I’ve read the comic this movie is based on and I loved the concept. But I didn’t think there was more than that premise to the story. The same can be said about this movie.

Apart from the clever concept (vampires in Alaska for 30 days without sun) this just feels like a zombie movie, with normal people hiding from the vampires. There is enough tension here to be entertaining, but the vampires themselves didn’t feel scary at all. I do like that they always have blood on their chins, it makes sense they wouldn’t clean themselves after feeding.

The characters are ok, not very well developed but enough to understand where they come from and their past. At least for the main ones. What doesn’t make sense is why in 30 days the vampires couldn’t check every single house in that town, or why people would be safe inside their houses. It’s almost felt like the vampires couldn’t enter the houses.

What I did like was how Eben decided to solve the situation, by injecting contaminated blood into himself and becoming one of them. However it still doesn’t make up for the fact that he alone fought the entire group off.

Then I go back to liking this in the final scene with Eben and Stella. Overall though, this is not anything special.

Rating: 2.5 Stars

This is a “modern” movie. I say that because the marketing for this movie was very different and took advantage of the current technology. Just the simple fact that a teaser trailer was shown when nobody had ever heard of this movie is an accomplishment. Not only that, but the title wasn’t even shown.

But let’s forget about the brilliant marketing and talk about the movie itself. The whole movie is seen through a portable camera, operated by one of the characters. So this is literally their point of view of the events in this story.

The big event is that a big monster is running around Manhattan. We don’t even anything else, because the characters don’t know anything else. So we just follow them trying to save their friend and trying to get out of there.

I thought this movie worked overall. The shock of seeing a monster through a cheap camera felt more real than the usual movie shot of the big monster. That realism is key to this movie. It helps with appreciating the characters, the story and the atmosphere of this movie. Even the dialogue felt real.

There are problems that come with the premise though. The main one for me is that the guy behind the camera rarely puts it down to help his friends, which I found ridiculous. He’s not a journalist, so I don’t buy that he really wanted to document this.

Sometimes the people on camera are talking to the operator, but they look into the camera, which also doesn’t make sense. And towards the end, they should have just run away leaving the camera behind. At that point there really wasn’t any excuse to keep the camera, other than to give us viewers an end.

Still, I enjoyed watching this movie, though at times I almost had a headache while the camera was shaking.

Rating: 3 Stars

If it weren’t for Johnny Depp’s nomination for the Oscars, I wouldn’t have watched this movie. Nothing against the Burton/Depp pairing, I’ve actually liked their work together, but I’ve had enough of musicals. After Once, I don’t think any other musicals will compare.

The problem with songs in movies is that I don’t understand what they’re about most of the time, which is not good for understanding the story. That’s true for this movie as well. Depp is not a bad singer at all, his performance is actually not bad. I don’t think he deserved the Oscar, or at least I wasn’t touched by his performance.

However the main problem is that I had no idea why he killed all those people. That didn’t help with his revenge, we don’t even know these people. That montage of all those killings didn’t seem to have any motivation except that it was the premise of the story.

On top of that I also didn’t understand some of the dialogs, their accents were way too thick (especially Helena Bonham-Carter). I guess it’s realistic since they’re supposed to be in London, but I am also supposed to understand them and follow the story.

I guess what I did like was the ending, there was no other ending for this type of story, but I liked it and it at least made sense. Unlike the rest of the movie.

To me this movie failed both as a musical and as a story. Depp’s performance was ok, I just didn’t feel it.

Rating: 2 Stars

I am not a big fan of writer/director Paul Haggis, his Crash was the most overrated movie of that year’s Oscars. So I didn’t expect much from this new movie. Luckily I had a good time.

This is mainly a crime/mystery drama, where Hank (Tommy Lee Jones) is trying to find his son back from Iraq. We follow him investigating his disappearance, with the help of Det. Emily Sanders (Charlize Theron). This part is ok, not particularly clever or interesting, but it was well done.

In between we also see videos of his son in Iraq, we are hinted at something terrible that happened to him, which may be the cause of his disappearance. The son’s colleagues in the army are all involved, but we don’t find out what really happened until the end.

The subplot about Sanders is really underdeveloped. Many of her scenes do not have a point or don’t bring to anything in the end, like her sexists colleagues, or her boss. There is also a couple of scenes involving one of her side cases that really didn’t belong in this movie, it was just a cheap way of making the character emotional.

What I did like was Tommy Lee Jones. He is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors and 2007 was a great year for him. I believe he is the main reason I enjoyed this movie despite its many flaws.

Haggis is famous for overemphasizing his “message”, as if he were afraid that we don’t get it and he has to bludgeon us over our heads. That’s what happens at the end. We get it!! War is bad!!

In spite of my dislike of Haggis, I still recommend this film.

Rating: 3 Stars

This is an experiment by director Steven Soderberg to emulate an old movie from the 50-60’s. He actually created this movie with the same technology of that era (cameras, film, rear projection etc…), same type of story and even acting style.

However he inserted some modern touches to contrast it, and that is the language. He can have a PG13 or R rating and insert as many swear words as he wants, which they couldn’t do at the time.

The story is a mystery, with plenty of romance behind the characters’ motivations. George Clooney’s character is trying to help the woman he loves, however he has no idea what is going throughout the film. He’s constantly trying to catch up.

Cate Blanchett’s character is almost the typical femme fatale, but her past is shrouded in mystery, and her motivations are not very clear. The main mystery of this story is actually about her, a mystery that is not solved until the last minute.

That ending recalls the ending of Casablanca, however it does not have the same emotional impact. Her secret is not that shocking really, which is a let down since the whole story was based on that shocking revelation.

However the build up to that revelation was very interesting and it kept my attention. 30 minutes in there is a murder that changes things and made me wanna discover the truth.

I think this experiment was worth trying and watching. This actually reminded me of those old noir stories, where I was confused throughout the movie, but still interested. Unfortunately the payoff at the end is a bit of a let down.

Rating: 2.5 Stars

This promised to be a great thriller, with good building of tension and some good performances. With all the Oscar nominations behind it, I was eager to watch this.

During the first half we are teased as to what the big corporal secret is, so much that we are supposed to be shocked by the truth. Unfortunately, this is not such a big reveal, maybe because we’ve seen it in other movies, or the filmmakers were just not that interested in it. I don’t think it was explained in details at all, and maybe it wasn’t needed.

I think this is more about Clayton, how he’s been through his life and how he’s going to deal with this huge problem of his. However even his personal life was only hinted at, and he actually doesn’t do anything to deal with the problem, except for the ending, when his life was at risk.

I could see that being the theme of this story, Clayton not doing anything to improve his own life, which is a contradiction to the beginning where he’s presented as the problem solver. He can help everybody else, but he can’t solve his own problems. However this just didn’t work for me, he was too passive throughout the movie.

Even the ending felt a bit rushed. Was that enough to convict the responsible party? On the other side of the case, Tilda SDFS gave a good performance as a normal manager, who is dealing with such big stakes that she resorts to killing. She is not a criminal, in fact she can barely stand the pressure, but she forces herself to go through with it.

Despite all the problems, I always like George Clooney. I don’t think he deserved a nomination, but I did like it. That goes for the whole movie actually. I did enjoy watching it, I can also recommend it. However this did not deserve to receive 7 Oscar nominations, including best picture.

Rating: 3 Stars

Will Smith has always been entertaining to me, so I was mildly interested in this movie. The first 2/3 of it are well done. We get to see how Robert spends his time, what his daily routine is.

Then there is the scene where we see the infected people for the first time. That’s a very good scene, full of tension. Another great scene is when Robert falls into one of his traps. I was really rooting for him to wake up and escape.

I also felt for the relationship with his dog, but I thought the end of that was too manipulative. The way Robert loses his mind did not work for me. He is shown freaking out with a mannequin, or acting every line of Shrek. That stuff just didn’t feel natural to me.

The last third of the movie lost me. I just didn’t like that new direction, and it just became like a zombie or post-war action movie. It was also very rushed, so that there are many things that were only hinted at (the religious angle, the cure, the haven, etc…).

The end was supposed to be heroic, but I really didn’t feel that at all. Also I’ve read the book, so this ending really bugged me. Still, the first 2/3 is very watchable.

Rating: 3 Stars

J.S.A.: Joint Security Area (2000): In the DMZ separating North and South Korea, two North Korean soldiers have been killed, supposedly by one South Korean soldier.After watching the Vengeance Trilogy by Park I have been a fan of him. So I have now tracked down his earlier movie JSA. This is a great story about the two Koreas, that takes an unexpected turn.

At first this film presents itself as a mystery, complete with an investigator, his assistant, the suspects and even their different versions of the story, ala Rashomon.

This was interesting to me, but certainly not groundbreaking. However around halfway through the truth about these characters relationship is revealed, and the story changes from a mystery to a character drama.

The friendship struck between these 4 characters feels real, and even though I am not aware of the detail political situation in Korea, it is not necessary to understand these people.

This is a drama, but as all Park movies there is plenty of comedy as well. They are not laugh out loud jokes, but they are amusing/funny scenes of interaction between the leads. They all help making the characters real.

Towards the end the real events are finally revealed, and they are devastating because we are now attached to these characters and we like them. Not to mention the final scene, also heartbreaking.

Another great movie by Park, can’t wait to see what else he has in store for us.

Rating: 4 Stars

No Country for Old Men (2007): Violence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon some dead bodies, a stash of heroin and more than $2 million in cash near the Rio Grande.My expectations for this movie were very high, and they were met. This is a very simple story, the plot is not at all complicated and there are not many dialogs. But what’s great about it are the visuals, the tension and the great acting.

The movie opens with Javier Bardem as Chigurh. Everybody’s singing praises for him and with reason. This is a very scary performance, everything about him gives me the creeps. His haircut, his voice, the dialog, his expression, his movements, his weapons. I love the two weapons he uses, and the way his mind works is just scary.

But he is only half of the story, the other half is Josh Brolin. He also gives a great performance, making us root for him in trying to escape Chigurh. He gives the impression of being bright, but also out of his league.

The technical side of this film is perfect. I loved the scene in the dark, where it is possible to see in the distance the second car and people around it. Then the chase scene is just beautifully shot, culminating with the swimming dog.

There are so many other scenes that grab you by the throat and never let go until the end. Most of them involve Chigurh. Him chasing Moss through the streets. The sheriff entering the hotel room at the end, etc…

There are also many supporting characters that give great performances themselves. Tommy Lee Jones, Woody Harrelson, Kelly McDonald…

This is just an enjoyable movie, each scene can be appreciated by themselves. The plot is simple, so repeated viewing will not be ruined by knowing the plot at all. This is a film that needs to be experienced.

Rating: 4 Stars

Shoot ’Em Up (2007): A man named Mr. Smith delivers a woman’s baby during a shootout, and is then called upon to protect the newborn from the army of gunmen.This is a pure fun action movie that plays on the action genre of its conventions. The plot is simple, though there is a little bit of mystery about the motivations behind these characters.

But what’s important about this movie are the over the top action scenes. These scenes reminded me of early John Woo movies, where the hero shoots against an army of people blasting automatic at him, but always missing, while he never fails. Even the slow-mo style is reminiscent of Woo.

We also get people who keep going even after they’ve been shot multiple times, the classic face 2 face gun shot, and many other over the top absurd action shots.

There is also lots of “fun” action, especially with the hero’s favorite food: carrots. And the way that newborn is tossed around I don’t think he’s gonna grow up normal.

I think Clive Owen was perfect for this role, he is serious enough not to let this movie go into farce, which it isn’t at all. Monica Bellucci plays the beautiful woman of the story, and that’s all she needs to be. Paul Giamatti also gives a fun performance, though it’s something that feels very familiar, which is the point of the whole movie.

My favorite scene is when the US presidential candidate is taken prisoner by Smith. Smith then proceeds to tell us what he thinks he should do to get out of that difficult situation he’s in, at which point we all know what going to happen, because we’ve seen it so many times, instead BOOM!! I was surprised and understood perfectly why they did it. Too bad the following action scene while free-falling looked too fake.

I must say I had fun with this movie. It’s not deep or thoughtful, doesn’t have any message at all. It’s just fun action winking at the action genre.

Rating: 3 Stars