The Number 23, Ghost Rider, The Messengers, Catch & Release

THE NUMBER 23. Truth be told, ever since director Joel Schumacher ruined the Batman movie franchise with Batman and Robin (thank goodness for Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale), I'd grown a bit biased towards Schumacher's films -- that when he comes out with a new movie, I'd always think to myself "jeez, is he ruing this movie too?" -- but, notwithstanding, I'll still go and see it. Like this one. I honestly don't know if it's true, but one of the things that this flick is trying to show is that there's an obsession with the number 23 (the Titanic sank on 4/15/1912-add up the dates and you get 23; Shakespear was born and died on April 23 -- the list goes on...) -- and the subject matter is supposed to send chills down your spine. Unfortunately, it doesn't work for me. I know that as he gets older, Jim Carrey will probably try to stay away from doing the physical comedies that he's known for, and try (even) more serious roles -- but this doesn't work for me -- the parts where Carrey is trying to be serious about something becomes unintentionally funny (i.e. : there was a scene where Carrey and family are in a pick-up truck and they come across this supposedly "supernatural" dog on the road, and there's a "let's-play-chicken" face-off between both parties, and it was uncomfortably funny - and it shouldn't have been, funny that is -- the movie audience who were also watching the same time I was were giggling and laughing when they shouldn't have, so methinks that was a bad sign). Ho-hum.

GHOST RIDER. Nicolas Cage has been itching to play a superhero for as long as I can remember (I'm still thanking my stars and garters that the Tim-Burton-Nicolas-Cage pairing for the planned Superman movie fell apart - as we all know, the movie eventually got made, with Bryan Singer at the helm, and Brandon Routh donning the red cape and blue tights -- I mean, can you honestly imagine Cage as the Man of Steel?) -- and now he finally gets his chance as Johnny Blaze, a motorcycle stuntman who accidentally makes a deal with Mephistopheles(Peter Fonda) and sells his soul to save his father from cancer. In exchange, Blaze becomes the Ghost Rider, to do battle with Blackheart, Mephistopheles' son who's out to turn the world into (his) Hell. I'm a comic book geek or fanboy (or at least I used to be, since I haven't bought a comic book in - how long has it been? - I think, over five years), and the Johnny Blaze portrayed by Cage in this big-screen adaptation of the Marvel comic book-based character is nothing like the way he is (or at least the way I remember him to be) in the comic -- Nicolas Cage's accent is erratic, has a funny-looking hair piece, and has given Blaze a couple of quirks : listens to The Carpenters to relax, and downs jellybeans from a martini glass. Sheesh. In my opinion, Cage is miscast (kind of reminds me of Ben Affleck being miscast as Daredevil in the big-screen treatment of the Marvel comic character back in 2003). Peter Fonda looks bored. Eva Mendes (Cage's love interest in the movie) is just pure eye candy. And Wes Bentley (as Blackheart) is a boring, Tobey Maguire look-alike bad guy. Blech.

THE MESSENGERS. The Pang Brothers, directors of Jian Gui(The Eye), makes their Hollywood film debut with The Messengers, a story about an ominous darkness that invades a seemingly serene sunflower farm in North Dakota, and the Solomon family (Dylan McDermott, Penelope Ann Miller and Kristen Stewart) are smack-dab in the middle of it all. I heard from my friends who've seen it that it was boring, so I opted not to watch it. But to my surprise, it was already over a week and it was still showing in cinemas, so I thought what the heck, might as well see it. It's actually not as bad as I thought it would be. The skittering stop-motion ghosts are fine, but somehow didn't offer the scares I thought and hoped it would. Maybe it's because I've seen a lot of these types of on-screen ghosts, that it didn't offer anything new for me. It's a stylish horror flick, and probably will do nicely for those who love J(apanese)-horror movies but hate the subtitles, but it doesn't really offer a lot in the scares department. And what is up with John Corbett -- I thought he said he was retiring from making movies?

CATCH AND RELEASE. What can I say? I love Jennifer Garner--I haven't seen a Garner movie that I haven't liked (yes, including the half-baked Daredevil spin-off Elektra - hehe). Yet. I like this one,too. Here, Garner is Gray Wheeler, who, after the sudden death of her fiance, finds comfort in the company of his friends : light-hearted comic Sam (Kevin Smith), the very-responsible Dennis (Sam Jaeger), and childhood buddy Fritz (Timothy Olyphant), an irresponsible playboy that she'd always pegged as the least reliable person in the world. In the course of the movie, Gray gets to discover new sides to the men that she thought she knew, including her late fiance. It's a good light fluff piece, albeit predictable. But it's a Jennifer Garner movie -- so that made it better for me by leaps and bounds. I liked the soundtrack as well.

'Nuff said.

Music & Lyrics, The Fountain

MUSIC AND LYRICS. Hugh Grant plays an 80s pop idol has-been who gets another crack at a comeback when a Shakira-wannabe asks him to write her a song. But he's only given a few days to come up with a hit song and is desperate to come up with the perfect lyrics. Cue Drew Barrymore, who just happens to have the talent for rhyme. Sparks fly and you can probably guess the rest. As predictable as that may sound, this movie is surprisingly very entertaining. Grant has a lot of witty one-liners and Barrymore...well...I've never hated her, but I've never been a huge fan of hers either -- but I gotta say that she's quite lovely in this movie, particularly in a scene where she gets to put on a red dress (Yowza!). Music has a lot of laughs, and you immediately get started at the opening of the movie, where a video of the Wham-esque group that Grant's character used to belong to - Pop - will have you cracking up. In fact, Pop's "80's" ditty will keep ringing in your head over and over, as if you're having one of those last-song-heard syndromes. And even though it seems like it was written by a child, one of Grant's other songs in the movie, "Don't Write Me Off" , is also pretty nice (well, I liked it).

THE FOUNTAIN. Spanning over a thousand years, and three parallel stories in different time periods, The Fountain is a story of love, death, spirituality and the fragility of our existence in the world. Unfortunately, the movie is so muddled that it's a bit difficult to comprehend or keep up with the premise or plot. In the middle of this mess is married couple Tommy (Hugh Jackman) and Izzi (Rachel Weisz). Jackman and Weisz shine in the film, as their scenes together are achingly poignant -- which is good and bad -- good because their performances are what saves this movie for me, and bad because these two deserve a better movie than this. The Fountain is visually amazing that it's hard to believe that what I read about it having only one CGI used for the entire film is true (writer-director Darren Aronofsky chose to do the special effects using micro-photography on chemical reactions on tiny petri dishes -- he said that the CGI would take away the timelessness of the film) . But fantastic visuals can only do so much for a movie if the story doesn't help it.

'Nuff said.

Blood & Chocolate, Hannibal Rising, The Curse of The Golden Flower, The Holiday

BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE. It's a strange title for a movie if you ask me, particularly if it's a horror flick. I can understand the blood part, but chocolate?! And not seeing the trailer, the title was actually what put me off from seeing the movie right away. In fact, I almost didn't go watch it. I thought that it was some cheapo B-movie. I had to check for reviews about Blood, to make sure that it was at least worth my hundred and fifty pesos. Aiden (Hugh Dancy) is an artist doing research on Bucharest's ancient arts and relics for his next graphic novel based on the mythology of the Loup Garoux -- shapeshifters whose ability to effortlessly change into both human and wolf was once considered to be holy among men. He runs into and falls for Vivian (Agnes Bruckner), who, unbeknownst to him, is one of the Loup Garoux. One of the last of her kind in fact, and is under the control and protection of Gabriel (Olivier Martinez), the leader of the last packs of Loup Garoux who is to be her predestined husband. The movie may prove to be a disappointment for hard-core horror flick fans, as Blood doesn't really have a lot of... well, blood. It's actually more of a romantic thriller (well, more romantic than thriller ), minus the blood and gore that would normally accompany these kinds of movies. Heck, even the transformation of the Loup Garoux from human to wolf was done in an elegant or romantic kind of way, as opposed to how most of us have seen it done in other movies (An American Werewolf In London, The Howling, Wolf, etc). But what can I say? I'm a sucker for these kinds of stories, and I actually liked this one. It's not the best of this genre, but it's still pretty good nonetheless.

HANNIBAL RISING. Silence of The Lambs was one of the best movies ever made. With stellar performances from the two leads, Jodie Foster and (especially) Sir Anthony Hopkins. For me, it's one of those films that should be left alone. Meaning, no sequels, and no remakes. That's why I was a bit concerned when Hannibal came out ten years later, and Red Dragon in 2002. Fortunately, both movies weren't as bad as I feared it would be. The most important reason being the fact that Hopkins still played the deliciously frightening Dr.Lecter. So imagine my surprise and dismay when I found out another movie about the infamous doctor was made. Pardon my ignorance, but I'm not very knowledgeable with Thomas Harris' work -- and, apparently, Harris did write a novel about the origin of Lecter, so I guess it was but inevitable that a movie was going to be made based on said book. The thing is, in my opinion, Hopkins is Hannibal Lecter, and it would be difficult to see anyone else play the role other than him. Okay, so it's not like Hopkins could play a very young Hannibal (the movie's about his origin after all), but it's also difficult (for me anyway) not comparing the guy who plays Lecter in this one (Gaspard Ulliel) to Anthony Hopkins. And it's pretty much what ruins Hannibal Rising for me. Ulliel's portrayal of Lecter reminded me more of Crispin Glover's The Thin Man in the Charlie's Angels movie(s). As I said, Hollywood should have left Silence of The Lambs alone and not made any more Hannibal movies. Especially with this latest. Anthony Hopkins saved Hannibal and Red Dragon, but a Hannibal movie without Hopkins is just inconceivable.

Useless knowledge : There was actually another actor that played Hannibal The Cannibal before Sir Anthony Hopkins, and that was Brian Cox (who has appeared in movies like Troy, The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy, to name a few) in a Michael Mann-directed film called Manhunter (an excellent movie), starring CSI's William Peterson. Info courtesy of the dvd lent to me by Ld.

CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER. Forget about the story because this will just leave you dazed and confused, especially the ending (which will also irritate the heck out of you). But if you really wanna know, Hero and House of Flying Daggers director Zhang Yimou, gives us his latest offering -- a martial arts "epic" starring Chow Yun-Fat, as an emperor in 10th century Tang Dynasty that's got some family drama going on in his life : he's married to Gong Li, who's having an affair with her husband's eldest son (that sounds icky but, don't worry, she's not related to him) - and the emperor also wants to turn her insane by slowly poisoning her; his middle son is clearly having designs on the throne; and his youngest son spends his time brown-nosing and skulking around the palace. But that's not all... someone's also raising an army to strike at the heart of the empire during the annual chrysanthemum festival, someone else is searching for a long-lost relative, and so on. Curse has beautiful costumes, superb cinematography, but, other than that, this movie is best left alone. Well... unless you can't help yourself and you just want to see a crappy movie. To prove my point, there's a scene where a huge battle happens -- a lot of people get killed -- but the moment the fight is over, palace servants appear out of nowhere and clean and clear out the thousands of dead bodies lying around and voila!, it was as if nothing happened. That scene was just so damn funny! (it wasn't meant to be funny)

THE HOLIDAY. After having problems with the men in their lives, Amanda (Cameron Diaz) - a Hollywood movie trailer producer - meets British writer Iris (Kate Winslet) on-line and decide to do a home-swap in each other's countries (I didn't even know some people do this kind of thing -- I thought to myself wouldn't it be great to swap my home for some huge abode, with complete amenities like a pool, superb sound system, a ginormous tv, etc? - then again, nobody's gonna want my place - haha), only to meet a local guy and fall in love. The trailer would suggest that this is a Cameron Diaz-Kate Winslet vehicle, but I felt that it was more of a Cameron Diaz show, as the movie seemed to focus more on her story and her scenes seemed to be longer than that of Kate's. Writer-director Nancy Meyers did much better with her last outing, Something's Gotta Give, but The Holiday is still a decent romantic comedy, if a bit lengthy. It's a beautiful movie to look at all around, particularly because of and with the leads that Meyers has in the film. Well, maybe except Jack Black who, perhaps, some will find a bit odd as a romantic leading man. He doesn't do bad -- it's just that people who've seen his movies are probably more used to seeing Black as a hyperactive, physical comedian -- and in this flick, he's more low-key. Absolutely wonderful film score by Hans Zimmer.

'Nuff said.

Apocalypto, Hollywoodland, Charlotte's Web

APOCALYPTO. If you're a filmmaker, how do you top something like Passion of The Christ? Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin had Independence Day and followed it up with Godzilla. Peter Jackson made the Lord of The Rings trilogy and King Kong was his next film. Both follow-ups failed at the box office and didn't live up to critics and the movie-going public's expectations. Like the saying goes when you're on top, there's no other way but down. So Mel Gibson probably was under a lot of pressure to come up with the next Passion of The Christ -- that was the main thought racing in my mind as I was watching Apocalypto. I have to applaud Gibson in creating another movie with a subject matter that won't necessarily translate into commercial success : about the Mayan kingdom facing extinction (and its rulers insisting that the only way to continue to prosper is to build more temples and offer human sacrifices). There's actually something more than just a sort of history lesson happening in the film, as a young man named Jaguar Paw, captured for sacrifice, flees and tries to return to his wife and child. There's a sense of awe, mysticism, and disgust while viewing Gibson's latest work. It was kind of like watching the National Geographic or something on a/the big screen. It can be and is pretty violent (some people have criticized Gibson for portraying the Mayan civilization as nothing more than a violent race), so this is something not for the weak at heart or those without strong stomachs. It's no Passion..., that's for certain, but it's still an interesting and somewhat disturbing look at the Mayan culture (even if you don't really learn anything about them from this movie). Apocalypto is what I would call an acquired taste -- it's definitely not for everyone.

HOLLYWOODLAND. I honestly have no idea about the life and death of George Reeves (Ben Affleck), tv's Superman, except that he (supposedly) committed suicide. And I've always never completely trusted movies that are based on true events or people because, being Hollywood, and that it's a movie, facts are often not a hundred percent accurate, and/or changes are made about a certain event or person for cinematic purposes. And I'm guessing that Hollywoodland is no different in that sense. Conspiracy theorists may find it interesting how a detective (Adrien Brody) tries to piece together clues surrounding the death of Reeves and comes up with several possible scenarios as to how it actually happened. But, at the same time, it does prove to be quite frustrating as all one really gets are just more maybes, and you somehow can't help but wish that there would be some kind of finality, or some kind of resolution to what may or (according to the film) may not have been a suicide. It was also a bit frustrating keeping up with certain things, as a lot of names or events would be mentioned, people and other stuff that I knew nothing about. You would have to have been knowledgeable with was going on in Hollywood and in the late Reeves' career back in the 50s to fully appreciate Hollywoodland. Fine acting all around, particularly Diane Lane who plays Toni Mannix, the wife of MGM studio executive Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins). But I think it's best or better to read some kind of authorized autobiographical book about George Reeves if you want to find out more about the actor, his career, and his mysterious death.

CHARLOTTE'S WEB. I vaguely remember watching the animated Charlotte's Web on the boob tube when I was a wee lad. Now comes the big-screen, live-action treatment of E.B. White's classic children's book, about a runty pig saved from the slaughterhouse by his friendship with a learned spider (voiced by Julia Roberts). Going in, you already know the target market, but it's still pretty enjoyable for adults (just make sure if you're watching it alone to not sit anywhere near a family with a group of kids, as the tendency will be the difficulty to enjoy the movie what with kids being kids, noisily and innocently asking a lot of questions to mom or dad, etc). But, even if you hear Julia Robert's (soothing) voice, there's just no way to make a huge, hairy spider anything but creepy. Ugh. Stellar (voice) cast : Oprah Winfrey, Cedric The Entertainer, Reba McEntire, Steve Buscemi, Kathy Bates, Sam Shepard, and John Cleese. Wonderful film score by Danny Elfman, even if it doesn't exactly have a strong recall.

'Nuff said.