Pat Boone Sounds Off On Oscars

We have a few movie reviews lined up that should be posted over the weekend.

Until then, enjoy this sobering piece from legendary singer/actor Pat Boone on this year's crop of Oscar contenders.

What's that? You forgot the Academy Awards were on this weekend? Maybe you knew that and just didn't care. I mean, after all, Hollywood is worried that viewership will be way down this year to historic lows.

Hollywood and Hockey

Contrary to popular belief, OMD is not a one-trick pony that is simply just all about the Film Review and Critical Analysis.

Au contraire mon ami! That's French-Canadian in case you're wondering (this is a hockey post, get it?)

We here at OMD like to report on just about anything and everything we find interesting online that has to do with movies.

So, without further adieu (French-Canadian again) we give you this entertaining commentary from Barry Melrose Rocks on "The Best Hockey Scenes in Non-Hockey Movies."

For further reading, you might also want to check out this list of "The Top 5 Hockey Movies of All-Time" as submitted by Fan Boom.

REVIEW: March of the Penguins

You read that correctly. We actually decided to write a review on a documentary and one about animals no less!

Ok, so sitting here trying to come up with something witty to say about birds that can't fly isn't working so let's just get right to it.

Watch Trailer.

WIFEY'S REVIEW

Wow this one was a hard one to watch seeing it was a documentary. It was cute, but how much penguins can you stand to watch?

I really liked the fact that you got to see what they go through during the really harsh weather. Seeing the father take care of the little egg was so cute, but it was so sad to see that a lot of the babies didn’t make it, but watching the transfer go between the mom and the dad with the egg was very intriguing.

Another thing that amazed me was how many days penguins go without eating, and then when they do eat they then come back to the pack and regurgitate their food to give to the mother or the babies.

I wouldn’t want to be one of those filmers seeing how cold it was in the artic. Well, there’s really not much more to say about this film.

I would rate this one 3 out of 5 Ben & Jerry’s.

HUBBY'S REVIEW

Quite possibly the shortest review on this site to date by Wifey! I think she was really caught off guard when she heard I was writing a review about this one. I mean, we didn't rent the thing or even plan to watch it. Actually, the kids were being crazy one afternoon and the "cute lil pengins" were on TV so we watched it to keep them quiet!

To be perfectly honest, I didn't have a real problem with this one. It was kinda strange that Morgan Freeman was the narrator too. Where was the voice of the adult Kevin Arnold from Wonder Years when you need him? That would've been much better!

Best line in Wifey's review? "I really liked the fact that you got to see what they went through DURING THE REALLY HARSH WINTER."

Man, what a heartless woman! These poor little birdies already can't fly, they can only walk for so many miles forcing them to slide on their bellies, they don't eat for months, they lose their unborn babies to the ice and wind (and sometimes crazy mommy penguins who want more babies for themselves) and what does she say except that she enjoys watching these creatures suffer.

Nice.

Trust me, it was fascinating to see how much these penguins are like humans in the way they bond with one another, put their family first and work together for the greater good.

Besides, any animal that can withstand freezing temps as low as -100+ degrees is worthy of my praise. Keep on rockin' in your little tuxedos my feathered friends.

As documentaries go, I give this one a 3 out of 5 Ben & Jerry's. That gives us an OMD Rating of 3 Ben & Jerry's.

REVIEW: Deja Vu

Next up is another recent film and non-AFI List selection known simply as Deja-Vu. You know, that thing you experience where you feel as though what you're experiencing has already happened before (the Matrix was the last popular movie to comment on this phenomenon).

Next up is another recent film and non-AFI List selection known simply as Deja-Vu. You know, that thing you experience where you feel as though what you're experiencing has already happened before (the Matrix was the last popular movie to comment on this phenomenon).

Watch Trailer. Watch Trailer.


WIFEY'S REVIEW

Ok, this movie just freaked me out right from the beginning! It starts with everyone on this big ferry boat and a little girl loses her doll by it falling off the boat, but it’s done in such slow motion that it looks like a real kid falling from it so needless to say all the shots in this movie are very detailed and dramatic.

Denzel is the main character who I really enjoyed and he hasn’t aged a day in his life and always plays the good guy who has to figure out how to stop a crime before it happens. Val Kilmer is also in here and he looks so old and decrepid!

Now it really confused me when they could look at someone who you think is dead when they use this contraption they invented and somehow they can sense you're looking at them as well. Confused? So was I!

Watching this movie really puts into perspective how many times per day you are video taped without knowing it. The scene where they use the goggles to follow the murderer was very intense seeing you didn’t know what was going to happen seconds from what your seeing. The movie was outstanding but the ending got a little to confusing and too smart for anyone to figure out. Like how is Denzel with this girl if she’s supposed to be dead and is he stuck in the past?

I really enjoyed it and would rate this movie 5 Ben & Jerry’s out of 5.

HUBBY'S REVIEW

This is the first feature film we've watched and reviewed starring Denzel Washington. That got me thinking. Have I ever seen a "bad" Denzel Washington movie?

I had to think long and hard about it, but the only one that came to mind was Devil in a Blue Dress.

In any event, you get my point. I knew we were probably in for an entertaining thrill ride and boy was I right!

First things first. T-H-E Val Kilmer (Iceman from Top Gun!) is in this movie and man did the guy put on some serious weight. I didn't recognize him at first that's how different he looked.

Billing itself as a sci-fi thriller I wasn't quite sure how this was going to play out. I mean, any time you make a movie that has to do with time travel there's bound to be some confusion (for example, see Donnie Darko for an excellent case study).

However, true to form, Mr. Washington chose to be in a movie that was just the opposite for its genre - - to an extent.

This was a smart, thinking man's movie or what I would call plausible sci-fi. That's to say, everything made sense along the way and I understood everything as they were explaining it. More importantly, there didn't appear to be too many (if any) holes in the storyline, which can be all to common in these types.

Yet, for as smart and engaging as it was the movie just got too smart for its own good in the end.

Ultimately, Denzel lost me!

Still, a very good movie and one that will keep you interested until the very end. Still, a very good movie and one that will keep you interested until the very end.

MY rating is 2.5 Ben & Jerry's for a total OMD Rating of 3.75 Ben & Jerry's.

REVIEW: Spider-Man 3

Are you noticing a trend here? It's been several weeks (and reviews) since we last watched a movie that came from the AFI Top 100 list (the reason for doing this in the first place!). At this pace, we'll probably be here until Luke and Amelia graduate from High School.

The next movie up was Spider-Man 3 or the final movie in the big screen adaptation of the classic Marvel comic book series.

Watch Trailer.


WIFEY'S REVIEW

Ok, if you haven’t seen the first 2 movies and you want to then don’t read this review. If you know you’re not going to see the first 2 movies then read away!

This movie introduces a lot of new characters like an Ex-Convict, a black crawly thing named Venom, some big Green Guy, and Sandman! This sequel is a lot more of a love story than an action-packed one that we are used to.

Poor Spiderman gets his ass kicked a lot right from the beginning.

The first 50 minutes, holy cow, so slow I thought I was going to fall asleep and not because it was way past 11pm. Ok, so at one point during this flick the Sandman was beating the crap out of everyone. If only they were thinking they would have just poured water on him to make him turn to mud!

The special effects were amazing as everything was thought out in such detail. The Sandman was the best! Well, in the end it was an ok ending, but I would have plotted it out a little better to get the audience more excited.

I also came to the conclusion that Mary Jane played by Kirsten Dunst is a very needy girl. If I was Spiderman I would have ditched her along time ago.

I did enjoy how the two joined and became friends again to help defeat the bad guys in the end.

Oh yeah, and I felt really bad for Sandman because all he wanted to do the whole movie was to help his little girl get better.

Anyway, I think I would only rate this movie a 2.5 out of 5 Ben & Jerry’s.

HUBBY'S REVIEW

I'm a nerd who used to collect comics throughout High School so I love it anytime Hollywood tries to put my favorite superhero characters up on the big screen.

Plus, the first two Spidey flicks were great so I was pretty charged up for this one.

Unfortunately, this is one movie I'd like to forget. That shouldn't be too hard because it was so lackluster that I barely remember anything about it! Luckily, I took some notes while watching it.

There's a very slow set-up to this film. I'm all for character-driven dramas, but we already knew the back-story from the previous two editions. Besides, I'm a big believer that if you want to show a person's character put them in situations that will get them to demonstrate who they are instead of telling us outright through the words of other characters what that person's been acting like lately. Boring.

Once it did get going the action scenes were just as good as those in the previous versions.

I also love that the Sandman character was played by a former Wings character. Stan Lee makes his usual cameo (he's the guy who created Marvel Comics).

Some very good fight scenes between Spidey, Venom and Sandman. All in all, not as good as the first two.

I give it a 2 out of a 5 (and only because it is the last film in the trilogy, which wraps up the storyline).

That means the OMD Rating for this one is 2.25 Ben & Jerry's.

REVIEW: The Kingdom

The next film up is The Kingdom. Even though there have been 2 OMD reviews posted this month this was actually the first film we watched in 2008.

What? You're surprised it took Hubby and Wifey a few weeks to write and publish our reviews? Yeah, I know what you mean, me too (he types with sarcastic fingertips).


WIFEY'S REVIEW

This movie was going to be good seeing that it had Jennifer Garner and Jamie Fox in it. Also it is based on a true story. It was very interesting in the very beginning seeing as how it showed real clips from local TV shows for the first couple of minutes.

The first 5 minutes was a lot of shooting/killings from the terrorists. The talking in the movie was hard to hear from being muffled. There were a lot of intense parts during this film. One thing that I had a really hard time with was trying to figure out who was the good guys vs. the bad guys seeing they all looked, talked, and prayed to the same god Allah.

Watching this movie and seeing all these little kids wanting to act like their fathers and wanting to become a terrorists makes me sick. But on the flip side they did add a little humor into the movie seeing that a majority of it was such a downer!

Most of it was just evil. At one part of the movie the terrorist took one of the FBI Agents and was going to use him as bait and torture him. Talk about a nail biting scene when the rest of the team came looking for him - - WOW! I would recommend this movie to everyone!

I rate it 5 Ben & Jerry’s out of 5.

HUBBY'S REVIEW

This is another smart, edgy film by Michael Mann who also gave us The Last of the Mohicans, Heat, The Insider, Ali, Collateral, The Aviator, Miami Vice and (a little known favorite of mine from the '80s) Band of the Hand.

This is the true story of the events surrounding a terrorist attack on Americans living in Saudi Arabia. Specifically, a team of U.S. government agents is sent to investigate the bombing of an American facility in the Middle East.

I cannot imagine putting my life on the line like these people do on a daily basis in the name of preserving democracy and justice.

The acting was fantastic (casting even better!) and there were quite a few good action scenes. Although, when you stop to think about it, it feels a little strange being entertained by "action scenes" that are merely a retelling of what happened to these innocent people as well as those trying to hunt down such barbaric human beings.

That leaves me with one final comment. This was an extremely powerful, engaging, emotional film aside from the director's moral equivalency commentary at the very end this movie.

I won't give it away, but needless to say, it mad me angry. Peter Berg (the Director) manages to exact a similar fate on the viewing audience as the terrorists do on their innocent victims.

He highjacks us and preaches to us at the very moment our raw emotions are exposed and the whole experience makes one feel used and duped. It made this reviewer angry.

In essence, I maintain that this movie is a reality check for those who don't understand the true nature of the world we live in as well as the enemy we are fighting.

God bless our troops and their families for the sacrifices they've made (and will continue to make) on my behalf.

3.5 Ben & Jerry's out of 5, which makes this film's OMD rating 4.25.