Review of "The Recruit"

Review of "The Recruit"

Well, I saw The Recruit about a week ago. Let me start with I enjoyed myself before I begin to get all wannabe film-maker/wannabe film critic on all y'all asses. The more I think about the film, the more I realize it was your average spy thriller. It took the formula and followed it like an A+ calc student. You've got the established older actor, the young sexy guy, the love interest, and the exciting plot filled with a perfect mix of twists and holes. Al Pacino is very entertaining as always, and if you're an Al fan, you'll like it. Passed that, it was a very professionally done spy film, down to the letter.

The CIA has secrets! Dont believe what you see, hear, read or ingest. Probably the most mysterious of all three-lettered world agencies making it the perfect foil for fictional action and intrigue. The idea of the virus that made it's way through outlets was very interesting, but not original. They were polite enough to actually cite their source in the movie itself, however. Not exactly APA style, but thanks for the effort. The love interest was the most obviously forced of all their obligations to the formula, though the ending plot twist comes close. You can almost see the writers hit a dead end somewhere in the car just before the warehouse scene. They could have gone a different way, but they opted for a more obvious, safer route thats been done-to-death umpteenth plus one times. Why ask an audience not to believe what they're seeing when they've already seen it. Give me 24s CTU any hour of the week. 5 bugs

Quote of the Day 2/7/03

"Sorry. I'm excited. I haven't seen new balls in almost three years."

-A guy they call "Kuch"


Funny on so many levels. Or possibly none at all. Oh well, I don't care anymore. I'm tired, and I left my quote cheat sheet at work. But I'm not kidding. They call him Kuch (pronounced "Cooch").

Done with the in-your-end-o's for a while,

Mr. Whistlehead.


Still Standing Right Here...

Review of "Insomnia"

Review of "Insomnia"

The movie I want to critique this week stars three well-known Academy Award winning actors and is directed by someone who should have one for his last film. But here's the problem. Well, problems. Al Pacino's strength: Steaming mad yelling angry man. His character showed this outrage in maybe half a scene. Robin WIlliams's strength: Making faces and getting people to laugh, or doing other things. Actually, he did a good job in playing a pscho who you weren't sure whether to like or not. Hilary Swank's strength: Portraying a man. Her character was not a man. Chris Nolan's strength: His story writing and warping of time, giving us a little at a time at precisely thought out intervals. This film was in complete chronological order and it was a remake of a 1997 Norwegian film.

That's another thing. Are we that desperate for stories that we remake movies not even 5 years old now? First people have stopped writing new music, now Hollywood is jumping on the bandwaggon? Well, I wasn't going to go see the Norwegian film, so I guess they know what they're doing. Now the plot was some twisted murder mystery, but the little catch (because there always is one in these Nolan films), is that Al Pacino's character, who flew up to Alaska from LA during the summer, can't sleep in this fucked up part of earth where the sun never goes down. You've got to be all sorts of fucked up to actually live in this place. It's gotta be great for after work soccer leagues, but for people that enjoy sleep and flashlight tag, it really sucks. Anyway, so Al goes like 5 days without sleeping at all. And Chris Nolan had a scene or two where you could tell that Al wasn't operating on all four cylinders, but I expected more from him. Of course, anything after Memento is going to look extremely ordinary, but I did expect more out of him. Of course since he made it big time, he probably has deadlines to meet and a boss and stuff. And I doubted Guy Pierce and Joe Pantoliano gave him as much crap as Al and Robin.

I'll end by saying I like this film and I will watch it again on DVD just to make sure I don't want to see it a third time, but if you miss it, don't bang your head on the desk too hard. But the story is really good. And you never know who to root for, which I really like in a film. And it's got a twist ending, which I also like. Not quite Shyamalan, but still twisty. 6 1/2 bugs.

Well, I was going to go see the movie with Mike and he showed up to my place 5 minutes before the movie started because he fell asleep on his couch...

Quote of the Day 7/12/02

"Sorry I'm late, but it would be really funny if we were late to a movie called 'Insomnia' because I overslept."

-Yelnick McMikey


You should have heard his excuse for when we were late for "Dick."

Meters to go before I sleep, Meters to go before I sleep,

Dustin Frosty.


Still Standing Right Here...