Category Archives: Movies

Movie Review: "Sucker Punch"

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Photo courtesy of Warner Brothers
I love great movies. Genre-bending, thought-provoking ones like Inception and The Matrix, and those characterized by exceptional acting like Training Day and The Usual Suspects. I have been looking forward to the slew of sequels and original works that 2011 will bring. One of those films was Sucker Punch, the highly anticipated work from director Zach Snyder, who brought us 300 and The Watchman.
Every bit as visually stunning and stylized as Snyder’s other movies, Sucker Punch is also an over-the-top, intensely violent thrill ride. It follows the battles of Baby Doll, Sweat Pea, Rocket, Amber and Blondie, who engage in a series of terrifying challenges to win their freedom from a Gothic insane asylum. They fight off android aliens, over-sized ninja robots, zombies and other geek-tastic foes.
This is not a film that makes a great deal of sense in terms of the storyline, but that’s entirely ok. It lives up to its title, delivering one punch after another. It will not be lost on the viewer that five teenage girls, dressed as Frederick of Hollywood models are kicking major butt in sequence after sequence. Call it fanboy flick meets lingerie, geek fantasy. I know that everyone will not like Sucker Punch. But man, when its moving, you won’t be able to keep your eyes off of it.
There is no formula for what will make a movie memorable, or successful. But something tells me that this will be both. Buckle your seatbelt.

The New Batman Sequel

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Christian Bale as Batman

I am very excited that Christian Bale will return as the cape crusader in The Dark Knight Rises, the upcoming sequel in the Batman franchise. Though it won’t be released until next year, there is plenty for comic book geeks and movie enthusiasts to be happy about. For starters, director Christopher Nolan is returning. He cemented his place as a great director with the last Batman sequel, The Dark Knight. More crime drama than super hero flick, it was thick with tension, and with the sordid humor that only a villain like the Joker can deliver. It was more like Heat than X-Men.

I was not a huge fan of the casting of Heath Ledger as the Joker, but his performance was devilishly good. So I’m wondering if Ann Hathaway, who was casts as The Catwoman for the upcoming movie, will exceed expectations too. I wanted Angelina Jolie to get it because nobody plays the vixen like her. Nobody. Apparently, Bane, one of Batman’s greatest foes, will also be in the next installment.
The best news is that The Riddler won’t be appearing…yet. No, not because I’m not a fan. But, because this gives me time to continue campaigning for Stephen Colbert to play him. I wrote a piece in the Huffingtonpost back in September of 2009, urging Warner Brothers to select him. Sources said Johnny Depp was being considered. Who knows what happened. Maybe this means there is still time to get Colbert the role that I believe he was born to play.
But first, I look forward to another great, buzz-worthy performance from Christian Bale. Can’t wait.

"The Warrior’s Way"

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You will certainly enjoy the video (seen here) of Sngmoo Lee’s The Warrior’s Way, which is out in theatres on December 3rd. It stars Dong-Kun Jang, Kate Bosworth, Danny Huston, and Geoffrey Rush. It’s quite the visual feast! Billed as a “martial arts, western fantasy”, it features the kind of stylistic battles that became popular with the massive success of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – one of my favorite movies of all time.

Some of the recent martial movies have used amazing battle scenes and breathtaking cinematography to enhance the story, and leave moviegoers spellbound. The aforementioned Crouching Tiger and The House of Flying Daggers always come to mind. It looks like The Warrior’s Way may follow it their footsteps.