Jul 21, 2008

Big Fat Movie Review Weekend II

Nope...I didn't see The Dark Knight this weekend. After Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of wedding madness we really weren't into much more than lounging in the AC and watching Yankee games on Saturday and Sunday. And ordering in food.

But I did manage to catch some films at home instead. The benevolent Earl now gives you his brief reviews:

nnnnn - Loved it.
nnnnx - Really Liked it.
nnnxx - Liked it.
nnxxx - Didn't Like it.
nxxxx - Hated it.

nnnnx The Kingdom (2007) - I hadn't heard much about this film except for director Peter Berg's use of the "shaky" cam, but I was pleasantly surprised. I usually can't stand Jamie Foxx or Jennifer Garner, but both were pretty decent in this flick. Jason Bateman and Chris Cooper are always good, though. If you haven't seen it, the film is about a small FBI unit sent to Saudi Arabia to assist in the investigation of a terrorist act against a both Saudis and Americans at an oil companies oversees housing project. Wackiness ensues. Including some pretty impressive action scenes.

nnnnn Superbad (2007) - I saw this one when it first came out on DVD, but I had to watch it again when it showed up on cable. Loved it the first time, loved it the second time. Which is surprising because I thought Jonah Hill's act got a little tiring by the end of the film on my initial viewing. But nope. Fat guys are always funny. Just ask everyone who knows me.

nnnnn Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (2008) - OK, so technically this isn't a movie. It's a series of three short musical webisodes written and directed by the his Buffyness, Joss Whedon. Neil Patrick Harris as the titular (hehe) villain and Nathan Fillion as his arch-nemesis Captain Hammer. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed this. Too bad you are reading this on Monday, because it was available for free viewing on the above link until midnight on Sunday. Now you will have to purchase each webisode on iTunes. Suckaz!!! I'm probably gonna do that too...but only because Nathan Fillion is one of my dude crushes. He's pretty!

nnnnx Eastern Promises (2007) - Bloglister Limpy wrote about this one and Viggo Mortensen's penis-slinging battle in a bath house last week. That's why I watched it! Wooo-gah! I love me some David Cronenberg films. This one was no slouch either. Bloody...yes. Violent...yes. Gratuitous penis...hell, yes! But no one does any of that better than my man, DC. But speaking of Viggo Mortensen nekkid, isn't his ass a bit weird? He's got a bit of a tail. That's it! He is no longer one of my dude crushes. I can't deal with the tail!

Oh, and I watched LoTR: The Fellowship of the Ring with Gia on Sunday night. She's a trooper. She usually hates that dwarf/elf/orc shit, but she hung in there. Actually liked it. Now I have to break the news that there are over 6 hours left in the trilogy. Eeeks!

19 comments:

Avitable said...

I agree with all of your reviews, except LOTR. I think those three movies are a pile of shit.

The Kingdom was pretty stressful, especially during the scene where they're going for Jason Bateman's character. I usually don't get on the edge of my seat, but this time I was.

Verdant Earl said...

Avitable - AHA, but I really didn't review LoTR now, did I? But if you must know, they are three of my favorite films of all time. Movies that I never thought could be made.

Slyde said...

funny you mentioned kingdom.. i was giving it some consideration on friday, but decided on passing on it.

SUperbad rocked.

and i meant to call you last night to discuss dr horrible.. i fucking LOVED IT! The should release all 3 on a dvd.

Verdant Earl said...

Slyde - They will with the Dr. Horrible thing. Probably more stuff on it too. Right now the webisodes are available on iTunes. You may want to check out The Kingdom. It was pretty good.

Suzi Q said...

Liked the Kingdom but there really was a lot of violence, not for me. Superbad rocked, never heard of the third one you listed. Eastern Promises? I think I saw aprt of that one, seems to me a fell asleep, I have a tendency to do that during any movie. And LOTR, I don't know - seemed like a walk for fourteen days then fiht a bunch of bad guys, walk for twenty five days and fight the same kind of bad guys, like why didn't they just get in an SUV and drive to the god damned volcano thing?

Tequila Mockingbird said...

ZOMG, i watched dr horribles sing a long blog last week. i dug it. i mean, it didnt make me cumpants, but it was a decent usage of my time at work.

Verdant Earl said...

Paige - I banish ye to the Land of People Who Don't Get the LoTR!!! Avitable is there too!

Tequila - I might have cum a little when I watched it. Nathan Fillion!!!

Ookami Snow said...

The only thing I have seen out of those movies is LOTR, which I liked.

Anonymous said...

I absolutely loved the Eastern Promises. First of all Naomi Watts is one of my favorites (I blogged about her not too long ago), and secondly, that fight scene in the turkish bath is one of the best I've ever seen. Viggo was a terrific Russian mafioso.
Two summers ago I reread the LoTR and immediately watched all the films. Fantastic.

Seals said...

I'm with you on all of these except LoTR. I'm with Adam on that one. I guess I just never understood/gave-a-shit about the main story about the ring. After that, it was pretty much like watching someone play a video game. The most overrated nine hours in film.

BTW, I didn't comment on this yesterday because I read the words "The Dark Knight" and quickly ran away. :)

Anonymous said...

hi, Teeni sent me. Didn't want to be rude and just take the word I needed and then leave. Besides I love movies!

I agree with you on The Kingdom, I liked Eastern Promises and have yet to see SuperBad but I watched Jonah on the Ellen show and he convinced me with his charm that I might have to watch his movies... I only saw the first few minutes of Dr Horrible (I didn't realize it was free for only a few days?!) but I loved his maniacal laughter. Finally, I heart LOTR!

Verdant Earl said...

Ookami - I knew you were one of the cool kids!

MikeB - I really liked Eastern Promises too. Viggo certainly gives all to his movies. And it seems as if you either love LoTR or hated it.

ajooja - So my fragmented comment/s on your blog piqued your interest, eh? And, wait...OVERRATED!!! What the Hell with all the LoTR hate going on here?

Ideajump - Hi, and great handle! Thanks for stopping by!

Avitable said...

The movies really were like this:

Walk, whine, run, cry, walk, fight, walk, fight, fight, run, whine, fight, walk, fight, throw ring.

Verdant Earl said...

Avitable - the only one I'm going to agree with you on there is the "whine" part. I love the books and the films, but I just wish that Frodo would man up sometimes. But yeah...the walking/fighting thing is a common complaint. Like I said, you either love the films or you hate them. Count yourself out of my will since you fall into the latter category. That's a portion of a really cool comic-book collection you might be missing out on, mister! ;)

Avitable said...

Damn!

limpy99 said...

Hot damn, I'm in the will, since I love those movies.

I really hope you're rich.

Verdant Earl said...

Limpy - if wishing only made it so.

Bruce Johnson said...

"The Kingdom", haven't seen it, but in a way, I saw it being made. It was all filmed in the Phoenix metro area, some parts of it just down the street from our house.

"Superbad", downloaded it on my iPod for my cross country Amtrak adventure. I was suprised, it was pretty damn funny, and I will never let any woman dryhump my leg at a party again...ever.

"Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog".....WTF?

"Eastern Promises"....if I can evern find it on the Internet to download, I will, I am sure it must be good, but I am too cheap to buy it.

"LOTR"....never gets old, it was a classic the first time I saw it.

Verdant Earl said...

Lotus - Dr. Horrible was great and is unfortunately no longer available for free viewing.