Disney Animation’s latest non-Pixar foray into the world of computer animated entertainment is the entertaining road-trip movie Bolt. Rescued as a puppy, Bolt (John Travolta) has been “modified” to have superhero powers, with a mission to keep his master Penny (Miley Cyrus) safe from the evil Dr. Calico (Malcolm McDowell), who has captured her father. When Penny herself is captured, though, Bolt tries to rescue her – and ends up being shipped to New York City. He then begins a …
Hancock
2008 is definitely turning out to be the summer of the super-hero. Between Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy, The Dark Knight and heck, even Kung-Fu Panda, there’s a lot of saving going on. Then there is Hancock. Played by Will Smith, John Hancock is the anti-superhero. Or rather, the reluctant one. No one knows much about him, and he doesn’t care. He saves people only to get them to shut up and stop asking him for his help. He …
Kung Fu Panda
An apprentice noodle-maker, Po the Panda (voiced by Jack Black) dreams of being a super Kung Fu warrior, fighting alongside the five masters: Master Monkey (Jackie Chan), Master Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Master Viper (Lucy Liu), Master Mantis (Seth Rogan) and Master Crane (David Cross). But Po’s father (a goose voiced by James Hong – don’t ask, it’s still amusing) believes that Po’s destiny lies in noodle-making. When the evil Tai Lung (Ian McShane) escapes from prison, supreme master Oogway (Randall …
The Bourne Ultimatum
For Jason Bourne’s third outing (with Matt Damon in the lead role), director Paul Greengrass returned, hot off of United 93. The problems that I had with his filmmaking in The Bourne Supremacy were excusable in that film, given the sensitive and intense subject matter, but when the overly shaky-cam returns in The Bourne Ultimatum, the result is a queasy stomach. Granted, it’s not as bad as it was in Supremacy, and the intensity created by the fast editing and …
Happy Feet
From the director of Mad Max and The Witches of Eastwick comes… Happy Feet. Yes, that’s right – George Miller, the man who brought us the Road Warrior and Babe the Gallant Pig, brings us a CGI-animated penguin musical. But don’t be dissuaded – Happy Feet is actually a rather well told story, with some exciting and energetic sequences that will keep adults both young and old fully entertained. The concept for the film came about from the strangely scientific …
The Bourne Supremacy
I haven’t seen The Bourne Identity since it came out two years ago. I really enjoyed the film, but had forgotten some of the smaller details of the plot. So when I went to see The Bourne Supremacy tonight with Matt, I was pretty sure I’d be lost at some point along the way. Thankfully, I was wrong. The first twenty minutes or so of the film are a bit shaky, thanks to the fast cutting and constantly jittery camera …
Paycheck
I’ve been a big John Woo fan ever since that day when I saw The Killer with Tim at the Coolidge Corner theater in Brookline. Once he came over to the USA, his films took a bit of a turn downward. They didn’t have the same edginess, drama, or stylizations of his Hong Kong flicks. Personally, I’d blame the studios. But even with all that extra pressure, he did manage to crank out a film like Face/Off which seemed to …
The Italian Job
Tonight I got together with Matt and Brian and went to go see The Italian Job at the Mann Bruin. The theater was a full house, which really allowed the audience get into it and have fun. A remake of the 1969 Michael Caine film, this one has a lot of energy, and never really slows down. It has a rather large Oceans 11 vibe going for it, given the ensemble heist scenario. And the scenarios are pretty cool. In …