ituma Reviews

Louie: Daddy's Girlfriend: Part 1 (2012) Season 3, Episode 4

This show hits the mark ... Louie is my new hero

[8/10 · 20 August 2012]

Parker Posey plays the flighty schizophrenic (if not over the top) new girlfriend. You know ... The one that can get away with it because she's hot. Louie plays along because he sees an opportunity to score with someone normally out of his league but, ultimately winds up feeling concerned for her mental stability. I wonder if Louis really climbed up all those stairs - or just took the elevator :-)

Great acting for a show that conceptually pursues the "Curb your enthusiasm" improv trajectory.

The final BW vignette of Parker set to a jazzy tune adds a classy touch that has NYC stamped all over it.

Beowulf (2007)

Entertaining, Insightful, Impressive, Beautiful, but also Cartoonish

[8/10 · 19 November 2007]

I really enjoyed watching this movie, as did my wife (who normally doesn't gravitate towards an action/adventure genre).

Most of my comments will have already resonated with other's comment

The Good:

Well paced with balanced character development for a PG Action Adventure. Insight (not necessarily historically accurate) into the Beowulf poems, but definitely stays in the spirit of the myth. Nice addition - showing Beowulf as a fallible hero. CGI is amazing - esp. in 3-D as long as your eyes can adjust. Some scenes, particularly the Viking ship scene, might even send a shiver up your spine. Good use of Norse (or Olde English?) in critical places throughout the movie..

The Bad:

* Not enough Angelina :-) although her character, when she(it) appears, is very striking with her "suit" of liquid gold.

The Ugly:

* While the main characters like Beowulf and Hrothgar seem to have had MUCH attention paid to the detail of their CGI generated faces (esp. the male characters who look just like their reality counterparts), the more minor the characters seemed to get, the more they looked like they came out of Goth version of Shrek. Also, they apparently decided to use the same algorithm for the motion of ALL the horses in the movie - which made them look comically mechanical - straight out of a video game.

Conclusion:

Although the violence borders on over-the-top, it's still a great movie to see with your older children. It may inspire them to read the original poems. It might have worked better as a series of movies in a chronicle series.

This film generally ONLY works well because it is done entirely in CG. A live action version attempting the same effect would be entirely ludicrous. Its a testament to how far CG has come just within the last six years since "Final Fantasy"

30 Days of Night (2007)

Unique vampire flick with fast paced, compact story line.

[8/10 · 29 October 2007]

Just saw this one last night in Castle Rock, CO. They cranked down the heat in the theater so it made the scenes of the arctic wasteland of northern Alaska even more bone-chilling. Compared to most horror movies today, this one has a more direct, old-school horror/drama feel. The acting is on par for this genre, although the female lead is a bit weak. It takes the viewer a good 20 minutes to really put together what's happening, but then builds to a continuously suspenseful, nearly 2 hour long movie. Minimal use of CGI with an even mix of on and off screen slasher scenes keep you toes curled. It's spine-tingling once you put together how the vampires actually get to this isolated region and how they move from one locale to another. The ending doesn't disappoint and leaves room for a sequel, but not blatantly. The only thing that disappoints is that the camera spends too much time on the vampires for the movie's own good. Collectively they can look like a crowd swept from the floor of an Eastern European disco at 3am after a hard night of Euro-trash style partying. Even in this movie, less would have made it better. Overall, the smooth, compact story line makes up for some cinematographic short-comings.

The Holiday (2006)

Typical yet somewhat Immaginative Hollywood Chic-Flic

[6/10 · 11 December 2006]

Another Hollywood cliché story about English Writers, Hollywood Movie Trailer Producers, Music Composers ... does this sound like ANYBODY you can relate to !? The writer, Nancy Myers (of Private Benjamin fame), should go back to her lap-top, and develop a story with REAL people ...

I must admit that the home swap was a unique twist, but avoided much of the nuances of actually executing a home-swap vacation (Diaz' house was way too extravagant to swap for an English cottage)

Jack Black plays an anti-thesis to his character in Shallow Hall - he gets paired up with the delicious Kate Winslet instead of a morbidly obese Gweneth Paltrow. It's a definite stretch for him in this role - thus making the few romantic scenes between him and Kate uncomfortable to watch. You'd think he would have lost that Tanaeceaous/Nacho Libre gut, but I guess "that's just him"...

Cameron Diaz and Jude Law's characters aren't even worth writing about - cliché all the way.

The most evolved relationship in the movie is that between Winslet and Wallach's characters, although once again, even this relationship is ALL Hollywood.

See it, but don't expect it to change your life.

Syriana (2005)

Fascinating to watch - could have used extra 1/2 hour for character development

[8/10 · 13 August 2006]

The movie demonstrates the relationships between industrialized nation's thirst for dwindling oil supplies, the Middle Eastern emirates, and the clash of civilizations which results. Actually, the movie may serve as a precursor of real-life events to come. The middle east (and the world in general) is currently in desperate need of a leader who is a true people's advocate. How will such an individual survive within the current system of pay-offs, corruption, civil strife and war?

Technically, the scenes were well shot, and really gave a feel for their locale. The pace of the movie is like reading a book with very short chapters ... meaning a lot of jumping around from one locale to the next, with no distinct relationship between characters until later in the film (similar to Traffic). I thought it could have used an additional 1/2 hour to more deeply develop the characters, especially those of the terrorists, who's story I think was abbreviated and oversimplified ...

The most annoying part of the movie was the lack of balanced volume level throughout. Viewing it on TV (pay-per-view), I found myself constantly changing the volume up and down when scenes changed from whispers in conference rooms, to explosions and screaming. I wound up rewinding the film many times, in order to understand it better, especially the sub-titled parts. Even then, I wound up re-watching parts that weren't clear the first time around. This film is definitely better viewed from DVD or PVR with rewind feature, than all at once in a movie theater.

Apart from that, this film is well worth watching. It enriches whatever knowledge you may think you have of Middle East politics.

Enjoy.

Secretary (2002)

Overall Delicious but Disjointed in Spots

[8/10 · 14 March 2005]

This is one of the most unique love stories you will ever see in a mainstream American movie. Especially enjoyable if you have an appreciation for the S&M sexual paradigm. The explicit scenes are perfectly timed where you may find yourself becoming somewhat aroused. Spader and Gyllenhaal interleave one-another like a good book. With their complex, reserved sexualities, you find yourself feeling deeply for their dilemmas and frustrations throughout the movie. This movie is psychologically very REAL. The only complaint is that the movie wonders too much from full blown serious, to just plain hokey (as with the custom made "Secretary Wanted" sign in front of Grey's office). I guess this adds humor to a serious story line, but makes you wonder if the movie was trying to be a love story drama, or a love story comedy. Advice - See it if you're curious. If nothing else, you'll have something to talk about.