Change Your Image
javamikey
Reviews
Collateral (2004)
Cruise Control Is Still On
At first I was not sure if I'd make it out to the first weekend of COLLATERAL. Something about the shot on video image just kind of dropped it down a bit and my first gut reaction was that it was more of an experimental movie because of it.
But, mustering up an appetite to see a movie after a Friday night dinner, I decided to go see COLLATERAL.
The good: Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx have great chemistry. Tom Cruise manages to play a killer and still come off as cool as only Tom Cruise can do. Jamie Foxx does a great job of playing a timid and optimistic cabbie caught up in the middle of something very bad. Michael Mann's direction is the work of a master.
The bad: Remember how I said the digital video thing was a negative? Well, it was a distraction as I watched the movie and I kept thinking, "This would have looked better on film. For a few hundred grand more, they could have done that." It just doesn't seem right to have a random TV drama look better than this big theatrical movie and we're paying $10 a ticket in Los Angeles... and TV is nearly free.
SPOILER (sort of): If Jada's character was local to LA (she had business cards, a local phone number, and her name on an office door), why was she taking a taxi to her office like a visitor? In NYC, the taxi thing might fly. But in LA, a powerful woman would have a car.
Still, the movie is definitely worth seeing. B+ (would have been an 'A' had they shot on film)
The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
Bourne to Shake, Shake, Shake
After seeing the first movie, I eagerly waited in line for more than an hour to see the sequel on its first night out.
The obvious difference was the direction.
In the first, the camera moved with more grace. In the sequel, the camera was constantly shaking. That quickly got annoying. It was as if the movie was shot by a nervous cameraman with horrible balance and was edited by somebody with ADD.
The car chase sequences suffer the most. You watch minutes of action and become kind of numb. It's like sticking pictures of cars over a picture of a Russian street and then taping them to a paint can... pulling up a chair two feet away for a close view... then hitting the switch to shake the paint.
There's noise and lots of things moving... but it lacks detail.
Roomies (2004)
College Students Should See This One!
For anyone who has ever had or seen troubles with those pesky critters we call roommates, this movie is a must see. The movie was co-written and directed by Oliver Robins (of POLTERGEIST fame), photographed by David Klein (CLERKS, MALL RATS, CHASING AMY), and has a cast that includes such teen movie & teen TV veterans as A.J. Buckley (DISTURBING BEHAVIOR, THE IN CROWD), Holly Fields (WISHMASTER 2), Jennifer Lyons (CAN'T HARDLY WAIT), David Wheir (URBANIA), Lisa Brenner (THE PATRIOT with Heath Ledger), Dana Barron (BEVERLY HILLS 90210), and many more.
If you've ever wanted to know what happens when your roommates do when they're alone with your significant other, check this movie out.
Underworld (2003)
Underworld Rocks
As a fan of THE CROW, THE MATRIX, and BLADE, I was somewhat skeptical of what UNDERWORLD would bring to the table. Luckily, there are no worries because UNDERW0RLD truly is a good time for fans of the genre.
As a bad-ass vampire, Kate Beckinsale is great and we believe she'd totally bitch-slap Van Damme and Segal around if need be to complete her mission. Ms. Beckinsale's eyes are nothing short of intoxicating and she is able to communicate her plight without uttering a sound from her lips.
To Kate, Len, and the rest of the UNDERWORLD team - great job!
The Battle of Shaker Heights (2003)
A Battle Lost
Like many folks who watched Project Greenlight, I was hoping that the HBO show was just being dramatic and playful about the filmmaking events... but at the end of the day, everything would be okay.
Unfortunately for the BATTLE OF SHAKER HEIGHTS, everything is not okay.
With a million budget, this team had the tools to make a decent movie. All one has to do is look at CLERKS, CHASING AMY, the original HALLOWEEN, and BETTER LUCK TOMORROW to see what can be done for a few hundred grand or less. Instead, SHAKER HEIGHTS looks like it was made by a group that concluded a million dollars was no money and they'd put on a good show (more for the HBO audience than the theatre audience, apparently).
Once the project was picked, this group had the luxury of making a feature film without using their own money, going in debt to finish it up, feverishly look for investors, or the chore of finding a distributor (that may explain the mediocre result). This movie had NINE PRODUCERS, TWO DIRECTORS, and THE WRITER ON SET to answer questions. Sadly, it looks like little got done.
The directors adding a custom "Hot Lips" license plate to the army Jeep served no grand purpose. That use of thought and power could have been better served elsewhere.
As a whole, the movie looked like it was hacked to pieces in the editing bay. One minute the lead character Kelly (played quite nicely by Shia LeBeouf) gets to drive the Jeep... then he's huffing it on a bike... then he has the Jeep again... then is back huffing it on the bike. It looks like info was missing as to why the character would alternate.
As far as locations, they didn't have many: 3 houses, a school, a hospital, some woods, and a grocery store. Funny thing was, there were never many customers in the store. Heck, the Quick Stop in CLERKS had more customers (a.k.a. production value).
Even more strange, the filmmakers appeared to recycle establishing shots. I could swear I saw the same establishing shots of Kelly's house and the grocery store recycled as if they didn't shoot different angles... and used the same shot more than once.
Then, there is 'the kiss.' We've waited most of the movie for Kelly's big kiss with 'Tabby' (Amy Smart's character)... and it's a Jr. High kiss.
All in all, THE BATTLE OF SHAKER HEIGHTS plays like a cheap TV movie that lacked a clear leader.
In the future, I hope Miramax and Project Greenlight takes a good look at their system. Maybe a million dollars is too much... maybe nine producers are too many... maybe the crews are too big... maybe having too many trucks doesn't allow the filmmakers to be mobile and do better work.
But one thing is certain: With all the resources given, the movies of Project Greenlight need to get better than the first two.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
Johnny Depp needs Gold
For anyone and everyone that sees Johnny Depp give his amazing performance as Captain Jack Sparrow, one thing is clear: Johnny Depp deserves gold come awards season. His character's impact on the film is so great that it would have been a completely different movie without him.
Open Range (2003)
JUST THE FACTS, PARDNER
I walked into OPEN RANGE ready for a classic western. What I got instead was a Costner doing his standard bit of speaking in one or two sentences at a time. And, when he did speak, the combo of dialogue and delivery resulted in chuckles from across the theatre. Unfortunately, these moments were not supposed to be funny. Even worse, some of Costner's mojo rubbed of on the always great Robert Duvall and even his dialogue got a few chuckles in scenes where none were expected.
On the bright side, the vista shots of 1880's America were cool (even if they were filmed in Canada) and the supporting cast helped the movie. It's not a great date movie, but probably worth a matinee admission.
Embrace of the Vampire (1995)
THE ALYSSA MILANO COLLECTION: DVD ONE
I had read about the movie in an old issue of Femme Fatale and thought I'd give it a look. Watching the movie, I was totally impressed with the beauty of Alyssa Milano is this. While much of the movie was cheesy, Alyssa's smoldering eyes and perky boobs kept it all rolling.
Mischief (1985)
KELLY PRESTON LOOKS AMAZING
Even if it's not the greatest teen movie of the 80's, seeing the beautiful and undressed Kelly Preston is worth the price of the rental. Kelly looks utterly amazing. After checking out the footage, I can certainly see why Mr. Travolta decided she was the girl to become his wife. He is one lucky, lucky man.
2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
2 FAST,
While I wasn't expecting greatness, I was hoping that "2 Fast 2 Furious" would be something entertaining and fun. With a reported $76 million budget, the Miami flavor, and a successful sequel to blaze the path, all they had to do was not mess things up.
Luckily, Singleton and Walker brought their fun and games and Eva Mendes brought her glorious beauty. All in all, it was a good ride.
With that said, there's a stunt where Walker is driving on the shore while the bad guy is offshore on the boat. To get from point A (land) to point B (the bad guy's boat), Walker drives a car off a tiny mound, has the car turn right in the air... sail across the water... turn left... and then lands on the upper deck of the boat. With a huge budget and hundreds of people working on the movie, it's kind of shocking nobody said, "John, there ain't no way hitting that little mound is going to get that car high enough and far enough to land on the upper deck of that boat... much less change direction in flight."
Even worse, a bad guy takes Eva Mendes downstairs on the boat... then is nowhere to be found when Walker and Co. land the car on the deck and fight evil. Or, maybe me chuckling after seeing the car stunt caused me to miss Walker and Co. kick the 2nd bad guy's butt.
In an apparent ode to George Miller, Singleton looks like he studied the Road Warrior hero shots (camera pushes into drivers door window and we see hero driving... or... camera glides over hood and pushes in on hero behind the wheel).
Oh, and the Asian girl (street racer) was cute, but kind of weak in the acting department. They would have gotten far more juice had they gone with Izabella Miko (the Russian tease from Coyote Ugly) or Charlotte Ayanna (like Mendes, another Training Day alum).
Regardless, 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS will make a huge pile of cash and it's a fun movie. :)
Thirteen (2003)
THIRTEEN'S A WAKE-UP CALL
After seeing this movie at Sundance, my first comment was, "This movie makes me not want to have kids." The movie succeeds in making parents and potential parents cringe due to its realism. Holly Hunter gives an amazing performance that's a joy to watch. And, if Fox Searchlight gets behind this picture and there's justice in the world, we should be seeing Evan Rachel Wood at the IFP Spirit Awards and on the red carpet at the Kodak.
The Sweetest Thing (2002)
SWEET & SOUR
I greatly enjoy Cameron Diaz, Christina Applegate, and Selma Blair. They're wonderful. However, this movie was hard to watch because jokes were falling flat and/or suffering from overkill. I felt bad for them. IMDB says this movie costs $43 million. If that's true, it feels like it was $40 million too much.
8 Mile (2002)
Points of View on 8 MILE
I saw him in concert. I even bought his new CD this past summer. But the movie kind of fell short of winning me over. Some of it felt more like a PR campaign than a movie.
To combat Eminem's rep of being a bad role model for kids, the movie shows him concerned for what his little sister sees. For the flack he got over making homosexual remarks, the movie shows him using his rapping skills to defend a gay co-worker. But, to keep his street cred, he then fires a paintball gun at a parked police cruiser to show he's still a young buck with edge.
As far as his relationship with his buddies, that was kind of odd how he never really seemed to respect them. It's as if they were just people he rode with on the bus - and he never got too close because he planned to get off at the next stop. Even after he insulted them, they still treated him like some kind of superstar instead of smacking him across the mouth and flying without him for a while.
But the oddest part of the movie was Brittany Murphy's character. She's a wonderful actress. But, the motive for her character thinking he's so great based on the little she observed of him was a stretch.
They really could have had fun with her character by making her a puppet who was being used by the threatening posse to entice B-Rabbit to do a deal with them. That way, it shows two ways to get what you want: To want the dream so bad that you'd sell yourself and do anything... or to go your own way and keep your integrity. That could have been a good story point.
Even after B-Rabbit finds his new lover having sex with his supposed friend, there was a fist fight between the males but never a frank discussion between man and woman about what happened, why it happened, and what this meant.
In a further blow to his manhood, had his mother not been totally lucky and won bingo, he, his mom, and his little sister would have been evicted from their trailer. I guess the bingo solution was easier (and better for Em's fans) than showing B-Rabbit having no money to keep them from getting evicted.
But what the hell. It was fun anyway. :}
Fast Sofa (2001)
Fast Sofa not fast enough
To see a film with such a good ensemble of actors is wonderful... except in the case of FAST SOFA where the film is choppy and has a raw look along the style of a student film. Maybe that's what they were going for, but it was a bit distracting.
Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)
I'm Lucky I Saw This Movie :)
Once in a while, a film comes along that earns the distinction of being called "Cool"...
BETTER LUCK TOMORROW is that kind of movie.
Studios spend tens of millions of dollars and miss the mark. Tarantino-wannabe's rent entire video libraries and they miss the mark.
But Justin Lin and his posse came along and took care of business. The acting is solid, the music pumps, the tech work is on the money, and the filmmaker knows how to entertain a hip audience.
Running across Justin's work at this stage of his career is like discovering a cool musical artist playing small clubs... right before they break out.
Going to California (2001)
WHO APPROVED THIS SHOW??
There I was, recently watching cable when I saw what appeared to be another no-budget movie shot in Florida to show people naked at a nudist colony. It looked like it was shot in the 1980's on Super 16. Campy, campy, campy.
Then, with so many naked old people in it, I quickly changed the channel (my blinds were open, didn't need my neighbors seeing me watch something that stupid).
And now I'm flipping through cable tonight and see the same guy (star of the show) and see he's with the hot actress Jamie Presley. At this point, I think I'm seeing what I missed last time. Then, I see Vince Vaughn. Vince Vaughn??
Then it hits me: How is Vince and Jamie in a cheesy 80's movie???
Upon quick research of my digital cable, I soon discover that this is actually a series for Showtime.
And I think to myself: Who approved this show and why did Vince Vaughn and Jamie Presley do this?? Even funnier, they got Scott Rosenberg (writer of the recent "Gone in 60 Seconds") to put his name on it.
Also, there are quick "freezes" of the video during scenes. Don't know what that is, but it's distracting as hell.
Folks, this show makes "Sherman Oaks" look like "The West Wing."
The Bikini Carwash Company (1992)
AMERICAN BEAUTIES
Okay, so it's not AMERICAN BEAUTY and it didn't win any awards... but this damn film is a beauty to watch. Just turn down the volume in spots (the cheesy sound effects get annoying) and just enjoy the wonderful - and naked - beauties on the screen.
Nearly 10 years after this American Classic hit the video stores, it can now be purchased on DVD. Or, wait for its next run on late-night cable.