headlands7 Reviews

The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)

Funny for about 15 minutes of the entire movie.

[3/10 · 20 August 2005]

I know this will be very unpopular, but I found this movie to be mostly unfunny, way too long, incredibly predictable, and very base. For anyone seeking humor that does not insult one's basic level of intelligence, this is not the movie for you. There ARE some hilarious scenes, but they are very brief and sandwiched in between big fat loaves of the most low-level frat/high school humor I've seen in a while. It doesn't involve you enough to really want to see what happens, also because it rambles on for about a half hour too long.

I'm a big fan of humor like old Woody Allen, The Office, Spinal Tap, and Airplane!, and this just wasn't inventive enough to hold my interest. Toilet humor does not require good writing, it just requires an audience who likes toilet humor. I'm cool with people liking it, but it does nothing for me, personally. Occasionally a bit of random, absurd humor would pop in, which was good, but it was mostly relying on cheap humor tricks that got old after the first 15 minutes, for me.

Also, I don't mind people swearing at all, but after a while, I actually got bored of hearing it so freaking much.

Sorry, two thumbs down here.

Lost in Translation (2003)

A welcome relief from Hollywood madness.

[10/10 · 20 October 2003]

I think that the users who gave this film a negative rating are not appreciating the subtleties that make Los in Translation such a fine flick, and would be best served by seeing a film full of action and predictability.

Coppola has done an AMAZING job with this movie, really capturing emotion and feeling without relying on any Hollywood garbage to do it, such as predictable, sappy dialog, or wild FX...nothing is really spelled out here, it is as life is in reality: somewhat disjointed, and mysterious, with no magical one- liners. Combined with the simple, beautiful cinematography, perfect casting choices, and a subtle hand, Coppola has proved herself to be head and shoulders above many of her contemporaries. There is no MTV in-your-face crassness or commerciality, there is only real emotion, and a brilliant capture of real human despair, and hopefulness.

For anyone who haves/has had the misfortune of living in Los Angeles, they will be laughing to themselves for the entire movie, as the plastic and soul-less life of the entertainment business is captured so well. Beautiful, and highly recommended.

Hulk (2003)

The first half is atrocious, the second half merely entertaining...

[25 June 2003]

******WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!!!!!!**********

I lump this movie in with other recent trash like Matrix Reloaded, for the following reasons: plot is thin and at times confusing, character development is non-existent (I really wanted to care about someone, ANYone, but the poor dialog and bad direction prevented this), and the pacing is way off.

I fully understand and support the idea of taking the right amount of time to develop character and tell a story, but Hulk fails at both of these things. Banner is dry and uninteresting as character, and most of the other characters are over- acted with poor dialog...Nick Nolte and Sam Elliot are completely underused in their acting abilities, and Connelley has one emotion: sappy concern. I felt like I was watching the movie from a distance, with the plot rolling by without grabbing and pulling me in. The only interesting part to me was Banner's father's story....this had some emotional depth to it, but unfortunately Nolte's character does so many completely inexplicable, outrageous things later in the movie, that it destroys any credibility he had earlier.

Now, when the Hulk made his appearance, the teenage boy in me came raging out and I had a huge smile on my face. The CGI Hulk had more emotion than Bana. Personally, I found the CGI to be great...I was surprised at how well they pulled it off, considering. Not perfect, but damn good. Seeing the Hulk trouncing around with this absurd strength and super-power was in a word, awesome. I wish the story and development of the movie could have matched the intensity of this, not necessarily on an action level, but on a simple great movie-making level.

My comic-book loving friends were disappointed, as well. I certainly didn't dislike it because there wasn't enough action -- if there was better character development and plot, it might have been a great flick.There is no excuse for a making a movie this shoddily.

Remember, future directors, here's what makes action movies like The Matrix (original) and Fellowship of the Ring so great: CHARACTER, PLOT, and MOTIVATION!