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.

Movie #341 - Kill Bill, vol 2

Kill Bill: Vol. 2
2004 - Rated R - 2 hr 16 min
Director: Quentin Tarrantino
Starring: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, Samuel L. Jackson

More blood and guts and gore and violent death! Hooray!  We get the rest of the epic tale in this second part, and it's got a nice twist at the end.  It throws the Bride (that's Uma) and the audience for a loop, while also complicating matters.

And as she fights her way up to the top (that's Bill, or David Carradine), we get more and more backstory and lots more action.  Plus, the Bride makes the best escape of her life.... from a coffin buried six feet underground. What?!

I get that these movies are not exactly for everyone, but I happen to love a good action flick with butt-kicking chicks and a good plotline.  This ranks right up there.

Movie #340 - Kill Bill, vol 1

Kill Bill: Vol. 1
2003 - Rated NC-17 - 1 hr 51 min
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Daryl Hannah, David Carradine, Michael Madsen, Julie Dreyfus, Chiaki Kuriyama

Hot chicks covered in blood. Sweet ass action scenes. Gratuitous violence.  Foul effing language.

Must be a Tarantino.

Also, it must be awesome.  And this movie definitely delivers.  It's fun to watch, loaded with deceipts, double-crosses, and ooey gooey blood.  Uma Thurman kicks some serious butt in her quest for revenge against ex-love and ex-boss David Carradine.  And as the plot unfolds, and the backstory plays, we learn so much more about her reasons why.  Whoa.

I just love this movie. Enough said.

Movie #61 - Be Cool

Be Cool
MGM
2005 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 58 min
Director: F. Gary Gray
Starring: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Vince Vaughn, Cedric the Entertainer, Andre Benjamin, Steven Tyler, Christina Milian, Harvey Keitel, Dwayne Johnson

Want to learn about the seedy underbelly of the music industry? Here you go.

As the sequel to Get Shorty, this movie stands alone without leaving you confused. I know first hand, since I originally saw this one before I saw Get Shorty. I've seen both now and I feel like they can each stand on their own. Which is a good thing for me since they're alphabetically so distant.

So John Travolta is a big time movie producer who just had a big hit with Get Leo and now he wants in on the music business. Christina Milian plays his first client and a whole host of other big music names show up here and there, like gangster Andre Benjamin (Andre 3000 from Outkast). And of course, as you might guess, everyone wants to kill him. Mostly, they kill each other in the process. Vince Vaughn plays a hell of a pimp, Dwayne Johnson is his gay, star-struck body guard, and Uma Thurman plays the hip, cool music exec.

This one is lots of fun to watch. Travolta is his charming, mischievious self, which is always a good time. It takes on hit-and-runs and hired killers with a certain nonchalance that helps this movie not to take itself too seriously. It's just a good time.

Movie #57 - Batman & Robin

Batman & Robin
Warner Bros. Pictures
1997 - Rated PG - 2 hr 5 min
Director: Joel Schumacher
Starring: George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chris O'Donnell, Uma Thurman, Alicia Silverstone

This movie is like a Who's Who in Nineties Film? project. That dude from Circle of Friends, that chick from Clueless, and oh yeah, the hottest doctor (move over, McDreamy) on TV: that guy from ER. And Arnold. He's cool too.

It's the same director, and yet the only person in this movie from the last is Chris O'Donnell... who plays the kid-brother kind of Robin that you want to punch in the face. Sorry, he annoys me. Whine, whine, whine. Go play on your trapeze, you big baby.

This time, Alfred is sick, his niece (Silverstone) is in town visiting, and a whole bunch of funky stuff is going down at a nearby lab - owned, of course, by Wayne Enterprises. In fact, between Dr. Freeze's cryogenics accident and Pamela what's-her-name's plant problem, Batman & Robin feels like an anti-chemistry advertisement at times. "Don't play with cryogenics at home, kids..."

Again, we have randomly intersecting bad guy plot lines, making things irritatingly complicated at times. At least there's legit girl power in this movie (although it's not much... I mean, really. Batgirl? She couldn't come up with an independent name?), and another dowdy chick turns hot thanks to a freak accident (i.e. Catwoman and Poison Ivy could be BFF's and share weird stories over a pedicure some time.)

But the best part about this movie is what it signifies... the END of the Batman movies before Christopher Nolan rebooted the franchise. Thank God.