Clint Eastwood’s performance is the backbone of Gran Torino, a stellar movie

December 29, 2008 by vongsundara · Leave a Comment 

Prior to yesterday, I’d only ever seen one Clint Eastwood movie, Million Dollar Baby. I didn’t know quite what to expect going into Gran Torino, but I shouldn’t have been too surprised that Clint Eastwood once again delivers a stellar lead performance as Walt Kowalski, a Korean War veteran.

There are plenty of sites out there to give summaries, so I’ll jump into my generally feelings about the film.

Surrounding Clint Eastwood’s rock-solid performance are some unknown Asian actors. They do a good job for the most part, though their inexperience shows through in a number of scenes unfortunately, and they are not always believable in their roles.
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Twilight movie stylishly mixes adolescent love with vampires and werewolves

December 14, 2008 by vongsundara · Leave a Comment 

This evening I went out with my roomie to see Twilight at the movie theatre. Twilight is a vampire romance movie based on a novel by Stephanie Meyer. I am a complete novice to the series and have never read any of the books, but I got caught up in the hype and have been eagerly awaiting the movie.

I’m generally not a fan of traditional vampire lore, though I am a super huge fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its offshoot graphic novel Fray by Joss Whedon. In a lot of ways, I found similarities between the two properties: love stories at the heart of a crazy, vampire-filled world.

I enjoy what Stephanie Meyer has done with some of the old vampire lore mainstays, particularly her twist on why vampires don’t go out during daylight.
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Quantum of Solace is fun but sparks originality of Casino Royale

November 16, 2008 by vongsundara · Leave a Comment 

I’ve been eagerly awaiting Quantum of Solace for a while now. It is easily the biggest movie of the 2008 holiday season now that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been delayed until next summer.

I went in with fairly high expectations, as I am a huge fan of Casino Royale’s reboot of the 007 franchise. Don’t get me wrong, I totally loved the Pierce Brosnan films, but Casino Royale was definitely more in line with where movies are headed nowadays with a lot more grit. Quantum of Solace delivered for the most part.
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Eagle Eye a solid action vehicle for new star Shia Labeouf

November 13, 2008 by vongsundara · Leave a Comment 

I went to see Eagle Eye when I recently visited my family in Winnipeg, and I had a pretty good time. Eagle Eye stars Shia Labeouf from Transformers and Disturbia, and he is becoming quite the movie star. Unfortunately, it seems like every movie, he looks greasier and greasier, but I guess some people like him that way. It’s difficult for me to see, though, because I’m used to him from his clean days in Even Stevens.

Eagle Eye delivered on what it promised, hardcore action throughout. The majority of the movie involved running, running and more running, followed by explosions. Unfortunately, the plot didn’t work out quite as well.
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Mamma Mia! has made me a huge fan of ABBA

October 19, 2008 by vongsundara · Leave a Comment 

Believe it or not, I went into this movie knowing of only two ABBA songs: Dancing Queen and Take A Chance On Me. I had no idea of the breadth of ABBA’s hits. I left this movie a super fan. In fact, I went straight out and bought the movie soundtrack.

I’ve read several reviews, and I don’t think most reviewers have been ignoring the fantastic performance turned in by Amanda Seyfried as lead Sophie. Amanda has an amazing quivering soprano voice that cuts straight to the heart of the lyrics. I have been a big fan of Amanda’s since Mean Girls and Big Love, but I never knew she had such a great voice.
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