CinemaSlap

Paranormal Activity 2

2010-10-22T18:56:00.000-07:00

So whether you liked the first Paranormal Activity or hated it, clearly a sequel was in the works from the moment the first movie was pulling in cash.

The second movie actually starts out about three months before the first movie takes place and this time, we're following the sister of Katie (the girl who went nuts in the first movie). Christie is her name and she's living with her boyfriend/husband (it's never made that clear) and his daughter from a previous marriage. They have just had a baby, named Hunter, and well... From here on in it's clear that only one thing is going to happen. This "entity" is on a mission for Hunter and for whatever reason, this thing likes to scare the shit out of it's target before it finally tries to take the baby.

This movie was a lot better than the first one for one simple fact, it keeps you on the edge of your seat every single time the shots switch to night. Though some of the freakiest stuff happens during the day, the night shots are where this movie shines. Impressively, the actors in this one are much more believable and I honestly felt anxious the whole time.

Interestingly enough, we see Katie and Micah (since it is her sister) and you are treated to the before Katie freak out moments where her personality shines. The camera shots are a lot more balanced as they are taken strictly from the houses security cameras.

The haunts from the first film are actually not repeated in this film. The director, Tod Williams, keeps things extremely fresh and don't go for the cheap scares but rather builds up the tension and terror until the last 25 minuetes of the film and then really lets things fly off the handle. Without a doubt, this movie is much better than the first and though it's been the first horror film of the season for me, I give this a 7 out of 10.

The Social Network

2010-10-01T19:15:00.001-07:00

A movie about Facebook. That's the story of The Social Network, simply put and it was amazing. David Fincher puts together the amazing history of Mark Zuckerberg and what's know known as one of the biggest social sites ever to hit the internet.

As the story kicks off the whole story is set to the narration of Mark getting sued by two different parties. The movie itself times in at about two hours and with the pacing of Zuckerberg's talking speed never seems to stop for a moment. If you're like me and don't really understand computer coding and those technical terms, some of the stuff will be lost, but it doesn't effect the storyline at all.

What's really interesting about this movie is that it combines the story of a documentary but at the same time, has the drama of a brilliant movie. Almost to the point where you question what actually happened in real life and what was added as artistic integrity. Many of the scenes were inspired by (from what I know) true events. Such as Zuckerberg showing up to a big business meeting in pajamas, or Sean Parker, the creator of Napster, (played by Justin Timberlake) joining in on the whole Facebook website explosion.

Certain scenes in this movie are brilliantly filmed and make this movie absolutely amazing. As the story progresses, we really see the aloof-ness that Zuckerberg shows everyone. Whether it's the lawyers or his friends, Eisenberg makes Zuckerberg appear to always be on his own plane of existence and rarely shows any respect to his friends or peers.

Now I'm not sure how much of this was actually true or what has been works of fiction. But this movie did not feel anywhere near two hours. I could have actually sat there for another half hour or so just to see how things play out. In the end, this movie simply makes me want to learn more about coding and facebook and all the "stuff" that goes into making a 25 billion dollar website that just wanted to connect everyone's peers.

Easily, this movie gets a 8 out of 10

The

2010-10-01T19:15:00.000-07:00

2010-09-25T14:27:00.003-07:00

Easy A

2010-09-25T14:27:00.001-07:00

Easy A. There really isn’t much to be said on this movie. Initially, walking out of the theater, I was first disappointed in it. Going in I was honestly hoping that it was going to be a funny movie with a lot of sexual undertones. But honestly, it left me wanting more.

Emma Stone plays Olive, a girl going through high school, who wouldn’t show up on your radar if you were looking for her. That is until one day when her best friend finds out that rather than going camping with her, she went on a “date” for the whole weekend. Thus leading her friend to think she lost her virginity. Marianne (played by Amanda Bynes) over hears this and being the Jesus freak that she is, spreads the rumor. And anyone who has been to any high school knows, those kinds of rumors spread fast as all hell.

So Olive slowly gets noticed for the simple fact that she is no longer a virgin. One of her friends, Brandon, who is extremely gay, asks her to pretend they slept together in order to help him not get ridiculed by the school jocks. Thus leading the lie even deeper and creating this image of her that she’s a slut.

The movie moves along at a decent pace and I never once thought that the movie drug on too long. But I did think that the jokes just didn’t connect. Lisa Kudrow plays Mrs. Griffith, a guidance counselor at the school, and where she was once a great actress, her performance just falls short. One scene where she’s suppose to be upset and frazzled, just comes off as terrible acting and made me want to just shut my ears off.

There are plenty of decent names in this movie ranging from Lisa Kudrow to Thomas Haden Church and Malcolm McDowell, but none seem to really get this movie and understand the parts like Emma Stone does. She just shines through and through. Her narration in the movie is both witty and comical without being over the top.

Although some of the jokes just fall flat on their face, there are a good amount of these jokes that just get you off guard and are brilliantly written. The family of Olive is easily one of the best moments in the movie. The father and mother both have some great lines such and their comedic uses are one of the few reasons I would even think about giving this movie another run through.

But as far as a final score, this one left me wanting too much, and I just didn’t seem satisfied by what was given. So thanks to Emma Stone, this movie earns a 5 out of 10.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World

2010-08-12T23:35:00.000-07:00

If you have to see one movie this summer, for me it's a tough call between Inception and Scott Pilgrim. If you're looking for the most all-encompassing movie, Scott Pilgrim would win out hands down. This movie is unclassifiable for the simple reason that it has something for everyone, and I do mean everyone. Fight scenes, comedy, romance, Nerdy/geeky stuff; and that's just to name a few.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World is a comic/manga that is meandering through life. His band, the Sex Bob-ombs are good, he's dating a high school girl (though he's 22), and he just ran into the girl of his dreams. Seriously, he has a dream about her and then there she appears. Scott (Michael Cera) eventually finds this girls name is Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and starts his journey to win her heart. Little does he know, in order to do this he needs to defeat her seven evil ex's.

Simple enough plot right? Well, this movie is anything but simple and ordinary. Throw in the old school 80's Batman "Kapow" and "Thud" along with video game elements like extra lives, and an 8-bit Universal intro and any fanboy of movies or video games will be pleased with this movie.

There literally was one moment where I thought to myself "There has not been a bad scene yet" and true enough, every single scene is brilliant and ripped right from the books. The music was amazing, from the high energy fight songs to the smallest sound effect, or even using Universal's theme in the movi, was placed at the appropriate time. Lights and acting were easily the best part, namely the acting.

Michael Cera still plays the same character he plays in every movie, but it seems that all the other movies were put there to build Scott Pilgrim into a great full flesh and blood character. Though the characters obviously know their in a movie/comic (in the book they reference it a few times) they don't take the acting to seriously, but they are able to pull the aloof-ness of the book into the movie.

I wish that I could say that I have enough to talk about this movie but the truth is I could pick out brilliant moment after brilliant moment throughout this film. Not once did I feel this movie drug in any way. Actually the opposite, with a run time of around two hours, I almost could have sat through more. This movie left such a great feeling in me that I wanted to walk right back in and sit through another showing. That's why I give Scott Pilgrim vs The World a 9.5, wait... make that 9.75 out of 10

Despicable Me

2010-07-10T18:12:00.001-07:00

Despicable Me, initially a movie that had nothing at all about it in the trailer but a bunch of celebrity names. Second trailer comes in and we find a little more about the movie. So, in case you didn't really pay attention, the best way to describe this movie is a heart felt spy vs spy.

With an A-list cast, and great animation behind it, you really love these characters from beginning to end. Steve Carell plays Gru, the over the hill villain who is determined to get back on top once he finds out that some new villain has stepped in and stolen a Pyramid from Egypt and replaced it with an inflatable copy. Jason Segel joins the cast as Gru's villainous enemy, Vector, who is just starting his carrer as the owner to the Pyramid.

Initially, this movie plays to the children who drug their parents to see it with cutesy humour and child like humor. But then it brings in the adults with a deeper humor (think Shrek movies, but not as obvious). Gru eventually adopts three little orphan girls in order to steal Vector's shrink ray. While at first he puts them off as nuisances but eventually he learns to love them. Gru's mastermind plan once stealing the shrink ray, is to steal the moon, but without funding from the Bank of Evil, he's forced to make changes.

The minions easily became a favorite of mine, even though you can't understand what they are saying with out the Best Buy Minion translator (plugging away at my day job). Though they are much like Kenny from South Park, you can't understand them fully, but still get the gist of what's trying to be past along. While they bring most of the humor, it's really once the kids are introduced to the minions (or cousins as Gru refers to them around the kids) is when the humor really kicks into high gear.

Very few movies this summer has caught my attention enough to come home and write a review, but this movie so far makes my top five without fail. This movie kept me entertained and laughing for the majority of the film and really touches your heart once you start connecting to the character. No animation movie has caught me like this since my first time watching Toy Story. And I'm proud enough to easily give this film an 8 out of 10.

Toy Story 3

2010-06-22T14:51:00.001-07:00

Buzz, Woody, Ham, and friends are all back in the new Toy Story 3D. The story of Toy Story is as brilliant as the characters always were with a few changes to advance the story. Andy is now 17 and going away to college and must choose what to finally do with his favorite toys. Though the numbers of toys have dwindled down to a measly dozen, all your favorite toys are back for the adventure of their lives. Once the toys find themselves a new home at Sunny Side Day Care, things aren't always what they seem. New toys are brought into the mix such as Lots o' Hugs, Ken, and others.

The issue with this movie comes less from the story and plays on the emotions we all know, sadness. Unfortunately, throughout this story the Toys just can't seem to catch a break. Time and time again you think that they might have a chance but every single time you end up thinking "These guys just can't get lucky.

The voice acting is great as usual, and there are a good amount of laughs to not make you feel completely bad. The scenes that do have comedy, such as when Buzz starts to speak spanish, are brilliant. Though once again, I attempted to see it in 3D and see the greatness that is in this 3D fad, but this movie it just didn't seem to matter at all. Not once do you have any cheap tricks such as throwing something at the screen or anything like that. But it also didn't deliver on giving the depth that Up felt and Avatar proved to be tolerable.

Overall, the movie was still a Toy Story film and was a good movie, clearly to be the last, and at the end you still feel like your going to love your toys forever. This film proved that no matter how old, sometimes you just want to play with that special old toy. So when push comes to shove this film gets a 5 out of 10.

Nightmare on Elm Street

2010-05-01T19:14:00.000-07:00

This movie was what most reboots fail to do. Quite simply this movie makes you want a sequel. Nightmare on Elm Street is a well known movie series that was kicked off in 1984 and shook us to our core. Their main villain, Freddy Kruger, would attack you in your sleep. Not only that, but the wounds he would inflict on you in your dreams would appear in the real world, creating the sense of pure vulnerability since it's never an easy feet to stop yourself from dreaming.

Jackie Earle Haley comes to this movie with all his acting chops sprinting forward. Many people will recognize him as Rorschach from Watchmen. Well, take the craziness that he had in that movie and add a melted face, knife claws and you create the most terrifying Freddy since the first film. This movie focus's less on the humor Freddy brings in the original series and starts to give you more of a chilling horror effect.

Not only does the storyline improve on the original script but it brings new deaths and great emotion to the characters. We finally see what happened to Kruger and seeing him around the little kids is the most chilling moments of all. This was easily the best horror film I've seen in years and kept me on the edge of my seat from the very first moment, till the last death which leaves room for sequels to come.

Rooney Mara plays Nancy, but rather than her be the teeny bopper that she was in the original film, she's more artsy and reluctant to open her mouth for fear of what others will think. While you can easily tell how much love and work was put into this film you can easily forget that your watching a movie and really start caring about the characters and Freddy himself, once you find out the back story.

Freddy Kruger was always one of my favorite villains of all time. Going into this I was sure that I would either love this movie or hate it and I am very glad to report that I loved it. Every moment just keeps me thinking about the next crazy kill or humorous line from the opening scene in the diner to Nancy's final battle with our Dream world fiend.

This movie was phenomenal and I am so excited for the DVD to come out so I can see how much work and time was put into this, not to mention the commentary. I can honestly say that I look forward to seeing this movie again in theaters and that's a huge deal considering the price of tickets now a days. Without a second thought this movie gets a 8 out of 10. Easy.... Rest in peace!

Kick Ass

2010-04-17T09:34:00.000-07:00

Let me start off by apologizing for again not keeping up on my movies. But other than that I'd also like to say that I've never read any Kick Ass comics so I have never known anything about the story other than what was in the film.

Going off that, this film was kind of a let down for me. The basic plot of the movie is high school teen David, played by Aaron Johnson, is just like many of us when we were in high school, just surviving. One day he decides he's going to be a super hero, though he doesn't have any super powers, wasn't biten by a radioactive spider, etc. He just starts training to be one. As he goes around stopping petty crimes he finds out that there are others like him who are doing more than just stopping the petty criminals, their going after the mob bosses.

Without giving anymore of the plot away that's about as much as I can write. But the whole movie never really amazes me. It was very bland. While yes, it had funny parts, and was extremely violent, I never really got into the characters enough to relate and root for them to succeed, Other than Hit Girl that is. Chloe Moretz plays this part brilliantly, as the little girl who runs around with Nick Cage (as Big Daddy) and uses fowl language and gratuitous amounts of violence.

This movie set out to be something new among the massive amounts of comic hero movies but stopped about a mile to short. The movie could have had many things that could have used a bit of finesse, like the acting and filming, but for those of you who don't go in with expectations might really enjoy this movie but for me, it never really got to that point. This movie to me isn't an unforgettable movie but it most definitely isn't a forgettable one either. End point,

Avatar

2009-12-29T14:41:00.000-08:00

So it's been a week since James Cameron's Avatar came out in theaters and I finally just got a ticket to see it in the true IMAX 3D experience. This show has been sold out in every theater since it's release and rightfully so, James Cameron has been working on this film for longer than I'd care to remember. Was the wait worth it or was it just another flop?

The movie open's and creates a back story that isn't to original but yet created a completely new environment that just screams beauty. We learn that sometime in the 2100's Earth's population has found a new planet where everything is hostile, from the animal and beasts to the plants and indigenous people. The human's are there for one reason and one reason only, to mine a rare mineral that seems to thrive under the surface of the beautiful planet of Pandora.

Sam Worthington plays Jake Sully, a marine drop out who is only chosen to come because his brother was killed right before shipping off and since he has the same DNA, he's able to drive his brother's avatar. Jake is a handicapped marine who's stuck in a wheel chair but doesn't like to be told what he is and is not capable of.

Jake is introduced to the mercenaries of Pandora, since the pay is better most of the human army is mercenaries. Then in complete contrast to the brute force of the mercenaries is the scientific team consisting of Grace (Sigourney Weaver) and Norm (Joel Moore). This group is only in it to find out the fascinating details behind this incredible planet.

On his first day out in the field he gets attacked by some animals and gets completely lost in the jungle. He then must fight the odds and survive a night alone in this new world that only wants to destroy him. Strangely, one of the indigenous people, the Na'vi, saves his life. After this Jake begins to see the wonders of this beautiful world.

Now this movie is suppose to be completely epic, and NEEDS to be seen in 3D. As many of you know, I don't like this gimmick partly because... well, that's all it is, a gimmick. This movie didn't change my mind about the 3D but at the same time, for once, it did enhance the experience. This film didn't use corny 3D tactics like throwing anything at you, but instead, they use the 3D to show the depth of the scenery. During this entire movie I really felt like I could move to another part of the theater and find myself seeing everything from a different point of view.

Everything about this movie was brilliantly done and you can tell that this is easily Cameron's baby. This is the movie that he's been dreaming of making for years. From the individual styling of each character to the smallest details of the Na'vi people this movie was just done completely brilliant, even the animals had their own personalities.

To sum up this masterpiece, this was what should have been a summer blockbuster but instead it came out in the winter. If they continue to make films using these characters this could be just as great as the original Star Wars saga. Topping out at a 9 out of 10 this movie had very few flaws and couldn't have been done better.

Sherlock Holmes

2009-12-25T20:07:00.000-08:00

Guy Richie has yet to make a movie that I do not thoroughly enjoy. With that said, I have to marvel at yet another one of his movies with one of my new favorite actors, Robert Downey Jr. It has been years since I've read Sherlock Holmes but I believe it's safe to say that Guy Richie did for Sherlock Holmes what J.J. Abrhams did for Star Trek.

Robert Downey Jr. does an immaculate at portraying the opium smoking Sherlock Holmes and while they never actually say that he's smoking opium it's easily apparent that he is out of his mind half the time. When Richie shows us how Holmes goes through his mental process he does it in such a spectacular way. Holmes clearly see's the entire fight through while planning out every action and reaction and explaining the ramifications of his movies.

Jude Law plays Dr. John Watson, Holmes' assistant and physician. Both actors did such a surpurb job at playing such classic characters that you begin to forget they are just actors and not actually best friends who solve crimes together.

Without giving to much of the plot away, Watson is trying to move out of 221 Baker St. and in with his girlfriend Mary, but can't seem to pull himself away from the charismatic Holmes. With a touch of super natural in the mix it brings together one hell of a murder mystery. In right fashion when the story comes to a close, Sherlock explains everything and lays out every little detail that you never even picked up on until now.

Through and through, I've tried to find something that I could say would have been better but I'm at a loss for words here. Even the musical score fit the moods and scenes brilliantly. I don't know how it could have been done better and frankly I don't really think it could have, it lead perfectly into a possible sequel or more without even coming off hokey once. The film was a perfect match of action, comedy, and drama. Without a doubt in my mind one of better films of the year. Sherlock Holmes easily gets a 9 out of 10.

Apologies

2009-12-08T22:42:00.000-08:00

So as of late, I have run into a bit of financial issues. Thusly, I have not had the time or resources to see or review any new films. Though, I am excited to finally be seeing Avatar when it comes out. Just wanted to send the apology to anyone out there who does read this. Changes are coming to updates and everything, so be excited!

Another tid bit of information I wanted to send out your way, just downloaded the new browser Google Chrome, and it is crazy fast. Sure, it's got it's bugs with videos and netflix instant view isn't supported yet, but what can you expect? It's still in it's Beta testing. Runs a lot cleaner and faster than firefox and new add-ons are added daily, so check it out... Just a few thoughts

Paranormal Activity

2009-10-24T11:04:00.000-07:00

Horror fans, ghost fans, and anyone who genuinely want to get terrified by a movie will all enjoy this dirt cheap movie for what it is, a purely scary movie. Oren Peli directed this movie with the lowest of low budgets of only $15,000 and creates this movie that plays on all your scenes.

The story is as follows, Micah and Katie have moved in together and Micah finds out that Katie has been haunted by this "entity" since she was 8 years old. Micah then decides to document the paranormal activities that go on in their home. At first things just start building up. Nothing really happens during the day until shit hits the proverbial fan. But the day shots really set up the scenes for the night terrors.

On the plus side of this movie there is no descending once this movie gets going. The most terrifying scene is the final scene when everything goes bananas. I'm not going to spoil anything for anyone but it is the second ending that has been attached to the film.

Originally, the film was released in 2007 at a scary movie festival and took tons of awards. Steven Spielberg caught wind of this and supposedly locked himself in his room because this movie was so scary. But the films ending was changed to really try and get one more massive scare out of audiences.

The scare tactics used in this movie are very simple and easy to pull off but Peli uses your senses and lack of senses to really terrify each person. Though this movie is filmed in another Blair Witch rip off, it's not suppose to be a high budget scare fest.

As a critic of all kinds of movies, I have to say that scary movies are my favorite. I loved being younger and having a movie scare me so badly that I couldn't get to sleep because I was so terrified of the thoughts that the movie put in my mind. Not saying that this movie made me stay up all night, but I have to say this was honestly one of the few movies that actually scared me and had my heart beating faster and harder than it has in years.

Though, I must say that the acting was not the best acting I've ever seen. I also had a tough time believing that Micah and Katie lived in this gorgeous house, since Katie's a student and Micah was a Day trader. It just didn't seem believable for them to be living in such a huge and amazing house.

All in all though, I must say that this was a great movie that kept me on the edge of my seat, literally. But I have to say that this movie easily deserves the 7 out of 10.

Marketing Problems

2009-09-18T11:14:00.000-07:00

So it has been a recent occurrence that movie trailers are portraying films to embellish the action scenes and stories. The only problem with this is once you sit down into the movie and watch it, you are then disappointed in the fact that this movie you went to go see isn't at all what you were expecting. Granted, sometimes this can be great but when you go see a movie entitled "Gamer" one would expect more than fifteen minutes of the game itself. Or better yet, a movie called "Inglorious Basterds" where the the Basterds only appear in four scenes in the movie.

Now I have no issues with either of these movies, in fact, I enjoyed both of those thoroughly and plan on purchasing them to add to my collection of films. All I am trying to say is that when you watch a trailer for a movie that looks like it's going to be more action than story, your going to be really surprised and almost put off when you find out it's exactly the opposite of that.

Let's start with the big blockbusters of this summer. First, was District 9, Peter Jackson's film that no one really knew about because there were very few trailers out. Most of this movie was viral marketing but when all the marketing is clearly viral, your going to miss out on a great deal of the public. Friends of mine were completely put off to this movie because of the fact that the trailers were very few and didn't show much of anything. Though, if more of the film was shown, the amazing story in this film would have been ruined.

Next, we have Inglorious Basterds, the Tarantino film based around World War 2. The only problem with this movie was that the Basterds themselves were on screen for little more than thirty minutes. The story line itself was amazing and though it was a story about the other characters, the movie called "Inglorious Basterds" might not have been the most appropriate name for this film.

Thirdly, we have Gamer, the movie with Gerald Butler and Micheal C. Hall, about real people control the criminals who are fighting in a constant slayer game. Though our "hero" must win 30 games in order to win their freedom, we only see five minutes of games 27-30. Granted that's all you really needed to see, but I would personally have liked to see a few more games and how ridiculous and intense these games can be.

Lastly, the most recent movie I have seen "9", the Tim Burton movie (he produced it). By watching the trailers, one would come to believe that this movie is a complete action movie with very little on the story itself. Though, to my great surprise, this movie is completely story driven with very little action sequences.

Even with my complaints about the marketing techniques, I must say that each and every one of these movies I thoroughly enjoyed. The only thing I wanted to comment about these movies was that with such great stock footage to work with, it's a little absurd that the marketing companies used these scenes to spread the movie on false pretenses. All I'm asking for is a little more truth behind the trailers rather than sloshing a random bunch of scenes together.

Inglorious Basterds

2009-08-30T23:08:00.000-07:00

Tarantino has done it again. Another great movie to add to his cartography of films. Inglorious Basterds is the fictional story of two groups of people during World War II. All the stories intertwine in a brilliant combination of comedy and satire.

The first story we come across is the story of Shosanna Dreyfus, played by Melanie Laurent. Shosanna, a young Jewish woman who was hidden when Col. Hans Landa, Christoph Waltz, comes in and shoots her entire family. Shosanna then runs off into the distance.

We are then introduced to Lt. Aldo Raine, brilliantly played by Brad Pitt. This Lt. has gathered a motley crew of army men, who just happen to be Jewish themselves, to go behind enemy lines and hide out in the woods and do nothing more then kill Nazi's. They call themselves the Inglorious Basterds, and they take great pride in what they do to a point where it becomes comical.

Brad Pitt really proved he has some chops left with his portrayal of Aldo Raine. The character is so brilliantly written and portrayed that it clearly falls into one of my favorite character ever in a movie. The only issue with this whole movie that stands out like a sore thumb is you only see the Basterds for about 20 minutes of actual screen time.

This film is broken up in traditional Tarantino fashion as chapters. Although, his chapters actually line up threw me for a loop at first but this movie should have been longer. I don't say that very often but the characters who were so enthralling just needed more time. Parts of the movie were a tad slow but only if you weren't paying that close attention to the plot but if you were, this was truly a story that was music to my ears.

This movie forced my thought process going again after a long summer of unsatisfying movies, and makes me want to go back and see it again. While also making me laugh at the absurdity of the characters and the witty satirical dialogue. Without even taking a second thought, this movie pulls a 9.5 out of 10.

District 9

2009-08-23T11:37:00.000-07:00

District 9 was one movie that I never had my radar on to because I didn't see much about it that really sparked my interest. Even the online buzz never brought me into it, what really made me go see this film was Peter Jackson's name attached to it. I figured he deserved at least one redeeming movie since King Kong, and hopefully this would be it.

Most Alien movies are the humans trying to fight for survival whilst the aliens terrorize the planet, or more simply New York, or somewhere in the USA. This movie flips that norm on its head when aliens, called Prawns for how they look, come to Earth and just hover over Johannesburg and don't invade at all. Instead, the government takes it's place and takes the aliens out and put them on Earth so we can "help them be healthier". I don't want to give to much away because this was such a great story and to really know anything is to ruin some of the amazement of the story.

This film was filmed in a very interesting way. It started out as a documentary with interviews and scene footage. Then turns to a regular movie and then closes as it would have if it was a documentary. Throughout the movie they show scenes from local news shows just to keep the mythos in mind that this is actually going on now. Some of the camera shots were just spectacularly shot and literally makes you feel the uneasiness of the people in this movie.

To my surprise, there is not one big name actor in this movie. The actors in it do a decent job of seeming like ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Though none of them really shine through as amazing actors but they pull off their characters as if they were merely extensions of themselves.

This was the movie you've been waiting to see all summer but didn't know it until you walk out of that theater. It was cleverly hidden and given just that little bit of mystique to draw you in. Strangely, the only problem I had with the movie was the simple fact that everyone in the movie didn't really have much of a back story other than the main character Wikus, played by Sharlto Copey. Though, it doesn't really matter because they cleverly close up all story elements and there are small twists that show intents that could lead us to a District 10.

Like I said, this is the movie you've been waiting to see all summer without knowing it. District 9 gets a 9 out of 10.

Push

2009-08-09T08:26:00.000-07:00

How is it that a movie that looks like it's going to be a sequel of a terrible movie can come out and actually a pretty good movie? Well this is exactly what Push is able to succeed in doing. At first glance the movie looks like it's going to be a sequel to Jumper, a terrible movie that tries to show off as many "cool" special effects and places that they can physically can. Although, once you get into the movie you realize that this is not only it's own movie and has nothing to do with Jumper, but it pulls off it's own storyline better than Jumper ever could have.

Imagine a world where people with powers are controlled by a government group called Division. Super humans are put into groups of similar powered people, i.e. Movers are Telekenetic, Sniffers can smell or touch an object and know where it's been, Watchers can see the future (but it's constantly changing), Shadows who conceal objects, Screamers who... well, scream and break things, and Pushers who can get into your brain and make you do things.

The story follows Dakota Fanning as Cassie Holmes, a second generation Watcher (meaning her mother was a watcher also), who runs into Chris Evans, aka Nick, who is a second generation Mover. Though Nick is terrible with his powers since he rarely uses them, Cassie and Nick set off to find a suitcase with six million dollars in it when things turn sour once they find that the future changes and shows them all dead.

The movie does a very good job at not having the abilities take over the film. The abilities are very well used and only used to enhance the scene rather than to control the scene. One scene in particular jumps out, Nick walks into a restaurant and draws two guns, but not with his hands. He uses his abilities and floats them five feet above himself to give the appearance that he came unarmed.

As sad as it is to say, the major draw back from this movie was the fact that Jumper came out first. This movie wasn't a brilliant masterpiece but it was a lot of fun to watch. Dakota Fanning has matured a lot but still seemed to hold something back from finding true greatness in her character. While the special effects were actually on par with this movie it's hard for me to say that this movie is worth the price of a theater ticket.

I would have to say that if your interested in a movie to have on for just a fun time I would recommend Push. The story may have some holes, and it may not be the best super hero movie out there. It definitely does well for starting a story from the middle and doesn't keep you wondering about the past or the history of the characters.

Basically, if it's a rainy day, and you want something to amuse yourself, pick up Push because if worse comes to worse, this movie won't make you hate yourself. Rating for this movie? Wasn't spectacular but it wasn't terrible so 5.5 out of 10

Funny People

2009-08-04T11:27:00.000-07:00

Judd Apatow finally shows the true range of his brilliance with his newest movie Funny People starring Seth Rogan and Adam Sandler. Upon first seeing the trailer, I believed that this movie was going to be all laughs just like his other movies but this time focus on the lives of comedians. Boy was I in for a special treat! This movie was much more serious than Apatow's other films but still has a great amount of comedy to lighten the mood and make sure the movie doesn't go to far into the drama.

The movie centers around George Simmons (played by Sandler) who use to be a great comedian and actor, but recently, just found out that he has a type of lukemia and will probably die soon. What does he do? Goes back up on stage and does more stand up. His first show he bumps Ira Right/Weiner's (Rogan) set back. After the show George asks Ira to write jokes for him and thus begins the apprenticeship of George and Ira.

The whole movie is centered around three themes which are Love, Death, and the apprenticing of George and Ira. While many of these themes can be very depressing and turn Georges life into a dark place where one can only wonder if this is was ever suppose to have comedy in it.

I truely was blown away by the fact the Apatow could really write and direct a movie that was so serious that I was sucked in. The characters are so completely believeable and played so well by the actors that no matter who you are, you'll find someone in this movie to see bits and pieces of yourself in them.

This movie was so up and above my expectations of Apatow that I'm almost speechless, and was speechless afterr the movie. There are so many cameo's in this movie of actual comedians like Sarah Silverman, Andy Dick, Dave Attell, Ray Romano, and so many more that just throws laughs right at you.

This movie clearly deserves a 7.5 out of 10.

Dead Snow

2009-07-22T23:08:00.000-07:00

Let me start this off by saying I'm not going to use any of the actors names because I don't know how to type them with a keyboard (it's a Norwegian film).

Ok, well for all you horror genre fans like me out there. Here comes the best zombie movie I have seen since the remake of Dawn of the Dead. This twist on this zombie tale? They are Nazi zombies that were frozen in the snow.

The movie centers around 7 medical students, well 8 but the first one dies before the opening credits. Didn't anyone teach you not to go wondering around alone when your in a horror film? Well either way, these kids are all on Easter Break and heading to their friends cabin to hang out and have fun. First night there, a creepy old man wanders in and tells the kids about the history of the land. But being normal people, they just laugh it off and continue on their marry way till everything just blows up in their face.

This film was spectacular, simply put I loved every minute of this film and I am very critical of my zombie movies. The soundtrack was German heavy music and played along with the atmosphere of the film. The theme song is a fantastic choice with "Peter and the Wolf".

I can't really speak to much on the acting since it was a German film, it was shown to me using dubbs. I know, upsetting, but the movie was amazing. These zombies are a new breed of zombies that we haven't seen and the closest thing we can come to is Land of the Dead zombies but that doesn't come quite close enough. These zombies were freakishly fast, could climb trees, use weapons... Ridiculous!

There is one scene in familiar that stands out to me and it centers around the death of one of the female characters. It's a first person shot which was fantasically done with all the effects. Which leads me to the effects. Normal zombies have a great deal of decay showing, but since these have been in the snow frozen for all these years, that haven't decayed much which brings more fear into these mindless madmen.

Overall, this film kept me laughing, scared of zombies once more, and showed that truely brilliant shots have yet to be shown to the public. THis film gets a 9.5 out of 10.

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen

2009-06-23T18:50:00.000-07:00

Ok, before I even get into the review, let me just say that if, no... correction, When you go see this movie be prepared for one of the most amped up, epic movies ever to hit the screen.

Micheal Bay has turned what started out as a movie to promote toys into something that well has turned into it's own cult following and this second movie only solidifies the fact that only Micheal Bay with his infamous explosions should be the only one to touch this franchise.

First off lets start out by saying that in the first movie we only see a handful of transformers and what we saw in that movie was epic enough to be the iceberg that sank the Titanic. This second movie takes everything that was good in the first and gives it that extra push to become something absolutely breath taking. We see at least a hundred or more transformers from both Autobot and Decepticon sides.

The movie takes place two years after the previous movie and Sam (Labouf) is heading off to college leaving everyone behind. This includes the amazing Megan Fox (I would never leave someone like that back at home alone), Bumblebee, and the Autobots. The Autobots have joined forces with the government and started to hunt down any and all Decepticons that come to Earth.

When Sam goes to leave though, he grabs the clothes he wore when the Autobots first came and finds that a piece of the cube had been attached to him. When he touches it, things go bananas for him and he starts to see Cybertronian writting everywhere, much like his relative that found Megatron.

Ok, enough of the plot because I don't want to give much away, but the simple fact remains that everything in this movie was amped up and become a movie that has very few faults in it. The acting especially shines here, even though you don't get much acting out of normal action movies this one just brings everything it has and you really begin to want certain characters to live and others to.... well, fade into the sunset.

The only thing I can say that might be remotely negative is about the Twins. These two autobots are basically the Jar Jar Binks of transformers but in a better way. They talk just about as much as Jar Jar did and at first I really was upset with them but the more I saw them the more I realized that these were just two more characters in this universe that fit perfectly. Think about it. Don't you have that one friend that you invite because you know they'll complain if you don't? That's the Twins.

Even with them though this movie is astounding and I sat there and was just thinking to myself that I had mothing bad to say about this movie. It was Epic in the most simplist of terms, I'm still speechless. Easily 10 out of 10, without even thinking about it, this movie deserves it.

Update

2009-06-13T15:27:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys, Sorry that I haven't had many updates lately, I got fired from my job as a grill cook. I went to the beach and let them know ahead of time that I wasn't coming in and they fired me. First shift I didn't come to and I told them and they fired me.

Oh well, I got free advanced tickets to Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen so I'll definitely start this back up again once I start working at Best Buy. But meantime I'll write up my review of Micheal Bay's Transformers 2 Revenge of the Fallen which will be up June 24th since I'm seeing it on the 23rd.

Adventureland

2009-04-04T09:17:00.000-07:00

Greg Mottola comes back for his next movie since Superbad for a movie that could be called Superbad 2 since this feels just like the first. Our main character James Brennon, played Jesse Eisenberg, has just graduated from college and is planning on moving to New York City for Graduate school when his parents drop the news that they are not making as much money and needs to work at the local amusement park to save up money for school.

Adventureland, run by Bobby and his wife Paulette, played by Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig, hire Brennan after a long arduous look for a job. The characters that work in this park are the outsiders of your typical school group. Think Freaks and Geeks but a movie instead of your television series. This is where the movie really starts to roll and get the hook of this film.

The first we meet is Tommy Frigo, played by Matt Bush, who was Brennan’s friend from the fourth grade who constantly punches him in the balls. But Joel, played by Martin Star, becomes Brennan’s new best friend who went to college for Russian Literature and Slavic Languages, but is truly the nerd of all nerds but is also Brennan’s voice of reason. Ryan Reynolds plays the opposite of Joel as your typical cool mechanic that is a musician, Mike Connell. Connell is very much Brennan’s devil to Joel’s angel.

Kristen Stewart plays Em, Brennan’s love interest once she saves him from getting stabbed by a knife. While Joel thinks that Em is the best person Connell pushes Brennan more towards Lisa P, Margarita Levieva, the popular, hot dancer.

Brennan is very much like Michael Cera’s character but much later, pushing the thought that Mottola writes himself into these movies. Jesse Eisenberg really plays a great version of Cera’s character as a believe-able fish out of water virgin nerd. The romance between Stewart and Eisenberg is very well played and actually takes center stage to this movie.

Breaking your typical roles as the girl being timid, Stewart plays a very sexual being while Eisenberg is the virgin. This movie is very much a movie that wants to be an indie movie but only plays to the trend of making indie movies popular. The sound track to this movie is straight out of the 80’s, given it’s set in 1987, but this movie is riddled with some of the best, and worst music, of the time period. Amadeus is played the most throughout this movie and was joked about in the movie but also references Judas Priest and the crazy fads of the 1980’s.

If you’re not interested in watching the new Fast and Furious movie, and enjoyed Superbad, Freaks and Geeks, and Undeclared this movie is definitely a movie you’d enjoy. Though, keep in mind, this movie’s comedy is much more subtle than that of Superbad, I would highly recommend this movie. Overall, this movie is brilliant and gets a 8.5 out of 10.

The Haunting in Connecticut

2009-03-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

Relatively new director, Peter Cornwell, bring us a based on a true story horror film cleverly named “The Haunting in Connecticut”. The Haunting in Connecticut follows the true story of the Campbell family when they first move up to a house in Connecticut so that Matt, the eldest son, can live closer to the hospital for his cancer treatment. The story takes place in 1987 when Sara and Matt are on their way home from a treatment center and run into a very old house for rent. The rent is so cheap that Sara begins to question.

The movie takes off from this point but isn’t so much of a new horror film but more of a “jump out of the closet” shocker film. Although, the director stops short in every scare, each scary moment could be seen from miles away. The graphics look beautiful but they end up short-lived because of the lacking in the actual terrifying way.

Strangely enough, you’ll get more fear from Virginia Madsen’s performance as the mother from her god-awful acting. Every scene she’s in, and she is in way to many, you wish that she would just stop acting. Though the true savior of the movie is, obviously, Kyle Gallner, who plays Matt Campbell.

Campbell’s performance as a teen with cancer is nothing short of enjoyable. You route for him to get rid of the sickness while battling his own demons living in this house. Although, when you move into a house, and you choose bedrooms are you really going to give the sick boy the basement to live in? Not to mention creepy factor with the strange doors and the brick walls. To me, that just doesn’t seem like a logical choice.

The movie can pretty much be split into three parts. First is the obvious introduction to the plot and the characters. Second comes all the horror and scare, but remember they stop short of actually terrifying. Then, thirdly, comes the rest of the plot. All of the horror comes about a half hour in to maybe an hour in. After we find out what’s truly going on with this house and it’s “occupants” all the horror is finally over.

With very few decent horror films coming out one would hope and assume that this based on a true story would be terrifying. A real jump out of your seats and keep the lights on movie. But with a PG-13 rating and a director who just didn’t really seem to want to show any real horror, it just drops off as an ordinary horror film. It’s an enjoyable movie to watch but is most definitely not a movie you want to hold your plans and run out to see this movie. I don't know what to say else about this movie, it was entertaining but didn't keep it's drive so it earned 5 out of 10.

Transformers 2 - Fallen Character Revealed

2009-02-11T11:21:00.000-08:00

As you can see here, this is the new character to the Transformers universe, The Fallen. Micheal Bay has said multiple times about how the Fallen is not a reference to the ''dead" Megatron, but an actual character unto his own.

One of my favorite movie sites, Firstshowing.net posted this tid bit of knowledge this morning and well... Here it is. Now, I don't like posting these kind of rumors up because they change your expectations of what is going on in the movie. Personally, I read all these kinds of articles and when I saw this I could not help but post this up.

This picture looks insane, and if you look closely as to what this toy is standing atop, and you keep in mind that Bay has been seen shooting at the pyramids. My best conclusion is that we will see this brilliant piece of death atop the pyramids.

My question here is what will he transform into (if he does at all)? The more and more I read about these updates on Transformers 2 the more excited I get about seeing this movie. Just a reminder for everyone out there, if you want to see the new trailer it will be debuting just before the remake of Friday the 13th.

Fanboys

2009-02-07T12:33:00.000-08:00

The year is 1998, six months and counting till the premier of Star Wars Episode One comes out. Now lets forget for a moment about the travesty that was the second trilogy of Star Wars. We meet our main characters Eric (Sam Huntington), Linus (Chris Marquette), Hutch (Dan Fogler), Windows (Jay Baruchel), and Zoe (Kristen Bell) who are the cream of the crop of fanboydom. In true fanboy fashion, our group of misfits knows everything that is possible to know about the Star Wars Universe circa 1998. One night at a party they decide to storm Skywalker Ranch in attempts to see the infamous Episode One before anyone else does.

If you are a Star Wars fan of any dosage, ranging from true fanboy to just seeing and enjoying the movie, you will find this movie a great comedy. With celebrity guest stars such as Billy Dee Williams (who played Lando Calrissian in Episode five), William Shatner, Seth Rogan, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, and Carrie Fisher (who played Princess Leia) there is truly an endless amount of great acting in this movie.

If ever there was a movie that is able to encompass the nature and hilariousness that can ensue for true Star Wars geeks, this is the movie to do so. The dialogue just puts the humor right out in front of you. Many times throughout this movie one or more of our fanboys have to prove their true fandom and spew knowledge of their love for the original saga.

If I were to have to pick out one flaw in this movie it would have to be if you don’t know anything about the Star Wars universe, you’ll be lost from the get go. The director of this movie is very dependant upon the fact that you’ve probably seen Star Wars at some point in your life that it makes sense why this is only a limited release movie. Don’t get me wrong thought, even if you have seen the whole saga once you’ll go into this movie being able to catch some of the jokes.

Dan Fogler who plays Hutch has really come a long way since his last movie Balls of Fury. He almost seems to be able to accept the geek knowledge that was spat upon him and makes for a great leading role for the first time. While Sam Huntington, who plays Eric, the guy who moved on and started a real life takes a step back and where you feel like he should become a main role, just takes a step back and lets everyone else bring the movie to life.

When push comes to shove though, this was a brilliant movie and even though, it took an excess of five years. This movie was well worth the wait. If you have any reservations about seeing this movie, I would highly recommend it. This movie has laughs, celebrity guest stars that exceed any thought of what you might think will happen, and a great cast that has you routing for them every debacle step of the way. This movie really made me reminisce of my childhood watching these movies and ends up with a 8 out of 10

My Bloody Valentine in 3-D

2009-01-19T08:24:00.000-08:00

First off, I would like to say that this movie should only be seen in 3-D. The whole advertising of this movie was to see the new technology of 3-D and if you don’t end up seeing this in the new format you will be greatly disappointed. The new technology is definitely an upgrade from the last time 3-D movies came out but as far as the plot for the movie, we get a decent, not great, throw back to the 1980’s hack and slash films.

The movie takes place in a mining community where there was a collapsed mine that trapped six miners. Eventually, one survivor was found, a guy by the name of Harry Warden. Although once the public finds the other bodies, Harry Warden falls into a coma because the other miners were killed with a pickaxe. All this back story was shown with the 3-D newspaper clips and radio clips flying by.

Cut to a few years we see Harry wake up and start his villainous rampage again, this time in a hospital before heading back to his beloved mines. Though, in true horror movie fashion what’s going on there today? Well a bunch of teenagers drinking and throwing a party.

Four of the kids at this party become our main characters. First we have Sarah and Tom, and for Sarah, Tom is the love of her young life. Then we have Sarah’s best friend Irene and her boyfriend Axel. Once these kids enter the mine they begin to get scared because no one else in the mine is left alive. Harry Warden jumps out and ends up mentally scaring each and every one of them because they actually have the smarts to run and drive away.

Then we jump ten years into the future where Axel and Sarah got married, Tom left the town because of the trauma that he ended up having to deal with but comes back only to sell his fathers mine. Irene, well, Irene no longer becomes important to the story line.

From this point on you go through the same motions of any typical 80’s horror flick. If you’ve watched the Scream movies where they lay out the horror guidelines, then clearly you know what I’m talking about. Apparently, the writers of this film decided to stick as close as they could to this time tested formula. The slut get killed really quick but not before falling down when trying to run away, etc.

Not to say that this is a terrible part of the movie, not at all. It’s just this movie was specifically designed to follow the guidelines to show off the 3-D, which it does great. This is really shown through the deaths of the various characters in the movie. At one point, a pickaxe goes through someone’s eye and the eye jumps right out at you making the whole theater jump. Another great piece of 3-D was Harry Warden throwing his pickaxe at the four kids as they begin to backup their truck.

Although, this movie is nothing special, it was very entertaining to watch and a fun ride to go through to see the new features of 3-D tech but the story was unfortunately lacking in some aspects. The twists of this movie were pretty well hidden, although they were hidden right where you can see them. The run time for this movie is roughly an hour and forty-five, which for any other movie these days would be a good length but with the glasses on, your eyes begin to hurt and makes it to long.

All in all though, if you’re a fan of horror, and interested in this new 3-D tech you might find this a fun ride. It’s definitely a new way to look at the horror genre. But on the flip side if you don’t like either of these, horror and 3-D, then the price of admission for this doesn’t warrant the time. I was rather interested in the 3-D tech and I love horror but this movie still just jumps in at a 5 out of 10 but if you don't see it in 3-D it's going to drop down to a 2-3.5 out of 10. So do yourself a favor and if you do see it, only see it in 3-D.

The Spirit

2009-01-09T22:06:00.000-08:00

With Frank Miller's solo directorial debut, he puts together a beautifully looking movie with the Spirit. Immediately, you can see the influence that was shone upon him when working on Sin City. This movie is shown in black and white but with very carefully placed colors which really bring out the emotions in this movie.

The Spirit is about a super hero who's only powers are that he cannot die. Spirit fights crime while speaking to himself in his monologues. Gabriel Macht plays the Spirit beautifully as he woos all the women that come to his city. Samuel L. Jackson, one of my personal favorites, plays the Octopus who is bent on none other than becoming immortal and a god.

The women in this movie, Eva Mendes, Scarlett Johansson, etc. are all placed in this movie for simply eye candy. While their characters are important in their own special ways, they are nothing more than gorgeous to look at in all their scenes.

Eva Mendes plays the stunning Sand Seref. Sand is the love interest of the Spirit who left when they were children to collect shiny things. Now when I say shiny things, I mean she calls them shiny things. The main treasure for her, which I shall not name, is mentioned as "the shiny thing to end all shiny things."

The dialogue and visual effects just put this movie to be nothing more than a moving graphic novel. Clearly this movie was designed to be this, but is just so beautifully done that you will sit on the edge of your seat laughing and fully enveloped in this movie. Sometimes the dialogue can be a little cheesey, but at the same time, its the kind of cheesey that one would expect from a comic book.

As an avid comic book fan, it was truly interesting to see someone finally make a movie that was designed to be a graphic novel movie and not just a movie about a super hero that has been done up to this date. There is very little blood since they cleverly disguised it with bright reds. You immediately recognize this as blood but it's such a bright red that it almost becomes comical.

Overall this movie had very few down points, unless you go into this movie thinking it is going to be anything other than a graphic novel movie, to it and clearly puts its best foot forward for this to get the rating 8 out of 10.

Marley and Me

2008-12-28T19:04:00.000-08:00

Marley and Me is a wonderful tale of John Grogan (Owen Wilson) and his wife Jennifer Grogan (Jennifer Aniston) who move to Florida after they both receive jobs at their respective newspapers. They end up adopting a tiny lab since Wilson doesn't want to have children yet. On the ride home, Wilson turns on the radio and names his dog Marley after the Bob Marley song that plays in his car.

From here is where all the hijinks's ensue. Marley turns into this untrainable dog that does whatever he wants, which includes tearing up the garage, eating the wall plaster, and eating a whole answering machine. All this goes on while Wilson and Aniston try to retain a normal lifestyle while keeping this demon dog.

Wilson's relationship with this dog is really the true magic in this movie. While his relationship with Aniston is done well, Wilson just constantly seems like he's uncomfortable and a little goofy being with her. Though, with Marley, he hits right on key. These two are just amazing together because even as Marley is at his wildest, he seems to pull back while with Wilson which shows the true connection one can have with their pet.

The story is laid out beautifully and never gets dull. The movie runs about an hour and a half and not once did I feel anything slowed down or missed it's mark. If I were to pick something out that just doesn't seem to fit, it's Wilson's character doesn't ever seem happy with his current job. Though that could just be a normal issue in anyone's life, Wilson changes what he does at the newspaper at least three times, but this in no way detracts from the movie.

The creators of this movie really pulled some great emotions out of their cast and it shows through to the audience. Many times I felt the same feelings that Wilson was going through and this just puts the movie ahead of a ton of movies that might fall into this season. Though this movie does have a sad ending, you don't walk out of this movie feeling depressed, you come out feeling surprisingly pleasant. Hence why this movie warrants the 8.75 out of 10.

Seven Pounds

2008-12-26T03:36:00.000-08:00

With a run time of nearly two hours, this melodrama staring Will Smith is nothing shy of great. Will Smith plays a character by the name of Ben Thomas who is in search of finding people who deserve a dramatic life change that only Ben can give them.

The movie, played in a flash back mode, had a very confusing first half. The issue here was that the time line of the movie is all over the place to the point of confusing the audience. You have no idea what is truly going on or in what order this movie has appeared to be put in. Although, as the movie goes on, tiny bits of the truth start to shine through and this is where the actors really shine.

Seven Pounds has such a great pace that even when the plot seems like an endless pit, the actors come out and give such emotion and play their characters you begin to forget that these are not real people. Rosario Dawson plays the amazing Emily Posa who slowly becomes the love interest of this movie, but be weary, this is not a romance in the slightest sense. Smith and Dawson are remarkable together, never once does their relationship seem phoney. They really seem to be in love with one another and it comes out beautifully.

The major twist in this movie not only changes your outlook on the movie but turns everything you thought about the movie on it's head. Everything comes together in the most amazing way that turns anything bad you thought about the movie to become a real tear jerker.

Smith has always been a favorite of mine. He started out as a mildly funny T.V. star and then was magically transformed into one of, in my opinion, the best actors in the business today. I really enjoyed this movie and it really gets the rank of 8 out of 10

Movie Announcements

2008-11-10T10:15:00.000-08:00

As of recently, there have been a lot of movies that have been announced and rumors that have been shooting up like none that we've seen before. This is not to say that we haven't had rumors for movies in the past, but my favorite announcement has been that of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.

The main point I want to bring here is the announcement that Johnny Depp will be playing the Mad Hatter in this new adapted movie. Along with Depp, Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter have joined the cast of Alice in Wonderland playing the White Queen (Hathaway) and Red Queen (Carter) respectively.

The main curiosity I have here is the choice of unknown Mia Wasikowska to play Alice. Wasikowska is relatively new to the "biz". With Depp and Carter and Hathaway being such big stars, it makes my curiosity tingle with Burton moving to possibly create a new star in that of Wasikowska.

Other announcements that I stumbled upon today was that of the new X-Men movies entitled X-Men Origins and will focus on specific characters such as Wolverine, Storm, and Magneto. We all know that Wolverine will be getting his own movie but the announcements that were big for me has been in the X-Men Origins: Wolverine cast.

Obviously, Hugh Jackman will be reprising his role of Wolverine in this movie but the real treat is the other characters in it. In this movie we will officially see the Weapon X program and the recruits such as Sabertooth, Deadpool, Beak, Silverfox, and (drumroll please?) Gambit.

Ryan Reynolds will be playing the role of Deadpool which leaves a little to question since his preformance in Blade III was subpar, in my opinion. Taylor Kitsch, known for only his role in the movie Covenant, will be playing the mutant Gambit in this movie. I only saw the Covenant once and enjoyed it. When it comes to Kitsch though, his role was not one that stands out in my mind so I'm a little worried about the fate of my favorite mutant.

With both ups and downs of the movie seasons to come, I'm very excited to see what happens in the future to these movies and will try to keep an update of both these movies and maybe throw some more announcements in the future.

Role Models

2008-11-04T09:56:00.001-08:00

Paul Rudd plays Danny Donahue in the new movie entitled Role Models. Seann William Scott plays Danny’s best friend Wheeler and together Danny and Wheeler go from school to school taking about why kids should not take drugs but buy their energy drink, Minotaur, that ends up turning your pee neon green. One day, everything goes wrong on Danny and ends up driving his Minotaur truck up a statue after getting into a fight and trying to steal his truck back from a tow truck.

Christopher Mintz-Plasse, better known as McLovin, as Augie Farks. Augie is your stereotypical D&D dork but instead of playing it in his basement, there is a whole group that he plays this with in the park. Bobb’s J. Thompson breaks out of the mold in this movie playing the foul-mouthed Ronnie. Ronnie has gone through tons of different “big’s” because of his foul mouth and antagonizing character.

I cannot honestly think of a better match than this match up of Rudd and Scott. These two actors play so well of each other that there friendship is actually believable. While the “littles” of Mintz-Plasse and Thompson end up stealing the scenes most times because of the ridiculous lines.

The plot of the movie is very straightforward in that because of Rudd’s “blow up” he and Scott are forced to do 150 hours of community service with a mentorship program or spend 30 days in jail. Given their options they go with the mentorship and meet Thompson and Mintz-Plasse. Initially, they can’t find anything in common as there first day with each other are full of awkward jokes and aggressive comments.

Eventually both pairs find a connection but the funniest of either is that of Scott and Thompson’s with the love of Kiss and boobs. The connection starts when the mentorship offers a big/little camping trip and in order to fill the hours, Scott and Rudd attend. Though, Rudd’s depression and hatred towards the world hinders the relationship with his little. Eventually Rudd comes around and realizes that he and his little have in common they feel isolated from everyone else.

The laughs in this movie are continuous from the moment it starts to the final scene in the movie. Your sides will hurt from the amount of laughing you do during this film. Writers Paul Rudd and David Wain really have a great movie with this masterpiece of comedy under their belts. In the end, this movie was probably one of the funniest movies of the year and was well worth the price of a movie ticket.

This movie laughed its way to an 8 out of 10

Saw V

2008-10-25T16:19:00.001-07:00

With the Halloween season in full bloom you know that it is truly the Halloween season when the next installment of the Saw series comes out. The fifth installment starts off right after the fourth movie leaves off with Agent Strahm finding Jigsaw’s dead body when his own game starts as the door holding the dead bodies of Jigsaw, Amanda and the husband and wife from the third film closes.

Strahm, played by Scott Patterson, is then entered into his own game delving ever deeper into the mind of Jigsaw. Meanwhile, off in some distant, unknown place, five people wake up to find they are in one of Jigsaw’s final traps.

FBI Agent Mark Hoffman, played by Costas Mandylor, returns for his third movie. Although the only issue with his character is that he resembles Agent Strahm just enough that you sometimes get confused which person is which.

The traps that are set up in this movie are fantastic in their terror. The opening trap pits a murderer on a table where he must crush his own hands to the point where the bones are turned to powder or face getting chopped in half by the swinging pendulum that slowly is being lowered.

This movie delves much deeper into the connection Jigsaw has with his traps and how he does not feel he is killing. He sees himself as a more efficient way of rehabilitating each subject than our federal system. Tobin Bell plays Jigsaw so well that its difficult to picture anyone else in that role.

Although this movie continues the installment, it just misses the mark set by the other movies as it is meant simply to continue the story into what will surely become the sixth installment coming out next year. Don’t get me wrong though, this movie has you on the edge of your seat really feeling the pain and the agony these unlucky contestants are going through to save their own lives.

The grittiness of the traps is one of sure amazement. Each time you see someone in their own personal hell, even if you don’t like the character, you still are feeling the agony they have to go through to put their past behind them.

The fifth movie really ties all the movies together in a way that has not been done before. We are treated to flashbacks of some of the traps we may have forgotten over the series. The barbwire trap from the first movie is brought back for a horrible twist along with the house from the second movie.

Overall, I would give this movie a 6 out of 10 alone. But with keeping in mind that it's setting up the sixth picture, I would give this a 7.5 out of 10.

Eagle Eye

2008-09-27T15:41:00.000-07:00

What happens when the government tries to get intelligence on everyone to try and weed out terrorists and people who plan to do evil unto us? This is the general idea behind the movie Eagle Eye. Eagle Eye is a super computer designed to find people who plan to conspire against the America. All the events of the movie start off with our war on terror and hunting out the people in the world who try to create another attack on America.

Shia Lebouf plays the slacker Jerry Shaw who works at a copy store and just coasts through life till he finds out his twin brother has been killed in an accident. Shia’s performance in this movie is one that I thought would never come. Finally, a role where Shia has to be a mature adult in a role that suits him and his teen angst well.

Michelle Monaghan plays Rachel Holloman, a single mother who does everything she can to help her trumpet-playing son be the best he can. This drive pushes her scum ex-husband away and puts him on a train to play with his school at the white house.

These two characters get a phone call one night by a mysterious female who tells them that if they do not comply with her that they will die. Not something they want to happen, obviously. Jerry comes back from his brother’s funeral to find a weapons cache in his apartment with the FBI about to break in. At first neither Jerry nor Rachel believe that this is actually happening to them, but if they want to survive, they need to work together to find out what is really going on with this mysterious caller.

The dialogue in this movie is very well executed since each line is to help the story move along in a fast pace. The camera works well as it stays close to the action giving the viewer almost the kind of “Holy crap! I’m right there” feeling. Billy Bob Thornton makes a special cameo as the hard ass Agent Thomas Morgan who is determined to catch Jerry Shaw, convinced he is a terrorist.

Each character is well rounded and is only enhanced with the actor’s talent. As the story unravels, the viewer is never bored since each scene brings another piece to the puzzle of what really is going on behind all the scenes. Each part of the puzzle is laid out in the beginning but only truly cones to fruition at the very end of the movie.

This movie plays on our instinctual urges of what would happen if our lives were threatened by an unknown source? Would you obey and go along with what the voice tells you even if it goes against your morals? Or would you disobey and have the possibility of dying an intense death? These questions are all to frequent reminders during this movie to punch the point of creating the connection to the characters.

All in all this movie was very enjoyable and with the ever increasing cost of movie ticket prices, it is very difficult to find movies that are clearly worth the price of them. Though this year, the movie selection has been a very good crop with Eagle Eye entering itself into the mix. Overall, I'd have to give this movie a 6.5 out of 10

Lakeview Terrace

2008-09-23T09:40:00.001-07:00

With a movie like Lakeveiw Terrace, star Samuel L. Jackson plays an officer for the LAPD who gets a new couple to move in next door. This new couple is an inter-racial couple who are new homeowners and excited and happy to be in their new beautiful house. Unfortunately, Abel, played by Jackson, does not approve of the inter-racial couple and attempts to get the new couple to leave.

This movie sounded to myself as a great thriller drama but once the movie started it just drug on. The characters are so two dimensional that the names of any other character except for Abel are forgotten. The entire focus of the movie is spent in astonishment because you are not sure whether to believe that there can be a person who is so against the couple while enlisted to “protect and serve”.

At no point in this movie are there any twists or surprises. Although it is absurd the corruptness of someone who is suppose to keep us safe can be. Abel’s character just takes his job way to seriously and even makes his home a type of jail. Abel’s kids are so fed up with his rules that they contemplate running away to their Aunt’s house. The whole house has floodlights surrounding the whole thing, while the large fence keeps everyone at bay.

The couple on the other hand, goes through a great deal when they move into their new house. One of Abel’s lights shines right into their bedroom window and keeps them up all night. When they try to plant privacy trees, Abel comes home and tries to cut them all down because they are growing onto his property. Amidst all this, we find out that the wife has become pregnant.
Though, none of this is enough to keep my focus off of how poorly this movie was. The characters were not drawn out enough, the dialogue was bland and had to tone at all, and finally it had no depth at all. It was just the couple going against a guy who was so set against white people that he is driven crazy by his own racism.

All in all, this movie sucked. It was the first time I honestly finished watching the movie and thought that I would walk out and ask for my money back for this atrocity of a movie. I give this 2 shits out of 10.

A Glimpse into the Future

2008-08-25T20:06:00.000-07:00

With a summer of fantastic blockbusters who would have thought that movies based on comic books would turn a profit that would rival the ages? Dark Knight, Hellboy 2, and Iron man are just a few of the movies that were inspired by such great illustrators and writers from the Marvel and DC Universes, but how can one top such greatness?

Taking a look forward we have the obvious sequels coming out such as Iron man 2, Transformers 2, G.I. Joe, and most likely a third installment of the Dark Knight/Batman Begins series. Though there are still many lesser-known movies that will be coming out within the next few years that will surely keep you on the edge of your seat as well as coming back for the sequel.

On December 5th, the installment to the Punisher series, Punisher: War Zone. Though this time instead of Thomas Jane playing Frank Castle, or his alterego The Punisher, we have Ray Stevenson. This major change of character may turn some people away from this movie because this difference is very clear but on the other side, Punisher: War Zone will still remain to have just as much violence as its predecessor.

Once the new year hits Marvel puts its best comics forth beginning with Iron Man 2 in mid-April, Thor in late June, Captain America and Spiderman 4 in May and July bringing in Marvel’s super team, The Avengers. With more than two dozen announced or in development that the next few years should be very filled with fantastic movies.

Marvel’s greatest rival, DC Comics, have not jumped on the band wagon and have only announced Wonder Woman and Teen Titans: The Judas Contract for the forth coming year or two. DC seems to be very vigilant of which comics they wish to bring to the silver screen since some directors and comics seem to turn south if the right crew and story line is not cast.
One of the most anticipated movies was not even created by Marvel or DC, The Spirit, from Quality Comics, is the next movie out from the twisted mind of Frank Miller, who created Sin City, 300, and many others. The Spirit is the story of a man who works almost like Batman but more of a detective who fights for righteousness and the justice. Another movie made fan boys wake in their shoes at Comicon, Watchmen. The Watchmen is a very dark and sinister comic about, what else? A murdered detective whose has then returned as a ghost like figure to patrol the city for vigilantes and villains only in this city, all superheroes must be registered with the government in order to keep some sort of precedent to keep the “masks” in line.

With everything from Punisher to Captain America and Wonder Woman, it seems that the big movie producers seem to have a plethora of storylines and heroes and heroines to create the big blockbusters of the next few years. And with everyone from Johnny Depp as a rumored Riddler, to Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, it seems that even the actors want to put their time in order to fulfill their childhood fantasies of being a super hero.

Only time will truly tell which hero(es) will become the best sellers and fan favorites but regardless of who ends up taking down the record of sales for the Dark Knight it will truly be a great few years for those of us who still want to remain kids at heart and watch your favorite heroes take to the streets to show that Justice will Prevail.

Step Brothers

2008-08-11T16:07:00.000-07:00

What happens when you pit Will Ferrel and John C. Reilly as two step brothers who are 40 and have never left the house? A movie filled from beginning to end. This movie was fantastic simply put. The improv styles of these two great actors is an astonishing thing to sit and enjoy.

Will plays Brennan Huff, a 39 year old who has never had a decent job and still lives with his mother. Conversely, John C. Reilly plays Dale Doback, the 40 year old who also lives at home with his dad and has never had a good job. Brennan and Dale's parents meet one night at a convention and share a hilarious sex scene setting up the premise for this movie. Shortly thereafter, they are wed and Brennan and his mother movie into Dale's house. Dale and Brennan meet for the first time and immediately turn the other into their arch-nemesis.

I have not seen a Will Ferrel movie this funny since Anchorman. Even so, I think this movie was better than Anchorman. Ferrel and Reilly seem to really have created their own within this movie. The characters are intensely funny and you will laugh so hard at the bickering fights that your side hurt. Ferrel and Reilly's characters are really just 40 year old children as they never left for college or even really had true friends.

This is the kind of movie where once the feature ends, you want to watch it one more time because you know you've missed something. For everyone who has ever had a sibling that you didn't get along with, this movie will make you laugh till you cry.

This movie clearly is a 7.5 out of 10

Pineapple Express

2008-08-06T09:26:00.000-07:00

Pineapple Express. The weed that smells like God’s Vagina, the rarest of the rare, the weed you want to shove up your nose to just smell it all day. That’s what Saul (James Franco) got in last night. Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen, who plays Dale Denton, wrote this action comedy that takes nothing seriously.

This Camera angles in some of the scenes almost seem to be forced and although it works, it gives the feeling of an uncomfortable high going awry. Which is the whole plot of the movie, Dale Denton buys some Pineapple Express from his dealer Saul and ends up witnessing a murder. Saul and Dale are stoned throughout the entirety of the movie and play it so well, it’s impossible to tell if they have ever been sober in their life.

The fight scenes in this movie are so absurd that they aren't even taken seriously. Camera angles seem forced and the movements by the actors are impulsive. It almost seems as though the fight scenes themselves were improved. Though they are hilarious in their absurdity, they really play well to the whole movies mis en scene. Even the "deaths" of people aren't taken seriously as they get up after being shot for hours, shot with a machine gun, foot blown off after getting run over. Not a single death in the movie has ever made me laugh so hard.

The ending, which I don't want to spoil, is kind of blurry. There's no closer to basically anything other than the whole drug dealers chasing them. Everyone that Dale and Saul are attached to, have no closer at the end of this movie and it's a little unnerving.

The strange part about this movie is the writers never take a stance for whether or not they are pro or con legalization of pot. The funny parts were funny, awkard was definitely awkward, and being stoned? Well, it may look like fun, but if you witness a murder while high. Probably a better idea to just move to the next town.

Overall I would give Pineapple Express 6.5 out of 10

Harold and Kumar: Escape From Guantanemo Bay

2008-08-06T09:17:00.002-07:00

The sequel to 2004’s Harold and Kumar go to White Castle comes a new chapter in the “Stoner comedy” genre. This time around our boys from New Jersey are off to Amsterdam to visit the love of Harold’s life, Maria. Taking place right after the first movie Harold and Kumar go straight to the airport to head to the weed capital of the world with no way of knowing where Maria is or how they can even find her.

As luck would have it once they get on the plane an old lady spots them and immediately thinks that their terrorists. She keeps calm at first but once Kumar goes to the bathroom and tries out his new invention, the smokeless bong, she mistakes it for a bomb and the boys get held up with our nation’s Homeland Security boys.

Playing on the stereotypes of every sense we have a buffoon of an officer played by Rob Corddry who is named Ron Fox. He sees them as Korean and Iraqi and figures the two countries are working together to stop our freedoms and sends the boys off to Guantanamo Bay. After an escape involving a cock and meat sandwich, Harold and Kumar find themselves on the run ranging from Miami to Alabama to Texas in order to clear their names.

Fox chases closely behind them, stopping in Alabama where Harold and Kumar leave an abandoned car, and questions some of the locals. Fox’s character believe all stereotypes to be true questions a local African American and in order to get him to tell the truth, pours a can of grape soda to get him to tell the truth. While questioning Harold and Kumar’s Jewish friends, he pours a small bag of pennies on the table playing into the Jewish stereotype. Followed by a quick comment from one of the friends says “What? About seven dollars more or less?” We see every stereotype from African Americans to Jews to Red-neck even the Klu Klux Klan makes an appearance in this movie.

The real focus is no longer on the boys getting to Amsterdam but to get to Texas where Kumar’s ex-girlfriend is getting married to an egotistical jerk who’s only concern is getting into the white house just like his dad, and befriending the president of the United States. Kumar sees this as a great way for him to break up the wedding and win back the girl he lost way back in college.

For all you Neil Patrick Harris fans out there, the answer is yes, he is back for round two and this time we see more of him and he is just as off the wall as he was before. This time, he finds the boys in Alabama and drives them closer to Texas. Once he picks up Harold and Kumar he immediately states that he goes where God tells him to and downs a bag of shrooms washed down with a nice cold beer. After a little driving, they run into a checkpoint brought up by Fox himself.

Neil Patrick Harris hides them under a “sticky” blanket and talks to Fox while tripping on the shrooms he just digested. Fox is star struck seeing Neil in the car, but what he doesn’t know is that Neil is tripping balls and sees himself riding on a unicorn with the “shiniest horn ever.”

Neil Patrick Harris takes them to a whorehouse where he does his thing but ends up branding a lady who goes by the name of Tits Hemmingway. Harold and Kumar freak out and grab his car and jet out of there. But don’t think this is over by a long shot, they meet and smoke pot with President Bush in his Guesthouse, jump out of an airplane, meet a Cyclops who reminds them of Sloth from the Goonies, and even talk to Cuba’s on a boat and tell them what to do once they get to America.

This movie was great and if you enjoyed the first one, this will be another treat. With plenty of great actors, combined with a hilarious storyline, this movie was well worth the money to get a movie ticket. Also, with laughs every minute, it’s hard to say you’ll catch all the jokes watching this the first time through but this movie will have a high replay value once you see it. Finally, as said by George Bush in the movie; “You don’t need to trust your government to be a good American, you just have to love your country.”

Harold and Kumar easily rated at 7 out of 10

The Eye

2008-08-06T09:17:00.001-07:00

Upon going to see this movie the first thought that popped into my head was that The Eye was going to be another poor remake of a great Japanese horror flick. With a storyline placing Jessica Alba as Sydney, the blind violinist, who gets a new surgery that basically, gives her new eyes, so that she can see the world around her. With this new sight however, there are a couple major drawbacks. She’s now constantly haunted by frightening images of death stealing the doomed victims and dragging them into the realm of death.

I began to think that this could potentially be good, I’m sure if your honest with yourself you thought the movie The Ring was half decent the first time you watched it. Maybe this movie could have the potential to bring a genre back from the brink of fear, and with Jessica Alba at the helm, I thought, can’t be half bad. So I check into my seat and try to watch this movie without to must bias against the Japanese Horror Remake.

The original movie was called “Jian Gui.” The Eye had the exact plot and story but for some reason the original movie, which I watched the day earlier by chance, was much more terrifying. Watching this movie, the surgery she gets seems eerily parallel to the new laser eye surgery.

As soon as Syd gets the surgery she meets a nine-year-old cancer patient who tells her not to worry because the world is beautiful. Once she leaves the hospital she begins to start her recovery into learning how to see again. At first, everything is blurry but almost immediately she starts seeing the dead and their “escorts.”

Syd realizes that what she is seeing isn’t actually suppose to be there so she sets off to try and find who the donor eyes came from and why she continues to have these weird visions. Her journey leads her and Doctor Paul Faulkner, the doctor in charge of her recovery, down to Mexico where she finds out the true nature of what happened to the donor.

Once the movie ended, I thought about the general movie idea and thought that it was not to bad. Some of the themes were a little redundant but overall this was a pretty good movie. The acting was surprisingly well done and I never was bored. But the movie had an eerie feeling of M. Night Shyamalan’s “Sixth Sense” the only difference here was that instead of seeing just the dead, she could see them right before they died.

As for this being a remake of the Japanese Horror, Jian Gui, it held together pretty well. There was no time that I thought “None of this is making sense” as the little details of each scene were shown and left no plot holes. But when you think of an American Horror, most times you will think of a hack and slahs flick. Japanese horror films are more psychological in the fact that they will elude to a scary moment but just as you think it’s going to happen, it leaves you hanging for a truly jump out and scare you moment. Though on the many occasions where something actually did occur, the theater was filled with the screams of fear from the people around me.

In general I would recommend this movie to most anyone for the simple reason that right now, there are no other movies like this one. Sure, it has some recycled points in it but what movie these days don’t have recycled points? In the end, with a rating scale of one to five, I would place this about a three and a half. Well directed, and well acted, this movie was pure entertainment and did an amazing job in the transition of Alba’s blindness into her world of sight once more.

Definitely, Maybe

2008-08-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

With the director of Love Actually and Notting Hill at the helm of this Valentine’s Day love-fest called Definitely, Maybe, one can not help but think that this will be another comedic love story that will shine this Valentine’s Day with the main star, Ryan Reynolds, at the helm.

The plot of this new-age love story stars Ryan Reynolds as Will Hayes, a 30-something Manhattan dad is in the midst of a divorce. His ten-year-old daughter Maya, played by Abigail Breslin, starts to delve into her father’s past life, before the marriage. Maya wants to know absolutely everything about how her parents met and fell in love and thus starts the story of Will’s past love life. The story then jumps to a flashback to 1992 where Will, a young, politician who moves to New York from his hometown in Wisconsin to begin working on the Clinton campaign.

Will then begins to relive his past as a idealistic young man learning the ins and outs of big city politics, and recounts the history of his romantic relationships with three very different women for his daughter. While on the campaign trail, Will's best buddy is Russell McCormack. They not only have similar political aspirations, they share the same type of women problems, too. Will hopelessly attempts a dulled down, more appropriate version of his story for his daughter, while changing the names so Maya has no clue who each women is and is forced to guess which of these women he finally married.

So which girl will William end up with? Is it Emily, his college sweetheart who seems to good to be true, or April, the artsy copy girl he works with during the Clinton campaign, or is it Summer, the journalist who is sleeping with her thesis professor?

The movie is set up in a very interesting way. As William recounts his post-college life to his daughter you are also trying to find out who Will ends up with. Each girl has her ups and downs but there still is that hinting suspicion of the mystery wife he is divorcing. As for a romantic comedy, this movie has all the elements to make this a great movie but something seems to be missing. The acting is on pair and you stay hooked throughout the movie but the subplot of William being a politician seems to drag the story down.

The main character might be Ryan Reynolds, but the movie is stolen by his daughter Maya who is such an adorable asset to this movie that she is acting well beyond the age she is currently at and can out act most of the people in this movie. Though April, Wedding Crasher’s Isla Fisher, keeps the reality of the movie going with the romantic chemistry moving with the back and for love between her and William, her devotion to the character is easily only skin deep.

There are a few choke up moments when you come to realize how difficult it is for the love torn Will to make decisions that end up helping and hurting his life. As is for real life, his daughter Maya, continually thinks that finding out the perfect person is easy but as the story progresses she comes to the horrific conclusion that life is not as easy as we are made out to believe. Maya at one point asks her father how there could possibly be a happy ending to this story and Will responds that there most definitely is a happy ending here but he just has not gotten to it yet.

In the end, this movie has all the right parts for the perfect romantic comedy but sadly falls short and leaves you wanting more. Although, not up to the standards of Love Actually or Notting Hill this movie still warms your heart right up until the end. With an ending that is almost predictable from the first twenty minutes in, it does the job of a good romantic comedy, makes you laugh, wanting the main character, Will, to end up happily ever after. This movie would be a great movie to rent and watch on the couch with your friends but not one that would be recommended for spending the absurd price of a movie ticket on.

21

2008-08-06T09:12:00.000-07:00

To go see a movie like 21 you have to think back to a time where Vegas wasn’t a family friendly place where it was just coming into the age where we are today where cheating the casino’s out of hundreds of thousands of dollars is nearly impossible. This is the setting for the movie wittingly entitled 21. The name alone lets the viewer know what game and how this small group of MIT students, who are mathematical geniuses, stroll into Las Vegas only a handful of times but end up walking out of the casino with more money than anyone knows what to do with.

Jim Sturgess, from Across the Universe, plays the mathematical genius Ben Campell who dreams of getting admitted into Harvard Medical to become the doctor he always dreamed of. Once he gets admitted to the school he runs into a bit of a snag, money, an issue that many people have. So what does he do? Applies for a full ride through a scholarship that would admit him there. Although, a professor tells him that the only way he can get this scholarship is through his essay that needs to “Dazzle and jump off the page.”

Ben never had much life experience since he was always focused on work and school. His intelligence is shown throughout the movie from his 1590 on the SAT’s, 44 on the MCATs, and the one time you see him working and he does a customers total for sales in his head. Though, he still lacks the experience and this causes the main issue for this movie. As a student of MIT he takes courses that require an amazing amount of intellect, one of which taught by none other than Kevin Spacey.

Kevin Spacey plays the role of Mickey Rosa, who use to play blackjack and count cards but for some unknown reason stepped out while he was on top. When Mickey asks a question in class Ben is the first to answer and surprises his professor with such an astounding answer that he goes and looks at the test and realizes the intellect that Ben has. One night while Ben is studding in the library he gets encountered by a character that tells him to follow him down through the building to a darkened hallway where only one room has lights on.

Upon entering the room we see Mickey and his crew practicing counting cards and Mickey lays everything out for him. Counting cards being legal, him needing the money for Harvard, everything and although Ben realizes how beneficial this can be, he has trouble wrestling the morality of cheating. He initially turns down the offer and tries to forget about it but only when Jill Taylor, the romantic interest played by Kate Bosworth, enters his work and explains everything to him does he actually join the team.

The movie then embarks on a wonderful montage of Vegas and it’s high roller lifestyle that completely transforms the pace of the movie. Ben and his crew begin taking all the casino’s by force and taking hundreds of thousands of dollars by simply paying attention to the cards and the most simplistic system of showing when a deck is ready to let lose and pay off the big money.

Enter Lawrence Fishburne, Cole Williams the muscle of the casino, who is having difficulty dealing with a new security system that uses facial recognition to catch card counters and cheaters as they enter the building. Think of Cole as your classic old school Vegas thug, using his muscle to get his way. Cole spots Ben while he’s winning a ridiculous amount of hands and getting the payoff of a lifetime. As Cole goes to catch Ben, a fight breaks out and luckily our “hero” gets away.

One fateful night, while Ben is not on his “A-game” loses somewhere near two hundred thousand dollars and Mickey has a freak out. Telling Ben he’s off the team and that he’ll get the money back one way or another. Ben then tries to lead the team but as bad luck would have it, Cole finally catches up to him and beats the tar out off Ben, Old school Vegas style.

When Ben returns back to Boston, he sees that Mickey has taken everything from Ben. Giving him an incomplete to a class, breaking into his dorm and stealing all the money Ben had been saving for Harvard Med. For a while it seems that fate has screwed Ben over and there’s nothing he can do. Ben decides to apologize to Mickey and have one last night in Vegas to get all the money back.

This was one amazing ride of a movie from start to end. The acting was amazing and the ode to Bono’s role in Across the Universe was humorous. In the end though, this movie was a treat for the viewer and quite a ride it takes you. This movie is highly recommended for anyone who has the need to experience the high roller lifestyle of Vegas, Hands Down.

Since we all need to have ratings, I would give 21 the movie an 8 out of 10

Welcome

2008-08-06T09:07:00.000-07:00

Welcome Everyone,

This is my first blog and thus, I have no fucking clue what I'm doing. So since I created this for me to put my reviews up, here goes.

~Bubba