by George Lucas
I made the mistake of beginning to read the novelization for this movie before watching it again, so about midway through the book, I stopped to put in the DVD. However, I admit that what I’d read of the book has colored my current opinion of the movie.
It was probably only the third, maybe fourth time I had watched it, the first time being at the theater; and my friends had to drag me to go. I tried so hard to resist seeing the first of the prequel trilogy, but I’m glad I went. When Darth Maul made his first appearance, we all thought he rocked. And when he lit the second blade of his lightsaber, we simultaneously leaned back in our seats and breathed, “Whoa!” Like many Star Wars fans, we were disappointed that there wasn’t more Maul.
That opinion still holds for me. As for my first impressions, a few have changed. Jar Jar is tolerable as the trickster figure, but what inspired George Lucas to create the Gungan species, or at least their way of speaking, is still beyond me. Though a cute little boy, Jake Lloyd’s acting isn’t all that impressive. “Yipee”? And for someone who grew up on Tatooine, you’d think his Huttese accent would be a little better. I would cut him some slack, but there are plenty of child actors out there who are better. Don’t ask me to name any, though. Heh. (Although Natalie Portman really impressed me in The Professional, the first movie in which I saw her — the first movie in which she starred.) Ewan McGregor’s and Liam Neeson’s performances are definitely not less than you’d expect.
The plot itself is fine, except for the fact that Anakin Skywalker was conceived without a father. When I first saw the movie, I thought, “Oh, what, so he’s like some kind of Jesus, or something?” I still think that. For the ridiculous characters and plot lines Lucas created, at least there are cool ones to make up for it. The politics revolving around Coruscant and Senator Palpatine’s blooming climb to power is well done. Mace Windu rocks the house. And of course the special effects are awesome. It’s a Star Wars film — how could they not be? Overall though, it’s just OK.
by Mike Newell
Tsk, tsk, tsk . . . such a handsome villain! I’m sure by now it isn’t considered a spoiler to reveal that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the movie in which Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), the ultimate Harry Potter bad guy, returns to a normal state. For him.
Though he’s completely bald and has serpentine nostrils as described in the book, his eyes are normal and he doesn’t wear robes like the Death Eaters (similar to Darth Vader’s, I might add). No way — the costume designer did a brilliant job with Voldemort’s outfit whether she designed it or procured it, I don’t know, but he’s sporting a black, custom-tailored designer-looking suit and shirt. Very Pradaesque. Anyway, this is Ralph Fiennes, we’re talking about, so how could he not be a handsome villain?
Students from other wizarding schools coming to compete in the Tri-Wizard Tournament was also a nice touch — well, it was the main plot, after all. The second best scene (next to Voldemort’s rebirth) was Hermione’s (Emma Watson’s) entrance to the Yule Ball, though that could have been played up more, as Rowling did in the book, especially the way Ron (Rupert Grint) realizes at the last minute that she’s “a girl.”
Still, I’m getting a bit tired of the good guys, and I’m thinking that the Dark Mark on the Death Eaters’ left arms would make awesome tattoos!
The Bourne Ultimatum
by Paul Greengrass
Unfortunately, this is the last, the ultimate Bourne movie that, at this point, anyway, Matt Damon plans to make. According to an interview with Rebecca Murray at About.com, Damon is quoted as basically saying that in this movie, Bourne finally figures out his identity, so what would they do in a fourth movie: “Actually, I was talking to a journalist yesterday who suggested that we could do [a] fourth one about Bourne losing his keys. And we could do for the entire movie, ‘Where are my keys?’ And that kind of illustrates how out of story we are at this point in terms of what was good about these first three films.”
In fact, Ultimatum is very loosely based on Ludlum’s third book because that one took place during the Cold War. The movie is more plot-based than the first two, although Greengrass does not skimp on the action. What I particularly liked is the intertextuality he uses by filling in the last scenes in Supremacy in the beginning of Ultimatum rather than using flashbacks. (I’m a sucker for intertextuality!) Definitely a must-see.
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What I’d like to know is, if there was something going on between Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) and David Webb prior to his training at Blackbriar, where he becomes Jason Bourne. Near the beginning of the movie Bourne is reading an article about himself that mentions Marie (Kreutz here, but credited as St. Jacques in the other movies?) dying, and I swear I saw a phrase that said, “he has a wife,” which didn’t seem to indicate Marie. Could it be Nicky?
by Paul Greengrass
Cheesy title, I know, but what the hell? Doug Liman, who directed Identity, is the executive producer for this one, and Paul Greengrass (interesting name) directed Supreme. I haven’t bothered to look up why the change in directorship, though, but clearly Greenglass knew what to do with the film.
On one of the DVD’s bonus features, Greenglass attempted to get things in one take, or at least not rehearse scenes before shooting them — the one he was referring to was when Bourne was running from one of the snipers (Karl Urban). Matt Damon said something to the effect that Greenglass encouraged the actors to do what they felt would make his/her scene real, sort of gave them license to “direct” their own acting. Obviously, it worked!
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I was highly disappointed that Marie was killed in the beginning of the movie, but . . . that’s the nature of being on the run. Um, I think.
by Doug Liman
Never read any of Ludlum’s works, and I’ve actually seen this before. Definitely strikes me as a movie that’s way better than the book!
by Alfonso Cuarón
I never wrote a review of the first movie, but I loved it, certainly compared to the second one (see review here). Though I do like Christopher Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón took the Hogwarts series in a different direction.
Yes, I’m still re-reading the book, but what I loved about Azkaban is the fact that most of the story was told through the amazing cinematography; imagery. Notice all of the clockworks, clocks, the pendulum in front of the huge oak doors that lead out of the castle, none of which were in the other movies, or if they were, none of which were emphasized. Cuarón skillfully uses falling leaves and flight (of birds and/or the hippogriff) to smoothly change from one scene or season to another, a unique way to signify time changes within the movie.
Absolutely brilliant.
by Chris Columbus
Meh. Just didn’t seem that great this time around for some reason. The beginning especially ddddrrrrraaagggggeeeeeddddd. It could have used more Quidditch matches. Maybe that’s it.
It also reminded me of our leaky kitchen and bathroom faucets that the maintenance man was supposed to have fixed months ago and are now leaking — again. Maybe it’s the Basil-isk’s fault. 
Ocean’s Thirteen
by Steven Soderbergh
Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin, who give excellent performances, are nice welcomes to the latest of Ocean’s schemes. The first one was awesome (I’d give it 5 stars), but the second one tanked (see Ocean’s Waning). Fortunately, unlike the Pirates of the Carribbean trilogy, you don’t have to see Twelve before watching Thirteen. And yes, I’m still planning to write reviews on Pirates 2 and 3. Some day. I’m writing this one now because April requested it!
First of all, don’t bother trying to count who the thirteen people involved in the scheme are. I think it’s just part of the title. Brothers Virgil (Steve Caan) and Turk (Casey Affleck) seem to have grown smarter. Yen (Shaobo Qin) has grown cockier — I guess money will do that to you. Linus (Matt Damon) is blooming as a con man, though still not good enough for dad. He has an awesome scene with Abigail Sponder (Ellen Barkin) that’s totally hilarious. Saul (Carl Reiner) is as great as ever playing different characters, his specialty. Reuben (Elliott Gould) looks like he lost weight, so it doesn’t make sense that he ends up in the hospital in critical condition because of Willy Bank (Al Pacino). Livingston (Eddie Jemison), Frank (Bernie Mac), and Basher (Don Cheadle) don’t get enough screen time, in my opinion. Terry (Andy Garcia) is his usual condescending, conniving self. And there isn’t enough banter between Danny (George Clooney) and Rusty (Brad Pitt), which I think is a huge part of Eleven’s success.
Another thing that bothered me was that, for a two-hour long movie, the plan wasn’t as intricate or, perhaps, we don’t see as much details as we do in Eleven or Twelve. However, there are still plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, though much more dry and subtle, which will definitely appeal to the intelligent viewer.
by Gore Verbinski
We’ve owned this DVD for a few years now, which we received as a present, and watched it for the first time last night. I don’t know why we waited so long. It was such a fun movie, that included action, adventure, comedy, romance — so many different genres in one movie.
And who would’ve figured that baby-faced Johnny Depp from 21 Jump Street (yes, I used to love that show when it first came out) would not only “grow up” to be an excellent actor, but an excellent character actor as well. I figured this out years ago, so just sayin’.
We haven’t watched movies much lately, but we’re planning to get the sequel today and watch it this evening, then see Pirates 3 at the movies. I still LOVE Chow Yun-Fat, even though he sold out to Hollywood. *sigh*
Haven’t seen this in what seems like a million years. There was a lot in the movie I couldn’t remember, but I don’t think it was just because of the ECT. It’s one of my favorite movies, so I’m not even going to review it.
The important thing is that I believe tonight (Saturday night) was the first time we’ve had guests at this apartment. My teammate Kristina, who Brian and I have now nicknamed “Hermione,” came over and we ordered in and watched HP. She drove in from the suburbs in snowy weather, which was really cool. Luckily, it stopped by the time she left, but if it hadn’t, of course she was welcome to spend the night.
We all realized — or rather, remembered — how Quidditch is similar to hockey, with the exception of the Seeker position. Kristina’s a Chaser and I, of course, am the Keeper. 
Brian and I do need to socialize more, and it was nice to have someone over instead of always going to other people’s houses. The three of us agreed to watch the rest of the HP DVDs in the future, and maybe we ought to invite the Beaters and other Chasers on our team, too. :d
