Quickfire reviews. (2.6.10)

I’ve watched a bunch of different stuff the past couple weeks, and this edition of “Quickfire reviews” is long overdue and includes several Oscar nominees and 11 flicks in all. A new decision on my part: the order of reviews will begin with the bad and end on the good. I’ll save the best for last.

Big Fan. (Overall 2/10)

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Quickfire reviews. (1.11.10)

Last weekend I was searching for a movie to go see in theatres. I had seen The Princess and the Frog on Friday, and wanted to check out a matinee on Sunday. I couldn’t justify spending money to see Sherlock Holmes. I just can’t find any interest there. Why is Sherlock Holmes a borderline superhero engaging in bare-fist fighting? I just don’t get it. It has Netflix Watch Instantly written all over it.

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus? Ehhh…honestly, I think the trailer is cool as hell, but Terry Gilliam is too weird, and I’ve disliked too many of his films to believe that this will be any different. My main motivation is really just to see Heath Ledger’s final performance. I still want to see it, but I think I’ll wait for Netflix.

Anyway, here’s what I have seen the past two weeks, whether in theatres or at home, but still 2009 releases…

Read the rest of the article at my domain, www.cineastejohn.com.

The Walken.

I’m going to introduce a new concept here that will affect how I rate films. It’s called the “Walken.” Look at a Walken like an x-factor. I’ve aptly named it a Walken because often if you see a film and it has Christopher Walken in it, it’s immediately more interesting than one without. He just makes things better. Is True Romance at all memorable if Christopher Walken isn’t in it? No. Who is involved in arguably the funniest SNL skit of all time? You guessed it — Christopher Walken (and if you don’t know what skit I’m talking about, I reject you as a reader of this site.)