Superman, Pirates, Lady in the Water, Miami Vice, Talladegan Nights...

My computer is down, but my movie ticket still works. It's amazing what one movie ticket for "Matrix Revolutions" will get you when you complain enough. I think this is all the movies I've seen since Tokyo Drift, and most of them have been better that that movie. Superman was good Summer fun with great Superman music and a couple sweet scenes (the airplane). Pirates was also good Summer fun, but seemed unable to decide between realistic, Nate and Hayes piracy or Disneyfied plastic-skull pirates. Lady in the Water was as good as I expected, but didn't blow me away as I had hoped. Miami Vice wasn't as good as its awesome trailer, but it was ten times better than anything else in its category. Talledegan Nights had its moments, and it had its anti-moments. I'll talk to you all later, give me a call and tell me what you all think, or if you've seen something good.

3Fast3Furious: Tokyo Drift

Vin Deisel brings a smile to my face. Is that not manly to admit? I really liked the first Fast and the Furious movie. It showed me something origninal in the underground racing sub-culture. It had energy, it had style, and it had manliness with Vin. Of course it also had Paul "bro" Walker. Seriously, does he get payed based on the number of times he says "bro" in a movie. He says "bro" more times in his average movie trailer than I have said in my entire lifetime. It's not his fault I guess, most likely he was brought up in a Southern California beach bum home and his parents both said "bro" his older siblings probably called him "bro" and surely he had a little Cocker Spaniel named "Bro". Anyways, Paul Walker wasn't in this, the third installment, so really the "bro" factor doesn't come ito play in this specific review.

Tokyo Drift made a good move to show us something new, focusing on a different style of racing and a whole different country, read the title of the film and you may be able to figure out exactly which country and what style of racing I refer to. Lucas Black was the star of this film, and ever since Sling Blade I haven't liked his voice. I'm sorry, nothing personal but it just is distracting. As you probably can guess this film is not about the dialouge, so his speaking was limited and therefore we didn't have too much of a problem. The racing/drivng was fun, energetic and even exciting, the story was alright and the music was bearable, well maybe I actually liked some of the music. All in all, if you want to see a movie for fun and a bit of escapism, this is the one. Unless of couse you do race illeagally, and have a buttload of money to buy, fix-up and detail, then totally destroy Japanese racing cars. If that is you, then this movie is more like a documentary, and you should go see An Inconvenient Truth for some escapism. I'm out of here "bro"!

Nacho Libre

The anticipation is over, and I was not dissapointed. I wasn't blown away either, but it's probably my own fault for anticipating so much in the first place. Will I ever learn my lesson? Superman can't possibly be as good as I hope it will be, usually the only thing that usually dosn't dissapoint are those movies that I'm sure will suck that turn out alright. Like the next movie I saw after Nacho Libre. Well, you'll have to read about that next, right now we're talking about Nacho Libre in case you forgot.

It was funny, as funny as the trailers and then some. Jack black stayed in character throughout the whole movie, an interesting cross between a Mexican priest and a pop culture influenced typical male. I loved the use of slang within the context of spiritual issues. The wrestling, the relationships, the singing, the facial expressions while riding his "chariot" and of course the baptismal scene. It was a hilarious movie, perhaps the funiest I've seen since Napolean Dynamite. of course there haven't been any funny movies since Napolean Dynamite, so whatever.

The Prarie Home Companion

I saw this movie a week ago, and didn't write about it because it wasn't really anything special. Now you're probably wondering what in the world a twenty-something, trendy, hip, cool guy like me was doing going to see The Prarie Home Companion in the first place. I do have an excuse, actually two: On Saturday mornings when I'm in line at the bank drive-through, sometimes I listen to the radio show on NPR, or maybe I'm listening to Car Talk, anyways, at some point durring the week I find myself listening to The Prarie Home Companion on the radio, and I like that guy's voice. When he's talking I am interested, whenever he stops and it moves on to music, the channel is changed. The other reason is that Robert Altman directed it, I like that Gosford Park, so I thought I would give it a try. Well, they had the guy with the voice, so I wan't dissapointed on that front, and Robert Altman directed the film in an interesting way that at least kept me awake. Other than that it pretty much was, well, not anything special.

Scent of a Woman

The last time I wrote about a film I watched at home, it was 'The Searchers" strarring John Wayne. This time I write to tell you about "Scent of a Woman" starring Al Pacino. "Scent of a Woman" is not a great film, it's alright, and overall a good smooth story, but what makes this film worth seeing is Al Pacino. Last night was my second viewing of this film, I first saw it six or seven years ago. It is truly amazing to see the range of an actor like Pacino, in just one film. This role inspires hate, love, pity and contempt all in the span of a few minutes. My favorite scene is at a resturaunt, where Pacino dances the tango with a woman who is waiting for someone else. The scene is just enjoyable to watch, then you factor in the depth of the character thus far, the foreshadowing of what is to come and the perfomance in this one scene, and it makes you appreciate it even more. Pacino may be my favorite actor, well after Bogart of course, but I think I can safely say his roles demonstrate that he is a better actor than Bogart and quite possibly one of the greatest ever.

Cars

Last night our whole family went to see Cars at our local cineplex. I think that this was the first movie that we all have been to, so it was a fun experience even before the film started. As a film, Cars was entertaining, funny and enjoyable to watch. Out of the Pixar movies so far, I think this one was the least original in the story/concept department, but visually it is the best. Now it wasn't as beautiful as Finding Nemo, or as stunning as Monster's Inc, but on a whole it is the next step in animation. The scenes at night were especially amazing, the street lamps don't just cast light, they cast light into thick air, animated thick air. Even the darkness of the sky has depth and isn't just black, but somehow is real. The film seemed long, perhaps because Aravis has a short attention span and decided to remove her shoes halfway through the film. It did drag on a little, but it was well broken up with a simple story, speedy races, and humorous dialouge and moments. I especially liked the "Mater" character. Even though he was dangerously close to being a stereotypical character, he had heart and that makes up for a lot.

I'm thinking of seeing that Prarie Home Companion, of course I'm going to see Nacho Libre and Superman, this Summer is alright for movies I guess. Still nothing that I can't wait to see though... When's that Speilberg film about Lincoln coming out? That might be alright.