Movie Reviews

These are just some movies that caught our eye, but what about you? Just see a movie you liked? One you hated? Let us know! Leave us a comment and we’ll post your review with ours!

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (PG-13, 2009)

A couple weeks ago, I saw the newest entry in the X-Men movie franchise, the prequel/reboot X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The movie shows what’s happened in Wolverine’s long lifespan before he joins the X-Men. Please be warned that this review contains spoilers.

In the beginning of the movie, we see Wolverine as a young boy developing his powers, then fighting in several wars. Eventually, he joins Weapon X where he performs secret missions alongside characters who haven’t been featured in Marvel movies yet, like Deadpool, Maverick, and the Blob. Deadpool, one of my favorite characters in all of comics, was done quite well in the first ten minutes (except he wasn’t wearing the classic red-and-black costume. At least they’re making a Deadpool spin-off movie).

Wolverine leaves Weapon X and tries to live a normal life, however, his brother Sabretooth begins to pick off people involved in Weapon X. Eventually, Wolverine’s lover is killed, leading to a showdown between Sabretooth and Wolverine. When Wolverine loses, he gets adamantium bonded to his bones, which was one of the highlights of the movie. Afterwards, Wolverine finds Gambit as the two go attack the island which Weapon XI is being built on. Wolverine has a showdown with Weapon XI (which is just Deadpool with his mouth shown shut. Nice touch), and eventually wins.

The movie overall was pretty good, and went through Wolverine’s comic origins quite well.  However, it introduced a lot of beloved Marvel characters (like Gambit, Deadpool, and Emma Frost) and gave them very little screentime, the worst of these being Deadpool. While he was great in the beginning, they turned him into Weapon XI at the end, destroying the character.

All in all, I give this movie 3 out of 5 stars.

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Mostly Martha (Bella Martha) (PG, 2001)

Mostly Martha was the inspiration for 2007’s No Reservations, but don’t hold that against it. The German original, directed by Sandra Nettelbeck, is set in contemporary Köln and features The Lives of Others’ Martina Gedek as Martha, the neurotic, workaholic head chef of a high-end restaurant. When her boss forces her into therapy, Martha just cooks for her shrink. When her new downstairs neighbor flirts with her, she’s awkward and terse. As lonely as she is a loner, Martha must readjust everything when she becomes the guardian of her niece, Lina (Maxime Foerste), and her boss hires a playful Italian sous-chef (Sergio Castellitto, most recently of Paris, je t’aime and Prince Caspian) to split her duties in the kitchen. By turns tragic, comic, and romantic, Mostly Martha is not only a charmer, but a foodie’s dream to watch.

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The Bucket List (PG-13, 2007)

A lower class, married black car mechanic (Morgan Freeman, The Shawshank Redemption) and a rich, single white hospital executive (Jack Nicholson, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) have nothing in common except for the hospital room they share while battling cancer. Remembering a history assignment he was once given, Freeman’s character suggests writing a list of goals to accomplish before they kick the bucket. The two men form an instant friendship, learning to understand each other much better than anticipated. The movie is very touching, emphasizing the importance of taking advantage of life to the fullest.

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The Princess Bride (PG, 1987)

True love is never easy, but you get the feeling it’s never faced quite as many obstacles as in The Princess Bride. Directed by Rob Reiner, based on William Goldman’s book of the same name, and adapted for the screen more or less faithfully by the author himself, the movie features Cary Elwes (Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Ella Enchanted) as Westley, a young man who must do battle with Rodents of Unusual Size, scale the Cliffs of Insanity, take on a giant (Andre the Giant, that is) in a wrestling match, and more to save Buttercup (Robin Wright [Penn]), his one true love, from being forced to marry the evil reigning prince. Add in the swashbuckling efforts of Mandy Patinkin as Inigo Montoya and appearances by Fred Savage, Peter Falk, Christopher Guest, Mel Smith, and Billy Crystal, and you have a classic action/adventure/comedy/romance/fantasy to please all audiences.

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The Holiday (PG-13, 2006)

Two women, each with her own guy/work related problems, decide to swap homes for two weeks. Iris (Kate Winslet, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), who lives in a little isolated cottage in England, and Amanda (Cameron Diaz, There’s Something About Mary), who lives in a gigantic Los Angeles mansion, discover a great deal about relationships, friendship, and themselves when put in a fresh environment. The movie is cute, fun, and shows that no breakup is impossible to overcome.

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Crash (R, 2004)

After a multi-car accident happens in L.A., we are taken back one day to look at the lives of the victims prior to the accident. The characters are interrelated. For example, a police officer (Matt Dillon, There’s Something About Mary) is trying to help his father change doctors, but the black insurance clerk refuses to cooperate. Thus, the police officer takes out his anger by giving a traffic ticket to a black couple. All of the characters are heroes at one point and bad people at another. The movie shines a light on the racism in the world as well as the relationships between perfect strangers.

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A Very Long Engagement (Un long dimanche de fincailles) (R, 2004)

Fans of Amélie (Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain) will recognize A Very Long Engagement as the work of an old friend. Still, though directed by Amélie’s Jean-Pierre Jeunet and featuring many of the same faces as that 2001 effort, Engagement is a decidedly different love story. Audrey Tautou’s (The Da Vinci Code) assertive and heartsick Mathilde is anything but the shrinking flower of her scheming and heartsick Amélie, though her comic timing and moments of poignant vulnerability are just as good. The tone is set by quick shifts between violent scenes of World War I trench warfare and gleeful 1920s Paris, both a far cry from contemporary Montmartre. And though Amélie features a fairly tangled web of mystery and love, neither quite reaches the epic proportions of Mathilde’s stubborn refusal to believe the official story of her fiancé Manech’s (Gaspard Ulliel, Paris, je t’aime) death in No Man’s Land and determined detective work to uncover the truth. Along the way she delves into the lives of several other characters, superbly played by the likes of Jodie Foster (The Silence of the Lambs) and Marion Cotillard (La vie en rose). If Manech were dead, Mathilde says, she would know. Do you believe her?

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Lord of War (R, 2005)

Yuri Orlov (Nicholas Cage, Adaptation) becomes a millionaire by selling illegal weapons to mobsters of disturbed areas overseas, areas where innocent civilians are killed. However, when detective Jack Valentine (Ethan Hawke, Before Sunrise) tries to put Yuri in jail for his immoral job, things take a twist. This dismal movie draws awareness to the types of crimes occurring in the world; bribery, greed, and corruption are all major themes. However, although the movie is not necessarily enjoyable, it leaves you thinking for weeks.

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