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Steven Soderbergh’s Schizopolis (1996)

Schizopolis is bizarre but it
is a very artistic comedy worth viewing. This 1996 experimental comedy by
writer/director Steven Soderbergh tells many plots but the main ones in the
entire flick are: the first one which is about Fletcher Munson (played by
Soderbergh) an office employee who is currently working for Theodore Azimuth
Schwitters, leader of self- help philosophy/religion; the second one is about
Dr. Jeffrey Korchek a dentist who seems to be having an affair with Munson’s
wife; and the third and last one is about Elmo Oxygen a local exterminator who
has sex with most of his clients, including Schwitters’s wife, and at the end
of the movie it can be seen that he tries to kill Schwitters.

This 1996 picture is highly
imaginative, philosophical, goofy, fresh, creative and very unexpected. But
even though the flick brings all of this to the table the audience may have a
hard time understanding what the heck is going on in the entire feature.
However it seems that the film was a deep investigation of Soderbergh’s artistic
influences and views. The things that kept me distracted a bit throughout the
movie were the cinematography and sound which were a bit off. Also the vast
variety of sub-plots can be a bit troubling if one is trying to concentrate on
the three main stories that are going within the picture. Overall the feature
is a good film but it can be a bit difficult to understand.

Rating:
3 stars out of 5.

Spy Kids 3-D - Game Over (2003)

This film is certainly the quirkiest
and weakest one of them all. In the third entry of the popular family movie
franchise Spy Kids by Robert Rodriguez retired O.S.S. (Organization of
Super Spies) agent Juni Cortez (Daryl Sabara) must come out from retirement and
back into action so he can save his sister Carmen (Alexa Vega) who is trapped
inside a virtual video game created by a villain known only as the Toymaker
(Sylvester Stallone). Inside the game Juni meets other players like Arnold
(Ryan Pinkston), Rez (Roberto Vito) and Francis (Bobby Edner) who will help him
find his sister with a little help from his grandfather (Ricardo Montalban)
too.

Now this film like the other Spy
Kids movies is very imaginative, cartoonish and goofy. But I think this
flick just took it way too far to the point where the feature turned into a
piece of crap. Also another thing, there was no need to put in the picture so
many characters as cameos it just fell like Rodriguez had no more ideas for new
characters, although it is kind of nice to see some popular faces but I think
he could have done it in a better way. Also the story isn’t really that great
like the ones in the previous entries, but then again I think it was all for
children’s appeal and to reflect how popular video games were getting. In a way
it’s sort of a metaphor that children shouldn’t just stay at home playing video
games because they’ll basically get sucked in by them. Overall the picture is a
bit entertaining but it is really weak compared to its predecessor, I really
hope Rodriguez has better ideas for the fourth entry which is going to be out
later this year.

Rating:
1.5 stars out of 5.

Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams (2002)

Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams
offers action, comedy, fantasy and lots of cartoonish characters, just like its
predecessor. In the second entry in the series Carmen and Juni Cortez (Alexa
Vega and Daryl Sabara) are now members of the SPY Kids section of the O.S.S.
(Organization of Secret Spies) and they are having a hard time with their
rival-competitors Gary and Gerti Giggles (Emily Osment and Matt O’Leary) the
children of the double-crossing agent Donnagon Giggles (Mike Judge) who plans
to steal some sort of device that could grant him the power to rule the world.
Now the Cortez siblings must go to a mysterious island near Madagascar, where
genetic scientist Romero (Steve Buscemi) resides, so they can find this
mechanism before Donaggon or his children get to it.

Spy Kids 2 offers a lot of
action, comedy, fantasy and lots of great cartoonish imagination for the whole
family. The movie is just as great as its predecessor, lots of fun but not
perfect. Even though the style of these flicks tends to be cartoonish, the CGI
(Computer-generated imagery) is a bit off and can get you distracted. Also
there’s a few times in the movie where it feels that the story is being told a
bit unbalanced. Don’t get me wrong the plot is easy and simple to follow, but
it could have been a bit more balanced in the way that it’s told. However the
addition of new characters like the grandparents of the Cortez children
(Ricardo Montalban and Holland Taylor) and the Giggles family was a very wise
decision by director Rodriguez because, not only did they form part of the main
plot, but it also brings more to the table and for future sequels. Overall the
picture is great just like its predecessor. It offers great family action,
comedy, characters, plot and visuals although the CGI could have used some
work.

Rating:
4 stars out of 5.

Spy Kids (2001)

I had never seen this movie because
it was hard for me to accept that Robert Rodriguez would go from making films
like Desperado and From Dusk Till Dawn to making children flicks.
In this 2001 action comedy children’s feature director Robert Rodriguez
presents to us the first adventure of Carmen and Juni Cortez (portrayed by
Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara) the children of international super spies Gregorio
and Ingrid Cortez (portrayed by Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino). After their
parents have been kidnapped by the manipulated Fegan Floop (portrayed by Alan
Cumming) the Cortez siblings must learn about their parents’ past in a hurry so
they can spring into action and save them from Floop and the evil Alexander
Minion (portrayed by Tony Shalhoub).

Before I had watched this picture I
had previously seen some scenes of Rodriguez’s other children’s flick Shorts,
so I had a bit of an idea of what to expect. Spy Kids offers good
visuals, great comedy and big imagination. The film is good, but I wouldn’t
consider it perfect because even though it may be bring a lot of new stuff to
the table (for example the goofy mutants and robots created by Floop) it is a
bit hard for the audience to digest all of these new things. But even though
they are a bit difficult to digest I think they are very creative, so kudos for
that. The movie overall is very good, it brings you back to your childhood (if
you’re an adult or a teenager) and it makes you want to be a secret agent if
you’re still a kid. One thing I really love about this feature is that
Rodriguez, sticking to the Latino side of him like he does most of the times,
gives us Latino characters which I appreciate very much because it shows me
that someone out there really cares about showing off his roots. So overall it
is a very imaginative movie, like most of Rodriguez’s, and children’s flick perhaps
one of the best of the previous decade.

Rating:
4 stars out of 5.

Our Family Wedding (2010)

The movie has its few laughs but
overall it’s cheesy and predictable. In this 2010 romantic flick America
Ferrara and Lance Gross play an interracial couple, in this case a Mexican
chick with an African-American dude, who want to get married but both their
families constantly interfere on the plans, some want this and others want that
type of situation, that eventually becomes a huge problem for the young couple.

Our Family Wedding has a cast
that is capable of making a worth watching romantic comedy. But I think they
really didn’t give it their best in this one. America Ferrara in this feature
is beautiful, Forest Whitaker and Carlos Mencia are a little ridiculous, Lance
Gross and the rest of the cast just weren’t really that good. The plot and the
dialogue in this picture are really cheesy and dumb at times, although there a
few funny moments but those could be counted with only one hand. Overall the
film is just plain bad but it does have its few funny moments and when I say few,
I mean very few.

Rating:
1 star out of 5.

Cradle 2 the Grave (2003)

The flick has great action scenes
but that’s just about it. In this 2003 action film, starring Jet Li and rapper
DMX, an intelligence officer must join forces with a thief so they can retrieve
some diamonds all while saving the thief’s daughter and saving the world from a
lunatic who plans to sell the diamonds that have the power to be used as
weapons.

Cradle 2 the Grave offers a
few good jokes, great action scenes and a few other things that can remind you
of the classic exploitation features from the 1960s and 1970s. But the rest of
the movie is just plain ol’ bad. The acting in the picture is awful, the plot
is even worse, the music is terrible, the dialogue is even more terrible than
the plot and don’t even let me get started on the cinematography. Everything in
the flick is just poor the only good things are, like I said, the few jokes,
the action scenes and the few scenes that pay somewhat tribute to the
exploitation genre.

Rating:
1.5 stars out of 5.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)

I
think the first two Narnia offer pretty much the same. In this 2008
adaptation of the popular C.S. Lewis children’s novel the four Pevensie
children (portrayed by William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes and
Georgie Henley) are called back to Narnia and this time they must aid Prince
Caspian (portrayed by Ben Barnes) in his struggle to dethrone his corrupt
uncle, King Miraz (portrayed by Sergio Castellitto), who plans to extinguish
the Narnians.

The
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
gave the audience a vast world filled with lots of very imaginative characters,
just like this film. In the first movie there are also great visuals, wardrobe,
special effects, sets and a vast roster of highly imaginative characters just
like in this one. But I think the thing that separates these flicks is the fact
that this second entry offers more action scenes than its predecessor, but that
doesn’t make any better or any less bad. The one thing I had a problem with was
the fight between Peter (played by William Moseley) and King Miraz which could
have been shot in a much better way. Another thing that kind of ticked me off a
bit was the song used when the children were leaving Narnia; I mean my God was
it a cheesy moment. Personally I don’t like pop sounding music in epic films.
Other than all of this the feature is just like its predecessor, a good movie
but not a perfect one.

Rating:
4 stars out of 5.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)

Okay so I hadn’t seen this movie
because it didn’t grab my attention, but now that I have seen it I must say it
was good but not perfect. In this 2005 adaptation of C.S. Lewis popular children’s
novel we get the story of Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy for siblings who have
found a passage to the magical world of Narnia a land which is inhabited by all
sorts of fantastical creatures including talking animals, dwarves, mermaids and
even Santa Claus himself. But the thing is that Narnia is currently being ruled
by the evil White Witch, so now the four children must now fulfill a prophecy
which will get the magical land out of its current state and back to its normal
happy filled way.

I must say this film is very, very
imaginative with all its characters. I never would have imagined creating such
magical place for a feature. Okay, so this flick as far as stories go is very
good, its character are very detailed and simple all at the same time leaving
everybody to enjoy the picture in a better much easier way. Now, although the
story is simple and whatnot it can get a bit boring which is I think the thing
that kind of slows it up. The things that really make this film are its
wardrobe, visuals, setting and its vast roster of very imaginative characters,
not to mention that it is very colorful for this type of movie. Overall the
movie is good but I can’t say that it is perfect because it had me yawning for
quite a while.

Rating:
4 stars out of 5.

Kill Bill Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 (2003 – 2004)

This two-part film has to be the
greatest revenge flick done in a long time, all thanks to master
writer/director Quentin Tarantino. The fourth movie by Tarantino gives us the
epic revenge story of Beatrix Kiddo A.K.A. The Bride A.K.A. Black Mamba an ex-member
of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad who is targeted by her former boss Bill
after finding out that she is pregnant with his kid and she is getting married
to another guy. This epic action drama pays homage to many film genres like
kung fu cinema, samurai films, Italian spaghetti westerns and exploitation
movies all while making numerous pop culture references and an extensive use of
popular music.

There’s no doubt in my mind that
this is one of the best action flicks of the first decade of the new millennium
and that it is also one of my personal favorites, being that I love Quentin
Tarantino and all. Everything in this movie is great, the acting, directing,
choice of music, cinematography and script, its homage to movie genres and film
movements, its use of anime and its use of buckets of blood and exploitative
violence. The picture in its entirety is just a masterpiece of cinema and
storytelling, just like I have told my friends multiple times “It is a novel
told through the seventh art”.

Rating:
5 stars out of 5.