tantilion

This movie has brought back the epic for me. It takes what you want from an ancient war epic, cranks it up on steroids, and removes what you don't want.

First and foremost you will see some of the best action in film history. Overall the action flows while maintaining an epic and gritty feel. This, combined with the crazed energy as Spartans smash down opposing troops in unison, gave me something fresh and wholly satisfying to grab on to that I normally don't find in action movies.

The second most apparent aspect of the film is it' visual flair. The film is brilliantly stylized, and holds over the same artistic flair that you get in Frank Miller's graphic novels, just as you got in Sin City. This stylization is both in it's storytelling and in it's aesthetics, which yields a unique and brilliant look and feel.

The parts of the film that drive the plot forward in between battles are kept pure, short, and too the point. Like the battle scenes, they help maintain the true feeling that all of our 300 heroes are bad asses, and that the people they oppose are slimy, corrupt, arrogant, or all of the above. This makes the characters one dimensional, but this proves to be a good thing. It creates a legendary feel for the movie, and dosn't bore us with random niceties about the various character's feelings. Now this may make me seem like an action whore, but honestly, why are you seeing this movie? You're seeing it because you want to see bad ass battle scenes. That was the problem with movies like Flyboys, where you had to sit though monumental heaps of poor attempts of humanization before you got to the next aerial battle; 300 keeps your attention by staying stylized and focused on what it dose best.

Now this movie has been criticized for being overly violent, being conservative in politics, and being historically inaccurate. The first should be addressed by asking: If you don't like violence and fighting, why the hell are you watching this movie in the first place? What do people expect this movie to be? It's based on a Frank Miller Graphic Novel, of course it's going to be violent.

Having liberal politics would not be fitting to the Spartan image either. The Spartans are supposed to be the definition of war and glory, and the basic message of the Battle of Thermopylae is one of war and sacrifice. The movie maintains a basic good/evil battle fitting for the idea of an epic. It's nice to see something without the usual "war is hell" politics for a change. I may not agree with it, but it works for the movie as a whole.

Lastly, why on earth would anyone expect historical accuracy? You see the preview, and it says it's based on a graphic novel, you see it's exaggerated color scheme, you see ancient warriors and kings who look like they should be on the cover of some fantasy hair metal album, and you see the Persians have a giant. People should be able to figure out right off the bat that this movie is not intended to be historically correct. All the criticisms stem from people expecting this movie to be something it was never intended to be.

If you want another dull and boring war epic telling you that war is hell, puke when you see blood, and have a cow at historical inaccuracy, don't see this movie. It's not for you and wasn't intended for you. But if you love Miller's visual style and stylization, want some good and unique action, and want to see a grand story of glory in battle, Go out and watch this movie right now.

This is probably the best movie ever made. Definitely one of the best. It takes my personal favorite elements of film and storytelling (Depiction of mental deterioration, black humor, Sarcasm, Interesting and ambiguous philosophical messages to ponder, and excellent quotability).

One of the best things about it would be the presentation of every situation. Specifically, how everything gets a slightly insane touch that makes sense in a strange way. Everything from the first instance playing tourist at support groups to the time when Tyler threatens to kill a store clerk unless he follow his dream of becoming a veterinarian in six moths is depicted in this way. First with absurdity, then with sense. The entire movie is tied together as one long, insane journey that you will thoroughly enjoy.

The other thing about this movie that is good is that you will want to see it several times. They give you a lot to chew on. What appears to be failed continuity turns out to be foreshadowing, finding all the hints and clues to the big twist, and also watching the movie with knowledge of what is truly happening (luxury you won't have your first time through...though this is a good thing), and paying more attention to the various subliminal frames that populate the movie. Oh, and if you are the type of person who must use movie quotes and references continuously, this movie will be something you will watch over and over again.

Bottom line, see this movie.

This movie will blow your mind. Thats a good thing. Trust me.

Fans of Pink Floyd will obviously enjoy this film, if only for the soundtrack, which based on probably one of the best albums ever. It ends up being one long music video, but thats not really a bad thing, when it is done as well as this.

Onto the plot. Rock star goes insane because of his dad dying in the war, his controlling mom, his suppressive teacher, his unfaithful girlfriend, and the pressure of fame in general. While at first this plot dosn't seem particularly exiting, the results are entertaining, and his end state of mental breakdown is illustrated brilliantly toward the end as he becomes shut off in his own mind and distinctively insane.

Speaking of illustration, or in this case animation, this movie has a lot of it. Aside from the excellent quality of the animation, is the wonderfully disturbed imagery. Deformed humanoids, large birds, planes, and marching hammers, all merging shifting to the sounds of pink Floyd. It wouldn't be far out to call the animated sequences an evil, twisted, and drugged version of Fantasia.

Of course, if you don't like Pink Floyd, you probably won't like this movie. Oh, by the way, don't show it to little kids, as it will freak them out and give them nightmares.

EDIT: Try watching this movie while under the influence...it becomes just that much better...

OK, the following review comes from a Joss Whedon fan boy, but I have managed to insult Buffy (which I love dearly), so it's not HORRIBLY biased (just a little) Serenity dose everything you want an adventure movie to do. I has cool action, well written, witty, quotable, funny, and downright cool dialog, and amazing cinematography and feel.

From the begging you are immersed in the world, with the short but sweet exposition gotten out of the way first, with some interesting little twists to make it a seem less tacked on.

From that point on you have an excellent and entertaining series of adventures that bring you back to Han Solo and the original star wars, and a feel that defines space western.

As with all of Whedon's work, the writing is on the highest level, switching between drama, comedy, and action quickly but smoothly.

I should also point out that I watched this before I saw Firefly (the show which it is based off of), and it made perfect sense. Don't feel obligated to watch those first (though you should watch those too, as they are just as good as this movie, though obviously shorter) So go out and watch serenity this instant!

I normally don't watch family films. However my high school went to a movie, and they had to choose something PG (Don't ask me why a high school had to watch something PG, it was kind of annoying). So keep in mind this is coming from a jaded adolescent.

Hoot is supposed to be a fun family film. Being that it isn't meant to be incredibly good, but entertaining. On that front it succeeds to some degree. The problem with it is when it starts to get preachy and actually have a point. While having some sort of point isn't always bad, and is sometimes common in this sort of film, the whole "Break your back for silly little nature critters" idea isn't well supported, and makes you beg for the overused "You can do anything you set your mind to" message that family films usually sport.

Granted, I did legitimately enjoy a fair portion of the humor, and the story is pretty compelling for the first part of the movie. It starts to drag once you actually know whats happening, which is never a good sign.

Back to the preaching part. It is quite annoying. It might be less annoying if your political position is that of optimistic environmentalism, but if you are any bit jaded (which granted, most people are) you will be severely annoyed, even more so if your kids get all worked up over it. Especially considering the main characters are a bunch of eco terrorists, granted friendly and lovable ones who don't actually kill people.

Overall it's a decent family flick. Hovever I really wouldn't bother seeing it in theaters. Maby rent it when you need to sedate your kids for a bit once it comes out on video.

This has to be one of the best movie musicals ever. Bathed in raw 60's goodness, it is extremely entertaining, with funny dialog and excellent psychedelic rock music to the whole thing.

The plot is farely simple, with a farm boy who is drafted going to new york before he gets shipped off to war, and falling in with a bunch of hippies.

It remains witty throughout the entire movie, and has a care-free spirit appropriate to the era.

Unfortunetely all the songs from the play were not included in the movie, such as "The Bed", which is quite fun, and others were rushed through or drowned out ("Electric Blues").

Still, all the favorites are there, such as Aquarius, Manchester England, and Hair. On the topic of music, it remains excellent, and such to the extent that you will probably want to pick up the soundtrack.

All in all, see it, have a good time.

This movie is excellent. Utterly hilarious. While it pulls out many of the standard gags, it dose them in a superb way. It's also quite cheesy, but this makes it fun. Very fun.

This happens to be one of those movies where you yell at the characters for being silly, but in a good way. Again, adding to the cheesy excellence of the whole piece.

So many of the ideas executed in the film are so wonderfully silly. The best friend dating the mom, and the final confrontation between the dad and the bad punk boyfriend with flashy psychic powers...both excellent, along with so many other parts of it.

Sometimes you can't hear what the characters are saying, but that's because they're British. That is my only gripe.

This movie is pretty funny. It's absurd in many ways, but also very funny. It dosn't do anything that new, but the jokes are all good and the characters make me chuckle (aside from when I want to slap them).

The plot of the movie they are making within the film should be noted, that is, the (fictional) president getting captured by terrorists and his little rascal son taking over and rescuing his dad made me roll on the floor laughing. At least until I realized that someone probably was going to actually make a movie like that, which is BAD.

The characters are all funny, though as I said before, I often wanted to slap them. The bratty child-star is annoying, and the apparent sympathy towards them gets annoying.

Also, the characters act ridiculously. Why would the actress-model actually want a long term relationship with that little idiot....I mean the kid was 12 for crying out loud! This bugged me a lot. Oh, and the artsy director-legal guardian actually putting up with the child-star and his mom.

The first thing to say right off the bat is that the camera-work in this movie is incredible, and the shaky hand-held moves multiply the actor's efforts many times over. It adds a feeling of uneasiness which is perfect for the topic of the movie. It also has quite a few disturbing touches (such as the younger son's disturbing sexual habits, or the fact that the older son and the dad are lusting after the same writing student living in their apartment), which when coupled with the shaky camera, adds a wonderfully depressing touch to everything which heightens the drama of the family conflict, without distracting from the theme or going too over the top. This couple of hand-held camera-work and disturbing themes manages to make you feel unpleasant, but in a way that helps the film work. Also, it should be noted that both the dialog writing and acting are top notch, and the characters are all well rounded. This seams like the formula for the perfect drama...right? So why dose it get 1 point less than Thumbsucker (If you've read my review of that movie, you probably know why)? The ending, plain and simple. See, they tried to do an abrupt and dramatic ending, but it just didn't work. Walt, the main character goes to the natural history museum, which is where he used to go with his mom, and sees the squid and the sperm whale exhibit which he was scared of as a young child. However, the story of him and his mom was introduced in a psychology segment thrown into the middle, and didn't carry enough weight, especially because there was so much else going on. This, couples with the fact that so many lose ends were left hanging, and so many things were unclear, ruined the ending utterly. Please note that Thumbsucker did the same sort of abrupt dramatic ending, though they did it much more realistically, and much better.

Despite the problems with the ending you will enjoy it...at least until the end credits roll, at which point you will be dissatisfied.

Thumbsucker is an excellent movie with both good comedy and drama. The awkwardness of the characters is well acted and well written, and you find yourself interested all the way through. It's nicely stylized all the way through, with the supporting characters taking on slightly stereotypical roles, though being refreshingly realistic it the sequencing. . Ironically you leave it feeling good do to the abrupt -but flawlessly executed ending, something which was attempted (unsuccessfully) in the Squid and the Whale. It's quite similar to that movie, at least in feel and style, so if you liked Squid and the Whale, you'll at least like Thumbsucker, if not love it. It lacks the beautiful hand-held camera work of Squid and the Whale, but it excels in being much more coherent and well structured, wrapping up all it's loose ends in sensible but interesting way.

My few gripes are that Keanu Reeves had some stiff and silly acting in the beginning of the movie, and that the movie dragged in some areas. However, this didn't hold it back too much.