If You're Good at Something, Never Do It for Free

Now that "The Dark Knight" has permeated our culture to such an extent that it is now (and has remained so for 10 days) #1 on the IMDB Top 250, there really isn't much that I can say that hasn't already been heard in one form or another. It's broken just about every record in the book, including, biggest midnight opening, biggest opening day, biggest IMAX premiere, biggest opening weekend, fastest movie to reach $200 million and $300 million, and it is posed to break the $400, $500 and $600 million dollar speed records. Yes, $600 million dollars. That is the domestic record currently held by "King of the World" Titanic. I have only found one person who does not like the movie, and I will withhold that person's name to save them potential lifelong scorn, though they probably don't care.

Oh, I thought the movie was, for lack of a better word, flawless. But enough about that.

I just got back from Comic-Con this weekend. For anyone who does not know what Comic-Con (aka "The Con", aka "GeekFest 2008", aka "Nerd-o-rama") is, it is basically the most intense pop-culture event of the year. The biggest of its kind in the United States (if not the world), the Con plays host to 120,000 people annually. Everything from comics, to anime, to TV, to action figures, to video games, to movies are represented in one form or another. People are beginning to complain that it has "strayed from what Comic-Con used to be", but so have alot of things. That doesn't mean it's gotten worse. I wouldn't know, because this is only my second year, but I like it just the way it is.

In any case, it was pretty awesome. I saw Samuel Jackson, Gerard Butler, Jeremy Piven, Jet Li, Brendan Fraser, Maria Bello, Jamie King, Kevin Smith, Judd Apatow, Elizabeth Banks, Seth Rogen, and Thomas Jane, just to name a few celebs. For the most part, the previews of the upcoming movies were pretty awesome. I don't know if the Quantum of Solace trailer debuted here, but this is the first place I saw it, and the action looks just as kick-ass as it was in Casino Royale. On a positive note, I didn't see any poker scenes in the trailer. A pleasant surprise was the "Drag Me to Hell" presentation. Good ol' Sam Raimi is getting back to his roots with this horror movie about a girl who gets a curse put on her because she denied someone a bank loan. Yea, that sounds like Sam Raimi to me.

Lorenzo's Brief Movie Reviews, Vol. 1

This is another first in a series. I will simply write brief reviews of movies I have either seen recently or am thinking about. They will be good movies, bad movies, whatever kind of movies I feel like reviewing. Oh, and no rating system of letters, numbers or anything else. So, without further ado, here it goes.

NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Dame Judi Dench plays an obsessive, raving psychotic who gives out heaping doses of guilt to young, lonely Cate Blanchetts rather than dangerous assignments to Pierce Brosnans/
Daniel Craigs. It's an incredibly depressing movie, along the lines of "Changing Lanes" (or "Oedipus Rex" for the more culturally inclined crowd) where you can see things going from bad to worse, but none of the characters involved can. Besides that, or maybe because of it, the movie is extremely good and immensely watchable from beginning to end.

IN BRUGES
Ralph Fiennes plays a deranged, raving psychotic who is involved with a depressed Colin Farrell and an existential Brendan Gleeson. Again, a bit of a downer, but this one will actually make you laugh before and between those depressing moments. If you like the hitman genre, then see this movie. It is a very good example of it and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

LABYRINTH
Wow. What can I say that hasn't already been said? If you haven't seen this 1986 Jim Henson fantasy film, then you should. Not because it's a good movie, because it's not. You need to see it because it's hilarious (both intentionally and unintentionally) and frightening all at once. You see more David Bowie than you ever wanted to in 5 lifetimes and just enough swamp belching and farting for a 90 minute period. One word of warning, though; don't watch it alone and/or while taking mushrooms.

Well, hopefully this list will expand upon the next edition, but I have to get this posted by 10:00 PM or else someone will throttle me in my sleep.

Until next time, remember, everything happens for a reason.