A View To A Kill

The most memorable thing about this film is Roger Moore’s eyes. What the hell was going on there? Serious makeup to hide the signs of age, or just a botched bit of plastic surgery? Clearly, Moore was showing his age by this outing, and that’s probably why it was his last in the series. For that matter, the series itself was showing its age at this point; no wonder they had to make a change. There some decent stuff here during the France part of the movie--the Eiffel Tower/Seine-side chase is well done, and the chateau scenes showcase some nice visuals--but most of the rest of this film comes across as pedestrian and uninteresting.

Seven Psychopaths

So here’s a film about filmmaking. Makes sense; that’s been going around a lot lately (see “last two Best Picture winners”). Actually, if you want to get technical, this is more of a film about script writing, but let’s not quibble. And it wants to satirize all of the the cliches of violent, shoot ‘em up movies...mostly by wallowing in those cliches. And it really really really thinks of itself as clever. Unfortunately, that’s not what the audience thinks, and it’s the audience that counts. There are good moments and some quite likeable actors here--if not likeable characters--that keep the thing moving and hold the viewer’s attention through most of the running time. But this film just isn’t what it cracks itself up to be.

Last Man Standing

A ham-handed remake of A Fistful of Dollars and/or Yojimbo. It's a bad sign from the start when the movie relies on a lot of voice over narration to clue you in to what's going on--especially when neither of its progenitors needed that device. Bruce Willis is all right, but most of the rest of the cast really go over the top and chew the scenery. However, it does deliver a fair amount of entertaining violence, so it's not entirely irredeemable. If you're home some night with nothing better to do and this one comes on the TV, you could do worse.

The Deer Hunter

The problem with ordinary lives is...they're ordinary. By definition, not particularly interesting. And since this movie is focused on--at least at the start--a set of quite ordinary lives...well, you see we have a problem. Sadly, ordinary lives--in fiction at least--are only redeemed in their disintegration. So it is here. The steel town characters portrayed by DeNiro, Walken, et al., are fundamentally just your average assholes. Things only get interesting when they ship off to Vietnam and life starts hitting them (almost literally) like a shot to the head. Beyond that, there's a little too much self-consciousness about being "important" in this flick--a bad trait in any movie. The reputation this film has is, in this viewer's opinion, not especially well deserved. Your mileage may vary.

Wedding Crashers

Just sit back, throw up your hands, and let go. Take that attitude and you'll be all right. There's no aim for any "statement" here--they're just going for the cheap laughs. Which is OK--we can't all be Ibsen. So judged by its own standard, this film largely succeeds. There's a bit of unwelcome sappiness at the end, but there are more than enough laugh out loud moments sprinkled throughout to make up for that misstep.

Man on Fire

There's great temptation to chalk this up as a waste of some fine actors. Certainly, the movie suffers from an all-too-familiar ailment: a director who's way too in love with himself to pull back from the visual shenanigans. Then again, there is a lot of visceral pleasure in watching Denzel's washed up badass violently go to town on the meanies. If you're in an angry mood, you might find this appealing.

Catch Me If You Can

Almost a tough call; should you really recommend a movie about a criminal, especially one that celebrates its subject? Perhaps not, but apparently Frank Abagnale was not so bad, as criminals go. Some of this film is a little too cutesy--a Spielberg weakness--but most of it is just goofy fun. Overall, we have here an entertaining homage to cleverness, in all its forms, and that makes it worth it.

Blast From The Past

Cute. Not a whole lot to say beyond that, but as this movie aspires to little more than that, 'cute' is enough. In other words, it succeeds on its own terms.

Mousehunt

If you're a fan of Nathan Lane...if you're a fan of animal movies...knock yourself out. Otherwise, you can probably skip it.