Top 10 Favourite Movies of All-Time

Top 10 Favourite Films (In no particular order)

Since awards seasons is pretty dry right now, and I haven't had too much time to watch/review any past winners, I thought I'd compile a list of my top 10 favourite films, in no particular order. It's a variety of Best Pictures, Indie favourites, and musicals, and animated films. Here we go!

1. Pride & Prejudice (2005)

I was only thirteen when previews for this movie came out. And I was swept away. I had only briefly heard of the book, and had no idea what it was about. My parents were surprised I was interested in such a movie. After watching the movie, I bought the book several years later. I have read it several times over since then, after buying it at 16 years old.  I loved how the film was portrayed. The costumes were varied from simple and plain (The Bennetts), and grandiose (Ms. De Burgh, etc). Keira Knightly was well suited for Elizabeth, the fiesty young girl, and Matthew MacFayden had the look that was able to convince you he could be sinister, but was heartbreaking when painted with the face of someone in love (something I thought Colin Firth didn't quite get. I had a hard time believing anyone could find him proud and mean). It's romantic, and it was well-received, gained Kinghtly a Best Actress nod. Rightly so.

2. Julie & Julia (2009)

This movie is the story of 2 women, living in very different times. One is Julie Powell, a young woman living in Queens, New York and decides to blog about cooking through Julia Child's cookbook in 1 year, as a way of finding happiness and a hobby in her life. The other half of the story is about Julia Child herself, about her life in Paris and how she came to be who she is. Julie is portrayed by the cute and iridescent Amy Adams, and Julia is played by the famous Meryl Streep. I love the 2 stories about these 2 women, and feel empowered by both of them. Both portray their very different marriages (Julie and her husband are very young and presumably not been married very long, and Julia and her husband have been together a long time). Meryl streep is absolutely fantastic (obviously) and we also get performances from Stanley Tucci (who's a favourite of mine), and Jane Lynch. 

3. The King's Speech (2010)

Yes this movie only came out last year, and yes many people didn't think it deserved Best Picture as it was very Oscar-bait and very British. But I honestly loved this film. It's the moving story of King George VI (Bertie), and his unforseen ascension to the throne- and his struggle with a speech impediment. It has an All-Star cast, and the story is moving, funny, and very feel-good (in a good way!). This movie never fails to make me a little teary in the beginning, and Colin Firth is absolutely extraordinary, along with the lovely Helena Bonham-Carter and Geoffrey Rush.  

4. Oliver! (1968)

Another Best Picture, but this one very different from the last. Oliver! is the story about Oliver Twist, an orphan who runs away from the funeral home and orphanage in England, to "seek his fortune" in London. He gets involved in the company of child pick-pocketers, and mixed up in the crimes of the older thieves as well. All in musical form. I watched this movie several times growing up, and still love it to this day. The musical is fabulous and catchy, and the story is complex and interesting. I just love it, ok?

5. Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

I've been a Harry Potter fan since just after the 3rd movie was released in theaters. And while there were 8 movies to choose from (I loved them all), Prisoner of Azkaban is almost tied with Deathly Hallows Part I for my favourite, though I've loved this one longer than the other, and decided to include it instead. (DH1 is a runner up for the top 10 list). It's the first more grown up tale of Harry Potter and his friends, and is brilliantly done. Sirius Black is a notorious killer and he's escaped from prison, and he's after Harry. The tale deals with time-travel, criminals, and further secrets about Hogwarts and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Alfonso Cuaron took this film over from Chris Columbus, the director of the 1st 2 and put a new spin and a new look to the series. Everything looks a lot smoother, and artistically, is fabulous. While it isn't as true to the book as the 1st two, it captures the spirit and tone of the book perfectly, and the characters are more "teenaged" and look very much how the fans had pictured them. 

6. How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

I thoroughly enjoy animated films, and it was hard to choose which one to include on this list. I'm a huge fan of Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc, but decided to go with How to Train Your Dragon, which I watched far more than I do the other 2. It's the fun tale about a young viking named Hiccup who lives on the island of Berk, which is frequently attacked by dragons. Dragons are the enemy of the people, and they are trained to kill them. But when Hiccup befriends an injured dragon, the one supposed to be the most vicious of all, he realizes maybe these animals have been misunderstood...all the while trying to fix the dragon's tail so he can fly again. It's a hilarious film which is funny for both kids and adults. And the score is amazing. Pretty much Scottish music meets Hans Zimmer. 

7.  Dan In Real Life (2007)

This movie is severely underrated. It's the story of Dan, a widower with 3 daughter, 2 of them teenagers, and one a pre-teen. He's a "good father, but a bad dad", as his youngest daughter tells him. He and the girls go up to a cottage for a large family reunion, and while out in town at a bookstore, meets a woman named Marie. Dan hasn't met a woman in a long time. They talk for hours, and then she leaves. And when Dan gets back to the cottage he realizes the woman he met is actually his brothers new girlfriend. You can imagine what ensues after this. This movie features Steve Carell as Dan, and Juliette Binoche as Marie, as well as fun supporting cast including Dane Cook as Dan's brother who dates Marie, Alison Pill as Dan's eldest daughter, and Emily Blunt as a hot blind date. It's a nice movie to snuggle up with on a rainy day. It's cute, romantic, and funny. 

8. The Dark Knight (2008)

Do I even need to explain anything about why I love this movie or what it's about? This movie is complex and epic, and the acting is top-notch. This movie is actually perfect. The Joker is just so insane, and Heath Ledger was brilliant. I have no doubts whatsoever that he truly deserved his Supporting Actor Oscar. Yeah, I think he would've still gotten it had he been alive. He really brought it and immersed himself in the Joker. Christian Bale, I don't know, I love him as Batman honestly. He plays a fantastic Bruce Wayne, and I really like him. Of course Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman as great, and the Harvey Dent storyline is also great. It's a complex story told in perfect, unfolding at just the right speed, with one of the best opening sequences ever. 

9. (500) Day of Summer (2009)

Cult classic and I love it. (500) Days of Summer tells the story of Tom, a young man who works at a Greeting Card company. He meets Summer, and the movie tells us their 500 day 'relationship', in no order. Zooey Deschanel's big break into the entertainment world (if we don't include Elf). Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the adorable and aggravating Tom. The story is told in such an interesting way, very reminiscent of Woody Allen's Annie Hall. We get musical numbers, and Expectations vs Reality sequences and character interviews. And the story has more to it than it appears, look closely and you'll see the scenes parallel each other, and we see Tom's bias opinion of their relationship and of Summer herself. It's a cute, fun movie, but is also smart, and complex. 

10. Singin' In The Rain (1952) 

Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, some extremely memorable songs and dances, and tap dancing. All together in one film called Singin In the Rain. I was introduced to this movie in my film class in college. And oh, how I loved it. It's exactly my kind of humor, and I discovered tap-dancing is pretty much the coolest thing ever. For those who don't know about this movie, it's about Don Lockwood, a silent film star who finds he has to adjust to the transition from silent films to talkies. While it may sound similar to the Artist, this film is a comedy in which Don agrees to continue in his career, but tries to figure out how to deal with his obnoxious co-star with an annoying voice, and is falling in love with an aspiring actress. And how to solve the fact that they're having troubles recording their voices at all? And the audience found their romantic, dramatic film exceedingly comical? This movie is just so hilarious, and it's just so good. One of my favourite movies, ever. 

There you have it! My top 10 favourite movies thus far. Wide variety, some Award winners, so not at all. 

'The Dark Knight Rises' teaser poster

As per usual, Christopher Nolan begins the promotions for his films a full year ahead of time.  His follow-up to The Dark Knight, aptly titled The Dark Knight Rises is set for a July 2012 release, and rumor has it that the teaser trailer is set to premier in front of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 this weekend.  I like the poster; it's not the blurry "Why So Serious?" genius of The Dark Knight's teaser, but it's visually stunning and has the sense of a whole city collapsing.

What do you think?

The Muppets Official Trailer hits

After a fake trailer hit a few weeks ago, I'm glad now we finally get a sense of what the movie is going the be like.  Well, sort of.  We're getting the gang back together and hilarity, tenderness, sentimental speeches, and song and dance ensue.  Can Thanksgiving come any sooner?

I love the pun of The Dark Knight in the first few frames.  As the trailer unfolds, we see more and more reasons to look forward to this movie.  Adams looks in top form, and so does Segal actually (not to mention early Oscar Buzz for Kermit's performance...kidding).


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Bane from The Dark Knight Rises

Above is the creepy new picture of Tom Hardy in The Dark Knight Rises, which just started principle filming the other day.  More excitingly, the very first image from Christopher Nolan's much anticipated follow-up for his Oscar-winning 2008 The Dark Knight.  Much ado was made regarding the first cryptic image of Heath Ledger's The Joker a few years ago, and Bane's appearance isn't disappointing me right now.  Typical Nolan twist on hardcore comic characters.  Let's hope the rest of the film holds up, shall we?

An improvement over the horrendous imagining of Bane in Batman and Robin, pictured below.

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Belated Birthday of Heath Ledger

April 4^th was Heath Ledger’s birthday.  He would have been 32.  This anniversary serves as a reminder of just how sad his passing was three years ago, and how many more great performances he had in store.  After he stared in the critically-acclaimed Brokeback Mountain, he was hailed as the next Marlon Brando.  Unfortunately, his story took a James Dean-esque twist instead.

I knew and understood the Brando comparison back in 2005, when I was still in high school.  It you watch any Brando film—On the Waterfront, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Fugitive Kind, etc.—you see how much he disappeared into a role, how much of his body he committed to the part.  In lieu of making dialog work for him, he made the space in between the lines marks of brilliance.  Brando never hid behind lines; rather he internalized them, making it appear his character would burst if the line wasn’t spoken.  Think of “Stelllllaaaaa!” think of the scene where he opens the bottle of champagne in Streetcar, think of him trying on Eva Marie Saint’s glove in Waterfront.  Brando discovered the small things within a role, and used them to define the part.  Ledger did this too.

Look no further than his two most honored performances, that of Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain and The Joker in The Dark Knight.  Rarely do you see a multiple Oscar nominee represented with two such vastly different roles.  But Ledger managed it.  Say what you want about his posthumous success with The Joker, but we all know he deserved the praise and would have won had he been alive.  Look at him in Brokeback.  Minimalism at its finest.  He mumbles through his lines like a man trying to find himself, simply lost.  He’s hiding from himself, so he hides what he says.  Each of his lines in that film is delivered with such a painful hint of self-loathing, and of fear, not of society, but of himself—of the truth.  The final scene where he cradles Jake Gyllenhaal’s bloody shirt is something of pure wonder; an actor so clearly understanding what the character is going though, and delivering on the demanding cathartic moment.  So much in the body, so much character study, so much devotion.

The same can be said for his instant-classic turn as The Joker.  Actors reinvent characters all the time, but never before had it been done to this magnitude.  Sparing some of the ad nauseum details about the role, it was perfect.  Like Brando, he took small things and made them powerful.  For instance, when another actor would have sat quietly in the jail cell, Ledger began applauding—something that wasn’t in the script—and suddenly that’s a memorable scene from the movie.  His slithery devouring of lines is nothing short of genius, even changing throwaway lines into unintended punchlines (“Very poor choice of words” anyone?)

I was already a huge fan of Ledger when he passed, and like most of America, probably more so after seeing The Dark Knight.  Seeing his performance acknowledged with an Academy Award win was my proudest moment as an Oscar fan.  It showed that sometimes, just sometimes, they do award the best performance of the year, regardless of genre.  

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Batman Reboot: When an unstoppable force meets an immovable object

For those of you in the dark, Warner Bros. is now planning a Batman reboot in conjunction with a planned answer to The Avengers Justice League movie.  It won't be helmed by current franchise director Christopher Nolan either, but Nolan will remain on as producer.  The oddest part of this amalgam of superheros poised to save the day in Justice League is that none of the notable characters--Batman, Superman, or Wonder Woman--will be a continuation off current projects featuring said characters.  No Wonder Woman from her yet-to-premier NBC show.  No Superman from Zack Snyder's upcoming film.  And most importantly, no Christian Bale as Batman.  That's right, the actor and hero that saved a genre is being rebooted at the conclusion of The Dark Knight Rises.

It's the unstoppable force of the studio meeting the immovable object of creative integrity.  It's clear: the studio wants more and Nolan is walking away after film #3.  Can't really blame him, lest he forever be known as the director of Batman.  He's young, can do anything he wants right now in his career, and he have proven he can make his films both bankable at the box office and the Oscars.  Plus, a director returning for the fourth film in a franchise can only be as ill-fated as Indiana Jones 4, right?  Thankfully, WB is keeping Nolan on (or, possibly, Nolan is choosing to stay on) as producer of Justice League and the Batman reboot, which makes us assume he'll still have creative control.  But does he really want creative control outside of the world you created?  Nolan has the chance to close out a trilogy the right way, and not Warner Bros. wants to say "thank you, but no," to the reputation and respect he has injected not only into Batman, but superhero films in general. 

When an unstoppable force
meets an immovable object

Now, I have a slight problem with that.  For starters, The Dark Knight Rises isn't even out yet.  Not only is it not even out, but they haven't even begun principle photography!  Why is Warner Bros. giving up on Nolan's vision of the caped crusader already?  Could Batman be that potential of a cash cow that they think people will pour in to see the character no matter what creative team or actor is on board?  One can attribute the financial success of 2008's The Dark Knight to many things: the high quality of the film, the high-grossing superhero genre, and the recent passing (and brilliant performance) of Heath Ledger.  One of those elements returns, with a second one hopeful for The Dark Knight Rises.

I think what is most notable with the prematurely announced reboot (that is, a reboot before the franchise is even done booting) is that Warner Bros. is doing it less out of greed and more out of necessity.  Why reboot a blockbuster franchise staring an Oscar-winner unless you absolutely have to?  Perhaps the immovable object of creative integrity isn't as immovable as we'd hoped: it's being trampled, in fact.  I'm thinking, momentarily at least (and probably reading too much into this announcement), that Nolan is killing off our watchful protector.  A dead hero means you'll have to reboot.  Maybe I'm just being a little too...serious.

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Setting Sail

For a while now I've wanted to start a film blog. For an even longer while, I made excuses as to why I wasn't starting one: not enough time, too many blogs, "no one is going to read it," and now a momentary pause as I figure out just what to write for my first post on Sam Watches Movies.

And so here is the introduction! Again, if you missed the banner beneath the blog title, my name is Sam. I'm what is widely considered a film buff, I watch movies as much as possible with a focus on trying to see new movies. New to me, that is, not necessarily the newest movies of the year. Because to me, a classic movie isn't a classic if you haven't seen it before.

My taste in film is part populist (The Dark Knight, Love Story, Pirates of the Caribbean, Ghost, Back to the Future, Anchorman, Toy Story 3) and part respected drama or comedy (Casablanca, The Silence of the Lambs, Michael Clayton, Up in the Air, American Beauty). Separating the two entities is impossible. To me, your favorite movies are the best movies; the movies you love are the ones you'll remember forever, not just because they're well-written, well-acted, or considered important but because you connect to them.

Also, I'll be writing in-depth Awards Season coverage when the time comes and retrospective commentary of Oscars past, in addition to film reviews (new and old), and general articles focusing on performances, directors, actors, and craftsmen.

Buckle your seatbelts, this is gonna be a bumpy ride.

IMDB Top 50 Films of the Decade (2000-2009)

The original list and other links at IMDB.. check it out if you haven't, join, and be able to rate and review films, and post topics and comments in forums.

There are pages there for over 70,000 film professionals.




Rank - avg rating - title (year) - total ratings

1. 8.8 The Dark Knight (2008) 489,357
2. 8.8 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) 381,650
3. 8.7 City of

Slumdog Millionaire wins Critics Choice Award

Director Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire won the Critic's Choice award as Best Picture, Boyle won director and the film won five awards overall at Thursday nights Critic's Choics awards for 2008 films.

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Action Picture: The Dark Knight
Best Comedy Picture: Tropic Thunder
Best Animated Picture: Wall-E
Best

The Dark Knight

There sure is a lot of speechifying in “The Dark Knight.” I don’t think I’ve experienced a movie with this much speech making since John Wayne’s “The Alamo.” (1960). The difference is “The Alamo” is a great movie and “The Dark Knight” is not.

It’s not even a good movie. It has two very good performances and a germ or two of interesting ideas buried under a bloated running time, badly staged action scenes and an insistence by director Christopher Nolan and his screenwriter brother Jonathan to sledge hammer their audience with its central thesis: there is no difference between heroes and villains.

The positives: Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker. Brilliant and unsettling. It’s far and away the best thing in the movie, a great performance in a mediocre movie. Just as good is Aaron Eckhart as District Attorney Harvey Dent, who transforms into the villain Two Face. I’m afraid Eckhardt is being overlooked in favor of Ledger and it’s too bad, because Eckhardt has the more difficult role, transforming from crusading D.A. into tragic villain.

Let’s get back to that central thesis, which is repeated several times throughout the film. I can’t remember the exact dialogue (and I have no intention of seeing this film any time soon, if not ever), but it goes something like this: “either you die a hero or live long enough to become the villain.”

That’s pretty grim and nihilistic for a summer blockbuster based on a comic book. Part of me tips the hat to Nolan and Warner Bros. for throwing commercial considerations to the wind and making such a dark movie. Maybe I would have bought it more in any other movie than a Batman movie. I can also appreciate that just because it’s a comic book can’t mean it has to be all bright and sunny, and that dark themes can be explored.

But it’s still a comic book, and you have a character who runs around at night catching criminals while wearing a costume with a cape, and a mask with pointy ears. The contrast between the grimness and the pointy ears is enormous

Matters aren’t helped any by having Christian Bale deliver his Batman lines with a deep and throaty growl. At one point he really digs down to his diaphragm to say his lines and I had to stifle a chuckle lest the Batman fans around me threw me out. All I could think of was Batman smoking too many cigarettes and drinking bad booze at 3 a.m. dive bars. It’s actually quite amusing. I suppose he wanted a voice that would cause fear in the criminal world, but I would think the outfit and the ability to swoop down from out of nowhere would be enough for Gotham City’s underworld denizens.

All the characters pontificate endlessly about the nature of good vs. evil. Other points of discussion: does Batman really bring down the crime rate or cause it to rise due to his presence? Would the Joker have come to Gotham City without Batman there? Did they make each other, would one exist without the other?

I dunno, but I do believe there’s always been good guys and bad guys. Simplistic perhaps, but true. The character’s endless navel gazing here drove me to distraction. Again, I can appreciate where Nolan was coming from, but this is a classic case of the central idea repeated ad nauseum under the assumption that we, the audience, are idiots. Even the criminals talk amongst themselves about the forces of chaos, and what they unleashed with the Joker. We get it, enough already.

This central thesis seems to be bowling over many as a new maturity in comic book movies. But “Conan the Barbarian” (1982) offered the same idea, though only in one speech at the end from the villain Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones) to Conan (Ah-nold) where he says to Conan that without your endless quest for revenge against me you would not be who you are. It’s an interesting idea for an action movie, and director/writer John Milius never forgot to also give us sweeping action scenes, comedy and a love story, qualities sorely missing in “The Dark Knight.”

Let’s take another example. One of the movies’ greatest adventure films is “The Adventures of Robin Hood” (1938) with Errol Flynn. As basic a movie can be, forces of good against forces of evil. I can only imagine what the tale would be like if Christopher Nolan got his hands on the material.

Robin Hood: “Am I doing the right thing by taking from the rich to give to the poor? Am I harming myself in the process? Am I bringing evil on Sherwood Forest by trying to do the right thing? I don’t want to fight, I just want to open my soul to Friar Tuck about this.”

Sheriff of Nottingham: “I was just trying to be a good sheriff for the shire, a humble servant to do the King’s bidding. But Robin Hood and his campaign of terror has forced me to burn villages and tax the already burdened people. He made me do it. He’s the real reason there’s chaos in Sherwood Forest.”

No doubt director Michael Curtiz would throw Nolan out on his ear, and good riddance.

What else didn’t I like? The look of the film is disappointing. As someone who works in Chicago it’s cool to see Gotham City represented as Chicago, but that’s all it is – Chicago. I preferred the look that Nolan gave Gotham City in “Batman Begins” (2005) where he took Chicago but digitally tweaked it to give it a more sinister appearance. Remember the Arkham Asylum from that movie? Great stuff. Here, it’s just Chicago.

Nolan really needs to turn his action scenes over to a second unit director. He botched it badly with his first Batman movie and he botches it here again. The fight scenes are too dark and too many close-ups, where you can’t tell what’s happening. Put a professional stuntman in a Batman suit, shoot some medium scenes, and let us watch the action as its unfolding.

What really sinks the movie is the heavily-based synth score. Though the score was co-composed by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, I would suspect that most of the synth sounds were Zimmer’s. It really cheapens the film. Filmmakers generally use synths when they can’t afford a live orchestra. Zimmer’s heavily synth-based score makes the film sound like a made-for-cable outing. It would have been nice to have a theme too, but that would have be asking too much. There’s a scene where Batman soars in the air (I think in the Hong Kong sequence) and it would have benefited greatly from a theme, but instead the stunt, and scene, just sit there as flat as could be.

It didn’t need a burst of John Williams optimism, because that would have been at odds with the film. But Miklos Rozsa in his great 1940s film noir scores showed how you can use richly textured music to create a sense of doom and hopelessness. Zimmer’s score, I’m afraid, will badly date the film. (The end credits, however, do provide the biggest laugh I’ve had in a movie theater all year: I forget the exact number, but the music credits include something like four conductors and at least eight orchestrators. For this score? The mind boggles.)

Apart from the villains, the performances are nothing to write home about. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are their usual professional selves, and that’s enough. They provide the very, very few moments of levity in the film. They’re both so likeable that I wish they had been given more to do.

Maggie Gyllenhall, as the love interest Assistant District Attorney Rachel Dawes, is an improvement over Katie Holmes from the last movie. It’s still a nothing part, but she gives it her best shot. Holmes is a good actress (catch the wonderful “Pieces of April” (2003) some time) but she was miscast in the first film.

Christian Bale tries his best, but it’s a surprisingly one note performance. His Bruce Wayne isn’t particularly likeable or charismatic and I’ve already written about his Batman voice.

And what was up with the Mayor in this flick? The actor’s name is Nestor Carbonell, unfamiliar to me. But he appears to be wearing eye liner. A friend who went with me says he looks like that, he’s got funky looking eyes. I guess he’s on “Lost.” OK, fine, then don’t cast him. During his scenes I thought I was watching “The Crying Game.”

I loved the make up of Two Face, but its obviously CGI in spots. Would it have been asking too much to use real make up?

The film’s too long and could have gone through a re-write or two, or three. A trip to Hong Kong seems superfluous, and the film’s central point of the Joker causing full blown chaos in Gotham City really doesn’t kick in until the final third. It’s a looong time getting there.

In my mind, Tim Burton honored Batman the best with his two Batman movies. Nothing in “The Dark Knight” beats the final iconic shot of “Batman” (1989) showing Batman on the roof of a building, the Bat Signal in the background, and Danny Elfman majestic theme – yes, theme, – soaring to a wonderful and satisfying coda.

If it wasn’t for Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart, “The Dark Knight” would be an unbearable, pompous bore.

Parts of the above review are in reaction to a loyal reader who wondered how I would include references to John Wayne, Errol Flynn, Michael Curtiz and Miklos Rozsa into a blog about “The Dark Knight.” I hope I have succeeded.

Rating for “The Dark Knight”: Two stars.

10,000 B.C., Semi-Pro, 27 Dresses, Trailers

I did something this weekend, I haven’t done in a long time. I went to the show three days in a row. The mediocrity of all three offerings, plus a series of coming attractions trailers that had me praying for death, leads me to believe I’ll be spending more time at home watching DVDs and TCM than I will going to the local cineplex.

I didn’t expect much from “10,000 B.C” but it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Granted it wasn’t very good, but most pre-historic movies aren’t. The film seems to be set in some alternate dimension, where primitive man trod the Earth with prehistoric beasts, while still having the intellect to construct giant pyramids. Omar Sharif narrates, and tells us at one point that the pyramid builders (the villains) came from an island that sank, so I assume we are meant to believe they are refugees from Atlantis, with its more advanced civilization. Naturally there’s a hero and a heroine who are prophesied to do great things for their people. Why must everyone fulfill a prophecy these days? Why can’t they just embark on an adventure without their fates being foretold in the stars, or some such hooey?

It sounds like I’m knocking it, and I am, but I wasn’t bored. Probably the best scene involves the humans being attacked by some giant birds. I also enjoyed the wooly mammoth stampede at the end, on ramps leading up and down the pyramids. That’s something you don’t see every day. I haven’t mentioned the cast, because I didn’t know anyone in it, but they’re buff enough and certainly acquire themselves no worse than any other cave people in film history. At least it’s less than two hours, which these days earns it an extra half star.

Rating for “10,000 B.C”: Two and a half stars.

“Semi-Pro” is the latest “comedy” from Will Ferrell, and it’s pretty bad. It’s just as bad as another Ferrell comedy, last year’s “Blades of Glory” which is really saying something. “Semi-Pro” is set in the 1970s with Ferrell as Jackie Moon, who serves as the promotions director, coach and player of the Flint (Michigan) Tropics, a basketball team in the dying American Basketball Association. The ABA may merge with the NBA, but the NBA is only going to take four teams. The four teams with the best winning records will join the NBA and the other teams will be dissolved. Lots of hijinks to ensure a winning season, and fill the stands with screaming fans.

Ferrell is often exhausting to watch, so determined is he to make us laugh. He reminds me of early Danny Kaye, so frantic and loud that you wouldn’t want to be in the same room with him. I will admit to laughing at a scene where he throws up for the first time in his life (fortunately we don’t see this). Tasteless to be sure, but the build-up is funny. And a poker game scene with a gun is funny. But the laughs are few and far between, I’m afraid, at least for me. Ferrell is talented, such as in the screamingly funny “Anchorman” (2004), but “Semi-Pro” was a waste of his talent and our time.

Rating for “Semi-Pro”: One and a half stars.

On Monday night I went to the Tivoli Theater in Downers Grove, one of the greatest theaters in the Chicago area, to see “27 Dresses.” Normally not my type of movie, but I love going to the Tivoli so much that I’ll see pretty much anything there. It’s a beautiful theater that opened in 1928 with gorgeous French Renaissance architecture inside. It hasn’t been cut up into multiple screens, so we’re able to enjoy the huge screen in the large auditorium (which seats about 900 people). What a jewel and gem of a theater.

Oh yeah, “27 Dresses.” I like romantic comedies if they’re good, but this one was just average. Katherine Heigl plays Jane, a good-hearted woman who has been a bridesmaid 27 times, but never has the time for her own life. James Marsden plays Kevin (fine name for a character) a reporter who covers weddings, and I like Marsden. He was good as the Prince Charming character in “Enchanted” (2007) and he’s equally good here as he looks on Jane’s frantic life with a bemused affection.

Unfortunately, Jane is in love with her boss George (a zombie-like Edward Burns). Complications ensue when George falls in love with Jane’s sister Tess (Malin Akerman) and Tess wants Jane to plan her wedding. It’s harmless enough, I guess, but formulaic and very contrived. George is such a bore, you have to wonder why she doesn’t latch on to Kevin right away. Kevin has so much more personality and likeability than George, but then most men named Kevin are the superior beings.

Jane and Tess finally have it out in a hardware store scene that has to be seen to be believed, with mood shifts dictated solely by the screenwriter’s attempts to wrap it up as quickly as possible. And they say old movies are unrealistic?

Rating for “27 Dresses”: Two stars.

And then there were the previews. Dear God, save me now. I don’t even know where to begin. I know you can’t judge a movie by its trailer, but if the purpose of a trailer is to entice people into the theater, these convinced me to stay far, far away.

Let’s see, there was the movie version of “Sex and the City.” Never saw the show, so this holds zero appeal to me, but fans of the show will undoubtedly like it.

“The Happening” the new film from M. Night Shyamalan, looks very intriguing, and I like Mark Walhberg. I’ll be checking that one out.

“Wanted”, what looks to be a colossal piece of garbage starring Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman. What are they doing in this? Lord, this looks awful. Lots of CGI on display, because, after all, you can’t shoot an action movie anymore using real stuntmen and real explosions. Nope, you need special effects to have your characters defy the laws of physics in ways that no human being ever could. This is to satisfy the tastes of the idiot teenagers and young men weaned on video games who want their movies to duplicate their video game experiences. I was originally looking forward to this, since it was filmed in Chicago and right outside the building where I work, but it looks like a truly excruciating experience. Loud and stupid, like most action movies today are. Damn video games.

“Iron Man” More good actors in what looks to be the silliest movie of the summer. The loudest, most annoying heavy metal music ever, played at ear-splitting levels on this trailer, had me wishing for an aspirin. And Iron Man can fly too. I don’t think I’ve seen a sillier sight in a trailer than Iron Man flying through the air. Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges – what are they doing in a movie version of “Iron Man?” Surely they didn’t need the work that badly. Enough with the comic book movies, please.

“Prince Caspian” the Narnia sequel, looks good. No heavy metal garbage blasting away, thank you.

“The Dark Knight” or whatever they’re calling the new Batman movie. I’ll probably go see this since it was filmed in Chicago, and again, in front of the building where I work, so it will be fun to see so many familiar sights. But I thought the last one, “Batman Begins”, was an overrated bore, and since it’s being directed by the same guy, Christopher Nolan, who also gave us one of the worst movies of all time, “The Prestige” (2007), I won’t be holding my breath. Hopefully Nolan hired a second unit director to help stage the action sequences, because the fight scenes in his last Batman movie were pitifully amateurish. Enough with the comic book movies, please.

“What Happens in Vegas” a comedy with those paragons of wit, elegance and sophistication, Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher. I’ll likely be a grumpy old man when that comes out, stay home and watch a William Powell and Myrna Loy movie instead.