ratpac03

After being disappointed by Spider-Man 3 and severely disappointed by Shrek 3, I was pretty much ready to sit and watch a big action-fest that would wrap up the series but ultimately disappoint. Dead Man's Chest was a little mindless for my tastes so my expectations were low here. Boy was I wrong.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End returns to its roots, remembering what made the first movie so great: the storytelling. Many have called the story confusing. It certainly is tricky to follow, but it's not any more convoluted that fits a finale that sets its sights as high as PotC has. A movie that calls itself "At World's End" simply has to be grand in scale.

There is action, to be sure, with a grand final battle between the East India Trading Co and the pirates, and this time it's well done. While I found myself bored during Dead Man's Chest because the scenes dragged on, this film suffers no such problems aside from a rather unnecessary scene between Will and Elizabeth.

Performance-wise, surprisingly, Jack Sparrow and his eccentricities aren't left to carry the film between action sequences. Geoffrey Rush's Barbosa becomes fantastic in a near-hero position, while Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom shine once again. Keith Richards also wins for the best cameo in my memory, making a memorable performance out of little screen time, one that is so good that his own celebrity has nothing to do with its quality. The movie is devoid of weak performances, even among minor characters.

There are few flaws in this film, mostly little pieces that I felt were left unresolved but nothing crucial, likely passed over because the film is already nearing three hours. While I would have had no problems sitting through 180+ minutes, most likely wouldn't have.

All in all I'm glad to hand At World's End a solid 9, a score I haven't felt a movie deserved in some time. After being disappointed by a string of films this year from the aforementioned sequels to renting Babel on DVD, a film like PotC:AWE is a true breath of fresh air. Looking forward to the DVD edition.

I should preface this by saying I have been watching horror movies since age 4. I've seen everything the genre has to offer. From the old Romero movies up to Hide and Seek, I've got it handled.

Saw 2 is not a horror movie. It is far more.

I liked Saw a lot. One of my favorites. Knew it was flawed, but liked it a lot. The claustrophobic setting was beautiful and the twist was heart-pounding. I had my doubts about Saw 2, as the cast seemed "contemporary" and the setting of a house rather than a bathroom made me fear it would be too open to be enjoyable.

My fears were wrong, much to my delight.

A strong stomach IS required. The plot is already known from the previews, a bunch of people in a house and they need to save themselves with the clues as per the game. One of the best features is the lack of a recognizable actor save Amanda and Jigsaw himself (you might recognize Donny Wahlberg, granted). This gives the movie a fantastic "anything goes" feel where the audience doesn't feel as though any character is safe from Jigsaw's traps.

In addition, the nature of the house gives a horrid feeling of dread at all times, that a trap could spring from a doorknob or a tripwire that we don't see, and every idea that a character has to free themselves that doesn't seem like Jigsaw would have wanted it makes the viewer want to look away and wait for the loud noise and the scream. Saw 2 mastered fear, period. You wait for bad things to happen, even when they don't you don't feel as if the danger is gone.

Saw 2 is sadistic by and large. It's not the goriest movie ever, the bloodiest, or the darkest, but it is the most sadistic. It revels not in killing people, but HURTING them, causing pain both physical and mental. One thing of Saw (perhaps not the unrated version, I've not seen that yet) was that we weren't shown much of the direct actions. If we did, it was fast and brief. Not so here, we have to watch it happen right along with the other characters (group setting and all).

The plot is bigger here, more convoluted and the movie has more twists and turns. The games are harder to stomach and the characters, sadly, less developed. We only know of the characters what they tell each other, and they don't say much. That's the only complaint. An extra 10 minutes could have been spent giving us info on some of them.

I've never seen a movie as tense as Saw 2 (not even the aptly titled High Tension), and with the exception of Fight Club, I have never been so shocked at an ending (again, not even High Tension, or the famed Sixth Sense). Indeed, near the climax of Saw 2 was the first time I've ever made an incoherent noise in the theater out of my utter speechlessness.

I can't say the movie is flawless, as I said the characters are rather undeveloped, the traps will seem unnecessarily brutal for many, the entire setup will seem over-the-top for those who somehow thought Saw was more "grounded", and the twists may be too intricate for many people to pay attention to (the internet is alight with discussions on this).

For any fan of thrillers, horror, and those with strong constitutions, I say go see it. You won't be disappointed.

The best way to start this review is to point out that there is NO SUCH THING AS UNBIASED DOCUMENTARY. The only unbiased documentary is one in which only footage is shown, nothing is edited, and there is no music or narration. I myself have never seen a documentary like this, and most likely, neither have you.

As for the movie itself, calling it a documentary would still not be entirely accurate. It's a cinematic declaration of war. Moore sheds his heavy involvement a la "Bowling for Columbine" and prefers to let the majority of the movie just be facts speaking for themselves. Outside of an interview or two, the Patriot Act reading, and asking the Congressman to sign their kids up for the war, he mostly stays behind the scenes, narrating the scenes.

And that's what makes this one so compelling. Where as Columbine was impressive mostly for the things Moore himself said and did, Fahrenheit is amazing for what simply happened. If Columbine was an attack, Fahrenheit is an all-out assault. The first half hour is arguably the most compelling, drawing ties between Saudi Arabia and the Bushes, the financial aspects of it all, the negligence and outright corruption that filled all events post-9/11.

There is no starkly new information here if you read a lot, but for the masses, there will be a lot of things on the underbelly of the administration that they have not seen before. Moore doesn't make any effort to balance his opinions, right from the get-go we see that he will be tearing Bush down piece by piece. And it does.

Naturally, Moore injects his humor in where needed to break up the heavy-handed subject matter. Occasionally he just needs to let Bush talk and that's that, but some segments (the bit on the Coalition of the Willing is priceless) are simply hilarious. And the movie ends with one of the most incredible Bush quotes of all time.

Simply said, go see this movie. 9/10, for a few parts that drew on too long. But in my small town, this is the first movie I've seen get the kind of ovation it did.