Archive for the 'Narrated' Category

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Published
by
Chalupa
on May 5, 2008
in American Civil War, Based on a book, Based on a novel, Based on a true story, Crime, Great Depression, Narrated, Trains and Western
. 2 Comments

This movie is one that I’ve been wanting to watch for a while. I’m a big fan of Westerns and their derivatives.  Other drawing factors were the Oscar buzz surrounding this film and the performances by Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck.  I’m glad to see Casey getting some recognition.  I think he’s a very qualified actor and it’s good that he’s making a name for himself other than Ben’s brother.

In my opinion, there seem to be two main types of Western films.  I’ve always labeled them in my head as John Wayne and Clint Eastwood when in reality they’re both on the same side.  I think the real line should be drawn at the musicals.  Many old films in this style include lots of singing, and maybe even some dancing.  These are the ones I’m really not a fan of.  I more into the shooting, the bank robberies, the jail breaks, and the action.  The Assassination of Jesse James incorporates a lot of these elements.

If you don’t know about Jesse James, he was an American outlaw during the mid to late 1800s.  As I’m sure you can guess by the title, he was eventually assassinated and then became one of the legends of the “Wild West.”  I think it would be fair to argue most people don’t know much about his life other than he was an outlaw.  I really enjoyed this film because it gave a small peak into his life that most would never know.

As I mentioned before, there were some amazing performances by Casey Affleck and Brad Pitt, but it’s fair to mention they weren’t the only stars involved in this film.  Rounding out the cast are Mary-Louise Parker, Sam Rockwell, Jeremy Renner, Sam Shepard, Garret Dillahunt, and Paul Schneider.  Roger Deakins was even nominated for Cinematography, along with No Country for Old Men, and Affleck was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

The only drawback I can think of for this film is the length.  I still don’t understand why some can’t sit through a longer movie if it’s worth watching, but it’s fair to mention just so you know.  I would highly recommend this to any fans of the Western genre.  I would put it on par with 3:10 to Yuma.

Rating: ★★★★½

Nightwatch

Published
by
Chalupa
on February 25, 2008
in Abortion, Action, Based on a book, Based on a novel, Comedy, Epic, Fantasy, Horror, Narrated, Russia, Sci-fi, Thriller, Trilogy, Vampires and War
. 2 Comments

Nightwatch is a vampire movie I heard about a few years ago from a buddy of mine. I’ve been meaning to watch it for quite some time and wouldn’t you know, it’s available on-demand from Netflix. Set in Russia, there’s an ongoing, epic battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. In this context they are the Forces of Light and Forces of Darkness and they are called Others. At one point during this epic, immortal battle, a truce was formed. Humans now had to choose their own side. They could no longer be forced into serving the Light or the Dark.

There was an ancient prophecy about a virgin that would pretty much bring about the apocalypse. There was also an Other that would join the battle and have to choose which side they would fight for. This choice would turn the tide for whichever side he/she chose.

This brings us to modern-day Russia where the Others walk amongst the humans pretending to be mortal. The Light are called Nightwatchers and the Dark are called Daywatchers. Both sides monitor each other to ensure the truce is held. That truce is eventually broken and all hell, literally, is about to break loose. The apocalypse is upon them and both sides are trying to find “the one” in order to bring them to their side.

Based on a book, this story is being put into a trilogy. In fact, the second film, Daywatch is mentioned in the end credits. Unlike some vampire-esque movies this one isn’t filled with gore or pointless sex and nudity to cover up the slow and weaker parts of the plot and script. I’m really interested in seeing the second installment now. They’ve got me hooked. I’d definitely recommend this to any fan of the vampire genre.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

Published
by
Chalupa
on February 20, 2008
in Based on a novel, Crime, Drama, Narrated, Perfume, Prostitution and Thriller
. 0 Comments

Ever wonder what it would be like to have a super power? You know, like a superhero. Ever wanted super-human strength? The ability to fly? Laser beams shooting out of your eyes? Well how about a super sense of smell? In Perfume, Jean-Baptiste is born with an amazing sense of smell. I don’t even know how to describe it other than he’s like a human hound dog. He can smell you coming and going.

Jean-Baptiste lived a hard life during the French Revolution. He was born in a fish market and soon ends up in an orphanage. If you didn’t know, those places weren’t all fun and games. I’d probably have to describe them as hell holes. Anyways, he eventually starts working in a tannery and one day gets to go into town for a delivery. There are all kinds of wonderful smells he’s never encountered before. He eventually smells the most wonderful scent he’s ever encountered, but tragically loses it.

Jean-Baptiste’s next line of work then becomes the perfume industry. He starts learning how to make perfumes in the effort to preserve smells. He wants to recreate that smell he found in town that one day. As you can probably tell from the title, Jean-Baptiste also happens to be a murderer. I don’t want to give the story away though, so I won’t get into that.

This film is a good watch. There is a slight, crazy twist at the end that kind of involves a mass orgy. Don’t really see that one coming. For this reason I won’t be recommending this to a lot of people. It’s not crazy or too revealing…especially after seeing John Cameron Mitchell’s Shortbus. If you’ve seen Perfume, we’d love to know what you thought of it. If you liked it, you might want to check out some of Tom Tykwer’s other movies such as Run, Lola, Run or The Princess and the Warrior .

Rating: ★★★½☆

Stardust

Published
by
Chalupa
on September 18, 2007
in Adventure, Based on a novel, Fantasy, Narrated and Romance
. 0 Comments

I wasn’t really sure what to think of this one from the previews, but it looked interesting. I’m also a big fan of Claire Danes, Peter O’Toole and Robert De Niro. So Liz and I gave it a shot in L.A. It was definitely entertaining. It was a bit long in parts and is definitely geared towards the kids. This is probably something you could take the family to and everybody would be ok with it.

I’m always surprised by DeNiro in relation to Pacino. Both actors have done many similar projects but in the past 10 years DeNiro has definitely stepped out of the mold and has been broadening his horizons. It all started back in 1999 when Analyze This came out. This was followed up by the Rocky and Bullwinkle movie, Analyze That, Meet The Parents and Meet the Fockers. He even did a voice on Shark Tale. At first my reaction was that he must need money. Bad. I don’t really feel that way anymore. You might say DeNiro was kinda type-cast as an Italian gangster/tough guy. I think he’s been trying to break that mold and is doing a good job at it. Pacino has done a variety of roles but I don’t think they’re as recently diverse as DeNiro.

There are a lot of recognizable faces if you choose to go see this. Lots of cameos where you’ll recognize people from all sorts of things. I wouldn’t rush out to see this. Stardust isn’t a must-see film on the big screen. Still worth watching some time though.

Oldboy

Published
by
Chalupa
on April 23, 2006
in Based on a comic, Based on a graphic novel, Drama, Graphic Violence, Kidnapping, Martial Arts, Mystery, Narrated, Neo Noir, Revenge, Thriller and Twist
. 0 Comments

Oldboy is a movie I learned about from my good buddy Tim Mahan. It’s a Korean film about a man who is kidnapped and held in a room for 15 years. He’s allowed to watch some TV but has no access to things like sunlight and contact with other human beings. Eventually he breaks free and decides to try and figure out who imprisioned him and why. He can’t find his family and friends because the world thinks he murdered his wife and is on the run.

Through the twisted world one man has created, we eventually discover exactly what Dae-su Oh has done to warrant such revenge. I do need to say that this movie is kind of messed up and wouldn’t be enjoyed by many. If you’re up to it though, you might want to give it a try some time.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Published
by
Chalupa
on January 11, 2006
in Adventure, Based on a book, Based on a novel, Comedy, Cult film, End of the world, Future, Narrated, Sci-fi and Space
. 1 Comment

Here’s one sci-fi movie I really didn’t know what to think of before watching it. I heard raving good reviews about from friends of mine that would love it no matter what, and remember hearing nothing but complaints from the media when it came out. Well, I watched it for myself and have to say I enjoyed it, a lot. I haven’t even read the book(s).

One cool thing was spotting Kelly Macdonald, who played a reporter, after just watching Trainspotting with TLoft where she played Diane. There’s tons and tons of recognizable people in this film. That is always cool. A couple people from Love Actually, Mos Def, Zooey Deschanel, Warwick Davis (from Willow and many other films), etc, etc.

If you’re not really into British humor there’s a good chance you might find this one very boring. There’s a lot of randomness and geekiness that most people probably aren’t going to appreciate.

Shopgirl

Published
by
Chalupa
on November 18, 2005
in Art, Based on a book, Based on a novel, Drama, Narrated, New York, Road Trip and Romance
. 0 Comments

This is the much awaited movie-form of Steve Martin’s novella and I’d have to say I really liked it. Martin also wrote the screenplay, directed the movie, and acted in it. Zach Braff anyone?

I remember seeing a trailer for this a little while ago and thought it had potential, but then Liz started telling me all about it because she’s read, and owns a copy of, the book. Apparently this really captures what it’s like to be a 25 year old female. I can’t say I have much experience in that department, but I’m just going to agree.

The other main characters in here are Claire Danes and Jason Schwartzman, son of the unforgettable Talia Shire from Rocky. Schwartzman had a lot of funny lines that were very I Heart Huckabees-ish, yet it wasn’t like he was being typecast here.

The other day I was being asked if this was more of a comedy or a funny drama. I wasn’t really sure what to say. It definitely has that independent film feel to it. You know, the type of movie that doesn’t fit any one cookie-cutter genre type/style so they just call it “independent”.

All I know is that if you get a chance, get yourself down to Castleton Arts before they shut down. I love that place and sadly enough….they’re closing down.

Sin City

Published
by
Chalupa
on April 2, 2005
in Action, Based on a comic, Based on a graphic novel, Crime, Drama, Graphic Violence, Multiple story line, Narrated, Neo Noir and Thriller
. 1 Comment

Sin City is a movie adaptation of the graphic novel/stories by Frank Miller. It was co-directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez with a Quentin Tarantino as a guest director. There are so many big name actors/actresses in this movie I’m not even going to try and name them all. Check out the link for yourself.

I’m most definitely not going to make a general blanket statement of telling people to go see this movie. This is definitely a comic book made into a movie - and I’m not talking about X-Men, Spiderman, Batman or The Hulk. There was some great cinematography and I loved what they did with the black and white with artistic splashes of color in all the right places.

As far as content in here that might turn people off there’s a decent amount of violence. Definitely nothing that bothered me, but I’m sure it’ll bother some. There was also a decent amount of T&A that I wasn’t necessarily expecting.

The story was great and captivating. I most definitely didn’t understand everything and will need to see it at least one more time. The timeline was also a bit confusing. Sort of like watching Pulp Fiction for the very first time. I’m going to need to talk to Lofton - I’m sure he can explain it all to me.

Overall I’m gonna have to say I liked this movie. Great acting, great directing, great story. It was intriguing as well as interesting. There’s a good chance I’ll be seeing it again with some other people and will hopefully get a better grasp on things.

The Royal Tenenbaums

Published
by
Chalupa
on September 6, 2004
in Comedy, Drama, Dysfunctional, Family, Independent and Narrated
. 0 Comments

This is definitely my most favorite Wes Anderson film. I just watched it again recently and figured might as well write something about it. For me it kinda ranks up there with American Beauty as showing what some American families are like and are films where I think most people can directly relate to on one or more levels. For me I feel like I can relate to various characters in both movies, or have members in my own family that greatly resemble some of the characters.

The basic premise for this film is a man trying to reconnect with his family after pseudo tearing it apart over the past 30 years or so. He seems to be a very selfish, self-centered person which is very evident in why he wants to reconnect with his family in the first place. He has 3 children who were all geniuses as children, however “Virtually all memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums had been erased by nearly two decades of betrayal, failure, and disaster.” Now that right there is a very powerful statement. Here’s a family that had so much potential but has been torn apart at the seems by outsiders, circumstances, and each other.

At times this can be a hard movie to watch because it brings up memories, thoughts and images from my past. It’s not like I can’t look at the screen, but it always gets me thinking about things during and afterwards. I mentioned this in my other blog but I’d have to say my most favorite - and hardest to watch- scene is when Richie tries to kill himself. He has just found out some things about his sister and kinda loses it. I’ve never attempted suicide myself, but have definitely been in a depressed state like that before. Kinda sucks.

Well, I must suggest you watch this if you haven’t seen it yet. Come talk to me and borrow it or we’ll watch it together.