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Mini Movie Reviews

In just a few sentences … or less

Ghost Train (Otoshimono)

In Mini Movie Reviews on 30 April 2007 with no comments

In the vein of Japanese psychological thrillers and horrors like The Ring, and yet taking a lot of aspects of other genres of thrillers, this movie didn’t strike me as particularly scary … until I found that I woke up 5 times throughout the night. I guess like Hitchcock films, it affected me more than [...]

Grindhouse

In Mini Movie Reviews on 15 April 2007 with no comments

Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s tribute to the b-flick genre delivers in very different ways. At first, I found Rodriguez’s “Planet Terror” the more enjoyable of the double features with its unabashed, over-the-top, almost comedic take on the zombie sub-genre. Rose McGowan is stunning and Freddy Rodriguez, for lack of a better description, is ninja [...]

Secretary

In Mini Movie Reviews on 28 February 2007 with 3 comments

It seems I’m on a kick of off-beat movies lately. Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader (whom I last saw in the less known Crash) are brilliant in their portrayal of their respective power dynamics and keeping a tension between them throughout without overdoing it. On a pseudo related note, I totally agree with this guy [...]

Batoru Rowaiaru (Battle Royale)

In Mini Movie Reviews on 25 February 2007 with 1 comment

I initially thought this movie was a Takashi Miike film but it’s not, which is probably why despite the premise of putting high school kids on an island ot kill each other, it was still relatively tame for its genre (emphasis on relative). Crossbows, grenades, teenage mayhem, cliques, and explosive collars. What more could one [...]

Children of Men

In Mini Movie Reviews on 16 January 2007 with no comments

Alfonso Cuaron’s latest movie is something not to be seen from the 3rd row of a theater. The cinematography is incredible, with a lot of extended shots but the hand held nature of the shots make it rather nauseating for the viewer up close (mind you, I don’t recommend anything from the 3rd row but [...]

Dreamgirls

In Mini Movie Reviews on 15 January 2007 with no comments

Ugh. I wanted to see Pan’s Labyrinth but instead got dragged to watch this. I actually think this could have been a decent movie if one were into the musical movie genre (ala Chicago or Moulin Rouge) and Eddie Murphy was pretty fantastic in his role as Jimmy Early. The awards circuit is buzzing about [...]

Good Night, and Good Luck

In Mini Movie Reviews on 15 January 2007 with 1 comment

Is it just me or is George Clooney finding a fair bit of diversity in his roles lately? I’ve never been a fan of his but he’s definitely put himself in some great films, first Syriana and now this … and he directed it to boot! Like the movie Network, Good Night, and Good Luck [...]

Pursuit of Happyness

In Mini Movie Reviews on 28 December 2006 with 1 comment

Rags to riches story of Chris Andersen. I often think that people give less credit to Will Smith as an actor than he deserves. He’s been able to pull off a pretty decent range and I doubt I could imagine say, Denzel Washington, playing the role. I think the strangest thing is that this film [...]

Casino Royale

In Mini Movie Reviews on 28 December 2006 with no comments

The latest installment of James Bond with the blonde bond, Daniel Craig. Anyone seen L4yer Cake? Yeah, it’s an awesome movie. So is this. He’s rough around the edges, makes mistakes, but is hard as steel. Closer to assassin than suave agent. Eva Green is hot and has some great banter with Bond but … [...]

Superman Returns

In Mini Movie Reviews on 11 December 2006 with no comments

It really is a return. There’s so much homage to the old school Superman that there feels like not enough fresh perspective. Brandon Routh makes a great Christopher Reeves err I mean Superman/Clark Kent. I know this is Superman but there’s enough inconsistencies that I can’t hold my suspension of disbelief and Kevin Spacey’s Lex [...]