Review: Mirrors

I can't say I'm a fan of all those Asian horrors and their remakes. I don't find them scary and they are all pretty much the same to me. What's the difference really between The Ring and The Grudge? Mirrors wasn't on my list of 'must see movies' this year, but somehow I ended up seeing it twice. And not because I liked it so much the first time.

The great Kiefer Sutherland plays Ben Carson, a former detective turned alcoholic night watchman at a burnt down department store. He starts seeing things in mirrors. Boredom ensues.

Before I saw the movie, I pondered.. "a movie about evil mirrors.. I wonder how Alexandre Aja (who did a great job with The Hills Have Eyes) will pull this off." The answer is: he didn't, really. We have a surprisingly low amount of people in jeopardy here and not much is done with the actual mirrors, except for some cat scares. Actually, this movie relies a lot on fake outs and sound effects. I grew tired of that quickly. There's also a lack of interaction between characters. Seeing Kiefer go out and about on his own is not that interesting. You have Jason Flemyng in your movie, Mr. Aja, use him! There's a scene where Kiefer is on the phone to Jason, who plays a cop and friend of his. In this scene, we only see Kiefer.. there are no cuts whatsoever to Jason's character as we only hear him on the phone. Why? Why not use him? Flemyng is an appealing actor, but completely underused. Same goes for the lovely Amy Smart. She maybe has 7 minutes of screen time, while the movie is 110 minutes long (and about 20 minutes TOO long). Also, this movie has completely ruined Miss Smart for me.. I can never look at her the same way again. *traumatized for life*

Kiefer is a good actor, but he's just channeling Jack Bauer here. It really felt like I was watching a Jack Bauer movie.. you know, life after CTU and all that stuff. I hear Paula Patton is a talented actress, but she was channeling Maya from "Heroes". If you watch "Heroes", you know that's not a good thing.

Overall, I feel this is a poor movie. Taking away my lack of interest in these Asian horror remakes, I just feel like I've seen this movie already. It's one cliché after the other and predictable as hell. I did like the ending though. Let's just leave it at that. A 2,5/5.

Review: The Accidental Husband

IMDB tells me The Accidental Husband is set for a March, 2009 release. Why this movie keeps getting pushed back is beyond me, because it surely isn't the worst movie I've seen this year so far. In fact, I expected this romcom to be completely generic, but was pleasantly surprised that it had something more to offer.

That something more is Jeffrey Dean Morgan, best known for his recurring roles on "Grey's Anatomy" (playing Denny)and "Supernatural" (playing Sam and Dean's dad). To be honest, I never cared much for Denny in contrast to most "Grey" fans, so I wasn't sure if he would be leading man material. Denny fans can breathe a sigh of relief, because I can report that Jeffrey Dean Morgan is leading man material. He has the talent and charisma to carry the movie. Especially in contrast to both Uma Thurman and Colin Firth, who are incredibly bland in this. Which is the point, I know. Therefore, if someone less capable than Morgan had portrayed this role, this definitely would have been a generic romcom.

Uma Thurman plays Dr. Emma Lloyd, a radio talk show host who advises one of her listeners (Justina Machado of "Six Feet Under") to dump her fiancé Patrick (Morgan), which she does. Patrick wants to take revenge and with the help of his neighbor and some computer hacking, Patrick finds himself married to Emma, who is about to get married to Richard (Firth).

The movie is predictable as hell, but has its moments. Colin Firth's stress-eating moments are funny, as well as relatable. However, I'm kind of tired of seeing Firth play the same no nonsense Brit. Bridget Jones, Love Actually, What a Girl Wants, Mamma Mia!.. I'm sure I'm forgetting something. Uma Thurman is a fantastic actress (see Kill Bill), but is somewhat lacking in the comedic department. I think Amanda Peet would have been a good choice for this role as she can play both funny and serious.

Overall, the movie is fun and Jeffrey Dean Morgan shines. Come on, US, release the movie already! A 3,5/5.

Trailer Park: The Accidental Husband

I don't watch a lot of trailers online, so this feature will mostly feature (hee!) trailers that were attached to movies I've recently seen. Keep in mind that I live in The Netherlands, and that the trailers attached wont necessarily be the same as the ones in your country. In this post I'll review the trailers that were attached to The Accidental Husband!

I like to note that I always try to guess which trailers will be attached to the movie, but lately I've been sucking at it. The choices have been just too odd, I can't call them anymore. I mean, The Children of Huang Shi attached to Mamma Mia! or The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian to Sex & The City? Plus, movies I haven't really heard of keep getting attached.

Bride Flight
Again this trailer. I now know that this movie is in Dutch. It doesn't look bad, but I just don't like Dutch movies. They sound.. fake.
To be viewed: on TV maybe

The Women
Eva Mendes is hot. Really, really hot. But this movie doesn't really appeal to me.
To be viewed: on TV sometime

Nights in Rodanthe
I love Mae Whitman. She's an underrated talent so I was happy to see her in this trailer. Why isn't this girl more successful? Why does Miley Cyrus keep getting attention?! Plus, Christopher Meloni is in it, and he's someone I can't seen enough in movies. Diane Lane and Richard Gere are great of course. Unfortunately James Franco is in it.. he's talented, but kinda "meh" to me in general. You know why, James! Anyways, the movie is based on a book by Nicholas Sparks so it should find its audience.
To be viewed: on DVD