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Movie Reviews, iPhone App Reviews, and Tech Commentary by Jason Kaneshiro

Movie Notes: HancockYesterday

= 2 stars

Starring Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman
Directed by Peter Berg

Synopsis

Hancock (Will Smith) is a grumpy superhero with a bad attitude, causing damage whenever he saves people and a drinking problem. Public relations man Ray (Jason Bateman) wants to help Hancock revitalize his image.

The Good

• Fun first half as Hancock’s sour attitude provides welcome, unique variation from the goody-two-shoes superhero image. One pretty funny part is Hancock donning a super-suit along with the best behavior he can muster while freeing bank hostages – he struggles to tell the cops around him “Good job.” Smith rocks as a reluctant hero.
• Top notch special effects, with a shaky camera, gritty realism.

The Bad

• Hancock’s “orgin story” goes unmentioned for quite some time, but eventually the movie gets to it – and it’s disappointing – what is revealed is quite ridiculous. Soon the film takes another turn entirely – not exactly Hancock meeting the obligatory super-villain, but something as unsatisfying as Unbreakable.

Conclusion

Hancock is a solid three-star rental during its first half, but took a swervy turn for the worse I just couldn’t swallow. Shame, because Smith wears the superhero-suit very well. Skip it.

IMDB: Hancock
Wikipedia: Hancock
Rotten Tomatoes: Hancock

iPhone App: This American LifeFebruary 7

= 5 stars

Listen to all the This American Life you can handle with this iPhone app.

The Good

• Access to a lot more content than I expected: essentially all back episodes going back years. Bonus for trailers and synopses for the television show. Also keeps up to date with recently aired episodes.
• Episodes are framed with an easy to navigate, organized interface. There’s a content strip on the right side showing years. Once within an episode, you can swipe left or right to find neighboring episodes. There’s even a search feature – a co-worker recommended listening to a Halloween episode and it was found quic

iPhone App: MintFebruary 6

= 4 stars

Keep better tabs on all your hard earned money with this financial services aggregator app.

The Good

• Solves a common problem: you have several financial accounts, and are losing track of what’s where. Mint pulls all your financial information into an easy-to-understand web interface and this iPhone app, providing the big picture.
• Straightforward setup with the most tedious part, entering in login information for several accounts. Along the way were welcome reassurances that the process wouldn’t take long, and the whole set-up is secure. The iPhone app includes a PIN to prevent prying eyes.
• You can set up a monthly budget on the Mint website, and the iPhone app will alert you when your spending drifts out of line.
• In

Movie Notes: MetropolitanFebruary 4

= 5 stars

Starring Carolyn Farina, Edward Clements, Chris Eigeman
Directed by Whit Stillman

Synopsis

A circle of young, upper East side socialites enter debutante season, and due to a shortage of males,  welcome newcomer Edward (Tom Townsend) into their circle.

The Good

• Things get infinitely more interesting as shy Audrey (Carolyn Farina) falls for the West side oddball Edward (Tom Townsend), of a different social class and has the least to gain from hanging around with these uppity folks.
• Depicts a subtly hilarious situation of upper class ennui: these kids have nothing to do, and therefore engage in socialized rituals of dressing up, dancing, drinking, and playing truth or dare type games in preparation for an adulthood doing pretty much exactly this. When the characters resort to petty romantic squabbles, we may as well be watching a period piece set in the Victorian era.
• Charlie’s thesis of “UHB” or “Urban Haute Bourgeoisie” – their generation of inherited money will be the last, doomed to extinction, because they produce nothing and only know how to behave, without any understanding of what their rituals actually mean.
• The cast is composed of unknowns, yet all fit their parts astoundingly well (Chris Eigman is tops as aloof and sarcastic Nick). This was also the writing and directing debut of Whit Stillman.

The Bad

• The ending feels a bit awkward given all the preceding excellence – some buildup to a shocking reveal which isn’t exactly all that. I’ll likely be more forgiving on a second viewing.

Conclusion

Metropolitan is an excellent movie I’ll creep one foot on a limb and give it five stars for the reasons above and one additional reason: upon its end, I felt like watching it again. I’m confident the smart-alecky dialogue, strong characters, and the overall situation will stand the test of time – even more so if Charlie proves right and the “UHB” die off. I certainly hope so, yet I doubt it.

IMDB: Metropolitan
Wikipedia: Metropolitan
Rotten Tomatoes: 92%

Futureworld: When Technology Comes TogetherFebruary 1

I’ve been rather “meh” about all this social media stuff recently, but today had one of those moments when everything came together and for a brief, shining moment, it was all worthwhile.

I have a secret list entitled “Movies I Really Want To See, But Probably Never Will” due to their obscurity, unpopularity, and subsequent unavailability. One flick on the list is the seventies sci-fi Futureworld (starring Peter Fonda and Blythe Danner), a sequel to Westworld, which starred Yul Brenner as a relentless robot cowboy plus James Brolin, Richard Benjamin, and Star Trek’s Majel Barret as a robot hooker (not kidding). I have a weakness for the whole, schlocky seventies dystopian sci-fi genre, right down to the secret stash of horrid Logan’s Run comic books. And yes, that includes Zardoz.

Anyhow, I was browsing my Twitter feed and saw geekaren tweet that she was watching the elusive Futureworld. I immediately asked if it was that particular Futureworld, while checking Netflix, where it’s not available. The reply: Futureworld is for sale at iTunes and for rent via Amazon Video On Demand. A quick check on Speedcine confirms this. And the last missing piece: Amazon Video On Demand is available through the Netflix Watch Instantly box hooked up to our television. Oh yeah.

So to sum up: my long time dream of digital video nirvana is finally coming true, plus it’s great when all the information coursing through social media, occasionally fills a very specific need. You could say seeing this one flick again occupies a line on my “bucket list.”

Much thanks to geekaren, and if anyone in the future happens across Toomorrow, starring Olivia Newton John, please let me know.