New Release Poll 7/9

[ZapRowsdower]

It's a tough call between Anchorman and King Arthur, but considering King Arthur will be released on Wednesday, I'm obviously going to be seeing THAT first this weekend. That was my deciding factor.

If both films were released on Friday, I'd be screwed.

[Termination]

Will Farrell is one funny mo-fo. If any of the 3, Ill be going to see Anchorman.

[ZapRowsdower]

Hi. I'm Ron Burgundy?

DAMMIT! Who typed a question mark on the teleprompter?

Classic. This has GOT to be a great movie.

[Termination]

Ron Burgundy: Hey Garth, hows the Divorce?
Garth: Oh, not so good, I'll probably never see my
Ron Burgundy: Fan
Garth: kids again
Ron Burgundy: Tastic ;D

[Bartwald]

Not exactly this weekend but I'm going to see King Arthur first. Only recently I found out that Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) is the director there, so now - together with the fact that there's Keira Knightley starring - it is a must for me.

However, Anchorman should be a real riot - I'll see it as soon as possible, too.

[ZapRowsdower]

Just saw King Arthur. Here's my mini-review.

King Arthur: A Disappointment No Doubt, But Still a Fine Film.

PLOT - 8/10
They're essentially looking at archeological findings and bringing us the TRUE story of King Arthur, and not the legend that we are all familiar with. Whether or not this is true or just another Hidalgo remains to be seen.

ACTING - 10/10
If there's anything Antoine Fuqua knows how to bring to the screen, it is an actor's potential. Clive Owen, Keira Knightley, Ioan Gruffud, and Stellan Skarsgård brought their respective characters to life beautifully.

SCREENWRITING - 4/10
This is my biggest criticism. A film of this magnitude both deserves and requires a longer running time. Two hours just isn't sufficient to capture every single element we're intended to capture. Other than that, some scenes could have afforded to be shortened while others should have been elaborated upon. I am especially disheartened by the blatant underuse of Merlin. Come on, now. I know this is the "true" story behind the legend, but that doesn't take away the fact that MERLIN WAS A GREAT MAGICIAN. Okay, if you're not going to use authentic sorcery which you obviously can't use in this situation, can't he do something that makes his enemies THINK he's a sorcerer? I honestly wouldn't have cared if they let him use some sorcery (he IS a sorcerer after all), but why is it necessary to reduce his screen time? He must have had about 10 minutes on screen.

DIRECTION - 6/10
I haven't seen any of Fuqua's other films, but direction-wise, he really didn't do anything special. Maybe all this time in Tarantino-land made me score this harshly. You can tell the director wasn't absent, but he obviously did very little above the bare minimum.

VISUALS - 6/10
Maybe I was tired, maybe it's the fact that my eyes were irritated when I saw this, but the cinematography in this film is extremely poor. You'd expect much better cinematography from a Jerry Bruckheimer production. Even the mediocre Pearl Harbor was visually appealing. But this one hurt my eyes. Making up for the poor cinematography, nice fight scenes. Really nice battle sequences. And Keira Knightley. In a scantily clad warrior outfit. And a bow and arrow. And body paint. ;D

MUSICAL SCORE - 10/10
Nice. Really nice.

OVERALL
I'd be lying if I said that I didn't thoroughly enjoy this film. Yes, there was MUCH room for improvement, and it could have been MUCH better if more effort was put into the screenplay. But it is still a very enjoyable film.

Quite disappointed, but all the same...

THE SMITTY APPROVES. (7.3/10)

[ZapRowsdower]

I just saw Anchorman today, here is my mini-review.

Anchorman: The Biggest News This Week.

PLOT
Really, there wasn't much of a plot to go with. A woman gets a position as co-anchor for a San Diego station, and the men are against it. A play on bigotry in the 70s; I decided not to score this film on plot, because a plot isn't always necessary, and it really wasn't in this case.

ACTING - 10/10
When I give a comedy a 10/10 for acting, it's not that I feel these people deserve Oscars, but I felt that they delivered the goods when it came to acting in a comedy of this sort. Will Ferrell and Steven Carell stood out in particular. The cameos were nice, too.

SCREENWRITING - 9/10
Yeah, it lost a point for being particularly unfunny in the beginning. Yeah, the first ten minutes scared me; I was beginning to think all the jokes in the movie were shown in the trailer. Thankfully, this was not the case. After a rather weak intro, the movie becomes a riot. I don't know whether to hand it to the screenwriter or the actors, but it's a comedy, and it had me laughing. Therefore, the screenwriting gets a high rating.

DIRECTION - 6/10
Not really all that special. Your average run-of-the-mill direction.

VISUALS - 8/10
Nothing too spectacular, but Anchorman doesn't really DEMAND too many special effects, does it? Costumes were nice, locations were nice, cinematography was decent, and there was one animated sequence that for the most part was pretty good.

MUSIC - 8/10
Nice soundtrack choices. A far cry from Tarantino, but still.

OVERALL
It falls a little short of my expectations, but still ends up being a comedy goldmine. If you can handle this kind of humor, and judging from the comedy poll, I KNOW you can, check out Anchorman.

THE SMITTY APPROVES?
Damn it! Who typed a question mark on the teleprompter? (8.2/10)

[ZapRowsdower]

While I'm at it... I took a 45-minute break at work today, and sat down to watch Sleepover. In 45 minutes, I was able to watch about 85% of the movie. Short, huh? Anyway, here's what I gathered.

PLOT - 6/10
Pretty interesting albeit unoriginal concept for a kid's movie. Considering my endurance (which was built up by House of 1000 Corpses), I was able to handle this plot, but I am also aware that many people over the age of 14 probably wont.

ACTING - 7/10
Younger actors tend to be a little less inclined to act believably, but considering the age group involved, they did pretty well. I'm beginning to respect Alexa Vega, although I felt she was much better in Spy Kids.

SCREENWRITING - 5/10
Sorry, Elisa Bell is no John Hughes. Not bad, but nothing particularly special.

DIRECTION - 8/10
The guy who did George Lucas in Love can sure make a mediocre script look good. At least we can all say the direction was pretty good. I'd like to see Nussbaum do more movies.

VISUALS - 7/10
Surprisingly nice cinematography; this movie is pleasing to the eye.

MUSIC
No comment/score. Didn't really pay attention.

OVERALL
Considering what I had expected from Sleepover, I was pleasantly surprised. It's not by any means a must-see. In fact, you should probably give priority to either Anchorman or King Arthur, or even a fifth viewing of Spider-man. It's a harmless flick, but take heed that it IS intended for younger audiences (hence the PG rating).

THE SMITTY ADVISES VIEWER DISCRETION. Careful, there. (6.6/10)

[Bartwald]

Thanks for all the pieces of advice here, Smitty! I'm still very excited about King Arthur and Anchorman - and still don't know when the second one should arrive to Polish theatres.