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I was skimming over a list of the all-time worldwide box office takes for movies and realized that the vast majority of the movies listed are either science-fiction or fantasy. So why then does science-fiction and fantasy programs do so poorly on television (with only a few exceptions)? I asked a friend who suggested it basically comes down to budget. Sci-Fi and Fantasy cost more to produce, and if you can't make it convincing, viewers are going to lose interest. Maybe? I don't really buy it. I feel like quality writing, characters, and story are going to trump effects. Is it maybe that a good sci-fi/fantasy series needs time to develop, but often gets pulled too soon by the network when it doesn't perform off-the-bat? I don't know, I'm just asking questions here, but it does seem like an interesting contradiction worthy of at least some discussion.

Talk about a title that leaves you out of breath! So here we have director Chris Columbus taking on another series of young adult novels only instead of bringing us the excellent Harry Potter, he drops a mediocre Percy Jackson at our feet and smiles uncomfortably. I realize we shouldn't have very high expectations for adventure movies targeting kids and teens, but I suppose I was hoping for more. Straight up, this movie suffers from a bad script full of forced jokes that feel very played out. There's also the overall story, which suggests that demi-gods are as common as... witches and warlocks in the modern world. But in this case, we're squeezing in a lesson in Greek mythology and the true meaning of family. Awwww... It felt like a stretch to me too. There were some moments that weren't as bad as others, but they were fleeting. Any time I started to feel like something might actually get interesting, it was quickly suppressed by crappy dialog. So sad. Well, I've moved on.

2/5

One of the iconic monsters in movie history gets a fresh coat of paint so that it can look pretty much just like it did in the 1941 original. That is not to say the movie isn't visually impressive, the digital effects are generally convincing, my problems with the creature stem more from how not-horrifying the creature design actually is.

Speaking of horror, this movie basically subsists on consistently startling the viewer with tension-building music and camera angles designed to make you think something is right there, about to leap out. There's also a fair bit of gore in the form of beheadings and guts strewn about the earth, but most of this happens in dim light leaving much of it up to the viewer to imagine the full extent of the carnage. That said, I would still recommend parents respect the R rating and not take their children under 12 to this movie. Yes, we did see several younger children in the theater.

I did like Danny Elfman's score, it was suitably retro-horror sounding. The werewolf transformations were pretty cool, but still don't quite rival the spectacular displays of An American Werewolf in London, even considering those were practical effects and not CG. Speaking of which, I realized The Wolfman presents a scenario in which we basically have an American werewolf in London. Well, it made me snicker, anyway.

I had some issues with the pacing of the film. As I said before, this movie has an intense focus on startling the viewer, which means there are long sections where basically nothing at all happens in order to build tension. I felt these lulls dragged the movie down a little too much. There's also this problem about mid-way through the movie where there's a full moon for only one night. Oops. And it's not like this is a problem with editing, it's just how the story was written. We need the wolf here, we just don't want to deal with him for a full three days. There's also the primary message of the movie, this issue of fate. Do we have control of our destiny or is it all decided for us? Obviously well-traveled ground and there's nothing new here. I did get a distinct feeling of helplessness, though. Out of no where, a person could be cursed, whether it's being bitten by a supernatural werewolf creature, or having one's house destroyed by a tornado. These are powerful forces we can't control and we get this feeling that anything outside of our control is the raw power of fate at work in our lives. Do we accept it and let the beast free or do we fight fate and kill ourselves. I feel like there should be other options. It shouldn't be any surprise that in the end fate wins, but I'm not sure how I am supposed to feel about that.

Decent movie. Lots of scares. A message that makes you fear the futility of life. Decent effects. Somewhat poor pacing. Rawr.

3/5

Oh come on, no one is surprised I went to see this movie. Alone. On Valentine's Day. I consider it one of my responsibilities to meet expectations. Now, back to the review...

Hey look, another romantic comedy featuring a huge ensemble cast of pretty people! How could this possibly go wrong? The thing about these large ensemble cast movies is trying juggle all the various stories and often being left with the feeling that you never really get enough time with any of them. So I was relatively pleased to find myself fairly satisfied by the movie in terms of getting around to everyone. Of course, the deal here is that everyone is connected in some way. They're friends or coworkers or parents or whatever... As the movie progresses you are able to pick out who hasn't had their connections yet and fit them in to the proper slots, so not so much a mystery, but still fun. In the end, the bad people get their due and the good people find happiness and everything is right with world. I'm not complaining. With regard to the movie, anyway.

3/5

It's always daunting going into a movie knowing there's really no happy ending, but even then it's nice to be surprised to discover there is, in fact, life after death. The story itself is fairly simple and is outlined clearly in all the trailers. Suzie Salmon is murdered at age 14 and most of the movie follows the people she loves and her murderer over the next two years or so, while Suzie herself watches from the in-between, the space between earth and heaven. There's more, but I am reluctant to give anything else away. I will say that Suzie's ending provided a pleasant surprise, in that it isn't what I would have expected from a typical Hollywood movie. There was no graphic violence and the viewer is left to guess about the details of young Suzie's final moments. I understand the book goes into a lot more detail, but I was happy to not have to experience that. Instead of loading up on the gruesomeness of the killing, we instead ride an emotional rollercoaster along with the Salmon family, narrated by Suzie as she watches what they are going through. I found it poignant and it kept me close to tears for a large part of the film. Assuming you know what you're getting into and you are in the mood for something shy of a thriller, more like a walk through the emotional journey a family facing tragedy deals with... then I think you'll enjoy The Lovely Bones just fine.

Going back to what I said early on, about life after death, I'm not speaking about Suzie's in-between place, it's more about how a family copes and moves on with a serious tragedy. That is life after death.

4/5

The Book of Eli is another movie set in post-apocalyptic North America. Unlike The Road's east coast setting, The Book of Eli takes place in the barren west as Eli, played by Denzel Washington, travels toward the coast in a divine quest to simply "go west." The villain Carnegie is played by one of my favorites, Gary Oldman, as the de facto mafia mayor of what looks to be an old prospecting town. Of course, Eli's interest in spreading the word for the good of all is somewhat in conflict with Carnegie's desire to gain power through the control of the weak-willed and ignorant. The story goes that, after "the flash" all copies of The Bible were burned because some thought religion caused the war. Make of that what you want. So now all that's left is this one copy of The Bible and it must be saved because it is good. Or something. Honestly, I'm not sure what the message is here. So, on top of the foggy message and motivations, we're slapped in the face with a huge twist at the end that makes you want to go back and watch the whole movie again to catch all the clues... and then you realize you really didn't enjoy the movie enough to have any interest in watching it again.

2/5

Leap Year is another fairly typical romantic comedy utilizing the "fish-out-of-water" scenario. Boston upper-middle-class woman travels to Ireland on a quest to propose to her boyfriend of four years who has yet to propose to her. Unfortunately, instead of landing in Dublin, the plane is diverted to England, and she is forced to work her way across sea and land to find love and ends up discovering it in the one place she would never have expected. You know you're in well-trod territory when the female lead is trying to walk in stiletto heals on dirt roads. Still, I enjoyed the movie for what it was and found the actors charming and the resolution fairly satisfying.

3/5

Oh look, another vampire movie... Thankfully, this isn't your typical vampire flick and actually presents some interesting ideas to consider. In short, what would happen if most of the world's population were turned to vampires? As a tiny minority, there's food walking around everywhere, but as the dominant species, the possibility of consuming all the available food sources is very realistic. On one side you have the vampire corporate interests trying to control the food supply, and on the other you have the few remaining endangered humans struggling to keep the race alive. I felt echoes of both Equilibrium (a small underground fighting against a monolithic power to save humanity) and Gattaca (one man trying to hide his true self from an oppressive corporation/government). Daybreakers doesn't approach the philosophical topics that both of those movies confronted, but I felt like the conversation was there, dozing under the surface with an occasional snort or snore to make itself heard. Also noteworthy is the film's score which is a score. I was expecting a modern vampire movie to be filled with dark pop songs and pumping bass beats, but instead the entire movie, end-to-end, is scored. And I'm not talking about a horror movie score that's designed to build tension, I mean there was orchestral music playing all the way through. It was also filmed in a semi-noir fashion that I found appealing. My final notes are on content, there is some profanity and there are also moments of graphic (though not scary) gore.

4/5

In very simple terms, this movie was amazing. It is beautifully rendered, well written, wonderfully acted (both live action and CG) and presented in ground-breaking 3D. It's also light years away from being an original story and it doesn't really matter. To provide a little more detail on the story, it's basically Dances with Wolves or, in my opinion, Battle for Terra. That's fine. It's a common story, but it works. James Cameron has taken a common story and presented an epic movie that moves the viewer with both adrenaline and emotion. It hits square on and solid. I do have some issues with plot holes, but I've moved on. I enjoyed myself too much to get caught up on technical details. Go check it out.

5/5

Guy Ritchie rapes the very nature of Sherlock Holmes, turning him from an intellectual into a brawler to suit the tastes of an action-needy modern audience. Result: Fantastic Fun! I feel ashamed. There's no doubt that this movie was a great deal of fun. It actually deals a lot with Holmes' genius and how it prevents him from fitting in with the "normals" that inhabit his life. Still, it feels wrong watching him engaging in fight after fight with the calculating technique of a trained martial arts master (using a sort of brawling technique). I should also note that the relationship between Watson and Holmes very closely resembles the bro-mance JD and Turk in Scrubs. It is funny, but seems more than a little out of place in Victorian London.

4/5