Triple Feature: Killing Me Softly, Dark Shadows & The Next Three Days

Something about these triple features are very refreshing.  Its just a quick recount, straight-forward.  Sometimes, its just efficient and easier to do that because there are movies where there isn’t that much to say.

I did watch a fourth one with my boyfriend but I’ve already reviewed it and its the “so bad its awesome” Sharknado.  You can check out that review right HERE!

Lets move on to check out these three!

Killing Me Softly (2002)

Director: Kaige Chen

Cast: Heather Graham, Joseph Fiennes, Natascha McElhone, Ulrich Thomsen

A woman faces deadly consequences for abandoning her loving relationship with her boyfriend to pursue exciting sexual scenarios with a mysterious celebrity mountaineer.-IMDB

The last time I remember seeing Joseph Fiennes was in Shakespeare in Love which was really pretty good.  I watched it when I was younger and not really so knowledgeable about movies but I will see it again and I’m positive that it won’t disappoint.  BUT, to see him in this just makes my heart break.

I think whoever chooses a project opposite Heather Graham needs to be a good actor/actress because she is such a bad/unconvincing actress. Well, you also get to check out her body like totally up close and personal.  So I guess, its not a total loss, right? I’m not trying to be disrespectful because that is a compliment to her.  But her acting really could use some work. Or maybe its just every time I see her, the movie is REALLY bad. I mean the only movie I saw of hers was called About Cherry and that movie was SO boring! (review HERE).

Like Killing Me Softly was killing me so brutally.  I get the passion, lust and attraction.  I’m a romantic, I get all that stuff.  I even get that whole liking the dark, mysterious and brooding stranger but excuse me, this is like the perfect Shitfest contender but I like to stick to bad horror for that segment, so thats why we now have a minor rant session.

The best example was like, Joseph Fiennes is this overprotective guy who falls madly in love with Heather Graham’s character and then this pickpocket steals her purse and runs off.  He chases that dude down intensely and literally beats the crap out of him and then when she catches up, he’s like I will protect you forever and never let that happen again I promise you.  Marry me! And of course, she’s like kiss and totally agrees. Paraphrasing here, ok? Anybody think that this dude’s just totally unknown (which he is because she’s only known him for something like 3 days) and he has some anger management and violence issues. Just saying…

So no, the movie just tries too hard in the second part to turn this first half soft porn movie into a thriller and throws some twists that were completely predictable.  And to make a thriller work, you need a convincing lead and Heather Graham’s character was not. However, Joseph Fiennes was fine. With what he had, I think he was convincingly creepy and mysterious, exactly what was asked of his character. There’s the positive…

Dark Shadows (2012)

Director: Tim Burton

Cast: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Eva Green, Helena Bonham Carter, Chloe Grace Moretz, Bella Heathcote, Gulliver McGrath

An imprisoned vampire, Barnabas Collins, is set free and returns to his ancestral home, where his dysfunctional descendants are in need of his protection.-IMDB

Dark Shadows has a beautiful mix of actors and actresses that I adore helmed by a director that has lost a little bit of steam in the past few years but I still have an immense amount of respect for. I always keep an open mind for extreme weirdness for anything Tim Burton.  With Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter and Chloe Grace Moretz, how can I not already want to see this.  I have to be honest that all the negative reviews held me back a little and to be honest, I could’ve waited longer. Dark Shadows is really nothing to call home about.  The mood and atmosphere is very Tim Burtonesque and the visuals are pretty stylish but beyond that, I really found it pretty blah.  Like blah where I kept fighting to doze off. Maybe because it was a little long and dragged out.

The characters are a little peculiar as they probably should be.  Still, the cast here does the best they can with what they have.  Johnny Depp certainly doesn’t disappoint as Barnabas Collins and everyone has this quirky humor that works for a good bit of the movie.  Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter and Chloe Grace Moretz all have rather interesting characters.  The villain in Dark Shadows is played by Eva Green.  When is she NOT a villain, right? I’m not complaining though because she’s good at being that sort of character.

SO…great cast, awesome visuals, slow and somewhat boring story..makes this kind of an average and disappointing watch.

The Next Three Days (2010) 

Director: Paul Haggis

Cast: Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Ty Simpkins, Liam Neeson

A married couple’s life is turned upside down when the wife is accused of a murder.-IMDB

The Next Three Days might be the hardest to review.  For one, I’m really not into extremely long movies.  I feel like my attention span has really decreased over the years and tolerance for long plots don’t really work as well because it always tends to fall apart a little.  Plus, I’m not a huge fan of Russell Crowe.

There’s a lot to digest for this story of a simple professor trying to break his wife out of jail.  On one side, he believes his wife is wrongfully accused even when she gives in to it and kind of gives up.  But then, the question still remains whether she did it and she messes with him (and the viewers) a little.   The whole deal is really in how believable the whole planning out the prison break is, right?

For me, there’s a few apparent flaws.  But then, I’m not saavy in the art of prison break so who am I to say anything. My huge issue was how he tried to keep everything down low but he just was really lucky in a way.  Like, who goes running around sketchy places buying meds and then sneaking in the question of where to get fake IDs? Its just really obvious what he’s doing and a little silly.  Thats just one example.

However, when I did believe what Russell Crowe’s character was doing, there was some pretty decent moments.  Plus, when the movie gets to the last part where the actual prison breaking happens, it gets pretty intense. And thats good because it ends it off in a much more gripping way than how it began.

My major issue with this one is the length.  Aside from that, if they edited it or chopped it a little, it could be a much better movie even if some parts a little not so believable.  I can deal with that, after all, I am watching a movie 😉

THERE WE GO! Another three done! I have to burn through probably another 3 more before January 1st but I’m pretty sure with the few housekeeping posts that have to go up, it’ll only be reviewed in the new year!

Anyways, next thing to look forward to is FINALLY that 2015 announcement posts which is going up tomorrow. I was going to do a poll but I’m still having a few second thoughts on next year’s projects. Back to my brainstorming…

Have you seen any (or all)of these 3 movies? Thoughts? Comments? 🙂

Double Review: Sin City (2005) & Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (2014)

Surprisingly enough, I got selected for a special advanced screening of Sin City: A Dame To Kill For.  However, my memory of the first one was not that great especially since I didn’t remember much, so I decided to revisit it the night before I went.  The experience of being the first group to see the movie is definitely great and since I’ve been doing this little blog and diving into the world of movies, I’ve learned that I’ve changed a little in how I appreciate movies and that is the main reason why I wanted to revisit this.

Since I’ve been massively behind with everything, I decided to just go ahead and do a double review of these two movies. It baffles me that after almost 10 years we get a sequel for Sin City but still, lets see how it all went.

SIN CITY (2005)

Director: Frank Miller & Robert Rodriguez (special guest director: Quentin Tarantino)

Cast: Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, Rosario Dawson, Alexis Bledel, Powers Boothe, Benicio Del Toro, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jaime King

A film that explores the dark and miserable town, Basin City, and tells the story of three different people, all caught up in violent corruption.-IMDB

I have no other way has to how to describe this movie but just use the synopsis in IMDB. I’d give it a shot but honestly, I think it all starts with this.  The first time I saw Sin City in theatres with some college friends, I thought it was THE most boring thing ever.  Why? Because nothing made sense and it was like a jumble of nothing.  It was beautiful and black and white gory and brutal.  Its not really not my thing and as I rewatched it a few nights ago, I saw it in a different light.  There is a brilliance to the jumbled-up story and I stayed awake for it and apparently, I only remembered two parts from the original viewing.

What I absolutely love is the style.  The black and white and the interlacing of sharp colors: the red silk (and sometimes, blood), the colors in the eyes, the contrast in hair and that sort of thing.  It just makes an impression.  Then you have one of the bad guys, Yellow Bastard who is just a disturbing and ugly character that popped out because he was literally yellow.

The second thing that I love about it was the cast.  Bruce Willis is just amazing as Jack Hartigan.  Clive Owen is awesome as Dwight.  And then there’s the passion and chemistry between the characters. The stories gave time for the characters to grow and develop in exactly the space and time it needed.  Each of the stories had their impact and honestly, Basin City has some pretty impressive characters.  The Old Town girls are brutal, violent and fun to watch.

As I sit here thinking about it more, its really starting to grow.  The third thing that works is the stories.  Everyone has something that makes it worthwhile to watch. It has exaggeration, sarcasm, darkness, violence, manipulation.  This town is full of ugly people in personality.  Its corrupt and dark but strange enough, its also covered in beautiful women who are almost as lethal as you can imagine.  There are boundaries and all that.  Its a pretty amazing set-up for a movie.

Sin City has the formula for a great movie and for the most part, it delivers.  The question is whether its your type of movie.  I love the comic book visuals, the sharp contrasts, the set up of the town and the stories of our main characters, and especially the fantastic cast.  It was well-balanced, brutal and very fun to watch. However, its not exactly my type of movie that I go for everyday so it took time for me to really see it through.  The second viewing definitely made me praise it a lot more.

Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (2014)

Director: Robert Rodriguez & Frank Miller

Cast: Jessica Alba, Mickey Rourke, Josh Brolin, Eva Green, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rosario Dawson, Powers Boothe, Bruce Willis

Some of Sin City’s most hard-boiled citizens cross paths with a few of its more reviled inhabitants.-IMDB

On a lesser run time than the first one and having a few new characters, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For still lacks a little something.  I loved the style that was equally has beautiful as the first with the black and white and sudden colors to give it a great experience.  The music was awesome and matched the atmosphere.  I’m trying to pinpoint in my mind if there were 3 or 4 story arcs right now but they weren’t quite as fun as the first.

 

The characters were great because the cast is still very decent.  Mickey Rourke returned as Marv and is still as violent (and a bit stupid) as before.  The new additions of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Eva Green and Josh Brolin all bring something new to the table. Joseph Gordon-Levitt gets his own story arc as a cocky gambler who never loses.  He goes to Kadie’s to challenge Senator Roark except in the corrupted sin city, he gets warned time and time again that its not a wise thing to do.  As much I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt in absolutely anything and he is very wonderful as Johnny, I felt his story wasn’t quite where I wanted it to go.

The next story arc was for an older Dwight (previously played by Clive Owen) but is returned this time played by Josh Brolin. Dwight’s story is possibly the most elaborate.  He is trapped in a flame that he can’t shake off.  He tries to not respond to the attractive Ava, played by Eva Green who is now married to a rich man.  She comes back and he falls right back into her arms.  This leads to a game of manipulation, a trap, revenge and a lot of naked Eva Green scenes. This one was actually pretty fun to watch.  The chemistry, passion, manipulation all works out even if you can predict what will happen 😉

I guess, the fourth story would be Marv retracing how he ended up where he was, except I’m wondering if there was anything for him.  Except, Marv, played by Mickey Rourke (like the first one) is the key to drawing everything together because he appears in all the stories in one way or another.  If anyone is easily manipulated, it would have to go to him. Plus, he is the action and the brutal violence.  There is no doubt that Marv is a great character and Mickey Rourke does a great job, even after 9 years he still has the essence of Marv in him and revives him on the big screen.

I personally like the follow up with Hartigan’s death and the impact it has on Nancy the best.  The roles are both still played by the original two, Bruce Willis and Jessica Alba. Although Nancy and her dancing scenes are thrown around the entire movie and it lets the audience see how she’s completely broken by it all.  Its a mental struggle for her and she not only wants revenge that she can’t pick up the courage to do so she drowns herself in alcohol.  In her struggle, she sees glimpses of Hartigan, as if he’s never left her side.  Its really something to watch.  There was one shocking part that I never would’ve guessed and its pretty awesome the way they handled it.

Overall, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is not as good as the first one.  The stories lack the punch it had in the first one, even though there are two that particularly stand out.  However, the style and the music is still amazing.  The 3D is done extremely well and adds to the overall effects.  The cast does a great job at bringing everything they can to the movie and for the most part, they do a very good job.  Even the new additions, Joseph Gordon-Levitt brings a charm to his story (even though it falls flat), Josh Brolin has a compelling character and story and Mickey Rourke is fantastic once again as the ever so violent Marv.

I need to make a point of saying this: If you were a fan of the first one, the chances of you enjoying this one more than me is very high.  Keep that in mind when you decide whether you’d like to see this 😉

Are you a fan of Sin City? What makes it so great to you? Have you been anticipating the sequel? Do you think its been long-awaited or unnecessary?

 

300: Rise of an Empire (2014)

I FINALLY made it to the theatres! Its taken me a bit more than 2 months to get to a movie but I did! 🙂 I promise a few more coming up since I’m really determined to go see a few of the ones coming up.

My boyfriend and I are HUGE fans of 300.  He loves it for the action, the patriotism, the Spartans, the blood and gore and the story and the beautiful cinematography.  For me, other than chiselled men, I love the story and memorable quotes and just the honor and bravery behind the whole thing and of course, also the beautiful shots.  I will save this for a full-on review but this is the main motivation to go see this one 🙂

Director: Noam Murro

Cast: Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, Lena Headey, Rodrigo Santoro, Callan Mulvey, David Wenham

Told through the view of Leonidas’ widow, Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) after the events of 300, she tells the story of Themistokles, the Greek general who killed the Persian king, King Darius which enfuriates his son Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) who become a dark god through the manipulation of Artemisia (Eva Green) and lives to destroy Greece entirely.  However, Artemisia’s anger stems even deeper despite her Greek blood and she leads the Persian navy to conquer Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton) and his army.

Just a curious question before I start my little write-up. If you did go see 300: Rise of an Empire (or even before going to see it), how many of you expected a good movie? Personally, I didn’t have high hopes of its storyline.  I was sure that the graphics and cinematography would probably compare to 300 and there would still be buff guys fighting, blood and gore and all that to look at.  I went in completely blind.  I didn’t even read up on what this one was about and only watched a teaser trailer months ago.

300 Rise of an Empire is not really a completely a sequel but regardless, it tries to tie itself to the original 300 story.  In the end, 300 was more of a move that used their martyrdom to help Themistokles great plan of uniting the Greek cities.  The story itself is not the best.  Its attempt is not bad but definitely not as strong as 300 was.  300 was a tale of bravery and patriotism and honor all enveloped in one with memorable quotes and strong characters packed with lots of style and gore.  Rise of an Empire hold that style and gore and the atmosphere they set, effects and whatnot are all the plus of this movie.  The downside of it is in its characters and its story, both are not as strong. I’ll get to the characters in a little bit but for the story, it takes a while to take off in the beginning and honestly, within the first 30 minutes, I found myself almost falling asleep and desperately stuffing Fuzzy Peaches in my mouth to get a sugar rush to keep myself awake.  However, it does get better gradually as the narration tapers off and we start getting actual dialogue and the story moves along.

Talking about the characters, the first one is Themistokles.  I’m not saying the man is not good but he’s not Gerard Butler and not Leonidas. I think the best word to describe what he lacks is the charisma.  Still, he deliver some good action. Moving on to Eva Green who plays the Persian naval commander, for most, I think she will be the attraction.  She has an evilness but you’ll only see her in action at the very end making a lot of what she does just words, except when she has some aggressive sex with Themistokles and she shows off her breasts.  Eva Green is a good looking woman and she takes over the villainous role and puts Xerxes in the backseat.  My boyfriend didn’t quite like her role in it but I actually think it was effective enough. Those are the two leads that take up most of the movie and they aren’t quite as impressive as the original 300 cast but who am I kidding? Were we really here to get all deep and carefully plotted characters?

Before I go into a movie, I decide how I want to treat it.  For me, I went in with the mindset I have of watching any bloody, gory action movie.  Its for the entertainment of it.  Its going to have great fight scenes, memorable dialogues, nice set up of events and just offers a great time.  This one being a sequel also had to justify why this had to be made (other than just for racking in money because it can). For me, Rise of an Empire did that. It gave me reason enough to believe that this one was necessary and even reason enough for it to have another one. Plus, I was impressed with all the fights especially since now, they were all on the water.  Its gives it a different feeling from the first one: new strategies, new skills and between both of these, it kept some actors for characters in the previous movie (even stronger link) and kept some nice scenes and effects. As much as I didn’t like the beginning narration by Queen Gorgo, however she was a much needed addition to connect to the first part.

I didn’t expect much and I’m well aware of the flaws this one has but when the credits started rolling, I knew that I had a good time.  Nothing as great as 300 but I appreciated the effort.  I think thats what matters.  If you were a fan of the first one, I’d say you probably might end up enjoying this one as well 🙂

Have you seen 300 Rise of an Empire? What did you think of it? Did you think the story connected with the previous one in a good way