It's been too oppressively hot this week to go for a bike ride, and it's going to last through the weekend. Although I still think we had a mild start of summer, we're quickly doing away with that idea. Today is currently slated for 103. Fortunately Monday's high is scheduled to be below 80, so things should cool off some.
So instead of rides this week, this is going to become Movies This Week, with three quick movie reviews -
Prometheus - I finally went and saw it. And I was as disappointed as I guess everyone was. I wasn't even expecting a lot based on the reviews I'd heard, but the movie just didn't make a lot of sense. As I've said before, I'm happy to run with a non-scientifically-accurate premise and enjoy seeing what the characters do, but I just didn't believe any of what the "scientific mission" chose to do or how they went about things the entire movie. And the Alien tie in was mediocre at best. Oh well. It was still fun to see some spaceships as all sci fi movies are at some level.
The Man From Nowhere - This is a Korean modern action movie (i.e. fights/gunplay) that was really good. It was your typical rescue/revenge story - Former (special forces, hitman, MMA champion) badass turned (miserly recluse, drunk, family man) befriends an (8-12 year old) girl who gets taken by (the mob, sex traffickers, a warlord) because her parents were (rich, into drugs, witnessed something). The former badass proceeds to show that his badass is not so former as he kills everything on his way to rescue/avenge the girl. Very enjoyable. The climactic sequence was awesome.
War of the Arrows - Another Korean movie, this one an ancient epic. The son and daughter of a Chinese lord flee to Korea after his father is declared a traitor for sympathizing with Korea. 10 years later Chinese raiders are invading Korea, and the very proficient with a bow and arrow son (I guess only Chinese people are good with a bow) has to set off to rescue his sister who's been taken captive by the very proficient with bows and arrows raiders. Lots of arrow fights ensue. It was very well done, with some great cinematography and action sequences. It reminded me some of House of Flying Daggers, and was the best ancient epic/action I had seen in a long time.
That's it for this week. I still have J. Edgar from blockbuster that I might get to this weekend, and I kinda want to go see savages. Has anyone seen anything about Ted? I can't tell if it looks funny or horrible. With Mark Wahlberg in a comedy I lean towards horrible.
I love The Man from Nowhere! Actually, I'm pretty sure that I recommended it to you, so I'm glad you liked it; definitely not original, but why would it need to be. I will have to check out War of the Arrows. I have to be in the right mood to want to watch an Asian ancient epic, but next time I am I'll look it up. I feel pretty much exactly the same way as you regarding Prometheus. Ridley Scott had an opportunity to really improve upon the mythos of Alien, but he blew his wad on poor science and special effects.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed J Edgar well enough when I saw it. Well acted, and from what I understood based on NPR interviews only slightly inflammatory about his relationships. I definitely want to see Savages, but Sarah has no interest, so I'll have to find time for that one in my busy schedule...
Lastly, no interest whatsoever in Ted. It looks like a poorly executed adult comedy, and many of the reviews I've seen have similar things to say. Let me know what you think if you do see it.