Movie # 85 -- Major League

Title: Major League

Director: David S. Ward

Release Year: 1989

Plot Summary: The Cleveland Indians suck. They really suck. Or do they?

Thoughts: If ever there were a movie that was the ultimate in formulaic-ness (sp?) this would be it. Imagine the worst team that you could possibly assemble for the sole purpose of losing and you get these guys. Yes, you read that right: the team was assembled to lose so that the owner could move the franchise to Miami.

The direction of Davd S. Ward is nothing spectacular and certainly this film wasn't in danger of winning any Oscars. The acting isn't too bad, either.

And with all that being said, this is a FANTASTIC comedy. Soooo many good one-liners. Charlie Sheen is terrrific as a young Ricky Vaughn, Bob Uecker has so many witty remarks, and James Gammon gives as sarcastic performance as you're ever likely to see. I defy you to sit there and not laugh out loud at least a few times.

Rating (0-10): 7.4

Recomendations: If you liked "Dodgeball", you'll probably like this. Avoid the sequels, though.

New Member

So I noticed someone was posting comments who I didn't know. So IMed him and sent him an invite. Apparently he reads more then watches movies. Those reviews will be welcome as well. :)

Movie #84 - Batman Begins

Title: Batman Begins

Director: Christopher Nolan

Release Year: 2005

Plot Summary: The story of how Bruce Wayne became what he was destined to be: Batman.

Thoughts: Apparently I'm one of the few people on the planet who was underwhelmed by this movie. After having thought about it, I think I can actually be specific about my complaints, though, which is a good thing...

First off, Christian Bale really didn't do much for me. I keep hearing people saying that he is "the bestest Batman evar OMG!!!!1!!one!" but I can't say I agree, though I'm hard-pressed to say why after only one viewing. Second, it just screamed "big Hollywood summer blockbuster" to me, what with the gratuitous explosions, random "trash a bunch of police cars" chase scene, uninteresting love interest, etc etc. Finally, the sound editing was crap in a lot of scenes - I noticed what I dubbed the Worst Echo-Effect Ever™ at least three different times, and I often had trouble following dialogue through sound-effects.

All that said, there were definitely some shining points. Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, and even Cillian Murphy were spot-on, and I enjoyed them quite a bit. Also I was very fond of Batman's scare-tactic way of fighting; I've heard complaints that "you don't ever really get to see Batman fighting," but really I think that's sort of the whole point of Batman. ;)

Rating (0-10): 6.5

Recomendations: Eh. Everyone else liked it. I prefer the original.

Movie #83 - Howl's Moving Castle

Title: Howl's Moving Castle

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Release Year: 2005 (USA)

Plot Summary: A young woman named Sophie is cursed by the Witch of the Waste, and turns into an old woman, and she is unable to tell anyone of her plight. Unable to continue her job at her mother's hat shop, she goes to the ambulatory castle of the notorious wizard Howl, and insinuates herself into his household...

Thoughts: An absolutely gorgeous film. I often have mild complaints about the story and pacing of Miyazaki's movies, but you can always rest assured that they'll be beautiful to look at, and this is no exception. :)

Also, I felt like this was a lot quicker-paced than the other Miyazaki films that I've seen, which is a good thing in my book - I've found that upon re-watching Mononoke and Spirited Away, they seem quite drawn-out to me. At least upon my first viewing, I didn't feel like there were any places where the story got bogged down, or too slow.

Of course, I still need to see the last two minutes with sound. ~grumble~

Rating (0-10): 8.5

Recomendations: A worthy addition to the Miyazaki legacy, if you ask me.

Movie #82 - Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Title: Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Director: Doug Liman

Release Year: 2005

Plot Summary: A bored married couple is surprised to learn that they are assassins hired to kill each other.

Thoughts: Another surprisingly entertaining movie - I really wasn't expecting much going into it, but it was definitely a high-quality popcorn flick. I personally appreciated the whole "love is a battlefield" metaphor being taken completely literally. :)

Two complaints to mar this film - while the majority of the action sequences were great, a couple in particular (Pitt breaking into Jolie's secret headquarters, the final shootout) were just too over-the-top and hokey for my liking. Also, Vince Vaughn. Am I the only one on the planet who really doesn't think he's all that and a bag of chips?

Rating (0-10): 7

Recomendations: I'd say that this and The Longest Yard are probably the most fun movies out at the moment. If you're going out to the theater, I'd recommend one of these two.

Movie #81 - Maverick

Title: Maverick

Director: Richard Donner

Release Year: 1994

Plot Summary: Bret Maverick, needing money for a poker tournament, faces various comic mishaps and challenges, including a charming woman thief.

Thoughts: I don't watch too many Westerns, but I certainly have a soft spot in my heart for this one. It's laugh-out-loud funny in many places, and all of the actors do a fabulous job with their characters. (Alfred Molina is the Mexican! Who knew?!)

I also love the way the movie twists and turns so many times in the end, but all of the twists work so well that you really don't mind when everything you thought you knew is proven wrong yet again. ;)

Rating (0-10): 8

Recomendations: It's either this or Blazing Saddles - and honestly, as much as I love Gene Wilder, I have to give Maverick the edge.

Movie #80 - The Longest Yard (2005)

Title: The Longest Yard

Director: Peter Segal

Release Year: 2005

Plot Summary: Prison inmates form a football team to challenge the prison guards.

Thoughts: Having never seen the original, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It was funny, but it wasn't Sandler-trademark "I'm so stupid I'm hilarious," and I really liked that about it. Adam Sandler hasn't quite managed to elevate himself to Carrey-level in my book, but he's definitely on his way, and I wholeheartedly approve.

Anyway, it was energetic and quite funny, and that's all you really need from this kind of film. I was surprised that I liked it as much as I did.

Rating (0-10): 7.1

Recomendations: Much, much better than The Waterboy. But then, I might be the only one who didn't like that one...?

Book #3 - Eon

Title: Eon

Author: Greg Bear

Release Year: 1985

Plot Summary: The USA and the USSR are about to blow eachother to pieces when an astoriod enters Earth-Moon orbit. The inside is discovered to have been inhabited by people from Earth's future, although they seem to have abandoned it. Can this mystery help avoid nuclear war? dun dun dun!!!

Thoughts: It's one of those books I've read a million times but never finished. Well now I have. Ha! It fits right into my cold war end of the world tastes in books. I also liked how the story is COMPLETELY 100% unique. Greg Bear has a vision for writing that I haven't seen since the early works of Clarke. If you can put aside the fact that it puts a USA Vs. USSR sinario in 2005 then this is an amazing work. I think it would make a good movie too, mostly because it has the potential for those visualy stunning sequences that tend to sell movie tickets.

Rating (0-10): 8.5

Recomendations: If you've got a flexible mind and don't mind it being dated (pollitaclly) then go for it!

Book #2 - Times Eye

Title: Time's Eye

Author: Arthur C. Clarke & Stephen Baxter

Release Year: 2004

Plot Summary: The world is cut up into countless parts and welded back together. Problem? All the parts come from different parts of history, ranging from our first divergence from apes to 2037. Which leads to many interesting confrentations. Can you say Alexander the Great Vs. Gangis Kahn?

Thoughts: Although the idea of pitting Alexander and Kahn was a little cheezy when I first thought about it, I felt that it worked well because of the reasonable development throughout the book on the different storylines. It helped that the focus wasn't on the science of what happened, it was on how the people who remained lived delt with the situation. Although I wouldn't call this a hard-scifi book, I enjoyed the read thuroughly and plan to get the sequal "Sunstorm" by the same authors.

Rating (0-10): 8

Recomendations: If you like books by Clarke I highly recomend it. If not? Read it anyway it's enjoyable enough.

Movie # 79 -- The Fast and The Furious

Title: The Fast and The Furious

Director: Rob Cohen

Release Year: 2001

Plot Summary: Paul Walker plays n undercover cop trying to break up a highway robbery ring which Vin Diesel may or may not be a part of.

Thoughts: The first time that I saw this, I thought that it might be the dumbest movie I had ever seen. Upon having recently seen it again, I've determined that it isn't that bad, but it's still pretty awful.

The cast is pretty bad -- Vin Diesel is "blah" and Michelle Rodriguez is typecast as the "bad-ass girlfriend with the heart of gold. But then there's Paul Walker... this guy makes Hayden Christensen look like Robert Deniro. I mean, he is down right terrible.

Rob Cohen looks and feels like he went to the George Lucas school of filmmaking, though: throw enough explosions and pretty neat special effects at the viewer and maybe they won't notice that the story kinda sucks and the dialogue is awful: "I live my life a quarter of a mile at a time."? C'mon...

That being said, this is a big, dumb, and mildly amusing film. It's not going to set worlds on fire by any stretch of the imagination but as a pure popcorn flick, I guess you could do worse.

Rating (0-10): 5.25 (and no, that does not mean it's above average).

Recomendations: If you buy this, you probably need help. Also, I can't (in good conscience) recommend any film that encourages kids to pimp out their Honda Civics.