Review: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Before I say anything about this movie I have to ask: has anyone else noticed this summer movie season has started out as a string of basically copies of other movies? I mean, we got Iron Man 2 which was basically the first one with a bit more pizazz and then came Robin Hood which was Gladiator (but not as good or violent). And then we have literal copies or "sequels" like Shrek 4 and Sex and the City 2. Seriously, this is getting boring. I guess I'll just have to wait for Inception to get something new AND cool.

But not too fast cuz there's still this movie to discuss. So I don't know how many people are aware of this but this IS based on a video game. And it's not completely terrible like every other video game adaptation! In fact, I was pleasantly surprised.

What we have here is this guy, Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal), who gets adopted by the King of Persia at a young age and saved from the streets to live in the palace along with the king's other two sons, Tus and Garsiv. Of course he's rambunctious (great word) and daring and unruly and just generally not very "prince" like. This all comes into play when he decides to go against the orders of his brother Tus when the Persian army is invading the holy city of Alamut. Apparently these Alamut guys have been making weapons for enemies of Persia so naturally, the Persians attack them. But Dastan goes on a secret mission to attack the city from the side and lets the Persian army in to win the city! whoo! high-five Prince Dastan! But wait! "We weren't making weapons!" says Tamina (Gemma Arterton) the holy Princess of Alamut. Uh-oh. Is there a conspiracy happening here? Oh and btw, Dastan finds this nice shiny dagger during the battle that may or may not be able to turn back time.

So there's about the first 20 minutes of the movie.

Movie Mashup: New York, New York

What other city has captured and signified the art of an urban setting so beautifully and in so many ways for film other than New York? From the Muppets to Taxi Driver to Woody Allen to Arnold Schwarzenegger to Cary Grant to Ghostbusters, New York will forever be rooted in cinema history as the location to end them all. This video is awesome, it includes so many films from every genre to show how relevant and multifaceted this city is. And if you haven't been there in person, you should. It's pretty sweet. If you can stand the crowds. Also, I love video mashups like these. They give me goosebumps.

News: John Hillcoat and Christian Bale unite for "The Revenant"?

So I realize now that any sort of "news" I post on this blog will probably be infrequent and revolve around whatever I feel is important. So don't expect to see anything about Twilight or Michael Bay unless its ridiculous and worth noting just to give you another reason to despair the majority of (the human race) the movie industry.

That said, the director of The Proposition and The Road has a new movie!!! And Batman is rumored to be in it!!! This is definitely still up in the air though because IMDB doesn't even have a page for it yet. But, cinematical posted the news today and I have to say, it sounds pretty awesome.

According to them, The Revenant has been in the works for some time, trading hands across the board for years. Samuel L. Jackson was even attached at some point, and I'm so glad he's not anymore. Who can take him seriously anymore?

Review: Robin Hood (finally)

So I really wanted to see this last weekend to be able to have a timely review before everyone saw it, but whatever. Now it's happening.

I just thought the picture above was funny, the similarity doesn't really effect the movie that much. Although he does sound exactly the same. In fact, everyone's voices in the movie ended up being one of the most entertaining (cheesy) parts. No one really had an accent. It sounded like some characters tried having an Irish accent or something.....They all just ended up sounding either like bad guys or good guys. If that makes any sense. You know, the epic man-voice everyone uses when they're wearing armor and trying to look as intimidating as possible.

Besides the accents, I felt like the best thing about this movie was the historical details. It starts by explaining how King Richard was off in the crusades is currently fighting his way back through France (with Robin in the thick of it with his merry men) to get to England while Prince John is at home hoping Richard will die so he can be king along with his French wife. Little does he (or anyone else) know that Sir Godfried (sp? Mark Strong, bad guy in countless movies such as Sherlock Holmes and Kick-Ass) is planning Richard's assassination and other evil things.....oh no!

Remaking a childhood classic: "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"

This really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone because every movie is getting remade these days. Especially because this movie could use a remake. Even though I have very fond childhood memories attached to the old Disney film with Kirk Douglas, it'd be pretty awesome to see something new.

According to the people over at cinematical, Disney is out for a new director for their beloved remake. Although McG, the director of Terminator Salvation (meh), was originally picked to head the project, Disney seemed to not appreciate the direction he was heading with it. Especially because there was a rumor that he wanted Will Smith to play Captain Nemo. Now why in the world would he want to do that? The old movie already messed that up enough by not having an Indian actor play him since the real Nemo of the book was an Indian scientist of sorts.

Oh well, apparently Disney is now trying to get none other than Fight Club/Seven/Benjamin Button director David Fincher to take the reins. Now that's a change and a half. Couldn't a Fincher take on this story end up being too dark for a Disney flick? Of course he'd have to get Brad Pitt to play Ned Land (Douglas' character). But what about Nemo? Sayid Jarrah of course!

Perfect.

Anyways, I'd totally be down with Fincher remaking this. If only Disney didn't have a handle on it to make him turn it into a Bruckheimer-esque Pirates of the National Prince of Persia Mummy Treasure. I'd go for a dark, disturbing under-sea adventure. But only if Sayid's there. And by the way, remember this from the old one?


Nostalgia.

Best Films of the Decade, 2000-2009 (a bit late but whatever)

1.      There will be Blood

P.T. Anderson has been a favorite director of mine ever since I first saw Magnolia (also one of my favorite movies but not part of this decade) but was never very well known to the general public until he made There will be Blood. Everything about this movie is fascinating. The comparisons between the church and secular corporations right down to its tense and eerie soundtrack make it a complex work of genius. But most of all it is the stellar and brilliant performance by Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview, the dark and menacing oil baron. Thanks to him, “I drink your milkshake!” is now considered one of the most famous movie lines of our generation. And thanks to P.T. Anderson, There will be Blood is now considered by many the best movie of this decade, including myself.

2.      City of God

Although is Fernando Meirelles’ most recent picture Blindess was an unnecessarily dark, disturbing, and dreadful movie, you cannot forget his first picture City of God. It gives us an amazing look into the heart of Rio de Janeiro’s violent drug trafficking scene in the form of a true story that is violent, dark, and disturbing. It’s editing and cinematography are all extremely fascinating and amazing to watch. Not to mention Lil’Ze, the bad guy, is crazy. In all, it is a beautiful film in style and plot and cannot be missed.