Happy Feet

Title: Happy Feet

Starring Actor(s)/Actress(es): Elijah Wood, Brittany Murphy, Robin Williams, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Hugo Weaving

Genre: Comedy/Musical

Status: Out on DVD

Plot Summary: Emperor penguins find mates by singing. But when Mumble (Wood) is born, he doesn’t sing, he dances. Now he’s trying to win the heart of his dream girl Gloria (Murphy) and find acceptance in his world, with a little help from some friends.

Review: If I were a young child, or a parent of a young child I probably would’ve loved this movie. However, being a teenager, it didn’t really appeal to me. It wasn’t bad, and I can see how it won so many awards. It was a great “feel good movie” and there were parts that were really funny. This one didn’t really make me “feel good” when it was over, but I didn’t hate it.

Rating: 3/5

Crank

Title: Crank

Starring Actor(s)/Actress(es): Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Efren Ramirez

Genre: Action

Status: Out on DVD

Plot Summary: Chev Chelios (Statham) is a professional killer. When he wakes up he finds that Verona, a rival of his, has injected him with an incurable poison he has to find a way to stay alive long enough to get revenge.

Review: This movie had potential. It could’ve been really cool. But they blew it. The plot was interesting, the action was good (for the most part), but after about a half hour it just got boring. And the ending, well that’s just a whole other problem. My friend put it nicely when he said “It looked like they got about half done, and then realized that had to finish, so they did it really quick.” Like I said, it had potential, it just wasn’t good.

Rating: 1.5/5

300

Title: 300

Starring Actor(s)/Actress(es): Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic West, David Wenham, Rodrigo Santoro

Genre: Action

Status: In Theaters Now

Plot Summary: King Leonidas (Butler) is faced with the challenge of defending his city-state of Sparta against the oncoming Persian empire, lead by Xerces (Santoro). It’s the whole Persian army against 300 Spartans.

Review: Wow, simply amazing. I read in the paper this week that this movie had too much CGI and was just flat out bad. Rubbish! (Yes, I just said rubbish…) This one was great. There was a lot of CGI, but not enough to make it not good. There was a little prequel to the action, but it didn’t take long for it to get gory. The side-plot (other than the fighting) was just as intriguing. There have only been a few movies in the past year or two that have left me with a sense of awe and saying “Wow, that was a really good movie.” There have been a lot that have been pretty good, but this one is right up in the top. I’d say it is a little much for people that aren’t into gory fight scenes, but if you like a great story and some awesome action shots – as well as some great uplifting speeches – go see 300, NOW.

Rating: 5/5

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Title: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Starring Actor(s)/Actress(es): Sacha Baron Cohen, Ken Davitian, Luenell

Genre: Comedy

Status: Out on DVD/Video

Plot Summary: Borat (Cohen) and his producer Azamat (Davitian) are sent from their country of Kazakhstan to America to do research on the American way of life.

Review: I don’t even know about this one. I honestly had the weirdest feeling after watching this movie. I’m not sure if I liked it or not. Some parts made me seriously laugh out loud, but others were just stupid. It was, all-around, a very funny movie. Cohen does a great job of being a douche bag and I can’t imagine what those people must’ve been thinking. I don’t really know who I’d recommend this one to. It’s just a weird one.

Rating: 3/5

Lamb of God / Trivium / Machine Head / Gojira

Bands: Lamb of God / Trivium / Machine Head / Gojira

Date/Time: Wednesday, March 7, 2007 @ 6:30

Venue: The Venue @ Playmaker’s Pavilion, Fargo, ND

Genre: Metal

Summary: Well I’ll start off saying that this one was crazy… and awesome! I’ll start with the starting band and work my way up to the headliners. Here we go.

Gojira: Pronounced Go-Jeer-Ah, Gojira comes from France with a hard hitting brand of metal. They have some really unique stuff, but the stuff that isn’t unique gets very monotonous very quick. They were a good band, but not one that I Was really going to see.

Machine Head: Machine Head has been around for a long time. They’ve proven themselves time and time again to be a great metal band. However, I think they are a better studio band than live. I guess I didn’t get too into Machine Head prior to this concert, which may have an effect on my thoughts, but that’s how I feel.

Trivium: Trivium is a pretty new band to the scene. They just released their second major release (The Crusade) not too long ago. I really got into these guys when I heard their first CD (Ascendancy), but I was disappointed with their lack of material from it at the concert. Their new CD is good, but I would’ve liked to hear more of their old stuff.

Lamb of God: Holy crap! Lamb of God is a very heavy metal band (in my opinion anyway) and this concert proved just that. They also released a new CD last fall entitled Sacrament. I think my problem with bands like this is that I get really into the first CD of theirs that I buy and when a new one comes out I’m disappointed because it’s not the one I’m used to. After this, however, I think I’ll get a little more into their newer stuff.

Overall, it was a great concert and I’m quite glad that I made it to this one. I think I would’ve had a little more fun if I was more into Machine Head (so I was more familiar with their old stuff) and if I would’ve listened to Trivium and Lamb of God’s newer stuff more before I went. I had a great time though.

Rating:

The Art of Going to the Movies

First off, I would like to say that this is not a guide to seeing movies. Nor is this based on any really study or research. It is just an observation that I have made over the past few years of going to movies and reading other people’s reviews of them.

The first thing that I have noticed is do not believe every review you read (though this may be dumb to say since I write them on this site). Not all movie reviewers are in the same mind frame that you are when you see movies. I believe that people that get paid to see and critique movies don’t go to them to watch or even enjoy them. They simply go to watch for what’s wrong or to pick out every small flaw of the movie. This could also be said about movies that have received high praise from critics. Movie reviewers, while looking for what is wrong, also look for stuff that nobody ever really cares about in movies. When was the last time you left a movie and said “Wow, I really like how they used the camera angles.” or “The director really made a wise choice with that setting selection.” I don’t think I’ve ever said that.

Along with reading, don’t believe everything that you hear either. Just because one of your friends says that a movie “sucked” doesn’t mean that it was as bad as they say. I could’ve just been a movie genre that they’re not the biggest fans of. It could also be that the person has a completely different taste in certain movies. I’ve noticed this the most when a girl/guy is telling a guy/girl whether a movie is good or not. Different genders tend to have different views on certain movies.
This brings me to my next topic, hype. Even if a movie looks AWESOME! in the trailer doesn’t mean it’s going to be. You can’t go into a movie with the highest of expectations. I know that it can be hard when it comes to some. And sometimes, when there is lots of hype, there is little disappointment. But, most of the time, if you go into a movie with an open-mind you will get a more honest view of the film. For example, a movie that is nominated for Best Film or Movie of the Year doesn’t mean that everyone in the entire world will think so. Or, on the contrary, if a movie is heralded as being a horrible movie by film critics, you may find it to be one of the better movies you’ve ever seen. I figure that if there is a lot of hype for a movie you will either be a.) blown away by how good is its; or b.) completely disappointed.

Basically, what it all comes down to is this: BE YOUR OWN CRITIC! Don’t go to a movie because some middle-aged guy at a newspaper (or because some stupid teenager at his computer *hint hint*) says it’s good, or because it won some prestigious award. Go to movies that you think look good. If you friend thinks a movie looks dumb, but you think that it doesn’t, go anyway. If it ends up to be bad, agree with them. If it ends up that you loved it, don’t feel stupid when you disagree with them.

This may have been a complete waste of your time (and maybe mine…) but I felt like getting it out there. Our culture is filled with glorified crap and overlooked works of genius. Get out there and experience it for yourself. Don’t let some writer, or anyone else for that matter, tell you what you do or do not like.

–Cory

The Number 23

Title: The Number 23

Starring Actor(s)/Actress(es): Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen, Logan Lerman, Danny Huston

Genre: Thriller/Drama

Status: In Theaters Now

Plot Summary: Walter (Carrey) is a lowly dog catcher. But when his wife (Madsen) finds an interesting book called The Number 23: a Novel of Obsession Walter becomes consumed by it. Now he believes it is written about him, and he has to solve the mystery of the book and who wrote it.

Review: This was a good one, I thought. I’m not used to seeing Jim Carrey play a serious role, but he did alright. It was a little over dramatic in places. It was really interesting to see all the stuff that added up to twenty-three, although some of it was just too random. The twists in the plot were awesome. I’ve seen a huge difference in reviews for this one, so I guess you either love it or hate it. I loved it. It was kind of spooky, but not in a cheap, stupid way like most movies these days. I’d recommend this one to most of my friends. Go see it, tell me what you think.

Rating: 4.5/5

Zodiac

Title: Zodiac

Starring Actor(s)/Actress(es): Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards, Robert Downey, Jr., John Carroll Lynch

Genre: Thriller/Drama

Status: In Theaters Now

Plot Summary: When a series of murders show up in the San Francisco area in the late 1960’s a man known as the ‘Zodiac’ emerges. Now three men are caught up and become overwhelmed by the case.

Review: First thing, looong. Though despite it’s incredible length (2½ hours) it was very well done. I love movies about real crimes (like this one and The Black Dahlia) because they seem like they bring a sense of realism to the story. The acting in this one was great, and it was fun to try to figure things out with the people trying in the movie. The only thing I didn’t like about this one was the fact that I think they could’ve done it in a much shorter time frame. Towards the end I thought it was over, only to find that there was more to it.

Rating: 4.5/5