It’s been a while since I updated this, so let’s at least recap a few movies I’ve seen lately. From better to worse:
In Bruges: Unique film full of strange situations and unforgettable characters and dialog. Despite being so weird, it still manages to be very entertaining.
Charlie Wilson’s War: interesting characters and excellent dialogs in a very entertaining and thought-provoking movie. Very good acting except for Julia Roberts, who for some reason is not believable at all in her role.
Hotel Rwanda: tense, gripping and immensely enjoyable story, despite the tragic setting. Realistic and free of the melodramatic excesses of similarly-themed movies like Schindler’s List.
The Descent: reasonably standard survival horror movie that actually works quite well. It takes place inside a giant but oppressive cavern, which adds a lot of atmosphere. Lots of nice details made me very interested in the writer / director’s next movie (but see below).
No Country For Old Men: at times surprising, funny, thrilling, but also boring, pointless, artificial.
Superhero Movie: a spoof movie that’s actually decent! Not as good as the classics (Airplane, Top Secret, Naked Gun, Hot Shots) and too focused on Spiderman, but certainly not as bad as most movies of this style coming out in recent years.
I Am Legend: Not too bad, not too good either. As many horror/action movies, the concept and setting in the first half are quite interesting, but once the monsters show up it’s a steep downhill.
There Will Be Blood: Lots of hype for this movie, and many people love it. I found it pretentious, messy, and ultimately boring. Characters are neither interesting nor believable (which is a serious problem in a character study movie), and the story it tells is for the most part forgettable.
Doomsday: From the same director / writer as The Descent. This… thing tries to recapture the essence of 80’s action films like Escape From New York and Mad Max (the 2nd & 3rd). I was never a big fan of those movies, so perhaps there’s something here to be enjoyed, but I don’t know what it is. Ok, Rhona Mitra looks beautiful, like Kate Beckinsale in Underworld. Guess who’s going to star in Underworld 3?