Michael's Weblog

Movie Review of "Anchorman"

Anyone that has read very many of my reviews should know that I've become a big fan of Will Ferrell. On Saturday Night Live, I always felt he was a little over the top. Yet, he's shown a lot of range in recent movies. "Anchorman" is not one of those movies.

Ferrell plays Ron Burgundy, local news anchor extraordinaire. Paul Rudd, Steve Carell and David Koechner plays his local news team partners. Finally, Christina Applegate plays Veronica Corningstone.

Veronica is new to the station with aspirations to be the first woman news anchor one day. She is approached by every member of the local news team, but turns them each down as disgusting. All, that is, except for Burgundy, who quickly beguiles her, even though he is really just as disgusting as the others.

I know this is supposed to be an exaggerated comedy, but really most of it was just plain stupid. Not even so stupid that it's funny, just stupid, as in no laughter at all. It did have some funny moments, but they were far too few to make this a comedy worth watching. There are a lot of stars playing comeo roles, I hope mostly as a favor to someone, not because they liked the script.

Director - C-
Acting - C
Cinematography - B
Writing - D

I give this movie a D+, simply not even rentable.

Movie Review of "Domino"

What is there to say about the movie "Domino"? A true story about a fashion model turned bounty hunter. The best of both worlds for your stereotypical male moviegoer. There's certainly a lot of action and destruction. There's a also a fair amount of sexiness to it. Eye candy for the sex starved youth who love to watch things blow up.

Keira Knightly plays Domino Harvey. Mickey Rourke plays her bounty hunter mentor, Ed. Edgar Martinez plays Choco, who loves Domino from the first time he sees her.

Once becoming a bounty hunter, the reality shows seek out Domino to make her a reality show star. Brian Austin Green and Ian Ziering play themselves as hosts of this reality show. They quickly get in the middle of a huge con job planned by Claremont Williams II (Delroy Lindo), the benefactor of Ed's bounty hunter gigs.

While this film is filled with brutal violence and mediocre dialogue, it does have an intriguing quality to it. It makes one wonder how much truth and how much hollywood is in the film. For an ultra-violent thriller, it was decent. For anything else, it's probably not worth watching.

Director - B
Acting - C+
Cinematography - B
Writing - C-

Overall, I give this movie a C+, a decent rental if you can't find anything else and you like action thrillers.

Movie Review of "Good Night and Good Luck"

"Good Night and Good Luck" is an adaptation of history surrounding Edward R Murrow and Joseph McCarthy. David Strathairn stars as Murrow and George Clooney as Murrow's producer, Fred Friendly. The film is shot entirely in Black and White, a nice touch, as one hardly notices this fact as it seems natural and crisp/clear.

As far as following history, this film is excellent. Many of the scenes not involving the stars are taken directly from news footage. The Murrow show news segments themselves are condensed, but are accurate representations of what happened.

Strathairn and Clooney do very good jobs in portraying their characters. Straithairn is dry and deliberate. Clooney is open and a little afraid of his own devil may care attitude. Patricia Clarkson, Robert Downey Jr and Ray Wise also put in great performances, especially Wise who really steals some of the scenes.

I was really impressed with this film. The mix of old footage and new movie are easily distinguishable, yet hardly noticeable. This is quite an achievement given modern day's use of high tech special effects.

Director - A-
Acting - A-
Cinematography - A
Writing - A-

Overall, this is a solid A-, a must see for everyone.