Friday, March 20, 2009

Duplicity

Title: Duplicity
Directed by: Tony Gilroy
Starring: Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Giamatti, Rick Worthy (II)
Genres: Drama
Running Time: 2 hour.5 minutes
Release Date: March 20th, 2009
MPAA Rating: PG-13


Review: I've been looking forward to this film for a while, I had a feeling it would be great, and it did not disappoint. In fact, it is one of the best films of its kind to come around in a long time. The acting is superb through out, Julia and Clive Owen has phenomenal chemistry, the story is smart, the alternating time line is impeccably executed, it is funny and it has a bit of suspense here and there. All around; a great execution of a fantastic idea. Well done! I loved this movie from the opening sequence to the end of the credits! Ridiculously entertaining! If you are going to see one movie in the theater this spring, this is it!

Grade: 8.5

Friday, March 6, 2009

Watchmen

Title: Watchmen
Directed by: Zack Snyder
Starring: Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Carla Gugino, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson
Genres: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Crime, Adaptation, Thriller
Running Time: 2 hour.43 minutes
Release Date: March 6th, 2009
MPAA Rating: R


Review: I've been looking forward to 'Watchmen' for months. It has been weeks since I've seen a movie in the theater, which for me, is a ridiculously long time. So, this movie waste land that has been the last month really added to my anticipation of this film.
I was expecting a balls to the wall, action packed, 20 years in the making, epic movie adaptation of the graphic novel; a film to rival 'Iron Man' & 'The Dark Knight' in this genre. However, Zack Snyder directs (the guy who gave us the war porn '300') and I was hoping he wouldn't go too apeshit. Mr. Snyder has a very unique cinematographic eye, and when he does not completely go over the edge it looks fantastic. I was happy to see that Mr. Snyder showed some restraint and subsequently ended up with [mostly] a pretty great looking film.
However, the film itself is not great. It is too slow to be an action, and too brutal to be funny. Instead of truly adapting the story to film, creating a proper storyline, character build and the other necessary part to make a good movie, they basically shoved almost the entire comic into the film, ending up with just too much of everything and not enough of anything. Except sudden, gory, assault on the eyes, bone-cracking, blood splattering surprise snaps of extreme brutality. There was definitely enough of that.
Very Tarantino-wannabe. Just not as good (but then again, nobody does it like Tarantino).
All in all, a good looking film, with a kick ass wardrobe, and some decent acting performances (Jackie Earle Haley, I'm talking to you) but unfortunately, quite the epic disappointment.

My favorite part: Malin Akerman's fantastic rack. Seriously. She singlehandedly (& toplessly) added another point to my rating. At least. Maybe even 2.

Grade: 3

For the record, Hubby gave this one a 1, something that is incredibly rare. I can't even remember the last flick he gave a 1, where we didn't walk out or shut it off.