I owe a friend an apology...

I Am Legend

* * * 1/2

I remember shortly after Christmas having a discussion with a friend about I Am Legend and the merits of Will Smith films in general. I was very, VERY leery of Legend based on my love of the original story by Richard Matheson.

Well, low and behold, look what I went and rented. And loved. A lot.

Now, granted, this movie is more of a "loosely based on the story by..." and not so much of a direct adaptation, but it is still amazing. There a lot of differences between the original story and the movie. So much so, that the main similarities are the idea of a world-wide plague and one guy surviving in New York.

But this movie is a well-crafted piece of suspense. At 100 minutes long, I found myself on the edge of my seat for the first hour. Then there is a direct turning point in the movie, and it takes a change that isn't near as good as the beginning. That first hour is so good, I almost feel like sitting down and re-watching it right now.

This movie does have its faults. It is not perfect. Without ruining anything too big for those who haven't seen it, the writers of this film have added some new characters to the story that do not fit at all other than for story development.

As I said before, the first hour of this movie is incredible. The other thing I found, is that Will Smith's solitary scenes with only him and his dog, Sam, are well acted. Well beyond anything I've seen Will Smith do before. Instead of having those other characters added, I honestly would have rather seen him with the only screen face time. The first hours is probably the best solitary film performance I've seen since Tom Hanks in Castaway. Smith's performance almost passes Hanks' because of the intense fear he has to live in during his days and evenings.

This movie is a definite see-er. Check it out for sure.

And Adam Richardson. I am sorry. You were right. I Am Legend is awesome.

similar

KILL SCREEN

King of Kong:
A Fistfull of Quarters

* * * 1/2

Billy Mitchell is an asshole. Or a pansy. Or both.

Honestly, I haven't seen many documentaries. I'm fairly specific about which docs I watch, and it usually ends up being Michael Moore ones and anything else that happens to hit the main pulse of pop culture.

King of Kong while not necessairilya mainstream doc, is a fantastic one. It follows two stories: one of Billy Mitchell, the "king of Kong", who has held the world's highest score on Donkey Kong for twenty some odd years. The other story is Steve Wiebe, who has just been layed off of his job and decides to pass his time trying to beat Mitchell's Kong score.

During the course of this 80 minute movie, I found myself running the course of a lot of emotions. I was sad at both character's situations in their lives: one who is holding on to the glimmer of a record that means nothing, but it milking it for all its worth, and another who is only trying to succeed at something in a life where he seems to have been dealt busted hands. I found myself being mad, mostly at Mitchell, who comes across as an arrogant, pompous asshole and at the ruthless villainy of Twin Galaxies, the world's top video game scoring company.

Mostly, I found myself by the end of the movie, laughing a lot at the complete ridiculousness of the entire documentary. At times I wasn't sure if it was a real movie, or a mockumentary. I would like to think that it was real and that Billy Mitchell really is an asshole and that Steve Wiebe really is a nice guy who got screwed around a couple times. And that these two dudes, love Donkey Kong. Like, I mean LOVE Donkey Kong. Or winning. Or one-upping each other.

I loved this movie. I found it heartfelt and honest and funny and maddening and realistic. I guess, this is what every good documentary should be like: giving people an honest look into something they know little about.

I highly recommend King of Kong: A Fistfull of Quarters.

And Billy Mitchell REALLY IS an asshole.

The Good?, The Bad! and the very, VERY Ugly...

The Good?

Manos, the Hands of Fate

0 stars or * * * * *

Manos, the Hands of Fate is officially the WORST movie I have EVER seen. It was a terrible piece of filmmaking... if you even want to call it a film. At best, it is a high school exercise in crapola. At worst, it is the worst movie ever made.

You should watch it just do you can say that you saw it. But only watch it once. Then burn it. And tear out your eyes. Burn them. Then burn your DVD player. And the TV.

The Bad!
Beowulf
* 1/2

This movie is really not very good at all. I kept watching it, hoping it would get better, but it didn't. I admire the fact that someone invented the technology to make movies like this, I just wish that when they make them, they make them good.

Watch it for no other reason than to see Crispin Glover rock Grendel... and to see Angelina Jolie walking around dripping liquid gold from her naked form...

The Ugly... the very, VERY Ugly...



Saw IV
*

I SO wish that this movie franchise would just end. Really, by the time the third one ended, I kind of hoped they were over. Then they made a fourth one. Which was terrible. High pointed were this poster over here to the left... and the girl who got scalped... (don't worry.... I didn't ruin anything.)
I wish this movie franchise would jump the shark already. I suggest having Jigsaw's head there, literally jumping a shark... which will probably be in some sort of perilous trap involving its own teeth, a cattle prod, booster cables and a copy of Manos, the Hands of Fate on DVD.

B movie...?

Bee Movie

* * *


Ok, so I like Seinfeld a little bit. I remember seeing previews for this movie and thinking, 'Jerry Seinfeld in a bee suit cracking wise about honey and stuff! Brilliant!'
Then I found out that the movie was going to be totally animated, computer-style. Which I'm ok with, because Toy Story is still one of my favourite movies of all time.

Which brings us to the Bee Movie. A tale about a bee who just doesn't want to do what bees do. Seinfeld's bee, Barry, doesnt want to be stuck in a life of a meaningless job making honey all day long for little to no gain, only to die and be replaced in a heartbeat.

After getting out of the hive, he befriends a human and comes to the realization that humans are stealing the bees' honey and selling it. A court case ensues. Barry goes on a bee Larry King Live show. Michael "Kramer" Richards voices, get this, a crazy neurotic flight controller. Other celebrities show up voicing various bugs and humans.

The movie was well done. Clever in spots. Funny sometimes. Basically, an enjoyable way to spend 90 minutes. But Toy Story, this is not.

Effing MovieGuy....

After ANOTHER lengthy hiatus, MovieGuy is returning. Honestly, i DID try and post a couple reviews after doing my review of Grindhouse many moons ago. But I kept getting messages about problems with firewalls (starring Harrison Ford) or something. So I gave up.

Months pass. A new computer is bought. Firewalls (starring Paul Bettany) are understood (sort of) and the MovieGuy Reviews blog is back!!!

New format. Will do one big review every once in a while, with a short 'Reviews on the Run' section recapping highlights and horrorlights of what I've been watching over the course of the week.

Enjoy.

I know I won't.