Recent Movie Reviews

Here's a quick recap of the movies I've seen recently.


I Am Legend (starring Will Smith)
My purpose for seeing this movie was for entertainment. I wasn't looking for anything serious or a deeper meaning. Having said that, entertainment is what I got.
The story is an interesting concept. A man finds himself one of the few survivors of a monster virus. He must rely on himself to survive and find a cure for the virus. Director Francis Lawrence did a good job with the blockbuster imagery and showing how a person's mind may go a little crazy if they only had a dog to talk to. But the "infected" or zombies as I like to call them reminded me too much of i-Robot. The fact that a virus would suddenly make the victim some superhuman zombie is bizarre to me.
I'm sure if I read the book that the movie is based off, it would shed some light. But for not reading the book, the movie looks like almost any other zombie movie.
It's one of those movies you hope to see on tv when you're taking a sick day.

Juno (starring Ellen Page, Michael Sera)
Overall, I liked the movie. But the first 15 minutes were kind of a turn off for me. I wasn't so sure how much I could take of all the witty and slangy dialogue. I cringed when I heard "homeskillet" and "honest to blog" being used as "funny" dialogue. Also, Juno's character seemed inconsistent at times. She's supposed to be this punky, hard-exterior girl. That's fine. But it baffles me that she would perform such twee pop songs. That doesn't fit.
Okay, with all that aside, I did like the movie after seeing it all the way through. It did make me genuinely laugh at times. And I did get choked up in other parts. Once director Jason Reitman got into the meat of the story he showed a well-crafted honest look at an independent teenage girl going through a taboo situation. (i guess teen pregnancy isn't that taboo anymore, is it?)
I'd recommend seeing this.

Charlie Wilson's War (starring Tom Hanks)
Political movies aren't always the most pleasant of films. If you don't know too much of the subject matter, it can be very boring. But that's not the case with Charlie Wilson's War. Based on a true story from the 80s, Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson (Hanks) provides resources to Afghanistan to defeat the Soviets. Of course, this was a covert operation. The movie does an excellent job of tying in that secret moment in history to our current global state. It isn't contrived, but subtle enough to make you think. Hanks portrays well the dirty, womanizing politician who actually wants to make a difference. There's nudity and swearing which can be uncomfortable to watch with your old Korean parents. But it's actually a good film. My old Korean parents even liked it.
If you don't like politics, don't see this movie. Everyone else should see it.

P.S. I Love You (starring Hilary Swank)
I watched this movie against my will. But I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt. Well, it was as bad as I thought. There's nothing wrong with "chick flick" movies. But this one was wrong. If you love to cry about anything, you'll like to cry at this movie. It's got all the cliche sadness in it. Here's the basic story. Girl is annoying. She is even more annoying when she fights with her Irish husband. Husband dies of brain tumor. Girl is so sad and has a hard time getting herself together. Husband orchestrates this plan to send wife some touching letters after his death...myesteriously! Well, the mystery is over. The husband had the girl's mom follow his instructions to carry out his letter deliveries beyond the grave. Girl is able to move on with her life and falls in love with another Irish guy. Don't you just want to cry right into your jumbo sized diet coke?
Don't watch this movie unless you love love love love chick flicks.

There Will Be Blood (starring Daniel Day-Lewis)
Paul Thomas Anderson movies usually have some sort of uplifting quality to them. In the end, there's some sense of hope. Anderson breaks that trend of hope in his latest film There Will Be Blood.
The film opens boldly with fantastic desert imagery and no dialogue. An uneasy mood is set with the piercing, swarming sound of violins as the soundtrack. Right away the audience sees horrible physical harm that happens to oil well diggers. But it comes to no surprise to those in the film. It looks like business as usual.
The movie follows the career of oil man Daniel Plainview (Day-Lewis). He's a competitive and ruthless man. Sometimes it's hard to decide if it's greed or hatred that drives him to do the things he does.
Plainview brings his business to a small town. Anderson uses astonishing imagery to show what a major industry can do to such a place.
Based on Upton Sinclair's Oil! this movie offers multi-layer characters and beautiful images. But don't expect to see a Magnolia. Anderson has something completely different in store.
I recommend seeing this on a big screen. And yes, there will be blood.