Allen Lew's Thoughts » Movies

I talk a little about Watchmen on NBC 4 LA

Allen Lew — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 09:04:48 +0000

I was on the NBC 4 Los Angeles local news talking a little bit about the Watchmen film, which was pretty good, and got to show off my tickets over at Universal City Walk. I don’t know much about the original book, but it is considered the greatest graphic novel of all time. The characters look amazing and it seems like they captured all of the best parts of the novel. That being said, some scenes go on and are often overly violent. Still, even if you aren’t a fan of superhero movies, this is still a film to see.

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Superman Returns

Allen Lew — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 06:25:22 +0000

In Superman Returns, Bryan Singer tried very hard to recreate much of the classic look and feel of the earlier Superman movies. Singer succeeds quite well in doing this right from the opening credits. His casting of Brandon Routh as the Man of Steel was surely meant to remind people of the late Christopher Reeve in his look and mannerisms (he even kind of sounds like him too). The movie started off quite well in my opinion, with great effects and a great exploration of the characters in the Superman universe (with of course the cameos of some of the older stars of the Adventures of Superman). That and Kevin Spacey’s diabolical Lex Luthor proves to be quite the challenge for our hero. However, the film starts dropping off in quality near the end. The end seems to leave open too many questions for the sequel and reduce the movie to some unnecessarily sappy moments. So while Superman Returns wasn’t exactly a new interpretation of DC Comics’s flagship character, that maybe a good thing.

Wordplay

Allen Lew — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 05:31:56 +0000

When I first heard about the movie Wordplay, I thought it was about the New York Times Crossword puzzle itself and the people who solve it (the regular people and the famous like Jon Stewart, Ken Burns, and Bill Clinton to name a few). Don’t get me wrong, while the film is about the puzzle (how it’s constructed and by whom), it’s mainly the story of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament and the puzzle fanatics who enter the contest. It is something not too many people know about, but really, I was hoping they would make the movie more about the puzzle.

Thank You for Smoking

Allen Lew — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 02:34:19 +0000

An incredibly funny movie about the art of political spin and government, this movie presents a great story from a sort of libertarian (but probably closer to liberal) point of view. Thank You For Smoking takes on just about everything big from lobbyists, politicians, and of course Hollywood. It is dark, immensely funny and will probably be watched over and over for its presentation of today’s political climate.

An Inconvenient Truth

Allen Lew — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 07:00:17 +0000

I finally got a chance to this movie and all I can say is wow. It’s been said this movie will terrify you, and it will. It puts together so much information on global warming. After seeing this movie, I feel as though I am more equipped to talk about global warming. Al Gore’s presentation is terrific; as others have described, he is funny, passionate, and not how he was seemingly portrayed in the 2000 election. I went with my friend to this movie, a global warming skeptic. While it did not make him as passionate about global warming as Gore, it did convince him that global warming is real and is a problem. That makes it all the more easier to see the power of An Inconvenient Truth and to recommend it.

Take your friends to see it, especially the skeptics. You can even get help paying for tickets or if you want to donate for others to see this movie, check out Sharethetruth.us (via Lessig).

At the movies

Allen Lew — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 10:17:48 +0000

One of my inspirations for building this site, Jason Kottke, has a cool way of posting about the movies he’s watched. I’m attempting to add something similiar to this site, using the Rate My Stuff plugin. Two movies are listed below. I’m still tweaking and perfecting this though.

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King Kong (2005)

Allen Lew — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 09:36:23 +0000

I am so glad they set this movie in the past, since a modern setting would have killed the wonder of the movie (the old time New York scenes do tend to distract you from the movie though). Terrific movie, though not very strong plot-wise.

Memoirs of a Geisha

Allen Lew — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 08:48:14 +0000

A beautiful movie, but the acting is not without its flaws. This is mostly due to its non-native English speaking cast.