Michael's Weblog

Movie Review of "The Wedding Crashers"

I know a lot of people will disagree with me on this review. "The Wedding Crashers" is simply one of those movies that you either think is hysterical or stupid. Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn play John Beckwith and Jeremy Gray. They are divorce mediators who have one hobby, that is crashing weddings. If this isn't bad enough, they do it only to find vulnerable women with whom to have sex.

The hilarity begins as they crash the wedding of all weddings, the daughter of one of the most powerful men in Washington, DC. The two of them end up going after the two unmarried sisters of the family. One goes well, Beckwith actual falls for Claire (Rachel McAdams). One doesn't go so well, Gray ends up with the psycho girlfriend from Hell (Isla Fisher). Gray stays with it for his friend, but regrets every moment of it as the women's brother takes all his anger out on him, not Beckwith.

There are too many funny scenes to talk about. Owen is a funny actor, but Vaughn is perhaps the funniest actor in film today. I loved almost every moment. One of the other top comedic actors plays a role as well. Will Ferrell almost steals the whole show with his short part near the end of the movie.

Director - B+
Acting - A-
Cinematography - B+
Writing - A-

I give this movie an A-, an excellent first weekend comedy.

I give this movie a C+, if there's nothing new and you like Schwarzenegger, not a bad rental.

Usually when I think of Arnold Schwarzenegger, one thinks of special effects and lots of fire power. He's not one a moviegoer would think of as Oscar candidacy. Acting is not necessarily a strong point for him. What happens around him on the screen is what draws people into the theatre for his movies. 'Total Recall' is really no different, although it has a stronger story-line than most of his movies. He busts people up; there's a lot of gunfire and explosions; however, it also has that interesting plot.

I think this movie is one of Arnold's better accomplishments, another would be 'True Lies'. I want to remind you that I'm not saying these movies are on par with the great. Yet, 'Total Recall' and 'True Lies' have something that many others don't: decent actors surrounding him and a good plot. Much of this movie's plot is based on a procedure by which memories can be implanted into a person's brain, with no apparent difference from actual lived memories. Is he a spy or not? Has he been to Mars or not? Who is his wife?

Ronny Cox and Michael Ironside are the bad guys and Sharon Stone plays Arnold's wife. There is a lot more to this movie than the eye candy of explosions and fist fights, but it really never comes out as much as it could. I was really hoping to see more about the persecution of a class of people. I wish the whole idea of erasing memories and adding new memories was played up more. In the end, the writing failed. Perhaps this is simply what the movie house wanted, but still there could have been more.

Director - Average
Acting - Below Average
Cinematography - Average
Writing - Below Average

I give this movie a C+, if there's nothing new and you like Schwarzenegger, not a bad rental.

I give this movie a B+, budget movie at the theatre or very good rental quality.

Shortly after beginning to watch "Red Eye", I realized most of this movie was going to take place on a plane. Close ups on Cillian Murphy and Rachel McAdams were going to drive the cinematographic experience. This always makes me a bit nervous. But it can work if done right.

Using a single confined space is hard to pull off. A man and a woman on a flight together are not there by accident. Terror comes to Lisa Reisert (Rachel McAdams) more than just in her fear of flying. She is thrust into a conspiracy to commit murder with her father as a hostage.

I can't say how impressed I am with the director and camera work on this film. The small space hardly seems a barrier at all. Cut aways to Lisa's father and the hotel happen just often enough to relieve the viewer. Yet they do not happen too often, where it could have distracted the viewer from the tension between the two main characters.

The film is not without its faults though. There are some definite holes. The whole plan by these assassins depend too much on luck and trust to succeed. In this day and age of high security at airports, it seems too easy for two frantic people to make their way through an airport virtually unnoticed. Finally, situations where a simple plea for help would suffice turn into a high speed car chase and easy escapes. Still, I very much enjoyed the movie.

Rachel McAdams does a fine job as the distressed, but strong Lisa Reisert. Cillian Murphy is excellent as the facilitator for hire. He doesn't commit the crimes, he makes them easier to commit. The BAS of the underworld. There are simply too many convenient events to make this an A movie.

Director - Above Average
Acting - Above Average
Cinematography - Above Average
Writing - Average

I give this movie a B+, budget movie at the theatre or very good rental quality.

Movie Review of "Silver Streak"

Not all movies I watch are new or even recent for that matter. I love to watch older movies and the classics. It's always good to see how well movies were made in the past. Not that all the older movies I watch are hits or classics. I sat down and watched 'Silver Streak' the other day. Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor star in this comedy about traveling across country on a train and stumbling into a murder mystery.

Gene Wilder plays an editor who gets on the Silver Streak, a bullet train from LA to Chicago, in order to relax for a few days. He quickly falls for a woman who is intimately tied to a murder that occurs the first night. Wilder gets thrown off the train a number of times, but always seems to make it back on. Ned Beatty plays a salesman who takes the train because of the women. He's told his boss that he's afraid to fly. Richard Pryor is a thief who Wilder meets while stealing a police car after getting thrown off the train.

The funniest scene in the movie is Pryor dressing up Wilder to look African-American with black face and all. Wilder comes from the restroom, looking about as inauthentic as possible, but his look and act is so poorly stereotypical it isn't surprising it might fool all the biased people at the train station.

Comedies such as this depend on two things, writing and timing. Both Wilder and Pryor definitely have timing and excellent chemistry. Jill Clayburgh plays the love interest of Wilder's character. The second best scene is Pryor faking life as a porter and basically gushing over Clayburgh. She can barely take it, but it works as they get control of a messy situation. the writing isn't the best, no academy award here, but then there is a bias against comedies on that field of play. It is a good comedy though. Funny is if not hilarious.

Director - Average
Acting - Above Average
Writing - Average
Cinematography - Average

I give this film a B. Good funny rental, especially if you haven't seen it.

I give this movie a D+, just don't rent it unless you simply want to see Hanks or Zeta-Jones on the screen.

Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Steven Spielberg. Some big names in the movie industry and one would expect an instant hit. I can tell you right now this will be a short review. I really hate to say a lot of bad things about movies, especially when the stars and director have done so many other excellent projects.

First of all, this is far from Tom Hanks' best performance. Playing a foreigner does not suit him. Jones is wishy-washy at best as the lovesick flight attendant (is that what she is?). The whole plot is quite manufactured and unbelievable. The way the plot unfolds gets continually manipulated. I really didn't enjoy any of this film at all. The biggest problem is I don't know how they could have made it any better without completely making a different movie.

Director - Average
Acting - Below average
Writing - Well below average
Cinematography - Average

I give this movie a D+, just don't rent it unless you simply want to see Hanks or Zeta-Jones on the screen.