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I've been sick as a mule, but managed to rent some movies. I've recently seen-
Superman Returns - In a word, shit. Cliched, over long, dull, predictable, and just plain awful. Sure it looks nice and Spacey just about saves it from being a total farce, but it has no soul and the actor who plays Superman (I can't be arsed to look up his name) is the most wooden actor this side of Keanu. Most of all the continuity is really annoying (i.e, Superman disappears for five years and Clark Kent goes on a 'find himself' vacation for... five years, Clark returns and so does Superman - at the same time - and Lois Lane, an INVESTIGATIVE journalist, who snogs Superman and works in close quaters with Kent doesn't seem to notice the similarities and coincidences).
Sure, it's a comic book movie so can't be taken fully seriously, but where Batman Begins reinvented the steel for it's character, the new Man of Steel just takes a rusty old franchise and reinvents it as tin foil - looks nice and shiny, but is flimsy and is only useful for cooking a big fat Turkey - 2/10.
Snakes on a Plane - From my reaction to the above movie, you'd expect a similar reply to this one, however this film doesn't pretend to be a critically acclaimed, Oscar nominated movie. It was marketed as a 'So bad, it's good' type and with good reason, it's not a great movie. But it does excel at one thing - it's like a good, old fashioned cheesy 80's action movie a la Arnie or JC Van Damme that really can't take itself seriously (but doesn't realise it either!). Sure Sam Jackson looks almost embarassed, but he delivers the line of the movie ('Let's get these motherfucking snakes off this motherfucking plane!') as well as any Arnie/Van Damme, and in the end he just goes along with the silliness of the whole thing (and looks relieved in more ways than one at the finish!.
A good old fashioned romp that's entertaining and unknowingly amusing, but not really a repeat visitor to your DVD palyer - 6/10.
Little Miss Sunshine - Now here is a film that was made on a shoe string, yet took one very basic idea and knocked it out of the park. Where SR failed badly with no soul, this has an abundance of it. I've just finished reading Michael Moore's 'Stupid White Men'. The relevance of this statement is that Hollywood would normally lead us non-USA folk to believe that America wins all, that apart from the deep south everyone is a good, upstanding Christian citizen and the US will always save the day. Nothing wrong with being patriotic, if it sells, it sells. What I'm trying to say is that LMS speaks a worldwide universal language that everyone isn't perfect, that families are dysfunctional and the best laid plans never usually come through. I think it shows the average American better than any American movie before it and I respect that, immensely.
I don't get inspired by fan-fares like SR relies on, I'm inspired by honesty and this movie is extremely recommended (if only a little cringeworthy in part). The acting is superb and the character chemistry is spot on. There's not one smatter of CGI and is five time the movie that the named Blockbuster above claims to be, as it relies on actor graft and a damn good script - 9/10.
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"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S. Eliot
"I got shit on my ass" Rick Sanchez
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