Monday, December 11, 2006

My Frighteningly Random Taste In Movies

OK, so I have weird tastes, anyone who knows me well can attest to that. As a good example of that, I'm going to review the four movies I picked out to rent earlier tonight.

  1. Fullmetal Alchemist The Movie: Conquerer of Shamballa
    • This is the final chapter to one of my favorite anime series. There are 51 episodes and the movie in total. The movie continues the events of the last episode, where Edward Elric has been pulled through the Gate while to Earth, while his brother Alphonse is still in their world of Amestris.
    • The movie, like the series, has excellent animation and character development, an interesting soundtrack, and a good combination between seriousness and humor.
    • Compared to the series, the movie is a bit crazy with the story jumping between the parallel worlds and the juxtaposition of alchemy and science, but that's part of what makes it so interesting.
      • The fanbois in me feels compelled to say the following: OMG! alchemy, and rockets, and mechs, and fighting ze Germans! OK, I'm done with that now.
    • Definitely worth checking out, but only after watching the series from beginning to end, otherwise it won't make much sense at all, mostly for lack of knowledge of the backstory.
  2. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
    • I was so pumped when I originally heard about this movie being made, and I went and saw it on opening weekend and it definitely didn't disappoint. I remember reading the books when I was quite a bit younger, and especially associating with the character of Peter, and was glad to see that the book was translated to well into film.
    • If you don't already know the story of Narnia, I feel sorry for your deprived childhood, and you should go out and read the books now. If you haven't read the books, I'd suggest at least reading The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe before seeing this movie, as it'll give you a bit more perspective.
    • Like I said, read the book if you haven't before and then go see the movie immediately. It's that good.
      • As a random side note: When listening to the music over the end credits I heard an artist I recognized, but I didn't know the song. As it turns out Imogen Heap, who I've been listening to quite a bit recently, did the song "Can't Take It In" exclusively for the soundtrack. It's quite a good song, and you should check out the soundtrack and Imogen Heap's other material if you haven't already.
  3. Gone in 60 Seconds
    • A pseudo-remake of the 1974 movie of the same name, has Nicolas Cage stealing 50 cars in the course of one day. Of course, the car that everyone remembers from the movie is Eleanor, a 1967 Mustang GT500 (The original Eleanor was a 1971 Mustang Mach1 made to look like a '73). Personally, Eleanor isn't nearly as interesting to me as some of the other cars on their list, which in my opinion don't get nearly enough screen time for their rarity (DB7, Porsche 959, Shelby AC Cobra, etc.)
    • If this movie doesn't make you at least think for a minute that it'd be cool to be a car thief then I think the adventurous part of your brain is broken.
    • This is a fun movie to watch if you want something to check out that you don't have to take too seriously, or if you're a big car guy.
      • If you do like this movie, especially for the cars, you should check out the original version, which has 48 classic cars, and also a 40 minute long car chase scene, done completely without the help of special effects, including a staged jump over an accident scene.
  4. Blank Check
    • OK, I got this on a whim, as I haven't seen it since hitting puberty. I cannot in good conscience recommend that anyone watch this movie. It's painful.
    • Seriously though, there are a few points to make about this movie.
      1. The limo driver is a wannabe Chris Farley.
      2. There is no way that $1,000,000 could go anywhere near as far as it appeared to in this movie.
      3. Early 90's style makes me laugh. A lot.
      4. Every child actor in this movie who isn't the lead makes me cringe. It's that bad.
    • Please, don't watch this movie, there's no need. Go watch Richie Rich or something, anything, else.
Yeah, so there you have it. One anime, one epic based on a children's book, one action remake, and one terrible, terrible live-action Disney film.

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