Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Manuel on Movies #1

I do reviews all the time, and I often have a hard time coming up with a title for the posts so I am going to start calling all of them the same thing from now on. I know I have done a bunch of them, but I'll start from scratch at #1. It has been over a month since my last review post so I have a bunch for you. I'll start off with the final 2 films I had to see that were nominated for Best Picture before the Oscars.

Atonement - I wasn't looking forward to this at all, but I heard from a couple of people it was decent so I tried to go in with an open mind. Well, that's all it was, decent. About a third of the way through or so, I felt the film had a lot of potential after a big event in the film, but it really didn't go the direction I expected/wanted. In the end, it didn't have the big payoff I wanted and it just kind of died out. 5.5 out of 10.












Michael Clayton - This was actually a pretty decent movie. I don't know why it was nominated for Best Picture though. I mean, it was really no different or better than a good John Grisham adaptation. George Clooney plays a guy who works in a law firm as a fixer and the story revolves around a pretty high end case for the firm. Clooney was awesome in the film and it had some really powerful scenes, but I didn't think it was Oscar quality. Oh well, I still enjoyed it. 7 out of 10










Ratatouille - This was a really cute film, but what else do you expect from Pixar? Not much needs to be said as I am sure you all know it is about a cooking rat. Just know, if you have been a fan of their past films, you won't be disappointed with this one and it comes highly recommended. 8.5 out of 10












The Number 23 - Jim Carrey plays a man who becomes obsessed with the number 23 after reading a book and then seeing it pop up everywhere in his life. This is a very dark film and Carrey puts in another underappreciated performance as a man going crazy. It has a few twists and turns and is definitely not for the average movie goer. It is simply not straight forward like that and is almost David Lynch like. Not bad at all. 7 out of 10










- The King of Kong - A hidden gem that came out of nowhere. This is a documentary about a man trying to beat the world record for Donkey Kong. Simple enough, right? Truthfully though, this film was so much deeper than that and it is amazing to see all the politics that go into the video game record world. By the end of the film, you are cheering for some and having such hatred for others on par with the greatest of movies. The fact that it is documentary makes it that much more impressive. After I saw this movie, I raved to Jessica about it and told her she had to watch it with me. Thankfully, but not surprisingly, she had the same feelings about the movie. Simply put, I can not recommend this film any higher. Don't worry if you don't like/play video games. The documentary transcends that and it really is about good vs evil. You must watch this film. 9.5 out of 10.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

We've seen Michael Clayton(good entertainment) and Ratatouille(I could not get past rats in the kitchen. YUCK!)I'll look for the King of Kong. Glad we don't have to see Atonement.

Mom said...

Hey there! Thanks for the latest movie reviews. Atonement doesn't look bad in the previews but I'll take your word for it and probably won't ever see it. Hope you have a good week!

Churlita said...

I loved Michael Clayton, and was a little disappointed by Atonement. It was too slow for me.

I loved, loved, loved King of Kong. Of course, part of it took place in the town where I went to high school and I first started playing video games at Twin Galaxies, so I might be a little biased. i graduated with the cheerleaders in the Life Magazine photo shoot.

laura b. said...

The only one I've seen so far is The Number 23...not bad. I like Jim Carrey better as a straight actor.
I would definitely like to see King of Kong. I remember Churlita mentioning it too.

Jose said...

I rented Ratatouille like three times and each time the disc was scratched to where it wouldn't play. I got my money back and to this day I have only seen the first 20 minutes or so. I'll just probably go buy it as I really like what I saw so far.

Anonymous said...

All of the ones you mentioned except the last are not even on my radar. No Clooney, no Carrey...

The last one is definitely a good movie. I saw a short thing about on G4 a few months ago. It is one of those quirky flicks that always seems to get my attention.

Sharon said...

I really enjoyed Ratatouille! I fell asleep during Michael Clayton and forgot all about Number 23 which I will put in my Blockbuster online queue.

dmarks said...

Great set of reviews. As for Kong of Kong, you might want to check out the trailer for the forthcoming Pac Man movie

Mrs. Hairy Woman said...

I watched part of Michael Clayton, I thought I could get into it.. but couldn't.. I saw atonement on the weekend and was somewhat disappointed with the ending.. I also saw Ratatouille awhile ago and thought it was cute.. so I bought a copy of it.. I haven't seen that last one.. well because I never heard of it.. Good job on the choices...

Mrs. Hairy Woman said...

I also saw part of Number 23.. I didn't like it at all...