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mdaneker
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- Review count4
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- First reviewJuly 14, 2008
- Last reviewJuly 16, 2009
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- Average rating4
mdaneker's Reviews
Overall rating
4
/
5
Logically Flawed
PostedJuly 16, 2009
mdaneker
from Spinnerstown, PA
Spoiler: How does Harry know what a Beazor is or does, why does Dumbledore take Harry to the Weasely's? Why do the Death Eaters attack the Burrow at Christmas and why is it undefended if they are in such danger? Why on earth would Harry, knowing EXACTLY what Draco is up to and that Snape has made an unbreakable vow to help him, simply stand there and do nothing while Snape kills Dumbledore?
No idea? Me either, even the book doesn't explain the ending because in the book it happens different and makes complete sense. While the film is funny and engaging, in the end you can't really make sense of any of it.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
3
/
5
Kids may yawn, get lost.
PostedJune 23, 2009
mdaneker
from Spinnerstown, PA
Unlike the whimsical 25 minute, dialogue-less opening of Wal-E, "UP" has 25 minutes of mostly dialogue-less opening that lacks whimsy at every tern. In fact, just about every part of UP is depressing, sad, and quiet
The movie covers miscarriage, infertility, broken dreams, and death in just 25 minutes. It doesn't get much happier as it goes.
I had to fight to stay awake, the kids (7 & !0) had some issues trying to figure out who was who and what was what. The 3D was flat and pointless. Stay home, watch Wal-E.
No, I do not recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
5
/
5
See This Movie
PostedJuly 31, 2008
mdaneker
from Spinnerstown, PA
There is something terrifying in the night, something that just wants to push and pull and break and kill and destroy for the point of making it all happen. In “The Dark Knight” the scariest clown ever put on film taunts and torments Gotham’s winged savior, but it goes deeper than that. This clown’s purpose is chaos, his drive seems to be little more than boredom. In Christopher Nolan’s second tale of the bat-man the crime bosses, the thieves, the traffickers all take a backseat to the king of anarchy.
Unlike too many superhero films that seem to cram enemies onto the scream in great numbers in hope of satisfying the lust of comic-book fans, only to have the stories seem forced, the back-stories take up too much time just to have a conclusion that forces all the figures on screen together in unnatural contortions, “The Dark Knight” gives all its players meaning and soul. The acting is outstanding, these guys could be just as easily staging “Macbeth.” The one unfortunate aspect is Batman’s low, grumbling voice which seems so much like Bale trying to sound tough and mean and not actually doing it. There’s no doubt about it, as Bruce Wayne, Bale oozes confidence, evokes ire and plays the part of the spoiled rich-brat to the hilt, but as Batman he comes across as trying so hard to be dark and menacing this time around, possibly aware that he is competing on screen with an Oscar-worthy performance form Ledger, that it feels forced, it feels like Batman is the act and snotty Wayne is the real deal.
As for story, it’s an epic. The film plays out in three acts and like “Hellboy II” is more concerned with characters than plot. The difference in “The Dark Knight” is that the characters are the plot. D.A. Harvey Dent is nothing less than everything he seems. He’s the white knight here, good, virtuous, incorruptible, smart and willing to do and lose everything to restore Gotham to order and safety. The first act of the film revolves around Dent’s crusade against the mob forces in Gotham and his unholy alliance with the vigilante bat that scores him his victory.
But peace comes at the price of chaos. The second act is all about the fallout of such a sweeping move, the price of corruption in the police force, the dark-underbelly of a city rising, and a lunatic out to unmask a certain bat. When that does work, all hell breaks loose.
The final third of this two and a half hour opus is a symphony of fear conducted by a mad maestro of insanity. What starts out as an action / crime drama, turned into a superhero film and degenerated into nightmare the equal to anything the likes of Hannibal Lector ever spawned. The joker wants to play some games and he wants Batman and Gordon along with the people of Gotham to decide who live and who dies – he wants to prove that he can drive anyone down to his level, that he’s not the freak, we’re all freaks just waiting for an excuse to come out.
There are easily three finale’s in “The Dark Knight” each building layers of unease upon each of the characters. The Joker is chaos, he is murder, he is anarchy but he is not logical, he does it for the pleasure of doing it. The film is chocked full of post-“patriot-act” metaphors, especially in a scene where Batman taps into every cell-phone in the city simultaneously, turning them into sonar to generate a 3D image of the area around any cell phone in use. “No one man should have all that power” Freeman’s Fox tells Wayne, “you’re right, that’s why I gave it to you,” he replies. This an obvious jab at the Bush administrations wire-taping scandal. Yes there are moments when Batman becomes very much like Jack Bauer of “24,” the difference is that Batman asks the question “is this right?”
You shouldn’t see this film, you have to see this film. “The Dark Knight” is a swift, exhilarating and emotional thriller that takes the best parts of films such as “James Bond” and “Mission Impossible” and blends them the dread of “The Silence of the Lambs” and brings mass-destruction down to a personal level, and deals with loss with all the insanity that pain brings. The characters are well-acted and perfectly writing, the story is compelling, the issues relevant, the excitement high and the intensity is blistering. See “The Dark Knight.”
You shouldn’t see this film, you have to see this film. “The Dark Knight” is a swift, exhilarating and emotional thriller that takes the best parts of films such as “James Bond” and “Mission Impossible” and blends them the dread of “The Silence of the Lambs” and brings mass-destruction down to a personal level, and deals with loss with all the insanity that pain brings. The characters are well-acted and perfectly writing, the story is compelling, the issues relevant, the excitement high and the intensity is blistering. See “The Dark Knight.”
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
4
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5
Something different than Batman
PostedJuly 14, 2008
mdaneker
from Spinnerstown, PA
When offered a beer to mend a broken heart Abe argues "My body is my temple" to which Hellboy replies "Well, tonight it's an amusement park." Up for something different?
Sure, in its second week Hellboy and every other big summer movie will be crushed by the giant weight of Heath Ledgers "Joker" and "The Dark Knight" will break box-office records and be on its way to a half-billion dollar gross intake, but in the five days left, maybe a diversion?
"Hellboy: The Golden Army" bears a title not much better than a "Star Wars" prequel, but the movie, not the title's what's important.
"Hellboy: The Golden Army" bears a title not much better than a "Star Wars" prequel, but the movie, not the title's what's important.
del Toro, soon to begin the five-year odyssey of directing "The Hobbit" and a second prequel to Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" will not be able to return to "Hellboy" for a long time. The movie, of course, ends on note for a third sequel, but without another writer-director this could be six to seven years from now.
The plot is similar to "Shrek 3," the big, grumpy, gruff demon is on shaky ground with his pyrotechnic girlfriend when she discovers she's pregnant, unsure of his parenting skills she doesn't tell him right away, so of course several events unfold that show him as safe with children (when he spectacularly holds a baby in one hand - or tail - while fighting a sixty foot plant) and endearing as a husband (when he almost dies and finally tells her she's all that matters to him.)
"The Golden Army" is largely about characters and message, a slim but noticeable save the Earth theme echoed by the Elven Prince watching the world slip into urban decay under a treaty with the humans that he is about to break by unleashing "The Golden Army." The Army, created by dwarves for the elves to control was forever to sleep under the earth while two elves and the humans held the three pieces of the crown one must wear to control them. Irked by unwise rule of humans over the earth the elf prince kills his father, seizes two pieces of the crown and pursues his twin sister (and Abe's love interest) to New Jersey to claim the final piece and wipe humans from the earth, once and for all.
Somewhere between "Pans Labyrinth" and Tolkien del Toro has placed Hellboy. And it's a great film in spite of it. There's nothing else in a theater that looks or sounds like it, no other hero that was less born to it (Hellboy is, the son of Lucifer after all) and very few films as exciting and fun "Hey, you're Helloby!" "Yeah, I know, I'm ugly." This films definitely is not.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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