Gamer

Justin and I saw Gamer last night, and it wasn’t what either of us thought it would be. If you’re thinking of seeing it, this review is spoiler-free, and worth looking at before you hand over your ten bucks.

The main problem was that I was in the mood for a mindless action movie, but that’s not exactly what Gamer was. There’s plenty of action, but it’s got a lot of psychological sub-themes having to do with control of other people and the whole gamer psyche. The filmography is also jerky and designed to make you feel uncomfortable the whole time.

The action parts are well-executed, which is probably why that’s all you see in the previews. The rest of it comes out as idealistic film-school-student psychological mush, even though some of the ideas explored could be interesting if they unfolded more slowly and deliberately.

The film had a great cast, but none of the characters were developed, even though they could have been interesting if further explored. Overall, the movie had too broad a scope for film, and came off feeling rushed and unpolished as a result. It would have made a better TV series.

Eagle Eye

Starring GLaDOS.

Go see it. Best movie ever made. Nuff said.

Wanted

Okay, I am going to do an official review of this movie. It was a badass action flick. The characters pulled you in immediately, and the dark humor of the protagonist was superb. It kept a quick-but-smooth pace from beginning to end, and there were a couple of good plot twists along the way. Unlike many action movies, you don’t see the final twist coming, which is cool.

Now, in regards to those who have difficulty accepting the fact that they can “curve” bullets. That is 1% as unrealistic as everything else in the movie. It simply doesn’t take place in our reality, so you will either accept or dismiss the reality of this movie.

If you do not easily suspend disbelief, you will not enjoy anything about the movie, and you might as well read the following spoiler.

The “fraternity” of assassins started a thousand years ago as a group of weavers who still take orders from a LOOM OF FATE. Yeah, seriously. It weaves a pattern in binary code that gives them the names of people to kill. And at the end, one of the assassins not only curves a bullet, but kills about a dozen people standing in a circle with that one curved bullet.

Not kidding.

Sex and the City

No worries, this review is spoiler-free. I saw the movie with my mother on Monday, and liked it quite a lot. I think they did a great job of converting the beloved TV series into movie form. I have even heard from friends who had not followed the series that they were perfectly able to identify with the characters and follow the story.

For die-hard fans like me, I got what I wanted — another season of my favorite show, neatly packaged in movie form. All of the characters behaved in expected fashion, creating the appropriate amount of humor and drama. But in the end, everything worked out for the best.

I will say one thing about this, though. When the lights came up, I was completely exhausted. Now, I own the entire series on DVD, and I think there is a reason why a full season of Sex and the City takes nine or ten hours to watch. Cramming all of that into two hours and fifteen minutes is one crazy emotional roller coaster! (Not that the movie was short by any stretch of the imagination.)

Overall, I give the movie two enthusiastic thumbs up. Whether you’re a long time fan of the show, or you just want to see a good romantic comedy, definitely see Sex and the City.