C Dub's Film Update: January 2010

I have been tracking and rating the movies I have been watching since the start of the year. Some old, some new. Here are the scores I would give them. I have seen many of them before, so I marked my first viewings of them with a (1st). The ratings are out of 5 stars.

3 - Curious Case of Benjamin Button (1st)        
[Too long, pointless scenes, tries too hard]

5 - Monsters, Inc.
[Entertaining all the way through. Acting carries the movie]

4.5 - Up!:
[Good, but I think the last 1/3 lacks the storytelling of the first 2/3]

4.5 - The Hangover 
[Good pacing and Humor. Hilarious. Must see]

4 - Sunshine (1st)
[Gripping sci-fi thriller with breathtaking effects and cinematography]

4.5 - Avatar (1st)
[More experience than movie. Predictable, but enjoyed every minute]

3.5 - Public Enemies (1st)
[A bit too long. 2.5 or 3 stars without Depp's performance]

4.5 - Princess & the Frog (1st)  
[I'd compare it to Aladdin. Classic Disney]

4.5 - Star Trek
[Great reboot to the series, no prior knowledge needed]

5 - Fight Club  
[One of my all time favorites]

4 - Requiem for a Dream (1st)  
[Enjoyed it. I was expecting weird, and it delivered on that]

4.5 - Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (1st)
[Way funnier than I expected. Worth a watch]

4.5 - District 9  
[I actually enjoyed this more the second time]

4 - Princess Bride
[The writing and acting in this movie are classic]

4 - What About Bob?
[Made by the performances of Dreyfuss and Murray]

4 - O, Brother Where Art Thou?
[Enjoyable throughout. Good story, acting, & music]

Some movies that I will be checking out for some first time viewings in the next few weeks are Tekkonkinkreet, Taking of Pelham 123, Zodiac, Traffic, The Ten Commandments and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Movie that is far from Expendable

I intended my first post here to be something slightly more serious than this, but upon realizing the trailer has been released, I don't think I can afford to wait until I make a real post to discuss this with you all:

Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Steve Austin, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. If those names don't sound like a match made in heaven, I don't know what will. I think my head explodes when I think about a movie staring the first 5 names, features at least cameos by the latter 2, and written and directed by Rocky himself.

Imagine if you will that The Terminator and Rambo (any, if not all versions) were real people and could reproduce. (Or better yet, if you could put the VHS of one and DVD of the other into a multifunction player and hit REC to make your own movie.) Their offspring would be this movie, and would also qualify for a TLC show called "I didn't know I was pregnant with septupletes who are also action heroes." (Last Action Heroes maybe?) The idea that a movie of this nature could even come out is what is both right and wrong with America today. Get ready for a mind blower people...(have 911 on speed-dial in case you really do have a brain aneurysm)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhHL3lhBn5A

Uncharted 2 + How to fix Indiana Jones 4: Crystal Skull

Uncharted 2 comes out tomorrow which is a game that I am very excited for. The first game had a great story-line, one that was much better than the last Indy adventure. This got me thinking of the eight (or however many I come up with) steps to fix that debacle.

1) No prairie dogs

2) No "I like Ike" quote

3) No surviving a nuclear bomb in a fridge (I would let this pass if it wasn't tossed in the air and crashed into a truck)

4) No Indy's son and more Marion: Marion was badass in Raiders and she was pointless in this film.

5) Part of getting rid of Indy's son: No using of a snake to get Dr Jones out of a sandpit, no swinging from an endless supply of vines with a monkey army, no hair combing

6) No gigantic piranha ants

7) Have the raft go over ONE not three waterfalls

8) No backstab/secret agent/backstab friend of Jones

OR they could just copy either the story from Uncharted or Uncharted 2 and be all set