. and Mrs. Smith was next on the list (actually first on the list). It is number 81 on the Box Office list. Also, viewing was not as exciting since we watched in on the old TV. I have actually seen this before and really didn’t like it. I have a problem with Angelina Jolie stealing Brad Pitt from Jennifer Aniston. I know this is really none of my business but I like Jennifer Aniston. I always felt like she was the kind of girl I would be friends (HA!) with in high school. We’d be the normal dorky girls and then she would score this cool boyfriend. Angelina is like the cool college chick who takes Philosophy classes and smokes clove cigarettes and how can the normal, dorky girl compete with that? So I am a little protective of Jen but all that aside – the movie isn’t as terrible as I remembered.

It is a popcorn film that is just pretty typical. A married couple, who have been lying about their secret careers for 5 or 6 years, discovers that they are both assassins or spies or something like that. Their new mission is to kill the other one but instead they end up bonding over the careers they have in common. The actions sequences aren’t that exciting or anything but I actually found the film surprisingly funny in parts. Brad Pitt is actually funny and Vince Vaughn (as Brad’s co-worker and friend) steals every scene he is in. He is a little underutilized but then again I could watch Vince Vaughn read the phonebook and bust a gut over it. That funny kid from the O.C. is in it too but he is even more underutilized with is sad because I think he is funny.

So, it was actually the humor in this movie that made it ok for me not all the action. Oh, and the Smith’s house. It rules – I covet that kitchen (minus the guns in the stove.)
Overall – if you are in the mood for something mindless and mildly amusing give it a whirl!

Josh says:
I thought this movie needed more Vince Vaughn. The plot line was completely unrealistic. The suspension of disbelief tactics were really subpar and overall the movie was sort of meh at best. I think if we extend the Vince Vaughn parts to about 90 minutes and cut out the Brad & Angelina stuff to about 20 minutes we might have a winner.

As an aside, I think Angelina Jolie has a lot more going for her than Jennifer Aniston. I doubt she smokes cloves though, they're gross.

Movie Review: Hero (Ying xiong (2002)) Directed by Yimou Zhang

Tania says:

Josh and I delved into our movie watching project for one reason alone – the new TV! The new TV arrived on Friday and we bought the really expensive cables on Saturday and hooked up the new DVD player (for a free TV it became awfully expensive but worth every penny!). We bought two nine dollar chairs from Target (with foot rest!) since we still had no furniture in the new place, bought a frozen pizza and decided that the movie “Hero” should be the first film viewed on the new TV. Coincidently, Hero also happened to be on the list of 482 movies we are watching for your movie watching project. Perfect!

Hero is a movie that we have both seen before (Josh will say I hated it because I feel asleep but I did not hate it at all – I was just tired!) But I thought it would be a great movie to watch on the new TV because it is just so beautiful.

I have to admit that I will be totally biased because it was the first movie on the new TV but I really do like this movie. It is insanely beautiful to watch but it also has a super compelling story. It is about an assassin and his plan to assassinate the leader of Qin. The story itself is then told in three different versions until we reach the truth. Each version is quite interesting and beautifully shot within a central color theme.

Like I said, the story is really interesting and well done but this movie is really about the visuals. Each fight scene is perfectly choreographed and gorgeous to watch. You just can’t take your eyes of some of the martial art battles (unless you are really tired then it is permissible to fall asleep). I am glad I stayed awake this time – it was nice to get the whole story. The other great thing about the beauty of this movie is it makes it easy to recommend to someone who normally doesn’t watch foreign films or hates subtitles.

So the first movie in the project was a success! The new TV is everything we expected and more! Don’t buy the nine dollar chairs from Target – Josh’s broke towards the end of the film!

Josh Says:
If you liked Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, good. So did I. This movie makes Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon look stupid. If you haven't seen it, you may just suck at life.

Are We Nuts or Plastered???

Great taste and a new plasma. That's right, we've got both. So, inspired partly by this and partly by this and fueled by our belief that our impeccable taste in movies can help the masses weed out the 'noise' that has become the Netflix catalogue, we have embarked on our own "Road to Citizen Kane".

For the blog impaired, or simply those who would rather not navigate through the link above to find out exactly what the heck she's doing, she has taken the Village Voice Top 100 List, the AFI Top 100 List, the Time Magazine Top 100 List, the IMDB Top 250 Movies List (as of 9/22/06), the first 100 of the All-Time USA Boxoffice List (as of 9/26/06), and the Best Picture Oscar Winners and put them all together. After filtering out duplicates, she was left with this list of 480 or so movies.

Our goal is to watch at least one per week, though more often than not, we'll watch more. We'll then each be posting reviews of the movies here for all to see. If we're ever really amitious, you may see the occasional diversion via a restaraunt review or some generally boring story taken from our lives as well.

If this project can help just one reader avoid Home Alone II or 'M' (that's right we've already started, well, ok, we haven't actually watch Home Alone II yet) we will rest easy in the knowledge that we've done our part.