Triple Play

Hi Everybody! It's been a long week or so, so I have a triple play of movie reviews for you. Enjoy!

Review #1:

Movie: Troy
Starring: Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom, Eric Bana
Run Time: 165 minutes
Rating on All Movie dot com: 3 out of 5 stars
My review: 3 or 4 out of 5 stars

Last Sunday, Alanna and I went to see this with Mandy and T.
Troy was a long movie. It was a pretty good one though. I like the epic-type movies like this. And what better epic than Homer's Iliad? This movie was, of course, about the Trojan war between Troy and Greece over Helen of Sparta, who becomes Helen of Troy. Paris of Troy has an affair with King Menalaus' wife, and brings her back to Troy. The king gets his brother King Agamemnon to go to war to get her back, along with his revenge. Brad Pitt is Achilles, who really follows his own orders, and can't be controlled by Agamemnon. But he fights for Aggie's side in the war.
The movie has some cool action scenes and a good story. It was an enjoyable experience, but near 3 hours in a theater seat was a little long. I'd definitely recommend it as a rental. Knowing the outcome of the war takes a little away from the flick, because you're always waiting for the Greeks to build the horse, and you know what happens next. But it was still cool to see it on the screen. Hey, do you think the Trojan condomns were named after this?

This next review is dedicated to Mike.

Movie: Van Helsing
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, Richard Roxburgh
Run Time: 132 minutes
Rating on All Movie dot com: 2 1/2 out of 5 stars
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Wednesday, T and I went to see this flick at the mall. Nice of the theaters to raise ticket prices yet again, now $8.25. If I'd have gotten a drink and popcorn, I'd have taken out a loan at the bank. Ridiculous!
Anyway, T and I both liked the movie. It had a pretty good story, and some pretty cool special effects. The story is about Van Helsing, a guy with a fuzzy past who hunts the monsters such as Wolfman, Jekkyl's Hyde, and of course, Dracula. Well, Dracula is trying to become alive, or not undead, or whatever. Nobody has been able to kill Dracula. Kate Beckinsale is Anna Valerious, whose family will be cursed until Drac is dead once and for all. She and her brother are the last chance in the family to kill Dracula, and Van Helsing comes to help. Together, they tangle with Drac's three Vamp brides, and try to find his castle and a way to conquer him. We find out that Dracula and Van Helsing have something of a history together, and Van Helsing is trying to piece it together. Meanwhile, Dr. Frankenstein has created his monster, and this monster is the key to Drac's eternal life, and the chance for his millions of offspring to live. The Frankenstein monster is surprisingly intelligent in this movie, and is actually kind of a good guy, trying to not be used for Dracula's plan.
As I stated before, this was a good movie. Having said that, there were a few things that were either too over-the-top, or not enough so, while others were just confusing. The final battle between Van Helsing and Dracula should have been better, with more action and more of, well, a battle. There were a lot of unreal moments (even for a fictional movie such as this), For example, the swinging from rope to rope or wire to wire with a fully extended arm, just is not possible. It's like they're all superhero acrobats. C'mon! Oh, and when Frankenstein's monster crashes through a window and simultaneously saves Anna's hide is a little cheesy. And please, anybody who watches this, tell me how Van Helsing's carriage catches fire in the forest when the werewolf lands on top of it. Seriously, how does that happen?
Oh well, the movie was enjoyable enough to overlook those cheeseball moments. I enjoyed the theater experience too for this flick. I think you'll enjoy this movie. And why not? I gave it a good review.

Review #3

Movie: Shrek 2
Starring: The voices of Eddie Murphy, Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, and Antonio Banderas
Run Time: 93 minutes
All Movie dot com rating: 4 out of 5 stars
My Rating: Oh, I guess about the same

Alanna and I went to Niagara fall this weekend, and stayed in Buffalo for free at the Motel 6, because I received two guest certificates as a wedding gift. We ended up seeing a movie where there was a cross dressing guy, another guy wearing a woman's thong, talk about BM's (the M stands for movement), and someone saying someone else still looks like an ass. Was this the new Quentin Tarantino movie? No it was a kid's movie by the name of Shrek 2! Unbelievable! Nice parenting, movie makers!
Well, this was a pretty good movie, I have to admit. I saw Shrek 1 for the first time a few months ago. I liked them both. In part 2, Shrek's and Fiona's wedded bliss is interuppted by an invitation for them to go back to her parent's castle for a celebratory ball. Shrek of course will be meeting the in-laws for the first time. When he does, they are stunned to find he's an ogre, and Fiona still is too. Well, the King wants Shrek out of the picture, and Prince Charming in. He calls on Price's mom, the Fairy Godmother, for some help. He also enlists the fearsome Puss-in-Boots to get rid of Shrek. The idea is for Prince Chraming to get Fiona, and for the curse to be lifted of the princess Fiona for good, so she's human again. In addition, The King owes the Fairy Godmother in return for a favor she did for him years ago.
OK, the movie was good. It had some pretty good humor (not the ice cream), albeit mostly adult-oriented. The best part of the movie was of course Eddie Murphy's Donkey character. And there's a good scene with Pinnochio and the aforementioned thong. Puss-in-boots is pretty funny too. All in all, this was a good movie experience the whole family will enjoy. Even if the little kiddies won't understand all the humor.

Whew! That was a long post. Hope y'all enjoyed it. Go see some movies this week. Tell 'em Tim sent ya! And somebody tell me about the carriage fire in Van Helsing!

Tim