Catching up - Mini reviews

by Mr. Blunderson

Once again time to sweep out the old draft box. I have a whole bunch of full reviews I'm never going to get to so I'll put them up in my typical half-assed manner.

3:10 to Yuma

As good as the performances are, as well as the screenplay establishes a bizarre bond between Christian Bale's wounded vet good guy and Russell Crowe's smooth outlaw bad guy, it's hard for me to buy the last few minutes of this movie. But somehow that didn't ruin it for me. American Cinema at it's heart would be nothing without the western, and this is certainly a worthy tribute to days of film long past. It's nice to see some ambiguity in the characters, especially a bad guy who isn't all bad, but it played out a little herky jerky for my taste. Whatever faults the movie might have there is plenty of well executed action not to mention some fantastic cinematography. 3:10 to Yuma gets a "way decent" on the Mr. Blunderson scale.

Sunshine

Danny Boyle is one of the most talented directors in the biz today and he's not afraid to do something different. Consider the last three movies he's made (28 Days Later..., Millions, Sunshine), and you'll understand what I'm talking about. Sunshine was a particularly ambitious project that starts really well but falls apart in the last act. Even when it goes bad it still manages to raise some interesting issues that are particularly relevant in a climate where despite all of the learning and knowledge we have acquired, religion and science still manage to be at odds in some cases. So much for enlightenment.

It's not hard to see that Alex Garland (who wrote the screenplay) and Danny Boyle have a great affinity for the science fiction classics that have paved the way, and they don't hesitate to pay tribute in the form of an homage or two. And while Sunshine may not ultimately stand up to the films that came before, it is certainly the best science fiction made in recent memory.

One last thing, Chris Evans (the human torch from those suck-fest Fantastic Four movies) was not too bad here. I don't get why some critics were down on his performance here. The cast was outstanding all the way around. Great ensemble.

I could easily talk about this movie for days (and some day I might get around to it) but for now rest assured that despite the third act Sunshine is still a "way decent" on the Mr. Blunderson scale.

Hot Rod

Shifting gears a little, I caught this little ditty at the end of the worst day I've had in recent memory. Because of this, I may have laughed a lot more than I probably should have. It's the standard underdog plot, almost nothing you won't see coming, and I can see why a lot of people didn't like it. I personally might be going easy on Andy Samberg because he won an Emmy for his short Dick in a Box which along with Lazy Sunday and his numerous other digital shorts demonstrate his comic talent a lot better than Hot Rod manages to do. Still, I liked it (am I nuts or was there a bizarre little nod to Kill Bill Vol 2 there) and I'll give it a "mostly decent." If you don't agree I kick your ass.


Shoot 'Em Up

The first time I saw this movie (back when it enjoyed it's brief theatrical run) I liked it a lot. It was silly, violent, bloody, silly some more, and absolutely fun. Clive Owen kills bad guys here the way Johnny Depp snorted coke in Blow. The second time around I have to admit it was a lot less fun, since I knew what was coming. At least I was able to watch it with Mrs. Blunderson who hadn't seen it before, so at least I had the fun of witnessing her reaction to the mayhem as it unfolds on the screen so the evening wasn't a complete loss. Some movies simply don't work on multiple viewings and this is probably one of them, which is why Shoot 'Em Up gets a "mostly decent."

Good Luck Chuck

Not less than 24 hours after berating a friend for buying this movie, I rented it because Mrs. Blunderson wanted the see it. 30 Minutes in she started skipping to the next scene because it was so bad. I made her go back because I wanted to punish her by making her sit through the whole movie. It's not often I am able to venture out to video store and when I do I'd like it to be for something slightly better than a heaping pile of dung. Now that I've seen the movie I can talk smack about it all I want. Good Luck Chuck rates an "utter crap" on the Mr. Blunderson scale, but it's probably worse than that.

Edit - Mrs. Blunderson confirmed this was just about the worst movie she's ever seen.