Monday, July 18, 2005
Movies: Mini-Reviews: 2 Movies: "Wedding Crashers" and "Fantastic Four"
Technorati Tags: Movies Reviews Movie Reviews Fantastic Four Comic Book Movies Wedding Crashers Comedy Romance
I had a free ticket for the Fantastic 4 movie, so I decided to watch it on Saturday. I headed off to AMC Hoffman (whatever it's official title), but the I-95 N ramp was blocked off, so I took the next exit and headed off to National Amusements Arlington/Lee Highway. I arrived around 12:36, and the next Fantastic 4 movie didn't start until 2:00 pm, and as I actually preferred to watch the Wedding Crashers movie, and as it was starting at 12:30, I saw it instead (I rarely miss any of the action that occurs in the movies, and I rarely arrive before most of the previews and commercials are over (or at least half-way done) and I always get reasonably good seats). After that movie I noticed that the start time of Fantastic 4 had just passed, so I used my free ticket and created a double feature for myself.
Wedding Crashers (IMDb.com's web page for that movie): Rated R (for sexual content/nudity and language); Romantic Comedy 119 minutes
Director: David Dobkin ("Shanghai Knights"; next "Jack" (2006))
Writer: Steve Faber (next "We're the Millers" (2006)) & Bob Fisher (TV: "The Trouble with Normal"; next: "We're the Millers" (2006))
Starring: Owen Wilson (John Beckwith; "Shanghai Knights"), Vince Vaughn (Jeremy Klein; "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" (2005)), Rachel McAdams (Claire Cleary; "Mean Girls"), Isla Fisher (Gloria Cleary; "I Heart Huckabees"), and Christopher Walken (Treasury Sec. William Cleary; "The Stepford Wives" (2004) Also: Jane Seymour (Mrs. Kathleen Cleary), Bradley Cooper (Zach or Sach(Claire's boyfriend)), and cameo by Will Ferrell (Chaz).
Setting: Washington DC, and Maryland.
Plot: Wilson (John) and Vaughn (Jeremy) work as divorce mediators, but they seem to live for wedding season. John and Jeremy crash weddings to meet hot available women for mostly one night stands. The movie opens with John and Jeremy mediating a divorce (interesting little scene). Rather quickly wedding season is upon them, and the movie morphs into a montage of dancing partying wedding parties (note about the R-rating and the nudity: for the most part, the nudity occurs very quickly in during this montage of scenes, though there is some quick nude scenes later in the movie). Then wedding season is over (and the montage is over) and the men are back in their office. John's happy that the season is over (getting a little burned out by the whole deal), but another wedding pops up, and while John is reluctant, Jeremy talks him into attending the wedding of the daughter of the Treasury Sec. (Walken, playing William Cleary). John ends up targeting Claire Cleary, and Jeremy ends up targeting Gloria Cleary (both daughters of William Cleary). One thing leads to another, and the two men are invited back to the Cleary house after the wedding party is over (Jeremy had hooked up with Gloria, and she talked her father into inviting them; Jeremy is very reluctant but John hasn't been able to separate Claire from her boyfriend Zach yet). The movie continues down this path, but I don't want to give everything away.
Review: Ok film. The movie had its funny moments, but also seemed a little forced, at times. I didn't rate the film at the time (mildly distracted with rushing off to Fantastic Four), and I haven't rated it yet. Thinking about it now, after two days, I would give the film a solid 4 stars out of five. (WashingtonPost.com's review (by Stephen Hunter - believes it is funny, too long, and Wilson and McAdams are boring); Roger Ebert's review (he gives it 2 stars); and a collection of reviews (from RottenTomatoes.com: 72% of 111 critics liked the movie, giving it a rating of "Fresh")).
Fantastic Four (IMDb.com's web page for that movie): Rated PG-13 (action and suggestive content) Action/Adventure/SciFi/Superheros 105 minutes
Director: Tim Story ("Taxi", next "Ralph" (2006))
Writer: Michael France & Mark Frost; based on the comic book characters by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee.
Starring: Ioan Gruffudd (Reed Richards, the rubber guy "Mr. Fantastic"; "King Arthur" (and one of the rumored contenders for the 007 role)), Jessica Alba (Sue Storm, "Invisible Girl"; "Dark Angel"), Chris Evans (Johnny Storm, "The Human Torch"; "Not Another Teen Movie"), and Michael Chiklis (Ben Grimm, "The Thing"; "The Shield") are the Fantastic Four. Julian McMahn is the villain Victor Von Doom ("Nip Tuck," "Charmed")
Plot: I don't want to give anything away, so I'll just say that 5 people go up to a space station to examine the effect of a space storm on genetic material (apparently, according to Reed, a storm just like it might have started the life cycle on earth). The storm hits early and all are exposed and genetically altered. They fight each other. The end.
Review: The space scene, at least the view of the ship flying up to the space station and the outside view of the space station itself was neat. None of the stars are A-list actors, but all can act. The story-line/plot-line was decent. Another movie that I have not yet rated. So . . . I'll give this movie 4.15 stars. (WashingtonPost.com's review (by Stephen Hunter - um, I think he likes this origin tale, though would have liked more plot); Roger Ebert's 1-star review - just for comparison sake, I really liked "Batman Begins" and gave it a great rating (which escapes me at the moment, something like 4.89 out of 5), and Ebert? He gave that movie 4 stars out of 4 stars (I believe that he is on a 4 star scale, but I do not see anything that mentions what he is using); and a collection of reviews located at RottenTomatoes.com (24% of 153 critics liked this movie, so it gets a score of "Rotten")).
I had a free ticket for the Fantastic 4 movie, so I decided to watch it on Saturday. I headed off to AMC Hoffman (whatever it's official title), but the I-95 N ramp was blocked off, so I took the next exit and headed off to National Amusements Arlington/Lee Highway. I arrived around 12:36, and the next Fantastic 4 movie didn't start until 2:00 pm, and as I actually preferred to watch the Wedding Crashers movie, and as it was starting at 12:30, I saw it instead (I rarely miss any of the action that occurs in the movies, and I rarely arrive before most of the previews and commercials are over (or at least half-way done) and I always get reasonably good seats). After that movie I noticed that the start time of Fantastic 4 had just passed, so I used my free ticket and created a double feature for myself.
Wedding Crashers (IMDb.com's web page for that movie): Rated R (for sexual content/nudity and language); Romantic Comedy 119 minutes
Director: David Dobkin ("Shanghai Knights"; next "Jack" (2006))
Writer: Steve Faber (next "We're the Millers" (2006)) & Bob Fisher (TV: "The Trouble with Normal"; next: "We're the Millers" (2006))
Starring: Owen Wilson (John Beckwith; "Shanghai Knights"), Vince Vaughn (Jeremy Klein; "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" (2005)), Rachel McAdams (Claire Cleary; "Mean Girls"), Isla Fisher (Gloria Cleary; "I Heart Huckabees"), and Christopher Walken (Treasury Sec. William Cleary; "The Stepford Wives" (2004) Also: Jane Seymour (Mrs. Kathleen Cleary), Bradley Cooper (Zach or Sach(Claire's boyfriend)), and cameo by Will Ferrell (Chaz).
Setting: Washington DC, and Maryland.
Plot: Wilson (John) and Vaughn (Jeremy) work as divorce mediators, but they seem to live for wedding season. John and Jeremy crash weddings to meet hot available women for mostly one night stands. The movie opens with John and Jeremy mediating a divorce (interesting little scene). Rather quickly wedding season is upon them, and the movie morphs into a montage of dancing partying wedding parties (note about the R-rating and the nudity: for the most part, the nudity occurs very quickly in during this montage of scenes, though there is some quick nude scenes later in the movie). Then wedding season is over (and the montage is over) and the men are back in their office. John's happy that the season is over (getting a little burned out by the whole deal), but another wedding pops up, and while John is reluctant, Jeremy talks him into attending the wedding of the daughter of the Treasury Sec. (Walken, playing William Cleary). John ends up targeting Claire Cleary, and Jeremy ends up targeting Gloria Cleary (both daughters of William Cleary). One thing leads to another, and the two men are invited back to the Cleary house after the wedding party is over (Jeremy had hooked up with Gloria, and she talked her father into inviting them; Jeremy is very reluctant but John hasn't been able to separate Claire from her boyfriend Zach yet). The movie continues down this path, but I don't want to give everything away.
Review: Ok film. The movie had its funny moments, but also seemed a little forced, at times. I didn't rate the film at the time (mildly distracted with rushing off to Fantastic Four), and I haven't rated it yet. Thinking about it now, after two days, I would give the film a solid 4 stars out of five. (WashingtonPost.com's review (by Stephen Hunter - believes it is funny, too long, and Wilson and McAdams are boring); Roger Ebert's review (he gives it 2 stars); and a collection of reviews (from RottenTomatoes.com: 72% of 111 critics liked the movie, giving it a rating of "Fresh")).
Fantastic Four (IMDb.com's web page for that movie): Rated PG-13 (action and suggestive content) Action/Adventure/SciFi/Superheros 105 minutes
Director: Tim Story ("Taxi", next "Ralph" (2006))
Writer: Michael France & Mark Frost; based on the comic book characters by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee.
Starring: Ioan Gruffudd (Reed Richards, the rubber guy "Mr. Fantastic"; "King Arthur" (and one of the rumored contenders for the 007 role)), Jessica Alba (Sue Storm, "Invisible Girl"; "Dark Angel"), Chris Evans (Johnny Storm, "The Human Torch"; "Not Another Teen Movie"), and Michael Chiklis (Ben Grimm, "The Thing"; "The Shield") are the Fantastic Four. Julian McMahn is the villain Victor Von Doom ("Nip Tuck," "Charmed")
Plot: I don't want to give anything away, so I'll just say that 5 people go up to a space station to examine the effect of a space storm on genetic material (apparently, according to Reed, a storm just like it might have started the life cycle on earth). The storm hits early and all are exposed and genetically altered. They fight each other. The end.
Review: The space scene, at least the view of the ship flying up to the space station and the outside view of the space station itself was neat. None of the stars are A-list actors, but all can act. The story-line/plot-line was decent. Another movie that I have not yet rated. So . . . I'll give this movie 4.15 stars. (WashingtonPost.com's review (by Stephen Hunter - um, I think he likes this origin tale, though would have liked more plot); Roger Ebert's 1-star review - just for comparison sake, I really liked "Batman Begins" and gave it a great rating (which escapes me at the moment, something like 4.89 out of 5), and Ebert? He gave that movie 4 stars out of 4 stars (I believe that he is on a 4 star scale, but I do not see anything that mentions what he is using); and a collection of reviews located at RottenTomatoes.com (24% of 153 critics liked this movie, so it gets a score of "Rotten")).
