Cin’s Movie Critiques

The Count of Monte Cristo

Guy Pearce, Jim Caviezel. Rated PG-13 for adventure violence/swordplay and some sensuality. 2002, Action/Adventure/Drama. Cin’s Critique:

The classic novel by Alexandre Dumas is brilliantly brought to life in this tale of friendship, love, betrayal and revenge. Because of the false accusations of his best friend, Edmond Dantes is wrongfully imprisoned for treason, and thought to be dead by all that love him. After 13 years he escapes the island prison of Chateau d’If, and carries out his masterfully planned plot for revenge.

This is a true adventure, full of swordsmanship and swashbuckling. And all with a perfect ending! Guy is remarkably evil, playing a character you love to hate. He was actually stabbed by Jim Caviezel in one of the sword fighting scenes. Truly, if you have not seen The Count of Monte Cristo, get your butt to the movie store today and bring it home for entertainment suitable for the entire family.

Transformers

Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, brief sexual humor, and language. 2007, Action/Science Fiction. Cin’s Critique:

So, I took my kids to see this one and all three of us loved it! Very entertaining from beginning to end. I really wasn’t expecting a great movie, but it actually had a very good story line. And the actual transforming was very cool! I’m sure Santa will bring it to us this Christmas.

Synopsis: Alien robots come to Earth to protect the human race from the evil strain of their species. Loved the action, didn’t like the almost swearing and sexual references, for being a movie that will be watched by the entire family there were a few lines that made me frown.

I know a few of you have seen this one, let me know what you thought of it.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint. Rated PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images. 2007, Adventure/Fantasy. Cin’s Critique:

What can I say? I love the Harry Potter books; I love the Harry Potter movies! The movies do not exactly follow the books, but how could you expect to fit all the content of these wonderful books into even a very long movie? Not possible. The books coming to life on the big screen is magical, literally…

In this fifth installment, Harry again wards off dementers, learns wizardry, and battles Dark Lord Voldemort. Many reviews say this is the best acted movie for the young stars, many say it was hard to follow, many say it was a redemption after the fourth movie. Me, I say it was wonderful beginning to end. I had a huge grin on my face the entire 2 ½ hours just out of sheer excitement of being there in front of the big screen!

Sorry for a horribly unhelpful movie review here. In my very biased opinion, this movie of course is a must see! If you have seen it, let me know what you think.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Daines. Rated R for strong sci-fi violence and action, and for language and brief nudity. 2003, Science Fiction/Action. Cin’s Critique:

John Connor is in his twenties now, and although Judgement Day was prevented in the last movie, he is still leery and lives life as a drifter in order to stay “off the grid”. Since the terminator sent back through time cannot find him, she (yes…she…big mistake if you ask me…) targets all of his military officers instead.

John coincidentally meets up with his future wife just as she is about to be killed, Arnold shows up to save the day, and they all figure out that Skynet has still come to pass through different means. The rest of the movie they again try to prevent Judgement Day from occurring.

This was my least favorite of the trio, but that is not to say that is wasn’t a good movie, I liked it. It just had a different mood than the other two, not so science fiction feeling, and, a much different ending. If you haven’t seen this one, I’d highly recommend watching it, as it nicely finishes off the ongoing story, just don’t expect the same ambiance as the first two movies.

So, thanks to Rocky for requesting a review of the Terminator movies. I really enjoyed watching all three in a row, give it a try sometime!

Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong. Rated R for strong sci-fi action and violence, and for language. 1991, Science Fiction/Action. Cin’s Critique:

“Three billion human lives ended on August 29th, 1997. The survivors of the nuclear fire called the war Judgment Day. They lived only to face a new nightmare: the war against the machines. The computer which controlled the machines, Skynet, sent two Terminators back through time. Their mission: to destroy the leader of the human resistance, John Connor. The first Terminator was programmed to strike in the year 1984, before John was born. It failed. The second was set to strike at John himself when he was still a child. As before, the resistance was able to send a lone warrior, a protector for John. It was just a question of which one of them would reach him first.”

The movie begins with this narrative, and with two terminators traveling through time, one to kill John, and one reprogrammed by the resistance to protect him. This time around, Arnold is the good guy, and is hilarious as young John Connor tries to teach him to be cool. The famous line invoked here: “Hasta La Vista, Baby”.

Terminator 2 is filled with bigger, better explosions, a little more humor, and a much more hindering feeling of inevitable doom. The terminator sent to kill John is more adaptable, being made out of liquid metal, and thus, much harder to destroy. Sarah Connor is a bit more buff in this movie, crossing the line from helpless girl running for her life, to hardened rigid woman, training her son to become a military leader. The story line is more developed, and we cheer for our heroes to accomplish their goal of preventing Judgement Day from ever happening.

My favorite of the trilogy, Terminator 2 won four Oscars and was nominated for tons of other awards. I first saw this one in high school, and I actually mean, during class. Our substitute teacher was a rebel, and let us watch an R rated movie at school, how cool is that??

The Terminator

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn. Rated R for language, action violence, and brief nudity. 1984, Science Fiction/Action. Cin’s Critique:

“I’ll be back.” One of the most famous lines in movie history! And certainly The Terminator is one of the most famous movies ever made. Hard to believe this was made way back in 1984, since it actually bearable, even enjoyable to watch, unlike most movies made so long ago.

A machine is sent from the future to “terminate” Sarah Connor. Her unborn child will be John Connor, the future’s military leader that heads the resistance to the war on the machines. Also sent from the future is Kyle Reese, sent to protect her, to keep her alive and ensure the existence of John Connor.

By far the best character in the movie is the Terminator itself, a robot covered with living tissue. Relentless and unfeeling, he pursues his target. Sarah Connor, a normal woman suddenly running for her life, learning her destiny from a seemingly crazy (although incredibly good looking) man. And Kyle Reese, traveling through time to protect her. Ah, it’s a love story too…

An amazing science fiction movie, with many glimpses of the future, after nuclear war has all but obliterated the human race, and the machines are trying to exterminate what is left of us. Surely you’ve seen this one, leave me a comment! (Especially Rocky, who requested the review of the Terminator movies, I watched all three just for you!)

The hot days of summer have arrived, temps lately have been close to 100 here in the Salt Lake Valley. We have spent a lot of time at the swimming pool in our apartment complex. It has been many years since I’ve sat around in a lounge chair, soaking up sunrays, and I have to admit, I’m lovin’ every minute of it!

Also very entertaining are the games we play in the pool. Splashing each other with that cool, clear water; throwing the beach ball back and forth; doing underwater handstands; seeing who can make the biggest splash; and seeing who can hold their breath the longest.

It was during one of these breath-holding contests that I remembered a particular movie that really is NOT about a swimming pool, but I pondered it nonetheless. Do you remember the part in Minority Report where Tom Cruise is holding his breath underwater and someone kidnaps his son? Creepy.

Minority Report

Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell. Rated PG-13 for violence, brief language, some sexuality and drug content. 2002, Science Fiction/Action. Cin’s Critique:

I haven’t seen this movie since it came out five years ago. I had forgotten how futuristic it was. I also forgot that Colin Farrell was in it, this is one of the first movies that helped him climb the ladder to fame. In fact, except the very basic concept of the film, I had forgotten most everything.

In the year 2054, murder has been eliminated in the Washington DC area thanks to an elite law enforcement unit called Precrime. It is a system involving three beings that foresee murders that haven’t occurred yet, and stops the crime before it is actually committed. However, when the chief officer, John Anderton, sees that in 36 hours he will murder a man he has never met, he questions the system, and sets out to prove his innocence, all the while running from the law.

The extremes to which Anderton must go to hide from his pursuers and to prove to himself that he is not a murderer take the viewer for a wild ride in the future. Based on the short story by Philip K. Dick, Minority Report is a must see!

I woke up in the middle of the night, listening intently for the subtle sound that had grasped me from my sleep with an invisible, yet very firm grip. Drip…drip… And with each drip, a tiny splash erupting from the puddle on my sleeping bag and landing on my face. I was soaking wet. I groped for the flashlight and turned it on, illuminating my frosted breath in the black night. Everyone else in the tent was asleep, and dry. I shuffled to another spot, and shivered while listening to the now splashless drip that was quickly soaking the blanket I had placed under it. Finally, I decided to try to fix the rain fly. Unzipping the flap I was shocked that it wasn’t rain, but snow that was causing the problem! It was four inches deep, and so heavy that the tent was sagging, and obviously, dripping. I shook the snow off and decided I’d be happier in the back of my Jeep.

Yes, a freak blizzard at the beginning of June! Okay, okay, maybe not so freak considering the 10,000-foot elevation I was camping at, but still…it makes a great movie comparison!

The Day After Tomorrow

Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal. Rated PG-13 for intense situations of peril. 2004, Adventure/Natural Disaster. Cin’s Critique:

A climatologist tries to save his son after the world is thrown into the next ice age as a result of global warming and the greenhouse effect. This is a big-budget film with lots of special effects that are fun to watch, such as freak blizzards, tornadoes, lightning storms, and floods. The story kind of drags, but I’d say it was worth watching once.

Okay, on with my chronicles of real life adventures compared to the movies I see:

After visiting Lehman Caves, we traversed up the mountain to camp at 9,986 feet above sea level in the shadow of Wheeler Peak, which towers at 13, 063 feet. It was very cool there, getting into the 30’s at night, in JUNE! It was great fun roasting marshmallows, pitching tents, and smelling like campfire smoke.

Hunter, Colton and I hiked to the Bristlecone Pine Forest to walk among trees that were over 3,000 years old. They were twisted, yet beautiful, just like my sister. We did this while the above-mentioned sister, my brother, and my nephews hiked to the summit of Wheeler Peak.

Usually a very enjoyable jaunt, this time the wind was howling and pummeling snow and ice in their faces. They didn’t get to enjoy the highlight of the trip, the 2,000 foot cliff that you can stand on the edge of and gaze out at the world. Or rather, you can crawl on your belly to the edge, and hope the person holding your legs is trustworthy! Listening to their tale of mountain climbing adversity reminded me of one of my favorite adventure movies:

Cliffhanger

Sylvester Stallone, John Lithgow. Rated R for violence and language. 1993, Action/Adventure. Cin’s Critique:

A year after losing his friend in a tragic climbing accident, a mountain guide is asked to help in a search and rescue in the Rocky Mountains. The rescue team receives a call after a plane crash, but what they don’t know is that the plane crashed as the result of a mid-air bank robbery of a US Treasury airplane gone awry. Now the thieves plan on forcing the rescue team to recover the cases of stolen money that have been scattered across the miles of wreckage. The rescuers have to think and move quickly to save their own lives.

The filmmakers did an excellent job of showing height, which made it thrilling to watch the climbing/jumping/falling scenes. With an interesting and believable story line, if you enjoy adventure movies, give this one a try.

Swimming…it’s a new hobby for me, and I’m surprised I love it so much. I’ve built up my endurance a little and am swimming about ½ mile each time I go, quite an improvement to the four laps I floundered through at the beginning of April. I know I’m getting better because the Polynesian guy I see there quite often came up to me the other day and sternly asked:

“How was your swim?”

“It was good,” I answered, “I’m getting better.”

His firm reply: “I can tell.”

(I decided to take that as a compliment!)

The Guardian

Kevin Costner, Ashton Kutcher. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action/peril, brief strong language and some sensuality. 2006, Action/Drama. Cin’s Critique:

After his team is killed in a horrific rescue mission, a rescue swimmer takes a teaching position at the US Coast Guards “A” school. There he deals with his troubles, as well as helping a promising student overcome his own past, and they both learn lessons about life, love, loss, and self-sacrifice.

I could watch this movie ten times a day and never get tired of it. The intensity of the rescue scenes had me on the edge of my seat. The tenderness and complexity of everyday human life was captured with bits of humor, shock, and tears throughout the film. While this was a big budget movie, it wasn’t too over the top, and I thought it was magnificent. Swimmer or not, you’ll probably enjoy The Guardian.