Let me preface this review with some thoughts about John Williams. I’ve loved his music ever since seeing Star Wars in the late 1970s. Since then, I’ve probably seen 90% of the movies that John Williams has scored for Spielberg and Lucas. My two favorite soundtracks of his are Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Empire Strikes Back.
That said, this wasn’t even close to either of those classic soundtracks for me, sorry John.
The last good soundtrack I heard from JW was Revenge of the Sith. I’m not a huge fan of any of the Star Wars prequels, but that was a great soundtrack.
So what didn’t work for me? I think it was that the whole thing hit me much like a repeat of Raiders. The themes were there, but there were no pieces that stood out distinctly. I still get chills when I hear the Map Room music. There were no chills here. In fact, I kept wanting to skip to the next track.
Perhaps it’s time for some of the other soundtrack composers to step to the fore… James Newton Howard and Howard Shore come to mind. They’ve done some amazing work in the last few films each has done.
Like I said — sorry JW. I’m only giving this 2/4. I didn’t hate it, but it didn’t do much for me either.
I recently had a chance to see the movie Jumper on DVD. I have to admit I was expecting a train wreck after all the negative press this movie got. However, I actually enjoyed the movie (to a point). Does that make me a bad person? Or just indicate I have bad taste? There were of course things I thought could’ve been done better, but overall I didn’t hate the film.
(I’m not rushing out to buy it right away, but if I find it on sale sometime down the line I might pick it up.)
David Goyer wrote the script, which is based on a series of young adult novels by Steven Gould. I’ve liked Goyer’s work in the past - he’s done scripts for lots of movies I’ve enjoyed such as Ghost Rider, Blade: Trinity, Blade 2, Batman Begins, and so on. I haven’t read the books, but from what I could tell from the extras on the DVD, they diverged a bit from the books to get a more Hollywood-type script anyway.
That said… Let’s talk about the cast. Hayden Christensen was the main Jumper in the film, David “Rice Bowl” Rice. Most famous for playing Annakin Skywalker, I can’t say that he’s ever really done much for me as an actor. I did like him in Life as a House with Kevin Kline. If you get a chance to see that, I recommend it. But he didn’t do much for me in this film.
Then you have Jamie Bell as Griffin, another Jumper. I honestly liked his character more than Hayden’s.
Diane Lane sleep walks through the film as David Rice’s mother.
Sam Jackson goes overboard (in an ok way) as Roland, a Paladin determined to wipe out all Jumpers. His white hair was a bit over the top, but I’m guessing there’s a story there we never found out.
And then there’s Rachel Bilso, who played Millie Harris, David Rice’s crush in high school and damsel in distress through most of the movie. Bilson is cute. And I think she did what she could with the character.
So overall, the cast didn’t really thrill me much.
The special effects however were pretty cool. The locations were awesome.
Was this a great movie? Heck no. But I’ll give it 2/4. It had its moments. Maybe a whole movie based around the Griffin character would be more interesting? Who knows.
Yes, I know I’m only stating the obvious. Jar Jar Binks, that loveable Gungan from his native Naboo, is everybody’s favorite character from Star Wars Episodes 1, 2, and 3. Thanks George for creating his winning personality!
What do we know about Jar Jar?
Well, he’s grace personified under pressure. He has a beautiful singing voice. And he has a ton of political influence in the Republic. What else is there that we need to know? Nothing. That pretty much sums it up. His political career was untarnished by questionable practices. He truly led a simple, above-board life in the name of the Republic.
Without Jar Jar, I think all three of the Star Wars prequel movies would’ve severely sucked.
The Lair is going to undergo a facelift this week as I shift from 1&1 hosting to self-hosted on my own domain. So keep an eye out for some changes! Hopefully the site won’t be down more than a day or two, but we’ll see!
For a sneak peek at the new design, click on the image below:
So I went to see Get Smart over The Love Guru today. I won’t know truly if it was a bad decision until I rent or see Love Guru sometime down the line. But on first blush, I think I picked wisely (as the old Templar Knight in The Last Crusade would say)…
Get Smart boils down to two things… Funny? Check. Memorable? Well… Maybe not. It had its moments, but could have been done better. I think the TV series worked better because the scale was so much smaller. 30 minutes is a lot easier to fill with great material than 2 hours is to fill with good material.
Did I like it? Yes. It had its moments. Lots of throwbacks to the original series, including the car, the shoe phone, the cone of silence, and a cameo by the original head of Kaos (I think that’s who he was, but I may have been mistaken.).
You can see the IMDB link here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425061/
Steve Carrell’s Maxwell Smart is a bit different than the 60s version played by Don Adams. Adams’ Smart was an uncoordinated bumbler who always managed to succeed while doing the wrong thing. Carrell’s Smart actually has some skills, but he’s just a rookie agent. I guess there’s really only a little bit of a difference there. But it only sort of worked for me.
Now Anne Hathaway’s Agent 99 worked for me. She’s only in her mid 20s, but dang! Brought to mind bits of Catherine Zeta Jones in one part of the movie… She was actually the best part of the movie beyond a few scenes in the script that either had me outright laughing or giggling.
Dwayne Johnson didn’t do much for me in this one. Sorry man. You just didn’t pull it off.
The surprise for me was Alan Arkin as The Chief. He looked like he was having the time of his life!
So is this a perfect movie? Not for me. Did I enjoy it? In parts, yes. I’m going to give it a 2.5/4. It’s not one I’ll remember after a few weeks, but it was fun and Anne Hathaway was hot!
You can see reviews from other folks… Nearly everybody enjoyed it…
So this coming weekend I have to decide whether I feel like silly sight gags from Mike Myers or the revival of a TV show from the 70s starring Don Adams…
Any thoughts? Anybody? Bueller? Bueller?
Love Guru looks fun and frivolous. But I recently read an article in EW that makes me wonder if it’s a “message movie”… I’m not sure I can handle a preaching Mike Myers.
Get Smart looks like a throwback to the TV series, with Steve Carrell and The Rock and many other fun folks. Will it be dull? Or will it be worth seeing?
I’m heading off to see the Incredible Hulk in a while… Should be able to post a review tomorrow. Will it be fun or a bust? I’ve read so many mixed reviews, that it’s hard to tell.
However, never fear… I will be happy to share my opinion with the world soon enough.
–Fitz
Work has been insane. I’m slowly getting my new computer up to speed. And I have a number of movies to review, including:
Rescue Dawn
Bug
Indy IV
In the Name of the King - A Dungeon Siege Movie
Juno
and maybe others… my brain is shot
So my apologies for the lack of posts lately… Work’s been kicking my butt. End of the day rolls around and all I want to do is go to sleep.
I’ll try to do better in the next few days and coming weeks.
fitz in 
Hi all…
