Musings of an Entrepreneur

                                                 

I just rented Kick-Ass on Zune HD and had a blast! The movie much more violent than I expected; yet, somehow the violence was extremely funny. Choe Moretz who plays Hit-Girl really makes the movie. Her moves, tone and attitude were all amazing! I can’t wait to see her in other movies.

In the meantime, you owe it to yourself to check out Kick-Ass, it’s different and fun!

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Like in Shrek 4, the themes of Toy Story 3 are very grown up as they deal with growing up, moving on, and letting go.

I loved the movie and cried at the end, but despite the raving critics and the 99% Rotten Tomato Meter, it’s not the best movie of the year. That title currently goes to another animated movie: How to Train your Dragon. That movie’s masterful depiction of the relationship between Toothless and Hiccup, not to mention the complex father/son relationship, left me in awe the entire movie. The Kids are All Right might challenge it for the best movie of the year so far, but I have yet to see it.

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Shrek 4 obviously does not match the originality of the first movie which was the first animated movie I ever saw whose humor and parodies were made to appeal to adult audiences. However in terms of entertainment value Shrek 4 is much nearer the first two amazing movies than the horribly disappointing, muddled and boring third movie!

I really connected with Shrek’s midlife crisis. It’s really easy to lose sight of how good you have it, and really hard to cherish the amazing things you have in life, until you actually lose them.

I loved the entire story and the big closet romantic in me loved to see Fiona and Shrek fall in love all over again!

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The movie never found an audience and was panned by critics, but it was incredibly entertaining and the dialogues between Cruise and Diaz were absolutely amazing! The chemistry between Diaz & Cruise was great and the campy tone was exactly what the movie called for.

The movie was mindless, but tons of fun – perfect for a hot summer evening!

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I am fan of all of Chris Nolan’s movies. I loved Memento, The Prestige and both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. He always brings thought provoking concepts to his movies including blockbusters. For instance, the concept of anarchy promoted by The Joker was truly frightening and novel. In a summer movie landscape where movies have been dumbed down to the extreme, his movies have always a beacon of hope for the thoughtful moviegoer also looking for massive explosions and fantastic special effects.

In other words, I went to see Inception with high expectations. I was not disappointed! The movie’s plot is very intricate (but logical), the special effects are dazzling and the concept of dreams within dreams is innovative. The movie is not without flaws. The various parts don’t quite neatly tie perfectly together. Somehow, I did not feel emotionally attached to the characters. I was also disappointed by the deliberate gimmick of leaving the movie open ended.

That said, go see the movie! It’s very good, well-acted, visually stunning and thought provoking.

SPOILER ALERT – DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE

Was it all a dream? The totem not falling at the end made every moviegoer wonder whether Cobb was still dreaming. Nolan actually left it open to interpretation and you can make convincing arguments either way. The totem wobbles and if you listen carefully you actually hear it fall after it goes out of view suggesting that he is in the real world. However, there are a number of elements suggesting he’s still dreaming: the kids have not aged and are still wearing exactly the same clothes as in every sequence where he dreams of them. The ending has a dream like quality. Moreover, he’s actually not using his own totem, he’s using his wife’s totem. He very well might have learned to manipulate it and make it fall or not. The polls I have seen suggest that viewers seem evenly split on this one, probably as Nolan intended.

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I went to see Predators last week with my good friend William. We were lured by the 63% Rotten Tomatoes score from the critics and 77% from the community. The reviews promised a back to basics approach for the movie with a darker, scarier tone similar to the original with Schwarzenegger.

Unfortunately despite the presence of Adrian Brody, the movie did not deliver. It was not scary. You don’t care about the characters. The plot is laughable. Laurence Fishburne, who seems to be on the same diet as Russell Crowe, makes a brief pointless paycheck appearance.

We were looking for dark, gritty, entertaining mindless action. Instead, we got a pointless bland movie.

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The movie is not quite as good as the original but still very good. Robert Downey Junior is as good as ever. Mickey Rourke is fantastic as the bad guy and has significance presence despite his few words. The story is interesting and a lot of the speeches and dialogue reach the level of the first movie. I was laughing out loud at the beginning when Robert Downey Junior does not say how fantastic he is :) The tone has remained appropriately light and campy and I very much enjoyed the story.

What bogs the movie down relative to the original is the introduction of too many new characters which are barely developed. They are trying to set the stage for an Avengers movie and Captain America, but the introductions were distracting. Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson should have had bigger roles to play or should not have been there (more likely the latter).

If you are somewhat self loving, as I can be at times, the movie is fantastic therapy. Watching Tony Stark’s narcissism will make you feel like a well adjusted self loving individual :)

Go watch the movie.

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I had the pleasure of seeing How to Train your Dragon in 3D IMAX last Friday. The movie looks great, but much more importantly the story is great. Even though the movie is completely predictable, the story is so well done, the dialog so good and the scenes so touching, that it’s a must see movie. I actually cried a few times! Maybe I was overly emotional because I was sleep deprived (a grown man needs an excuse after all :), but maybe it was that good and touching.

It’s definitely the feel good movie of the year so far!

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While significantly better than Alice in Wonderland, the move did not live up to expectations. The movie’s overt political stance and explicit criticism of Tony Blair would have been better served by a better story.

As it stands, Evan McGregor (the Ghost) comes up with his conspiracy theory based on almost no evidence as he’s stumbling around trying to edit the first draft of Adam Lang’s (Pierce Brosnan) biography. One of the red herrings convincing him of the conspiracy is a Google search suggesting a potential link between someone Lang knows and the CIA. I suppose, McGregor also believes Elvis lives on the moon, we are hiding aliens in Area 51, 9/11 was organized by our government and the moon landing was staged in Hollywood and never happened!

The story’s pace is also very slow. There were long periods where I was openly wondering when something would happen. The movie would have been better if they had kept the pace even and kept building up the tension like they do in great mysteries like The Spanish Prisoner.

The real star in the movie is the gorgeous house with intricate decorations that Lang is staying in in what seems to be Martha’s Vineyard. I just wish as much effort had gone into the story as into having a perfect setting!

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I had heard good things and went to see the movie this week-end in IMAX 3D. I was extremely disappointed and this review is reminiscent of my Avatar review. The movie is visually stunning, but the pace is incredibly slow, the characters are all one note (which is intentional but disappointing when you have actors like Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway) and the story is just not gripping. I did not care about the characters or their quest and spent half the movie hoping it would end soon!

It’s disappointing given Tim Burton’s previous work and I hope this does not foretell an ever increasing trend of movies focusing on style over substance!

I hear I will get good story telling in The Ghost Writer. Fingers crossed!

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