Ediebalboa

There hasn't been much quality material about Britpop. That's why, on the one hand, it's nice when something reaches us, but on the other, it's disappointing that there hasn't been more. As a big fan of this era of music, the documentary didn't tell or show me much new. At the same time, for the curious who have heard at most Oasis, I don't think the film has a comprehensive enough view of the subject – this ain’t the BBC, unfortunately. Still, who wouldn't love to see so many prima donnas at once. Noel Gallagher and his brother Liam certainly didn't disappoint, as always, they made sure that not a single word was understood.

I haven't seen a more black and white portrayal of the struggle for independence, but I have to admit that if the Americans (Germans) are making the British look like pigs, at least they are led by the biggest of them all, Jason Isaacs. He makes you keep your fingers crossed for Mel to chop up as many Redcoats as he can with his tomahawk. If, on top of that, he also has Ledger, Karyo, Cooper and Wilkinson, the result can’t be mediocre.

The American remake of the Spanish Open Your Eyes sticks so closely to the original that there are hardly any differences in the story. Cruise and Cameron Diaz are both perhaps even more suited to the roles for me, although the Spanish actor whose role Cruise was now playing was also excellent. But both films stood primarily on the charm of Penélope Cruz. Playing the same character twice seemed like an interesting idea and she handled the transition to English with aplomb. Other than that, however, the American setting just didn't sit well with me. After all, to match the beauty that abounded in Amenábar's version was quite impossible.

Third time's enough. I'm getting tired of the constant rehashing of the young rookies vs. seasoned veterans template. The charm of the second episode was that it really brought together more or less everyone we wanted to see together all along. That’s why there was no point in continuing, even more so when the studio senselessly downgraded the film. Mel Gibson was a good choice, but otherwise it's high time to put an end to this franchise.

After reading the book, I expected nothing but the best from The Firm, if only because I thought Tom Cruise was a perfect fit for the role of McDeere. Syndey Pollack disappointed me, though. He failed to give the film either the action or the suspense that kept me glued to the book, not to mention the many minor and major changes in the story. The ending of the adaptation was fatally rewritten compared to the book and completely changed its tone. It's nice to have so many actors who fit their roles in front of the camera at the same time, but what's the point when the film just draws from a solid source material and the rest takes its own path.

Gojira! Gareth Edwards went back to his roots. In his enthusiasm, however, he forgot several circumstances that ultimately bring his Godzilla down. Ironically, it's the human storyline of the film that Gareth apparently didn't care much about and inserted it just to fulfill the standard outline of an American blockbuster. The combination of a bad script, the performances of the actors and the dialogues make you pray for the giant lizard to reappear on the screen. The most charismatic character dies incomprehensibly in the first third without causing any breaking point in the film. In the end, all you have left is the visual aspect, which was heavily promoted in the trailers all along, but that's about it.

In the end, almost as good as Long Way Round, but in what way? Everything was a bit different, although it is understandable that the team was much more professional and therefore had more sponsors. Africa is a wonderfully diverse continent, so the journey was interesting this time all the way to the finish. In the previous series, I didn’t like it so much after they left Siberia. More frequent vehicle escort at the cost of reduced intimacy was perfectly logical in these unstable areas. What I didn't understand was Ewan's wife's ignorance of the concept of a gentleman's ride, and all the more so because her husband didn't have the slightest problem with it and took her along, and I thought it was pretty unfair to both Charley and Claudio. The lineup from last time should not have been disrupted and it unnecessarily created a bad atmosphere.

The Sopranos to me, even after all these years, is an example of some of the best casting we've ever had in a TV show. Casting unknown Italian-Americans in dozens of roles and sending the "greatest" of them all, Gandolfini, to lead them may have seemed risky at first, but it was this decision that ultimately heralded the golden age of quality TV. Tony, Chris, Carmela, Paulie, Ralph... there simply wasn't a weak link and if you were intrigued during episode 1 or 2 at most, you were treated to the best mafia entertainment ever made. The pace set at the beginning of the series was maintained without fluctuation until the finale.

A completely different take on the character of Wolverine than last time. At first it seems that the psychological approach might work, but appearances are deceiving. Jackman just goes to Japan for a bit of meditation, which goes a bit awry, only to have everything go back to the way it was. The action, however, is at best amateurish this time, and its intertwining with the drawn-out plot can't work without a quality villain. When it finally comes to a proper clash between Wolverine and the entire clan of ninjas (ala Neo versus the mobs of Agents Smith in Matrix: Reloaded), he takes out about two of them and then they ridiculously run on motorcycles. If I gave credit for the excellent Hugh Jackman in the previous episode, I won't do it this time after two hours of boredom.

This worked out pretty much as expected. The film may look nice, but it would have looked exactly the same with a $100 million less budget if there hadn’t been any filming complications ranging from bad weather to Verbinski's profligacy. For the first two hours there’s not much fun, the occasional jokes are mostly stupid without an idea, the plot has no unexpected twists, and overall there is an excessive elementalness everywhere. It's only in the last half hour that it picks up momentum to match the good old Pirates. Like the naval battles, the train scene has an intensity that the rest of the film is sorely lacking in all respects. Even with Zimmer, it seemed to me that the film slacked off the whole time and only at the end with the "Finale" from Willem Tell did things heat up.