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February 22, 2005
Constantine
Keanu Reeves --- John Constantine
Rachel Weisz --- Angela/Isabel Dodson
Tilda Swinton --- Gabriel
Djimon Hounsou --- Midnite
Gavin Rossdale --- Balthazar
Peter Stormare --- Satan
Constantine stars Keanu as a man who has the ability to see 'half-breed' demons. His "job" on earth, after being sent to hell briefly for attempting suicide (he was resuscitated after being dead for 30 seconds or some such bit), is to send meddling half-breeds back to hell in an attempt to win his way into heaven. The movie is based on the comic book by the name of Hellblazer --I've no knowledge of the comic, and perhaps it was better that way. A friend familiar with the comic scoffed at the movie when the lights came back up :) Along the way he comes across Detective Dodson and in helping her find out what happened to her twin sister, also stumbles across something horribly sinister....
I had a strong urge to see this movie, even though I thought the liklihood of it being good was slim. I was actually surprised, though. I kind of liked it. Don't get me wrong--it was no jump-out-of-your-seat thriller. It wasn't even all that creepy. The only part that really got me was the car impact scene at the very beginning. I can watch people get shot just fine, but hit 'em with a car and my stomach turns. But for a one-time viewing, I'd say it was quite watchable.
If you're a fan of Keanu and his typical less than animated acting, you'll feel right at home in Constantine. I swear sometimes they could replace him with a 6' tall block of wood and you'd get the same feeling out of a scene. The most action you really got out of Mr. Reeves, was his interaction with his lighter. Good god man...does it really take that much energy to flick a bic? Rachel Weisz, again plays the attractive damsel in distress. Kudos to her performance, though. And kudos to her character's name! (we've got something in common...) Oh yeah, the other creepy thing...hearing satan whisper your name, though in a movie, still gave me the shivers.
And finally, last but not least, my embarrassing secret. I'll admit I wanted to see it beforehand, but the real reason I jumped in my car and drove to the theatre was due to my having read that Balthazar, servant to satan, was played by none other than my high school love, Mr. Gavin Rossdale. Yes, kids, he can't really act. But I was pleasantly surprised that he's still quite attractive as a nearly 40 has-been rocker ;)
Posted by luminati at 02:17 AM | Comments (3)
February 21, 2005
The Manchurian Candidate
Jeffrey Wright .... Al Melvin
Pablo Schreiber .... Eddie Ingram
Anthony Mackie .... Robert Baker
Denzel Washington .... Ben Marco
Liev Schreiber .... Raymond Shaw
Meryl Streep .... Eleanor Shaw
Kimberly Elise .... Rosie
Jon Voight .... Senator Thomas Jordan
Vera Farmiga .... Jocelyne Jordan
Simon McBurney .... Atticus Noyle
Excellent movie!
God, the acting in this movie was PHENOMENONAL! I can't even put into words how good the main characters were. Denzel Washington and Liev Schreiber both brought intensity and helplessness to their characters. Meryl Streep brought a ruthlessness and ickyness (in regards to the mother/son relationship) to her character.
Plot wise, I wasn't too fond of the flashbacks, but it worked for the movie because it put the audience in the same frame of mind as Ben Marco, meaning the audience found things out at the same time he did.
Again, excellent movie!
Posted by xinh at 04:00 AM | Comments (0)
The Punisher
Thomas Jane .... Frank Castle (as Tom Jane)
Marcus Johns .... Will Castle
Samantha Mathis .... Maria Castle
John Travolta .... Howard Saint
James Carpinello .... Bobby Saint/John Saint
Laura Harring .... Livia Saint
Will Patton .... Quentin Glass
Eddie Jemison .... Micky Duka
Ben Foster .... Spacker Dave
John Pinette .... Bumpo
Rebecca Romijn-Stamos .... Joan
I'm not exactly sure why everyone panned this movie.
I mean, sure the acting isn't that great but this isn't Shakespeare.
The fight scenes and action scenes were pretty decent considering the budget restraints the filmmakers had but I really expected something more I think.
Overall, I'd say it's worth a rental.
Oh, and by the way, Thomas Jane with brown hair in this movie looks like a younger version of Christopher Lambert. Just so you know.
Posted by xinh at 01:40 AM | Comments (0)
February 19, 2005
The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason
Ok. I'm letting you know ahead of time that I am spoiling this book in this review. I'm not even going to do a mini review. If you want to read this book, don't read the review.
This book was B-O-R-I-N-G!!!! I cannot stress that enough.
Amazon recommended this book to me because I had read The DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons. I'm glad I didn't buy this book and instead borrowed it from the library because I would've been really pissed off if I had spent money on it.
The synopsis from Amazon.com:
Princeton. Good Friday, 1999. On the eve of graduation, two students are a hairsbreadth from solving the mysteries of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. Famous for its hypnotic power over those who study it, the five-hundred-year-old Hypnerotomachia may finally reveal its secrets -- to Tom Sullivan, whose father was obsessed with the book, and Paul Harris, whose future depends on it. As the deadline looms, research has stalled -- until an ancient diary surfaces. What Tom and Paul discover inside shocks even them: proof that the location of a hidden crypt has been ciphered within the pages of the obscure Renaissance text.Armed with this final clue, the two friends delve into the bizarre world of the Hypnerotomachia -- a world of forgotten erudition, strange sexual appetites, and terrible violence. But just as they begin to realize the magnitude of their discovery, Princeton's snowy campus is rocked: a longtime student of the book is murdered, shot dead in the hushed halls of the history department.
A tale of timeless intrigue, dazzling scholarship, and great imaginative power, The Rule of Four is the story of a young man divided between the future's promise and the past's allure, guided only by friendship and love.
Guess what? NOTHING happens in this book. The main characters run around, talking about the book, getting involved in murder investigations, and that's it.
The discussion about the history of the book and the puzzles and riddles in it are interesting. In fact, that's about the only thing that didn't bore me. The riddles and puzzles aren't easily solved and the characters spend a lot of time scouring other Renaissance texts to find the answers to the clues.
However, the book spends all this time delving into the history of the books and the characters and it neglects to advance the plot. Halfway through the book, I kept wondering when it was going to get to the point. By the time the first murder happens, I was relieved because it meant that there was some action and now I'd get to see some consequences. Nope. There's just more character development and more history of the book.
The last 20 pages of the book start talking about the hidden crypt and I was like "Finally!" but with only 20 pages left to go, I didn't see how they were going to wrap this up neatly. Guess what? They don't find the freaking crypt! They don't even go to look for the crypt. Not until the last page. I actually thought the book was missing pages because I couldn't believe that I read 370 pages and the characters didn't DO anything.
It was a HUGE waste of my time.
Posted by xinh at 06:54 PM
February 13, 2005
Numb3rs & Medium
for both shows.
Numb3rs comes on at 10pm Friday nights on CBS.
Medium comes on at 10pm Monday nights on NBC.
Because I'm an old lady who has to be at work at 630am, I tape both shows and watch them at some point later during the week or on the weekend.
NUMB3RS
Rob Morrow .... Don Eppes
David Krumholtz .... Charlie Eppes
Judd Hirsch .... Alan Eppes
Alimi Ballard .... David Sinclair
Sabrina Lloyd .... Terry Lake
Peter MacNicol .... Dr. Larry Fleinhardt
Synopsis: Don and Charlie Eppes are brothers. Don is an FBI agent. Charlie is a Professor of Mathematics at the ficticious CalSci University (CalTech really, but they film it at USC - WooT!!). Don, together with David Sinclair and Terry Lake (with whom Don had a relationship with in the past) work on cases and they occasionally bring in Charlie as a consultant to help use math to solve the crimes.
I admit that I mainly like this show because I am a Math & Science Fan Girl. I like math and science even though I'm horribly bad at both subjects.
The acting in this show is superb. And how can it not be with those excellent actors? I missed the very first episode, which probably had some introductory information that I might have needed but overall, I think I've got the gist of what's what and who's who.
The plots are varied and keep me interested all the way through. What I really like is that the Genius Math Brother isn't always right and that math, while helpful, doesn't necessarily save the day all the time.
MEDIUM
Patricia Arquette .... Allison Dubois
Miguel Sandoval .... D.A. Manuel Devalos
Jake Weber .... Joe Dubois
Synopsis: Allison Dubois is a suburban wife and mother of 3 who sees dead people. She consults for the Phoenix District Attorney's office, occasionally helping them out on cases.
What I love about this show most are the flaws of the characters. Allison's visions aren't always correct. Her husband tries to be supportive but it's hard having a wife who wakes up in the middle of the night from nightmares every night. Her 2 daughters fight with each other, like normal siblings (the youngest daughter is still a baby and can't speak yet). It's all very real. So when the supernatural stuff gets thrown in to the mix, it all seems perfectly natural.
Posted by xinh at 07:53 PM
February 07, 2005
Darkness Falls on Gotham: CSI:ny
Boy, it sure is dark in New York City. Everything's so grey...all the buildings are so damp...no one has proper beds...what an awful place it must be to live in...
Come on!
I've never been to NY, but I know that the sun does shine! It can't possibly be any grayer than Glasgow...trust me..
So, what's with this darkness? Who's idea was it to turn CSI into a Tim Burton film?
Horatio, in Miami, finds a body, and it's sunny! Despite the fact that Florida has rainfall every 5 minutes during summertime. (That might be a slight exaggeration).
Are the CSI people just playing on the stereotypes of the area? It never rains in CSI: Miami and CSI:NY is just one perpetual black hole...
And...back to our show now...
Gary Sinise is the newest leader of his CSI team, and wowee! Me likey Gary Sinisey. He has the stoney look of Horatio (David Caruso) and none of the playfulness of Grissom (William Peterson). So, why do we like him so much?
Becuase he's Gary Sinise, that's why.
Ok, so obviously, I think Gary Sinise is great. But the rest of the show...
eh.
There's not as much science, not as much picking up on trace evidence, not as much lab work, and as I mentioned earlier, not enough light.
I don't know any of the other CSI's on the team...nor does it seem like the producers want me to get to know them. They are simply little background stick figures. They're just there to do the work that we dont want to see Gary Sinise doing becuase it's boring.
I know it's just the first episode and, believe me, I'll give all the episodes their due attention...but so far, as if you couldn't tell, I'm not terribly impressed.
Of course, this first episode is mainly about Gary Sinise's character (whose name escapes me), and giving a bit of background on him. However, I don't necessarily agree that this is the right track for the pilot. We need to get to know the characters without actually knowing them first. Then we'll have the chance to ask, 'What's this guy's story?' and then the show can give its answer.
So...at last count we had not enough Team CSI, too much info about Sinise, and not enough light.
Am I leaving anything out?
Oh yes...I have to mention that even the pathologist sleeps in a damp dark corner.
Really. Flood lamps. I refuse to believe that all CSI departments in NYC are in gothic poorly light, very cold, cement buildings. If they are, then this helps explain why NYC has one of the largest unsolved murder case statistics.
Please make it like a hospital. Please make it warm. Please make it a place I'd like to hang out in with my uber-geek science buddies.
Or at least put some colour in there somewhere!
Ok, so this is one halo for gary, one halo for being a CSI spinoff and 4 pitchforks for lack of light, colour, Team CSI, and for not collecting trace evidence, as per the CSI handbook/manual thingy.
Posted by calima at 02:34 PM
The Forgotten
Julianne Moore .... Telly Paretta
Christopher Kovaleski .... Sam
Anthony Edwards .... Jim Paretta
Gary Sinise .... Dr. Jack Munce
Dominic West .... Ash Correll
Kathryn Faughnan .... Lauren Correll
Alfre Woodard .... Det. Anne Pope
This movie had the potential to be good. It did. But unfortunately, its plot rips off so many other movies that you're left thinking, "Well, geez. I could've just watched [whatever movies] and been more entertained."
I got so bored with this movie about halfway into that I just watched the rest of the movie on fast forward with the subtitles on, and watched both endings (theatrical release and alternate DVD ending) normally.
I would say, skip this movie and go watch Dark City instead.
Posted by xinh at 05:19 AM
Alien Vs. Predator
Sanaa Lathan .... Alexa Woods
Raoul Bova .... Sebastian de Rosa
Lance Henriksen .... Charles Bishop Weyland
Ewen Bremner .... Graeme Miller
Colin Salmon .... Maxwell Stafford
Tommy Flanagan .... Mark Verheiden
Joseph Rye .... Joe Connors
Agathe De La Boulaye .... Adele Rousseau
Carsten Norgaard .... Rusten Quinn
Sam Troughton .... Thomas Parks
The DVD I rented had both the theatrical and extended edition releases. I'm basing this review off the extended edition.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie. I mean, it's a sci-fi monster movie. Predator was a decent movie (but the sequel wasn't). The Alien films were all ok. But I've been disappointed in monster movies that looked promising before.
Can I just say that I about bust a gut while watching this movie? I'm pretty sure the filmmakers didn't intend for this movie to be funny, but I was laughing hysterically throughout this film. From the dialogue (which was supposed to be serious but came off as very drama-queen like) to the dramatic scenes (the "hair flip" of the Predators; nothing like seeing space dreadlocks whipping around in slow motion) to the special effects (a Predator grabbing an Alien by the tail and slinging it around), this movie just made me laugh.
Overall, I'd say it's worth a rental on a rainy day.
Posted by xinh at 05:04 AM
February 01, 2005
Fluke : Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings by Christopher Moore
Having read various other books by Christopher Moore (Bloodsucking Fiends, Lamb, The Stupidest Angel) and liking them all, I got his latest book from the library and settled in to be amused.
Yeah. This book? Not so much with the amusing. I mean, it's not a horrible book. Just not as funny as his others.
The story revolves around Nate Quinn, a Ph.D. Biologist based out of Hawaii, who studies humpback whales and tries to figure out why they sing.
Moore has his eccentric cast of characters: Nate, Clay (another biologist), Amy (the research assistant), Kona (the other assistant who's adopted the Rasta/Pidgeon speak of the Islands even though he's a Jewish kid from New Jersey), and the Old Broad (the benefactor who claims to speak with the whales by phone).
The first half of the book is pretty much a straightforward story. The second half of the story then takes you on a journey that is just so odd, you find yourself going, "Wha? Wait. What the hell is going on?" By the end of the book, you're just so relieved that some (not all) of your questions were answered. And it's not until you've finished the book that you realize that you basically just read a whole book dedicated to telling you that whales are a precious species and they need to be protected. It's like a Greenpeace propoganda book, cleverly disguised as a science fiction novel.
I will give Christopher Moore props for doing extensive research into the world of Marine Biology though. I know way more than I did before about whales, how they mate, etc.
Posted by xinh at 08:19 PM