Reviews by renfield1969

renfield1969 says "Quantum of Quantum" about Quantum of Solace

renfield1969 — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:30:48 GMT

Quantum of Solace has far too many misses than it does have hits. My view is colored from being a fan of the character and franchise, and I spent the entire movie waiting for the protagonist to do something worthy of James Bond. In some of the ridiculously hard-to-follow fight and chase scenes I couldn't help but think "Shouldn't he be pulling out some fancy gadget to help him in this situation right about now?" And what does it say about James Bond that he has to steal a tuxedo?

Unfortunately, the stripped-down James Bond has stripped-down villains as well. The main antagonist, while slimy, could be any businessman anywhere. There is nothing particularly interesting about him or his organization, because the audience is told nothing about it! The plot also suffers due to this being a direct sequel to the last film rather than a standalone film in its own right. The story is confusing, mainly involving his chase of the antagonist across the globe, with no payoff to the story at all. The...

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renfield1969 says "Some hilarious lines, straightforward story" about Ghost Town

renfield1969 — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 13:41:03 GMT

I like Ricky Garvais' comedy, but his main shtick relies on making everyone around him uncomfortable by saying things that reveal how uncomfortable he is, which can be funny because he keeps talking and therefore gets more and more uncomfortable, which makes the people around him more and more uncomfortable... including the audience, if you don't find that sort of thing funny.

Ricky plays a dentist who lives his life as agoraphobically as he possibly can. His trip home from work, to the building next door, has far too much human interaction for his liking and he does everything in his power to discourage it. There are times where this works to comic effect, but sometimes it just points out what a jerk he is. Through happenstance he suddenly acquires the ability to see ghosts walking around the city, who are quite anxious to talk to somebody who can see and hear them. Unfortunately, the movie then follows a cookie-cutter formula and offers no surprises or interesting story elements from...

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renfield1969 says "Operation Spy is a blast!" about International Spy Museum - Washington, DC

renfield1969 — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:06:39 GMT

Our group did Operation Spy, a hands-on participation in an "actual" espionage case. Led to the upper level of the museum, we found a doorway leading to another country. There, "disguised as tourists" we helped an espionage unit with surveillance, decryption, investigation, and interrogation. Our choices and success during each step affected the outcome of the mission, and the whole experience was like a fabulously imagineered ride at DisneyWorld.

The museum itself has quickly become one of the most popular attractions in DC, and is therefore usually very crowded. The layout they chose, while done with a great aesthetic eye, seems almost deliberately confusing. Appropriate, maybe, but it can make navigating very difficult especially with all the crowds all trying to read or view the same displays. Spying is billed as "the second oldest profession", which makes for a varied amount of displays so there is something there for everyone.

There are many free museums in DC, but you definitely get...

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renfield1969 says "A fun movie for the kids." about Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D

renfield1969 — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:25:21 GMT

This modern entry into the 3-D genre, or "Real-D" as the process is now called, has a lot of fun scenes where they play with the special effects. Most are expectedly gratuitous, but are fun because they are obviously gratuitous.

Not a true remake of the classic film, but there are several instances where they are literally following the book. It centers on a geologist (Brendan Fraser), nephew and beautiful guide in tow, retracing the steps of his geologist brother who disappeared years before. They do so a little too successfully, finding themselves trapped in the world within our world. There are a lot of adventurous scenes that will thrill young children but leave adults scratching their heads as to why anyone would enter that particular situation in the first place. The characters have a lot of good chemistry, but some of the token nods to actual science either needed to be further fleshed out or dropped altogether.

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renfield1969 says "Not your typical hero, not your typical story." about Hancock

renfield1969 — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:30:27 GMT

Hancock tells the story of Earth's only known superbeing, who spends his time doing good deeds and heroic feats, and woe betide anyone who gets in his way - including the people he tries to help. He begins the film dressing like a slob, binging on whiskey, acting rudely, and generally causing more damage than he prevents. His prospects seem to turn when he saves the life of a grateful Public Relations guru with a heart of gold (Jason Bateman). Convincing Hancock that he needs to change his image, and covincing Hancock that he will enjoy it, provide the basis of most of the movie's enjoyment. Just as the movie seems to be running headlong towards the typical story of redemption and discovering the joys of self-worth, the movie takes a 90-degree turn that ties into exactly who and what Hancock actually is. While I have to give them credit for providing such an original story, what comedy and enjoyment the movie had goes by the wayside in favor of drama and angst. The story is not wihout......

renfield1969 says "Lots of good and simple fun" about Wall-E

renfield1969 — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:06:19 GMT

Wall-E is everything it seems to be: fun, charming, cute, and a joy to watch. They make the most of the story of the simple worker who yearns for more than his everyday existence cleaning, organizing and catagorizing an abandoned and polluted Earth. The little robot's dreams seem to get answered in the form of another, much more advanced girl robot, whom he follows to the stars. Drama and danger unfold when they reach her point of origin, the spaceship holding the last remnants of humanity and even more robots of every shape and size.

If the story has a failing, it is that the central character does not have enough supporting characters to play off of. The director, a fan of silent movies, made great use of all the beeps and noises the otherwise mute robot could make, but actual dialogue helps us connect with characters, and the lack of both made the overly simplistic plot that much more glaring. It's a great movie, but not one of Pixar's best.

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renfield1969 says "It tries hard - maybe too hard." about Get Smart

renfield1969 — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:11:55 GMT

This reimagining of the beloved TV show doesn't work as well as it should, but it definitely has some hysterical moments. Carrell pays some lip service to Don Adams, but goes a long way towards making the role entirely his own. Some of the best moments of the film come from the fantastic lineup of supporting actors and cameos. Dwayne Johnson and Alan Arkin make the most of their characters and light up the screen whenever they appear. Masi Oka plays one of a pair of loveable lab techs that come very close to stealing each of their scenes. Terrence Stamp is wasted as the recast Siegfried - we know he can do a great villain, but this movie needed a funny villain, and even the one-liners delivered by his second banana did not add enough to bring him up to the level this movie should have had. This movie tried very hard to show that while Maxwell Smart is bumbling - that's why he's funny, remember? - he is also incredibly competent and has a big heart. While his super spy skills make for......

renfield1969 says "Hilarious fun!" about Kung Fu Panda

renfield1969 — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:36:07 GMT

This movie is no more than what it appears - a cartoon about a panda who gets his dream to become a martial arts master. If there is a lack of character development and a reliance on cliches, it is more than made up for by the humor and tenderness presented in every scene with the main character. The movie is packed with funny scenes, and has a lot of action besides. Even scenes that rely on drama and action are still being done with cute animals, so there is always something enjoyable to watch. My wife and I didn't do much research beforehand, so we had a lot of fun identifying the voices behind many of the characters before the end credits. A great film for any member of the family....

renfield1969 says "Better than the book!" about The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

renfield1969 — Thu, 15 May 2008 13:13:30 GMT

Fans of the books will be delighted to see Narnia come to life once again. The delight soon is replaced by darker emotions, as this chapter deals with a Narnia that has dealt with ten generations of conquest by invading humans. The story involves the title character, hopeful to restore old Narnia, summoning help in the form of the four heroes from the previous book/film.

The story is a little uneven, which is not unexpected considering the source material (alas, it was not the best book in the series). In order to pad things out, there is a large section in the middle made up just for the film. It is an exciting series of scenes, but a shame that it serves almost no purpose except to add to the darkness of the overall tone.

Any faults with the story are more than made up for by the characters. Fans of the book will be glad to see Reepicheep and Trumpkin, who practically walk off with the film all by themselves. Lord Miraz is a fantastically despicable villain, and played just this side...

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renfield1969 says "The fight we've been waiting for!" about The Forbidden Kingdom

renfield1969 — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:01:01 GMT

This movie is worth it just for the fight between Jackie Chan and Jet Li alone. They're both good guys, so we only get the one, but there are plenty more scenes with them beating up other people. The story line is kind of weak, focusing as it does on a white kid that is suddenly transported to a fantastically medeival China. However, as annoying as the kid is, Jet and Jackie gleefully take turns stealing the movie back from him at every turn....

renfield1969 says "A great movie - if you can watch it." about Cloverfield

renfield1969 — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 19:12:05 GMT

Fans of "The Blair Witch Project" will be happy to know the cameraman has found work again. As facetious as that sounds, the unique gimmick of Cloverfield is that the entire thing is filmed from the point of view of a handheld video camera that the characters are carrying around. This means that there are a LOT of scenes where the screen is jumping all over the place due to the characters running/falling/dodging/etc. It made my wife seasick, and I noticed another couple leave shortly after the film started for the same reason.

That being said, while the movie has a slow start, once the action begins it does not let up until the film ends. The premise, a giant monster movie told from the point of view of a group of normal people running for their lives, is a good one. This is the best movie monster since "The Host" (whatever you think of that movie, the monster effects are unarguable.)

Interestingly, my wife and I speculated beforehand on what the dangers of a giant monster actually...

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renfield1969 says "What's the point?" about Battlestar Galactica

renfield1969 — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 14:37:14 GMT

Comparisons to the original series are unfair, but I still don't understand why they decided to change almost everything that made the original series cool. No Egyptian-flavored zeitgeist, the Han Solo character was replaced with another stereotype altogether, the main characters hate each other, and the evil robots come in two varieties : CGI or -and here's a special effect for you - completely human. All this is supposed to be better than before? One of the main plot points is that there are only a certain number of human-looking Cylon models. Excuse me, what? They can make them look human, but they can't make them all look different? That's like building a super-advanced android that can't use contractions. Each episode just tries to be more depressing than the last, and the big picture - humanity's extinction - is overlooked in place of angst. Motives and information are withheld to keep the audience guessing, but missing information makes an incomplete story, and an incomplete story...

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renfield1969 says "What a disappointment" about Crank

renfield1969 — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 21:06:27 GMT

What's the point of having Jason Statham in a movie where he constantly has to move when he doesn't have a single decent fight scene? The stunt work is lackluster, the costuming is embarrassing (hospital gown? HALF a track suit?), and no imagination is displayed with any of the action. A complete waste of an actor and a premise....

renfield1969 says "Too much story to tell" about The Golden Compass

renfield1969 — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 21:52:49 GMT

I enjoyed the books, and this film, like the book, pretty much serves as a staging ground for the next two. The problem this movie movie suffers from is that they have so much story to tell, they feel compelled to repeat the important points over and over again just in case you missed them. This is pretty disruptive to the story, since the opening narration tells you everything that's going on, and figuring that out is pretty much the driving force of the plot.

That being said, the movie is a visual feast with strong characters and a constantly moving story. A great film to see over and over again.

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renfield1969 says "Zero is better than one" about Coke - Zero

renfield1969 — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 19:26:17 GMT

Diet Coke has that awful-the-first-time taste which is necessary to acquire to drink it regualrly. My wife is weight conscious and likes to have diet sodas on hand. She raves about this stuff, and when I tried it I was amazed how normal it tasted. It could be regualr soda, and it has fewer calories (by one) than their other diet drink! If all diet sodas tasted like this, they'd have an even larger market share....

renfield1969 says "Good action, nonsensical ending" about Smokin' Aces (2007) 109 minutes

renfield1969 — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 14:30:36 GMT

The actors have interesting roles, and the plot has everything to love about it. The killers are interesting, do their jobs in interesting ways, and there are twists and turns galore.

Unfortunately, the film hinges on the big revealed secret at the end. A secret which on the one hand was obvious from the beginning, but when fully explained is completely stupid.

Most of the violence, while gratuitous, serves as good action, but one has to wonder why anyone - especially highly trained FBI agents - would try to return fire with a handgun out a window at a building 1000 yards away. They had to know that someone was shooting at them with a high-powered rifle, and not only would their handgun bullets not reach their target at all to even throw off their assailant's aim, they would be risking untold civilian casualties.

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renfield1969 says "Always look before you book" about TripAdvisor

renfield1969 — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 19:35:28 GMT

I discovered this site when planning an anniversary trip to Las Vegas. What I love is that real people wriet real reviews, and there is an invaluable discussion forum for anyplace you can think to travel. What I like about that is that made me realize that I can use it to look up info about places I want to travel, but I can also impart information about my own home town....

renfield1969 says "A good actor for any time period" about Journeyman

renfield1969 — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 19:28:57 GMT

I love the actor, having enjoyed his role on HBO's "Rome". I like science fiction, but he was the reason I started watching this. I'm not wild about any series whose explanations for strange happenings are "just cuz" (remember Quantum Leap?), but the main character adapts and reacts well to the punches time travel throws at him. What is disconcerting is that he and his wife are not treating this like a disease. Modern sensibility dictates that if you are prone to seizures you do not drive a vehicle and you do not go anywhere unattended, particularly while you are minding your child. Guess what happens in the first couple of episodes? While there are hints that explanations are forthcoming, it does seem that the writers really want to overcomplicate his life by purposefully ignoring simple things. If you can ignore the grating plot elements driven by the character's wife and brother, you'll be treated to a good show....

renfield1969 says "Do you like gladiator films?" about 300

renfield1969 — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 19:15:46 GMT

While I found the comic book to be a bit too stylized for my taste, I was impressed with the artistry the film used to reproduce many scenes directly from the comic. As with the best historical movies, the history has to be taken with a grain of salt, but I understand their errors were not too egregious considering what is actually known about that battle. The acting is top-notch without being stilted, and if some characters are transparent, you can console yourself with the fact that everyone went into the theater knowing how "Titanic" was going to end, too....

renfield1969 says "Less than meets the eye" about Transformers

renfield1969 — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 19:06:19 GMT

I suppose it's worth the price of admission to see Optimus Prime standing there in all his glory. Tragically, the rest of the characters could have been any transforming robot. John Turturro has an embarrassing role as a jerky government agent - embarrassing because it's never revealed why he acts like such a jerk. In any movie about giant transforming robots, it would be far too easy to play the "plot hole" card, but there is one that is absolutely glaring. It is never explained why these alien machine intelligences transform into earth vehicles in the first place. They seem pretty powerful, so why do they need to disguise themselves at all? And why the same vehicle over and over? I know in certain bad sci-fi movies we're expected to believe that aliens evolved to look exactly like humans, but one evolved to look exactly like a Camaro? This is a nice nostalgia piece for fans of the toys, or for young boys who like explosions and that's about it....