so I saw transformers yesterday. what else are you supposed to do on a rainy 4th of july? after seeing about fifty different trailers of bot-on-bot action I feared I had seen all the best parts before seeing the actual movie.

not so.

if there’s one thing this movie doesn’t lack, it’s ACTION. you’d expect nothing less from michael bay who’ll gladly give you 2 hours of extreme closeup action with dizzying, jarring camera movements.

as you might expect there’s not much to the story. nope — you’re there to see the steel-shredding, explosions… exploding, and the casting of unnecessarily gorgeous girls in principal roles. I know that is what this production is about.

but you know what? after a while that just gets very, very tedious.

seeing the “real live” autobots and decepticons transforming was nothing short of amazing. seeing the giant robot warriors clash with one another with seamless integration with the actors and backdrop will blow you away. but after two whole hours even these incredible special effects start looking all the same. especially the way it’s shot, how it’s so up close and fast and blurry, I couldn’t tell the difference — the final showdown between optimus and megatron didn’t look any different from the other ones earlier.

yeah, yeah, it’s supposed to be a mindless a blockbuster. I get it. but that doesn’t mean it can’t be interesting.

so I’ve been secretly going to see films and not telling you about them (yeah, it’s got nothing to do with being lazy). but that all changes right NOW as I shall blab about my cinematic experiences.

first up is severance. I really, really enjoyed this one and I’m not even a fan of the slasher genre. I know I said the same thing about shaun of the dead and zombie movies, and this isn’t quite the shaun of slasher movies, but they do a very good job of taking you to the edge of your nerves and slipping in an unexpected funny. oh, you brits.

then I finally saw 28 weeks later. you know what? considering this was a huge budget follow-up to an excellent indie, I thought it was still very good. they managed to add an interesting nibblet to the existing story and added even more human drama elements… and of course big budget special effects. all you 28 days puritans should consider checking this out.

then on a spur of the moment I decided to catch paprika. I saw this on an evening when I was dead tired and I admit my mind could have been slipping in and out of brief consciousness, but this film wouldn’t have been any less vividly imaginative had I been otherwise. using the words “trippy” or “bizarre” would be an insult to describe an animated feature of this magnitude, which stretches the limits of human creativity and imagination. the soundtrack doesn’t slack either.

last night I went and saw the nyc premiere of memories of tomorrow starring ken watanabe. it had an introduction AND a q&a afterwards from the man himself!

the film is about a man who devoted his life to his career only to find his work life, home life, and relationship with his wife fall apart when he discovers he has alzheimer’s disease.

expertly shot, directed and acted, this is easily the best film I’ve seen this year.

those of you in nyc, sf and la will see one of japan’s top films from 2006 in select asian theaters. check the site for listings.

saw 300 tonight. wasn’t something I had planned to see, and tonight was no exception. my old college buddy dan and I were gonna go see some improv but it was sold out so we ended up at the closest movie theater.

lots of pecs with makeup and toothy monologues. eh.

I actually had a good new year’s. how’s that for a change?

over the holidays I caught some good films. children of men is definitely good and you should see it when it comes out (what’s up, limited release?). letters from iwo jima is also very good, and I’m not just saying that because I actually auditioned for one of the roles (note: I didn’t stand a chance).

whatchu got?

yeah so I got a new phone on a new service. it’s got all these great reviews but everyone’s having a bitch of a time hearing what I’m saying! I can hear everyone fine though.

am I holding it all funky? and YES - I removed the little plastic.

so what the fuck? I have a week or so to take it back if I want to exchange it. or learn how to hold this thing right, because evidently I sounded clearly ONCE.

there were three films this season that I desperately counted on to deliver, those films being science of sleep, for your consideration, and flannel pajamas.

I felt science of sleep fell short because gael garcia bernal’s character, although very well played, was simply unlikeable. I couldn’t sympathize with him.

I felt for your consideration fell short because all of the characters, although expertly played, were too over the top and unconvincing. it would have been a so-so film made by anyone else but from christopher guest you expect a lot more.

I felt flannel pajamas had all the right pieces but just wasn’t put together as well as it could have. the performances were great, especially from julianne nicholson. maybe I’ll go see this again, though I’ll have to do it quick because it’ll be gone by the end of the week.

…I really, really enjoyed casino royale.

I can’t even remember the last bond movie I went to see in the theaters.

go to this one.

it was a rainy sunday morning, 4 hours of sleep, still intoxicated from the night before, getting to the WRONG theater (there are two chelsea clearviews on 23rd st)… and oh yeah, and that whole hollywood remake of a modern day hong kong classic thing.

and you know what? I liked it a lot. and I think it’ll do well because of the star-studded cast and the action and violence.

for those who have seen (the original) infernal affairs: don’t go into it thinking “oh this is a remake of infernal affairs.” right, I realize it IS a remake but they do change things up slightly and the film does stand on its own.

for those who haven’t seen infernal affairs: go see this, but also see the original.

well, not so much the science but the drawback is that you can’t talk about it because most people probably haven’t seen it yet.

I liked it, I definitely liked it, but I need to see it again to confirm a few things I’m unclear about. I’m not quite ready to call it my #1 film of the year.

ps- I’ve never been much of a strokes or deathcab fan, but I admit their songs in the trailer (fear of sleep, your heart is an empty room) are pretty damn sweet. as for the velvet underground song… well, who’s gonna hate on TVU?