Expendables 2: Electric Boogaloo

Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Statham, Li, Crews, Couture, Van-Damme, Willis, Lundgren, Norris...good times! There's really no reason to talk about the plot of this movie. In as few words as possible: Van-Damme steals a bunch of uranium (cliche); Willis sends in Stallone's team to get the uranium back (cliche); mayhem and bad puns ensue (cliche).

If you couldn't guess by the trailer, this movie isn't really about plot. It's about having everyone you know and love from the 80's and 90's and sometimes even 70's, in the same movie, kicking ass together. It's a blast. There's no point, there's no reason for them to be doing any of what they're doing, there's not even any great dialog (except when they each say everyone's catch-phrases to one another, which, by the way, is friggin' awesome).

Lets talk about the acting! Please read the opening line listing all of the films actors. OK great!

Anyhow, if you ever wanted to see a movie that is Van-Damme incredible, and you enjoyed the first Expendables, you should certainly watch this movie. It is more of the awesome same. Watching this movie made me want to take a week off and watch Bloodsport, Lone Wolf, Running Man, Rambo, and every other crappy action movie ever. It really is a blast of nostalgic past, and with Expendables 3 no doubt on the horizon, I can't wait to see which other folks they pick up. My vote is for Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, and maybe a former Bond, I'd love to see Pierce Brosnan or hell, why not, Sean Connery in a bad ass role, and lets throw in Angelina Jolie as an ass-kicking ninja hooker.

Expendables 2 gets a 2.5/5 (lets be honest, if you don't like action, there isn't much for you here; but if you do like action, this gets a 5/5 (a motorcycle gets shot at a helicopter...)!

Go see it, and if you have a dream cast for the all-but-inevitable Expendables 3, lets hear it!

Movie Digest - Avengers, Men In Black 3, Dark Shadows, Wrath of the Titans (in order of watchability)

I haven't posted in a little while and was asked today why I hadn't written about the Avengers. Well, it's simple really. What else could I say about it? The common wisdom has been that you should go see it, so if you haven't...go now! I have seen a few other movies lately, here's a quick rundown of what I have seen as of late:

1. Avengers - Go see this movie. Its really that simple, it's expertly done. Joss Whedon (the director [also of Cabin in the Woods fame]) does an incredible job of adding comic book elements into a fast-paced action film.   It has all of your favorite superheroes, Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Samuel L. Jackson, The Hulk, and Scarlet Johansson's ass in tight pants. See? All your favorites! Just go watch it, it doesn't really need a review, but its a solid 5/5.

2. Men in Black 3 - The third installment in the Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith franchise is a bit too light on the Jones, but is still heavy on the comedy. This film follows Will Smith's Agent J as he goes back in time to kill an assassin that wants to erase Jones' Agent K from the future. The younger K is played by Josh Brolin and he does an impeccable job of channeling the Tommy Lee Jones-isms, including the signature facial expressions and speech patterns. This is a good fun action flick, but I couldn't remember the second movie too well, so I can't comment too much on the continuity, but its worth seeing if you have an extra $10 and want an excuse to eat some popcorn. This one gets a 3.5/5 (points deducted for being a tad long, and starting off a bit flat).

3. Dark Shadows - Not Tim Burton and Johnny Depp's best collaboration. The movie itself isn't too bad, but some of the writing and the general tone of the movie felt "off". It was a bit hard to follow and switched from comedy, to serious, to comedy, to horror-ish movie willy nilly and made it hard to really get into the groove of the movie. Top marks go to Chloe Grace Moretz who plays a teenage Collins girl living in the old Collins estate. The movie is about Barnabus Collins (Depp), a vampire coming back from being imprisoned in a coffin for 200 years by a witch (Eva Green) who has a crush on him that she just can't seem to get over. That is basically the plot, the witch is in love with Barnabus and since the love is unrequited, she kills his lady-love and turns him into a vampire for all eternity. Beyond that there's very little twisting and turning and the plot of having to save the Collin's Canary from going under so that they can keep their business up and running is a bit light on excitement. This one gets a 2.5/5, you should see it at home, if there's nothing better on.

4. Wrath of the Titans. If you thought the first one was bad, this one is even worse. I have no idea how they got Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson to come back for a second shoot, but I imagine it involved a lot of money and the promise of prostitutes. The best part of this move was Bill Nighy, who has a minimal role, but happens to be the highlight of any movie he is in. The story revolved around Zeus (Leeson) being imprisoned by Hades (Fiennes) so that Chronos can leech his power and come back to life. Persueus (Sam Worthington) has to save the day by doing impossible and random stuff, including going through a maze, which while it was interestingly designed and shot, was very confusing and hard to follow along with. You can skip this one, 1.5/5. Only see it if you need an excuse to eat butter and can only justify doing so by putting it on popcorn, and need to be watching something in order to do that.

As always, comments/suggestions/recommendations are welcome!

The Cabin in the Woods - most fun you can have with your pants on.

Not much to say about this movie because if you say practically anything it will be ruined. Written by Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard, this is absolutely not a horror film, but does have horror elements. That is practically all I can say about the movie.

It really is something that is best seen without knowing anything about it. If you can avoid the commercials/trailers for it as well. It is scary at parts, so know you will get a few scares, but they are telegraphed fairly well so it won't be difficult to know when you need to do the 'ol "look through the fingers" trick.

So lets do a little checklist:

Acting - Check (Bradley Whitfield is great)
Horror - Check (scary nightmarish creatures)
Comedy - Check (this is very much a Joss Whedon script)
Gore - Check (things get a little messy)
Evil Dead - Check (this has a very Evil Dead vibe, almost so much that I expected Bruce Campbell to pop in at some point).

That is all I'm saying. If you can stomach a smidge bit of scary time, this is by far one of the most fun movies I've seen all year (granted its before the summer blockbusters, but I strongly think that it will be a contender throughout the summer).

Please see this movie.  4.5/5 (very little could have been better, seriously).

Comment/share/enjoy

Chronicle (Better than Narnia)

There's something I need to get off my chest. I really dislike movies shot in 1st person. There, I said it. I first found out about this preference during Doom, which had one scene shot in 1st person. Unfortunately for Doom, it was also probably the best sequence in the movie. This dislike of 1st person camera work was further enhanced when I went to see Cloverfield, which actually made me feel nauseous, but with the help of some diet coke, I persevered. Chronicle follows in their footsteps and was a bit difficult for me to watch at the beginning (when they were not only shooting through a shaky cam, but had the audacity to do it with an SD camera). The movie was hard to watch, but I'm glad I toughed it out.

Chronicle follows 3 kids as they find a glowing thingy that makes their noses bleed and gives them telekinetic powers. So far that is about all the information that you would get from the trailer. Luckily, the trailer does not ruin the movie, as it is incredibly vague. I won't give out too much about the plot, but the movie more or less follows them around as they work out their new-found "muscles".

The main character is Andrew (Dane DeHaan), who is a socially awkward, shy, and troubled high school senior. His cousin Matt (Alex Russell) is an awkward popular kid who is looking out for Andrew and plays the voice of reason in the group. Their buddy Steve (Michael B. Jordan) is the popular jock who is also running for class president. The other characters in the movie don't really matter as they don't have powers and, well, who cares?

The movie is very well done and watching the characters transform as their powers get more and more developed is pretty cool. Of course there has to be some conflict within the group and that escalates throughout the movie, which leads to a climactic flying sequence around the Seattle space needle.

This gets a solid 4/5 (could have been a 4.5/5 if not for the shaky cam). Go see it! Also, its been out for a week or so, and may be leaving theaters soon, so run and see it if you need to, but only if you don't get nauseous easily!

Comment/Write/Suggest below!

Ghost Rider 2 (Why do I keep doing this to myself?)

I let Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance happen to me last night. I don't feel good about it. I wish I didn't let it happen, but in the end, it was my own fault. Much like the first Ghost Rider, which was widely thought of as one of the worst comic book movies of the last decade. It turns out that Ghost Rider made just enough money to be green-lit for a sequel and that is what Colombia Pictures and Imagenation Abu Dhabi (yup), released this weekend.

If you take out Nicolas Cage (who is a wild card), the cast of the movie is actually pretty good! We have, Anthony Head (Buffy, Repo! The Genetic Opera), Christopher Lambert (Highlander, Mortal Kombat, everything on Syfy), Idris Elba (The Wire, Thor, 28 Weeks Later), plus a bunch of other folks. Then you have Nic Cage. Who is, probably one of the best-worst actors of our time. When he's good (Lord of War), he's great, but when he's bad (Season of the Witch), he's spectacularly bad! I feel bad for Nic Cage, because of his recent financial troubles, and I understand he needs to keep working in order to maintain his lifestyle, and keep some of his homes. I get it. But shouldn't quality mean more sales and income instead of quantity? Apparently not.

Anyway, Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance is about Johnny Blaze (Nic Cage), who still has the demon rider inside of him, but wants to get him out. Some stuff happens and the anti-christ is born, and he has to save the anti-christ, or else he will become the anti-christ and then if he can do all that and stop the devil (Ciaran Hinds), then he can get rid of his demon. Or something like that, I started not to care after Johnny Blaze took over a quarry machine and made it throw fireballs.

Best part of the movie is the drunk monk, Moraeu (Idris Elba). He was funny, and liked wine, things I can relate to. Please do not see this movie only for Idris Elba's character. It is not worth it. Believe me.

I give it a 1/5. Honestly the only reason to see this is if you like Nic Cage and enjoy watching him at his most ridiculous, which I do, but even then it is very rough.

Leave comments/suggestions/whatevers.

One-Upping (The Importance of the Underworld and Resident Evil Franchises)

It is not secret that I am a fan of pretty much any movie that can keep my attention for over an hour. I've seen a lot of movies that I haven't had a chance to write about in the last month or so: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, The Adventures of Tintin, Hugo, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. All of them were great, although if I had to pick a favorite or three I would say that Hugo, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Dragon Tattoo were incredible! That brought the end of 2011 in terms of movies, and it was a great ending!

I started 2012 off with a movie that is right up my alley, a dumb action movie that is the 3rd (or 4th, depending on if you count it) installment in a franchise, Underworld: Awakening! As far as the movie goes, it takes place after the events of Underworld: Evolution. Vampiric Death Dealer Selene (Kate Beckinsale) and Vampire/Lycan Hybrid Michael Corvin (Scott Speedman) are on the run after killing the Vampire coven leaders who had marked them both for death. Awakening starts with the purge, when humans were made aware of the Vampire and Lycan threat and have gone on an offensive in order to kill both species. Selene and Michael get separated and Selene is held hostage for 12 years where she is kept in stasis, she awakens (get it?) and learns that almost all vampires and lycans were killed during the purges. She then meets "subject two", a young girl who is also a hybrid, much like Michael. Subject two gets kidnapped and the story follows Selene working with a still functioning coven to try and recover the  girl.

The movie was fine, in the grand scheme of things and it deserves some praise for effects and camera-work. I saw it in 3D and the entire movie looked really good, with the 3D adding to the action and never being over-the top. I give it a 3.5/5 and can't wait to see the next one!

I did make an observations while I was in the theater though. One of the the trailers that I saw was for Resident Evil: Retribution. It had one of the best trailers I had seen in quite a while! It reminded me a lot of the Resident Evil: Apocalypse trailer, which is one of my favorite trailers of all time. That got me thinking about the parallels of the Underworld and Resident Evil movies. Both franchises started around 2002 (RE) and 2003 (Underworld). Both movies have very strong female leads, Milla Jovovich in Resident Evil, and Kate Beckinsale in Underworld. Both are supernatural, with Resident Evil dealing with zombies and infectious diseases and mutations, and Underworld tackling good old fashioned battle between Vampires and Werewolves. Both have marriages driving the franchises, Resident Evil being helmed by Paul W.S. Anderson who married Jovovich in 2009, and Underworld with Len Wiseman, who married Beckinsale in 2004. Both are crazy, dumb, fun, and visually intense actions movies. Both are now being shot in 3D and have great CGI graphics, stunts, and special effects. Both have questionable writing! Despite the questionable writing, both will keep you engaged for over an hour.

There really is no point to that observation, other than that both franchises, while very different, drive the supernatural action/horror/unintentional comedy genre and play off of each other in order to one-up the graphics, fight sequences, explosions, violence, and questionable writing. Its a great little franchise duel to watch! I can't wait to see what Resident Evil 9 and Underworld: The Taper-offering will be like and what affect (if any) it will have on other franchises!

As always leave comments/suggestions or if you have movies you'd like me to watch and write about, let me know!

Immortals and Tower Heist...Fight!

Was trying to make up for lost time this weekend so I went to two movies instead of the "former-usual" one. I took a look at Immortals (very enthusiastically recommended to me by my sister, although mainly for Henry Cavill's abs) and Tower Heist. Lets go in order shall we!


My sister, Liz, was very adamant that I should go see Immortals, because it had Henry Cavill staring in the role of Theseus, but more importantly, it had his abs in the role of bulging. Immortals follows young Theseus on his quest to avenge the death of his mother, who was killed at the hands of King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke). Its true, Mickey Rourke has an incredibly gruff persona, and physically fits the part very well. There is however, one drawback with casting him in a role where he has to wear a mask a lot. That drawback is that it is impossible to understand what he is saying. Its difficult when he's playing himself, and when you add in the muffling effects of a mask, it gets incredibly hard. Luckily though, for all intents and purposes, he just needs to stand there and look imposing.


There are also some Gods mucking about, the most important of which is Zeus (Luke Evans). I really like Luke Evans and he does a great job of being both menacing, and intriguingly tender when the situation calls for it. Plus he gets to kick quite a bit of Titan ass, and those scenes are incredible. It makes me excited to see Luke in the next two Hobbit movies, where he will be playing Bard the Bowman.


Immortals was done by the producers of 300, and was directed by Tarsem Singh, who is going to be directing Mirror Mirror, which is one 2012's two Snow White themed movies. He also has the honor of directing one of the movies that messed me up when I was a kid, the visually stunning and incredibly creepy "The Cell" with Jennifer Lopez and Vincent D'Onofrio.


Anyhow, Immortals was actually good fun, and unlike 300, which was 80/20 in action/plot ration, the breakdown here is closer to 60/40, which means you'll be getting some dialog and back story along with your bloody and visceral fight scenes.


This one gets a solid 4/5, go see it if you are in the mood for action, adventure, abs, and great effects.


~~


Tower Heist happened to be playing right after Immortals was over, and it was either go home and play Skyrim, or stay at the theater and take a look at another movie that I'd wanted to see for a while but didn't have the chance to go to.


Tower Heist is the story of Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller), the manager of "The Tower", the most luxurious residence in New York City, as he tries to plot the theft of over $20Million to cover the losses of his hotel's pension plan which was invested and lost by Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda). Phew, that was a long run-on sentence. The movie is filled with an all-star cast, including Matthew Broderick, Michael Pena, Eddie Murphy, Téa Leoni, Gabourey Sidibe, and (my favorite in this one) Casey Affleck. 


The plot is fairly simple, Arthur Shaw, fraudulently invested and blew through all his holdings and is being investigated by the FBI. When he gets arrested for one of the largest Ponzi Scheme's in history, The Tower's employees lose all their pensions. That's when Josh Kovacs and his rag-tag crew of a broke investor (Broderick), electrician (Pena), maid (Sidibe), and professional thief (Murphy) go after his fortune, hidden in his room atop one of the most secure buildings in New York. 


Without giving away a lot of the plot, basically, wacky hi jinks ensue. One of my favorite scenes is when Téa Leoni's FBI agent is having a drink with Josh and having a back and forth about the last time she "got this drunk". I miss Téa, and have been a fan of hers since "The Naked Truth", a sitcom she did back in the mid-90's. Murphy is also back to his old self! After a few not-so-stellar films (Norbit, Pluto Nash), he's back to his old rude/crude hilarious self. Which is kind of nice and hopefully he will get back to making dirty jokes and having a good time like he did way back during all those fun Beverly Hills Cop movies. 


Tower Heist is definitely worth taking a look at if you want a good laugh, some of Casey Afflecks lines and deliveries were hilarious and I actually laughed in the theater, which is fairly rare.


This one also gets a 4/5. Not a great comedy or heist movie, but its got heart and good laughs. Plus the actual heist is pretty impressive, and decently thought out, if not terribly believable. 


That's all for now! Hopefully I'll get to Three Musketeers here soon so I can get a bit more Luke Evans actions (he plays Aramis). Yay!

Drive

Starting at about 8PM on Friday night I started seeing a lot of tweets from folks that were recommending Drive as the movie to see this weekend. Most of these folks are in the games press (I follow them for fun gaming info), and they likened the movie to Grand Theft Auto. This intrigued me to no end, so, while I had no intention of seeing Drive, I went out on Sunday and gave it a run.

I have to say that I was beyond pleasantly surprised. Drive is a very slow-paced action film. Its slow speed punctuates the very visceral violence, that only happens every so often, but once it does, its very memorable. The movie follows a driver (Ryan Gosling) as he tries to navigate  his way through some bad luck caused by his close friend and boss Shannon (Bryan Cranston). Along the way he helps out Irene (Carey Mulligan), who's husband is in jail. Ryan Gosling's character develops a relationship with Irene and her son Benicio, and when he tries to help out her just-released husband, things go south.

The acting is pretty good in the movie, Albert Brooks plays a gangster, and Ron Perlman is, as always, his slightly off-kilter self. The only person I was not really a fan of in the film was probably Carey Mulligan's character. There were a couple scenes where she could have emoted a little bit more, but overall she wasn't too bad. Ryan Gosling does a great job at being stoic throughout the movie and you can actually understand his thought process, even though there is very little dialog.

The real gem of the movie is the long pauses in dialog where there is a break in the action, it really punctuates the action and driving sequences, which are few and far between, but well-paced, when they do happen. There are also some great car-chases (to be expected, with a name like Drive), and the sound-track bears mentioning as well. Very good music, especially the song "A Real Hero” by  College (feat. Electric Youth)
.


Anyhow, Drive gets a solid 4/5 from me, and if you are in the mood for a very well made and well acted movie, give this one a run! 


As always comments/suggestions/whatever is appreciated! Also, if there's anything you'd like me to watch and chat about, let me know!  

Fright Night! 3D! and Rated R (for Rawr!)

Back by popular demand! I saw two movies this past weekend, both in 3-D! Conan: The Barbarian and Fright Night! Not much to say about Conan, Jason Momoa is the lead as Conan and he talks to women like Don Draper with funny quips like, "Woman, come." and "Get off". Hilarious! Anyway, that one isn't really worth seeing in theaters nor in 3D, but it does have one particular fight scene where Conan is fighting sand people. You can find a clip of this by viewing the trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPQ99y8KaTU) at about the 1:50 mark. The scene is pretty damn well done and the effects look pretty good!

Anyhow, on to Fright Night...

I had 0 expectations coming into this movie, having seen but not remembered the original, and not seeing much advertising at all (and unfortunately, it has only made about $10M, so there was not much advertising to speak of). When you go in to a movie with no expectations, two things can happen, you can either be incredibly bored because you aren't expecting much and are not excited, or you can totally entertained and have a blast. Fight Night was a BLAST! It's getting about 75% on Rotten Tomatoes (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fright_night-2011/), but unfortunately no one except the people on Rotten Tomatoes have gone to see it.

The premise is thus: Vampire moves into a Las Vegas suburb and terrorizes a neighborhood. Why a Vegas suburb? Glad you asked! It makes perfect sense really, folks are out in Vegas all night, and sleep during the day...vampire style! Who is this vampire? Well, its Jerry! Played by Colin Farrell, who is having a pretty decent summer as he also appeared in "Horrible Bosses". Colin Farrell does a damn good job of being shifty-eyed and full of testosterone, his vampire Jerry is smarmy and smug, and when get goes into bad boy mode, actually pretty unnerving. Unfortunately, I cannot really see Colin Farrell on screen without thinking of the sex-tape he made with: Nicole Narain (Google her!). It's readily available on if you Google it, and I recommend it for a fun late-night time killer!

Anyhow, porn aside, Colin Farrell is actually very believable as a vampire, but the story isn't really about him now is it? It's about the people trying to stand up to the forces of darkness, in this case the unlikely Anton Yelchin playing Charley Brewster, a newly made "cool-kid" trying to forget his nerdy past. Part of that nerdy past is Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse, who is trying his damnedest to be remembered for something other than Superbad, but unfortunately, this movie doesn't help).

When Ed comes to Charley and without burying the lead, drops the bomb that his new neighbor Jerry is a vamp, the hi-jinks ensue! One of my favorite parts of this movie was Charley's girlfriend, Amy (Imogen Poots, which is arguably the best name ever conceived). Imogen isn't very well known yet, but you'll see what I mean that she can have a very good go of this whole Hollywood thing! Charley's mom is played by Toni Collete, and she's pretty good, but doesn't get a lot of screen time. Without giving away all the plot points, the other big star in this movie is David Tennant, for of Dr. Who fame, and he plays a paranormal "expert".

I saw the movie in 3D, which has been pretty hit and miss this summer blockbuster season. Conan had it too, but it didn't add anything to the film, and instead detracted from it. In Fright Night the 3D is actually pretty fun, they go back to some cheesy pop-out stuff but nothing too egregious, and other than a few things popping out of the screen, there are some really interesting 3D scenes (not going to give them away though, but one involves a car chase!).

Anyway, I actually really liked this movie, and I'm going to give it a 4/5, not a 4.5 as my usual score is, but 4, its good, not great, but is very fun and entertaining. And for those of you concerned about seeing a rated R movie named Fright Night, most of the "R" comes from language, there really isn't much in terms of "Fright", so everyone should be able to see this movie and laugh out loud at the funny pop culture references!

In closing Fright Night = 4/5 and for those that care Conan = 2.5/5.

Peace!

Due Date (Doesn't Deliver)

Aaaah, Due Date. Lofty expectations going into this movie, as I adore both Zach Galifianakis and Robert Downey Jr., but unfortunately, the movie doesn’t really deliver (rimshot). The movie is actually filled with a lot of typically good comedic actors, Danny McBride, Matt Walsh, Jamie Foxx, Juliette Lewis, but at its core, Due Date is about and centers around Peter (Robert Downey Jr.) and Ethan (Zach Galifianakis). Unfortunately, that is part of the problem. Directed by Todd Philips (of The Hangover fame), Due Date doesn’t really work on the same level as The Hangover, instead of being buddies, Ethan and Peter are mortal enemies from the outset. A lot of the comedy happens when they are either yelling, fighting, or screwing each other over in some way. Don’t get me wrong, the movie is funny, but you can tell it’s missing something.

The story follows Peter, as he is trying to get back home to his wife who is expecting to deliver their bouncing baby boy. While getting on his flight in Atlanta, Peter gets thrown off a plane because of Ethan, and through a series of unfortunate events, has to take Ethan up on his offer to drive him to Hollywood (Los Angeles, no one calls it Hollywood). Various hijinks ensue, including getting rid of Ethan’s father’s ashes in the grand canyon, making a pit stop to pick up drugs from Heidi (Juliette Lewis), and getting arrested by Mexican border officials for trying to sneak drugs into their country, because hey, why not?

The funny parts are funny, and Todd Philips does a great job of keeping everyone focused, and of course Zach and Robert developed a pretty good chemistry together, and they actually work as a comedic duo, but the film is missing a little something something, and it’s noticeable. Perhaps it’s because I’d rather see Zach and Robert do a comedy where they are partners or on the same team instead of working against each other. I don’t know, I give it a 2/5, but not for lack of comedy, mainly it lacks heart, and also a cohesive/compelling story. One of the things that made The Hangover work so well was because you knew that the gang needed to get Doug back home for the wedding, Due Date lacked that urgency, and suffered for it.

RED - Really Extremely Delightful

Bruce Willis. That name alone is enough marketing to get me paying full price for a ticket and heading to the theater. Add in the always quirky John Malkovich (Marvin Boggs), the soulful Morgan Freeman (Joe), and the regal Helen Mirren (Victoria), and you have every reason to go see this movie right there. Even Mary-Louise Parker (Sarah), who has never really wowed me, manages to keep up with this all-star, experienced cast.

RED (Retired, Extremely, Dangerous), follows retired CIA Agent Frank Moses, played by Bruce Willis, as he is sought by William Cooper (Karl Urban) of the CIA. Turns out someone wants Frank dead. Something involving a mission in a South American country that went horribly wrong, and now everyone involved must die. Frank gets involved with Sarah, and because they have a history of phone conversations, she has to go on the run with him. Along the way they pick up Marvin, who is a paranoid former LCD recipient; Joe, a chronically ill former spook; and Victoria, "the best wet-work asset in the business". Along the way this rag-tag bunch of geriatrics picks up an old KGB operative, Ivan, played by Brian Cox.

The running gag here is that they are all old, so of course, they are sorely underestimated. Whether it be breaking into the CIA, or attempting to kidnap and interrogate Alexander Dunning (Richard Dreyfuss), who is a big-time CEO. Throughout the whole movie they survive various altercations by the skin of their teeth, and do so with the humor and flair that only these season actors could portray.

I won't get too into the plot, because at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter. This is a longer movie, at 111 minutes, but you are literally entertained throughout the entire film. Its incredible, but it never really lags, there's no real time where you start looking that clock and waiting for the plot-point dialog to be over. It's kind of like watching Avatar for the 1st time in 3D. You are sitting there, for over 2 hours, but you can't look away because it has completely grabbed your attention. RED is by no means as visually stunning as Avatar, but it definitely does grab your eyeballs and earholes and doesn't let go. There are definitely a couple of really well shot scenes, one of which is a medley of exploding bodies. Sure that sounds weird and gory, but the way they do it, is kind of hilarious, the entire theater was laughing, and you will too.

I'm rambling now. Its a great movie, I give it 4/5 stars, now go and see it :)

Knight and Day - Review

I have not gone into a movie in quite a while with lower expectations than when I went to see Knight and Day over its opening weekend. I had heard mediocre things at best about it from various different critics, but I did hear one by the Movie Man where he was pretty positive (http://bit.ly/9HOHn6). The Movie Man is into this movie and so am I, the movie takes about 5 minutes to get going, and then continues to throw in a mix of action, comedy, and dramady which holds your attention for the almost 2 hours that this film runs.

Tom Cruise (Roy Miller) and Cameron Diaz (June Havens), make for an odd couple. I believe in real life she towers over the actor but on screen their pairing kind of makes sense. He plays a suave, confident super-spy and she's a capable but clueless owner of a car shop. They meet randomly in Wichita, Kansas while waiting for their flight to depart. That's about all the set-up there is, in addition to some dialogue in the plane, before shit starts to get really real, really quick for June. While in the bathroom freshening up for Roy, June is completely oblivious to the fact that he dispatches a handful of assassins as well as the pilots of the plane they are on, and is then forced to crash land the plane in a field. That's the first 10 minutes of the movie, and from then on its a great back and forth between the two of them, from highway chases to speedboat rides, the two play off of each other and have a great rapport and chemistry on film.

The movie's plot is based on Roy trying to save Simon (Paul Dano) and keep a battery that Simon has developed from falling into the wrong hands. He's being chased by Fitzgerald (Peter Sarsgaard) of the FBI and Antonio (Jordi Molla) of a European gun manufacturing syndicate. At first I thought Jordi looked familiar and when he started yelling, I recognized where I knew him form, he played Hector Tapia in Bad Boys II and I really liked him in it, shame he doesn't get much screen time in Knight and Day.

I have to say that Cruise is back to his goofy bad-ass self in this movie. He's been doing different dramatic (Valkyrie) and comedic (Tropic Thunder) films for the last few years, but here he's back to what made Mission Impossible so great, he's: funny, smart, charming, daring, and has that Tom Cruise grin that all the ladies swoon over. It's almost unfair to Diaz, she tries very hard to keep up throughout the movie, but Cruise steals the show. She's a good fit for him though and their comedic timing fits well together (think Mr. & Mrs. Smith which is the closest thing to this movie).

I give Knight and Day a 4.5/5. That might be a little bit high, but the movie met and exceeded my expectations in every way (and that's not just because my expectations were low at the get-go). The best part about this movie is the way it ends, the final sequence is well done, and plays off the feel of the movie. Of course it also leaves a bit of an opening for a sequel and I, for one, and really hoping that they can do it.

A-Team Review

For those of you who were fans of the original 80's TV show, which ran from 1983 to 1987, you will be happy to know that this origin story keeps the same tone that the TV series did. Murdock (Sharlto Copley) is still insane, B.A. (Quinton "Rampage" Jackson) is still B.A., Face (Bradley Cooper) is pretty damn gorgeous and has fantabulous abs, and Hannibal (Liam Neeson)is still the brains of the operation.

Directed by Joe Carnahan, The A-Team starts off with 15 minutes of pure awesomeness, following Hannibal as he attempts to save Face (pun) and meets Murdock and B.A. for the first time, and then jumps 8 years and over 80 successful missions into the future. We meet Charisa Sosa (Jessica Biel), Lynch (Patrick Wilson) and Pike (Brian Bloom), all of who are trying to get the A-Team to obtain a series of plates used to produce American currency that were rebuilt in Iraq after the fall of Saddam.

The plot follows those plates as for the first time ever, Hannibal's plan doesn't go according to plan, and his team gets arrested and court martial-ed. After busting out of prison, the fugitives try and chase down the plates to clear their names and bring those responsible to justice.

Unfortunately, The A-Team hasn't made as much money as I would have liked it to make in order to guarantee a sequel, I am hoping that there will be one in the works soon. Carnahan, who also directed an underrated but quite good movie by the name of Smokin' Aces, makes sure that the pace is kept up and that there is no real downtime in between action or comedic sequences, which makes the movie go by pretty quick even though it clocks in at about 2 hours.

I really enjoyed the characters and Quinton Jackson does a great job even though he doesnt have a lot of acting expertise, then again this is Sharlto Copley's second major film. The cast has some serious chemistry, and they play off of each other pretty damn well, especially Jackson and Copley.

This is a solid 4 out of 5, and I hope that everyone go see it and experience the movie. It's probably not the best written movie that is out right now, especially with Toy Story 3 being released this week, but it really is a great popcorn movie and I recommend an ice cream right along with it as well.

The Karate Kid - Review

Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith team up to take on an evil kung Fu gym... sounds like the beginning of a very strange buddy martial arts flick. The Karate Kid would probably have been a better movie if it had been just that. It would have made a lot more sense, especially with the ways movies are made now, to have Jackie Chan, an old school master, team up with Jaden Smith, a reluctant new student, and take on a gym full of Chinese kung fu masters. Instead, Jackie Chan's Mr. Han is an oldish maintenance man, with no legitimate kung fu training, except for what his father taught him, and Jaden Smith's Dre Parker is an American kid transplanted to China after his mom is inexplicably transferred (she works in a car factory, which makes little to no sense).

Dre needs to learn how to defend himself after falling in like with Meiying (played adorably by Wenwen Han). The problem with Meiying, is that she has a "family friend" by the name of Cheng (Zhenwei Wang), who finds it hilarious to knock Dre to the ground and pummel him for interrupting Meiyings violin practice. After continued pummelings, Dre decides that he wants to learn kung fu, and after watching Mr. Han defend him during a bout of six dudes to one.

Mr. Han eventually gives in to Dre (after accidently having him challenge Chan in a kung fu tournament) and starts teaching him kung fu, mainly by having him take off and put on his jacket, which he tends to drop on the floor. This goes on for an indeterminable amount of time, until Dre begs to be taught some actual moves that will help him fight in the tournament.

The problem with the movie is that while the parts that are good are great, the majority of the film tends to run a bit long and have you waiting for the next scene where Jaden is practicing or actually fighting. The fight sequences are pretty good and fairly visceral, you can almost feel the kids getting slammed on the ground, but the rest of the movie drags, and the Meiying story line is good, but goes on too long and goes into too much detail, detracting from the kung fu master/kung fu student story, which should be at the center of the film.

I'd have to give this a 3 out of 5, its a solid movie, and a decent re-imagining of the original story. Unfortunately the side plots took away from the overall experience. I can still easily recommend this movie, if for nothing more than for the Jaden Smith's performance. He does an impeccable job and steals practically ever scene he is in. Will and Jada Pinkett Smith definitely have to be proud of their son after this performance, and it is a great one, especially for his first more or less starring role. At the very least, The Karate Kid isn't as bad as some of the crap that has been coming out in this lackluster blockbuster summer. Hopefully Toy Story 3 can bring this summer movie season around.

Shrek Forever After - Review

The final Shrek movie was a great send off for all of the characters that I have loved throughout the years. It seemed that all of the characters made it out, except for maybe Prince Charming and the Fairy Godmother, although they did get a bit of a shout-out at the very end credit screens (which was a nice touch). In fact the closing credits did a great job of bringing the Shrek epic to a close, with some of the best scenes from the previous films.

Instead of adding in additional random characters (Prince Artie) and building the story around them like in Shrek the Third, the fourth Shrek movie goes back to basics. Mainly, Shrek (Mike Meyers) does something stupid, and has to spend a good portion of the film trying to undo his ridiculous mistakes. As always there's a moral, this time it's "appreciate what you have when you have it, because you 'don't know what you got 'til it's gone'". After Shrek gets sent to an alternate reality by this movies Lord Farquaad, Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn), he has to reunite and win over his old friends all over again. The new relationships between Donkey (Eddie Murphy), Puss (Antonio Banderas), and Fiona (Cameron Diaz) really makes this movie pop. It's great to see the gang get to know each other all over again in this alternate reality, and its interesting to see how Fiona interacts with Shrek in a world where he didn't save her from her castle parapet.

The film is great, the story is so-so, the voice acting is fantastic as always, and even the 3-D doesn't go overboard and gives just enough depth to the film to really add something to the style without being an annoying eyesore. Overall this gets a 3.5/5 from me. I recommend seeing it, and in 3-D if possible. It's not the best movie in the series but it definitely does bring about a fairy tale ending to one of the most beloved animated franchises of all time.

Iron Man 2 - Review!

I know this is a bit late, but this week's been busy! Iron Man 2...awesome movie. That's pretty much all I need to say about the movie. If you enjoyed the 1st one, you will enjoy this one. Robert Downey Jr. comes back as the playboy turned weapon, Tony Stark and Gwyneth Paltrow is back as Pepper Potts his assistant turned CEO. Jon Favreau is back as his assistant Happy and in role of Rhodie is Terra....Don Cheadle! Oh, Mickey Rourke and Scarlett Johansson are also in here as Ivan Vanko and the Black Widow respectively.

The movie follows the rise of the Iron Man weapon and is more or less a vehicle for Robert Downey Jr. to play his former self, an egotistical schmoozer with an attitude problem. Throughout the movie Tony Stark attempts to perfect his suit, while alienating his friends and ending up all alone and in a donut. Luckily, with some help from his long dead father (in the form of video clips from the past), he discovers a way to rid himself of the poison his arc reactor has been spreading through his body, and making Iron Man even more power, all while sparring with Ivan Vanko who, using his father's schematics and Justin Hammer's (Sam Rockwell) money, has developed his own portable arc reactor and Whiplash suit.The movie climaxes at the Stark Expo, where every year, the greatest scientific minds unveil their cool new gadgets (kind of like the World's Fair, or CES).

As far as I'm concerned this easily gets a 4.5 out 5 stars. I hesitate to give a perfect score because while the movie flows great and is paced very well, the story takes a bit of a backseat to the characters. I don't really think this is that much of an issue, I never came in to Iron Man or Iron Man 2 expecting to be emotionally moved, that's what The Dark Knight and The Watchmen are for. This movie is all about taking what made the first one a success, humor, explosions, chemistry between the actors, and a really cool super hero, and turns it all the way to 11.

I would definitely recommend seeing this, and if you haven't seen the first one, go out and rent it, you won't regret it! At the very least these are fun action movies with cool characters and plenty of humor to keep anyone entertained!

A Nightmare on Elm St. (now with Jackie Earle Haley)

So, I got to see this opening night and I have to say that it's not very terrible. I went into this film with pretty low expectations, apart from Jackie Earle Haley (taking over the role of Freddie Kruger from Robert Englund, who's played the character since its inception, and who looks more and more like Ben Kinglsey [see pictures]), who I really do like in most of his new roles. There are really no other notable actors here other than Clancy Brown, who's name you don't know but who's face and voice you'll recognize. The actors playing the kids in the movie are new to me, except Thomas Dekker, who played John Connor on Fox's Sarah Connor Chronicles.

The story has been changed this time around and instead of a *spoilers* creepy guy who was "wrongfully" murdered and is taking his revenge by killing his murderers children, into a child molester tormenting the kids that he assaulted...hurray! While it takes a bit for the movie to reveal this intriguing little plot point, when it was divulged I was immediately turned off. A Freddie who is seeking revenge by killing kids makes sense in my mind, while a sexual deviant Freddie who is just trying to further destroy the lives of the kids he once molested just did not compute.

Apart from that the movie is actually fairly scary. If you like the "popping out of darkness and going 'boo'" type of horror movies that have become fairly commonplace lately. The plot is pretty simple, teenagers get stalked and killed in their dreams by Freddie and if they get hurt or killed in dreamland, they get hurt or killed in real life, and in order to escape the horror they must somehow get him into the real world and kill 'em.

As far as remakes and reimaginigs go, this one's OK. I much preferred Rob Zombie's Halloween, but that being said it's much better than the new Friday the 13th movie, and is better than some of the original stuff coming out now...here's looking at you Midnight Meat Train.

This movie deserves a 3 out 5 for being better than average at scaring the audience, but for horror with story I'll stick with the Saw franchise. I'd recommend renting A Nightmare on Elm St. and watching it with your significant other on the couch, but there's no reason to rush to the theater to check it out.

Get Him To The Greek Review!

I recently had a chance to see an advanced screening of Get Him To The Greek, and it was easily the most I have laughed out loud in a theater since seeing Wedding Crashers. Sure there have been funny movies since then, Tropic Thunder and The Hangover immediately spring to mind, but Get Him To The Greek felt like it had more laugh out loud guffaw moments. Jonah Hill and Russell Brand (together again after appearing in Forgetting Sarah Marshall) do an amazing job of leading a fairly hefty comedic cast, which includes quite a bit of fun celebrity cameos (even a Harry Potter-ite pops in for a bit).

Aldous Snow (Brand) is a rock star on the decline after a failed single that was said to be the worst thing to "happen to Africa since apartheid". He's being recruited by Aaron (Hill) to play a 10-year anniversary show at the Greek Theater in order to reinvigorate his career and make some money for Aaron's boss Sergio (played hilariously by Sean 'P. Diddy Daddy Puff' Combs), so he can buy more Air Jordan's for his 6 kids.

Naturally things don't go according to plan as Aaron tries to drag Aldous from London to L.A., with pit stops at the Today Show (hilarity ensues), Las Vegas (Jeffries ensue), and his Ex's house (which she happens to share with Lars Ulrich).

While the movie is filled with belly-laugh inducing one-liners and and ridiculous fuzzy walls, it actually has some heart at its center, and while it doesn't delve too far or too hard into the serious (Funny People was guilty of this), it does a good job of slyly inserting a moral to the story.

I think it's definitely safe to say that with this strong comedic performance Jonah Hill is definitely here to stay (he's the perfect mix of deadpan and razor-sharp delivery). Russell Brand is also making a very big splash in the states with his charming accent, witty quips, and devilish grin (which is on full display for a good chunk of the movie). I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of him, and hopefully paired with Hill (in Get Him To The Apollo perhaps?).

Get Him To The Greek will be one of the summer's biggest comedies, and it is definitely worth seeing in a large theater crowd. Even though I got to see it for free, I'll most definitely be back in theaters opening night to laugh along with the audience, and suggest that everyone go and bring their friends...fair warning though...you might be a bit uncomfortable throughout some of it, but its totally worth it!

I give the movie a 5 out of 5 for hilarity and just enough heart!

Kick-Ass Punches Butt!

After seeing the original trailer for Kick-Ass many months ago, with the falcon looking kid jumping from a tall building and landing directly on a taxi cab, I was intrigued. The movie seemed like it would be funny, crude, and at the very least an interesting look at mind of a high-schooler with delusions of grandeur. Kick-Ass did not disappointed in the slightest. Before I actually "review", let me mention the most talked about part of this movie, which is Chloe Moretz's Hit-Girl . The film has been slammed for allowing the 13 year old actress use very harsh language and create such mayhem and violence http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2010-04-15-chloe15_ST_N.htm. Personally, I think she did a great job, and handled the dialog and action scenes very well. She reminded me of a younger Dakota Fanning in Push. Both are troubled, haven't really had much of a childhood and are out to get the people that caused them to lose everything, and they do it in high-octane fashion.

Kick-Ass is based on a comic book of the same name written by Mark Millar and follows the story of Dave Lizewski (played by Aaron Johnson), who wants to take up fighting crime regardless of tiny annoying fact that, other than having some metallic plates in his body from a car accident stemming from an early crime-fighting adventure, he has no super powers. After developing his Kick-Ass persona, he teams up with Hit-Girl and Big Daddy (played by Nicolas Cage, who steals every scene that he is in), to fight the D'Amico crime family who run their operations out of a lumber company. The best parts of the film were ones that weren't shown in previews and trailers, which is a welcome surprise since that seems to be more and more common. One of my favorite scenes was towards the beginning of the film when Big Daddy and Hit-Girl are first introduced and are going through intense "training".

The film was actually much darker than I had originally thought it would be, but that was a welcome change from the screwball "ha-ha, I punched your nads" comedies that have been coming out for the last couple years. The comedic moments were well placed and well acted, giving the story light lifts every now and again when the subject matter got a little too-intense.

Since this is my first film review, I need to figure out what kind of system I want to use in terms of scoring, and I think a 5-point system would work best. Cliche-ly I give this film a 4 out of 5 stars. While Aaron Johnson still has a ways to go in terms of acting chops, Chloe Moretz and Nicolas Cage are both great, and make this a contender for what might be one of the years most surprising and best comic book films. Granted we still have almost the entire year to go, and haven't even gotten Iron Man 2 yet, I really do believe this film is very underrated, and comic book fans (which I admit I am not one of), will really enjoy the film.

Hopefully there will be more reviews later and this will turn into an actual "thing" but that's my test run for now! If you have any writing style or general suggestions I would love to hear them, thanks!