Maxim's Movie Reviews and Opinions Blog

10-point review of Iron Man-2 (PG-13) 124min

Maxim — Sat, 08 May 2010 07:06:51 +0000

Was excited to see Iron Man-2 finally, on the opening day, after long wait – in IMAX. I liked it. It’s good, but don’t set your expectations too high if you want to really enjoy it. The movie feels like it’s composed of a lot of individual scenes and bits and pieces, but the whole picture is a bit chunky – a lot of characters were introduced, but they did not have a chance to fully open up or really do anything. Perhaps it’s a set up for a sequel, perhaps it was just cut badly. The latter is more likely, since there were quite a few continuity problems.

The plot: Six months after the end of the first movie, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is a celebrity for using his Iron Man armored suit to help negotiate peace between major world superpowers, thus bringing the longest period of peace on the planet (no major wars for the whole 6 months?). But every hero has enemies. Senator Stern (Gary Shandling) demands that “dangerous” suit be transferred into control of US government. Meanwhile the arc reactor that keeps his heart running is slowly killing him. Believing his death is imminent, he appoints his assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) the CEO of Stark Industries, replacing her with Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson). Meanwhile, the son of disgraced physicist Anton Vanko, who collaborated with Tony’s father on original arc-reactor design, creates his own arc-reactor, and becomes the anti-Iron Man, and brings full might of his vengeance on Tony Stark.

For the most part, the plot was good.
Mickey Rourke was cast as the main antagonist – a Russian physicist, whose father suffered in some way from Tony Stark’s father’s activities (I never understood how exactly he was wronged and how actions of the anti-hero were justified by that). Every time I see him I remember how handsome he used to be and how ugly he is now.
Plenty of good jokes throughout the movie
Good acting! The entire cast did a really great job.
Scarlett Johansson kicks major ass – all the while in tight leather pants, and keeping her red hair fabulous.
Gwyneth Paltrow looks great, as always
Nice special effects/CGIs, although the movie lacked definition to justify watching it in IMAX.
Mickey Rourke had to learn three short phrases in Russian for this movie, and he was dreadful at it. Not that it’s important for a movie that’s based on a comic book. Laws of physics also do not apply.
There’s a scene where Tony Stark dressed up in Iron Man costume fights his friend inside his house. Why? Because he is a narcissist. Destroyed his own house just to make a point in a silly argument over nothing. Effing rich people! Of course, he is just being “eccentric”! He can afford it…
The boss fight was too short

Crew: Director – Jon Favreau | Screenplay – Justin Theroux | Producers – Victoria Alonso, Louis D’Esposito, Susan Downey, Jon Favreau, Kevin Feige, Alan Fine, Eric Heffron, Jeremy Latcham, Stan Lee, David Maisel, Denis L. Stewart | Music – John Debney | Cinematography – Matthew Libatique | Editing – Dan Lebental, Richard Pearson | Paramount Pictures

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10-point review of Disneynature’s “Oceans”

Maxim — Sat, 01 May 2010 06:37:59 +0000

Disneynature’s “Oceans” came out on the “Earth Day” Thursday, 2010, just like last year Disney’s “Earth” came out on the same date also. A small disclaimer: I have not seen Disney’s “Earth”.

The visuals in the “Oceans” are simply amazing. Most Earthlings will never see all that was shown in the movie, even with special equipment. From microscopic animals to biggest animal on earth, the Blue Whale – this film has it all in great detail. Captivating and enchanting visuals that make you yearn for more.
Many of the Earth’s oceans are covered – from Antarctica to equatorial Atlantic to South Pacific and Indian oceans.
I hate when movies are narrated (unless it’s done by Morgan Freeman) – my philosophy is that if the director needs narration then he is a really bad story teller. The only exception to this rule are nature, science and history documentaries – where a movie is created for the purpose of educating viewers. This is not the case with “Oceans” – you will be captivated with quality high-definition under-water cinematography and variety of life in the ocean, but you will probably learn nothing new.
Pierce Brosnan has a nice voice and style of narration, but there’s absolutely no information in the narrative. Brosnan basically reads poetry: “The fish are swimming, the shrimp are tiny, the slug called ‘Spanish dancer’ waves its red cape, the spider crabs gather for war”, and so on, but there’s no information as to why they do it. If you are expecting something similar to “March of the penguins”, you will be disappointed -without informative narrative the whole movie falls apart as an animated slide show. Why don’t we just “google” same images without paying the ticket price?
Of course, to keep the movie short – just 1 hour 20 minutes – the movie jumps from images of one animal to another trying to cover as many animals as possible, which reaffirms my previous statement about this movie being a slide show without any real story behind it, unlike “March of the Penguins” or “Walking with Dinosaurs” or similar movies.
I was going to say that you can watch this movie with sound muted because of dreadful, really disappointing narration, but here’s a great and unique thing about this movie: water is known to be a great conductor of sound, and the filmographers managed to record some of the most amazing sounds that ocean animals make – from the waling of whales (no pun) and clicking of dolphins, to the sound an oyster shell makes when it opens, or sound of a walking crab, or a sound of a fish being eaten by a predator, or sounds of crab and shrimp fighting under water.
Beautiful musical score
The boy in the beginning and end of the movie that was probably incorporated into the movie as a symbol, a call to preserve oceans for the future generations… the boy was ugly. He should be cast in “children of the corn” or some other creepy child-vampire movie.
The movie is tri-lingual, with Brosnan narrating English version, but there’s also a French and Italian ones.
If you ignore the retarded narrative, you will really enjoy and appreciate the beautiful diversity of life in our fragile oceans, which is what this movie, and the Earth day, are all about.

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Rated /5 on Apr 30 2010

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Avatar 3D (2009) PG-13 162min

Maxim — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 08:05:39 +0000

Just saw Avatar in I-MAX 3D. Here’s a quick 10-point review.

1. The plot: it’s a lot like “Dances with wolves”: a white man wins the trust of the tribesmen and is accepted into the tribe as equal (becomes “one of us”), but later has to chose a side.

2. Capitalism is awesome: shareholders’ interests are above all. Screw indigenous people (”savages”) – men come with heavy equipment (and guns), “humanely” displace indigenous people into reservations and plunder their natural resources. History of American continent. Well, history of the world, really. Luckily for natives, through some magic the mother nature itself joins the uprising – animals come out of the jungle to crash soldiers in a stampede – like in the “Jungle Book”?! Alas, “the balance of life is restored”. Huh?

3. Fantastic visuals! Especially in 3D. Amazing integration of people into 3D CGI environment (or vice verse), better then in “Transformers”. A lot of attention is paid to tiniest details, though some detail is not shown in order to obtain PG-13 rating. Also, I was glad that 3D things don’t come out of the screen – wouldn’t want any of the animals from that planet sneeze on me or touch me with their tails. Cameron’s 3D visuals does immerse you into imaginative, but fake world. It just does not feel real at any point. Shrimp-people in “District 9″ were much more real then monkey-people in Avatar. Avatar is an example of “style over substance” movement in Hollywood.

4. Other then “Daces with wolves”, two other movies come to mind in comparison: “Planet of Apes”, except most humans are bad guys and the “monkey people” need a rebel human to direct their uprising, and “The Last Samurai”, in that the human “needs to learn the ways” of the locals, become part of the tribe, and accept their way of life over his old way of life.

5. There are some nice action scenes, but first and foremost it’s a [sci-fi] fantasy movie.

6. Humans are plugged into their avatars – Matrix style.

7. Very enjoyable adventure filled with action, fantasy, humor and eye-candy. Not much drama though. Most suitable for young teenage audience, but adults will have fun too.

8. A lot of relationships, acting and action in the movie is rather schematic, but in a sweet way and often makes people laugh with it’s naivete.

9. Good acting, however it’s more over the top then not, and animated characters are, well… more animated then humans in the movie.

10. G-strings?

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I’m streaming Netflix on PS3!

Maxim — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:31:57 +0000

As I already told, Sony and Netflix recently became partners, and Netflix subscribers can now stream movies from their “Watch Instantly” queue on PlayStation 3.

While Sony is working on new firmware update for PS3 that would allow full Netflix support, current Netflix subscribers with PS3 will have to use a specially-formatted Blu-Ray disc that they can order for free from Netflix.

And I just received this disc in mail.

Before today I was still able to watch Netflix on my PS3 by using PlayOn media server installed on my home PC computer, which was used to transcode Netflix movies and stream them from PC into PS3. But with new Netflix disc I can now watch movies on my big screen TV without necessity for having the PC turned on – the movies and TV shows from my instant queue are streamed directly from Netflix onto PS3!

So here it is, the red envelope! There’s a label on it that says, “Do not return to Netflix!”. I just put it into PS3, and it displayed a code that must enter on Netflix website to activate my Watch Instantly Blu-Ray disc. This operation was easy, even easier then I could expect. Right after I entered www.netflix.com URL in the browser, the website automatically took me to the right page, and as soon as the code was entered on the website, the PlayStation 3 displayed my instant queue. That’s right, the website and my PS3 were “talking” to each other!

The interface displayed DVD covers of movies in my queue, and clicking on them opens a menu: “Resume playback”, “Watch from the beginning”, “Delete from the queue”, “Rate the movie”. Yes, I can manage the queue and rate movies from PlayStation 3 menu! Brilliant! This menu also displays synopsis of the movie/show.

Playback began within seconds, and the quality is as good as watching the movie on the computer – if you ever streamed movies through your web browser using Netflix’s ActiveX component. Actually, the quality depends mostly on the quality of the source and the resolution the movies was digitized into a stream with. For example, an old Alfred Hitchcock’s movie I saw was acceptable quality (although with noticeable pixel-blocking), and tonight I also watched an action/kung-fu movie and the quality was not worse then DVD.

There are now HD movies streaming from Netflix to XBox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles. I can’t determine what resolution they actually are streamed at, but the bandwidth they use is between 1.3Mbps and 4.5Mbps, and they look great and never stutter – no buffering problems.

I’m a little happier now.

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Finally: Netflix streaming on PlayStation 3 begins in November

Maxim — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:21:20 +0000

Netflix today announced a real with Sony that will allow streaming Netflix movies to PS3 consoles. Support for streaming Netflix has already been implemented in XBox 360, Netflix-branded Roku media player, some TV-sets and some LG and Samsung Blu-Ray players, and recently, TiVo. As I previously wrote, it was already possible to stream Netflix onto PS3 using 3rd-party software such as PlayOn media server from MediaMall.

According to the public announcement, starting November Netflix clients with $9/month subscription will be able to stream Netflix movies into their PS3 consoles for free. No PC necessary. However, until Sony releases a free update that includes Netflix into the menu structure of PS3, the users will have to use a special Blu-Ray disc to chose a movie from their Netflix “Watch Instantly” queue. It’s merely a hack – for now, until Netflix support is fully integrated into PlayStation 3’s firmware.

Netflix members and PS3 system owners can now reserve a free instant streaming disc for PS3 systems by going to www.netflix.com/ps3. Upon availability, the instant streaming disc will be delivered for free by first-class mail, generally one business day after members request it.

So in a month or so, PlayOn media server software will become obsolete. Save $40 and wait for firmware update. You can still use PlayOn for streaming photos, music and videos from your PC, but there are better media servers out there for doing just that.

Considering the recent $100 price drop on all PS3 consoles, the latest move should better position Sony in competition with Microsoft’s XBox 360.

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Sony PlayStation 3 Slim has arrived

Maxim — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 06:50:30 +0000

Shipments of Sony PlayStation 3 Slim console began today, August 31. I had mine pre-ordered on Amazon.com, so I received mine today. I could have received it three days earlier if Amazon printed address label more clearly – the postal office was ready to ship it back to sender because of “incomplete address”.

The new version of the console is called “Slim” for several good reasons: it’s 33% thinner and 36% lighter then all the previous PlayStation 3 models. It uses less energy, offers 50% more hard drive space (120GB) then the latest 80GB model, and costs only $299 after recent $100 price cut by Sony across all models. After the price cut, I figured it’s finally worth the money, given it’s both gaming console and a Blu-Ray player. Visually the major differences are, obviously, in size; also the case is no longer glossy-black and has cheaper look. The console still has two USB ports in the front. The power toggle button is no longer touch-sensitive – it was replaced with an actual pressable button.

Two years ago I had a bad experience with PS3 60GB model, so I was waiting for this price cut and a thinner model for a long time. Alas, it arrived. The box it arrived in is also thinner then the original 60GB model’s box. The box included a USB cable, a component video cable and the new Dualshock 3 controller. HDMI cable was not included.

Set up about 30 minutes. It included taking away my D-Link media server and Toshiba HD-DVD player out, plugging in PS3 and Logitech PS3 adapter for Harmony remote, downloading and installing latest firmware 3.0, and registering for PlayStation(R) Network. Most of the time was spent trying to enter user data for a new PlayStation(R) Network account one letter at a time.

I didn’t plan to play any games. I just wanted a Blu-Ray player and a powerful media player.

I didn’t try to play any games yet except for a demo of some game I downloaded and it seemed to work, but I deleted it immediately. I haven’t played any DVD or Blu-Ray disks yet. But I did try to stream a movie from my Netflix WatchInstantly queue: Guy Ritchy’s “Revolver”. For those interested how I do it – I use PlayOn media server. Playback started within 5 seconds, was smooth – no jitters, great quality of sounds and good video quality.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I spent at least half an hour reconfiguring Harmony universal remote to use with PlayStation 3. Those who are familiar with Logitech Harmony remotes know that this process is quite simple: remove all devices and activities, add a new device and the software programs the remote with the necessary infra-red commands to turn your TV, amplifier and game console on and swicth the TV and amplifier to proper inputs automatically when you want to start a certain activity on the remote, such as “Watch TV”, “Play a game”, “Watch a digital movie” etc. Overall, the process worked, but I feel I’ll need to spend another hour customizing the on-screen menu on Harmony remote to match the convenience of the Sony’s PlayStation 3 remote for Blu-Ray.

Which bring up a good point: is it worth paying for Harmony remote plus Logitech adapter for Harmony and PlayStation Blu-Ray player remote, when the remote for Blu-Ray from Sony costs only $19? The answer is: depends. If you have as many components as I have that you want to control with a single remote – yes. If all you have is a TV, amplifier and PS3 – you can learn to use one remote for TV+amp, and one $19 remote for PS3’s Blu-Ray player. I had quite a bit of gift certificates for Amazon – enough to pay for the adapter and cover half of the price of the console, so I was able to keep the setup affordable. Others made decide differently.

When playing back streaming media, the unit stays quiet and cool – so the major complaint I had two years ago about PS3 60Gb model has now been eliminated. Whether it will become loud and hot when playing games – I will let you know on this blog.

PlayStation 3 Slim streams Netflix and Hulu movies very happily, and what makes me even more happy is the ability to use my Harmony universal remote with it.

A new 250GB model of PlayStation3 Slim comes out on November 3, 2009, and its suggested retail price is $349.99

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Sony unveils PlayStation 3 Slim, drops PS3 prices by $100

Maxim — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:55:37 +0000

Sony just released news that it will slash prices on its PS3 consoles by $100 (100 EUR in Europe) on all versions of PS3 consoles. Some retailers have dropped prices a few days earlier, probably due to the rumor that a price cut was imminent. Apparently, Sony is trying to improve sales of its console, which was underselling compared to Microsoft XBox 360 and Nintendo Wii. Another news is that PS3 Slim console has been unveiled at last, at shipments will begin approximately in September 2009. Amazon customers can pre-order the new PS3 Slim console already for $299 with free shipping. How different is PS3 Slim console from the previous versions? First of all, it has 120GB hard drive – 50% more space then the most popular of PS3 systems, the 80GB model. Slim model is also 33 percent smaller and 36 percent lighter then the 80GB and 160GB models. And it’s still a fully-features PlayStation 3 model, with Blu-Ray player, USB ports, Wi-Fi adapter and 1 gigabit ethernet connectivity. No luck with a memory card reader or compatibility with PlayStation2 – just like in the year-old “fat” models. ** UPDATE ** Although officially shipments of the new PlayStation 3 Slim console were not supposed to begin until August 31, 2009, the system I pre-ordered on Amazon a week ago has been shipped to me today (August 26, 2009) via USPS. The suspense of waiting for the precious package has begun…

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My photos and videos of Jupiter and its moons

Maxim — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:54:52 +0000

I already uploaded the pictures to Facebook, so here’s the link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2029903&id=1198149366&l=d18f0eccf2 The photographs were taken with Canon EOS 20D attached via T-mount to the T-port in the rear of Meade ETX-125 telescope. The videos are on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spb5083Wq5U and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKTxx9yxw3M The videos were taken using a-focal focusing through the 26mm eyepiece with Canon SX 200 IS new camera that came out in April. It can shoot HD videos in 720p, but the sensor is not sensitive enough for sharper pictures. By adding the 3x Barlow lens I was really able to bring the details of the planet, but due to Earth’s fast rotation it was very hard to keep up with the planet as it moves out of the view in a matter of seconds – a big challenge without auto-tracking feature of the telescope engaged. Enjoy and leave your comments! LMK if you have any questions!

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Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) PG 94min

Maxim — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 06:15:28 +0000

This is the third installment of the “Ice Age” animated trilogy from 20th Century Fox Studios.

The plot: After mammoth Manny (Ray Romano) met Ellie (Queen Latifah) in “Ice Age: The Meltdown”, the previous episode, the couple now expects their first baby-mammoth. Manny is anxious to make sure for the arrival of the baby. Saber-tooth tiger Diego (Denis Leary) is tempted to leave the pack, and sloth Sid (John Leguizamo) also decides to form a family, and steals some dinosaur eggs. Sid hides them in the under-ground world he accidentally discovered, but the mother-dinosaur wants her eggs back, and “the herd” has to rescue Sid. While dodging other dinosaurus-predators, “the pack” meats a dinosaur-hunter — one-eyed weasel known as Buck, who becomes their guide.

10-point review:

1. Many laugh-outloud moments, mostly thanks to the new Scrat’s adventures.
2. Some dialogs and jokes were for adults only. For example, Manny’s “I thought you are the one with hormonal dis-balance” was rather off-putting. Milking of the bull joke is so old it’s not funny anymore.
3. The movie has a lot of heart, but the first movie had more. All baby-animals are adorable. Even the scary dinosaurs are not particularly scary and deserve compassion – they are so unlucky to be predators, but with a little understanding they too deserve a place on the planet
4. A whole different world, a tropical paradise - under ice? I think it’s the only way to explain the presence of dinosaurs, because they were extinct a long time before mammoth walked the Earth
5. Kids, even very little ones, I mean 3-4 year-olds, also laughed and followed the movie up until Buck character was introduced.
6. Buck was so weird he felt so out-of-place. It seemed like he was from a completely different movie, and so were a few pop-culture references and jokes, such as parody of “red-wire or blue-wire” time-bomb scenario.
7. Buck (voiced by Simon Pegg) didn’t look like a weasel. He was more like a upright-walking hyena that behaves like a pirate.
8. Nobody ever gets seriously hurt – they bounce back (just like little kids), and nobody gets eaten – even if they are swallowed they are immediately regurgitated.
9. The animation is not exactly state-of-the-art, but it’s good and lively, just like in the previous two movies.
10. Song choice was not that great. The first movie had the best songs.

It’s a very pleasant and entertaining film. Scrat is the best!

Memorable quotes:

Manny: [From Trailer] “After we rescue Sid, I’m going to kill him.”

Sid: [from trailer] “I’m too young to be eaten!”

Crash: Dude, You’re awesome! You’re like the brother I never had!

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Rated /5 on Jul 6 2009

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Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) PG-13 150min

Maxim — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:37:35 +0000

Michael Bay continued working on the sequel, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen“, a.k.a. “Transformers 2” in association with Hasbro written by Ehren Kruger, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman.

The plot: After Optimus Prime destroyed the Cube in the previous movie, the Decepticons have no choice to keep their race alive and dominant but to piece it together again. The information about the location of the vital piece of this energy source is in Sam Witwicky’s head, and Decepticons would have to kidnap him to get this information. Surviving Decepticon leader Skorpinox steals Megatron’s dead body from a secret US base and revives him using his own spark. Now Megatron and Starscream are coming back to Earth with force for another epic battle with humans, who forged an alliance with Optimus Prime and his friends. The whole universe is at stake.

The good: Beautiful photography. Fantastic landscapes and space-scapes, and just like in the first movie, CGI robots perfectly integrated into the environment. Obviously, a lot of thought and R&D budget went into figuring out how these robots are going to look and move and interact with surroundings. This episode also has not one, but two hot chicks.

The bad: Yes, I know, “IMAX Experience”. But don’t watch it from the front row. I don’t know how much this movie looked from the back of the theater, but from the 3rd row it looked like there wasn’t much going on in the movie except transformers changing shape and rolling over each other in the dust in a ball of metal parts. It’s like watching someone play an arcade game. The Decepticon that looked like a hot chick and had a very long tongue was quite freaky, and in one of the shots reminded me of “Terminator 3″. The Skorpinox’s spaceship looked like a rip-off from “Aliens”. The Autobots had more toy-like qualities then in the first movie – so much so that it seemed that this episode was targeting an audience of smaller children. So were the dialogs. It was nice to see John Torturro again as the obsessed Agent Simmons (except for episode where he shows off his ass), but the other new character, Leo Spitz (Ramon Rodriguez), was a lousy comical relief. It’s not clear why he had to be dragged along on the adventures of Sam and Mikaela, because he served no purpose whatsoever. What’s with robots humping humans and dogs humping each other? Is that what passes for epic these days? Just admit that this movie has no plot. All you get to see is robots fighting and a lot of stuff falling and breaking with loud bangs. There are no characters to care about. I kinda wish the Decepticons did destroy the solar system.

The summary: Great visuals replace substance, plot and acting.

The crew: Director – Michael Bay | Writers – Ehren Kruger, Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman | Producers – Michael Bay, Steven Spielberg, Ian Bryce, Allegra Clegg, Matthew Cohan, Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Brian Goldner, Mohammed Hassan (Egypt), Don Murphy, Mark Vahradian | Original Music – Steve Jablonsky | Photography/Cinematography – Ben Seresin | DreamWorks SKG | Hasbro | Paramount Pictures | Di Bonaventura Pictures

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Rated /5 on Jun 30 2009

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AOL Radio compiles a list of Top-10 movie songs

Maxim — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:26:55 +0000

Few movies don’t have songs in them. Music and songs convey strong emotions and set or help to set the mood for a particular scene. Many bands and artists propelled their popularity when their songs were played in movies. Who have ever heard about Goo Goo Dolls before “Iris” was played in “City of Angels”? Who heard about “Phoenix” until “I’m too young” was played in “Lost In Translation”? Many movies would not be the same without music in them or without this particular music. Then again, how many movies we’ve seen where the plot and music don’t connect at all… Anyway, AOL Radio compiled a list of top songs from movies and this article on their blog shows top 10 songs as chosen by their users. http://www.aolradioblog.com/2009/06/23/top-10-movie-songs/

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The Proposal (2009) PG-13 107min

Maxim — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:07:25 +0000

Talented Anne Fletcher (27 Dresses, Step Up), a choreographer, an actress and a film producer, directed “The Proposal” – a romantic comedy starring Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock.

The plot: Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock), chief editor or a publishing house, is a monstrous boss. When her visa application is denied ans she is threatened with deportation to Canada, she forces her young assistant Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds) to marry her. But the scheme does not sit well with immigration officer Mr. Gilbertson (Denis O’Hare), who is determined to prove that the couple is committing a fraud. Andrew and Margaret now have to act like a couple to deceive him and Andrew’s family.

The good: I think the best part of the movie is the chemistry between Andrew and Margaret and their body language. Ramone (Oscar Nuñez) was a great character – in the small town of Sitka, Alaska, he is the waiter, a store clerk, a stripper and a priest! Also funny how employees at the publishing house were coping with Margaret’s despotic behavior. This movie should spark an increase in travel to Alaska: the scenery was gorgeous. Nice closing sequence.

The bad: The movie is completely predictable. It’s basically “Meet the parents” with a different setup. I already knew the ending and the story line right after watching the trailer. No surprises there. Also the green-screen CGI where eagle snatched the puppy was ridiculously poor quality. Many jokes were taken too far. The naked collision scene was a dead giveaway and a forced set-up. It’s also hard to believe that Andrew, who knew Margaret for three years and hated her but stayed around because of “high work ethics” despite her being a despotic and inconsiderate, would fall in love to her in three days. Is it true that all it takes is to put a man and a woman in the same room for three days and two nights? The ex-girlfriend character was a wasted potential for extra drama. The relationship between Andrew and his father (Craig T. Nelson) was under-developed.

The summary: I went to the movie with very low expectations and only because I already promised Elena to see it with her and because I felt guilty about convincing her to see “The Hangover” previously. But I was presented with a surprise – this chick flick is actually pretty good. Could be a good date movie.

Memorable quotes:

Office employee [on IM when Margaret walks in]: “The Witch is on the Broom!”

Grandma Annie [upon being introduced to Margaret]: Do you prefer Margaret or “Satan’s Mistress”?

Random comments:

Surprisingly, the audience was about 70% male. And they laughed outloud and seemed to enjoy it. I don’t know if that’s consistent in all showings, or was it because they were trying to kill time between 8pm show and the opening of the “Transformers” – there was a lot of people in front of the theater on loan chairs.

Sandra Bullock is getting old.

Notice that the grandma was taken to hospital by a sea-plane. General aviation saves lives and really does serve America. Think about that next time your airline flight is delayed and the airline blames general aviation. According to airlines’ own data, 50% of all delays are airline’s own fault. 40% are weather-related delays (and as mid-air breakup of Air France indicates, you don’t mess with weather).

The crew: Director – Anne Fletcher | Writer – Pete Chiarelli | Producers – Sandra Bullock, Kristin Burr, David Hoberman, Alex Kurtzman, Todd Lieberman, Mary McLaglen, Roberto Orci | Original Music – Aaron Zigman | Cinematography – Oliver Stapleton

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Rated /5 on Jun 24 2009

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The Hangover (2009) R 100min

Maxim — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:32:16 +0000

Director Todd Phillips continues along the lines of his previous comedies, “The Old School” (2003) and “Road Trip” (2000).

The plot: The movie opens with one of the groom’s friends calling the bride and telling her the Doug is not going to make it. Because they lost him. In Las Vegas. After a crazy bachelor party night, the tree wake up in a trashed hotel room, with Mike Tyson’s tiger in the bathroom and a chicken walking around. They have to retrace their steps to find him on time to return to the wedding.

The good: Few chuckles here and there. I liked Heather Graham who played a hooker with a heart of gold and Zach Galifianakis’ character was entertaining. Rob Riggle (from “The Daily Show”) had a couple of funny moments on the screen. Great set up and opening. Nice twist with the second Doug. I liked that every character has some profound personality problems.

The bad: This comedy is not funny at all. However it is full of gross-out moments, including male nudity, fight scene ala ”Borat”, urination, blow job etc. etc. Where fantasy of script writers ran out, they substituted jokes for gross scenes that were passes for funny. The was no genuine laughter in a relatively full theater, but there was a lot of howling, Ooooos and Aaaas and “I can’t believe he just did that”. Except for Zach Galifianakis who played a colorful (but forgettable) character with a court order prohibiting him from being closer then 2000 feet from any place where children congregate, the characters are not particularly interesting. I asked three of my friends, what was the funniest moment in the movie? “They stole the police car”. Yawn.

The summary: One of the worst slapstick comedies I’ve seen. Not funny and gross. Take “Dude, Where Is My Car” and take away the humor. Is this what’s passing for funny these days?

The crew: Director – Todd Phillips | Writers – Jon Lucas, Scott Moore

If you liked this post, buy me a beer

Rated /5 on Jun 22 2009

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Maxim's Movie Reviews and Opinions Blog

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