Furious Grimm Lord

Movie Review: The Fast and the Furious (2001)

This is a movie that I never had any intentions of renting, or for that matter, watching at all. It was on TV in HD so I thought I'd give it a spin. The only good thing I can really say about this movie is that the cars were pretty cool. That's about it. Otherwise, this was a pretty clunky ride. I think this was Vin Diesel's break out movie but it's hard to see why. Other than looking a bit dangerous and aloof there isn't anything else to his performance. The cars were less stiff and flat than his character. The plot is simply ripped off from an older Keanu Reeves movie called 'Point Break'. Simply substitute car racing for surfing and bam you've got a new movie. Here we've got a group of street racers who are ripping off cargo from trucks during their spare time. The way they steal the things is absolutely ridiculous though. As they race down the freeways 1 car races in front of the still-hurtling-down-the-road semi-trailer. Then a masked criminal leans out the passenger window, shoots a hook from a crossbow into the front of the cab and climbs across to the truck, forcing it to stop. This is an insanely stupid plan. Luckily for our anti-heroes the truck driver doesn't do the smart thing or the panicky thing which would be to either:

1. slow down
2. speed up
3. turn left
4. turn right

Just about anything would fling this fool onto the road. Of course the movie has to end with a big race to see who's swinging the biggest carburator. I'd stick with Hanna-Barbara's 'Wacky Races' if you want to see some good asphalt action. 5/10

Movie Review: Lord of War (2005)

I was very impressed with this movie. Nicolas Cage finally gets a decent role again. Here he's a unscrupulous arms dealer who deceives his family and becomes one of the biggest movers and shakers in the bloodiest game out there (not talking about rugby here either). The opening credits play over the life of a bullet, from it's creation in a factory to it's final resting place in the forehead of a young African boy. This is a good indication that this movie isn't going to pull any punches and it really doesn't. A particularily movie scene has Cage and his brother working out the final details for a big sale, all the time knowing that their product will be used immediately on the village of refugees just behind them. Interestingly, IMDB states that no US studio would back this film and all funds were provided by foreign sources. 8/10

Movie Review: The Brothers Grimm (2005)

Ever since I saw 'Timebandits' I've been a huge Terry Gilliam fan. I became even more of one when I learned he was a member of Monty Python. His movies always have a real sense of 'fantasy' to them. 'Brothers Grimm' has this feeling but unfortunately it's not all that interesting. Damon and Ledger play the 2 brothers. While the historical pair simply gathered old fairy tales and publish them, our movie twosome are fraudulent ghostbusters. They charge handsome amounts to rid towns of ghosts and spirits that they themselves are 'staging'. Along the way they become enbroiled in a real mystical situation as an on witch, who lives in a entranceless tower, kidnaps children to regain her youth and skin tone. What makes this movie somewhat weak is that it is part slap-stick comedy, part fantasy, part horror, part romance. It can't really seem to decide what it wants to be and suffers as a result. 6.5/10

Boondock Saints - the whole story

2 more great movies from Matt Kaufman's monthly 'Film & Booze Club Screenings' in Osaka.

Movie Review: Overnight (2003)
A documentary about bartender/band member Troy Duffy. Success drops in his lap when film producer Harvey Weinstein agrees to buy his screenplay, let him direct it, let his band provide the soundtrack, and even buy the bar he works at for him as gift. What more could you ask for? Well, Troy Duffy is such an obnoxious jerk that he manages to alienate his family, friends and business associates so much that he nearly loses everything. His 2 former managers, who he also treats like dirt, happened to be filming everything to document his 'success'. A delicious full course of schadenfreude. 7/10

Movie Review: The Boondock Saints (1999)
And here it is, Troy Duffy's masterpiece. Actually, it's not all that bad. A pair of young brothers in Boston become media heroes when they take the law into their own hands. Willem Dafoe, as usual, is great as a very gay FBI agent. The action scenes and shoot outs are well done but this movie seems to have borrowed a lot of it's style from Reservoir Dogs. Apparently, Duffy is working on a 'Boondock Saints 2' now. 7.5/10

Superheroes

Movie Review: Superman (Extended Version) (1978)
I haven't seen this since I was a kid so I was happy to watch it again on TV. And with Japan's free HD broadcasts it was a real sight on the new TV. It was very interesting to see this film again from a more mature viewpoint. When I was a kid I didn't notice how risque Lex Luthor's secretary/girlfriend, Eve Teschmacher, was. A buxom beauty with a penchant for low cut shirts. It came as no surprise that she was wearing a white shirt when she decided to jump into the swimming pool to rescue the Man of Steel. There are also some funny lines that I'm sure I didn't pick up on my in my innocent youth, such as when Lois Lane asks Superman "How big are you . . . er, I mean . .. how TALL are you". Overall the movie is still fun to watch. The special effects seem very primitive but they still work. Hackman is great as a slightly comical Lex Luthor, and who can forget Brando's precious few minutes as Jor-El. Sure there are numerous holes in the story (baby Kal-El's rocket travels from another galaxy to Earth in an impossibly short time, how exactly does Superman go back in time?) but it is a good family movie. 7/10

Movie Review: X-Men (2000)
As a lead up to the 3rd X-Men movie's premiere in Japan they showed the first 2 on TV. The biggest weakness with this movie is that while it's supposed to be about the X-Men, it's main focus is on Wolverine. Cyclops is made to look like a fool and the other team members are barely present. Prof X and Magneto, as played by Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen are predictably excellent. 6.5/10

Movie Review: X2 (2003)
Another movie in HD on TV, very cool. I've reviewed this before so I'll keep it short. A superior movie to the original, lots of great action scenes and we get to see many more of the X-men in action. Colossus and Ice Man are also introduced, hopefully they'll get bigger roles in the 3rd film. 8/10