The Lego Movie

Everything about this film was pretty awesome.

The Lego Movie
2014, 100 minutes, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller

Nightcrawler

The underbelly of overnight freelance videographers - stringers - is not what I would usually consider a viable film topic.  Nightcrawler attempts it with some level of success.  Incredibly uncomfortable at times, weak in others, the film portrays Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal), a thief and general creep, who stumbles into a new business selling video to the local news, the gorier the better.  Lacking any morals, the role is seemingly perfect for him, and yet its hard to not be continually disgusted as he shows just how far he'll go for the story.  Overall the film is not horrible, but it's not excellent, and I'm very surprised a major studio picked it up for release.

Nightcrawler
2014, 117 minutes, directed by Dan Gilroy

During the Q&A, director Dan Gilroy added a few interesting tidbits:

• The film was shot in 28 days with an $8M budget.
• Jake Gyllenhaal lost 38 pounds in 10 weeks prior to shooting.
• They followed a real stringer around in prep to get a feel for the business, and were generally horrified at what they saw.  Much of what happens in the film is real. 

The Bourne Legacy

I thought this was a sequel with a replacement lead.  Needless to say I'm surprised to instead find it's a "co-quel", taking place alongside events of the Bourne Supremacy.  This makes it somewhat disconcerting as they keep referring to things that happened in a film I saw two years ago, not in retrospect but in real-time, in a way that seems vital to the plot.  Or, to put it a different way, the plot of that other film seems so much more important to this one.  It's sort of like the Rosencrantz & Guildenstern of CIA action flicks.

It finally picks up most of the way through as the action intensifies and the film is finally allowed to chart its own course.  And then it ends, all set up for a sequel.

Having dropped from a must-see theater experience to Netflix DVD, I suppose I can't downgrade the series any further.  Overall though, I'm disappointed that they weren't able to set this up better, with more tie-ins to the previous film actually in the previous film.

The Bourne Legacy
2012, 135 minutes, directed by Tony Gilroy

The Game

Michael Douglas stars as wealthy financier Nicholas Van Orton, given the ultimate birthday gift: a real-life mystery game starring him.  How far does the game go, or is it a game at all?

I kept trying to predict the ending, and kept getting it wrong.  But still I'm not sure I'm happy with how it turned out.

The Game
1997, 129 minutes, directed by David Fincher

Paul

This geek comedy played really well with the SXSW audience, but I'm not sure it would do well, or if I would even enjoy it, when played for the general public.

I like this team - this group of friends who have made some great movies together - but I'm not sure this is one of them.  For that I feel sad, which is exactly not what they want people to walk out of the theater feeling.

Paul
2010, 104 minutes, directed by Greg Mottola

Green Hornet

Most comic book remakes go for serious and grim.  This is retro and campy.  You know it's funny.

Green Hornet
2011, 119 minutes, directed by Michel Gondry

Live Free or Die Hard

This week's Netflix special is 2007's Live Free or Die Hard.  I liked the first movie quite a bit, and I remember being somewhat let down by the second and distinctly disappointed in the third.  I didn't think the fourth film, set and released some 12 years after the third, was worth a trip to the theater.  Honestly, I was right.

I can watch a shoot 'em up, if the shooting is good.  I can watch a big explosion film, if the explosions are good.  I can watch an action comedy, if the action's good or the comedy makes sense.  Big story arcs don't have to be perfect, but basic plot points just need to make sense.  Where did the cars come from that filled the side of the tunnel with the helicopter hovering just overhead?  Why does BMW vehicle assist work when the cell phone network is down?  Why is Bruce Willis' dialog just so plain awful, and his joy at each kill somewhat creepy?  And when did we get to the point that they have to dub in the curse words?

Let this series return fallow.  It's done.

Live Free or Die Hard
2007, 129 minutes (unrated version), directed by Len Wiseman

Goldfinger

Ahh, the impractical gadgets, the unbelievable villains, the wild locations, the improbably plots, the chauvinistic star. Bond at its pre-Craig finest.

Goldfinger
1964, 110 minutes, directed by Guy Hamilton

Quantum of Solace

I'm disappointed. Sure, it started fast - picking up right where Casino Royale leaves off - but the action is frantic and choppy, lacking the focus and drive of the first film. Then the drive just goes into neutral, and the film drops into a mobster-of-the-week story. The intensity of the story line just doesn't maintain the action I hoped for.

I look forward to the next film, so we can again see driving action and get anywhere in the overall arc.

Quantum of Solace
2008, 106 minutes, directed by Marc Forster

Eagle Eye

I could have seen this last month at Fantastic Fest, but I chose to see small-budget Surveillance instead. Afterwards, having been not-so-enthralled with my choice, I thought that maybe the big-budget studio dropping would have been the better option.

Anyway, back from vacation, I finally caught up to the point that I could catch a film, and this was still on my list. It starts well - action scenes unfolding in a way I hadn't seen before. But then, halfway through, all that unexpectedness ends and it becomes rote formula. I guess it's an acceptable run-of-the-mill modern thriller, but I think the independent film was the better option.

Eagle Eye
2008, 118 minutes, directed by D. J. Caruso

Transporter 2

I liked Jason Statham a lot in the first movie I saw him in - Snatch. I wish in subsequent films he hadn't been shaped into a cookie-cutter action hero. A least the first Transporter movie had the right mix of action and scenery to make a decent film. In this also-ran installment, the "special" effects are far less impressive.

The DVD commentary claims that all the driving shots are "real" plus added effects, but the end effect is low-grade CGI. At first the martial arts action scenes were the only respite from mediocrity, but even those fell into cliché. "Now let's see Statham take on a line of gooks with a pole. Now let's see it with a fire hose."

Transporter 2
2005, 87 minutes, directed by Louis Leterrier

Aachi and Ssipak

This is a delightful romp through the vulgar and obscene. Leave your brain at the door and just enjoy stupid and crass humor in its raw form. The action flows well and the humor is nonstop.

Aachi and Ssipak
2006, 90 minutes, directed by Jo Beom-Jim