Movie Reviews

21 Jump Street - I watched some of the original TV show but don't have any particular memories of it. The remake did it as a comedy, fully aware that it's a remake of an old TV show. But they did it as an unlikely buddy film and a way to relive their high school years. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum (kinda) knew each other in high school. One the nerd and one the dumb jock. They didn't get along in high school but meet up in the police academy where they help each other out on the exams and the physical tests. So they become cops, bad ones, so they get sent to Jump Street. Back in high school, they switch roles. It's reasonably fun and there are some fun surprises, but it goes on a little too long. If you have any interest, it's fine to catch on cable or even to rent.

John Carter - I caught this in the theater, even in 3D. Andrew Stanton made Finding Nemo and WALL-E and this is his first live action film. It was a huge bomb in the domestic box office but did ok overseas. I mostly enjoyed it. The main character is too moody but I liked the rest of the world. There were a surprising number of different factions in the story and a lot of different story threads came together very well in the end. The princess is more than just a damsel to be rescued and the dog-like thing was cute but not too much so. It's not great and I've mostly forgotten it, but it in no way deserves to be the biggest box office bomb of the year and it's a lot better than any Transformers film.

The Raid: Redemption - is an Indonesian action film that's gotten rave reviews. A SWAT team storms a drug lords building and lots of martial arts and gun fights ensue. I saw it with a group of six and we were decidedly mixed. Some loved it and some were bored. I thought the premise was ok but it quickly got lost. It switched back and forth between we have to go up and we have to go down and it didn't make much sense. There were a couple of very impressive fight scenes but it didn't add up to a whole movie for me. Easy to skip.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi - is a documentary of an 85 year-old sushi chef considered to be the best in the world. He's worked at becoming a better chef virtually every day since he was 9. Several current and past employees, including his two sons describe how hard he is on himself (and them). The clearest anecdote is that after working for him 10 years he lets you try to make the omelette for Tamago. An employee describes how over several months he made 200 omelets and none were acceptable, but then he finally made a good one and it was one of his proudest moments. While there were some shots of sushi that looked very good, there wasn't much to describe why his sushi was is much better than anyone else's. Yes we learn that he (has staff) massage octopus for 50 minutes instead of 30 and he has a set of fish sellers that sell him the best fish, but as a diner I'm not sure what I'd get for a meal that starts at
30,000¥ (about $300).

The Cabin in the Woods - is a horror movie made by Joss Whedon (Firefly, Buffy) and Drew Goddard (Buffy, Alias, Lost). They co-wrote it and this is Goddard's first time directing. Whedon produced it. There's been a lot of praise and a lot of people saying to avoid all reviews for fear of spoilers. I went in knowing nothing other than the above. It's so far my favorite film of the year. It's more of a comedy than a horror movie. Perhaps the closest comparison is to Shaun of the Dead. My horror movie fans were unhappy that it wasn't horror movie enough but that was kind of a bonus for me. I'm not sure the secrecy is so important but I won't give anything more away. I'm looking forward to seeing it again at home so I can pause some things.

Indie Game: The Movie - This is a documentary about the development of independent video games. It's currently on Tour and I think is getting a limited release in June. It's made by just two filmmakers and tells the story of basically four developers. They started following about 20 games and narrowed the film down to three. These are one or two person teams developing games by themselves over several years. It's a lot of work and sacrifice and there are lots of periods of self doubt. Jonathan Blow wrote Braid and that's basically the story of a very successful game. Phil Fish is developing Fez, for many years and through many tough times and lots of fans yelling at him to ship already. Edmund and Tommy are working together to create Meat Boy which will hopefully be their first big hit. It's easy to root for them and it's easy to dislike Fish while also feeling sorry for him. The film packs a lot of story and information in. At times it was slow but it liked it a lot. These games were all developed for Xbox Live Arcade and I hadn't heard of them. They survey a few other classic video games and I'd only heard of a few. Braid has been ported to the mac and it's now on sale in the Mac App Store for $4, so I've picked up a copy.

I caught the following two on cable recently:

Attack the Block - is a genre mix of London street thugs fighting of an alien attack. It's from the producers of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz so that shouldn't be much of a surprise. It got good reviews and after seeing it I understand why. It's a good low-budget action thriller with some social commentary.

Green Lantern got horrible reviews and now I understand why. I think there's a lot of story potential here but too much of this film is off. Ryan Reynolds plays Hal Jordan as the cocky asshole test pilot which has become popular in the comics, but I prefer the real hero type. They do an ok job introducing the alien lanterns and getting a few of the characterization right, but they screw up the Guardians of the Galaxy (their bosses) as aloof and conniving (well that's also accurate to the comics). The real problem is the action scenes. His ring can create anything Jordan can imagine but if a helicopter was crashing into an outdoor party would you imagine a truck to catch it and a huge ramp for the truck to drive through? For 10 minutes? There's also too much going on with too many villains and too much back and forth between Earth and Oa. There's really no need for anyone to see this film.