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Archive for the 'Reviews' Category

Movie Review: Appaloosa

Published
by
John C Narcomey Jr
on September 26, 2008
in Reviews
. 3 Comments

Viggo Mortensen from the movie Appaloosa

Viggo Mortensen from the movie Appaloosa

Ahhh, the almighty Western. Once the behemoth plague of T.V. and movie screens, now the American period piece art house D’jour. And as long as they are all the caliber of Ed Harris’s Appaloosa, I have no complaints

The movie itself follows in a trend of deep character realism and mythic romanticism that has wrapped itself so warmly and fittingly around the recent westerns of Unforgiven, Open Range, 3:10 to Yuma and, the high water mark, the Assassination of Jesse James. Appaloosa itself doesn’t reach the art house grandness of the Assassination of Jesse James, but that’s not the mark Appaloosa is going for.

Ed Harris has crafted Appaloosa based on a book written by Robert B. Parker as a lean, meat and potato western using everything from sparse action to the featherweight characterizations of the cast to give us a pulpy little love letter to the American West.

With a cast that includes Viggo Mortensen , Renee Zelweger, Jeremy Irons and Ed Harris, each performance gave the movie a feel of genuine reality as character not personality propel the action from violent beginning to sublime pulp ending. The only misstep being the over-the-top fear produced by the city council as they barter to hire on the gun slinging Ed Harris. Even then, the movie recovers gracefully by balancing the over-the-top acting of the city council with a drop of some character induced humor lessening the sting of this uneven moment. All of which shows Ed Harris’ continuing growth as a director.

As awards season rolls around, and more good movies are put on a limited release schedule to grab at the Oscars, I am sure that Appaloosa will not be the movie that brings Ed Harris an Oscar for his directing. But if Pollock and now Appaloosa show us anything, he may not be that far off from receiving directorial accolades that equal those given him as an actor.

Truly,
John C. Narcomey, Jr.

Movie Review: Iron Man

Published
by
Justin Fox
on September 5, 2008
in Reviews
. 2 Comments
Robert Downey, Jr. in the movie Iron Man

Robert Downey, Jr. in the movie Iron Man

Iron Man: The Little Comic Book Movie That Could.

This brilliant summer blockbuster not only made director John Favreau a household name, but showed us just how good a comic book movie can be. The special effects of Iron Man seemed almost too realistic, as if the U.S. Government loaned John Favreau an actual suit of body armor and told him not to tell anyone.

Robert Downey Jr’s performance as the womanizing, constantly drinking industrial genius Tony Stark was nothing less than genius itself. If this movie is Downey’s come-back role, then we are ecstatic to have him back. The villains are villains, the action is hard and the movie is solid. Iron Man was one of the most anticipated films of the summer and is now one of the champions of the summer movie season.

Until Next Time,
Justin Fox

Movie Review: The Incredible Hulk

Published
by
John C Narcomey Jr
on September 4, 2008
in Reviews
. 2 Comments
From the movie: The Incredible Hulk

From the movie: The Incredible Hulk

Before I even get started, I need to let everyone know—I liked and enjoyed Ang Lee’s Incredible Hulk. So I’m going to set aside my bias for substance over style and review this new Hulk. This Ang Lee-less Hulk. This fan placating action genre with no more substance than the C.G. saliva flying out of the Hulk’s mouth.

For instance, Ang Lee asked the question and gave us some answers as to why Bruce Banner is capable of such rage. Why he alone has transmuted into a green hulk. Why the hot Betty Ross has a connection and feeling for such an outward dweeb. The new incredible hulk doesn’t even try to tackle anything beyond what it is—pure popcorn.

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with popcorn! I enjoy good entertainment as much as the next guy. I also enjoy seeing an artist take risks, and Ang Lee took risks with the first hulk film. The new Incredible Hulk movie plays it safe and gives everyone what they want.

The artist in me will always have heart for Ang Lee’s Incredible Hulk. The 12 year old in me, on the other hand, will always enjoy the hulk-smash of this new Incredible Hulk!

Truly,
John C. Narcomey, Jr.

My childhood hero was raped

Published
by
Justin Fox
on September 2, 2008
in Reviews and Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

Indiana Jones and the “Who Thought This Storyline Made Any Sense”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” falls far short in comparison to its predecessors, And it has nothing to do with Harrison Ford’s age. The script has a written over the weekend feel to it and the movie seemed rushed. The new characters introduced in the film really offer nothing special to remember them by and just seem to be there to take up space. Kate Blanchet’s accent is almost unbearable as it jumps back and forth between Russian and her natural British accent. There are computer animated monkeys, prairie dogs, and animals in the film making me ask the question, “Why didn’t they just get real animals?” The only acceptable part of the film is Karen Allen’s return as Marion Ravenwood, the spunky female love interest Indiana Jones had in the first film, “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” But even she could not save this film from disaster. “Crystal Skull” tries too hard to be a family film and an action adventure. Indiana Jones films may be okay for kids to enjoy, but it is far from a family genre. “Jones” films have always had some over the top exploits in them, but this movie went way over the top, to the point of having Indiana Jones survive a nuclear explosion by hiding in a lead coated refrigerator. He is then blown miles away from the initial blast and walks out unscathed. The film has entertaining qualities about it, but has more in common with “Romancing the Stone” than the franchise it is supposed to be a part of.

From The Tower: Summer Movie Review

Published
by
admin
on August 15, 2008
in Reviews
. 2 Comments

Here at High Tower Comics, after many hours of deliberation, we came to the conclusion that we must post a summer movie review. (1) To get out of our un-air conditioned office, (2) we needed a good excuse to see all the cool movies that have been released and (3) to voice our opinions to anybody willing to read it. Be warned, we are not professional reviewers—we are fans and movie buffs, and we will review accordingly.

Without further ado, welcome to High Tower Highlights: Summer Movie Review.

This week we are featuring two reviews. The first is a review of Speedracer by High Tower’s esteemed writer extraordinaire, Justin “I kill Squidies” Fox. The second review is for Hellboy 2: Curse of The Golden Army, by your’s truly, John C. “Expletive” Narcomey Jr.

Do not fret, we will be posting reviews for just about every major summer release we can get our greedy little eyes on; these are just the first two. So, if you may, read on, enjoy, agree, disagree, grumble, rejoice and above all else, drop us a line and let us know what you think.

Movie Review: Speed Racer

“Go see Speed Racer, GO!” The movie is produced mainly in CG, but the animated background world did not affect the way I viewed this film at all.

Speed Racer is based on an anime that was imported to the U.S. in 1967. The visuals are stunning, even at the times when you almost feel you’re going to have a seizure from watching (which is another characteristic that the film shares with its anime counterpart).

The movie was advertised as, “The Must See Family Film of the Summer.” It indeed is a movie that families can share a night out with one another, but there are some very adult themes to the film itself. The moral of the film is about a family standing next to one another through thick and thin, interlaced throughout with action sequences that get your heart pounding with excitement.

The action is all well placed and executed to perfection. It held true to the cartoon with its simple plot of fixed races and evil corporate villains. If you’re a fan of the original anime, you will not be let down by this film. In fact, I believe you will have as much fun as I did watching it.

Through all the twists and turns, you can’t help but feel like a kid rooting the good-guy on, wanting so badly to see him triumph at the end. There seems to be a general lack of this in most movies today. If you’re a fan of Anime, Speed Racer, The Wachowski Brothers or just want to have a lot of fun watching a film, this is the movie for you. Don’t believe the hype—this movie is a solid hit.

Until Next Time,
Justin Fox

Movie Review: Hellboy 2: Curse of the Golden Army

There was a time when ‘comic book’ movie meant visual feast for the eyes and imagination. Remember Tim Burtons Batman (1&2), Dick Tracy, The Shadow and MysteryMen. In recent years it seems visual punch has been replaced with cool to hyper-reality (can we say Matrix) giving way to a new reality based ‘comic book’ movie. Aside from 300 and Sin City, it seems the “lets create a world ooh and ahh!” has been pushed out of the minds of todays filmmakers (sometimes very gratefully so).

Thank God for Hellboy 2: Curse of The Golden Army. For those looking for the deep psychology of the Dark Knight, you are not going to find it here. This film is a popcorn movie among popcorn movies. And even if the story is not deep enough for you, the visuals will melt your eyes. Guillermo Del Toro has taken the essence of Mike Mignolas Hellboy and made it all his own with every squeaky wheel, cog, inlayed box and giant to small monster strewn across the screen.

Hellboy 2 is a modern, smart, funny, throw-back to my youth when I would sit in a darkened theatre and be transplanted into Gotham City, into 1930s gangland Chicago, into the Shadow’s hyper-noir New York City—when a ‘comic book’ movie was as much a visual feast as a guilty pleasure.

Hellboy 2 is made for this kind of movie-going experience, and Guillermo Del Toro knows this, relishes in this and nails it! Do yourself a favor and get lost in the world of Hellboy 2: Curse of The Golden Army. It could be the best $9.50 you spend all year.

Truly,
John C. Narcomey, Jr.