I’m so unbelievably pissed that Warner Brothers fucked this up. Those familiar with the Richard Matheson original story will know what I’m talking about. I did enjoy the movie up until the climax, where everything that made the original story so great was shat upon. The title “I Am Legend” refers to Neville being the only human alive and thus, the “legend” that vampires tell each other. He kills their kind and as seen as a monster to them. In the movie, this was set up rather nicely - I was under the impression that the head vampire had set up the spy (the woman) so he can find his lover. Brainless Hollywood decided this was too creative and cool, so they went for the hand grenade ending - making the woman (and boy with an obvious wig) actual humans who *STUPID SPOILER ALERT* at the end bring the vampire cure to a enclosed town - NEGATING the whole “legend” thing. I implore you to read the original story (here at Amazon.com) and be dumbfounded on how the WB could fuck this up.

That said, I did like Will Smith’s performance and the movie’s post-apocalypse special effects (an empty New York). I didn’t like the vampires CGI work, it was a humanoid character - old fashion make-up would have worked for what they did. Maybe just using CGI for the jumping around. I could do better shit on my laptop. I’m glad I rented it on iTunes and not bought the DVD.

Brokeback Mountain
With all the hubbub about this movie, I was kinda disappointed. All the actors gave stellar performances, and I was okay with the excessive guy-on-guy face sucking. The problem arose during the second half of the movie - it just sort of fizzled out. We follow both men through their lives and it never really goes anywhere. If I read the novel and this happened I would have been pissed. I’m glad I saw it, just to say I saw it and I can give my opinion about it - I’m just disappointed that it wasn’t better.

Enchanted
This was a fun movie (especially following a downer movie like Brokeback). I dug the perfomances by all actors, and I liked Patrick Dempsey’s character. It’s hard to believe he’s the same guy from “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “Loverboy”. Even when I watch Grey’s Anatomy, my brain can’t really make the connection. I’m glad Disney made this movie instead of, say, Warner Brothers. It’s basically Disney making fun of Disney - which nobody else can do without getting the snot sued out of them. I wish they had more DVD features, like a commentary track - even though they have a long commercial saying tons of features are included in the Blu-Ray disc. I don’t HAVE a Blu-Ray player (yet) - so why rub it in?

Play Misty for Me
Every single man should watch this movie, much like every married man should watch Fatal Attraction. The movie is sorta dated from the early 70’s with its songs and clothing choices. This was Clint Eastwood’s first commercial movie directorial debut and bits and pieces show of some bad directorial decisions such as a long unnecessary love song montage of the main character (Clint) and his girlfriend (Donna Mills) - during the latter half of the movie - when both should be hiding in a bunker from the psycho stalker. Remember guys, don’t sleep with an Evelyn - it’s REALLY not worth it. The most frightening thing about the DVD is the “Making Of” featurette - Donna Mills hasn’t aged! Really.

Next up: Final Fantasy VII, Steamboy, and Capote.

Ratatouille
This was a fun movie. Not my favorite Pixar movie by far, but I enjoyed the story and the animation. It seems a weird subject for a film. A rat that cooks. The ending was satisfying and I’m glad they didn’t go for the typical happy ending - even though it does end happy. I also enjoyed the short - I forget what it’s called - but it was well done. It still doesn’t top my favorite Pixar shorts “For the Birds” and “Knick-Knack”.

The Water Horse
I’ll start off by saying I’m a big fan of the Loch Ness monster. For years I believed it existed (I still have hope). This film however, kinda makes the whole mythology something else - like the monster is nothing more than a boy’s pet. Interesting concept, I just didn’t like how they portrayed it. The movie by itself is great, but I wished they stayed away from Nessie and instead created another myth. I had no interest in watching it again.

Death at a Funeral
For the short time I had this one at home, I watched it about 6 times. I highly recommend it if you like British farce humor. All the characters are compelling and funny - especially Alan Tuduks (Wash from Firefly) character. Excellent movie. I wish Frank Oz, the director (and former Muppeteer and voice of Yoda), makes more movies like this using the same cast - they all seem to work remarkably well together.

Next up: Brokeback Mountain, Enchanted, and Play Misty for Me.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
I was actually surprised that I enjoyed this as much as I did. While not a total reboot of the series, this TNMT lacked any origin story and had new villains. I don’t know why they didn’t bother to use one of the older storylines/villains from past graphic novels - I would have liked to see Krang or some mousers and maybe Baxter, since they are free from real-world muppetry. The animation was great but what I really dug was how color and shadows were used. The art direction on this was fantastic (although I didn’t like how the human characters were done). Rent it if only for the art involved.

Something Wicked This Way Comes
A unique Disney movie from the early 80’s that scared the crap out of me as a child. Based on a very good Ray Bradbury book, SWTWC is about two kids in the 1930’s(?) and a dark carnival that comes to their sleepy town. It was slower than I remembered, but it does have a few good scenes.

Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride
Makes me want to rent Where the Buffalo Roam and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas again (or maybe buy). This reflection-type documentary has friends and celebrities talk about their relationship with and life of Hunter S. Thompson - gonzo journalist and prolific writer. Lots of good clips from the movies and footage of Thompson acting batshit. Recommended.

Next up: Ratatouille, The Water Horse, and Death at a Funeral.

So Wednesday of this week, I went with a friend to see LOTR: The Fellowship of the Rings at Wolftrap. It was being played with a live orchestra. It sounded amazing too. It really fit in with the movie. We had front row tickets and after awhile it seemed too close. Plus, I was seated next to some jittery fellow that shook violently throughout the first half. I was like “Are you having a brain seizure? Do you have palsy? How many cases of Red Bull did you drink? Been doing speed long?”
During intermission we decided to move about halfway back so we could see the orchestra better. There was a guy with an accordion - I’m not sure what part of the score demanded an accordion though. During the elvish sequences, a woman came out and sung in elvish - which was a nice touch.
It was a bit too cold - but we had brought some warm clothes thankfully. It was a good time and I’m definitely going to see the next two movies when they come out this way.

Kinsey
This was a pretty interesting film mainly due to its lack of action (well, maybe certain types of action). It was driven by director and actors and it had a subject that’s near and dear to my heart. Human sexuality. Kinsey was a biologist that wanted to make a definitive study of human sexuality. Sure there is kinks to work out (<.<) but opened the doors to an honest dialog about a supposedly taboo subject. While it's not something I'd keep in my collection, I do think it's a good movie to watch.

Nausicaa: The Valley of the Wind
I totally dug this movie just for it’s concept. In the far future, the earth is overtaken by large toxic fungus jungles. Mankind is pushed to the jungles’ outskirts while giant insect thrive inside. A young princess of a oceanside village deals with mankinds’ past, her warlike neighbors, and the insects they want to battle with - all beautifully illustrated and animated by director Miyazaki.

Castle in the Sky
This is Miyazaki’s secound movie. It’s a bit different, but plays on similar themes. It does contain some convenient plot devices. It’s about a young girl that has a special jewel necklace that points the way to a hidden floating fortress. She meets several people along the way that help her finding it. It is a good movie, but not as good at Nausicaa or Miyazaki’s later movies.

Next up, Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride (a Hunter S. Thompson doc)

The Man Who Fell to Earth
While I enjoyed David Bowie’s performance in “Labyrinth” this one is a little hard to swallow. Most of the film feels like a film student’s midterm project/wet dream. While I did enjoy the excessive female nudity, I didn’t want to see either Rip Torn or David Bowie. Either way, at least I can say I saw the film - I wonder how the book is?

Jack Frost
Not the Michael Keaton family movie. This movie is not even worthy of being a bad horror movie. The most disappointing is Shannon Elizabeth’s vanilla role. No nudity here fellas - even though there is a bath scene followed by snowman rape - but it isn’t horrifying or funny, just kinda sad. Imagine if I took a video camera and made a horror movie about lawn gnomes. Aren’t there any good horror movies being made anymore?

Zach Galifianakis: Live
He has a zany deadpan delivery that I like, but his comedy is very spacious and laid-back. Also, his twin-brother schtick gets old after ten minutes. I would see him live though - and he should play more piano.

Next up: Kinsey, Castle in the Sky, and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.

PS - Don’t see Prom Night - it’s the worst horror movie out there right now, even for pre-teens, which it seems to be made for.

The Boondock Saints
I saw this movie at a friend’s place this weekend. I totally dug it. Since I didn’t really know what it was about, I had a hard time following it at first. Then it really picked up once their mission came into play. Quite simply, Boondock Saints is about two Irish lads in Boston that go on a vigilante killing spree in Boston - taking out mobsters with a ballet of bullets. What I really found entertaining was William Defoe’s character of the FBI agent that tries to make sense of what the boys are doing. Even though this movie has been out since 1999, it holds up really well - and I can’t believe I haven’t seen this until now. I’m going to buy the DVD just so I can watch it a few more times and also listen to the commentary. Recommended.

I hope there are extended Bollywood sequences in this. I also think there is a bit of Dr. Evil in this new character. June is too far away *sigh*.

Wolf Creek
Horror movies these days just don’t have enough personality. This is a brutal movie, simply for the sake of brutality. There is no real plot other than a simplistic “Kids get lost and make stupid choices”. Even other movies on the same caliber still had some sort of entertainment value, like Hostel - which I didn’t really like either, but at least that had some sort of payoff in the end. I didn’t like this movie at all.

Darkness Falls
I had initially avoided this movie because the previews gave me the heebie-jeebies. I eventually put this in my Netflix queue and it’s taken this long for me to see it. The good: Emma Caulfield was a favorite of mine as Anya in Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show - and it was nice seeing her. The Bad: Everything else. The movie was not as horrifying nor creepy as I wanted it to be. The premise of a murderous Tooth Fairy quickly devolved into some spirit that kills people and is hurt by light (any kind of light - even a friggin’ lightstick?). The writers are to blame - I could’ve written something that played on that premise and it would have been terrifying. Also hurting it was the PG-13 rating - simply not enough creative kills or gore - people are just whisked away into the darkness and scream *yawn*.

Next in my queue: The Man Who Fell to Earth, Jack Frost, and Zach Galifianakis: Live.