normandorais
There are movies that got the Oscar for best movie of the year and I have watched them only once, The Curse of the Judas Chalice never got that kind of recognition but I've watched it four times already and enjoyed each one of them. When I get to that part where Stana Katic sings that song in the bar, I always replay the scene once or twice. Stana Katic is Mona Lisa reincarnated in the twenty first century but better than the Da Vinci's version. Noah Wyle and the rest of the cast are always in tune with the story. Aside from a few exceptions, I'm not into vampire movies that much but this one makes the grade. Not having the kind of budget Indiana Jones movies got and succeeding in making a gem of a flick deserves praise. Hats off for their great work.
david-sarkies
I really don't know why I ended up buying all three of these movies considering that they are now helping to clog up my house with useless stuff that I don't need, won't use, and will probably never watch again. While the second movie was actually quite enjoyable to watch, this helping pretty much falls flat on its face for quite a few reasons, including the rather annoying acting that seemed to have cropped up again.While the first two movies were trying to be Indiana Jones, this movie pretty much decided to throw the whole adventure idea away and simply create what is little more than a vampire movie. Hey, they don't even go to an exotic place, they go to New Orleans, and the entire movie is set in New Orleans (with the exception of the beginning which is set in London, and is trying hard to be a James Bond opener) and a part in the middle where they go to an island, which as it turns out, is near New Orleans anyway.Hey, now that I come to think of it, I remember that there was another vampire movie that was set in New Orleans, and even though I didn't particularly like that one, at least is was better than this helping. They even decided to make Russians the bad guys, which is a little bit too eighties, particularly since they were doing what they were doing to resurrect the glory of mother Russia. To me the whole idea of using Russians as bad guys (as well as fundamentalist Muslim terrorists, even before the 'war on terror') is just too clichéd. Hey, now that I think about it, pretty much any bad guy that I can think of from Hollywood is a little too clichéd (secret government departments, Columbian drug barons, Nazi's, North Koreans, aliens, mafia dons, and I'm sure there are a lot more out there as well).
Lola Katz
As I recall, Spielberg created "Raiders of the Lost Ark" with the idea of recreating "Saturday afternoon" movies with a little something for everyone--humor, high-stakes, scary moments, spectacle."The Librarian" series has the same aim and hits it well, so you're guaranteed sheer mindless entertainment. Noah Wylie's geeky "Librarian" keeps saving the day with lots of knowledge and few social graces, generally making a fool of himself along the way. Bob Newhart and Jane Curtain are such steady pros, they make you laugh without appearing to try. There's a well-cast requisite gorgeous girl in each show, and thankfully these female characters can hold their own and do as much rescuing as being rescued. Plus, it's nice to see a series that shows the value of knowledge and learning, even if Flynn has taken that idea a bit far. Geeks and friends of geeks will see much that hits home.The special effects are good rather than great, but they work just fine. This series doesn't have the massive special effects budget that most blockbuster movies have. However, that's not necessarily a bad thing, since many big-budget movies overuse special effects to substitute for plot and character, without making the movie or the effects more interesting.I enjoyed Librarian #3 "Curse of the Judas Chalice" probably even more than the prior 2 in the series. I loved the New Orleans setting, the female lead Stana Katic, plus this time they left out Flynn's mother (a not well written character). Watch the movies in sequence if you can. I'm recommending the series to several friends, and I'm looking forward to seeing more!
Tom
If I had not watched the first two Librarians back to back before the third one I would not be so critical. The vampire theme was OK but the whole production seemed to suffer from the bean counters bringing down the quality of the movie. Cheap sets, dark lighting and background music drowning out the actors made it a tedious two hours. There seemed to be very little chemistry between Noah and Stana - what there was seemed forced and over the top. The relationship between Noah and Sonya Walger was much better and much more believable. In one scene Stana beats up the bad guys but in the next they easily capture her. Even the bad guys just seemed to be just phoning it in. I know it's tough to try to live up to the first one which in my opinion was by far the best but it seemed like someone said, "How cheaply can we make this and still keep the audience?" I hope they learned a lot from this one. I will probably not be adding it to my DVD collection.
AD
