On being a "rifle"... (what?)

In the school slang, when you are copying homework of an exam from one of your classmates you will be called "fusil" (rifle).

So, today's my day to be a "fusil". I have 5 (3 actually) movies to see (we went to Blockbuster yesterday) and I will be posting my reviews during the day. As a special threat for me (and maybe for some of you) I will use the "critical" eye during movie watching.

See you in a while.

(Back to yesterday night)

12:30 a.m. I just finished to watch Hitman. Here goes the review. (Yes I know, I started before the original post; I can cheat a bit, I think, after all I am a "rifle" today!!!)

Hitman (2007)

I am not a big fan of Timothy Olyphant, neither of Game-to-Film movies. Then, why did I rent this movie? Well, I just bough the hype, I think. OK, let's start with this.

I could not understand the basic premise of having a "secret" organization when all the members are running around with the bar codes tattoed in the back of their heads; I would say they are pretty obvious. And, what purpose the bar code had? I never saw anybody scanning them or using them for any reason. I would like to know if they use the barcode to identify them or to charge for services (like, "OK you want #47, it will cost you $10 Mill; but in the Clearance section there is #13, he is a bit of bad luck but... you can have it for only $999,999!!").

Anyhoo; good cinematics, nice-looking leading lady (Olga Kurylenko -> Nina; I have not seen Paris, jet'aime, so I did not know her) but she can not act; the interaction between #47 and Nina is akward, but very believable (in the sense that #47 is like a killer-monk and does not know how to interact with women and she appears nekked [this is not for kids movie]). Special effects, nothing major to report. Music, nothing major to report.

So, bonus point for Nina --> 5 (out of 10, I will follow school-type grading).

Next!!!
10:00 a.m.

You Kill Me (2007)

I have something for Téa Leoni, ever since I watched her for the first time in "The Naked Truth" (old TV show in 1995) and I have always liked Ben Kingsley, specially in "House of Sand and Fog" and a little in "Lucky Number Slevin". So, it looks promising. Add Bill Pullman, Dennis Farina, Luke Wilson, Philip Baker Hall, etc. Very strong cast, of course is a comedy (dark), and those are difficult to pull.

In any case, they did it for me. Kingsley plays the role of a hitman (is there a theme here?) that is also an alcoholic; thus his addition is not letting him do his job properly. After he fails to kill an Irish mob boss (Farina) he is exiled by his uncle boss (Baker Hall, playing a Polish mob boss based on Buffalo) to San Francisco, until he recovers.

He starts going to AA meetings and working at a funerary (as a make-up artist (?) and general help). He meets Laurel (Leoni) in the first funeral he works and fancies her. Wilson is his sponsor at the AA and Pullman is his landlord/nanny. He starts applying the AA principles in his life (including the honesty part; he talks about his line of work at the meetings, that I did not buy completely, but, what the hell, is a comedy! and I like the actors!! [do you see to double standard here?]).

I do not want to spoil it, because I think people with the right sense of humor might like it. My wife really liked it and I know she does not like comedies to start with, but, she also likes Téa (and loved "Fun with Dick and Jane", strange). The final part is a bit cliché, but it is a Hollywood movie! Deal with it (I am talking to myself here).

Score: 8 out of 10 (bonuses points because my wife liked it and Téa Leoni).

Next!!!

12:45

I Am Legend (2007)

We are rolling here! However, I have to recognize I do not want to start watching "My Own Private Idaho". Maybe to do with big expectations; in any case, after this movie we will watch "There Will Be Blood" and My-House Premiere of MOPI will start in Primetime!

OK, Will Smith is bald, Ben Kingsley is bald, Tim Olyphant played a bald charachter in "Hitman", maybe the theme is baldness!! Not hitmen!! After I finish all 5 movies will let you know.

Acting -> Great!! "Sam" the dog, played a major role in the movie; she seems to be really intelligent, and because she is speech impaired I give her the Oscar (wait, this already happened!! *). Special thanks to "Fred, the mannequin" in the special appearance he made. The same for the kid almost at the end. Very similar acting skills.

In a serious note, Will Smith rocks. I was close to hate the story on "I, Robot", but simply because I know from heart all of Asimov's robot stories and novels; but he performed really good (and I like Bridget Moynahan). "MIB" (the first one) was good, "Bad Boys" (the first one, with Téa Leoni!!) was good, "Wild, Wild West" not so much (I blame it on Kevin Kline), then we got to see what he can do in "Pursuit of Happiness" and in a "castawaian" setup he did not embarrassed himself now. I need to read the book right now to confirm they kept the story close to the original, but at this moment I liked the movie. Great sound edition (knowing how to keep the silences is important, remember "2001"). And if you liked Anna (Alice Braga) you have to see "Solo Dios Sabe".

Overall score 8.5 out of 10 (I am strict, but since there were no bonuses here, this is a great score for a movie!)

Next!!!

5:30

There Will Be Blood (2007)

I knew it was based on a book; but I was not aware it was that loooooong! It made me sleepy for a while, so unless I change my rules it will not be OK.

I do not understand how a movie that can not keep the audience (me) interested will have so many Oscar nominations. I saw "Michael Clayton" and "No Country for Old Men" (and loved them **), I have not seen "Atonement" (my wife did and loved it, but in a comment, the commenter said there is a big difference between the movie and the book) so I do not know what to make of it. But for this movie to have those many nominations... I mean 3 out of 4 were based in books, I have not read any of those books, but a little time spent looking information for them showed me what I suspected: Oil! is the longest of them, Atonement is the second and a rather far third is No Country for Old Men.

OK enough ranting, I can not bend my rules here
Score: 5 out of 10 (bonus point because at the end I got interested again, the cinematography and Paul Dano, who makes it interesting beyond his inconsistent acting and Daniel Day-Lewis giving a very good performance).

So... "two little movies to be seen under the sun; one just burned and there is one"
Next!!!

0:30 a.m(Next day)
My Own Private Idaho (1991)

Disaster!!!! I wait for my wife to finish watching "Capadocia" so we start watching MOPI at 9:30 p.m.

It is what I remember (I watched more that half the movie the first time) and I am liking it but I am so tired that I sleep at the 25 minutes mark.

Dear readers; I have to apologize for this let down. I will continue watching the movie tomorrow (today) and post the report at night.

Yes, I know, I should not have procrastinated since the beginning and we would be better of, but... this is life. 4 out of 5 is not so bad and it will get its own review!!

See you around.

(*) in a side note, my Mexican-ness does not allow me to say something like "got the Oscar because speech impared" or like that without apologizing to all the speech impaired people who is reading this (that includes me, I usually grunt and point so people understand me).

(**) I actually more than like anything from the Coen brothers; since "Blood Simple" up to now, passing "Barton Fink", "The Big Lebowski", "Fargo", "The Hudsucker Proxy", even "Intolerable Cruelty"; pretty much all of them.