Quick Movie Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Repo Men, Red Baron & From Paris With Love

I've now realized that I should not pay attention to Rotten Tomatoes when choosing to watch a movie. After watching three movies that I thoroughly enjoyed, Red Baron, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and From Paris With Love, and seeing that Rotten Tomatoes had them on the rotten side of the scale, I realized one very important thing; reading reviews about a movie, or seeing how other people rate it, prejudices you towards the movie before you've even seen it, when the only thing that should be affecting your enjoyment of a movie is simply you. Whether you like it or not shouldn't be interpreted by what another person liked or disliked.

With all three of these movies on the lower end of the scale and one of my favorite films, The Book of Eli, also having been given a poor rating, I came to the conclusion that you alone should interpret your level of enjoyment of a movie, not someone else.

So with that said, who wants to hear my reviews of the following movies and become prejudiced about them?

Here goes...

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It perfectly captured the minds of thousands of children who suffered through that awkward stage of adolescence. Its plot was clear, crisp and straight to the point. It's characters, especially the main character's best friend, Rowley, really seemed to connect with me. My childhood was similar to both the title character and his chubby companion.

And I think that that's where Diary of a Wimpy Kid is at it's best. Connecting with older audiences who've already been through the experiences depicted in the movie and who can now look back on it and laugh at the absurdity of it all.

Rating: 8 (Close to excellent)



Repo Men: If there's one word that would describe this move, it would be this, screwy.

Repo Men had it's moments, but it was simply a hollow movie filled with far too many twisting plot lines and unnecessary gore. Once you feel like it's finally acquiring it's pace, once Jude Law's character receives the artificial heart, it drops off into an entirely new premise. Romance. Why? Truthfully I have no idea.

In addition to the unnecessary plot line, Repo Men's ending was abhorred. [Spoiler Warning] Basically, it returned to a scene from a remarkably forgettable moment about two thirds of the way into the movie, and revealed that the character's mind alone had fueled everything from that point onward, and that the movie had in fact ended there. I never have, and never plan on swearing on this blog, but I think a certain 3 letter abbreviation comes to mind when watching the final 10 minutes or so.

Rating: 4.5 (Below average)


Red Baron: A fantastic war drama that sports breathtaking visuals, fantastic fight scenes and a deeply intriguing story of one the world's last known war heroes who struggles with the humanity of war and love itself.

Red Baron, though dry at times, follows the exploits of Manfred von Richthofen, none other than the Red Baron, from his time as an inexperienced fighter pilot to the ace of World War I Germany that he is remembered as today.

Quite a few critics bashed The Red Baron for it's historical inaccuracies, and I usually get frustrated myself when a so called 'historical film' varies from it's source material, but for once, I didn't care. Besides, there's so much obscurity revolving around The Red Baron, his life and untimely death, that the movie can almost get away with it.

The movie's fight scenes, almost exclusive to the skies, were absolutely gorgeous! I don't think that I've ever seen a better looking fighter pilot movie. Ever.

If you're a fan of war movies, you've got to see this film!

Rating: 8.5 (Close to excellent)


You can catch some of the exceptional action scenes in the trailer for the movie bellow.

http://www.firstshowing.net/2010/01/15/awesome-aerial-dogfights-in-the-red-baron-official-trailer/


From Paris With Love: Action packed and humorous, my affection for From Paris With Love is accredited to one single thing. The hilarious, over the top acting of John Travolta. From start to finish, Travolta's character of Charlie Wax was a shoo-in for funniest assassin in a 2010 film. What? You've never heard of that category in the Oscars?

The plot follows as this. A diplomat's assistant working in the US embassy in Paris is in the process of becoming a spy for the United States. He's eventually assigned a partner, (Travolta), who's particular way of getting the job done is incomparable.

Wax is an incredibly funny character to watch. He's downright lethal, but at the same time, you can hardly take him seriously as he admits that his one true weakness, one that will eventually be the only thing in the world that can kill him, is a Parisian hamburger.

One particular scene, involving his partner's SUV, had me laughing for quite some time. My recommendation? Rent it, watch it and then come back here and leave a comment about how funny you thought the above mentioned scene was.

Rating: 7 (Above average)


Thanks for reading, following and commenting!

The Clone Wars Returns Tomorrow!

Am I the only one who is excitement for this knows no bounds? The Clone Wars returns with season 3 tomorrow at 9:00 PM on Cartoon Network. The series premiere will feature an hour long two-parter with the episodes 'Clone Cadets' and 'ARC Troopers'.

I can't wait for the new season to kick off! There's so much to look forward to.

1. The introduction of not only ARC troopers [image at top], but also clone commandos from the popular Republic Commando video game and novels.

2. The introduction of Dathomir and the Nightsisters, two very prominent figures in the Star Wars Expanded Universe.

3. The extended Asajj Ventress plot line.

4. The improved CGI. With each season the show seems to progress greatly with it's use of CGI. From what can be seen in the trailers and TV spots, this trend seems to have extended into season 3.

There's so much more, such as that awesome lightsaber fight involving Dooku and a group of cloaked Jedi assassins, the introduction of Darth Maul's brother Savage Oppress and the addition of prominent Jedi characters such as Saesee Tiin.

Don't forget to tune in tomorrow! I might just have to start writing reviews of each episode. Don't hold me to that though... :)

Roundup: Lots of new stuff!

Okay, so I've decided to make the Roundup segments a little more conformal. In each Roundup, I'll be posting a series of new and old features.

1. Highlighted Song: The highlighted song segment will now be a part of Roundup. You must listen to the song as you read through the Roundup. It's there for a reason; to set the mood for the blog. :P

2. Quote: It's exactly what it sounds like. I'll be posting a quote from one of my favorite movies, TV shows, video games, or books.

3. Fanboy Pick of the Week: I'm really excited about this new mini-segment. In Pick of the Week, I'll be posting my thoughts about a movie, TV show or book and tell you why I enjoyed it, and why you should too. Does that make me narcissistic? Yes, it probably does...

4. News: How else am I going to get my geek on if I don't have new things to freak out over?


Since Chuck is starting its fourth season on the 20th, I figured that I'd celebrate with the extended version of the Chuck theme song; enjoy.




Quote: From Napoleon Dynamite.

Trisha: I wanted to thank you for the beautiful drawing you did of me.
[through gritted teeth]
Trisha: It's hanging in my *bedroom*.
Napoleon Dynamite: Really? It took me like three hours to finish the shading on your upper lip. It's probably the best drawing I've ever done.
Trisha: Yeah... it's really... neat.




Fanboy Pick of the Week: The year was 2007. Among big name movies like Transformers, 300 and I Am Legend was one small movie focused on none other than an oil prospector who would soon became rich during the turn of the century.

Feeling as if it was a Clint Eastwood blockbuster, There Will Be Blood is literally a masterpiece. It's focus was on Daniel Plainview, the aforementioned oil prospector, played by Daniel Day-Lewis. Plainview is tipped off to a large oil deposit and hence travels with his son to claim the prize. Upon arriving, Plainview is introduced to Paul Sunday, a young ego maniacal priest who's views of right and wrong brink on the extreme.


Plainview's own moral standing conflict with the young priest's and thus plays perfectly into Paul's hands. I don't wish to spoil any more of the film, and will end with this. YOU'VE GOT TO SEE THIS MOVIE! If you haven't already seen it, it should be the first thing on your bucket list. If you have seen it, watch it again!


Another interesting snippet is that There Will Be Blood was actually loosely based off of Upton Sinclair's classic novel, Oil! Who knew?

News Flash: A series of Q&A videos regarding the past two seasons of The Clone Wars are now appearing on Star Wars' main site. You can watch them here.

Also, the first pics from the upcoming Captain America movie have made it to the web. Sure, the actual picture is of a stunt double, portraying the good Captain, but at least we get to see his costume. And might I say, how awesome is it?!?

Stay tuned for my DVD reviews of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Repo Men!

Jeffster!

A series of Chuck-based webisodes are appearing on The WB. The webisodes follow Jeff and Lester, the two ignoramus Buy More employees who were falsely accused of burning down the Burbank Buy More.

The webisodes, (I just love saying that), are to lead up to the Chuck premiere on Monday, September 20th. Starting September 7th, a new episode will appear each day on The WB website, leading to the final episode which will be released on the 13th.

I've seen the first webisode and while it clearly has been payed for my Microsoft, it delivers Jeffster's brand of funny, quite well.

Check them out here.

Green Lantern Guest Post!

Everyone give a warm welcome to Gina from Fantasy Casting as she provides Memoirs with its very first guest post. Be sure to stop by Fantasy Casting after you read her post. Don't forget to follow her while you're there. ;)


As you probably already know, The Green Lantern has been greenlighted (pun intended, ha.) for a film release in June 2011.


For those who don't know, unlike many other comic characters, Green Lantern has multiple alter-egos over the years. Hal Jordan is the incarnation of the Green Lantern from DC's Silver Age of comics, during the late 1950's revival and is the version that will be portrayed in this film. He is a pilot who was given the ring of power by Abin Sur.


First of all, let's start with the man of the hour; the Green Lantern himself, also known as Hal Jordan, played by none other than Mr. Ryan Reynolds.

I don't know how I feel about this. First of all, I am a female. So... there's that side of it. And in that regard, I am happy to see Ryan Reynolds do just about anything. However, he's already Deadpool, which worked out well, but let's be real: This is also Van Wilder. Can he support a whole superhero film all by his onesie? We shall see...


Before we get too far into this, I want to put out there in blogland that I think this would have been an excellent opportunity to cast a black superhero. The Green Lantern was John Stewart, a black architect for most of the 70s, and that character still makes an appearance in the books today. There are so few mainstream, headlining black heroes, why not take advantage of the opportunity, you know?
Anyway, moving on. The love interest, Carol Ferris, is being played by Blake Lively, of Gossip Girl fame. I'm skeptical. Real skeptical. According to DC legend, Ferris is a powerful female. She's Hal Jordan's boss, and is hailed as being one of the first strong female characters, emerging long before the second wave of feminism broke in the United States. This girl:
Is supposed to embody intelligent female power? OK... maybe she's a better actress than I think. I would hate to judge too unfairly; just because she's overly pretty, famous for her fashion choices, stars as a spoiled socialite on one of the most sexually-charged teen shows of all time, ranks #4 on Maxim's Hot 100 list and lists "Long Blond Hair" as her trademark on IMDb... maybe she's deeper than that. Who knows. Or, more likely, DC rewrote the character to be just a pretty face. If it's door #2, then we're set.


Hector Hammond is one of the villains for this film, and Peter Sarsgaard has been brilliantly cast for this part. Seriously, this guy always looks a liiiittle bit like he's gonna crack, any minute. I think the uber-nuts Hammond is a perfect fit.

Our second villain (because, you know, one just isn't tough enough these days) for this film is Sinestro. For you comic-book geeks out there, you'll know that Sinestro is considered one of the greatest super-villains of all time. In fact, my sources (wikipedia) tell me that he was ranked at the 15th greatest super villain ever by the people who determine the validity and awesomeness of super villains. (side note: who doesn't want that job?!?!?!) Hold your breath. They have cast Mark Strong.
Feel free to geek out. I am.


Who's excited? Other than for Blake Lively, that is. And honestly, when you look at this:

how can you not be?


Agree? Disagree? Post your thoughts in the comments.


Gina blogs over at Fantasy Casting, where she spouts her opinion about who should be cast in the film versions of books, comic books and anything else that strikes her fancy. You can contact her here.

Images: Google Images

Guest Post & Highlighted Song!

Gina from Fantasy Casting will be providing Memoirs with its very first guest post! I'm really excited! Fantasy Casting is one of my favorite blogs. Click here to check it out!

And don't forget to check back here at Memoirs this week for Gina's guest post!

Today's Highlighted Song comes from none other than Firefly, one of my all time favorite shows. Some of you may remember this, or still have it stuck in your heads! For those of you who've never seen it, you can watch the first five episodes of Firefly on Hulu, here. You're still here? What are you waiting for? Go! Go!

New Segment: Roundup!

Lately, I've been creating a lot of posts regarding news; simply news. So instead of having a slew of random posts about news, I figured I'd compile them all together into what I call a Roundup. So here we go, the first Roundup.

The Walking Dead:


I really don't like horror. In fact, this may be the only post you'll ever see me create that has anything to do with the subject. However, I don't mind zombies nearly as much, and The Walking Dead seems like an extremely promising concept, one which I'm surprised has taken this long to be made for the little screen.

It always seems that in zombie movies, so much more could have been explored. I'd really like to see the survivors survive, instead of constantly running and then ultimately either finding a cure or dying. As a weekly series, The Walking Dead can certainly and most likely will dabble into this premise. So without further adieu, here's the trailer for The Walking Dead.





The Clone Wars: Season 3:


It has been revealed that Quinlan Vos, the fan favorite Star Wars prequels-comic-character, will be appearing in the upcoming season of The Clone Wars with the likes of fellow popular Expanded Universe subjects such as Delta Squad from Republic Commando and the Nightsister from The Courtship of Princess Leia. When and what episode he will be appearing in has yet to be unveiled.

It has also been revealed that the next series of online Clone Wars web comics will return to its roots from season 1 and concentrate less on a single story arc, and more on individual happenings of the war. Yay!




Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides:



This may not be news to some, but the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie is slated for a 2011 release. The film follows the exploits of none other then Captain Jack Sparrow as he gets a blast from the past when he reacquaints himself with Black Beard's daughter, Angelica, played by Penelope Cruz.





Angelica forces Jack onto her father's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge . The group, joined by none other then Captain Barbossa and Mr. Gibbs, embarks on a quest to locate the legendary Fountain of Youth.


Some of the best news is that both Orlando Bloom and Kierra Knightely will not be appearing in this sequel. Personally, I liked the characters at first, but by the end of the third movie, I was downright sick of them.



Answers to the 'My 20 Favorite Movie Quotes' Post':



1. Galaxy Quest

2. Serenity

3. The Book of Eli

4. Beowulf

5. Shaun of the Dead

6. Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl

7. Batman: The Dark Knight

8. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

9. The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy

10. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace

11. The Survivors

12. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

13. The Princess Bride

14. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

15. The Patriot

16. Napolean Dynamite

17. Up

18. Terminator

19. Watchmen

20. Star Wars: A New Hope


I can't believe no one got numbers 2 or 9!