again, the day after tomorrow was better than i anticipated. it is not really an action movie, more of a…scientific thriller? is that a new genre? the special effects were neat, and i definitely felt a sort of panic about the environment during and after.
this movie was SO much better than i thought it would be. it was hilarious and had (awww!) a nice lesson to be learned. i laughed through the whole thing and left wanting to be a better person and delighted that i could never possibly be as bitchy and backstabbing and cruel as the girls in the movie. but i’ll also never have such vast knowledge of cosmetics and hair products and ‘fashion’ so i guess some would see that as a trade-off. these people are delusional. but anyhow, ‘mean girls‘ is terrific.
‘casshern‘ is a highly stylized action drama that has some not-so-subtle messages about war, pollution, samaritanism. Beautiful cinematography and decent fx give ‘casshern’ an incredibly distinct look (film grain like tennis balls, blacks to make you rethink other blacks, super-saturated color), and a plot full of betraya, heavy emotions and intrigue drives the film. from what kyle, eric & i could speculate anyway, since it was entirely in japanese with no subtitles.
i think i may have mentioned this film before, but i really want to see casshern. it looks like one of the most beautiful films ever made (not that my stitched together and badly artifacted image really shows that)…and it’s only out in japan.
plus no one seems to know if there are plans for wide release in the us. from the synopses and stills this looks like a film that would do very well in the us, as long as the translation is decent.
i would love to see this while i’m in japan this week, but…i don’t know japanese. and, apparently there are some rather nuanced background sounds, building murals and whatnot that would be hard to get the full meaning of if you don’t know japanese and/or chinese.
‘van helsing‘ is…awesome. but then again, this is my favorite type of movie – lots of action, great special effects, fun characters, great cinematography and editing. the plot is quite clever with a few surprises and exactly what one might expect from a stephen sommers movie. overall, ‘van helsing’ is more serious in tone than sommers’s last few movies, but is still fast-paced, exciting and fun.
better than the first volume, but slower. less blood bath and more character development.
‘the punisher’ was awesome. not in an iconic masterpiece sort of way, but in a popcorn michael bay sort of way. ok, not as good as michael bay, but it was fun and surprisingly funny at times, with some great explosions and fight scenes.
i am maybe in love with this steriogram video directed by michel gondry (who else?). my favorite part is the giant hand.
last night i went to the brew & view with eric, jon, pat & jessica (2 high school friends) and their friend tony. saw elf and bad santa. it was the perfect balance of innocent fun (mr. narwhal!) and down-and-dirty raunchiness. much beer was had and i had a particularly delicious turkey & ham from subway – i think this is due to the inordinate amount of pepper the lady put on it. after the brew & view jon, eric and i went to el famous burrito for some delicious horchata and nachos. the only blight on the evening was the man in front of us during elf who was smoking a particularly foul-smelling cigar.