Michelle Rodriguez Archives - HavingSaidThat...

Now Playing Review – Battle: Los Angeles

03/14/2011 by Lauren 2 Comments

With the impending doom of 2012 just around the corner every movie about an apocalypse is probably going to resonate a little more with me than it should. Don’t give me that look; I’m a slightly paranoid pessimist with an active imagination and an inability to resist watching movies involving such destruction… And though it doesn’t bring anything new story wise, Battle: Los Angeles does do enough to make it worth seeing among the countless other titles.

Though alien invasions are hardly anything new, Battle: LA decides to scale down an overwhelming, globe-spanning alien attack by sticking the camera within the action encountered by a small band of marines. Post the introductory bits to familiarize the viewer with the men they will be following, the film has no reason to cut between different groups once the chaos begins. There are no cuts to the president’s devastated face as he learns the news, no secret underground facilities ready to reveal the studies they have been conducting on these aliens for years, etc. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Movie Review Tagged With: Aaron Eckhart, Battle: Los Angeles, Bridget Moynahan, Jonathan Liebesman, Michael Pena, Michelle Rodriguez, Ne-Yo, Ramon Rodriguez

Review: Machete

09/03/2010 by Zac 1 Comment

I found Jan Brewer’s beheaded bodies, they are in…Machete!

The Grindhouse faux trailer turned feature length grind house film fits in perfectly with its predecessors, Planet Terror and Death Proof. The film is just as over the top, gory, and ludicrous as those that aforementioned double feature and is filled with same game talent beyond that.

Now Playing Review – Machete

09/03/2010 by Lauren Leave a Comment

Usually a man’s best friend is a dog, but you’ve got two guesses as to what Machete likes to keep at his side. Evildoers beware; you are about to be introduced to his BFF.

Back in Mexico Machete was the one man on the police force that would make grown man weep if they heard he was coming for them. He is tough, no nonsense, not squeamish when it comes to blood, and can get the job done. But one day things go horribly wrong and everything is taking away from him, leading him on a path of bloody revenge against those who have crossed him. Now mix in a whole bunch of racism and we’ve got ourselves quite the exploitation film.

Let’s face it, this type of film that pays homage to the qualities of a exploitative B-movie is not for everyone, and could easily create a love it or hate it divide in the audience. But before you write it off as something to pass on consider the possibility that you might not end up on the side of the line you would expect. Just take it from me, going in I wasn’t really expecting anything from this since any spooftastic film tends to rub me the wrong way. They tread a fine line because they can so easily take things a step too far if they haven’t just completely run across the line on the over-the-top side of things (there are too many lines in this paragraph), something that is hard to come back from. [Read more...]

Comic-Con International 2010 – My Experience in Nerd Heaven

08/02/2010 by Lauren 1 Comment

A couple of weeks ago I excitedly told my aunt that I was going to Comic Con in a week, with a big ol’ smile on my face. I didn’t really expect her to be jealous, but I was overly excited. Then she asked if it was a gathering of comics or something. As in comedians. I then proceeded to try and explain that it was this really cool event that happens each year that has been taken over by Hollywood in the past decade or so. Basically it has everything a nerd would desire to see, including comics, writers, artists, video games, tv shows, and movies. I told her about the panels I was planning on sitting in on and some of the people that were scheduled to attend. I was adamant about making her see how awesome it was, but she just didn’t get it. Color me deflated. Oh well, I guess Comic Con is just for certain people…

Like this girl:

Should Avatar Win the Oscar for Best Picture?

02/26/2010 by Grant 2 Comments

Will we see a CGI acceptance speech?

Avatar is currently the odds on favorite to win the Oscar for Best Picture. Almost everyone enjoyed this film, but does it deserve to win Best Picture?

My expectations for Avatar were hindered from the beginning. Avatar’s various previews accurately depict its recycled plot and clichéd theme of the noble savage. I immediately dubbed the film ‘Dances with Wolves meets Fern Gully meets Aliens.’ I wasn’t even aware that Sigourney Weaver was in the film! Despite my hesitations, I was flat-out entertained when I eventually saw the film. The enthralling nature of the film can best be explained by Cameron’s storytelling abilities combined with the new technologies at his disposal. The facial motion capture far exceeded my expectations and Cameron’s new brand of 3D filming enhanced the experience. Sam Worthington’s acting is solid, but he and everyone else are overshadowed by the performance of Zoe Saldana. Zoe’s performance as Neytiri sells the film. Avatar is 162 minutes long but given its positive qualities the film never drags and seems much shorter.

Now Playing Review: Avatar

12/29/2009 by Lauren 1 Comment

I will admit it, I was one of those people who was more than skeptical about how much I was going to like this film after first seeing the trailer a while back. I just didn’t think I was going to relate to the plight of some blue, anorexic looking humanoids. And frankly, I was a little concerned about some roundabout cross-species love. But you know what they say about books and their covers.
James Cameron’s Avatar has been a long time coming, but the end product clearly shows that this time was used wisely. During this time, Cameron constructed a story of two conflicting species, the Na’vi who inhabit the planet Pandora, and the humans encroaching on their home in the hopes of harvesting a valuable mineral from beneath the tree they inhabit. Though the humans have tried negotiating with the Na’vi to gain control of the land, it is clear that patience is growing thin with trying to appease this “lesser” species and the military forces brought to the planet are more than willing to take a less subtle approach in order to complete the objective. With one last attempt at keeping consciences clean, Jake Sully, a paraplegic soldier, and many members of the science team are given avatars made to look and move like the Na’vi in the hopes of helping to bring the negotiations to an end.
[Read more...]

Filed Under: Movie Review Tagged With: Avatar, Dileep Rao, James Cameron, Joel Moore, Michelle Rodriguez, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Zoe Saldana

Review: Avatar

12/18/2009 by Zac Leave a Comment

James Cameron’s Avatar is finally here and not only does it deliver the visuals effects we were promised, which are quite possibly the best ever put on film, but the story is engaging and entertaining, if familiar, with a third act that must be seen to believe.
In Avatar, James Cameron has literally created an entire world in Pandora that feels like we barely even break the surface of what Cameron has in his imagination for this expansive and deep universe. What is Pandora and why should we care about it? Pandora is a planet that earthlings have discovered contains an element that is valuable in its resource abilities back on Earth. The problem is Pandora is populated by a number of dangerous indigenous creatures and a humanoid race of people known to humans as the Na’vi. The project has been on going for years as the humans try to co-exist and mine for minerals while the Na’vi resist the encroaching on their land. Enter Jake Sully, a paralyzed marine who is recruited to replace his twin brother who was part of a program that trained humans to control a Na’vi avatar to help research the moon and work towards a peaceful resolution with the Na’vi to mine the minerals of Pandora. Unfortunately when Jake arrives tensions are at an all time high and the two species are on the brink of war and Jake’s path unknowingly will intertwine with the fate of the Na’vi. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Movie Review Tagged With: Avatar, Giovanni Ribisi, James Cameron, Michelle Rodriguez, Na'vi, Pandora, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Zoe Saldana

Rental Review – Fast & Furious

08/08/2009 by Lauren Leave a Comment

The Fast and the Furious franchise has had a rough ride since its start in 2001. Following the popularity of the first film, much of the cast and excitement was lost in the sequel, and the third would have been better if it had never been made. Hoping to recreate what was made eight years ago, the franchise got another chance with Fast & Furious. Unfortunately for us, the only things that remain the same besides the title are the four leads and fast cars.

The biggest problem is the uninspired story. The movie begins with Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) stealing fuel tanks from a moving semi in the Dominican Republic. [Read more...]