Cast: Chris Pine (James T. Kirk), Zachary Quinto (Spock), Leonard Nimoy (Spock Prime), Eric Bana (Nero), Bruce Greenwood (Pike), Karl Urban (Bones), Zoe Saldana (Uhura)
For complete info, see IMDb's Star Trek page.
I'm not a fan of the original Star Trek (TV show or movies). I enjoyed what I saw of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. I also liked most of the movies with those Star Trek characters (at least enough to have seen them in a theatre).
I was really interested in this movie, since they seemed to have a very good cast and I liked the idea of seeing the story with better special effects and acting (I'm really not a fan of William Shatner). Clearly, as soon as they announced that the new Star Trek was being released in IMAX, that was the way I had to see it!
I think the Star Trek movie was very well done. The one person in our group who had watched the whole original series thought they explained things in a way that worked with the original Star Trek and really enjoyed the movie. The cast is amazing, the special effects are well done, and it's a good story. What more could one ask for in a movie on a screen that big? Definitely catch Star Trek in IMAX while you can and if not, see it on the biggest screen you're able to find.
Grade: A-
Labels: 2009, action, adventure, Bruce Greenwood, Chris Pine, Eric Bana, movie, sci-fi, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:30 AM show | 1 screams
Cast: Natalie Portman (Anne Boleyn), Scarlett Johansson (Mary Boleyn), Eric Bana (Henry Tudor)
For complete information, see IMDb's The Other Boleyn Girl page.
Since I LOVED the book The Other Boleyn Girl and was very excited by who they chose for the cast (the book my friend let me borrow actually had the cover with Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, & Eric Bana, which probably helped). The costumes and sets looked like they were very well done and I was hoping they'd done a good job with the story. I rushed out to see the movie, since I wanted to be sure to see it on the big screen and period pieces don't always do too well in theatres. As far as the costumes, sets, and cast were concerned, I have nothing but good things to say and I suppose seeing the beautiful costumes on a big screen was worth the effort, though I have a pretty big TV, so I'm not sure about that.
As for the story... Wow. The movie started a bit earlier (in the book, Mary Boleyn had been married for a couple years, I think - I'm trying to remember exactly how long after her wedding the book started) than the book, ended at the same point, and skipped a lot of important detail.
Since I'm accustomed to seeing books made into movies, I think I'm pretty forgiving when it comes to changes in plot though I can't handle the addition of a love story (Jurassic Park) or elimination of a love story (The Pelican Brief). I understand that movies are only a couple hours long and it's impossible to cram an entire novel into that time. That being said, there are certain things you really shouldn't skip and they seemed to pick many of these when they wrote the screenplay for The Other Boleyn Girl. The most egregious error made when they adapted the book for the screenplay was removing the death of one of the characters' husbands (I won't explain further, since I don't want to give anything away for those who haven't read the book and will see the movie). This wouldn't seem like a big plot point, but this character does still end up with her second husband, meaning that she's now married to two men (according to what you've seen on screen). When leaving the theatre, I actually asked my friend who went with me (who had not read the book) if I had missed this man's death, but I hadn't. They just skipped it. They also left out a lot of the births and other things that happen in the book, making the movie only worth watching for the scenic and costume design.
If you love period pieces and haven't read the book, The Other Boleyn Girl is probably a pretty good movie. If you have read the book and aren't really enthralled by costumes and sets, don't bother wasting your time with The Other Boleyn Girl. If you really love costume and scenic design, it's probably worth renting the movie to see those, but don't expect much from the story. The movie was very disappointing.
Grade: C
Labels: 2008, drama, Eric Bana, history, movie, Natalie Portman, romance, Scarlett Johansson
Reviewed by Kat at the 1:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Eric Bana (Huck Cheever), Drew Barrymore (Billie Offer), Debra Messing (Susanne Offer), Robert Duvall (L. C. Cheever)
For complete info, see IMDb's Lucky You page.
I was pleasantly surprised by Lucky You. Although I don't read reviews before seeing movies, I do read titles and look at grades and from all of that, I expected very little from this movie. I rented it anyway, since I'll see anything with Drew Barrymore and it was an entertaining movie. A bit too predictable? At times, as long as you're just expecting an entertaining movie that's not gonna knock your socks off, Lucky You is worth renting.
Grade: C+
Labels: 2007, comedy, Debra Messing, drama, Drew Barrymore, Eric Bana, movie
Reviewed by Kat at the 4:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Eric Bana (Avner), Daniel Craig (Steve), Ciaran Hinds (Carl), Mathieu Kassovitz (Robert), Hanns Zischler (Hans)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Munich page.
Do I think Munich deserved to be nominated for best picture? Nope, but it was better than Good Night, and Good Luck., so I guess I can see why it was. Also, Steven Spielberg said he thought it was better than Schindler's List (which I strongly disagree with, but they are his movies...), so how could the academy not nominate Munich for best picture when a film Spielberg thought wasn't as good in his library of films won best picture? I can see how it happened. I'm very glad that the academy seems to agree with me that Schindler's List is the better picture, since Munich didn't win any Oscars.
Munich was a very good movie, but it definitely dragged in parts. We had it from Netflix for over a week before watching it, since neither of us ever seemed to be in the mood for a movie we knew was going to be very sad. This is the same reason I didn't get to see it before the awards this year. Of course, unlike many years, I was no where close to seeing all the nominiees this year, so it wasn't as big of a deal. Hopefully, I'm doing better with the 2006 nominees. Now that movies come out on DVD so quickly, it's getting easier and easier to be up to date in time for the Oscars.
I think Munich is worth renting, but I'm glad we didn't see it in a theatre.
Grade: B
Labels: 2005, Daniel Craig, drama, Eric Bana, history, movie, thriller, war
Reviewed by Kat at the 3:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Brad Pitt (Achilles), Diane Kruger (Helen), Eric Bana (Hector), Orlando Bloom (Paris)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Troy page.
Having read Homer's The Illiad in high school and enjoyed the story, I was looking forward to Troy and although it's a lot of epic to put into one movie, I think that they did a good job with Troy. The cast was wonderful and they seemed to concentrate on the parts of the story that made sense in a movie. The scenery and costumes were well designed and the shortening of the original novel was well done. I definitely recommend renting Troy if you missed it in theatres.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2004, action, Brad Pitt, drama, Eric Bana, history, movie, Orlando Bloom
Reviewed by Kat at the 1:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Eric Bana (Bruce Banner), Jennifer Connelly (Betty Ross), Sam Elliott (Ross), Josh Lucas (Talbot)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's The Hulk page.
As a big fan of the TV series when I was younger, I couldn't wait for the movie to come out. From the moment I heard they were actually filming, I thought of all they could do with today's special effects. They had a great cast lined up and that assured me that it would be a great movie.
I couldn't have been more wrong. They may have had more money and more special effects, but if you want to see the Hulk in any form, I suggest you rent the TV series from Netflix. Surely, it's on DVD by now.
I have no idea how Ang Lee could have managed to go so horribly wrong, but The Hulk definitely was one of the most horrible movies with a big budget I've ever seen in a movie theater. I guess I should have waited to rent it.
Grade: D
Labels: 2003, action, comics, drama, Eric Bana, fantasy, Jennifer Connelly, Josh Lucas, movie, sci-fi
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:55 PM show | 0 screams