Movie Reviews

These past few days have been a movie marathon for me. I've seen 3 movies and here are my reviews:
1. The Descent
We rented this movie by accident. You are probably wondering how that could happen but it's rather easy to do with Comcast on Demand. This movie is a British horror film about a group of 6 girlfriends that go "caving" and end up getting lost deep inside the earth. They encounter these half man/half creature things so in addition to trying to find a way to the top, they also have to battle these creature-things. I thought a lot of the scare tactics in the movie were generic and predictable. Still scary, but predictable (don't we all know that if you peer very close to a supposedly dead person's face that their eyes are going to fly open and/or they will grab you?). If you read some of the "professional" reviews of this movie you will find that there is a theory that the creatures don't really exist but rather are the figment of one of the girl's imaginations and they represent the deterioration of the girls' friendships into fear & depair. I personally think that theory is scarier than if the creatures are real. I would give this movie a C+ (See my rating scale at the end of this post).

2. The Illusionist
I'm not going to go over the plot of this movie (check IMDB.com) since most of you have probably seen the previews. I had no desire to see this movie until it was recommended to me by a few different people. I like Edward Norton & Paul Giamatti as actors and they didn't let me down in this movie. I was also pleasantly surprised by Jessica Biel's performance. For some reason I don't really like her (but I've never really seen any of her work). However in this movie, I thought she did a good job. I guess I expected her to be nauseatingly feminine, or simpering, but she was a (relatively) strong female character. I liked this movie over all but it was missing something. I can't put my finger on it - I think maybe it was the lingering question about how much of Eisenheim's act was magic and how much was staged. At the end of the movie you get an idea as to how some of his acts were done - but there is still one big "trick" of his that I still can't quite figure out. So I guess what I'm saying is that the movie was slightly unsatisfying. But overall entertaining & intriguing. I would give it a B.

3. Casino Royale
I can't believe I waited so long to see this movie, and now that I have seen it I wish I saw it on the big screen. I loved Casino Royale and I think Daniel Craig makes an excellent James Bond. I think he was sauve but not overly macho, and he delivers those famous Bond one liners with perfection. I also applaud him for wearing those boy shorts - I wish more American men felt comfortable wearing them because they are HOT (on the right guy - I have no desire to see Will Ferrell sporting a pair). This movie was action packed and intense. You will find yourself almost out of breath after several scenes because you forget to breath. And the storyline is great - it keeps you guessing until the end. I am definitely looking forward to the next installment of James Bond starring Daniel Craig. I give Casino Royale an A-.

Amanda's rating system:
A+: Loved it, want to own it on DVD, will watch it several times over. This is reserved for brilliant films like Indochine, Gone With the Wind, and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.
A: Loved it, will buy the DVD as soon as it comes out.
A-: Loved it, will buy the DVD as soon as it goes on sale (meaning $9.99 or less)
B: Liked it, would watch it again but only if it's on TV or someone gives me the DVD as a present.
C: Thought it was OK, entertaining but no need to see it again. Once is enough.
D: Not entertaining, boring or stupid. Would rather clean my bathroom than watch this movie again.
F: The movie was so bad I turned it off without seeing the end (or walked out of the movie theater). Several movies are this bad - but they do exist (i.e. Freddy Got Fingered).