12.29.2007

10.35p 12.29.2007

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Rave Motion Pictures Polaris 18 (click for online ticket purchase)

Synopsis

Victorian England is the setting for this harrowing melodrama. Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) is living a simple life as a barber with his wife Lucy and his daughter Johanna (Jayne Wisener) when the lust of a judge (Alan Rickman) throws all of their lives into chaos. The judge has Benjamin Barker deported to Australia, and it is many years later that he returns to England, under the pseudonym Sweeney Todd with revenge on his heart. He wishes to reclaim his family and punish the judge and the society who destroyed it. With the help of Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), a pie shop owner who had known Sweeney and his family all of those years ago, Sweeney goes about seeking vengeance and reaping the benefits of that bloody journey.

12.22.2007

10.40p 12.22.2007

National Treasure: Book of Secrets

Rave Motion Pictures Polaris 18 (click for online ticket purchase)

Synopsis

While Ben is presenting new information about John Wilkes Booth and the 18 pages missing from Booth's diary, one man stands up and presents a missing page of John Wilkes Booth's diary. Thomas Gates, Ben's great-grandfather, is mentioned in the page. It shows that Ben's great-grandfather could have been a person involved with Abraham Lincoln's murder. When doing more research, the conspiracy takes Ben, Abigail, and Riley to Buckingham Palace(which they break into). It takes them to a book in the White House(which they break into also)and they even steal a page from the book. But in order to see more from the book, their choice is either get elected president or kidnap the President of the United States. Which do they choose? It's obvious. The conspiracy then crosses to Mount Rushmore and they even mention the JFK conspiracy. Could Ben clear his family's name? Or will his family be known as the descendant of Abraham Licoln's murderer?

12.15.2007

11.00p 12.15.2007

I am Legend

Rave Motion Pictures Polaris 18 (click for online ticket purchase)

Synopsis

Robert Neville is a brilliant scientist, but even he could not contain the terrible virus that was unstoppable, incurable and manmade. Somehow immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City, and maybe the world. But he is not alone. He is surrounded by the Infected-victims of the plague who have mutated into carnivorous beings who can only exist in the dark and who will devour or infect anyone or anything in their path. For three years, Neville has spent his days scavenging for food and supplies and faithfully sending out radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. All the while, the Infected lurk in the shadows, watching Neville''s every move, waiting for him to make a fatal mistake. Perhaps mankind''s last, best hope, Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus using his own immune blood. But his blood is also what The Infected hunt, and Neville knows he is outnumbered and quickly running out of time.

da'Moose on "Compass"

I'm not entirely sure where to go with this movie. On one hand, I liked the pseudo-steampunk world it took place in. The ice bears were somewhat interesting (especially with Sir Ian McKellen voicing the story's main bear), and graphically well done. The villian of the movie being the authoritarian religious institution was also compelling, though a bit overdone in today's "Da Vinci code" world.

Of course, you can't have the good without the bad. The whole bear fight-the-heir-to-the-death plot with the bears was kind of cliche. If you want a quick comparison, watch the sword and board duel in "The 13th Warrior". Same thing.

Sam Elliot? Hello typecasting, how have you been? I know the guy has brass balls engraved with Chuck Norris' personal endorsement, but c'mon man! Branch out a little!? I was waiting for him to pull back the curtain on his airship and have Bill Paxton, Kurt Russell, and Val Kilmer sitting there playing poker.

Why did Daniel Craig even do this movie? Did he owe someone a favor? He was in it for a grand total of 5 minutes, 4 of which were reprising some sort of bond-esque moments anyways. Lets hope they give him some more lines in the next one... oh yes, Mr. Bond.. there will be a next one...

Then there was Marisa Coulter, the character portrayed by Nicole Kidman. Everytime someone mentioned Ms. Coulter, I couldn't help picturing Ann Coulter in the roll.

Blonde? Check.
Waifish? Check.
Totally out of touch with reality and drunk on the idea of authoritarian neo-conservative para-militaristic regimes? Check.

I think this roll really missed it's calling. Sorry Mrs. Kidman.

All in all, "The Golden Compass" wasn't bad. I'd give it 3 out of 5 antlers. Once I finish reading the book, we'll see if that opinion changes.

12.08.2007

10.40p 12.08.2007

The Golden Compass

Rave Motion Pictures Polaris 18 (click for online ticket purchase)

Synopsis

There is a world where witches rule the northern skies, where ice bears are the bravest of warriors, and where every human is joined with an animal spirit who is as close to them as their own heart. This world is dominated by the Magisterium, which seeks to control all of humanity, and whose greatest threat is the last remaining Golden Compass and the one child destined to possess it. Twelve year-old Lyra Belacqua lives an extraordinary life as a ward of distinguished Jordan College. Tearing unsupervised through the streets on mad quests for adventure with her loyal friend Roger, Lyra is accompanied everywhere by her daemon, Pantalaimon--a small, ever-changing animal that serves as a constant voice of reason. But Lyra's world is changing. Her uncle, Lord Asriel, is embarking on a trip to the Arctic Circle to investigate a mysterious element called Dust, but the Magisterium would go to any lengths to stop him. At the same time, rumors of children mysteriously disappearing and being taken north become terrifyingly real when Lyra''s best friend Roger goes missing. She swears to go to the ends of the earth to rescue him, and when a new figure appears at the college--Marisa Coulter, a beguiling scientist and world traveler--she sees her best chance to get away. But Lyra''s been drawn into a trap designed to take from her the one thing she possesses that the Magisterium desperately seeks--the Golden Compass. It is a mystical device that can tell the truth, reveal what others wish to hide and foreshadow--and even change--the future. Lyra realizes that she will have to embark on her own journey to rescue Roger and stop the Magisterium. But fate puts her in the protection of a tribe of seafaring Gyptians led by Lord Faa, Ma Costa and Farder Coram. Banding together an unlikely alliance with the Gyptians, the mysterious witch Serafina Pekkala and Texas airman Lee Scoresby, Lyra is flung into an adventure that will take her over sky and ocean, to the wilds of the icy north, where she gains a powerful ally in a great armored bear named Iorek Byrnison. A great war is coming--with her band of friends and allies, and the power of the Golden Compass, Lyra will need all her skill and all her courage, to stop it.

12.01.2007

11.15p 12.01.2007

No Country for Old Men

AMC Lennox Town Center 24 (click for online ticket purchase)

Synopsis

Llewelyn Moss finds a pickup truck surrounded by a sentry of dead men. A load of heroin and two million dollars in cash are still in the back trunk. When Moss takes the money, he sets off a chain reaction of catastrophic violence that not even the law--namely aging, disillusioned Sheriff Bell--can contain. Moss tries to evade his pursuers, in particular a mysterious mastermind who flips coins for human lives.