Curt’s
Corner is a periodic movie review written by Curt Burbach of Mesa, Arizona.
The
(Release
date: Oct. 20th, 2006)
This is a story of two competing
magicians working in London at about the turn of the century (1900). It stars
Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, and co-stars Michael Caine. I always enjoy
watching Michael Caine. Plus, the always hot and beautiful Scarlett Johansson
has a supporting actress role, and she’s always soft on the eyes. Even David
Bowie had a small supporting role in this, and he performed quite well too.
I thought this fictional story was
interesting, and I enjoyed the re-creation of the old London neighborhoods. I
don’t see this winning any awards, but it was a decent film and I recommend
that you see it when you can. I give it 2
½ of four bones.
Casino
Royale
(Release
date: Nov. 27th, 2006)
This is the latest James Bond (007)
movie, and I must say, it is one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. The
creators have upgraded Mr. Bond in order to modernize him, perhaps for the X
generation? He is a much more capable character who still maintains a certain
level of manners and etiquette. But the bottom line is – he’s a real bad
ass!
Bond has no problem killing the bad
guy, instead of always being politically correct and not killing unless it is
for self-defense. This 007 will kick your ass! It also helps that the lead
actor, Daniel Craig, looks likes he is chiseled out of stone.
The filming in this movie consisted
of some artistic latitude, which let’s 007 come across as something of a
superhero (strength and speed-wise). He’s also extremely intelligent and very
quick minded, which is something that we’ve come to expect.
One thing that I really appreciated
– please don’t think that I’m crazy – is that during the opening
credits, they displayed some artwork that related to the theme of the film
(Casinos) and yet, it had a wonderful 1960’s flair to it. I thought this was
in very good taste since the 007 character was borne in the 1960’s.
The filming and action were of their
usual good quality and of course we got to see a few techno gadgets employed.
But, there wasn’t the huge collection of gorgeous Bond-girls that we are
accustomed to. It was the attitude of this 007 that stood out. I swear – he
had no problem with shooting the bad guy!
I
give it three bones for being good.
*** (As seen on DVD) ***
Madagascar
(Release
date: May 27th, 2005)
When this film first came out last
year, I had no ambition to see it. It looked like just another computer animated
project employing animals in a whacky and crazy set of circumstances. So, I blew
it off and didn’t watch it until now, when someone handed me a copy of it. I
was reluctant to watch it, but I‘m glad I did. It is funny! It’s the humor
of writers Mark Burton and Billy Frolick that carry this film. Aside form that,
this film is adequate in every other way – animation, voice-over,
music……..I give it 2 ½ bones for being above average.
Glory
Road
(Release
date: Jan. 13th, 2006)
This is the true story of how Texas
Western head basketball coach Don Haskins utilizes several black players while
competing in the South Eastern (athletic) Conference in 1966. Needless to say,
racial tensions were high as this pioneering move served to pave the trail and
open doors for black athletes throughout all of college sports.
The story was interesting and
compelling, and the acting was competent. Josh Lucas stars in the lead role as
Coach Haskins. Otherwise, everything else was pretty average. But, I
give 2 ½ bones for being an above average true
story
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