Two very different movies turned out to be gems – one a Hollywood summer movie, and the other a small budget Canadian flick.
1) Batman Begins (Directed by Christopher Nolan): Rating 10/10
WOW. Amazing! I have to admit, I was bowled over. I didn’t have too many expectations before hand but this one is just perfect. Nolan who hit it big back in 2000 with Memeto, a small budget movie with only a handful of actors, has assembled a collection of major stars and has used each actor appropriately. Christian Bale is perfectly cast as Batman/Bruce Wayne and really brings the role alive. When he dons the bat suit, he does sound a bit like Michael Keaton (original Batman) but he lets his anger resonant through. Then there’s Michael Caine (Alfred), Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson (what a role), Gary Oldman (Commissioner Gordon), Tom Wilkinson and Ken Watanabe. To his credit, Nolan also manages to extract a solid performance out of Katie Holmes who plays a District Attorney and Batman’s love interest.
The movie shows aspects of Batman’s lives that other movies have never touched upon – his fear of bats, how Bruce Wayne overcame his fear, how the Wayne family made its fortune, etc. Now, there have been some different interpretations made about the story but they all fit perfectly in the movie. For example, the movie starts off with Bruce Wayne hiding in a Far Eastern Prison camp. He is there by choice – he wants to study the criminal mind and so he wandered from Asian country to country to find his answers. These are story topics only addressed in the later version of the Batman comics.
Overall, the movie shows the darkness that is Gotham. Once again, WOW!
2) The Dark Hours (Directed by Paul Fox): Rating 9/10
An excellent Canadian thriller! The majority of the movie takes place in an isolated cabin located in the middle of snow land. We get to see a version of the truth, but in reality, the story is not as it seems. Is it real? Is it fake memory? The movie is edited very well and manages to splice enough clues along. But the end is very open ended but leaves the entire movie open for interpretation. Hopefully, this movie gets the attention it deserves.
Also some Hollywood movies to pass along as well!
3) In Good Company (Directed by Paul Weitz): Rating 8/10
Only in today’s North American corporate age can you have a 26 year with no practical experience become the boss of a 51 year old with decades of experience. The Weitz brothers tackle the topic of modern evil corporate companies in this light hearted romantic comedy. The Weitz brothers have been evolving with each movie. They started back in 1999 with the hilarious American Pie, a movie about young horny teenagers. Then they switched gears to portray the live of a single male in About a Boy. Now they tackle the life of a married man (Dennis Quaid) who has a teenager daughter (Scarlett Johansson). The only negative for this movie is that is a bit long.
4) After the Sunset (Directed by Brett Ratner): Rating 5/10
This is a terribly boring movie with too many script loop holes. Pierce Brosnan is playing the same role as he did in the Thomas Crown Affair. The only difference is that instead of robbing paintings for fun, he robs diamonds. Salma Hayek struts around wearing skimpy clothes and gets annoying after a while. Woody Harrelson tries to play the smart-ass cop but he does such a poor job of it (Denis Leary did a great job with this role in Thomas Crown). And Don Cheadle is there just to make up the numbers. The only positive is the charming accent of Naomie Harris who plays the local island cop.
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