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irishmikeever
Reviews
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)
Love Tone Loc
Sure, the humor is immature from time to time. But that's part of Carrey's act, as the colorful gumshoe of the title, who takes on the case of retrieving the Miami Dolphins' prized mascot, Snowflake, after it's stolen from its tank one night. Of course, as the title would lead you to believe, Ace Ventura is no ordinary detective. "I don't do humans," he asserts to us. His specialty is pets. It's hard out there for pet detectives, since it's a field that nobody takes too seriously, except Ace, that is. So when he gets the call for duty, he's all over the case.
His investigation pairs him with Melissa Robinson ("Friends" Courteney Cox), and the two uncover some startling details about the Miami team's history, and one of its most controversial players, who missed the field goal kick at the 1984 Super Bowl that would have won the game and blames Dan Marino for the whole thing. That player hasn't been seen since. Meanwhile, Ace runs afoul of Miami police department lieutenant Lois Einhorn (Sean Young), who seriously needs to take a chill pill and is hiding something more than just a gun under her skirt.
"Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" is a comic tour de force. Of course Carrey has done plenty of better things since this flick, but for commercial purposes, so let's just leave that in the future. Ace Ventura is something that only he could have done, and made it work. Sure his methods are "unusual," but hey, he gets the job done.
Suing the Devil (2011)
Small bit overrated,but still a brilliant faith-based hit
It's hard not to like this movie unless you dislike faith-based films which is totally fine.
Malcolm McDowell is great as Satan, Shannen Files lovely as the wife, Jeff gannon an outstanding classic machined villain as Mr. Banks turned greedy lawyer. Every member of the cast is superb in their big or small roles, tim chey the director seems very sure of the script and his directing and makes every scene worth watching. Add to that a good story, fabulous, marvelous special effects and visual sequences, an outstanding, fully suitable score, sound effects beyond your wildest dreams, a terrific ending that is original and fresh, a chubby guy in a brown coat in the front row scared to death...well how can you not like it??? So, either you are a fan of faith-based movies, or not, you really have to enjoy this movie. DO NOT MISS IT!
Batman Begins (2005)
Good film
starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, Morgan Freeman, Ken Watanabe.
plot: Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has lost his parents when he was young and trained with the great Ducard (Liam Neeson). He returns to Gotham and wins his parent's fortune, manor and business, Wayne Enterprizes. Now, with the help of an old friend of his family (Morgan Freeman), Bruce becomes Batman by night, a dark hero who fights crime in a city where the good people do nothing. Batman is thrust into a war with his first major enemy, The Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy), only to discover that the evil villain is working for someone much more powerful from Bruce's past.
the good: Wow, for the last 13 years I held Tim Burton's BATMAN RETURNS above every BATMAN film, and every film for that matter. It was a great film, and it still is. But it was not the true BATMAN that I thought it was. I have just came back from seeing this film, BATMAN BEGINS, and it beats BATMAN RETURNS by a long-shot.
As much as I love Michael Keaton's portrayal as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Christian Bale beats them all! He's great as the millionaire playboy, Bruce Wayne, and also as the dark, bad-ass Batman. He treats Bruce and Batman like two completely different characters, even better than both Michael Keaton and Val Kilmer! He also sports the best costume, and an awesome bat mobile.
Michael Caine and Gary Oldman are also great replacements for Michael Gough and Pat Hingle as Alfred Pennyworth and James Gordon. Caine turned out just as great as Gough as the butler/father figure, but Gordon put a more humorous touch on the character which did not disappoint me! Cillian Murphy is equally great as the villain, The Scarecrow, who freaks me out and leads to some creepy/cool trippy horror-like scenes. Katie Holmes is also here as the love interest, she was OK, not as bad as people say but still a little off. The rest of the cast also handles their parts perfectly! Christopher Nolan's direction was the best because it managed to be dark and gloomy like Burton's, only a little more realistic! The score and action are also honorable mentions for this film.
But in the end, what makes this the best is Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne and Batman. Michael Keaton and Val Kilmer were also great, but the way I see it, Bale is the definitive Batman!
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
Important film from an important book
Adapting a book that so many audience members have read and cherish is surely a daunting task, but I believe it is also a great responsibility. Recently, Peter Jackson set the bar pretty high in this regard with the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Unfortunately, Adamson's "Narnia" wasn't quite up to snuff.
I count myself among those who cherish "The Chronicles of Narnia," having read them as a child and having re-read "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" in eager anticipation of the film. In my opinion, this film adaptation not only falls short, but does a disservice to the audience by cheating us of much of the impact and wonder of the original books.
Here are the general categories (including some specific examples) where I felt the film didn't deliver: Screen Adaptation - Some important scenes that illustrated character dynamic were cut short making later behavior and motivation seem exaggerated or cliché. Example: The scene where Edmund meets Jadis was rushed and awkward. (It wasn't even demonstrated that the Turkish Delight was enchanted in order to manipulate Edmund - we were left to assume that his allegiance to Jadis was due solely to avarice!) Also, in the book, the mere mention of the name "Aslan" for the first time was an event that had an important impact on the children. In the movie this impact was all but lost, as these subtler points were sacrificed to save screen time for the type of gruesome battle scenes that you would expect from a "fantasy" movie but in this case didn't serve to advance the story. Another pulled punch: in the book, the scene with Father Christmas was a brilliant omen of the turning of the tides but here the scene seemed out of place and just downright weird. (They might as well have run into the Easter Bunny.)