Movie #390 - The Italian Job

The Italian Job
2003 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 51 min
Director: F. Gary Gray
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Donald Sutherland, Edward Norton, Charlize Theron, Jason Statham, Seth Green, Mos Def, Scott Adsit

I've never seen the original, so I can't compare. And I can't give my typical spiel about remakes either, since there's nothing for me to be upset about.  Regardless of its predecessor, I like this movie.  Revisiting it, I was surprised how much, in fact.  There's a great cast of young actors here and an Ed Norton baddie that's kinda fun to see.

A good balance of action scenes, humor, and drama keeps this movie going for me.  It doesn't get too caught up in the heist piece to tell you a decent storyline and the concept of avenging a friend's (or father's) death is much more stomachable than just a group of people out to steal some gold.  It works, it feels like a fresh reboot, and it makes me want to rent the original just to compare.

Movie #193 - Fallen

Fallen
1998 - Rated R - 2 hr 4 min
Director: Gregory Hoblit
Starring: Denzel Washington, John Goodman, Donald Sutherland

I like this one, although it's pretty creepy and doesn't exactly have a happy ending... The whole thing is one big deception, so that's cool. And Denzel Washington does a good job, playing the man who sacrifices everything to capture one "criminal." Or whatever you want to call it.

Yeah, it's creepy.  There are some questions I have, namely, why can this "being" pass to everyone BUT Denzel? It's a bit strange how long it plays with him and then, all of a sudden, it can possess him no problem.  Maybe I missed something.

Either way, the whole movie hinges on one twist at the end, so you might get there and be disappointed.  Unless you enjoy the ride, the payoff's not enough to watch the whole thing.  Fortunately, I did enjoy it, even knowing what the big finish was.