Good ideas seem to come in pairs in Hollywood, and usually by coincidence. Movies have this tendency to come out together with remarkably similar plots. Some examples: “Armageddon” and “Deep Impact”, “Tombstone” and “Wyatt Earp”, “Volcano” and “Daunte’s Peak”. This was of course (ironically) referenced in the imensely popular summer 2007 hit “Knocked Up”, which was followed in the fall by “Juno”, which went on to recieve 4 Academy Award nominations, and won one (very well deserved) award for best original screenplay by Diablo Cody.

Having watched “Juno” for the second (and third, and fourth and fifth) time now upon it’s release on DVD, I can’t explain just how good the film is. Really you just have to see it. As an avid movie fanatic, it comes as such a welcome breath of fresh air and is such a charming, witty and unbelievably adorable movie, that you almost can’t believe it while watching it. It’s not a complicated plot, and doesn’t go into any unexpected or unfamilar areas for romantic comedy. It ends how you would expect it to end, and gets there exactly how you would expect it to get there.

But there’s something else going on with little “Juno”…

It has tremendous heart, and it wears it on it’s sleeve for 96 minutes and dares anyone to watch it and not be entranced. Not love it. Not be alterred after watching it. You cheer for this character, and all the characters. Subtext is an area where many a film has faltered, but where the great films succeed brilliantly. “Juno” is such a film, a great film and will remind even the coldest cynic why movies are made.

A great movie will entertain us, make us laugh, make us cry and make us identify and thus make us think. But we will think without thinking. It doesn’t weigh the movie down for us to do so, no…its this very act of making us think, of “getting in our heads”, that makes the movie great and makes it stick around for awhile after watching it. This seperates the great films from the really good or good ones. Complete with deleted scenes, outtakes and a immensely entertaining commentary track, this DVD is a must own for even the most casual of movie fans.

With all my heart, I recommend this movie to anyone and everyone. It is such a rare and rewarding film experience to see movies like this one. A little movie, with a lot to say…

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Sure, you can look at the trailers and commerical clips for this film, and think it looks over the top or corny or “kid friendly” or whatever you want to say. Heck, I even said some of that myself after the first trailer came out. But let me tell you, SPEED RACER is a great, genuine, and surprisingly profound heartfelt family film. And if you’re remotely cynical walking in, you will most likely reject it completely. I can’t stess how much you’d miss out on. This is a fun film, and a film with sincere emotion and something meaningful to say beyond the spectacular visuals and action.

Think of it as THE MATRIX lite. It’s the Wachowski brothers pushing the envelope in special effects again, and doing it in a unique way. It is very artistic, the approach and specific way they shot this film. It make a statement and it helps drive the narrative, as does the action scenes and races. They never occur as interruptions to the story or as filler material or just for the sake of another visual effects scene. Each race, each sequence is important to the narrative of the story. And the way they shot this film is so extraordinary. It seems like a cartoon while watching it. It’s basically a pop art film.

The film focuses on the RACER family, and in the opening sequence we see SPEED in a race on the same course that his older brother REX set a record on years before when SPEED was younger. We see the backstory unfold expertly in the characters minds as the race unfolds. Basically the first 10-12 minutes of the film is both a race and the exposistion. We learn about the tragedy that happens to REX, and we see the backstory that SPEED idealized him and that his death nearly tore the whole family apart. I knew I was in for a special film, when 10 minutes into it I have tears rolling down my eyes as the backstory narrative shows REX’s fatal crash and the families reaction and SPEED crying in his mother’s arms. It cuts to the cockpit of SPEED’s Mach-5 racer and he has tears in his eyes as he literally races the ghost of his brother, trying to break his course record. At the last moment however, SPEED pulls up and finishes 1 second behind the record, almost as if he can’t allow himself to tarnish the memory of his brother.

It’s tender moments like this that make this film special. The races are amazing, and the Wachowski’s use all sorts of visual tricks which marvel the senses, but the heart of this film is the family story. Watching this young kid entering manhood, and chasing the memory of his brother. His family standing by him and admiring what there son is becoming and watching him succeed at something he loves to do, and chooses to do his own way. He doesn’t sell out to the large multi-billion dollar sponser corportation in the beginning of the film. No, he does it the right way, the honest way and he pays some prices for this, but at the end of the day he grows into a man who can stand on his own two feet and be proud of what he’s done and know he earned it the old fashioned way.

What person doesn’t want that for there child? It is the family element of this film that makes it so good, and so deeply touching. I must’ve let go of some tears about half a dozen times in this movie, and the final ten minutes I was filled with goosebumps and being so happy for this fictional character on the big screen, based off a campy, silly cartoon. But that is exactly how engrossed I was in this film. How attached I was to the characters. I wanted to stand up in the theater and cheer!

I’m sure plenty of people will dismiss this film, and not see it all. That is a damn shame. I’m also quite sure the critics will relentlessly attack this film for being so campy or touchy-feely or too cartoony. If that doesn’t satisy them, I’m sure they’ll complain about the visual effects or cartoony look to the film. I feel nothing but pity for those people. A movie like this doesn’t come along that often. A movie that celebrates family, and that is just plain fun. Fun for kids and fun for adults, and which challenges them to indulge there inner child.

I loved all 134 minutes of it, and can’t wait to see it again. And I challenge anyone not to be humming the theme song with a big smile on there face as they leave the theater.

Grade: A

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So, I would love to sit here and type a rousing, overwhelmingly positive review to this movie. Both because it is the first of the summer ’08 “blockbusters”, and because I had actually let my guard down on this one, and allowed myself to look forward to it. Suffice to say, I can’t do that, and for the second straight year, the summer gets off to a wobbly start, and also for the second straight year with a Marvel Comics adaptation. Thankfully I can say that this was not the train wreck that either “Ghost Rider” or “Spider-man 3” were. I’ll take some silver lining however I can get it on this one.

Okay, is “Iron Man” a completely awful movie? No. Did I enjoy watching the film at all? Yes. Unfortunetly, I was also quite often bored with the movie, and must’ve looked at my watch a half dozen times, which is never a good sign. I also realized something on the drive home, as I tried to think about the film and what I thought about it. It’s something I should’ve realized before spending time and money on, and that’s that I don’t like Iron Man’s origin story. I’m sorry I don’t, and despite a nicely tweaked and updated version in the film, I was still mostly bored for the first 45 minutes or so and desperately wanted him to get in the damn suit and shoot at something.

The film opens with womanizing, alchoholic and billionare Tony Stark being escorted from a weapons testing site in the hills of Afghanistan. Moments later the convoy is ambushed and Stark is critically wounded by shrapnel and taken captive. He wakes up and learns the terroists are using his company’s weapons and are asking him to construct a super-weapon for them. He agrees, but secretly uses the time to assemble a monstrous suit of armor, and uses it to escape the terroists. Naturally, he leaves the suit behind and the terroists use it to make another, bigger suit and that comes back to bite Mr. Stark in the film’s final act. Meanwhile, Stark returns to the U.S. and has a new outlook on his company’s future and announces that his company will no longer produce weapons. This comes as a shock to everyone, most notably his business partner Obydiah Stane, who as it turns out has an alliance with the terroists and actually ordered the attack on Stark. Stane goes about blocking Stark from the media and company’s assests while Stark locks himself in the garage building his suit.

To clarify, it is a faithful origin story. Like I said though, I never liked it much, and I just went in somehow hoping for more. I didn’t think this movie would be just the origin story, and perhaps that’s my fault. I take the blame on that one.  I really just wanted to see more of him in the suit, and what little we got was mostly him making the suit(s) and testing them. It just felt like they had 45 minutes worth of actual, fundamental story to tell and decided to stretch that into 2 hours. Honestly they could’ve condensed what they did do into 45-50 minutes and done a much more impressive second half of the film. As it is, they seem to have wasted most of there budget on the precious few action scenes in the film, and as a result we are left to suffer some truely awful matte paintings in some parts of the film. No, not as bad as in “Daredevil”, but still pretty bad.

Again though, it wasn’t a completely awful movie. When Iron Man was on screen it was usually very cool, and the end fight was very fun to watch. The casting was very well done on this film as well. Robert Downey, Jr. was magnificently casted as Tony Stark, and I am grateful Marvel allowed him to be portrayed as the arrogant, womanizing alcholic that he is in the comics. Gwenyth Paltrow was simply adorable in this film as Stark’s assistant and love interest, Pepper Potts. Every second she is on screen in wonderful. She plays the part very well, and looked amazing with the red hair. Jeff Bridges is cast as Obydiah Stane, who the second you see, you know is the eventual villian. He does an okay job, but I didn’t like what they did with him. Lastly is Terrence Howard as Jim Rhodes. He did okay, but his voice really bothered me the whole film. Just can’t buy that he’ll be “War Machine” later in the films. It was nice that they set that up though.

In the end I think I just wanted more from this movie. I’ve been spoiled by some pretty amazingly well done comic book movies in the past 8 years, and also some really really bad ones. The good ones all found a way to balance the characters and action, which is what you’re really there for in the end when you see a comic book movie. Basically, I just wanted more of Iron Man fighting things. Was it a humerous movie at times? Yes. But if it was me, I would’ve lost a few jokes and about 45 minutes of this movie and added some old fashioned popcorn movie action. Thankfully, the trend is that Marvel’s first movies often aren’t the best, then the sequel’s usually rock. I only hope that is the case here, because the effects were great and the cast nearly flawless, its just a matter of making it worthwhile to see them.

Grade: B-

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Robert Redford’s been sneakily hiding his outspoken liberalism beneath the ultimate smooth-talking veneer of a country gent for nigh on 50 years now. O.K so maybe an argument could be created for it creeping out in Spy Game or All The President’s Men but can anyone really find the political message in Charlotte’s Web or The Horse Whisperer? Anyone? No? In which case be directed to Lions for Lambs, Redford’s seventh directorial offering and the first for seven years since he exposed us to the mushy sentimentalism of The Legend of Bagger Vance. It is also probably the most overt slice of liberal fist-shaking in the general direction of the American Government you’ll see this year or possibly any other. 

In its structure Lions for Lambs resembles an art-house experiment, focussing on three different duologues and the relationships between them. Redford takes one of the six main roles for himself as Professor Stephen Malley who recounts the story of two of his students (Michael Pena and Derek Luke) to disaffected current student Todd Hayes (Andrew Garfield). Meanwhile Tom Cruise’s slimy senator Jasper Irving attempts to sell a new military strategy in Afghanistan to journalist Janine Roth (Meryl Streep). At the other end of this policy, on the front line in Afghanistan, are Malley’s former students who after graduating decided the best way to make a difference was join the army. 

In its conception the film sounds innovative but perhaps a little ambitious. In its production it appears innovative but slightly annoying. Characters are set up with resolute ideals only to have them played with by their partner in the duologue in a way which hardly respects the original degree to which backed an idea or a cause. Streep and Cruise’s discussion is definitely the most guilty of this while Pena and Luke’s is by far the weakest in general, leaving their development to Redford’s reminiscing professor. 

Ironic then that ultimately Streep and Cruise’s conversation is by far the most engaging with snappy scripting from Matthew Michael Carnahan ensuring Senator Irving’s assertions and manipulations are only answered by cleverer questions and mis-readings by Streep’s closet liberal journalist. In Redford’s own segment he merely goes through the motions with a character who freely admits he has seen better days. Again, strange therefore that he apparently has such an effect on un-motivated Todd. 

The political heart of the film is well and truly worn proudly on its sleeve. The conclusion of each story preaches to the ability of people to change and develop and perhaps therefore provide hope for the future of Redford’s America. If you can scrape past the political preaching and ignore the poor Afghanistan sets, which look like they were filmed in a small closet somewhere, then there’s a decent film here with some passable acting from its stars. Cruise in particular should at least be given a cursory nod, attacking a character outside of his usual gamut in the smooth-talking, manipulative, Irving. To some, this will be too hard to do and the fact that the film shouts its message from the rafters doesn’t help. However, at leas the message is one worth hearing, a fact definitely not ignored by a film worth seeing.

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“Speed Racer” stars Emile Hirsh, Christina Ricci, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, and Paulie Litt. It’s written and directed by Andy and Larry Wachowski (The Matrix Trilogy, V for Vendetta).

Speed Racer (Emile Hirsh) is a young man following the footsteps of his deceased brother and is a natural when it comes to racing in the most extreme conditions. He is aggressive and determined to win every race he competes in. But will Speed Racer pull of the win of a lifetime in the 91st Annual Grand Prix?

Sure the film has its defects, like all the characters the film tries to introduce us to in the 120 minute running time. This leaves no room for a coherent story or even solid character development for the supporting cast. However, never once did I truly dwell on any of the film’s flaws, nor could I get the smile off my face. It may be just a little too violent for children under 10, but teenage boys should have a blast and the parents will be in awe. This film features more color than you would find in a box of crayons. The neon fluxes are simply candy for the eyes, possibly making this the coolest movie I have ever seen.

An exciting, razzel dazzle, edge-of-your-seat roller coaster ride. Every flaw was overlooked when I saw the clear blue skies, eye-popping explosions, and emotionally fueled race scenes. If any movie has the capacity to “blow you away”, this film is it. A visual masterpiece complete with some favorable performances, particularly Christina Ricci in her most liveliest form. There is nothing like this out there and probably never will be. Originality at its best, delivering the goods at every stretch and every turn.

Those of you who are of a later generation never in a million years would have imagined seeing something like this. Never before has a film been so clearly and beautifully shot as this one. The target audience wont be disappointed. Using a green-screen just about the entire time doesn’t affect the attributes of the film as much as it enhances them. In fact, movie buffs will be astonished, bemused and will not believe their eyes once the credits roll.

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Zathura” stars Jonah Bobo, Josh Hutcherson, Dax Shepard, Kristen Stuart, and Tim Robbins. It’s directed by Jon Favreau (Made, Elf) and based on a book written by Chris Van Allsburg.

Two competitive brothers, Danny and Walter, end up having their attention geared towards a game that shoots them into outer space called Zathura. After the first move is made, there is no turning back and you must complete the game to get back home. The two must form a team and beat the game before the game beats them.

Although this concept has been explored before, it has been years since then and if anyone has the ability to make it another fresh approach, Jon Favreau has a pretty good chance. Apparently he fails at doing so by clustering a rampage of destruction into a two hour movie without any real sentimental attachment. The film keeps centering on the moments of bickering between Danny and Walter, it becomes quite obvious that it is leading a twist of an ending that reaches top-notch cheesiness. When you run out of movies to watch and haven’t yet seen Chris Van Allsburg’s Jumanji rip-off, it’s not a complete disappointment.

Stan Winston manages to slip in an overload of lively special effects. The special effects are impressive but overused and the film never focuses the on the emotional fondness of its characters, something the film was in dire need of. It’s not exactly a film that will appeal to grown-ups as much as kids, but if I were ten years younger I would probably have a blast and it succeeds in not being entirely forgettable. Every kid should enjoy this high octane family flick, while adults might ask the question “Where’s Robin Williams when you need him?”. Unlike the film it so deliberately copies, this movie dwells on the unconstructive relationship between the main characters and plans the set-up for a mawkish moral, rather than just making the movie a fun-filled adventure. A better version of this film was released thirteen years ago and I highly suggest renting that version for more enjoyment.

This movie does have a big heart, it’s just dislocated thanks to the rambunctious occurrences that dim the emotion level immensely. This is such a destructive film, I wouldn’t be surprised if you find your kids more catastrophic than ever. Jumanji has enough distractions (wild animals, a handful of characters, ect.) to overlook the massive disaster that occurs in the movie. While I can’t quite recommend Zathura to adults, kids should find it to be a solid piece of entertainment. Just be prepared for a rowdy bunch afterwards.

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Director - Neil Marshall

Writer - Neil Marshall

Starring - Rhona Mitra, Bob Hoskins, David O’Hara, Craig Conway, Malcolm McDowell

Review:

Doomsday, from writer/director Neil Marshall, is the kind of film that is there to simply fill up an empty slot pre-summer blockbuster season, a film that takes a well trodden story, adds nothing much new to it and throws in a big-budget and a course of ridiculous scenes resulting a mediocre and throwaway couple of hours.

27 years after a virus outbreak has taken over Scotland, the long-time quarantined area is found to contain survivors and a possible cure. The government then proceeds to send in a team of tactical officers to survey the area and find the cure to the virus which has threatened to take over the rest of the country.

Take Mad Max, 28 Days Later and add a dash of I Am Legend and you’ve pretty much got an idea of what Doomsday is aiming to be. Some would take all of these things as references where others will see them as simply trying to be those films. Marshall’s previous feature The Descent, which I think is one of the best horror films of the last 10 years or so, he had both critical and fan success with. But Doomsday just goes to prove that success in one finitely defined genre doesn’t mean you’ll have it in another, more genre-mashing work. Marshall’s usual gory mentality is still present in this film, predominantly in the scenes or moments in which the film works, but the flare seems to have been removed. This seems like the director’s attempt to break into true Hollywood action fodder and it’s sad to see his more independent roots disappear back into the soil. Hopefully just for now, anyway.

Once the introduction section of the film is over, which admittedly is really quite interesting because of the way they go about doing it, we arrive at the part which tries to tell two parallel storylines at once; one about the tactical team in Scotland trying to find the cure and one in England, a political-style storyline which involves trying to stop another outbreak of the virus from occuring. Although the storylines undoubtedly go hand in hand the attempt to tell them both works against the film rather than for it, it’s simply too much to tell in just the one movie and this makes the ending feel rushed and unsatisfying once the two storylines inevitably confront one another. We are never really quite sure who to root for; the finding of the cure and getting out of the zone safely within the time limit or the power-hungry man who wants to take over England. The film never allows us to pick a clear side because it’s too busy trying to make us care about both.

The film overall also isn’t sure what type of film it wants to be. Outwith the fact that it’s a genre mash-up of sorts it also aims to be both realistic and over-the-top at the same time. It asks the questions; what if? What if there was an actual virus outbreak and quarantine of an entire country occurred? And it’s an interesting question to ask, one which you would hope is tackled in as fitting a way possible. However it’s so ridiculous and so over the top to be taken even remotely serious so its ideals are kind of confused. There’s some fun to be had in those scenes, most of that from the scenes involving Marshall’s aforementioned skill at using gore, and there are a whole series of wild-and-wonderfully-different characters to watch as the hectic mayhem ensues.

A lot of what made Marshall’s The Descent so effective was its sense of intimacy with the characters. You actually cared about them in that film, caring what becomes of them by film’s end. Here the film doesn’t even have a whiff of that, despite an attempt by having the main character’s secret, true motive something to do with the mother she lost when she was a child, and rather it sacrifices that for dumb and ridiculous fight scenes and seizure-inducing editing. Although the action and more specifically the chase scenes are exciting in the basic sense that there’s the quick editing and an overbearing soundtrack, it’s nothing we haven’t seen a million times before.

Doomsday is loud and extremely in-your-face, the equivalent of the type of person who is the centre of attention at a party, performing tricks and telling jokes. The film is no better or no worse than the tons of other ones like it, it does nothing to make this “a must see”, it has none of the heart that the director’s previous work had and the doze of ridiculousness is far too high.

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“88 Minutes” stars Al Pacino looking more worn-out than ever and other actors I have no desire to even mention. It’s directed by Jon Avnet (Fried Green Tomatoes) and written by Gary Scott Thompson (Hollow Man, The Fast and the Furious).

Dr. Jack Gramm is a wealthy forensic psychologist by day and a partier by night. He receives a threatening phone call stating that he has a very long 88 minutes to live. As he repeatedly gets these phone calls reminding him of how much time he has left, he tries his hardest to scope out the harasser using his knowledge in forensics.

88 minutes…you wish. This actually runs for a total of 108 very dull minutes. Just because Al Pacino is in it doesn’t give Jon Avnet the right to release this theatrically. The film just can’t shake off that haunting straight to dvd feeling, even with Al Pacino as the lead. Those who pay to see this are just participating in the making of bad films. If we keep seeing them, they’ll keep making them. You might as well reach down in your pocket, take out $9.50 and flush it down the toilet. Al Pacino tries his best but he just looks tired and drained of all emotions, leisurely sagging along.

This is a film with absolutely no redeeming qualities and is a top runner for the worst film of the year. It’s a sloppy and unoriginal psychological bore. An ill-suited score, very poor direction and an inept script is just a taste of what to expect if you waste your time with this one. There is enough unintentional hilarity here to make up a decent comedy. It’s plain and simple, this film just should’ve never been made. I take my reviewing seriously and when I come across a movie as awful as this, it makes me want to slap myself for watching. It doesn’t even qualify for being worthy of a free viewing.

Only see it if you’re willing to contribute to the worst film of the year so far, apparantly without any film competing at taking its place. Al Pacino isn’t really horrible in it, but the material is downright bad. Nothing is worse than seeing a good actor like Al Pacino attempt to make something work and fail. The truth is, I’d rather bash my head repeatedly against a desk 88 times before ever viewing this movie again.

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“The Prestige” stars Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlet Johansson, and David Bowie. Directed by Christopher Nolan and based on the novel by Christopher Priest. Adapted for the screen by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan.

Set in turn of the century London, two magicians become bitter rivals after an onstage trick goes horribly wrong. Now each will stop at nothing to learn the others secrets and prove themselves the better magician. Alfred Borden(Bale) is a great technical magician but lacks the showmanship of Robert Angier(Jackman) and vice-versa. When Borden introduces a new trick, Angier goes to any length to discover his secret and each confrontation becomes deadlier than the last. The movies final moments are some of the best in film history, and will leave you with your mouth agape and your mind numb as you try and decipher the great art that is “The Prestige”

The reason I basically worship this film is the tremendous plot. It beautifully blends elements from science fiction, drama, and even a little comedy to make this a great movie. The story is absolutely amazing and just goes to show that a great movie can be made with a bit of creativity and some patience. The great thing about this movie is that it doesn’t have a tired, cliched story. The entire movie is a fresh and beautiful masterpiece.

 A great story is nothing though without a fantastic cast of actors and actresses to put it into motion, and capture the essence of the script. Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale are fantastic together, and their personalities are perfect compliments of one another. Michael Cainne is amazing as always as the intelligent illusion engineer for Angier. Scarlet Johansson does a very convincing performance as the very beautiful and mysterious Olivia Wenscombe. David Bowie rounds up this all star cast and does a fantastic job as the scientific genius of Nikola Tesla. His facial expressions as his machine fails to work again and again are better than most actors when they are following lines on a script.

This is one of my favorite movies of all time. The real trick is having a great movie, coupled with a fantastic cast. Easily one of the best films of all time, my review of it does the film little justice. If you have seen the movie you know why I love this movie. If not, why are you still reading this review? Go out, buy the movie, and watch it again and again. I know I will.

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“Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay” stars John Cho, Kal Penn, Rob Corddry and the ever famous Neil Patrick Harris. It’s written and directed by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg who are credited for writing the cult classic original.

Taking off just minutes after the first one ended, this sequel follows the two lovable potheads Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) as they head to Europe to find Harolds true love Maria. Things don’t go as planed and the two end up in Guantanamo Bay where they escape and become fugitives. As usual, the two encounter strange and wacky characters while on the run from the joint.

Being a fan of the original, I was very excited about this sequel upon its arrival to theater. John Cho and Kal Penn reprise their roles as the characters they were born to play. This time they get more political and racial on us, actually hurting the film critic wise. However, this critic couldn’t help but burst into laughter at the hard-to-swallow jokes. It’s Politically incorrect, full of gratuitous nudity, and displays its vulgarity with an optimistic charm (something the original was afraid to do?). I got more than I expect with cameo appearances by everyones favorite NPH, the popular The Big Bag of Weed, and a scene that might go down as a vintage in movie history involving George W. Bush.

Neil Patrick Harris and Rob Corddry’s characters are priceless. I’m not exaggerating when I say that it has one of the funniest and surprisingly important scenes in a comedy. This is definitely the most hilarious film of the year so far. It may be early, but it will certainly be hard to top this gutsy approach to comedy gone vulgar with style. Most critics and those with a fragile conscious will hate the 9/11 references and profiling comments on every race imaginable. But if there ever was a list of my guilty pleasures, this is near the top. You’ll have to forgive the pun, but never once does it blow stale smoke.

This sequel is ruder, cruder, and astonishingly much funnier than the original. I admire a film that acquires some audacity, and this stoner comedy has audacity to spare. This is the comedy event of the year and qualifies as a gut-busting, laugh-till-you-cry motion picture. Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg poke fun at every race and do it in a truly forgivable way (considering it’s really funny), even adding a few messages down the road. A wacky, smart and most of all tremendously funny ride with the most lovable on-screen duo since Cheech and Chong. A must-see.

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Iron Man” stars Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, and Gwyneth Paltrow. It’s directed by Jon Favreau (Elf, Zathura) and the screenplay was written by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby (First Snow, Children of Men).

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is the wealthy CEO of Stark Industries, known for producing advanced weaponry. After demonstrating his latest creation called the Jericho Missile, his Humvee is attacked by terrorists leaving shrapnel in Tony Starks body. He is now required to have a device inserted to keep the shrapnel out of his heart.

Superheros aren’t born, they’re built. “Iron Man” is a great way to kick off the summer season. There are a few problems I had with the movie. The action sequences could have been more evenly distributed and without that frantic feel. It starts off slow and when it picks up the pace, it does it so vigorously it becomes loud and without any real emotional effect. Not to mention the Black Sabbath song Iron Man isn’t played until the credits roll. The dialog is very smart, with truly brilliant lingo scattered throughout. Since I haven’t read an Iron Man comic book, I’m not too sure that it accurately followed the storyline. Seeing that the character development was greatly explored, I can’t imagine it being anything other than faithful to the comics.

Robert Downey Jr. (who is clearly not the hero type) does a surprisingly good job here playing the greatly flawed character Tony Stark. He is a gambler, a compulsive drinker, a womanizer and also a genius inventor. He creates a total of three suits before perfecting his invention, which takes up too much of the running time. I would have enjoyed a little more action to go with my smarts, but the film works on a certain level of popcorn entertainment. His arch nemesis (Obadiah Stone) is played so riotously by Jeff Bridges that it wouldn’t be that same with a full head of hair. What really keeps the films energy intact is Robert Downey Jr.’s ability to keep up with the snappy dialog, pratically carrying the film freely on his shoulders (even with that distracting goatee).

This is the best acting ever displayed in a superhero movie. I am looking forward to a more action packed sequel now that we got to know the tarnished character Tony Stark. Stan Winston, who took part in creating the special effects, proves his talent once again. The work of a master is shown when the special effects don’t weigh down the films story, like most superhero movies do so reluctantly. This will leave fan boys and even those who don’t read the comic foaming at the mouth for more. Be sure to stick around after the credits for a surprising cameo by none other than my favorite actor.

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Written by Jason Segel
Directed by Nicholas Stoller
Starring Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Russell Brand

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is yet another classic produced by Judd Apatow. This time the Freaks & Geeks alumni in the spotlight is Jason Segel. Segel wrote the script and has the starring role of Peter. Peter is a composer for the TV show “Crime Scene”, the star of which is Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), his longtime girlfriend. Early on, Peter is dumped by Sarah in one of the better breakup scenes I have ever seen. Yes it’s hilarious that Peter happens to be nude when she breaks the news but the performances are what’s really impressive. Having difficulty getting over being single, Peter leaves for a vacation in Hawaii. However, it turns out Sarah is there, when he arrives, with her new boyfriend, a famous pop star named Aldous Snow (Russel Brand).

Yes, the plot in it’s simplest form doesn’t sound too great. In comparison to 40-Year Old Virgin or Knocked Up it seems almost sitcom-y. Luckily, that isn’t the case. The plot merely provides a scenario for all the actors to shine. Also, it is evident that this was written straight from the heart, and the sincerity is quite powerful. The laughs come quick in this movie and they’re big laughs at that, very few cheap jokes and gags to be found. Nearly every funny part comes from the strength of the writing or the acting rather than vulgarity or slap stick. That’s not to say the movie isn’t dirty, but it certainly is all in good taste. Some scenes are absolute magic.

Director Nicholas Stoller is a master of comedic editing. Flashbacks/forwards rush to the screen out of nowhere, and are gone just as quick, but they enhance the movie extensively. An example of this method is when Peter is asked by a friendly local to help cook a pig. The movie quickly flashes forward to Peter having to slaughter the animal. It’s loud and surprising and is one of the funniest moments in the entire film. Stoller is another person Judd Apatow has been loyal to, having been a writer on the short-lived series Undeclared.

The performances are shockingly perfect. Apatow is known to have said that out of all the young actors he worked with on Freaks & Geeks, Jason Segel was the one he thought would make it big in movies first. For those unaware of the talented cast of the TV show, it included James Franco and Seth Rogen (who are reunited in the upcoming Pineapple Express). It’s very easy to see why Judd thought that. Segel may be playing just another version of his character from Freaks & Geeks and Undeclared, but he has now mastered it. He has always been great at playing the sensitive, low self esteem guy, but Segel steps it up here. To see him in this movie is to see legendary comedic work, he delivers the lines in ways no one else could and always, in a way, plays it serious. His character is not sacrificed for comedy. He has created a real man who cries several times earning sympathy not pity or shame. Jason Segel is excellent, but long time fans knew he had it in him. The bigger surprise is how superb everyone else is. Kristen Bell fearlessly takes on the role of Sarah Marshall, and manages to never play the bitch, which so many actresses would have. Bell gives Marshall humanity even when we don’t like her. This pays off big later in the film, when our perspective changes. Mila Kunis is a revelation in this film. Her role is so key to making the movie really work and she delivers perfection. She shows such an awareness of her acting that we have never seen from her in That 70’s Show. She doesn’t use tricks, her facial expressions are varied and real and her use of the tone of her voice is genius. Somewhat unknown actor Russel Brand is brilliant as Aldous Snow. The egotistical pop star is not the hardest part to play but he elevates his character beyond expectation. The four main players all deserver to be stars, and with this movie they show that that could be in either comedy or drama. The supporting cast is remarkable, led by Paul Rudd as a stoner surfer and Jonah Hill as a waiter obsessed with Aldous Snow.

It’s a bold statement, but thanks to Judd Apatow I believe this to be the true golden age of comedies. Consistently, we are seeing comedies that while being hilarious manage to convey meaning as well as provide at least a little insight. It is truly a great time to be a lover of film. Especially when it seems there’s always another great comedy around the corner. With Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the streak continues and Jason Segel has now emerged as a star and a superb writer. It seems the list of great actors, writers and directors working with Apatow keeps growing. So knowing that, let me suggest a scary thought. That even after living through The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad and Forgetting Sarah Marshall that the best is still to come.

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The Brave One is rated R for violence and some nudity.  It is two hours and two minutes long.  Stars Jodie Foster, Terrence Howards and Naveen Andrews. 

Vengence is mine saieth Jodie Foster in a movie about citywide violence and revenge.  Erica Bain is a radio talk show host and she does all the talking.  She describes walking the city of New York and all the wonderful things that the city has to offer.  Then one night on a walk with her fiancee and her dog they get ambushed.  Both are severly beaten and the fiancee (played by Naveen Andrews) is murdered.  She is in the hospital for three weeks.  After this time gets a little skewed but the movie moves on quite well.  Erica gets a gun and a vigalantee is born.  A modern day Charles Bronson in Death Wish, and for the female of the species too.  Go girl.  Terrence Howard plays a straight detective who is befriended by Jodie Fosters character.  In the end he has to make a decision that will affect her life and possibly his own.

 For all those who didn’t like this movie I say I understand but Boo.  I thought this was a pretty okay movie.  The action was a little slow but the character of Erica Bain made you feel her pain enough so that you wish you had her tormented courage to go and get justice for those who might never see it otherwise.  There are several ways this movie could have gone, a Death Wise Remake or a Vigalante is Good story, but neither of those happened.  Jodie Fosters character is so tormented by what she does, but she knows she can’t stop, at least not until justice is served for her and her dead fiancee.  You feel sorry for her, but also scared and a little disgusted.  Terrence Howard gives another fine performance here and you feel for him as a tormented cop, who knows right from wrong and it tortured by the fact that he always has to uphold the “right” end of things.

My only real problem with this movie was that at times it was a little slow, and the beginning seemed to drag on a little bit.  I was wondering when we would get to the meat of the story when all we were getting was the happy life of a radio host/dj.  I thought the action scenes could have started a little earlier.  I wanted to see more of the damage, and a little more of the life of Terrence Howards character, who I felt we didn’t get enough information on to form a real opinion.  Like why did him and his wife divorce?  Was it because he was a good cop? 

I reccomend people watch this movie and wonder why there aren’t many vigalantees out there in the world.  With so much crime and injustice, is this movie a tip of an iceberg that is on the point of melting or falling apart.  Then again people probably asked the same questions about Death Wish.  This is a good movie, with an excellent performance by Terrance Howard and Jodie Foster.  Interesting.

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Movie rating PG-13 for scenes of panic and terror (yeah that’s what it said it was rated for).  It is an hour and twenty-three minutes long.  It stars Kurt Russell, Emmy Rosum and Josh Lucas. 

Poseidon is a remake of an original, which seems to be a habit among hollywood.  Take a film that was fine in the first place and make another, more technically advanced and enhanced version, and hope that it out performs the original.  The plot hasn’t changed, but teh cast of characters has.  There is no old couple who each take turns to death.  There is no young fresh Sally Field character which keeps the cast interesting as you wonder who will be her hero.  There is no Gene Hackman, well actually that isn’t true, Kurt Russell takes the role of hero with tragic ends.  This movie, for those of you who have never seen the original, is about a cruise ship that gets hit by a rogue wave and ends up bottoms up.  The ship flips and most peopel end up dead, however the boat does not immediatly sink.  It floats and a group of survivors decides they can’t wait and they need to find a way out, before it is too late.  In the original there are two groups of traveling survivors, but in this version there is one one wandering band.

Personally I will probably never take a cruise, this movie scared me, but it isn’t the only one.  It made me wonder if there were such things as rogue waves, but then again I worry about giant enhanced sharks, hitting icebergs and the ship splitting in two, and being on a ship full of ghosts that only want to kill me and own my soul.  This movie gives me another reason for not going on a cruise, why go on a ship that has the possibility of flipping upside down if no one is going to think of finding a way to swim out?  I mean there are openings created by the whole accident, so why not try swimming out before the ship sinks?  Maybe that was just me, but I would have thought at least one other person would raise that question.

I thought this was all right, but why remake a movie that was good and still is good to begin with?!  Watching this I felt that hollywood seems to depend too much on special effects and not enough on the development of a character.  Especially of Josh Lucus’s character, Dillion.  He is actually not a great guy and doesn’t want to be held back by a bunch of others yet in the end he risks his life for a few of them, which didn’t make sense to me in regards to how his character was developed.  Also at least two of the characters that seemed important had minor roles and ended up being useless. 

I reccomend watchign this movie for some of the special effects.  Every now and then images of the boat underwater are spectacular, and the horror of bodies floating around and the death was wonderfully done.  Yet this movie lacks something, and for me I felt is was the interest in which characters die or live.  There just isn’t enough background for me to care, and honestly I don’t know why I should care who lives or dies. 

Rent the original and see Gene Hackman and Sally Field do a great job, then rent this version and realize that not everything is better the second time around.

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 It has been a long time since ive had this much fun at a movie. Iron Man kicks off the blockbuster season with an exiting, funny and very entertaining ride. Its the best superhero movie to come out in years and everything from the effects to the cast are right on. Even from a geek who grew up reading Avengers, and seeing Iron Man in the comics kicking ass, I can say this transition to the big screen was done with the intention of giving the audience a great time.

Iron Man stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, this is the best casting Ive seen in a comic movie…..ever. Tony Stark is a playboy party animal with a stripper pole in his private jet and living the life every normal guy dreams of. He drinks too much, takes everything for granted and if it wasnt for the fact that he is a weapon engineering genius, he wouldnt get too far. His beautiful assistant (Gwen Paltrow) and Airforce Col buddy (Terrence Howard, also a great casting move to you Iron Man die hards) are the only people in his life that actually care about him.  When Stark’s convoy gets ambushed and he’s captured during a weapons demo, he has to forge a super suit to escape. After the ordeal Tony wakes up and decides to use his talents to help the world instead of just making a buck.

I know Downey’s past habits arent exactly model citizen behaivior, but he’s not Captain America. Iron Man does drink too much, he is a jerk, and hard to work with. Downey was born to play this role, the goatee, his mannerisms even the cadence of his voice is exactly what Iron man should be and he is what makes this movie work. Actor/Director Jon Favreau knows what to do with a big budget, the effects are sharp and not too overdone. The sound is the best I’ve heard in a long while and metal hitting metal in this sounds alot better than last summer’s transformers. The rest of the cast is great and does a great job (especially Leslie Bibb, wow!), the humor is funny not corny and I could just keep going on.

I had a small problem with the movie’s score, and other nit picky details that are mostly nerdy comic book gripes that the average person watching wont even notice. I’ve always been okay with straying from the literature to deliver a good movie and thats exactly what Iron Man does.

This is the best movie to kick off a summer since the first Matrix back in 99′ and that is saying alot. I would only put it below Batman Begins and the first Spiderman movie as far as superhero movies are concerned period……this is a movie for everyone and stay after the credits, you’ll get a sneak peek of what might be next.

 Iron Man: A-

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Funded by the New Zealand national film council, Out of the Blue tells the story of the true life tragic events in Aramoana where 13 people died at the hands of David Gray, a local un-employed man who went on the rampage over two days in 1990. Following, Gray (Matthew Sunderland), a police force (including an impressive Karl Urban) struggling to cope with events it is ill-equipped to handle and the small town’s local residents trapped in the middle the film pitches itself at ground-level, telling the story with a vicious honesty. 

Director Robert Sarkies creates an impressive array of contrasts within Out of the Blue, highlighting how Aramoana really is the last place on earth anyone would expect this to happen. Opening shots of beautiful beach and countryside scenes are all the more poignant when we know what inevitably will follow. In fact the entire opening 20 minutes or so are amongst some of the tensest in modern cinema as characters are built whom we are only too aware, existed in reality but are not there any longer. 

Gray is introduced early on and Sarkies doesn’t shy away from presenting him as seriously mentally unstable. Early scenes see him exploding at a teller in a bank while at other times he clearly imagines false pressures pushing in on him. While answers aren’t exactly forthcoming about Gray both throughout the film and by the time the inevitable conclusion hits Sarkies does try his best to craft a character out of the little which is obviously known. 

During a horrific night-time siege of the town (which is little more than an organised hamlet on the shore) by Gray, the director narrows the focus down to key members of the community and the police force who struggle to adapt and help than make it through the night. Decent turns by both Karl Urban and William Kircher as the two lead police officers help anchor what happens in a stark urban reality, maintained to a high level by Sarkies. 

At times Out of the Blue is extremely hard to watch, all the more difficult for the fact that we know we are witnessing events in almost a slightly-delayed real-time. Gray’s victims included the weak and the vulnerable and while at times Sarkies can be accused of watering down particularly horrific deaths, rarely is the film anything but brutally, and disturbingly, honest. While not shying away from presenting us with the victims and their stories Starkies does not negate the fact that there are heroes here too, and plenty of them.

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