6 Movies in One Week! (Part Two)

Next movie I watched after the Bourne series is Ocean's Eleven. Yeah, the flight was that long. I've heard some bad reviews about Ocean's Eleven, but since Ocean's Twelve is coming out soon, I thought I might get a preview so I can understand the sequel. Had to say I didn't enjoy the movie that much. I expected much more given that stars such as Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Julia Roberts, Bernie Mac, et al were starring. They obviously had a good time making the movie, but they didn't seem to put any effort into it. Most of the time, they were just talking and planning with not much action. When Clooney was explaining how tough it is to pull the heist off, I thought, "Oh, this has to be good then." Later, unrealistic things just started happening, and there they are in the vault with the money.

Maybe it's because I'm already on my 5th hour of movie-watching, that's why I wasn't able to appreciate the movie fully? It also doesn't help that I had to return the headset just when the gang is starting their heist. I saw the stewardess coming, so I started fast-forwarding through the movie. Last thing I heard was Clooney saying, "There's $150 million in the vault. You let us go with half, and you still have the other half." With my headset gone, I proceeded to watch a silent movie. Based on the images, the gang somehow managed to walk away with all of the loot. Heck, Clooney even got his wife back. A quick check at The Movie Spoiler filled in all the blanks. Must say the plot twist at the end is pretty smart.

Later in the middle of the week, I watched The Polar Express around midnight at a 24-hour cinema with an old friend. Her first and only choice is Bridget Jones - The Edge of Reason, but unfortunately I've seen it before. (See earlier blog entry.) I really wanted to see The Incredibles, but she had seen it, plus Shark's Tale. So we settled for The Polar Express. I've seen parts of the trailer, and the first thing I noticed is the zombie-like characters. They look like humans. They walk and talk like humans, but they come out as dead as dolls. They remind me of the characters in Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. They were hyping about the ultra-realistic renderings and how the movements of each strand of Dr. Aki's hair is calculated. Heck, I still prefer the animation in Toy Story and Shrek.

Anyway, the plot is straightforward, but heart-warning. Just what the doctor ordered for cynical grown-ups like me. There's this boy who's going into his teens, and he starts to doubt whether Santa Claus is for real. A few minutes before Christmas, a steam train stops in front of his house. It's the Polar Express on its way to the North Pole. The boy reluctantly joins the ride, where he meets other kids and makes new friends. They had lots of exciting adventures during the trip. In the end, he gets to meet the jolly old man, and wakes up believing in Christmas for the rest of his life.

The first highlight of the movie is when the train pulled up alongside the boy's house. The train looked and sounded so real! The part where these singing and dancing waiters burst into the compartment serving hot chocolate is a nice touch. There's also a sequence where the boy lost the girl's train ticket. The way the ticket flutters about in the air will surely remind viewers of the floating feather sequence at the start of Forrest Gump. Sometimes the realistic animation and the crazy camerawork actually made me feel dizzy, especially during the part when the train is rushing through the tunnels in a 179-degree grade.

Being an engineer, I can't help thinking about the nitty-gritty details of the movie, like what do those letters punched into the tickets mean? (I was mighty happy too when I figured out the word "BELIEVE" before the conductor revealed it.) Then, I also noticed that there were no lady elves working the shops. It was only when the elves started dancing that they showed up. And how many reindeers are there supposed to be in Santa's sleigh? I counted eight, so where's Rudolph? My friend reminded me that I should focus more on the story.