National Treasure

[2005]

Starring:
Nicholas Cage
Justin Bartha
Sean Bean
Diane Krueger
Jon Voigt

average rating: ★★★★
~
performance: ★★★★
screenplay: ★★★★
plot/storyline: ★★★★
cinematography: ★★★★★
~
Action/Adventure

This is a very good movie, actually. We watched it last night, on a whim and a lack of library movies. For reasons later disclosed, I really like this movie, its so gripping. :D

Nicholas Cage, despite his extreme hairline, is really good in this. He plays a man named Benjamin Gates, who is obsessed with both American history and finding a legendary, historical treasure. Along with him is his technical genius, Riley (Bartha), who provides most of the humor and good fashion in the movie (I love everything he wears. That velvet suit jacket is AWESOME). Diane Krueger plays a historian who is dragged into the whole treasure hunt when Ben is forced to steal the Declaration of Independence before his former partner does.

The movie is quick-paced, interesting, and chock-full of historical facts. And, with an official oh my, it managed to stay within a PG rating. Kind of shocking, really. The entire film is clean and fun. Bravo to the director or whoever made that decision!

P.S. Nicholas Cage is actually moderately attractive with a hat on. That hair...

The Bourne Ultimatum

[2007]

Starring:
Matt Damon
Julia Stiles
Jean Allen

average rating: ★★★
~
performance: ★★★★
screenplay: ★★★
plot/storyline: ★★
cinematography: ★★★
~
Action

This was quite the disappointment. I admit that I was all excited to learn the rest of Jason Bourne's story. But this did not live up to my expectations, I wouldn't even say that it didn't live up to the Bourne story at all.

The beginning was actually quite promising, but the movie quickly plunged into a déjà vu-ish combination of the first two movies. There was little more discovered about Jason, and everything that was discovered was information one might have figured out on their own. The camera shots, while interesting in the first two movies, jumped off the deep end. Everything was shot by hand-held cameras, making every scene choppy and hard to watch.

If you have seen the first two movies, I recommend finishing the series, but I do wish it had been better. :(

Bourne Identity

Starring:
Matt Damon
Franka Potente
Chris Cooper

average rating: ★★★★★
~
performance: ★★★★★
screenplay: ★★★★★
plot/storyline: ★★★★★
cinematography: ★★★★★
~
Action

This was a really good movie. I'd heard good things about it and all, but this surpassed my expectations.

Matt Damon does a really great job. He plays an amnesiac who is slowly learning who he was - and that person was not someone good. Franka Potente is interesting playing his only friend throughout the film, a cute sort of romance among the impressive fighting scenes and CIA computers.

The story is so clever, which is half the reason the movie is so good. Everything to do with Jason Bourne (Damon) is awesome. He is such a complex character, having been previously programmed to be a lethal genius, and to never make mistakes, strategically, at least. Now that he has amnesia, he still has all of those skills, but doesn't know why. The movie is generally split into Jason and Marie (Potente) driving around the world in her little Mini Cooper and the CIA trying to track his moves. There are also some fantastic fighting and chase scenes.

Unlike many trilogies, the movie wraps itself up as a first, but with just enough loose ends to make a second. I don't think I've watched enough action movies to rightfully assume such an opinion, but I would say (if I watched lots of action movies, mind you) that it's a notch above the rest. (But I don't watch a lot of action movies, mind you.) :P

The Mask of Zorro

[1998]

Starring:
Antonio Banderas
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Anthony Hopkins
Stuart Wilson

average rating: ★★★
~
performance: ★★★
screenplay: ★★★
plot/storyline: ★★★
cinematography: ★★★
~
Action Adventure

I'm sure there's everyone's seen the Mask of Zorro, so I'll cut the story bit. I'll just say that Antonio Banderas has very pretty eyes and that the movie was very silly. Entertaining, though, had quite a few funny lines. Mostly it was silly.

The Incredibles

[Pixar, 2005]

starring the voices of:
Craig T. Nelson
Helen Hunter
Samuel L. Jackson
Jason Lee
Brad Bird

average rating: ★★★★★
~
performance: ★★★★★
screenplay: ★★★★★
plot/storyline: ★★★★★
cinematography: ★★★★★
~
Animation/Family/Superheros

Series of Unfortunate Events

[2004]

Starring:
Jim Carrey
Liam Aiken
Emily Browning

average rating: ★★★
~
performance: ★★★
screenplay: ★★★★
plot/storyline: ★★
cinematography: ★★★★
~
Fantasy/Adventure

This was an adaption of Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events, the series that seemed to capture the world of preteen literature for a while there. I read the first four or so books in the series and, being a girl who likes happy endings, dumped them as weird and stupid. Now, however, I have to say I've a certain respect for the author.

And this movie seemed a pure reflection of all he might have imagined. To begin with, the set & costume design was amazing, and the Oscar's thought so too, because the won an award in that category. Everything was grimy and vintage and just delicious, and it set the mood from the very beginning - that being of a mysterious, dark, depressing sort of mood.

The movie begins with Jude Law's yummy voice, narrating as Lemony Snicket. The Baudelaire children, Violet (Browning) the Inventor, Klaus (Aiken) the Scholar, and Sunny the Biter, are part of a wealthy family, and then suddenly, they are not, they are the Baudelaire orphans with no direct relations to live with. Timothy Spall plays the clueless lawyer in charge of their lives, Mr. Poe, who brings them to a man named Count Olaf (Carrey) who is apparently their closest relation. Olaf's house is cool, a rickety broken down place with lots of mold and dead rats and ragged curtains. Jim Carrey himself is great, playing a role that is just Jim Carrey's silly role - the malicious, mood-swingy, terrible actor of a man trying to adopt the children in order to gain their immense fortune.

The movie is actually a compilation of Lemony Snicket's first three novels, so after the evil Count Olaf attempts to murder the children, they are taken away to live with another distant relative, Professor Monty (Billy Connolly) who works with snakes. After a brief, kind of lame adventure that leaves Monty dead, they stay with a paranoid Aunt Josephine (Meryl Streep). After about four minutes with her, tragedy strikes again and they seem to have been caught by Olaf yet again, this time for good, but then the day is saved and Olaf defeated and their lives generally plunged into a uncertain future.

The end.

The entire film is occasionally interspersed with Jude Law's voice, telling us what's going on, and trying to bridge the gaps and make the extreme speed with which the movie travels more believable. It doesn't quite work and the story is not finished, that you can tell. In general, however, the characters were fun and the situations sometimes entertaining, but mostly it was a visually good film.

A Knight's Tale

starring:
Heath Ledger, Paul Bettany, Shannyn Sossamon,
Rufus Sewell, Alan Tudyk

average rating: ★★★¾
~
performance: ★★★★
screenplay: ★★★★
plot/storyline: ★★★★
cinematography: ★★★
~
comedy/action/knightliness

To begin with, the music was quite literally insane, starting with "We Will Rock You," by Queen, and going through ten more songs of equal illogicality for a medieval movie. Quite funny watching a jousting tournament chanting "We Will Rock You." Paul Bettany was probably the best thing that happened to the film, making a stark naked appearance as a writer/poet/whatever with a weakness for gambling. He was seriously consistent through the entire thing and generally did a good job.

The movie was kind of a mix of comedy and seriousness, for instance, the crazy songs suggested goofing off, and then Heath Ledger's completely serious expressions and getting beaten by the bad guy made you think twice.

No one has hair like Heath Ledger.

And that all that can be said about that!

[watched for the first time, 12-30-07]
[poster courtesy of allposters.com]