Chuck 3×15 Chuck versus the Role Models
Again, I’ve enjoyed this episode very much. Loved the tiger even without Mike Tyson.
I also liked the hint to an oncoming arc in the end. I strongly suspect that the Chuck gang and the Awesome family will soon cross paths again.

And I loved this little spoof of Hart to Hart (not to mention the blink towards LOST at the end) (warning: contains spoilers if you’re not up2date):

And here’s the original:

LOST 6×14 The Candidate
Just like with Supernatural they seem to be cleaning up the game board for the Grand Finale.
What disturbed me most about the Kwon’s death was not that it happened after they reunited after being apart for three years (bad things happen…) but that neither Jin nor Sun thought about their daughter at that moment, a child that will now be raised without parents. I understand that a little more from Jin’s perspective since he never saw his child and it was three years since Sun had been pregnant but Sun should have said something!

The Big Bang Theory 3×20 The Spaghetti Catalyst
I loved it how Leonard and Penny behaved like divorced parents (IMHO with switched gender roles – she takes him to Disneyworld and he has to deal with his nightmares afterwards) and how Sheldon – who loves them both – has a hard time deciding of whom to hang with.

How I Met Your Mother 5×21 Twin Beds
This story was not well constructed. I get that Barney and Ted might have regrets but how it played out was not well executed IMHO – especially since Don is basically an unknown to me. How often have we seen this guy? Three, four times? And now I should care about him?
I also didn’t like the twin bed story, it felt contrived.

Community 1×23 Modern Warfare
I can’t even count how many references this episode alone had – and still was able to tell a fully fledged story: First there were the named references to Friends and Cheers then it seemed like a post-apocalyptic movie, then Abed quoted The Terminator and fought like in The Matrix (including bullet-time at a later point), then there was this doomsday movie scene where people are warming their hands over a burning barrel in the midst of destruction (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow), the mention of the Neutral Zone (Star Trek), The Prize (Highlander), the gun taped on the back (Die Hard) and I’m pretty sure Señor Chang’s golden guns were from some movie, too.
I’m also sure I did not mention every reference here nor do I think that I caught all of them. Two words: Absolutely hilarious.

Bones 5×20 The Witch in the Wardrobe
Finally! Took them long enough. And since they aren’t the primary couple I’m just hoping that Hodgins and Angela can now live happily ever after.
The actual case wasn’t that interesting IMHO especially in the way it turned out.

Smallville 9×20 Hostage
When it was announced that Martha would return to Smallville it became clear to me that she was Red Queen.
In general I had no problem with how the story was developing. Except for the split of Clark and Lois because that’s just convenient drama for its own sake right before the season ends.
I also don’t think that the “unmasking The Blur” message was from Clark. He’d probably tell her who he was and then show her that he actually is the Blur and not vice versa. Which leaves Zod and since the finale is coming up, Lois gets right in the middle of it.

PS: I hate Youtube (i.e. the music industry) for disabling all the videos for different countries. I really liked this one which I now can’t access anymore without jumping through hoops.

Doctor Who 5×06 Vampires of Venice
This episode was a bit underwhelming. On a rational level I can understand why the Doctor took Rory along for the ride but for me it worked better when Mickey was the companion to the companion.
The story also didn’t hold much interest for me. The best part was when the Vampire Queen and the Doctor played twenty questions.

CW 13-19

But now to the movie itself. I’m not naïve. When I’m watching movies like Independence Day, Armageddon or Transformers then I know exactly what kind of intellectual level I have to expect. I’ve got no problem with that as long as I’m well entertained. It’s like a ride on the roller coaster. You end up where you started but you had a lot of fun while riding it.

But that’s the minimum requirement: Fun. And this is where Clash of the Titans fails abysmally. The same guy who portrayed the hero in Avatar tried it again and failed again at this relatively trivial task.
One doesn’t bond with any of the characters – maybe with the exception of Zeus – especially not the main character.
So what’s left? Battles and CGI effects of course, they were the reason we went into that movie. But on that front, too: Oh, well. Only 2.5 things that one might call battles and once again they were cut so fast that one couldn’t really follow and at the same time they were not really spectacular. There’s a giant Kraken that comes out of the water and demolishes an entire city? Honestly, it didn’t feel that way at all. I also had the feeling there was something wrong about the fight against the scorpions. It seemed as if more warriors were involved that the group had heads and despite the casualties nobody seemed to be missing afterwards.
Nothing really worked for me.

You know the scene, in which William Wallace/Aragorn/President Mitchell gathers the troops and gives a speech, to motivate them one last time to hold the line against the darkness and to be the last line of defence against doom. Perseus tried that one, too. I can’t even slightly remember what it was about…

PS: And the worst thing of all: Two thirds of the time you didn’t even get the feeling to watch a 3D movie; just a 2D one while wearing sun glasses. Only in the panorama shots you got some depth. But you have to pay an additional 3€ because they don’t even play the 2D version!

Sorry, I am not overly impressed. Sure the 3D stuff looked fabulous – for about 15 – 20 minutes. Then I got used to it and it couldn’t distract me from the story anymore. And you can split the story into three elements: it’s either boring, melodramatic or cheesy – and not in a good way.

I had quite a number of *groan* moments, especially towards the end. For example when he tried to deliver a speech (and I love speeches!) that was a mixture of Braveheart (Unite the clans!) and Independence Day (Tomorrow we will celebrate our Independence Day! [or something along those lines]). Or when the evil guy drew a knife from his Mech suit(!!!) and then good guy says: “I hoped you’d say that” – Stallone at his best! – But wait, no Stallone in the movie!! And when she held him in his arms I waited for him to say: *Darth Vader rattle* “Only once I want to see you with my own eyes.” (he didn’t, but he might as well).

When I saw the chief warrior indian Na’vi I instinctively had to think of a Mohawk native American, I couldn’t help it.

On the technical side: As I said it looked great except for one effect: When a real person was about one quarter “deep” into the picture I always had the feeling that the proportions weren’t right, they all looked to thin. It was OK when they were direct at the front or in the background, but in this section they just didn’t look right.
In the beginning I also had the feeling as if the persons were to small in comparison to their surroundings. I’m not talking about the Na’vi, I noticed it long before I saw the first Na’vi, I’m talking about real persons standing around their own research utilities. But maybe that’s both just my eyes.

I simply can’t understand why someone spends a couple of hundred million dollars for special effects but is too cheap to pay a decent story writer.

January, 16th

The Negotiator

Director: F. Gary Gray

Samuel L. Jackson … Lt. Danny Roman
Kevin Spacey … Lt. Chris Sabian
David Morse … Cmdr. Adam Beck
Ron Rifkin … Cmdr. Grant Frost
John Spencer … Chief Al Travis
J.T. Walsh … Insp. Terence Niebaum
Siobhan Fallon … Maggie
Paul Giamatti … Rudy Timmons

Synopsis: Danny Roman is a negotiator for hostage situations for the police and he’s one of the best there is. One day he gets framed for stealing money from the police pension fund and it looks like he’s going to prison for it. He sees no other choice than taking hostages himself, to force the issue and to find out what really happened and who was involved. His negotiator is Chris Sabian from the other side of the city and he’s also very good at what he does.

My Opinion: A fascinating thriller with an excellent cast. I’m not a big fan of thrillers but this is a movie I watch regularly. It’s very powerful and still has its funny moments – like the scene where we get introduced to Chris Sabian. I also like the selection of hostages and how they contribute to the case.
Spoiler (mark to read):
An interesting thing about these kinds of movies is that – despite them ending in a happy end – they don’t actually have a real happy end, because if you think it through he still will be charged of taking hostages, destroying a federal building and other stuff. Even if he gets only a slap on the hand, it’s unlikely that he’s ever going to work as a cop again.
But I think that falls in the category of Fridge Logic.

Die Hard 2

Director: Renny Harlin

Bruce Willis … Lt. John McClane
Bonnie Bedelia … Holly McClane
William Atherton … Richard Thornburg
William Sadler … Col. Stuart
Reginald VelJohnson … Sgt. Al Powell
Franco Nero … Gen. Ramon Esperanza
John Amos … Maj. Grant
Dennis Franz … Capt. Carmine Lorenzo
Fred Dalton Thompson … Trudeau
Tom Bower … Marvin

Synopsis: “The same shit happens to the same guy twice.” Another Christmas and Holly is flying in to Washington D.C. where her husband is waiting for her. But a flight designated FM-1 is also scheduled to land – and this flight has an important “passenger”: General Esperanza, a despot and drug lord and he has friends at the airport. And they have no intentions of getting the General be handed over to the justice system. What they didn’t expect was the hero of the Nakatomi Tower.

My Opinion: I like this movie nearly as much as the first one. It hasn’t as good a villain as the first one had, but it’s still a great action movie with a cool story, an awesome body count and a lot of exploding buildings and planes and even more swearing. What’s not to like?

The Fugitive

Director: Andrew Davis

Harrison Ford … Dr. Richard Kimble
Tommy Lee Jones … Samuel Gerard
Julianne Moore … Dr. Anne Eastman
Joe Pantoliano … Cosmo Renfro
Andreas Katsulas … Sykes
Jeroen Krabbé … Dr. Charles Nichols
Tom Wood … Newman

Synopsis: Dr. Richard Kimble has been found guilty of murdering his wife. But he claims to be innocent and when his prison bus collides with a train he gets the chance to escape. But now he has Deputy Samuel Gerard from the U.S. Marshals Service on his tail. Can he stay out of prison long enough to find the killer of his wife?

My Opinion: I’ve never seen a single of the series this movie is based upon but I already like it on its own. Tommy Lee Jones is a great hunter but Harrison Ford is the better hunted. I like all the action sequences and all the running (lots of running!) but the movie doesn’t forget the actual story and I liked all these small pieces like when he helped that boy in the hospital. I also liked the scenes where it appeared as if they were close to him just to reveal that he wasn’t the target.

January, 17th

Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

Director: Geoff Murphy

Steven Seagal … Casey Ryback
Eric Bogosian … Travis Dane
Everett McGill … Marcus Penn
Katherine Heigl … Sarah Ryback
Morris Chestnut … Bobby Zachs
Andy Romano … Admiral Bates
Royce D. Applegate … Ryback’s Cook
Nick Mancuso … Tom Breaker
Kurtwood Smith … General Stanley Cooper

Synopsis: Casey and his niece Sarah are travelling by train across the United States. But aboard this train are also a crazy lunatic and a group of mercenaries who take over a highly secret and highly dangerous satellite that can destroy the entire west coast by causing earthquakes below the San Andreas Fault. Casey is the only one who can stop them before they kill millions.

My Opinion: Steven Seagal is no Bruce Willis but I still enjoy his action movies a lot. He kills ruthlessly and has cool knife-fighting skills. The general plot is pretty much a slightly adjusted template copy of Under Siege but I don’t really care. It’s just fun to watch.
This time was also the first time that the name Katherine Heigl rang a bell.

Under Siege

Director: Andrew Davis

Steven Seagal … Casey Ryback
Tommy Lee Jones … William Stranix
Gary Busey … Cmdr. Krill
Erika Eleniak … Jordan Tate
Colm Meaney … Doumer
Patrick O’Neal … Capt. Adams
Andy Romano … Adm. Bates
Nick Mancuso … Tom Breaker
Glenn Morshower … Ens. Taylor

Synopsis: The destroyer U.S.S. Missouri embarks on its last journey from Pearl Harbor to San Francisco where she will be decommissioned. Manned only with a skeleton crew the crew prepares for the captain’s birthday party – including the cook, Casey Ryback. But the party takes an unexpected turn and the ship is suddenly in the hands of mercenaries who want to get their hands on the nuclear warheads from the ship’s arsenal. The only people who can stop them is “just a cook” – and a stripper.

My Opinion: I love this movie. I know it’s cheesy but Casey and Jordan work very well together and Stranix and Krill are really cool bastards. And then there’s of course the jumping-out-of-a-cake scene.
It’s a nice action movie but there’s one scene that upvalues the movie for me and that is the last scene of the movie where Ryback pays his last respects to the captain – in full dress uniform.

January, 24th

Hero

Director: Stephen Frears

Dustin Hoffman … Bernie Laplante
Geena Davis … Gale Gayley
Andy Garcia … John Bubber
Joan Cusack … Evelyn
Tom Arnold … Chick
James Madio … Joey

Synopsis: Bernie’s life philosophy is to stay below the radar, to keep a low profile. Unfortunately that didn’t help him when he was caught selling stolen goods for which he most likely will go to prison. But before that happens, a plane crashes right before his nose. And Bernie – reluctantly defying his own nature – helps to save all the passengers. Then he snatches a purse and disappears into the night. And suddenly the whole world is looking for the Angel of Flight 104…

My Opinion: This is a comedy that doesn’t follow the usual plot pattern. Bernie isn’t a nice, charming guy at the end; he’s the same old grumpy character as in the beginning with all his flaws and merits. Actually, the character that changed the most throughout the movie was Gale. Too bad she quit her job the moment she was emotionally ready to be a different reporter than she was before.

The Girl Next Door

Director: Luke Greenfield

Emile Hirsch … Matthew Kidman
Elisha Cuthbert … Danielle
Timothy Olyphant … Kelly
James Remar … Hugo Posh
Chris Marquette … Eli
Paul Dano … Klitz
Amanda Swisten … April
Sung Hi Lee … Ferrari

Synopsis: Matthew is the model student at his high school: He’s class president, wants to go into politics and has already gotten into Georgetown University. Then he meets his new neighbour: Danielle. She’s very different from any girl he’s ever met. But he has yet to learn how different she really is. And she has the talent to bring out a side of him he didn’t even knew he had.

My Opinion: I simply bought the movie because 24’s Elisha Cuthbert starred in it. On the surface it’s just another romcom but due to Danielle’s background it’s not that usual. And even though he makes the genre-typical blunder and affronts her, it doesn’t happen at the usual point in the story and then the movie isn’t over either. I also liked the surprising end and also Timothy Olyphant as the “villain” who isn’t that bad after all.
The juice was worth the squeeze.

January, 29th

The Proposal

Director: Anne Fletcher

Sandra Bullock … Margaret Tate
Ryan Reynolds … Andrew Paxton
Mary Steenburgen … Grace Paxton
Craig T. Nelson … Joe Paxton
Betty White … Grandma Annie
Denis O’Hare … Mr. Gilbertson
Malin Akerman … Gertrude

Synopsis: Margaret Tate is a successful yet hated editor-in-chief in a New York book publishing house. Her assistant Andrew puts up with her because he wants to become an editor one day but she keeps him on a short leash. Margaret is not American, she’s Canadian and suddenly she has a problem: Her visa has been invalidated and she’s about to be deported. Her only chance is to marry Andrew who unwillingly agrees to the sham. What looked like a simple business proposal in the beginning becomes harder when she meets his actual family…

My Opinion: Sandra Bullock isn’t the youngest anymore but I think she’s aged very gracefully. I like this movie. It hasn’t that much haha-funny moments where you have to laugh out loud but it has a certain charm that makes you smile a lot when you watch it. And just like with Men in Trees it wins much of its comedy elements from a putting a big city girl into nowhere land.
I also watched the alternate ending and I am glad that they didn’t use it. The movie ending was certainly better.

January, 30th

While You Were Sleeping

Director: Jon Turteltaub

Sandra Bullock    …    Lucy Eleanor Moderatz
Bill Pullman   …    Jack Callaghan
Peter Gallagher   …    Peter Callaghan
Peter Boyle   …    Ox Callaghan
Jack Warden   …    Saul
Michael Rispoli    …    Joe ‘Joey’ Fusco, Jr.

Synopsis: Lucy works in a ticket box on the ‘L’ in Chicago and while he doesn’t notice her, she has noticed and fallen in love with him. And when he’s tossed on the tracks one day she saves him. But it’s only then when the real trouble starts. She is mistaken as his fiancé and since he’s in a coma he can’t clear up this mess and for now she’s just going along with it. But while she pretends to be engaged with the comatose Peter, she’s slowly falling in love with his brother, Jack.

My Opinion: Even though I was aware of the general plot of this movie (I’ve seen it many times before) I didn’t notice the many parallels between this and The Proposal until now. But if at all, it would be a neg for The Proposal, not for this one, since it was here first and there are also quite a few differences.
In order to not having to praise Sandra again (though I could go on for hours if I wanted to ) let me say a few words about Bill Pullman. I like his characters. There, you had your few words… No, really, I only know him from romances and not so serious movies like Spaceballs and Independence Day but I really like him in these movies and I like him here; he’s way better for Lucy than his brother.

Speed

Director: Jan de Bont

Keanu Reeves    …    Officer Jack Traven
Dennis Hopper   …    Howard Payne
Sandra Bullock   …    Annie Porter
Joe Morton   …    Capt. McMahon
Jeff Daniels   …    Det. Harold ‘Harry’ Temple
Alan Ruck   …    Stephens

Synopsis: Jack and Harry work with the L.A. Police Bomb Squad and they just managed to save 13 people from a rigged elevator. They believe the bomber to be dead until he calls again. Now he has mined the bus 2525 which will explode as soon as it drives faster than 50 miles per hour and then falls under that speed limit. While Harry tries to find the bomber, Jack tries to rescue the passengers – among them Annie Porter, who drives the bus.

My Opinion: A cool piece of action cinema with a lot of car stunts (and a flying bus!). It’s watch-worthy based alone on the sheer amount of things, cars, planes and subways that get destroyed over the course of this movie.

February

Now I only have to get rid of the old (yet still fully functioning) telly. I hope there’s someone on eBay out there who will pick it up.

I even got my first three Blu-rays:

July, 12th

13 Going on 30

Jennifer Garner    …    Jenna Rink
Mark Ruffalo   …    Matt Flamhaff
Judy Greer   …    Lucy Wyman
Andy Serkis   …    Richard Kneeland
Kathy Baker   …    Bev Rink

Synopsis: It’s 1987 and Jenna has her 13th birthday. But it ends in disaster and she wishes nothing more than to be 30. And then her wish gets granted. When she awakes it’s 2004 and she’s Jennifer Garner and editor of the glamour magazine “Poise”. But she’s still 13 and she finds herself in a world where everything is different and – most importantly – where she’s different.

My Opinion: Jennifer Garner is a great 13-year-old. It’s funny to watch her react to things like a small girl would react. I also liked the fact that it turned out to be her that sold the front cover topics to their competitor and not Tom-Tom/Lucy because that would have been too obvious. What I didn’t care much about was Mark Ruffalo, I have nothing against the actor, I just don’t care about him in any of his movies.

And now:

‘Cause this is Thriller!

July, 15th

Highlander

Christopher Lambert    …    Connor ‘The Highlander’ MacLeod / Russell Edwin Nash
Roxanne Hart   …    Brenda J. Wyatt
Clancy Brown   …    Victor Kruger / The Kurgan
Sean Connery   …    Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez
Beatie Edney   …    Heather MacLeod
Alan North   …    Lieutenant Frank Moran

Synopsis: Connor MacLeod of the clan MacLeod was born more than 450 years ago in the highlands of Scotland. He’s immortal and he’s not alone. Only a severed neck can kill him, when the stroke of a sword will release the power of the Quickening. Now the time of the Gathering has come, where only a few of them are still alive and they will fight for the Prize. In the end, there can be only one.

My Opinion: Love the first Highlander movie as well as the TV show, especially since I love sword fights and japanese Katanas. I love this whole Immortal mythology where guys like Ramirez have been walking over the Earth for more than 2400 years (or Methos in the TV show, with more than 5000 years the oldest known Immortal). And Queen’s soundtrack to this movie is superb. A lot of famous songs came out of it (“Princes of the Universe”, “Who Wants to Live Forever”, “A Kind of Magic”).
What I found funny was that the french-american Lambert played the scottish MacLeod while the scottish Connery played an Egyptian in the service of the spanish king.

July, 16th

Kleinruppin forever

Tobias Schenke    …    Tim / Ronny
Anna Brüggemann   …    Jana
Michael Gwisdek   …    Erwin
Tino Mewes   …    René
Tobias Kasimirowicz   …    Mathieu
Toni Snetberger   …    Niklas
Sebastian Kroehnert   …    Max
Michael Kind   …    Koslowski

Synopsis: In 1967 the (east german) parents of the twins Tim and Ronny are killed in a car crash. Tim gets adopted and grows up in Bremen where he becomes a tennis player who is about to go to college in Florida. But one sunny day in 1985 changes everything. His school class goes on a day trip into the “Zone” and suddenly Tim stands face to face with his brother – a brother he didn’t know he had. But when it’s time to return home his brother knocks him out and takes his place. Suddenly Tim finds himself stuck in East Germany – and of course every one assumes that he’s Ronny.

My Opinion: This movie manages to show the life in the GDR frighteningly accurate. All the tiny details you can only spot if you have lived there but also the big picture with the banners and the attitude of the people who have positions of power. But it’s also a good romance movie about a guy who wants to go home badly (and of course runs into trouble with the Stasi) and the local girl who hasn’t known any other live than this.

July, 28th

Independence Day

Will Smith    …    Captain Steven Hiller
Bill Pullman   …    President Thomas J. Whitmore
Jeff Goldblum   …    David Levinson
Mary McDonnell   …    First Lady Marilyn Whitmore
Judd Hirsch   …    Julius Levinson
Robert Loggia   …    General William Grey
Randy Quaid   …    Russell Casse
Margaret Colin   …    Constance Spano
Vivica A. Fox   …    Jasmine Dubrow
Adam Baldwin   …    Major Mitchell
Brent Spiner   …    Dr. Brackish Okun

Synopsis: July 2nd. Aliens come to Earth but they don’t bring Elvis back. Instead they blow up the usual suspects (L.A., NYC and Washington D.C.). July 3rd. We take all our CGI F18s but these bastards have shields that can withstand a nuke. Dammit! July 4th. Aliens seem to use an operating system programmed by Microsoft since it is vulnerable to viruses written on an Apple notebook. A nuke under the banner of Jolly Roger takes care of the rest.

My Opinion: This time I decided to watch the theatrical cut again and I actually noticed (most? all?) the missing parts and I think they give this film a bit more depth (But what is depth in a puddle? ). It’s still a very enjoyable film if you want to stress your subwoofer. The logic in this movie is as missing as in the Transformers movies but the jokes are not as mundane as the pee jokes. Until I read the name I never noticed that Jasmine was Vernita Green from Kill Bill. And I liked to see Mary McDonnell (President Roslin in Battlestar Galactica) and Margaret Colin (Eleanor Waldorf in Gossip Girl) again.

August

It wasn’t planned as such, but in the last few weeks I have watched quite a number of Science-Fiction movies and a good part of them were “Doomsday” movies, so I might as well write a few words about them. Most of these movies are very, very US-patriotic but when you can accept that and when you can ignore the scientific “inaccuracies” you can have a lot of fun with them.

Independence Day

Will Smith   …    Captain Steven Hiller
Bill Pullman   …    President Thomas J. Whitmore
Jeff Goldblum   …    David Levinson
Mary McDonnell   …    First Lady Marilyn Whitmore
Judd Hirsch   …    Julius Levinson
Robert Loggia   …    General William Grey
Randy Quaid   …    Russell Casse
Margaret Colin   …    Constance Spano
Vivica A. Fox   …    Jasmine Dubrow
Adam Baldwin   …    Major Mitchell
Brent Spiner   …    Dr. Brackish Okun

Synopsis: July, 2nd. Some aliens come in a huge ship. They place their UFOs all over the world and blow everything apart. July, 3rd. We try to strike back and fail miserably. July, 4th. We give them a cold and blow them apart.

My Opinion: Great movie. Love it. It’s so cheesy that falls out of the bottom of the scale and comes back from the top of it. The characters are so overdrawn that you can’t take them seriously and that saves the movie. Imagine you would have to look at this movie with a serious eye. The president that fights in the final battle, the drunken pilot that saves the day, the scientist that writes a computer virus for an alien computer and Will Smith in the middle of it.

Armageddon

Bruce Willis   …    Harry S. Stamper
Billy Bob Thornton   …    Dan Truman, NASA Administrator
Ben Affleck   …    A.J. Frost
Liv Tyler   …    Grace Stamper
Will Patton   …    Charles ‘Chick’ Chapple
Steve Buscemi   …    Rockhound
William Fichtner   …    Colonel William Sharp, Shuttle Freedom Pilot
Owen Wilson   …    Oscar Choi, Geologist
Michael Clarke Duncan   …    Jayotis ‘Bear’ Kurleenbear
Peter Stormare   …    Lev Andropov, Russian Cosmonaut
Ken Hudson Campbell   …    Max Lennert
Jessica Steen   …    Jennifer Watts, Shuttle Freedom Co-Pilot
Keith David   …    Lt. General Kimsey
Jason Isaacs   …    Dr. Ronald Quincy, Research

Synopsis: A meteor the size of Texas in on its way to Earth and it’s hitting us in 18 days. It will be a ‘Global Killer’, the end of mankind. And there’s only one way to save us: Send a oil drilling team up there and blow it up from the inside with a nuke. But oil drillers are a tough crowd and not trained astronauts. Will this ever going to work?

My Opinion: This is another movie I enjoy a lot. It has a great soundtrack and a great look, I especially like the non-destructive effects, like the take-off of the shuttles and the look of the meteor. I also like the characters, they are so comic-like: Rockhound, Bear, Lev. This is also a movie one can’t take seriously or one can’t appreciate it. And although he was portrayed in a very chlichéd way, I liked it that Russia was allowed to help saving the world – whereas ID4 was basically an all-american gig.

Deep Impact

Robert Duvall    …    Capt. Spurgeon ‘Fish’ Tanner
Téa Leoni   …    Jenny Lerner
Elijah Wood   …    Leo Beiderman
Morgan Freeman   …    President Tom Beck
Maximilian Schell   …    Jason Lerner
James Cromwell   …    Alan Rittenhouse
Laura Innes   …    Beth Stanley
Leelee Sobieski   …    Sarah Hotchner

Synopsis: A meteor the size of ? in on its way to Earth and it’s hitting us in 18 days months. A spacecraft built by the Americans and Russians departs to intercept it, dig a hole and blow it up with a nuke. But it fails and now two huge pieces are still on their way to Earth and they will devastate most of Earth’s surface and kill billions of people.

My Opinion: Ironically this movie has – when using ten words or less – the same story as Armageddon and it came out in the very same year (1998) and yet it’s totally different. They have more time to intercept the meteor, they are sending real astronauts, it’s more serious about the whole topic and it shows more of the life on Earth during that time. But I have to confess, I like Armageddon more. I think this is a good movie, but due to its seriousness one has to be in the mood watch it.

Demolition Man

Sylvester Stallone    …    John Spartan
Wesley Snipes   …    Simon Phoenix
Sandra Bullock   …    Lt. Lenina Huxley
Nigel Hawthorne   …    Dr. Raymond Cocteau
Benjamin Bratt   …    Alfredo Garcia
Bob Gunton   …    Chief George Earle
Glenn Shadix   …    Associate Bob
Denis Leary   …    Edgar Friendly

Synopsis: Los Angeles, 1996. Detective Spartan arrests the maniac Simon Phoenix but several hostages are killed in the process. Both Phoenix and Spartan are convicted and brought to the new cryo prison. San Angeles, 2032. Simon Phoenix manages to escape during a probation hearing and causes havoc in a now peaceful world. Only an old-school cop like Spartan can stop an old-school criminal like Phoenix. But Spartan has a hard time to fit into a world where swearing is forbidden and Pizza Hut has won the franchise wars.

My Opinion: Yet another movie that takes itself too seriously. The action scenes between Sly and Wesley were quite enjoyable and the scenes between Sly and Sandra were really funny. I loved all those 80s references like Lethal Weapon, Love Boat and of course the side blow to Arnie and the “Schwarzenegger Library”. The question this movie asks is whether we really would like to live in a over-nurturing, perfect and boring world like this or whether would belong to Friendly’s rebels.

Daylight

Sylvester Stallone    …    Kit Latura
Amy Brenneman   …    Madelyne Thompson
Viggo Mortensen   …    Roy Nord
Dan Hedaya   …    Frank Kraft
Jay O. Sanders   …    Steven Crighton
Karen Young   …    Sarah Crighton
Claire Bloom   …    Eleanor Trilling
Vanessa Bell Calloway   …    Grace Calloway
Renoly Santiago   …    Mikey
Colin Fox   …    Roger Trilling
Danielle Harris   …    Ashley Crighton
Trina McGee   …    LaTonya
Marcello Thedford   …    Kadeem
Sage Stallone   …    Vincent

Synopsis: Chemical waste is brought illiegally through the New York-New Jersey tunnel. Thieves who have just robbed a jewelry store try to escape and ram these trucks. This causes an explosion and both sides of the tunnel collapse. Kit Latura, limo driver and fired chief of Emergency Medical Services goes in and tries to rescue possible survivors. But there are a lot of obstacles: The fires are still burning, the tunnel is getting flooded and the walls are caving in.

My Opinion: Technically this is not a Science-Fiction movie, but I was in the mood for another Sly movie and a lot of stuff gets blown up here. It’s a standard action no-brainer with all kind of action scenes, but also a lot of personal drama, like the decision when you actively have to leave someone behind and you’ll know he is going to die alone but there’s nothing you can do.
As you can see I watch a whole lot of movies that have plotholes the size of the moon and yet there are some story elements that bug me – even in such movies. In this one it was the mayor’s(?) decision to re-open both ends of the tunnel now. Why? Because the tunnel is an traffic artery and she needs to send cars through it again. — In reality such a tunnel would be closed for months for inspections and repairs even if it wouldn’t collapse the minute they open the ends.

Galaxy Quest

Tim Allen    …    Jason Nesmith
Sigourney Weaver   …    Gwen DeMarco
Alan Rickman   …    Alexander Dane
Tony Shalhoub   …    Fred Kwan
Sam Rockwell   …    Guy Fleegman
Daryl Mitchell   …    Tommy Webber
Enrico Colantoni   …    Mathesar
Robin Sachs   …    Sarris

Synopsis: Jason Nesmith is a former TV star who played the role of “Commander Taggart” in a show called “Galaxy Quest”. Now he attends conventions, gives autographs and opens electronic stores. His co-stars aren’t doing much better. But then some real aliens come to Jason in the believe that all the stories about the “N.S.E.A. Protector” and its crew are also real. And they need him and his crew to save their race.

My Opinion: I’ve been a Star Trek for a long time but I’ve never been that fanatic that I can’t enjoy a good parody or homage like this one or the german “USS Highlander” movies. I especially liked the well chosen cast with Tim Allen as Shatner copy (when the stone alien ripped his shirt off, he even walked like Shatner in TOS ), Rickman who is this Shakespeare actor and basically hates his GQ role by now, the tough Alien woman Weaver who is now doomed to repeat the computer and Rockwell as prototypical Redshirt. And of course the geeky fans who dissect every episode for canonical errors.

I, Robot

Will Smith    …    Del Spooner
Bridget Moynahan   …    Susan Calvin
Alan Tudyk   …    Sonny
James Cromwell   …    Dr. Alfred Lanning
Bruce Greenwood   …    Lawrence Robertson
Adrian Ricard   …    Granny
Chi McBride   …    Lt. John Bergin
Shia LaBeouf    …    Farber

Synopsis: U.S. Robotics is producing and selling robots that work under the Three Laws of Robotics. The current series NS-4 is soon to be replaced by the NS-5 series which have an constant uplink to the central computer and can receive updates this way. But for personal reasons Detective Spooner doesn’t trust robots and when one day on of the major scientiets of the robot project is killed, Spooner suspects that it was a robot who did it. But he is the only one who thinks so – until it is too late.

My Opinion: I’ve never read any of Asimov’s stories, which is a shame actually. But I knew the basic story and thought that they made a good movie out of it. Sometimes the action was a bit over the top, especially in the Spooner-vs-masses-of-robots scenes but on the other hand, if they would have used less it wouldn’t have felt right either, as they hadn’t enough money or computer power to render more. And they managed to let me feel empathy for the non-human character whose face was rendered based on Alan Tudyk (A Knight’s Tale, Firefly), who also spoke Sonny.

The Island

Ewan McGregor    …    Lincoln Six Echo / Tom Lincoln
Scarlett Johansson   …    Jordan Two Delta / Sarah Jordan
Djimon Hounsou   …    Albert Laurent
Sean Bean   …    Dr. Merrick
Steve Buscemi   …    James McCord
Michael Clarke Duncan   …    Starkweather Two Delta
Ethan Phillips   …    Jones Three Echo
Brian Stepanek   …    Gandu Three Echo

Synopsis: Lincoln 6 Echo and Jordan 2 Delta are two of few survivors of an environmental disaster. Now they live in an isolated facility with a few thousand other survivors and their only hope is that they win in the lottery and can leave for The Island, the last place on Earth where people can live directly under the sky. But Lincoln starts to ask questions because he has weird dreams he can’t explain and when he finds out the terrible truth, everything changes.

My Opinion: Some people compared this movie to Logan’s Run but I can see only a few minor parallels, IMHO not enough to really compare these movies. The movie basically flows by from one chase scene to the next. There’s not that much plot in it, but it’s enjoyable to watch.

The Day After Tomorrow

Dennis Quaid   …    Jack Hall
Jake Gyllenhaal   …    Sam Hall
Emmy Rossum   …    Laura Chapman
Dash Mihok   …    Jason Evans
Jay O. Sanders   …    Frank Harris
Sela Ward   …    Dr. Lucy Hall
Austin Nichols   …    J.D.
Arjay Smith   …    Brian Parks
Tamlyn Tomita   …    Janet Tokada
Sasha Roiz   …    Parker
Ian Holm   …    Terry Rapson

Synopsis: When a huge ice shell the size of Rhode Island breaks off the arcic shelf, Dr. Hall warns the scientific community that a climatic shift is coming. And it actually is but it comes even faster than Dr. Hall had expected it. But nobody believes Hall until it’s too late for many people. The north-atlantic current is breaking down and the temperatures in the northern hemisphere are quickly dropping below zero and people start to die by the thousands. And Hall’s son is stuck in New York, fighting for survival.

My Opinion: Luckily they haven’t translated the title or it would simply be called “Übermorgen” in german. What I liked about this movie is that the catastrophe actually happened. That they didn’t invent some astronomical blow-dryer to reheat the Earth. That they actually put the irony in it that the survivors of the so-called first-world countries had to seek refuge in the less developed countries. The one thing I didn’t like was that the Vice President survived, he caused so many death due to his ignorance and yet he gets the promotion.

War of the Worlds

Tom Cruise    …    Ray Ferrier
Dakota Fanning   …    Rachel Ferrier
Miranda Otto   …    Mary Ann
Justin Chatwin   …    Robbie
Tim Robbins   …    Harlan Ogilvy
David Alan Basche   …    Tim

Synopsis: There are some weird storms and some lightning hits the ground. Shortly after machines come out of the ground, machines that have been there since before the first houses were built there. And these machines, these tripods, destroy everything in their path and kill any human being. Ray, who has both his childs over for the weekend, does anything that’s necessary to protect his family and the first thing on that list is: running like hell.

My Opinion: The story War of the Worlds is well known – especially how it ends. And I liked it that they didn’t make a hero movie out of it. I think it was a great idea that Ray was neither hero nor anti-hero but just a regular guy who doesn’t know what to do just like the rest of mankind. Dakota’s character was a bit too annoying for my taste.
This was the first time I watched the DVD after I had seen the movie in the theatre and I enjoyed it again. But what someone else said is also true: If the Ferriers would have had a dog, the dog would have made it to Boston, too. 

So that’s it. I did watch WotW yesterday evening and as you can see in my signature strip I totally changed genre this morning.