Insight

I’ve decided I watch so many movies that I’ll try to provide brief reviews of the ones I’ve seen.  If I have time i’ll do it once a week but this first one will extend back a few weeks.  I hate the movie theaters so rarely go so most of these will be DVDs.

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Bewitched 5/10 :  a movie about a movie about a t.v. show.  The premise was confusing, Will Farrell was too goofy to be Darren.  It would have made more sense if they didn’t make all the other family members behave like they’re traditional characters.  Not a total wash but I found myself pausing the movie several times to do something else- and I did enjoy the original series.  I just hope if they do I dream of Jeannie they do a better job and stick with the original story.

Steam Boy 9/10:  Excellent anime set in the 1860’s during the age of invention.  Rated pg-13 for animated violence but I would find it appropriate for younger children.  The story follows a new ’steam’ based invention that was entrusted to a mans grandson to keep it away from those who would use it for war.

Finding Neverland 9/10:  Almost a 10, this drama is based on the times and life surrounding the creation of the original Peter Pan story.  Deeply moving it is hard not to feel for the characters in the story.  It is not a happy story, but it is a heartfelt one.

War of the Worlds 2005 8/10: I preferred the original.  The story follows that of a divorced father trying to save his children and get them to a safe area.  Though the characters had strong personalities- this seemed to detract from the alien invasion.  At points I felt like I was watching one of the Living Dead movies.  It was not exceptionally memorable and added nothing new to the original except for more special effects.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 8/10:  Confusing if you haven’t read the books.  Rated pg-13 for violence but I think that was a bit of a stretch.  The children are somewhat involved with dating which is what I think really got it the pg-13 rating.  A lot was left out, SPEW and Weasleys gags- as such some of the story had to be changed to keep the original story moving along.  Definately a fun movie if you’ve read the books, but if you haven’t be ready to be left going ‘huh’?  This will probably become common for any new movies when they squeeze 800 page books down to two and a half hours.

The Cube Zero:  (6/10)  If you’ve seen either of the other two cube movies and enjoyed them feel free to add a few points to my score.  This takes place a short period of time before the original The Cube and explains a good deal (though not enough) of what’s going on.  It’s a prequel and made me want to watch the cube movies over again.  The movie is very violent and gorey.  The Cube, is basically a large labrinth of cubes people are thrown into after having their memories erased.  Some of the rooms are booby-trapped with deadly devices.  Those that are thrown into the cube try to get across to find the edge of the cube.  Each room has exits in the middle of each of their faces.  The Cube Zero probably would not appeal to anyone who has not seen the movies before.

Radio (7/10):  Based on a true story and as such is well told, however it is not always easy to relate with the characters.  It is only halfway through the movie that you find the Coaches motivation for caring for the mentally challenged boy.  There are numerous ‘threats’ against Radio but they are never really spelled out, just loose possibilites that are never really faced in the movie.  There are still several poignant moments where you can relate with Radio but it seemed that a lot of the story was missing while instead they focused on the sports teams with Radio’s story as a side note.

Deuce Bigalow European Gigalo (6/10):  A somewhat amusing comedy set for the most part in Amsterdam.  It’s raunchier than the first movie and there were a few laughs but it seemed to lose the reedeming qualities of most Happy Madison productions.  Not a horrible sequel but definately not in the vein of 50 first dates.  Jokes about homosexuality, unwitting pot use, americans and the war in iraq, and using public streets as restrooms.

Taxi (8/10): Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon make an amusing duo in this action comedy.  Latifah, is a taxi driver who has a problem obeying speed limits.  Fallon is a bungling police officer who could crash a car without starting it.  The story follows the pair meeting and going after bank robbers to redeem Jimmy Fallons position in the police force.

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GAMES

Disgae Hour of Darkness (9/10):  Tactical RPG in the vein of Orgre Battle and Final Fantasy Tactics.  The game is similar to Phantom Brave with an amusing comical story that has no difficulties poking fun of itself.  A large range of possibilities in this game, from tons of playable characters (monsters and people alike), leveling up equipment, a senate that you need to petition for rank or more expensive items and than the game itself makes for a lot of game play.  The dialogue at time is a bit mature in a goofy way ( pokes fun at the main characters difficulty being around attractive females).  The main character is lord of the underworld and rules over demons- or at least tries to.  At times the difficulty level progresses rapidly and one most go back to earlier stages to get their characters leveled up.  If you enjoy non serious tactical RPG’s this is a great game, if you like Phantom Brave you will love this (the random dungeons are instead used to level up items with a difficulty based on the item levels).  PS2. 

Star Wars Battle Front 2 (7/10):  Great looking game but with a harsh difficulty at points.  I haven’t gotten far in the game but even early on I found myself at several points I could not pass.  Landing on the deck of an enemy ship leaves me crashing into the side half the time and unable even to get on with the mission.  If you have a lot of patience and enjoyed the first this game is for you, as for me I don’t enjoy playing the same scene that takes 10 minutes over and over again unless it’s a major turning point.  PS2

Civilizations IV (9/10):  Great continuation of the Civilizations series but with a number of changes that may leave people irked.  First, you need a graphics card to play this game due to the pixel shader requirements.  The game looks good and the abilities of the workers have been drastically increased.  However, I find that it’s far easier just to automate my workers than direct them since they can make dozens of new improvements that I quickly lost track of.  The need for diverse troops are greater in this edition since the strengths and weaknesses of forces play off each other similar to paper-rock-stone.  Even though they have a basic attack rating, your troops have bonuses versus specific enemies.  A 12 attack granadier can readily take out a 15 attack riflemen because they have a 50% attack bonus versus riflemen.  The game also seems much shorter this time around and can be played out in 3 hours to a victory.  You also have more selections now than just selecting a type of government which has a lot to do with gameplay.  Religion is also in the game and can help or hamper your relations with other powers (other religions will consider you misguided pagans).  A worthwhile addition to the Civiliations turned based strategy series but may leave a few players left in the dust (if it runs on their older computers).

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 11th, 2005 at 1:02 pm and is filed under Movies and Games. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.