Life's a Beech

I watched an interesting film last night called Treed Murray. What's even more amazing is that it is a Canadian feature. This film is about an advertising executive by the name of Murray (David Hewlett-Century Hotel) is cutting through a very large park, but gets turned around. He asks a young man for directions who says he will only give them for five dollars. The kid points in the right direction, but then refuses to let Murray pass without the five dollars. Murray strikes him with his briefcase, only to discover that he is not alone. He is chased until finally, out of desperation, Murray climbs into a tree to hide. It becomes a battle of wills between himself and the gang that would do him harm. Also starring Aaron Ashmore (The Skulls II), Kevin Duhaney (The Miracle Worker [2000]), Jessica Greco (Gossip), Cle Bennett (Bait) and Carter Hayden in his debut role.

I enjoyed this film immensely. It had an interesting screenplay, with a unique idea. It is, essentially, a film about a man, in a tree. The only weak point was that sometimes some of the imagery was a little bland. Strong performances from all the cast, especially Jessica Greco, shining as the drug addicted Kelly. It's a good tale about not judging a book by it's cover. As the movie progresses, we learn more about each character, and what drives them. Being a Canadian film, it likely will not the credit it deserves, but it did bring home a Genie, which was well deserves. In all, a good solid film, worth seeing.

Rating: 3.75 (out of 5)

posted by Lisa at 11:40 a.m. |

 
"If you want to feel the rush you have to take the risk."

The movie I'm reviewing today is Blue Crush, directed by John Stockwell (Top Gun). This film stars Kate Bosworth (Remember the Titans), Matthew Davis (Legally Blonde), Michelle Rodriguez (Resident Evil), and Sanoe Lake in her debut performance. This film is about three hard-core surfer girls, who live for riding the waves. Anne Marie (Bosworth) is training for a big competition, her first in three years since she nearly drowned in a surfing accident. In this midst of all this, she meets Matt (Davis), a pro football player who is staying in the hotel. He hires her to give him a surfing lesson and finds herself falling for him. Will she give up surfing for him? (a href="http://us.imdb.com/Trailers?0300532">Trailer)

Yes, another movie the athlete faces their fears and wins the [insert generic sport here]. This one started off pretty strong, and seemed like it would be entertaining, but it quickly degenerated into just another excuse to see scantily clan women wet. While the men may think that there's nothing wrong with this, trust me. I have it under good authority that even you will get tired of it quickly. Bosworth did well, but seemed to have an expression of fear on her face for 75% of the movie. Rodriguez's part must have been cut down considerably as I think all of her lines were given away in the trailer. As for Lake; I think she may have made the wrong decision for a first film as she was just a pretty face and with very few lines, it's tough to determine if she's talented or not. Davis was, well, good looking. Ummm...That's about it. He was very poorly cast, looking more like a sports agent than a football player. The ending was very cliched, and I actually groaned aloud. I think the major problem with it was that it was too long. You can only have a character hestitating out of fear once, and maybe twice before having them succeed. Well, Blue Crush managed to stretch the hesitation out for an entire movie. By the time the credits rolled, I was so disgusted and disappointed. All in all, it was a waste of time for some talented young women.


Rodriguez, Bosworth and Lake

Rating: 1.25 (out of 5)





posted by Lisa at 5:47 p.m. |

 
Go here and do an on site search of my name. :-)

posted by Lisa at 8:43 p.m. |

 
Tonight's movie is A Guy Thing, directed by Chris Koch. This film stars one of my personal favorites Jason Lee (Stealing Harvard), Julia Stiles (The Bourne Identity), and Selma Blair (The Sweetest Thing). When Paul Morse (Lee) awakens the morning after his bachelor party with a strange woman (Stiles) in his bed, he automatically assumes he's cheated on his finance (Blair). Overwhelmed with guilt, he tries to cover up what happened, and for the next week, wackiness ensues. (*Trailer*)

It wasn't the most original screenplay, but I had some genuine laugh-out-loud moments. Lee, as I said before, has been a long time favorite of mine, being a staple of Kevin Smith films. He is witty and charming, delivering his lines with flair and timing that is often sorely lacking in comedies. Stiles, who I always enjoy, is at her best in this film. There's something there in her performance that I can't quite put my finger on, but Lee was forced to put his best foot forward or risk being outshone. Perhaps it was the chemistry between the two. Blair, well, she wasn't as awful as usual. My fingers are cramping in protest as I type that. For any of you who read my review on The Sweetest Thing, I am pretty clear in my dislike of her. I don't think she could act, plain and simple. Luckily, this role seemed like it wasn't much of a stretch for her because I believe that the character was supposed to be stiff and uptight, so her stilted acting methods were well suited. As I said, some plot points could be seen a mile away, but I enjoyed it. It is a film that is meant to entertain, and it does.


Stiles as the tiki girl Becky, and Lee and Paul

Rating: 3.75 (out of 5)



posted by Lisa at 8:26 p.m. |

 
I have seen many movies over the holidays, but I only have time for one today. I will be reviewing The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers today, directed by Peter Jackson. Returning in the second film in the trilogy is Elijah Wood (Bumblebee Flies Anyway), Ian McKellen (X-Men Who, by the way, will be taking on the role of Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films), the oh-so-sexy Viggo Mortensen (28 Days), Sean Astin (The Sky is Falling), Billy Boyd (Julie and the Cadillacs), John Rhys-Davies (The Gold Cross), Dominic Monaghan (An Insomniac's Nightmare), and Orlando Bloom (Black Hawk Down).

This film splits into three separate storylines. It follows Frodo (Wood) and Sam (Astin) into the land of Mordor, where they are pursued by Gollum in their journey to destroy the Ring. Aragorn (Mortensen), Gimli (Rhys-Davies), and Legolas (Bloom) head out in search of Merry (Monaghan) and Pippin (Boyd) who had been captured by Orcs at the end of the first film. While this film doesn't have the many awe inspiring moments that the Fellowship had, I still really enjoyed this film. The only major critique I have are due to three scenes that did not follow the books in any shape, way or form. The love story between Aragorn and Arwen (Liv Tyler) is expanded upon, unneccessarily in my opinion. There is also a scene where Frodo and Sam are taken to Mina Tirith by Faramir (David Wenham) that doesn't resemble any part of the actual story. It resulted in the film ending before book two really does. Unfortunate as many important plot points will probably be cut in the final film. There is a phenomenal battle scene and the tree beings, the Ents, are extraordinarily well done. Gollum was also a treat, appeared to be a mixture of puppet work and CGI when in fact, the character was 100% computer animated. As in most trilogies, the second part of the story is the most difficult. This is the time when nothing seems to happen, and yet everything is of vital importance to the next part of the saga. With the exceptions of the afore mentioned items, I think that this film succeeded in providing a highly entertaining, beautifully realized film.


Mortensen, Bloom, and McKellan


Wood, and Astin

Rating: 4.25 (out of 5)



posted by Lisa at 6:49 a.m. |