Cast: Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man), Terrence Howard (Col. James 'Rhodey' Rhodes)), Jeff Bridges (Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger), Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts)
For complete information, see IMDb's Iron Man page.
Perhaps it was all the hype. Perhaps it was the parts of the previews I saw.... Whatever it was that raised my hopes, I expected more from Iron Man. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie and I'm glad that I rented it and that I own a great TV. However, I wasn't super impressed. I thought The Dark Knight was quite a bit better and have enjoyed quite a few movies based on characters from the comics more than I liked Iron Man.
The cast is amazing and the story is okay, but not stellar. The costume is good and perhaps if I had seen Iron Man in a movie theatre I would have been more impressed. Worth renting, but not close to my favorite movie of 2008.
Grade: B
Labels: 2008, action, adventure, comics, drama, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, movie, Robert Downey Jr., sci-fi, Terrence Howard
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:40 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne/Batman), Heath Ledger (The Joker), Aaron Eckhart (Harvey Dent/Two-Face), Michael Caine (Alfred Pennyworth), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Rachel Dawes), Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox)
For complete info, see IMDb's The Dark Knight page.
This movie is as good as everyone else is saying it is. Go see The Dark Knight (preferably in IMAX, so it takes over almost your entire field of vision) in a theatre! I thought the switch back and forth between the scenes filmed for IMAX (which take up the entire IMAX screen) and the rest of the movie. Due to the fact that the film was very well remastered for the IMAX screen, the difference is not as drastic as it would seem and most of the scenes that were filmed in IMAX are the scenic skylines, Batman flying in, etc. Fortunately, a couple fight scenes and the one big chase scene were also filmed in IMAX and those are amazing!
I've heard a lot of people talking about Heath Ledger getting the Oscar this year and I can definitely see why he would. So far, I haven't seen a performance I'd rank higher this year. I don't see as many movies in a theatre as I used to see, but I do still rent a lot of movies. One of my friends argued that he didn't think Heath Ledger should win, since he's dead. Although I don't think the fact that he's dead should increase his chances of winning, if Ledger had the best acting performance of the year, he deserves the Oscar. Can you imagine anyone wanting to win the award this year if they didn't actually do a better job than Ledger? They'd always be thought of as the one who won the Oscar, since Heath was dead. That makes no sense to me. Award the best performance whether the person is alive or not at the time of the awards ceremony.
The costumes, makeup, scenic design, orchestrations, acting, ... are all wonderful. I'm sure if you love Batman you've already seen The Dark Knight at least once, but if you've somehow missed it, go see it now. It's great!
There are also many amazingly funny lines in The Dark Knight, which I won't ruin for you. Enjoy!
Grade: A
Labels: 2008, Aaron Eckhart, action, Christian Bale, comics, crime, drama, Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, movie, mystery, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 12:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Nicolas Cage (Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider), Eva Mendes (Roxanne Simpson)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Ghost Rider page.
Ghost Rider looked like it was going to be so good from the previews. Fortunately, a few friends of mine saw it and told me to skip it in the theatre. It was worth watching on TV and it'd be worth renting, but seeing it in the theatre wasn't necessary. I didn't stop watching it, which is more than I can say of some other movies I recorded over the years, so it was entertaining enough to watch. Nothing super exciting or surprising, but worth seeing.
Grade: C
Labels: 2007, action, comics, drama, Eva Mendes, fantasy, movie, Nicolas Cage, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 9:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Brandon Routh (Clark Kent/Superman), Kate Bosworth (Lois Lane), Kevin Spacey (Lex Luthor), James Marsden (Richard White), Parker Posey (Kitty Kowalski)
For complete info, see IMDb's Superman Returns page.
Since I only saw this movie in the IMAX 3D version, so I can't comment on the regular screen versions, but seeing it from the ideal location (center of the row and not too far up) for an IMAX theatre, this movie was incredible!
I wasn't sure how to feel about a new Superman movie. The originals were favorites of mine when I was younger and I wasn't sure I was ready for them to replace Christopher Reeve or Gene Hackman.
That being said, I think this cast was amazing! The addition of Kitty Kowalski (brilliantly portrayed by Parker Posey) really pushed this movie over the top to greatness - she was the perfect comic relief! I'm surprised that Tristan Lake Leabu who played Jason White (Lois's son) has never done anything before. I think we'll see him in a lot more. He was very good!
It was nice to see that during his time away Superman really improved his costume. The material is much better now and the look is definitely far superior to the original. You can tell Louise Mingenbach took a lot of time figuring out what to do for this costume. Very well chosen design.
Of course, it will always amaze me that Superman has such a horrible cover. I wear one contact most of the time, but sometimes I wear glasses. When I do, everyone still recognizes me. Occasionally, I get the "You wear glasses?" question, but I've never had anyone ask who I am if they already know me. *sigh* But, that isn't something those who created this movie, or the original, are responsible for, so I can't knock the movie for it.
I was glad to see a couple people seem to be starting to figure out that Clark Kent just MIGHT be Superman... Perhaps someday they'll put two and two together.
I highly recommend getting to an IMAX theatre to see Superman Returns if you can, even though only 4 scenes are in 3D (which I didn't realize until we got into the theatre - I guess that's the down side of not watching TV ads or listening to the radio much). The entire movie is in IMAX and seeing Superman Returns that was is definitely the best way to go. Of course, it wasn't filmed in IMAX (which they don't tell you till the movie is starting either), but it was still amazing. Heck, I even thought seeing a non-IMAX movie on that giant screen was worth it when they've done that in the past, so I would highly recommend it even if the IMAX company wasn't involved. The quality is definitely better with IMAX, though - you can't deny that.
I'm sure Superman Returns will be in theatres for a while, but definitely make sure you catch it while it is! This is one where the special effects really make seeing it on the big screen a must!
Grade: B+
*****SPOILER ALERT*****
If you haven't seen the movie and don't want any spoilers, stop reading now.
It bothered me a bit that Superman's son was such a weak child (on an inhaler and countless other medications). But, then I thought about it a bit.... and I figured that a couple options are possible and both of them work enough for me to be okay with it.
1. He could take a while to grow into his powers. And, perhaps didn't get enough sun when he was younger to be fully healthy, since a son of Clark's would get extra energy from the sun.
2. He could be over-medicated because the doctors don't understand him. If you think about how quickly doctors toss medications at kids (look at all the kids on ADD, many of whom are probably just too advanced for their teachers or need to be moved into the next grade), and adults for that matter. I'm not saying all doctors do this, but I definitely think our society as a whole is pretty over-medicated. Since doctors probably wouldn't understand any of Jason's blood work, they would be likely to think he needed medications. And those might have even made him weaker to some extent.
I know, I over-analyze some things in movies too much. I thought the movie was wonderful!
Labels: 2006, 3D, action, adventure, comics, fantasy, IMAX, James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey, movie, sci-fi
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:15 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Hugh Jackman (Logan/Wolverine), Ian McKellen (Eric Lensherr/Magneto), Famke Janssen (Dr. Jean Grey/Phoenix), Anna Paquin (Marie/Rogue), Halle Berry (Ororo Munroe/Storm)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's X-Men: The Last Stand page.
Another wonderful X-Men movie! Of course, if you've enjoyed the X-Men movies in the past, you've probably already seen this one. It's nice to see a set of movies that don't get worse as the series continues. With the exception of Halle Berry being in a bit too much of this movie for my taste, there's nothing I would change about this movie. I wasn't a fan of the comics, so I can't compare the stories to that at all, but I did like the cartoon and I was happy with what they did in this movie.
The idea of a "cure" for mutations (even as far fetched as it may be in order to have one that would change everyone to a human) really allowed the X-Men to have opinions and really care about an issue that deeply affects them.
I thought the ending was perfect, since it leaves the opening for Magneto to come back. He's such a wonderful character!
They didn't explore the Phoenix story as much as I might have liked, but it was great that they finally showed all that Phoenix can do. Jean was just sitting around in the first two movies not doing much. I hope that in the future they will do the same with Rogue. My husband didn't watch the cartoons and only knows X-Men through the movies and when we talked about her getting to do her stuff after the movie, he said, "But what does she really do anyway?" I keep hoping that they'll show how powerful she can be and let her get out there and show her stuff. She and Wolverine have always been my favorites and they've definitely given Logan his time on screen, I'll keep hoping for Rogue's!
Definitely catch this in the movie theater if you can, the special effects are always better on the big screen!
Grade: A-
Labels: 2006, action, adventure, comics, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, movie, sci-fi, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 1:10 PM show | 1 screams
Cast: Ioan Gruffudd (Reed Richards), Jessica Alba (Sue Storm), Chris Evans (Johnny Storm), Michael Chiklis (Ben Grimm), Julian McMahon (Victor Von Doom)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Fantastic Four page.
Perhaps I only enjoyed this because I didn't expect much, but I liked the Fantastic 4 Cartoon and enjoyed the movie Fantastic Four. If you're a big comic book fan, I have no idea how this would measure up, since I'm not. However, as an sci-fi action movie, I think it's good. I enjoyed the story and the action and special effects. I think it's worth watching. Definitely consider renting it if you like sci-fi action movies, even if you're not interested in seeing it in a theatre.
Grade: B
Labels: 2005, action, adventure, comics, fantasy, movie, sci-fi
Reviewed by Kat at the 1:25 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne/Batman), Michael Caine (Alfred), Liam Neeson (Henri Ducard), Katie Holmes (Rachel Dawes)
For complete info, see IMDb's Batman Begins page.
I've been a fan of Batman for years. Not the comics, but all the animated series, the old TV series, the first Batman movie (Jack Nicholson made a great Joker, didn't he?), etc. When I heard about Batman Begins, I thought there was great promise, but realized that they could crash and burn. (Did you see Batman & Robin? Unfortunately, I did.)
I went to see Batman Begins in IMAX, since I figured if the movie was well done, this would be the best way to appreciate it. I am very impressed with what Christopher Nolan did with the Batman story and I can't wait to see his next movie, even though I heard the Joker is going to be in it and I don't see how anyone can follow Jack Nicholson's Joker.
Since I haven't read the Batman comics, I don't know if this movie was close enough to those for the fans of the Batman comics to be happy. They definitely moved pretty far away from what I knew of the Ra's Al Ghul character's story, but the story, special effects, and acting were so great that it didn't bother me.
If you like Batman, you've probably already seen this movie and I hope you enjoyed it as much as my fiance and I did. If not, then you may still want to check it out, since it's a great action flick.
Grade: A-
Labels: 2005, action, adventure, Christian Bale, comics, crime, drama, IMAX, Katie Holmes, Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, movie
Reviewed by Kat at the 4:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Wesley Snipes (Blade), Kris Kristofferson (Abraham Whistler), Dominic Purcell (Drake), Jessica Biel (Abigail Whistler), Ryan Reynolds (Hannibal King)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Blade: Trinity page.
I was pretty disappointed with the second Blade movie, so I didn't have high hopes for Blade: Trinity, but I had to see it, since the cast was great and I liked the first one so much - I had to see if they had re-captured the good combination they had in the first movie.
With the addition of Jessica Biel and Ryan Reynolds as Blade's extra side-kicks, I think they did the right thing in Blade: Trinity. The chemistry really worked and this was a fun movie.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2004, action, comics, fantasy, horror, Jessica Biel, movie, thriller, Wesley Snipes
Reviewed by Kat at the 3:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Tobey Maguire (Spider-Man/Peter Parker), Kirsten Dunst (Mary Jane Watson), James Franco (Harry Osborn)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Spider-Man 2 page.
I really enjoyed the first movie, so I was looking forward to this movie from the end of Spider-Man. Fortunately, Spider-Man 2 did not disappoint me. In fact, I enjoyed Spider-Man 2 more than Spider-Man, which is very rare for me and sequels. Even more rare, everyone in our group agreed that Spider-Man 2 was better than the first movie.
I can't wait for Spider-Man 3!
Grade: A-
Labels: 2004, action, comics, fantasy, James Franco, Kirsten Dunst, movie, sci-fi, Tobey Maguire
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:30 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
Cast: Patrick Stewart (Professor Charles Xavier), Hugh Jackman (Logan/Wolverine), Ian McKellen (Eric Lensherr/Magneto)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's X2 page.
Other than being upset that they bowed to Halle Berry's demands even though Storm has never been a big character in X-Men, I'm very happy with how the X-Men movies are going.
I actually think that X2: X-Men United is a better movie than X-Men, which I didn't expect. Of course, Wolverine is my favorite X-Men character, so that didn't hurt.
I'm happy with how they made some of the characters a bit younger and changed a bit of the story line to make it more interesting and I look forward to future X-Men movies.
Grade: A-
Labels: 2003, action, adventure, comics, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, movie, sci-fi, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 2:15 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Ben Affleck (Matt Murdock/Daredevil), Jennifer Garner (Elektra Natchios), Colin Farrell (Bullseye), Michael Clarke Duncan (Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Daredevil page.
I didn't read the Daredevil comics, so I don't know if they were true to the story, but I've always liked cartoons based on the comics and I found that this movie very entertaining. A man who was made blind by toxic waste which enhanced the rest of his senses being a super hero is a great concept. He's got very heightened senses, he's great at martial arts, and he goes out to defend against criminals.
The daytime job of a criminal attorney is probably the closest to the alter-ego of a super hero than any other super hero has. Fighting crime is what he does as Matt & as Daredevil.
Definitely worth the rental if you missed it in theatres. Besides, this is where Ben & Jennifer met for the first time, which comes into play years later for them.
Grade: B-
Labels: 2003, action, Ben Affleck, Colin Farrell, comics, crime, fantasy, Jennifer Garner, movie
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:10 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Tobey Maguire (Spider-Man/Peter Parker), Kirsten Dunst (Mary Jane Watson), Willem Dafoe (Green Goblin/Norman Osborn)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Spider-Man page.
Great adaptation of the comic and cartoon character to the big screen! Tobey Maguire does a great job portraying both Peter Parker and Spider-Man. The casting is amazing and they chose a good villain to start with in the Green Goblin. I look forward to many more Spider-Man movies and hope that (unlike the Batman movies) the original cast will stay for the subsequent movies! I can't imagine anyone else playing Spider-Man or Mary Jane Watson.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2002, action, comics, fantasy, Kirsten Dunst, movie, sci-fi, thriller, Tobey Maguire
Reviewed by Kat at the 12:20 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Wesley Snipes (Blade/Eric Brooks/'The Daywalker'), Kris Kristofferson (Abraham Whistler), Ron Perlman (Reinhardt), Leonor Varela (Nyssa)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Blade II page.
In the second Blade movie, Blade forms an alliance with the vampire council to combat the reaper vampires who feed on vampires. Not as good as the first movie, which is to be expected, but I really enjoyed this story and think that they did a good job of making Blade II interesting and action-packed. I definitely recommend renting it if you enjoyed Blade.
Grade: B
Labels: 2002, action, comics, horror, movie, thriller, Wesley Snipes
Reviewed by Kat at the 9:10 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Bruce Willis (David Dunn), Samuel L. Jackson (Elijah Price), Robin Wright Penn (Audrey Dunn)
For complete info, see IMDb's Unbreakable page.
I'll go see anything that M. Night Shyamalan does for the screen - period. This isn't as amazing as The Sixth Sense, but I think most of that is because we now know that M. Night Shyamalan will have a twist. Knowing that makes you think more about all the possibilities as you're watching the movie, which detracts from the work a bit. The idea of one man who can't be killed by normal means and one man who is very frail and suspect to injury discovering each other and the events that follow is great and I can't think of anyone better to present this than M. Night Shyamalan.
I look forward to many more movies by M. Night Shyamalan and recommend Unbreakable.
Grade: B
Labels: 2000, Bruce Willis, comics, drama, fantasy, M. Night Shyamalan, movie, Robin Wright Penn, Samuel L. Jackson, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:10 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Hugh Jackman (Logan/Wolverine), Patrick Stewart (Professor Charles Xavier), Ian McKellen (Eric Lensherr/Magneto)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's X-Men page.
I'm not a fan of the comic books, so the issues many of my friends had with the discrepancies there didn't bother me. I was a fan of the cartoon, so I don't know as much of the back story on the characters. I actually liked that they made Rogue younger than she was originally and gave the story a it more young characters (rather than Jubilee being the only one). I thought it was great that Kitty/ShadowKat appeared briefly and that you can see where some of the other X-Men and villains will come from in the class of kids.
Overall, I was very happy with the movie and hope that they make a lot of sequels. I'll be there.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2000, action, adventure, comics, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, movie, sci-fi, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Wesley Snipes (Blade/Eric Brooks/'The Daywalker'), Stephen Dorff (Deacon Frost), Kris Kristofferson (Abraham Whistler), N'Bushe Wright (Dr. Karen Jenson)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Blade page.
I think this was a very well adaptation of the Blade story, though I'm only a fan of Blade in the cartoons, so I can't say how it compares to the comic books as much.
I was very surprised by how many children (very young kids) were in this movie with us. Many of them were clearly horrified by what they were seeing. Some children cope well with fake violence, many don't. It seems a lot of people thought "Hey, this is based off a comic book character, it must be for kids" without doing any research. Even the opening scenes are very bloody and not for most young children.
Wesley Snipes and the rest of the cast do a great job (and Wesley Snipes looks amazing!). I would definitely see Blade sequels, if they made any.
Grade: B+
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:35 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Michael Keaton (Batman/Bruce Wayne), Jack Nicholson (Joker/Jack Napier), Kim Basinger (Vicki Vale), Robert Wuhl (Alexander Knox), Pat Hingle (Commissioner Gordon)
For complete cast, see IMDb's Batman page.
Every time I see this movie, I wish Tim Burton had been allowed to create ALL the Batman movies. The cast was amazing - especially Jack Nicholson as the Joker! Some of his lines were classics from almost the moment you first heard him say them on screen. (Like: Where does he get those wonderful toys?)
If you liked the Batman story in any form (comic books - which I haven't read, but friends of mine who have loved the movie, cartoons, TV show...), this version is a must see! They picked the best villain for the first movie, got a great cast, and did a great job with sets, lighting, costumes, and soundtrack. Batman is great!
Grade: A-
Labels: action, comics, crime, fantasy, Jack Nicholson, Michael Keaton, movie, Tim Burton
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:00 PM show | 0 screams