Kevin

MOVIE REVIEW "The Score"

Thu, 02 Aug 2001 18:39:08 GMT

THE SCORE

Directed by Frank Oz

"The Score" had so much talent put into the making of the film that how could it possibly be bad? It didn't quite live up to my expectations, but it certainly turned out to be a great suspense film.
Robert Denairo stars as a professional thief who has been in the business for 25 years and is looking toward retirment to settle down in his hometown, Montreal, and maintain his restaurant. His partner in business, Marlon Brando, approaches him with an offer to steal a sceptor in the Montreal House of Commons worth more than Denairo has ever stolen put together. With the aid of the cocky and devious Edward Norton, Denairo reluctantly agrees to take the assignment.
Basically the rest of the plot revolves around the characters and their quest to pull off the sceptor heist.
I enjoyed this movie thoroughly. There are not many elements to complain about other than I wish there were a few more scenes of suspense. There were a few parts in which I wished that there was less plot development and more suspense (unusual coming from me, seeing as how I feel movies today require much more plot development to be good). I also enjoyed the setting of Montreal, instead of the usual New York or LA setting (or even London or Paris for that matter). The ending was very enjoyable and did not drag on too long, but left me feeling satisfied. It did not try to play games for too long like the movie "Entrapment" (which wouldn't end!).
The element of the movie I enjoyed most was that it did not turn the story into a shoot-em-up, 2 hour action scene with twenty heavily armed gaurds running down a hall getting picked off in bullet time by the main characters (which is a problem most movies recently have given in to). The movie was very entertaining and is one of those under-hyped summer movies I hope makes out well in the box-office.

*** (out of ****)

MOVIE REVIEW "Planet of the Apes"

Sun, 29 Jul 2001 02:28:02 GMT

PLANET OF THE APES
Directed by Tim Burton

Let me start off by mentioning that Tim Burton is one of my all-time favorite directors and this already makes my review somewhat biased.
As in every Tim Burton film, the beginning starts with a series of close ups with a panning camera mysteriously taking you through a journey of pictures, until finally the camera pans out to show what the object is in reality (e.g. the bat symbol in "Batman"). In this movie, the camera pans around a series of ape-like designs.. (just pointing out one of my favorite features of a Burton film). The musical score produced by none other than Danny Elfman has a jungle theme which constantly reminds the audience that these apes are civilly wild. It also magnifies the movie's beginning jungle-like atmosphere, which is what Burton's films are all about.. atmosphere.
The story begins with our hero, Mark Wahlberg, who is an intellgent, yet uninteresting captain for the air force (in space) and does some sort of tests on monkeys in space, anyhow.. lots of problems go wrong, much of which are caused by Wahlberg himself, and he ends up crashing onto a planet full of talking apes. These apes hold humans in slavery and what not.. there's an evil ape, General Thade, who wants to rid the planet of humans and have absolute power over the ape community.. and there's the saviour ape, the human loving woman one, i forget her name, but whom i believe acted the finest out of all the characters (including Wahlberg). And there are also other stuff that goes on in this zany planet.. (I'll just assume you've seen the original.)
I enjoyed various parts of the film where it wasn't afraid to make fun of itself (such as a midget human collecting coins from an accordion playing ape instead of the real world where the roles are switched). I also enjoyed how the goofiness died and the seriousness of the movie returned when needed.
There were two elements of the film that really bothered me:
1. Cheesy dialouge (but hey.. every movie made since Titanic has cheesy dialouge).
2. Exetremely far-fetched scenarios
(For instance: A rocket ship that is over 3,000 years old still has working fuel).
Other than those problems and putting aside a few smaller difficulties, this was a well-rounded, standard, brainless, summer blockbuster hit.
I give this movie 2 1/2 stars, I added a 1/2 a star for the brilliant final 3 minutes which is almost worth putting up with the mediocre plot to see. The ending is a great twist to the original version and turns this film from what I believe to be a weak picture into a decent one. However I would recommend the original over this one.

**1/2 (out of ****)

Work and All Thoses Useless Memories Placed in My Journal

Sat, 28 Jul 2001 18:46:56 GMT

I worked the morning shift in produce today. It's just so difficult to wake up early in the morning. Anyhow, I am going to see PLANET OF THE APES later tonight so I'm excited. Tim Burton (a.k.a GOD) directed it so I look forward to some great artistic design combined with some great action sequences. I am also hoping for a great musical score by composer, Danny Elfman.
I thought of a great saying at work today.. or atleast what I think is good for some sort of insult..
"He'll never measure up to anything past his wallet."
It's probably dumb and makes no sense, but you tell me.. well there's not much else to say or anything I have to say so I will end with a quote I was thinking of when I had to painstakingly wake up early.
"I was having the most wonderful dream...
I had a hat and tie with no pants on."