Hitch- B+
A very charming and surprisingly sweet romantic comedy. Will Smith plays a "dating consultant" who helps men win the women of their dreams. He falls in love himself along the way. Kevin James, playing a client, steals the show!
Kung Fu Hustle- A-
Hilarious and rather violent send-up of Kung Fu movies. I'm not a huge fan of that genre, but I was able to follow along. Very creative fight scenes, and funny characters.
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith- A
Satisfying conclusion to the flawed prequel trilogy. Very exciting, lots of great effects. Best of the three, despite some hokey dialog and weak acting in some places. Scary in parts, especially with Skywalker's final transformation into Darth Vader.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy- A-
Very entertaining adaptation of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker series. There are many changes to the plot, which probably infuriated some Adams purists, but the basic story and characters remain.
Madagascar- B-
Cute, fun, entertaining, but not especially memorable animated tale about Central Park Zoo animals who find themselves in the wild. I'm skipping the DVD of this one. Lots of pop culture references that are already out of date. It could have used a stronger story.
Bewitched- B+
Cute, cute, cute. Not a remake of the classic T.V. show, instead, it's about a remake of the show. The twist- the new Samantha (the always excellent Nicole Kidman) is a real witch! Will Farrell plays the new Darren. Very funny, but a bit sappy towards the end.
War of the Worlds- A-
Steven Speilberg does it again. Very scary and faithful adaptaiton of the H.G. Welles novel. The acting is pretty good- even Tom Cruise is tolerable. The ending was a little too abrupt.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith- B
Extremely far-fetched but entertaining. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are married assassins who have no idea what the other does for a living. Of course, they learn the truth, and are ordered to bump each other off. Violent at times and rather sexy, and often hilarious. Vince Vaughn steals all of his scenes.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory- A+
My favorite movie of the summer, if not the year. More faithful to Roald Dahl's clasic kid's novel than the Gene Wilder musical Willy Wonka (which I also loved). Johnny Depp is perfect as Wonka, and is quite weird and creepy, again, much closer to the original books. The kids were great, too. And the Oompa Loompas of this film (actually one actor repeated) could kick the old Oompa Loompa's asses.
Sky High- B
Good kid film. A bit of The Incredibles, a bit of Harry Potter. The children of superheroes have their own special school where they learn how to use their powers. Good message about being true to yourself and to your friends.
Must Love Dogs- A
Destined to be a chick flick classic. Very funny and true, though a bit predictable (as if romantic comedies are EVER unpredictable.
). I still loved every minute of it. Diane Lane and John Cusak make a great on-screen couple. My favorite movie of the summer after "Charlie".Brothers Grimm- B (for now)
This one I'll have to see again before I make a final judgement. It was very dark, weird, and entertaining, but I had a little trouble following the dialog early on. That may have just been the theater I was in...so when it's on DVD, I'll see. I loved the concept- the Brothers Grimm are con artists who are faced with a real life fairy tale horror. The acting was good. I almost didn't recognize Matt Damon and Heath Ledger!
The 40-Year-Old Virgin- A
Another comic gem destined to become a classic! Steve Carrell plays the title role, a sweet nerd who finds himself and true love when his friends try to help him lose his virginity. Catherine Keener (one of my favorite actresses) plays the woman he falls for. Very filthy (of course.
) at times, but hilarious throughout, and very sweet. Lots of "oh, yeah, I've been there" moments for guys and girls. I liked the message the film sent (spoilers- he waits for his true love, and marriage! How often do we see that in movies today?). I still haven't seen Wedding Crashers, and I missed Batman Begins.
Fall/Winter movies I'm looking forward to:
Everything is Illuminated- I loved the book, I can't wait to see how it translates to film. Elijah Wood stars. Glad to see him break away from LOTR typecasting!
Rent- One of my favorite musicals. Just mentioning this movie gets "Seasons of Love" stuck in my head.
Pride and Prejudice- Should be good, but how can it compare to the BBC version? Colin Firth is the only Mr. Darcy for most ladies! Wonder how the new one will compare...But anything to keep people interested in Jane Austen is fine with me.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire- Not my favorite book in the series, but the previews have looked great!
Chronicles of Narnia- Been a long time since I've read any of the books, but The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe looks lovely. I hope it does well so the rest of the books will be filmed.
My longest post ever, I think. I've delayed doing reviews for too long. I think I need to do them every month instead of every six months! *lol*
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