Late June at the Movies

There’s been a lot of bad weather so far this summer, so i’ve gone to the movies quite a bit lately. Here’s what i’ve seen:

Shrek 2 - I had a really good time watching the first Shrek movie. This one is more of the same. I’m amazed at how well its humor plays to adults. One of the most clever jokes involves Pinocchio.

Young Adam - Ewan McGregor plays a man of questionable ethics in this year’s frontrunner for the “The movie’s over, I think i’m going to go find a gun to shoot myself in the head with” award. It’s on par with Dancer in the Dark, Auto Focus and Affliction. That aside, I enjoyed it. It’s a very well made film.

Super Size Me - Very funny, informative. It hit a little too close to home for me.

The Terminal - Tom Hanks play a variation of the “Tom Hanks” character. This time he speaks in broken English with a Russian accent. This is a mediocre film with very few genuine laughs. I was bored with characters early on and became apathetic about how the film’s conflicts would be resolved.

Dodgeball - Not as funny as I expected. To be fair, I saw half of it and woke up at the very end of it. It could have been a laugh riot during the second half. I may never know.

Chronicles of Riddick - Pitch Black was a great movie. I really wanted to like this. I had a “i’ve seen this before and it was done better” type of reaction. The Riddick character remains interesting, it’s too bad he wasn’t placed in a better story this time.

Stepford Wives - Toothless social satire. This could have been a much better film if it took itself a little more seriously.

Coffee and Cigarettes - Jim Jarmusch is cinema’s king of cool. All of his films have this element of cool to them. Coffee and Cigarettes is no exception. This series of vignettes is similar to Mystery Train and Night on Earth. It’s the best of the three films. The Alfred Molina/ Steve Coogan segment was my favorite. It’s one of the funniest things i’ve seen recently. As a side note, Down By Law is Jarmusch’s best film, if you haven’t seen it, check that out too.

Posted by chuck at June 25, 2004 1:12 PM