Weekend Video Recap

The wife and I rented a whole buncha movies this weekend, mostly older stuff that we'd been interested in seeing for a while, with an impulse choice or two.

First, the CGI-animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, TMNT. I was never a huge fan of the property, although I had some of the earliest B&W comics, and Brandi is of an age where she occasionally watched the original TV show. Anyway, this new CGI feature was pretty decent. It required the audience to already know something about the characters, but the story was suitably "big," the voice acting was good, and the animation was really quite nice. One fight scene, pitting two of the turtles against each other on a rooftop in the rain at night, was really quite stunning.

Then, we watched a goofy comedy starring Jamie Kennedy, called Kickin' It Old Skool. Nothing particularly notable, but it was entertaining. A 12-year-old breakdancer hits his head during a school talent show and is comatose for twenty years. Waking up in 2006, he decides to help pay off his family's medical debt be reuniting his dance team and entering a TV contest. Lots of nostalgic "stuck in the 80's" jokes and a great cameo by David Hasslehoff.

Then, because I'd been kinda pumped by the trailer for the next installment, I finally watched the first Alien Vs. Predator movie, AVP. From all the online reviews I'd read, I expected this to be much worse than it was. To be honest, I rather liked it. I thought the story was fine, the effects were good, and the actors basically competent. Sure, it was no Aliens – in either the suspense or characterization departments – but I thought it was fun.

Also watched 300. It was fine. Didn't blow my socks off or anything, but I enjoyed it. Certainly an impressive technical achievement, with some thrills, but ultimately just okay.

Watched the Nicholas Cage flick, Next, another thriller with a time travel or "seeing through time" gimmick (Paycheck, Deja Vu, Heroes, etc.). Next was a solid little film, with a few good twists, based on a Philip k. Dick story, but again, just okay.

Finally, we watched the Korean monster movie, The Host. We'd been looking forward to seeing this for a while, and we weren't disappointed. Like a number of Asian films, the tone shifts in the movie can be a little jarring at times, but the basic story of a dysfunctional family pulling together in a time of crisis was something different for a 'creature feature." The monster itself was rather cool and unique, and its first appearance in the story was shocking and nerve-wracking. Recommended.

And... believe it or not, I also managed to do some work, some reading, and some laundry this weekend, too. ;)