Lord
of the Rings: The Return of the King -
A Film by Peter Jackson
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How
does this film rate on the
365 popcorn scale...?
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The
third and final installment
in the mammoth Lord of the Rings
trilogy, The Return of the King
is a sprawling epic which concludes
the journey of Frodo (Elijah
Wood) to the halls of Mount
Doom where he seeks to destroy
the One Ring. The burden of
the ring weighs heavily on Frodo
as he nears the end of his quest
but he is bolstered by his loyal
companion Sam (Sean Astin.)
While they follow the direction
of Gollum, the rest of the Fellowship
from the first film struggle
against the mounting forces
of Sauron who are determined
to destroy the world of men,
elves, dwarves and hobbits in
anticipation of his return.
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Will
Frodo succeed in destroying the ring?
Will Aragorn take his place on the throne
of Gondor? Will good triumph over evil? Who
will have to make the ultimate sacrifice
in order to save Middle Earth? These
questions and many others are answered
in The Return of the King.
This
may very well be the best picture of
2003. It is a fitting conclusion to a
series that has captivated the imaginations
of millions of people around the world
and a well-crafted adaptation of J.R.R.
Tolkien's novel. That is really all that
needs to be said.
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The
Last Samurai - A Film by Edward
Zwick (About Last Night, Glory, Legends of the
Fall, Courage Under Fire)
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How
does this film rate on the
365 popcorn scale...?
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The
Last Samurai is a sweeping epic
about one man's honor and how
it is affected by his interaction
with the last leader in an ancient
Japanese society of protectors.
Tom Cruise stars as Captain
Nathan Algren, an American military
hero who is haunted by the memories
of the bloody campaign against
the Native Americans. He is
hired by the Emporer of Japan
to train Japan's first organized
army in the ways of the West,
all in an attempt to eradicate
the last remaining Samurai,
the former protectors of the
Emporer and the country as a
whole. For the right price,
Algren is more than willing
to give up whatever shreds of
honor and courage he has left
and accepts the job. Once in
Japan, he begins to realize
that the "enemy" he
has been enlisted to help destroy
exhibits all of the attributes
that seem to be missing from
the "modern army" the
Emporer so covets. His admiration
for these people and their way
of life takes him on a journey
of self discovery and ultimately
to his destiny.
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The
Last Samurai is everything you would
expect it to be. Tom Cruise is great
as the disillusioned military officer
who seems bent on following a course
of self-destruction. He gradually shifts
to a course that ends with him finding
purpose in fighting for a cause, one
which represents all that was noble in
the way warriors fought. The contrast
between the gun-toting Japanese army
of today and the sword-wielding Samurai
is stark and well dramatized in the final
battle scene especially. Thankfully,
the film does not fall into some of the
typical traps that films such as this
tend to do. This is a great story set
against the beautiful backdrop of the
Japan of the mid-1870s. The way that
Western values and capitalism infected
the country and destroyed a lot of their
traditions is depicted without getting
heavy handed. The audience is left to
draw the parallels between this and the
way we attempted to destroy the culture
of the Native Americans. To watch how
the United States worked to market their
modern weapons to the Japanese, building
their arsenal in a way to make money
was somewhat of an interesting thing
to see as we sat in the theater on the
62nd Anniversary of the attack on Pearl
Harbor. This is a great movie that you
will hear a lot about during the awards
season this spring. See this on the big
screen so you have the opportunity to
experience the stunning cinematography
the way in which it was intended.
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Timeline -
A Film by Richard Donner (Lethal Weapon)
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How
does this film rate on the
365 popcorn scale...?
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The
site of a medieval battle between the
French and English serves as the setting
at two times in history in the movie
Timeline. Based on the novel, Timeline
follows an archeological team lead by
Professor Johnson (Billy Connolly) and
a team of students from Yale. When the
professor is called away and the students
are left in charge, a lens from the professor's
glasses and a cryptic note written by
him over 600 years earlier are discovered
in a sealed chamber. The discovery sends
the students, including the professor's
son (Paul Walker), on a journey through
time to find the professor and bring
him safely back to the present.
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Based
on an apparently great novel, Timeline the movie fails
to capture the same quality. Poor delivery of really
bad lines lead to a mediocre film in almost every way.
The attempts at humor are lame. Did we mention that
the acting was deplorable? Perhaps it is because
of the incredibly poor script or just the caliber of
actors in the film (Billy Connolly? Paul Walker?) How
ever you slice it, the only redeeming qualities of this
film are the depictions of medieval France and the battle
sequence. If not for those two positives, this film
would have been a One Kernel film. As it stands, it
is barely a Two. If you feel the need to see it, see
it on video. |
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Master
and Commander: The Far Side of the World -
A Film by Peter Weir (The Truman Show
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How
does this film rate on the
365 popcorn scale...?
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Based
on author Patrick O'Brien's
series of novels centered on
Captain "Lucky" Jack
Aubrey (Russell Crowe) and his
ship's doctor and friend Stephen
Maturin (Paul Bettany), Master
and Commander takes place during
the Napoleonic Wars. When their
ship (the HMS Surprise) is dispatched
to Brazil, Aubrey, Maturin and
their courageous crew have to
face a French ship with greater
speed and more firepower, the
Akron. This other ship always
seems to have the upper hand
on the Surprise and Aubrey must
decide between his orders and
the safety of his crew. The
fight takes them from the Atlantic
shores of South America to the
Galapagos Islands (the first
feature film to ever shoot footage
there.)
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With
some well crafted battle sequences and
character development, Master and Commander
is a good film but failed to elevate
to the level of a great film. A modest
amount of humor augments the action and
the usually strong performance of Russell
Crowe help as well. Peter Weir proves
again why he is such a highly regarded
director, even if the Academy continues
to snub him. Why this movie is not a
Four or Five Kernel movie is hard to
verbalize. It just isn't. Perhaps there
is some missing back story. Maybe the
chase was too repetitive. Was the resolution
to the movie unsatisfying? See the film
(or rent it) and let us know what you
think.
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ELF -
Directed by Jon Favreau - Five Stars
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How
does this film rate on the
365 popcorn scale...?
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The
plot is simple. A human boy raised by
elves finds out the truth and heads for
New York City to find his real father.
Riddled with throwbacks to famous holiday
imagery, movies, and american christmas
institutions, Will Ferrell, in his first
starring performance, plays sweet ignorance
as he wistfully wanders through the real
world with unbridled hope and joy.
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The
imagery in the film, especially those of the North
Pole the beginning were great. It was like being
right in on of those claymation holiday classics
that we have all grown to love. The message was
also clear but not heavy handed. Christmas Cheer
is dead and santa's sleigh is powered by it. One
person who believes hard enough can change the
world.
A
great cast including Ed Asner as Aanta, Bob Newhart
as his adoptive elfish father, James Caan as his
real father, and an elfish beauty, Zooey Deschanel
(Almost Famous), play well off of Ferrell's goofy
and endearing character. But Ferrell is the star
and really breaks out in this performance. Seeming
crafted especially for him, we can't imagine anyone
else in this role. Musch like Jack Black in School
fo Rock, with elf, Will Ferrell may have found
his most memorable performance.
We went in with rather high expectations, being big fans of Ferrell
from his SNL days. In seconds we we chuckling to ourselves. When
the credtis rolled, we immediately agreed that we were completely
fulfilled with the fllm. We laughed a lot and got a sweet and
fun holiday message. The story was predictable as was the end,
but that was fine. Certainly not the important point of seeing
the movie. It was pure holiday fun for movie goers of all ages.
This will be a holiday classic that will run on the networks
year after year... and we will watch.
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The
Matrix: Revolutions - A Film by
Larry and Andy Wachowski (The Matrix, The Matrix:
Reloaded)
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How
does this film rate
on the
365 popcorn scale...?
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The
third and "final" installment
in the Matrix trilogy
begins where The Matrix:
Reloaded ended with Neo
(Keanu Reeves) in a coma,
trapped between the real
world and the machine
world. Watched over by
Trinity (Carrie-Ann Moss)
and Morpheus (Laurence
Fishburne), Neo struggles
to free himself from a
purgatory controlled by
the Merovingian (Lambert
Wilson), the Frenchman
who held the key maker
captive in Reloaded. After
being freed from captivity,
Neo, Trinity and Morpheus
begin the battle to get
back to Zion in time to
defend it against the
attacking army of Sentinels.
Along the way, they encounter
The Oracle, the Trainman
and, of course, renegade
Agent Smith. The ultimate
confrontation between
Neo and Agent Smith becomes
the defining moment of
the war and determines
the future of the human
race.
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After
the second movie in the series,
I really wondered where this was
going to end up and how the filmmakers
were going to explain and resolve
the complicated story they began
with The Matrix. This film surpassed
the second film in the story and
action, with good character development
and powerful tension as the ships
scramble to return to help defend
Zion. The build up to the primary
battle is great and then the attack
itself is worth the wait. This
film does a better job of portraying
the humanity of the residents of
Zion without resorting to a drawn-out
dance/sex sequence but, as I feared,
the ending fizzled to a certain
extent. Additionally, the movie
leaves it open more than enough
for their to be another sequel,
which makes Warner Brothers happy,
to be sure. The final fight scene
between Neo and Agent Smith starts
off great but, in the end, is too
long and somewhat repetitive. You
will just have to see the movie
to understand what I am saying
about that. All in all, a satisfying
end to the series and I will be
seeing it for a second time on
the big screen. It just could have
been one kernel better. Maybe we
were all expecting too much after
the first film.
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Scary
Movie 3 - A Film by David Zucker
(Airplane!, Naked Gun)
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How
does this film rate
on the
365 popcorn scale...?
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The
third installment in the
Scary Movie series finds
Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris)
out of college and working
as a TV news anchor. When
she is assigned to investigate
some mysterious crop "circles" on
a farm owned by Tom Logan
(Charlie Sheen), she quickly
begins to suspect a connection
between this incident
and the untimely death
of a close friend, who
died one week after viewing
a mysterious video tape.
The investigation eventually
involves a would-be rapper,
the President of the United
States, George Carlin,
Queen Latifah and a little
girl who was drowned in
a well.
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Not
having seen the other two Scary
Movies but being a fan of David
Zucker, I had reasonably high expectations
for this film. While it does a
great job of parodying such films
as The Ring, Signs, The Matrix
and The Others, it lacks a lot
of comedic zing. Leslie Nielsen
strikes a familiar comedic chord
as the bumbling President and Latifah
Oracle is funny, to a point. Several
moments that might have elicited
a good belly laugh were diminished
due to their inclusion in the movie
previews over the past several
months. Other scenes just missed
the mark when compared to the timing
of a movie like Airplane!. In the
end, I walked out of the theater
only mildly amused by the rare
guttural outburst (the pop-up windows
that prevent Cindy from finding
pictures of lighthouses on the
internet, her nephew getting hit
by cars, etc.) Needless to
say, this is a marginal rental
but not a must see in the theater.
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Out
of Time - A Film by Carl Franklin
(One False Move, One True Thing)
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How
does this film rate
on the
365 popcorn scale...?
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Matt
Lee Whitlock (Denzel Washington)
is the chief of police
in Banyan Key, Florida.
Respected by his co-workers
and trusted by the community,
Whitlock has just landed
a large drug bust. Unfortunately,
he cannot share it with
his wife, Alex (Eva Mendez),
who is taking a detective
job in Miami and divorcing
him. His life is complicated
by his affair with Anne-Merai
(Sanaa Lathan) who is
married to Chris (Dean
Cain), a former football
player. When Anne-Merai
reveals that she is dying
of cancer and needs an
expensive, experimental
treatment, it becomes
apparent to Matt that
the only way to help her
is to take the money confiscated
during the drug bust to
pay for it. When Anne-Merai
and Chris turn up dead
in a house fire, Matt
is the prime suspect and
his soon-to-be-ex-wife
is on the case.
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OK,
if you have seen a TV commercial
promoting this movie or one of
the many movie trailers, you may
be wondering what else the movie
has to offer. Well, I am here to
tell you that the answer to your
question is not much. You know
how, after a really funny movie
trailer, you wonder if you have
seen the best jokes in the movie,
often times finding out that, yes,
you have? Well, with Out
of Time, the movie trailers give
WAY too much information away.
And the experience of the actual
film offers little else. If you
have not seen the trailer or TV
ads, go ahead and see the film.
If you have, wait until this film
comes out on DVD and rent it. You
may enjoy it but it will not challenge
you or really leave you feeling
like you have seen a great movie.
Check out the movie listings and
see a different one unless you
have seen everything else.
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Runaway
Jury - A Film by Gary Fleder (Don't
Say A Word, Kiss The Girls)
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How
does this film rate
on the
365 popcorn scale...?
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An
adaptation of yet another
best-selling John Grisham
(The Firm, The Pelican
Brief) novel, Runaway
Jury pits a high-priced
jury consultant against
an idealistic lawyer in
an explosive case brought
by a widow against the
gun industry for the wrongful
death of her husband.
Thrown into the mix is
the jury of 15 people
whose dark secrets become
fodder for Rankin Fitch
(Gene Hackman), the jury
consultant who has been
retained by the gun companies
to hand pick and coerce
the jury into siding with
them. On the other side
of the aisle is Wendell
Rohr (Dustin Hoffman),
an idealistic and moral
southern lawyer with a
heart and his client,
the widow of a man gunned
down by a disgruntled
ex-co-worker.
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Enter
John Cusack as one of the jurors
who they both quickly realize has
his own agenda and could sway the
jury one way or the other, seemingly
at will. Rachel Weisz plays the
mysterious woman pitting Fitch
against Rohr in a bidding war for
control of the jury and ultimately
determine the outcome of the case.
The verdict ends up being secondary
to the way in which the trial affects
the lives of all those involved.
Grisham
certainly knows a good courtroom/legal
story when he sees one and Runaway
Jury is no exception. It goes without
saying that the acting is stupendous.
The characters are diverse and
well defined and the tension in
certain scenes is palpable. One
never knows what is driving any
of these characters until the credits
roll and even then the audience
has questions and wonders what
will happen next for these people.
The pairing of Hackman and Hoffman
is long overdue and their one scene
of dialogue together is filled
with electricity, almost like a
prize fight. Cusack and Weisz have
always been two of my favorite
actors and they do not disappoint
here, giving solid performances
when sharing the screen with such
Hollywood heavy hitters. I enjoyed
the film much like some of the
other adaptations of Grisham's
work. It is better than The Client
and will satisfy fans of The Firm
and The Pelican Brief. Viewers
who enjoy courtroom dramas, movies
with some misdirection, suspense
and mystery will enjoy Runaway
Jury. Flaws are few and far between
in the film and should not keep
anyone away from the theater.
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Mystic
River - A Film by Clint Eastwood
(Unforgiven, Midnight in the Garden of Good and
Evil)
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How
does this film rate
on the
365 popcorn scale...?
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Jimmy
Markum (Sean Penn), Dave
Boyle (Tim Robbins) and
Sean Devine (Kevin Bacon)
are childhood friends
who are reunited when
Jimmy's 19 year old daughter
is senselessly murdered
in Mystic River. The friends
have all stayed in the
city, not too far from
the neighborhood where
they played stickball
in the streets. It was
there that Dave was abducted
right before his friends
eyes 25 years earlier,
altering all of their
lives forever. Now a cop,
Sean is assigned to the
murder investigation along
with his no-nonsense partner
(Laurence Fishburne).
As the investigation progresses,
suspicion shifts back
and forth between Dave,
who cannot account for
his where-abouts during
the murder and the secret
boyfriend. In the end,
Jimmy's all consuming
rage, Sean's sense of
duty and the demons of
Dave's past play pivotal
roles in the ultimate
resolution.
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Well
crafted and exceptionally well
acted, Mystic River is a twisted
tale that keeps the audience guessing
as to the identity and motive of
the killer or killers. The cinematography
creates the gritty effect that
Eastwood was undoubtedly looking
for in his depiction of this section
of Boston and these characters.
With the flaws of real people,
Penn, Robbins and Bacon excel at
their portrayals of these three
men who never escaped the moment
when they were forced to grow up
due to the harsh reality of the
world. Toward the end of the film,
I felt pain and anguish for what
I knew was going to happen and
due to the fact I could not do
anything to change the outcome.
The way the movie flowed, without
extreme amounts of inactivity except
where most appropriate to establish
mood or tension, worked well. Eastwood
was correct in his assessment that
these characters are well-defined
and he found a great group of actors
to bring them to life.
The
film succeeds on so many levels
that I was disappointed with the
last ten minutes. Instead of putting
down the camera and walking away
when it would have been most appropriate,
Eastwood chose (probably at the
demand of the studio or test audiences)
to try to wrap everything up in
a nice, neat package. There is
a point (actually, a couple) where
the movie could have ended and
prompted more post-movie discussion
and left the audience with a few
questions. For some reason this
year, everyone seems to think they
need to bring closure to their
movies instead of appreciating
the intelligence of the audience
to not always need that nice, neat
package. Therefore, Mystic River
drops from a Four Kernel movie
to three out five.
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KILL
BILL, Vol. 1 - A Film by Quentin
Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Jackie
Brown)
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