At the Movies

Saw 300 this weekend, the new movie based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller. It’s about a group of 300 Spartans who stood against a massive army at the ancient Battle of Thermopylae.

It was your usual swords-and-sandal movie. A noble, but brash king, Leonidas, leads his men into battle with everyone knowing that they’re going to die. Yet, somehow, they take lots of folks with them before they go. And everybody’s happy to be slaughtered in such a honorable, glorious way.

My significant other loves ancient history, so he thought 300 totally rocked. It was actually a lot better than I thought it would be. Cool affects, a good lead actor in Gerard Butler, interesting battle scenes. A little gory, and a little slow in places, but overall, thumbs up.

But I did have a couple quibbles. First of all — the boob shots. There were lots of bare breasts in this movie for really no reason. But then again, there are lots of boobs in comics and graphic novels (like Miller’s Sin City series). Very big, very unrealistic boobs that would tip a normal woman over anytime she tried to walk. They’re just boobs, guys. Every other person has a pair of them. Get over it.

I also had a problem with Leonidas’ wife, who basically lets a corrupt councilman have his way with her in order to convince him to help her convince the Spartan government to send troops to back up her husband. Honey, don’t you know he’s going to double-cross you? He’s corrupt.

Some of the folks/monsters the Spartans fight were also a little over the top, like the 10-foot-tall guy who tries to separate Leonidas’ head from his body. But Miller seems to have a fascination with grotesque creatures (like Yellow Bastard in Sin City). And, of course, the monsters all had really bad teeth. You’d think they’d have good teeth, as much as they used them to eat people.

What about you? Have you seen 300? Plan to run screaming the other way? Inquiring minds want to know …

Saw Ghost Rider with Nic Cage this weekend.

I was interested in seeing it because it’s based on a comic book character, Johnny Blaze, who makes a deal with the devil and becomes Satan’s bounty hunter. I’ve never read that comic — never even heard of it until the movie came out, actually. But I like comics, and it looked like cheesy fun if nothing else.

It was cheesy, all right. Basically, a teenage Johnny accidentally gives his soul to Satan (Peter Fonda) to cure his dad’s cancer. Only Satan double-crosses him and offs dad in a fiery motorcycle accident. Of course, when Johnny grows up, he sort of has a death wish and spends his time thinking of new and interesting things to jump over on his motorcycle (trucks! football fields! helicopters!) since he’s a bad-ass stunt driver.

Satan finally gives him some bad guys to track down, which Johnny does with the help of a crusty old codger (Sam Elliot, the go-to guy for this sort of role) while trying to explain his new nighttime job to his old flame (Eva Mendes).

There were some funny lines, and one scene with Eva Mendes chugging wine that was pretty humorous. Nic Cage looked like he was having fun and was entertaining enough.

Overall, a meh movie. It was okay. Not great, but not bad. Pretty predictable all the way around. Save a few bucks and catch it on cable one night.

What about you? What movies have you seen lately? Inquiring minds want to know …

First of all, let me say that I am a HUGE James Bond fan. I have all the books. And I mean ALL the books, even the ones written by someone other than Ian Fleming. I have all the movies. I even have some of the soundtracks. And I can bore scores of people with Bond-related trivia.

This weekend, I finally got to see Casino Royale, the new Bond movie starring Daniel Craig.

It. Was. AWESOME.

The movies have gotten sillier and sillier since Goldeneye, the first one starring Pierce Brosnan back in the mid-1990s. The last one, Die Another Day, had an inivisible car, done with very cheesy and obvious special effects. Yikes.

But Casino Royale was a reboot of the series — a chance to look back at Bond on one of his first missions. And it was almost perfect. The style, the gritty tone, the lack of cheesy one-liners and the return of some real wit. It was everything that a Bond movie should be. And then some.

The movie followed Fleming’s original book pretty closely, which I appreciated. And Craig was an excellent Bond, the right mix of ruthlessness and determination and sophistication. Very close to Fleming’s original character. Judi Dench rocked the house as M. The scenery was breathtaking, the fight scenes were well-done, and Bond was in his favorite car — an Aston Martin.

It was wonderful. Sigh. 🙂

Even my significant other enjoyed it, and he’s not a Bond fan at all.

Okay, enough gushing from me. Although I have November 2008 marked on my calendar — that’s when the next Bond movie is due to hit theaters. 😉

What about you? Have you seen the new Bond movie? Love it? Hate it? Inquiring minds want to know …

Saw Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan this weekend.

The movie is about Borat, a television reporter from Kazakhstan who comes to America to film a documentary. Along the way, he offends, insults or attacks just about everyone he meets, from feminists to a minister to Pamela Anderson.

The significant other liked it. I did not.

I knew going in that I probably wouldn’t, as I had seen some of the Borat shows on HBO and wasn’t overly impressed with them. I just didn’t expect it to be as offensive as it was. The film makes fun of and insults everyone, especially Jewish people.

I’ve never really understood why some folks think that cruelly, mercilessly mocking others for their beliefs or religion is funny or makes for good entertainment. This movie did nothing to change my mind.

But what really made me dislike it was the scene in the hotel room with Borat and his producer. Yikes. Unfortunately, those images will be burned into my mind for many, many days to come.

Some folks (like Entertainment Weekly) think that this is the funniest movie ever made, but it gets a big thumbs down from me.

What about you? Do you love or hate Borat? Inquiring minds want to know …