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Review of “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” (2008) PG-13 110min

July 16th, 2008 The Smart Guy Posted in Movie Reviews No Comments »

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)

Director of the original 2004 Hellboy, as well as 3-Oscar-winning Pan’s Labyrinth and Blade, Guillermo Del Toro has written and directed this sequel.

The plot: Everything is “business as usual” at The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. Hellboy (Ron Perlman) married his pyrokinetic girlfriend Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), and they are going through everything most married couples go through. But a new conflict is brewing in the paranormal world - a war is about to be waged on humankind by Prince Nuada (Luke Goss), who was rejected by both worlds for violating the truce, to reclaim the world. Hellboy and his team, Liz, aquatic empath Abe (Doug Jones), and the newest BPRD member protoplasmic mystic Johann Kraus (James Dodd), must stop Prince Nuada before he awakens the unstoppable Golden Army.

The good: It’s very loud and entertaining. The sets, cinematography, CGIs and costumes are awesome. Quite funny jokes about love and marriage (they go together like a horse and carriage, as we know) and “male bonding” between Abe Sapien and Hellboy. Physical humor is not bad either: Hellboy kicks ass! Pretty cool action sequences too. Guillermo Del Toro clearly enjoyed making this sequel, from writing script to directing it. Better then the original Hellboy!

The bad: Biggest problem with this movie is there’s nothing original. We have a disgruntled superhero (like Hancock), who is misunderstood and hated by humankind. He can only be loved by other monsters who are bound to the secret life and don’t see the point in continuing to save humans from trouble, especially since humans are so good and destroying themselves through war and abuse of Earth and its resources. Exactly why Prince Nuada is declaring the war on them - humans failed to uphold their end of the truce. Monster love we have seen so many times before - from Frankenstein to Shrek. The underworld characters that Del Toro brings into the movie look like they had been taken from Pan’s Labirynth - though creatively designed, one can’t just reuse characters from one movie in another and pass them as original. The entrance to the underworld (Troll Market) under Brooklyn Bridge looks like entrances to the witch world in Harry Potter. Tooth-fairies too looked like pixes in HP. The raising of Golden Army looked like raising of the Mummy army by Imhotep. The business-as-usual at BPRD is straight out of Men in Black. Looks like del Toro saw too many Hobbit movies before he made the scene where Prince Nuada declares war on humankind - the whole set and costumes and the fight sequence are so alike to one in LOTR. And finally, the German geist-guy Johann Kraus in early 20th century aqualung had a horrible German accent - he probably had never met a German before and just tried to emulate Dr Strangelove. The story is not great at all.

The summary: better then the original Hellboy (2004). Very entertaining. Not particularly memorable. Would not watch it second time. No originality.

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Rated 4/5 on Jul 16 2008

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Netflix will be available on XBox 360

July 16th, 2008 The Smart Guy Posted in Movie Reviews No Comments »

Microsoft has announced on Monday at E3 video game convention an alliance with Netflix that will allow it to stream more then 10,000 Netflix movie titles on Microsoft’s XBox 360 console. Microsoft is the latest hardware provider to join Netflix alliance after Roku began selling $100 Netflix streaming boxes in June. Just like with Roku network players, a user will have to be a Netflix subscriber at $9/months or higher for unlimited streaming, and also have the $50 Gold annual subscription to the XBox Live online service. This step is in line with Microsoft’s strategy to be the maker of hubs for the digital room.

No HD content is still available from Netflix, but it’s worth noting that both Roku and XBox 360 are HD-capable, and Netflix is “working toward making HD content available”.

As movie downloads are gaining popularity, it will save shipping cost for Netflix and we can expect more networking entertainment hardware providers such as Sony, Toshiba and D-Link to join Netflix alliance to distribute their content.

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Hot New DVD And Blu-Ray Releases This Week (July 15, 2008)

July 16th, 2008 The Smart Guy Posted in Movie Reviews No Comments »

Movies

The Bank Job

(2008) R
Based on a true 1971 event, this thriller tells the story of Terry (Jason Statham), a car dealer who becomes involved in a London bank heist only to find that the contents of the bank vault will draw him deeply and irrevocably into the city’s criminal underbelly. Murder and scandal abound in this tale of corruption populated with a surprising mix of offenders, from low-level thugs to government officials and all the way up to the royal family. [Maxim's Review] | DVD (Single Disc or Two-Disc Special Edition + Digital Copy) | Blu-Ray | Sound Track CD

Penelope

(2007) PG
Penelope Wilhern (Christina Ricci) is cursed, and the only way out of it is to fall in love with someone of suitable stock. But how can she possibly find her soul mate when she’s sequestered inside her family’s sprawling estate with only her parents (Catherine O’Hara and Richard E. Grant) to keep her company? Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon co-produced this unconventional fairy tale about a girl who bucks convention to make her own happy ending. Also starring James James McAvoy, Reese Witherspoon. DVD.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

(1975) R
The first movie since It Happened One Night to win all five major Academy Awards (picture, director, actor, actress, screenplay), Cuckoo’s Nest still has the ability to entertain and inspire. Implacable rabble-rouser Randle Patrick McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) is committed to an asylum and inspires his fellow patients to rebel against the authoritarian rule of head nurse Mildred Ratched (Louise Fletcher). DVD | Blu-Ray

Traffic - Criterion Collection

(2000) R
In three interwoven vignettes, Traffic offers disturbing snapshots of America’s drug war. Drug czar (Michael Douglas) sees his life turned upside down when the drug problem hits home, while Tijuana cop (Benicio Del Toro) tries to keep his hands clean — and stay alive. Meanwhile, Drug Enforcement Agency operatives arrest a major dealer, forcing his wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) to take over the family business. DVD and HD-DVD.

TV Series

Eureka - Season 2

(2007) NR
The small-town secrets are bigger than ever in the second season of this original Sci Fi Channel series that chronicles the experiences of a former U.S. marshal (Colin Ferguson) who uncovers a community of übergeniuses in the Pacific Northwest. After discovering that they had been happily living in an alternate reality created by a grieving Henry (Joe Morton), the residents of Eureka try to get back to their own brand of normalcy. DVD.

Dallas - The Complete Ninth Season

(1985) NR
Season 9 is hotter than Dallas during a heat wave, as divorce sends Sue Ellen into an alcoholic tailspin, J.R.’s dealings with Angelica Nero turn deadly and newly married Pam is hit with a bombshell in the season finale’s shocking shower scene. Also this season, Ray and Donna find out their unborn baby has Down syndrome, J.R. tries to mend his relationship with Sue Ellen and Punk and Ellie worry about ranch hand Ben Stivers’s mysterious past. DVD.