Kingdom of Heaven - Reviewed

It's not easy to decide if it's a good movie or not. Yes, it's epic. Yes, it's vast and visually impressive. It's also very long, drags in places, and many of the performances were weak. An exception would be Liam Neeson, who was really terrific. Edward Norton plays the Christian-leper king of Jerusalem. Norton is one of my favorite actors, and I had no idea that was him. You never really see his face. I didn't think much of Orlando Bloom as the lead actor.

The one thing you can take away from it, is that there has always been religiously crazy people. Lennon was right - no religion, nothing to kill or die for.

The previews were pretty neat though. I saw a new SW EP3 trailer and it kicks ass. I got goosebumps watching it. War of the Worlds looks great, and I really dig Tom Cruise (another favorite actor). Brad Pitt's new movie, Mr. and Mrs. Smith looks fun, and I really like Angelina Jolie. She's really the only female actress that stands out in any way. The rest of them are interchangeable.

I'm not sure about Pitt's choice of roles though. I just checked imdb to see what he's doing, and here's a plot for a movie due in 2006.

Plot Outline: Talented amateur actor Chad Schmidt relocates to 1980s Los Angeles in hopes of being discovered. Problem is, he bares an uncanny resemblance to Brad Pitt, whose star is ascending -- turning Schmidt into a punchline and not a star.

Ugh.. He's also doing a movie where he plays Jesse James.

Pitt needs another Fight Club, or Se7ven, or Twelve Monkeys, or Snatch. Pitt excels in playing disturbed or just plain "cool" characters.

The Pink Panther looks fun, and I've liked most of Steve Martin's work. His side-kick is played by Jean Reno, who is a really terrific French actor. If you haven't seen The Professional, it's worth a DVD rental.

And, of course, in July the release of the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, starring Johnny Depp (another great actor) and directed by Tim Burton. It should be amazing.