Doom (script) "I realize, of course, that the core audience for this movie could give a rat's behind about narrative and character but that doesn't mean I can completely overlook them. They're precisely what makes me care about a movie. Frankly, I've yet to see a movie based on a video game that I really liked. While both movies and video games may be virtual mediums, the former is a spectator experience while the latter allows you to participate in and determine events. Once the game becomes a movie, you're robbed of what made you enjoy it to begin with. In the case of Doom, you're basically left with an Alien clone..." (full review)
Collateral "Returning to his stomping grounds of the miserable, crime-ridden streets of downtown Los Angeles, director Michael Mann pulls out a big winner with "Collateral." A convincingly directed, pulse-quickening thriller, Mann also manages to pull two wonderful lead performances out of Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx, who are placed in roles they're not normally associated with..." (full review) Open Water
"Ever since Spielberg laid the groundwork, everything featuring anything that eats people and lives under the water has "borrowed" his formula. Open Water has a style of its own and presents a whole new spin on underwater horror. There are a few things that could have been better about the movie (primarily the acting and occasional cheese dialogue), but nothing that takes away from its purpose, which is to keep you on the edge of your seat and out of the ocean. Open Water should come with a pre-screening checklist: Tissue for sweaty palms, liquid for a clenched throat, and an oxygen mask for air. This is a panic-attack inducing, unsettling 75 minutes of film..." (full review) "Building an entire 80-minute film around the idea of two people floating in salt water, endlessly bickering and slowly dying as they wait out the hours is not an especially gripping enterprise. "Open Water" is the crude visualization of this idea, which might've been better served as a directing exercise for school rather than another overhyped Sundance Film Fest offspring that doesn't deserve to be clogging theater space this crowded summer..." (full review) Dean Koontz's Frankenstein "A pilot episode, for all intents and purposes, makes or breaks a series, so will viewers want to come back for seconds? There will likely be a straggler or two looking for an ounce of cult value to cling to, trying to recapture that "thing" that made The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer fun. But I don't see enough of a spark in Koontz's Frankenstein to sustain a horror fan's curiosity..." (full review) Shark Tale by by 'Trajan' I had a chance to see Dreamworks' latest CG comedy. While the movie was only 70% complete, this had everything to do with the CG renderings -the story and voices were completely in place. Much of the movie had yet to be polished, several scenes and sequences were still entirely storyboarded. Still, it was surprisingly easy to follow (and suspend disbelief within the normal suspension of disbelief). From what was completed, I think the final film will look very sharp. I'm happy to report the overall movie is pretty good. Of course, the pressing question is: "Is it as good as 'Finding Nemo'?" Not quite. "Nemo"'s story had a much more genuine sense of "heart". In "Shark Tale" you feel that the moral of the story is a little forced. Like Dreamworks' other CG pictures, the humor in "Shark Tale" relies a lot more on contemorary pop culture than Pixars. While I thought Dreamworks' "Antz" was superior to Pixar's "A Bug's Life" (I'm a sucker for Woody Allen), "Shark Tale" comes off as the lesser of the two underwater CG movies. With that aside, let me say the movie is worth seeing. None of the jokes really fell flat in my screening, in fact [Minor Spoiler], there's a pretty funny running gag involving references to both "Jaws" (it certainly helps that Spielberg founded Dreamworks) and "Titanic". The acting was pretty much spot on. Will Smith isn't nearly as obnoxious as I thought he'd be in the lead role. Like "Antz" the facial expressions of the lead character match Smith's very well. The supporting cast does an excellent job, with the surprising (and good) contributions of Martin Scorcese and Ziggy Marley (who briefly sings one of his father's famous songs mid-movie). Needless to say, Robert Deniro works well as the Mob boss shark. I went into this movie with an open mind, I'd only seen one preview, and I left satisfied. It's about what you'd expect from Dreamworks - which unfortunately means a little less than Pixar
