Showing posts with label Jonathan Pryce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jonathan Pryce. Show all posts

Monday, May 2, 2011

Movie #362 - The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
1988 - Rated PG - 2 hr 6 min
Director: Terry Gilliam
Starring: John Neville, Eric Idle, Sarah Polley, Oliver Reed, Jonathan Pryce, Bill Paterson, Uma Thurman, Robin Williams

From the weird, imaginative mind of Terry Gilliam.... Even though it's based on a book.  This is very much up the same alley as Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, just 20 or so years earlier and with less sophisticated effects.

Visually, for its time, this movie is over the top, but really well done. Elaborate sets and costumes, eccentric characters, loud makeup, and lots of action... it's a well-rounded movie.  It also boasts an excellent cast as well.  But basically, the plot is just a bunch of nonsense strung together... some scenes more realistic than others, some more firmly rooted in myths, and some just more ridiculous.  Like floating head people. Trippy, isn't it?

But I think it was meant for kids, so then I guess that's okay.  I remember enjoying this one way back when and now it's with fond nostalgia that I watch it.  Mike loves this one too, but I credit that love to his own nostalgia too.  If you were to watch this one for the first time as an adult now, I can't say that you'd like it that much.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Movie #219 - G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
2009 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 58 min
Director: Stephen Sommers
Starring: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Christopher Eccleston, Sienna Miller, Byung-hun Lee, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rachel Nichols, Ray Park, Jonathan Pryce, Marlon Wayans, Dennis Quaid

In the grand tradition of comics and cartoons turned big-screen blockbusters, this movie tries to capture the magic of the rebooted Transformers franchise with another American hero.  I was not a G.I.Joe fan as a kid (I'm a girl, ok?) but I hear that the characters are all pretty much in line with the originals, so it's got that going for it.

Mostly, this feels overcomplicated. It's one big excuse to blow stuff up, but it wants you to take it seriously.  This movie wants to be a real action/adventure when it grows up, not just a cartoon turned live action. And as one friend commented, the good guys kill more people than the bad guy. Speaking of bad guys, I could not take Joseph Gordon-Levitt serious in this movie. At. All.

It was a worthy effort, but at the end of it, GI Joe failed to pull me in.