Movie reviews - Video Fest

There comes a time in everyone's life when they find themselves at odds for a few days.

In my case, my family is down in the Bay Area so I took the time to gorge out on cable and DVD's.

While these reviews will be in no way as extensive as my previous, I thought I'd share some of my observations from the couch from this long weekend:

Kickin it Old Skool:

I'm a fan of social commentary and this movie provided it with a lot of low humor with a sweet undertone of a love story. My biggest complaint about the film (and it is a small complaint at that,) was the cruelty of the "bad guy." Yes, he was an ass and we got that. I just felt he was unnecessary cruel. However, Jamie Kennedy and his "crew" pulled off the "retro" dance moves with panache and humor and the underlying story was done with enough thought that I was able to both suspend my disbelief and enjoy myself. I was entertained.

Crank:

My first thought after seeing this film was "whomever green lighted this film should be shot." The movie was "over the top" much in the way a Troma film is, but with high production values. However, even with it's over the top nature, the film just fell flat. With the exception of the last 10 inutes of the film, I couldn't have cared less that the lead character was dying because he just wasn't sympathetic. The only redemption the film had was the final gunfight, and even then that was not spectacular, but it did serve it's place: it ended the film in a more satisfying way than the rest of the film went. I was not entertained.

Resident Evil Apocolypse:

I've some to expect certain things from the Resident Evil movies: Bad direction, cheezy action, misdirected story lines and a whole lot of fun from movies that don't take themselves seriously. The third movie in the Resident Evil series delivered on all that I expected. The only real disappointment I felt with this movie was with Oded Fehr's character. It's a minor spoiler, but hey, he dies! The disappointment I felt was what I assumed he felt when he read the script and found out he didn't get to zombify. After all, this is his 2nd RE film, you know he's going to die. If I were the actor, I'd want to get my undead on. Not that the way he went out wasn't good, bordering on great, but, no zombie! I was entertained!

Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj:

So, first things first, if you're going to do a formulaic movie, this is a good example of how to do it. The movie went a little lighter on the gross out factor than the first, but it is still an underlying "feel good" movie about personal growth with more focus on the underdog triumphing over adversity. Kal Penn pulled off the more mature and confident Taj with the panache of Ryan Reynolds Van Wilder character from the first movie, but in such a manner that you never wanted to compare the two characters: In this movie Taj is his own man and walking his own path, but the the self confidence and caring that Van Wilder instilled in him fromt he first film. I was entertained.