 (5 BDKs) WHAT ARE YOU DOING STILL SITTING THERE READING THIS CRAP--GET OFF YOUR ASS AND GO SEE THIS MOVIE RIGHT NOW!!!!! |
(4 BDKs) Go see it in theaters if it interests you. Try to catch a Matinee if you are unsure. |
(3 BDKs) RENT THIS MOVIE, but do not see it in the theaters. |
(2 BDKs) Watch it on cable!!! |
(1 BDK) Watch it on cable if you have time!!! |
Body Of LiesGenre: Action/Drama/Thriller Released: 2008 Rating:   It's a film directed by one of the best directors in Hollywood, written by one of the best writers and has two of the best actors around; where could you go wrong? Ridley has done it again with this perfectly paced, well-acted and insanely twisted thriller that will keep you entertained for all 140 minutes. A lot of people can agree when I say we are tired of seeing the films about the war in Iraq. This flick deals with that but delivers the story much like Peter Berg's The Kingdom. It is strictly on the CIA/FBI level and contains a story within the war. Scott knows what he is doing and he delivers you a perfect thriller that will, pardon my cliché, keep you on the edge of your seat. The guy, and his brother Tony, are just geniuses and they have put out some of the best films to date. Just look at their resumes; Tony Scott (True Romance, Days of Thunder, Top Gun, Spy Game, Enemy of the State, Man on Fire, Déjà vu), Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator, American Gangster, Black Hawk Down). Obviously, Tony is more of the fun director and Ridley likes to delve more into the serious region of things, not to say that Tony doesn't do serious, but you can tell he has more fun. I am waiting for these two to do a flick together. From the trailers, I thought this was Ridley trying to pull a Tony Scott film with the dark grainy look and the type of film. My buddy Brandon Fibbs said the trailer reminded him of Spy Game. It does have that similar feel. Body of Lies stars LEONARDO DICAPRIO, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong (Syriana, Babylon A.D.), Alon Abutbul and Golshifteh Farahani. They should have called this film BODY OF WATER (you can hear the crickets now—awful joke). Reason being, that the movie takes place all over the world and you have to go through many bodies of water to get there. Get it! I only wrote that joke to amuse myself because I am writing this review so late at night that I needed to keep myself amused. The film revolves around two CIA agents, one who is in the field and one who is sitting at home next to his pool directing the one in the field. That is a very over simplification of the characters, but it is true. Agent Farris (DiCaprio) is in the field, all over the world trying to bring down terrorist cells. This means going undercover and being in very dangerous territories. At different points in the movie he is in IRAQ, JORDAN and Washington D.C. Agent Hoffman (Crowe), who is Farris' superior, mainly operates behind the scenes, helping set up the missions where Farris has to take down the terrorist. One particular terrorist group is the focus of this movie. They are led by Al-Saleem (Alon Abutbul), also known as "The White Whale." Their mission is to slowly bomb Europe and America for all of the bloodshed that America has caused them throughout this war. Farris and Hoffman both know who the leader is, but like Osama Bin Laden, the question is where. The film has many different plots but the main one revolves around Farris' idea to create a fake terrorist group to make the "White Whale" jealous to the point where he will contact this fake terrorist group. At that point, Farris and his men could take him down. It won't be that easy though. Most of the film takes place in Jordan, where Farris is connected to the head of the country, Hani (Strong), who helps him out with the investigations. There is a lot going on and this is just a brief description. Overall, you may have a weird feeling going into the film because you might not want to sit through a 2 hour plus movie about the Middle East. Yes, it is about that but the acting, pacing and action is so intense that it makes it all worth it. DiCaprio and Crowe were perfect on screen together. Both did a great job acting but since DiCaprio was on screen more, he deserves the acting MVP for the film. He was just such a BAD-ASS and his character was so relentless. He is definitely one of the top five actors of our time. Scott is really one of the few directors out there that is completely perfect. Every shot, every edit and every scene just flowed perfectly. He had so many beautiful shots of the deserts of the Middle East. There was one particular shot which was accompanied by a voice over that had RPG's going off and it had a yellow tint to it. It was so beautiful. The film is based on a book by David Ignatius and I heard people as they were walking out saying that it wasn't as good as the book. Again, like I have said before, I am reviewing the film based on what I have seen. Many people have a bias against movies turned into books. I urge you to watch this film for what it is and pretend that there is no book. Yes, we can pay homage to the writer, but this is a different form of expression. William Monahan adapted a perfect script and he is no newcomer. He also wrote a movie called The Departed. You might have heard of it. I had author Nicholas Sparks on my show a couple of weeks ago and he made a great point about how books and movies are so different. You can express certain emotions better in each medium. Movies are good for certain and emotions and book are better for others. Watch this film for what it is. I give the film a 4.5 BDK rating because I do feel that it is worth a theatre viewing. Definitely check it out. It is fun, smart and very well done. You will enjoy it and be interested the entire time. The movie changes constantly with different storylines and it keeps you up. Back to Top |
The ExpressGenre: Biography/Drama/Sport Released: 2008 Rating: You know that feeling you get every time you see the saying based on a true story. I get it too and I had it for this film. I always ask myself why they keep making these inspirational movies, but for some reason, The Express worked perfectly. Now I know who Ernie Davis was and I feel honored to know his story. Every time a trailer comes on for a film and it says "Based on a True Story," I get a little worried because I feel like I have seen it a million times. Well, that is correct. We have seen the inspirational films a million times but for some reason they continue to win over our hearts. A buddy of mine had a great line that I cannot take credit for but he said that The Express is basically Finding Forrester with a football. He couldn't be more right. It is the story of a guy who is under appreciated and wants to make his mark. It also doesn't help that both films starred the amazingly talented Rob Brown. Brown apparently has been considered the next Denzel Washington and when asked about that on the Big O and Dukes Show on 106.7 WJFK-FM, he said that was an honor. The Express also stars Dennis Quaid, Darrin Dewitt Henson (Stomp the Yard) and Omar Bensen Miller (Miracle at St. Anna). The film tells the true story of Ernie Davis (Brown), who unfortunately passed away at the age of 23. Could you imagine passing away at the height of your career? From the film's opening sequence to the last scene, the movie really does grip you. You want to think it is another one of those stories that you have heard a million times, but it's not. You are hearing the true story of one of the greatest football players of all time. Ernie got his start in El Mira, New York back in the 1950's. Obviously, at this point in time, we were dealing with extreme racism. African-Americans were treated very unfairly everywhere, including sports. Ernie was determined to become the best football player around and he stopped at nothing to prove that. After being noticed in high school, he is being looked at by a ton of schools. Notre Dame wanted him badly but after Coach Ben Schwartzwalder (Quaid) from Syracuse University caught a glimpse of his tape, he decided that he had to have him. He had just lost one of his best players, Jim Brown (Darrin Dewitt Henson), to the NFL and he needed to fill that hole. Being the icon that Jim Brown was to football, he brought Jim along to help persuade Ernie to join his team. Jim Brown was on his way to the Cleveland Browns. The film takes us through the college career of Ernie Davis and his trek to earn the Heisman Trophy, which if he won, would make him the first African-American in history to win that award. What made Ernie so different was that he didn't take no for an answer and knew exactly what he had to do to become number one. Overall, I really do hate to say it but the movie inspired me. As cliché as that sounds, I honestly wanted to get up and cheer with the crowd in the film. What is funny is that people in the theatre got so into the movie that they started cheering out loud as if they were watching the game for real. I felt like I was with them and at actually at those games. The movie draws you in and makes you feel as if the story hasn't happened yet. That was the biggest charm of the movie. Rob Brown has definitely proved himself as an actor. This kid will continue to make great flicks and hopefully have a very long career. His chemistry with Dennis Quaid was perfect. I will never forget seeing the trailers for this film and hearing someone say, "Didn't Dennis Quaid already played a coach in another movie?" It does feel like he has played this part before. Regardless, if you are in the mood for a movie that will make you feel good and it is not such a downer like the world is right now, this is the movie for you. Davis, at least the way he was portrayed on screen, seemed like an unbelievable human being and someone that I would even aspire to be. Not that I want to play football, because I am awful at that, but just an all around great person who cares about everyone around him. This is the perfect matinee film and will definitely cheer you up. Back to Top |
City Of EmberGenre: Adventure/Family/Fantasy Released: 2008 Rating: City Of Ember is a fun adventure flick that drags a little in the beginning but picks up and turns into a fun ride. Fellow critic Tim Gordon, came out of the film and was like, "I want to ride that ride at the end." Throughout the entire ending sequence I kept thinking about this ride at Busch Gardens, Williamsburg called the "Log Floom." It is basically a water ride where you ride in a seated log and go up and down hills. If you ever have been on it, you know exactly what I mean. You get wet and that was always the best part about that. This is definitely a minutia moment. I apologize. Every once in a while, you get an e-mail from the movie companies with the films coming out that week, and there are titles you have never heard of. I have not seen one trailer for this film whatsoever. Are they even promoting it? The film looked pretty high budget to me, so if they are planning on making any back, they might as well deem it a failure now. NO ONE HAS HEARD OF THIS FILM! The only remotely interesting factor going into the film was some of the cast members. The film stars two relatively unknown actors, Harry Treadaway (played Mark Brogan on a TV show called "Cape Wrath") and also the little girl from Atonement (her name is Saoirse Ronan). The film also stars the actors they needed in the credits for the movie to be pushed by a major studio; Tim Robbins (The Shawshank Redemption, The Lucky Ones) and Bill Murray (Groundhog Day, Lost in Translation). The flick opens and we learn that earth has come to an end. There is no more sunlight and we have to move the remaining survivors underground and they would live off of a generator. A box is created that contains the directions on how to reach Earth's surface again after so many years. The builders of the underground city, Ember, set the box to open in 200 years. Inside will be keys and maps on how to get from the underground city, back up to the Earth's level. Hopefully, by that time, the sun will have emerged again and there will be plant life on earth. All remaining humans are now in this underground city called Ember. We are now 200 years into the future and the Mayor of the city has to deal with issues, considering that the generator is going bad and blackouts are occurring very frequently. People have tried to escape the city before but that has not worked out so well. One of which is Loris Harrow (Tim Robbins), whose son Doon (Treadaway) is determined to fix the generator and find a way out. The box containing the maps and directions for escape happen to be with a girl named Lina (Ronan), who has some connection to Doon. Her and Doon both work together in Ember. Doon and Lena, determined to figure out a way out, go on an adventure while the Mayor of the city, played by Bill Murray, wants to stop them. They have to complete their mission before the entire city goes black. Overall, if the film didn't drag so much in the first 20 minutes or so, you would have a perfect fantasy adventure film. In my opinion, a good example of that would be Jumanji. That was just non-stop fun. That movie also had some originality on its side. This flick is based on a book with the same title and has been adapted in to a film directed by Gil Kenan (who also directed the amazing film Monster House). One thing that I wanted to point about this movie was how well it was shot. The cinematography was so dark and gritty and it made the film feel way more adult. There was a lot of camera movement and close-ups that made the film feel more real and you were able to experience the adventure with the characters. One of the shots that really amazed me was right in the beginning when the builders were closing the box and setting the timer to 200 years. They had a really cool shot sequence where they simulated the years going by and the box being handed off to the next Mayor. What was cool is that 20 or so years would go by as they handed the box off. You would get a fresh pair of hands holding the box and as the years counted down on the box, the hands got older. You could the see the hands becoming fatter or having more wrinkles. It was a pretty ridiculous and genius shot if I may say. One of my complaints was that some of the CGI looked really bad. The only reason they were able to get away with it was that the film was dark and gritty but if you look real close on a lot of the scenes, you can see where it becomes CGI. The actors who played Lina and Doon did a great job together and they definitely have a future ahead of them. Ronan was so amazing in Atonement that is was weird to see her backtrack to a kid's film. Robbins was barely in the movie except for maybe 4 quick scenes. Murray didn't add much either as the over weight scummy Mayor. Those names were just put there to give the film some buzz. Overall, the flick is not the most original thing in the world but still worth seeing. I would wait for the rental though, hence the 3 BDK rating. Spend your lost stock market money on something more original and entertaining. Back to Top |
Flash of GeniusGenre: Drama Released: 2008 Rating: The film made me want to be a better person and shows you that life is sometimes about honor and not money. The first thing that I did when I drove my car after seeing the flick was turn on my wiper blades. It's amazing what we take for granted these days and it is just simple to overlook the fact that someone took the time and effort to invent something that we use all the time. I think if everyone stopped for a second each day to take a look at something that they use, they would be more grateful for the fact that people work hard to invent these items. Look at the T.V. or the cell phone or the internet (email, AIM). They are all so simple to use. You are probably wondering why I am even talking about this. Flash Of Genius tells the true story of a man named Robert Kearns, which was the man responsible for creating the intermittent windshield wipers. See before him, windshield wipers had one speed and never stopped. So you couldn't adjust them at all. You would just turn them on and they would keep going until you turned them off. There would be no pause in the beginning. That is not even the interesting part. Read the plot below to learn more. The film stars Greg Kinear (Little Miss Sunshine, Autofocus), Alan Alda ("Mash"), Dermot Mulroney (My Best Friend's Wedding), Lauren Graham (Evan Almighty, Because I Said So) and Jake Abel (Strange Wilderness) who plays Dennis Kearns. The flick is based on a true story and revolves around Robert Kearns' unbelievable battle with the Ford Motor Company. The film takes place back in the 60's and at this point, there were no intermittent wind shield wipers for vehicles. One day, in a flash of genius, Kearn (Kinnear) has the brilliant idea of inventing a mechanism that acts like your blinking eyes. There would be a timer on the windshield wipers and you could adjust the speed, etc. He builds one and it works perfectly. He is all excited and takes the idea to Ford after getting it patented with his buddies, one of which includes Charlie played by Dermot Mulroney, at another automotive corporation. Ford is amazed that someone created this and wants to settle with Kearns. They ask for a model of his idea so that they can get it tested for safety reasons. After testing, they conveniently say that they don't need his services and are not ready for the technology. The dagger comes about 18 months later when Kearns notices the brand new Ford Mustang with the new intermittent wind shield wipers on them. He takes it into his own hands to sue Ford Motor Company. This 12 year process pretty much ruins his life and his family of 6 kids and beautiful wife. It is an unbelievable story and please do me a favor and do not read up on it until you see the film. It was cool not to know the ending. Overall, the movie was extremely well acted and had a very well paced and easy going script. The dialogue was amazing, especially during all of the court room scenes. There was one particular dialogue using Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" that will blow you away. It was perfect. I wasn't too keen on the LEMON PIE dialogue but that was just CORPORATE BS trying to talk their way out of things. Kinnear's performance, much like his character, was fearless. He never gave up. Even when the Ford Company offered him MILLIONS OF DOLLARS to not sue, he would stand his ground and continue with his case. It took him 12 years and you could feel his pain through Kinnear's acting. It was BEAUTIFUL. The look on his face throughout the movie looked like he had his ass kicked. The character was getting beaten up throughout the entire film because of how much this case took a toll on his life. Kinnear lived that role and became Bob Kearns. It is just great to be able to learn this story for the first time with Kinnear's performance. The story is very inspiring and interesting at the same time. It was a story that I knew nothing about until I saw the film and now I am glad I did. I would say this is a solid recommendation and worth a matinee viewing, hence the 4 BDK rating. Back to Top |
Nick and Norah's Infinite PlaylistGenre: Comedy/Drama/Music/Romance Released: 2008 Rating: Even the simplest films can be the most effective and make you laugh non-stop. I can't remember who I was talking to but we were discussing how Cera plays the exact same roles in all of his films. My only concern with him as an actor is that I don't know if he will ever be able to break out of that emo/awkward kid character. His character is the exact same in this film as it was in Superbad and Juno. Needless to say, the kid makes good movies but I wonder if it will ever get old. Well, look at Seth Rogen. I think his time has passed. I could be wrong considering he is in Kevin Smith's new flick Zack and Miri Make a Porno. So we shall see how that goes. Nick and Norah's Infinite Play List stars Michael Cera (Superbad, Juno), Kat Dennings (Charlie Bartlett, The 40-Year Old Virgin), Jay Baruchel (Tropic Thunder, Knocked Up), Aaron Yoo (21), Ari Graynor (Mystic River) and a little beautiful girl named Alexis Ziena (Fool's Gold). The film mainly focuses around this one night where a group of teenagers are just living their lives trying to find a private show from their favorite band; Fluffy. We meet Nick (Cera) in the beginning of the film and he is still completely obsessed with his ex-girlfriend Tris (Ziena). She broke up with him a couple of weeks ago and he can't stop calling/thinking about her. We have all been there and know exactly how that feels. He has been neglecting everyone but his band mates still want him to come out to play a show with them. They want to cheer him up. All of his band mates are gay which creates a lot of the comedy in the film. While at the show, his ex-girlfriend Tris shows up with another guy and he becomes completely depressed. On this same night Norah (Dennings) is at the same show and her luck with guys has been awful as well. She actually knows Nick pretty well because anytime Nick would make a compilation CD for his ex-girlfriend, she would find it in the trash and love the music. Norah gets jealous that her best friend, played by Ari Graynor, is hooking up all the guys. Tris, Nick's ex-girlfriend makes a comment about Norah being their alone and it pisses her off. This is when Norah asks Nick to be her boyfriend for five minutes and this is where the fun starts. Obviously, with any relationship, you want what you can't have and now that Tris has seen Nick kissing another girl, she wants him back. The rest of the film is these characters roaming around New York City looking for a private show from their favorite band, Fluffy. The drama ensues when Norah's best friend, who steals the entire film, is passed out drunk and then wakes up and gets into a whole world of crap. Let the drama begin. Overall, for as simple as the film is, it covers a lot of ground and has a ton of laughs. I love little films like this. The movie is exactly like Nick's yellow car from the film. It is a little cute movie that will win everyone over. As Nell Minow said when we were walking out, "It is the perfect date movie." I couldn't agree more. If you are in high school and want to take a girl out on a date, this is your go to. Now the real star of the film was not Michael Cera or Kat Dennings. It was Norah's blonde best friend, Ari Graynor. She steals the entire film. Even her gum becomes a big character in the movie and you will see why. I never thought a piece of gum could become a main character in the film and bring so many laughs. That one piece of gum that she chews becomes the butt of a ton of jokes. This character is basically drunk the entire time and just provides the majority of the laughs. Cera does his thing and just plays the quiet and funny guy. This is a perfect movie for a Kat Dennings to become a star. She has been on the back burner for a while but is developing into a nice young actress. She is one of those actresses that has been growing on me and she will definitely be a big star one day. I am giving this film a 3.5 BDK rating out of 5. The film is not original at all but you can have a ton of fun with it and I am sure some critic will say that they want to rock out to their play list all night long. You will definitely get laughs and heart felt moments. Back to Top |
ReligulousGenre: Documentary Released: 2008 Rating: Religulous will offend you, make you laugh extremely hard and then scare the living hell out of you. No pun intended. I am not going to lie, when I was younger and until about a few years ago, I would be searching through the channels and Bill Maher would be on T.V. I would immediately change the channel thinking "this guy is boring." Now that I am a little older, I seem to hear his name or see him on T.V. and my ears perk up. The guy, whether he is right or wrong, has a lot to say. A lot of it is very interesting and makes you think. He is like the George Carlin of religion. He makes claims and statements that are outlandish/make you laugh, but a lot of them actually make sense. Now, I am not saying I agree or disagree with Maher's points on religion in this film. I will say though, he makes some very convincing arguments that I think a lot of people will understand. The film is a documentary and stars no one except for Bill Maher. He does the normal documentary interview style and just goes around trying to understand religion. The flick is directed by a guy named Larry Charles, who you might also know as the director of the Borat film from a couple of years back. You get that same style of documentary shooting with the hilariously awkward interviews. The film basically is Bill Maher going all over the world talking to different religious people from all different kinds of faith. He basically wants an answer of why people believe in religion when it has not scientifically proven. The cool thing about Bill Maher is that he is a CASHEW just like me, so I can relate to how he was brought up. "Cashew" means that we both had a Jewish mother and a Catholic Father. In my house, my brother and I were baptized Catholic. We celebrated Christmas and Chanukah by lighting the menorah and getting a dollar a day from our Grandparents. Their last name was WEINER. My mom received a lot of crap for that last name in middle and high school. Luckily, she married my Irish Catholic father with the last name McCarthy. Regardless, I was not raised in a very religious home, so I do not have a massive religious background. I like to keep an open mind and I am not entirely sure what I believe in. What Bill Maher is doing with this documentary is very important. It is important to keep your eyes open. Now, he is very one sided and as someone said at the screening, he didn't really shed light the "average Joe" religious person who is not all crazy like the people he depicts in the film. He is trying to answer questions about why people believe religion over evolution and that a lot of religion was written by man and it does not make a whole lot of sense. Even the people that believe in it have a hard time explaining it. The main point that he is trying to drive home is that religion has caused more violence than anything else in the world. It is because of religion that this world may end, according to Bill Maher. Overall, the documentary is very well put together but does shift gears very fast at the end. It was going along very smoothly with a lot of laughs and then all of a sudden it becomes really serious and almost scary. I was actually getting terrified at the end of the film. For 95% of the film, you are laughing with him and then the last couple of minutes he becomes almost like a preacher. Though Maher is keeping the film on his side, he does discuss points that are very important and leave you open minded. The movie makes you want to talk and that is what he is going for. I was talking to someone and we agreed that it is not going to change your mind but it makes you think. It makes you want to question what is out there. I walked out of the movie and I wanted to make it to my car so I could get out of the parking garage before I got charged. I was stopped by the publicists for an opinion and before I knew it, we are having a full fledged discussion about the film and its politics. One of the people I was talking too considered herself very religious and actually enjoyed the movie. You have to be able to keep an open mind about things. Maher is just trying to get people to talk and he succeeds in that. I really think that whether you are a hardcore religious person or don't care at all, that you should see this film. Maher brings up so many points that seem to make sense but need to be thought through and talked about. Again, I am not saying that he is saying is true, but it does make you think. For some reason, I kept thinking about Terminator 2 Judgement Day around the end of the film. I give the flick a 4 BDK rating out of 5 because I feel it is a great matinee to take in with a bunch of friends and then go out and discuss. If anything, the film is a social lubricant that can help you start conversations. Back to Top |
AppaloosaGenre: Western Released: 2008 Rating: With a cast and director like this, you would expect greatness. What you really should expect is a cup of coffee so you can stay awake. Sometimes the films that have the best resumes, can turn out to be duds. I will admit that the directing and some of the acting was very decent but the film didn't "move along" that well. They should have taken lessons from The All American Rejects. While a film like this will probably be praised because of the people behind it and the actors involved, it is not that entertaining. There are a couple of bad-ass scenes that make you want to clap. I just wanted more of Ed Harris and Viggo kicking people's butts. The movie honestly felt like a western soap opera. Also, can they stop putting Renee Zellweger in movies please? I don't know about you, but I am getting completely tired of looking at her. She always gives me this vibe that she thinks she is better than everyone else. The film stars Viggo Mortenson (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy), Ed Harris (The Rock), Jeremy Irons (Die Hard With a Vengeance), Renee Zellweger (Jerry Maguire, Cold Mountain) and Lance Henrickson (Bishop from Aliens). Appalossa takes place in the late 1800's. The Civil War has ended there are still those typical towns with the bars that have the swinging doors. Like any Western, the towns are run by a sheriff and there is always a bad guy. This time, the bad guys name is Bragg (Irons) and he is just messing up this little town of Appalossa. Him and his gang go to bars and pee on the floor and to top that, they don't pay for their drinks or food (Sounds scary huh?). To the rescue! The town's higher ups decide they need to do something about this problem, considering that Bragg has just killed an officer of the law and his two men. The officer attempted to go to Bragg to arrest two of his men for killing a man and raping his wife. The town brings in two outlaws (peacemakers) to help take care of this Bragg guy. Virgil Cole (Harris) and Everett Hitch (Mortensen) are basically best buds who go around trying to help little towns out. The deal with them is that not only do they get paid, but they also get to run the town while they are there. They make their own laws so it is easier to execute their job. To spice things up, a woman by the name of Allison (Zelwegger) comes to town for a while and falls in love with Virgil. This creates conflict while he and his partner are trying to take care of this Bragg character. Let's just saw that Bragg and his men don't make it easy for them. Overall, the film was very well shot but it just felt like it dragged on way too long. I rarely ever check my phone to see what time it is but during his movie I checked my phone like 3 times. I just couldn't wait for the film to get out. It wasn't that it was a horrific film, is just needed more substance. The film is based on a novel with the same name is actually directed by one of its stars; Ed Harris. I never read the book so I cannot compare the two, but if the book is as slow as the movie, I would rather kill myself than read it. Mortensen and Harris are great together. Their chemistry was very good and actually very comedic at times. They worked off each other very well. Jeremy Irons' character reminded me a lot of Daniel Day Lewis' character from There Will Be Blood. I think it had a lot to do with his voice and the way he carried himself. I would wait for the cable viewing on this one. It is just another Western that didn't turn out well. When are we going to get another western classic like The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Now, there actually have been some decent one's recently like The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and the recent remake of 3:10 To Yuma. Both were great flicks that are way better westerns than this boring flick. There is one thing that I wanted to point and it is a little bit nerdy. There is a shot in the film which was genius and Ed Harris should get props for this. Harris' character is standing next to a camp fire and since it is dark outside, the only light available is the fire. You see this silhouette of Harris standing near the fire and the lights from the fire are lighting up on the silver in his shirt. It was such a beautiful shot. See if you notice it when you see it but don't email me too soon because this flick is getting a 2 BDK rating meaning that you should wait until the cable viewing to watch it. I will wait a year for your email. Meanwhile, go see Flash of Genius or How To Lose Friends and Alienate People. Back to Top |
How to Lose Friends & Alienate PeopleGenre: Comedy Released: 2008 Rating: This might as well be the sleeper film of the year and it is filled with a ton of laughs, a ton of heart and Simon Pegg is funnier than ever. Before I sat down to watch the film, I had it in the back of my mind that the trailers stunk and that Pegg isn't anywhere near as good without Edgar Wright directing him. Pegg is definitely one of the more slept on actors around; in U.S. at least. The dude is probably huge over in Europe. You might know him from such great films as Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. He did a little flick earlier this year called Run Fatboy Run; which wasn't anything to write home about and was directed by the "Friends" star David Schwimmer. Go figure. Well, I was totally wrong and this movie honestly was perfect. The laughs all hit perfectly and the dramatic moments were beautiful. The story may not be appealing to a lot of people and I think they could have come with an easier title, but this movie is just raw fun and it would be impossible not to like it. The flick also stars Megan Fox (Transformers, Maxim covers that make me want to buy the magazine even though I know it's a waste of money), Jeff Bridges (Iron Man, Blown Away—looked just like The Big Lebowski in this—which is funny because there is a small joke about that), Kirsten Dunst (Spider Man, Interview with the Vampire) and Gillian Anderson ("The X-files"). The plot revolves around a "nobody" who is a "somebody" named Sidney Young (Pegg). Ever since Young was a kid, he wanted to be that guy at all of the celebrity parties that everyone liked. He wanted that so much that he started his own magazine and he would basically sneak his way into events and report on them. One of his dreams was to one day work for Sharps magazine headed by Clayton Harding (Bridges). King sneaks his way into one of the Sharps after parties in London and gets himself into trouble with Thandie Newton. When he receives a call from Clayton, he automatically thinks he is getting sued. On the contrary, Clayton is actually offering him a job in one of the magazine's departments called "I Spy," where they basically do puff pieces on major celebrities. When he arrives he is introduced to everyone and has an interesting encounter with a co-worker named Alison Olsen (Dunst). This starts his awkward relationship with the staff and the celebrities he encounters, one of which he falls in love with. Her name is Sophie Maes (Fox) and she is just a bombshell. Now you have to understand that Sidney is a total ass and basically doesn't care what anyone thinks, which is where the comedy comes from. He just does what he wants and that is why he is able to succeed. During his interviews with actors, he will ask and do the most awkward things in the world. Overall, this really is a movie that I don't think anyone can hate. Give it a chance. It will make you laugh so hard and it's just an overall great film. The writing was phenomenal and to the point where I don't think a single joke fell flat. Just when you think it is a bad joke, the joke is lifted and becomes funnier. I wonder how much of Pegg's part was his own writing. A lot of his character reminded me of Nick Frost's character from Hot Fuzz, being that he was into action films. Pegg's dialogue about Con-Air in this film is just genius and perfectly said. The dialogue about Con-Air alone will win you over. I love that flick that so much. Bridges, Dunst, Pegg, Fox and Anderson all put on great performances and you can just tell they had so much making this movie. On the surface it is just so damn good. Then there are all the little references to Hollywood and how people act and react around celebrities. I loved Pegg's little Tarantino comment about directors. One thing this movie does show you is that celebrities are just people and that people are always gushing when they meet them. Celebrities just wanted to be treated normally and that is something that Pegg's character has to learn as well. I give this movie a 4.5 BDK rating out of 5 because I feel that it is the perfect film to see. I promise that it is impossible to not like this film. It will make you laugh and feel uncomfortable throughout. The cool thing about the movie is that it is also very heart felt and a great story. Pegg was hilarious and hopefully this will solidify him as a star. Back to Top |
BlindnessGenre: Drama/Mystery/Romance/Thriller Released: 2008 Rating: This is the type of film that you dislike one minute and then think it is totally genius the next. The latter was what I felt more often but only by a little. The movie is completely 50/50 and my opinion of it changed numerous times throughout the 2 hours. It was like I was on a ledge and the film's negative parts were pushing me over but I was able to withstand that pressure and keep on the cliff. The positives out weighed the negatives enough for me. You all know the director of this film, not by name, but by his previous work. Meirelles also directed two of the better films during this past decade. One of which was called City of God. That flick was definitely ground breaking and put Meirelles on the map. He also did a little film called The Constant Gardner with Rachel Weiscz and Ralph Fiennes. Needless to say, he is one of those directors that likes to stay in his little niche universe of different films. You can throw Alejandro Inaritu Gonzalez (21 Grams, Amorres Perros) in there as well. Both are genius filmmakers. When it comes to Blindness, you are going to have mixed feelings. A lot of my positive feelings come from the way it was shot; i.e. the over exposed whiteness and blurriness which created that tense eerie feeling. He shot it in such a way that you actually felt blind with the characters. Blindness stars Mark Ruffalo (Zodiac, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Julianne Moore (Boogie Nights, The Big Lebowski), Alice Braga (I Am Legend), Gael Garcia Bernal (The Motorcycle Diaries) and Yusuke Iseya. The flick is based on a novel with the same title and tells the story about a city where everyone goes blind. Go figure. Well, there is a lot more to that. What's funny is that I was sitting here trying to remember the names of the characters in the movie. I couldn't think of anything and I went over to IMDB.COM and it turns out that none of the characters had names and I thought back on the film. You never once hear a name mentioned. That is crazy and didn't even occur to me. The film opens and we meet a character simply named &First blind man." (Iseya) He is driving down a crowded city street and all of a sudden goes blind. He gets this thing called "white blindness" where you see white and not dark. He has to stop his car in a pretty intense scene where everyone is honking at him. He ends up going to a "Doctor" (Ruffalo) who doesn't understand the blind man's symptoms. His eyes look totally normal. That night the doctor goes home to his wife (Moore) and the next morning he wakes up blind. To make a long story short, the entire city starts to fall into this &white blindness" and the police and non-infected start putting all of the blind into quarantine. Our main characters end up in a building with different wards like a prison. The Doctor's wife, even though she is not blind, goes with him to the quarantine because she doesn't want to leave him. The rest of the film is the doctor and hundreds of other people infected with the "white blindess" trying to survive. One of the blind people, which according to IMDB.COM is named "King of Ward Three," (Bernal) tries to be a dictator and ration of food in his own way, even if that means raping woman. It is amazing what people will do for food. No one has any idea where the blindness is coming from or how to cure it. Overall, the story line and concept is amazing, I just wish it was executed a little better. It does drag a lot and could have been shortened. Besides the actors, the star of the film is the cinematographer. This guy created an environment that makes the audience feel like they are blind with the characters. He shot the film completely over exposed and used a lot of blurry and canted shots to create tension. That to me was the biggest positive about the film and which made me give it a positive rating. There were moments where I felt blind and was trying to make out what was going on. He let you feel exactly what these characters were feeling. Could you imagine just going blind instantly? That is what happens to all of these people and they have to adjust. Ruffalo is one of the more underrated actors out there and his performance as a blind person was pretty intense. He did a great job and had the role down perfectly. He had that perfect dumbfounded look on his face the entire film and would just always be looking in the opposite direction of the person he was talking too. He really sold me on his blindness and I always believed he was blind. Moore's performance was phenomenal as always and very painful. You could just feel her pain throughout the entire film. I really think she might have the perfect crying face. Every time she cried I want to bust out crying. The movie is not happy film and is nothing something to go see if you are looking for a pick me up. It is rather devastating and the rape scenes in the film are horrific to watch. Though the positives out weighed the negative, I would recommend a rental on this movie. The negatives are to the point where I would want to waste my money in the theatres to see it but the positives are enough for a rental, hence the 3 BDK rating. Back to Top |
ChokeGenre: Comedy/Drama Released: 2008 Rating: Wow...that is all I really need to say. I actually felt sick and disgusting when I walked out of this flick, which is written by Chuck Palanuik (Fight Club, Haunted). I will write a full review tonight but the film stars Sam Rockwell as a sex addict. He also pretends to choke in restaurants so that he can give people a reason to live. Let's just say he is the most messed up individual of all time. It also doesn't help that his mom (Angelica Houston) is dying and he could care less. Let's just say that this movie just made me feel like my life wasn't so bad after all. Go see it! It is very crude, sexual and just down right dirty. It has a very FIGHT CLUB feel to it, obviously, but it does stand on its own. Back to Top |
Miracle at St. AnnaGenre: Action/Crime/Drama/Thriller/War Released: 2008 Rating: What could have been Spike Lee's best film since Do the Right Thing, 'Miracle' turns out to be a confusing mess that is topped off with an annoying child. This movie had so much potential and it is a shame to see it not turn out as well as it could have. The movie is not horrific but it is nowhere near a Spike Lee classic. I know there have been news stories recently about Spike and the fact that he called out Clint Eastwood for being a racist. To me, all of that stuff is just for publicity and just gives the films free advertising. Whether or not Spike actually feels that Clint is a racist will never be known. He also tried to call Tarantino a racist for using the "N" word in his films. Isn't this art though? I am not picking sides but I just wanted to point out a couple of things that have been revolving around Spike Lee lately. We all know the guy is a genius director and if you have seen Do the Right Thing, you know exactly why. From every shot to every bit of dialogue to every musical choice, that movie flowed perfectly. The best part was that he was a young director and the star of the picture. His career has definitely been filled with some interesting films including one of my favorites; 25th Hour. I guess he figured he needed to make his war film and that is why he is directing Miracle At St. Anna; which is based on a novel with the same name by James Mcbride. Miracle At St. Anna stars Michael Ealy (Barbershop, Barbershop 2), Derek Luke (Antwon Fisher), Laz Alonzo (Stomp The Yard, Jarhead), Omar Benson Miller (Transformers, 8 Mile), Matteo Sciabordi (this is his first film) and very minor roles from John Turturro (Do the Right Thing, Transformers), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Lookout, "3rd Rock from the Sun") and John Leguizamo (Summer of Sam, The Pest). The flick revolves around four African American soldiers that get caught up in an Italian Village during World War 2. The flick opens and a man named Hector Negron (Alonso) is working at a post office and he openly takes a German gun out and blows a guy away. Keep in mind that this is 1983. He is immediately arrested and interrogated. A young reporter named Tim Boyle (Gordon-Levitt) sits him down to interrogate him and then we flash back to the main story. We are introduced to the 92nd Infantry Division, which according to the press notes, "consisted of 15,000 African-American men—dubbed Buffalo Soldiers—who served in Italy during World War II from August 1944 to November 1945." The film focuses on 4 of these soldiers who are the survivors of a horrible battle that kills most of their men. These four soldiers, which consist of Aubrey Stamps (Luke), Bishop Cummings (Ealy), Sam Train (Miller---I thought they were calling him TREY the whole time), Hector Negron (Alonso) are all now trapped in this town in Italy where they have to wait for their fellow American soldiers to come rescue them. By this point in the war, Italy had been over ridden by the Germans and the Nazis were just going crazy. They were planning a counter attack but there are all of these insiders called Partisans who were Italians that were helping the Americans. They were against the combining of Italian forces and German forces. Sam Train happens to find a little boy named Angelo (Sciabordi) and he wants to protect him. Their goal is to get out safe and capture a German soldier so that they can prove that there will be a counter attack. It is very confusing. Overall, the movie is overly confusing and there is just way too much going on at once. I will say that the movie is 2 hours and 45 minutes long, but it does go by fast. That baffles me though, considering it had boring moments and just confused the hell out of me. Everything does eventually pan out but Lee decided to keep the viewer guessing for too long and it became a little bit annoying. One of my biggest complaints about the film was the character of Sam Train. All of his encounters with the little Italian boy, Angelo, were just down right annoying. My buddy and I would just groan anytime they would be on screen together. It just became ridiculous. The film is riddled with continuity errors that create plot holes and it just didn't seem to be put together that well. Now on the positive side, I loved the score and the gritty look of the film stock. It almost looked like he was using an older film stock to create that grimy look. I also really loved the two establishing shots he had of Harlem and then one of Italy where the camera would walk down the hallway at about a knee's eye view. It was pretty interesting. My whole thing is that I was disappointed. I found the score to the film to be odd and goofy at times but I did get used to it at the end and it grew on me. I just wish Spike would have paid more attention to detail. He has a great story here but needed to fix some of the acting, continuity errors. You would think someone was dead and they weren't but when you find out they aren't dead, it doesn't make any sense. I am giving the film a 2.5 BDK rating because I think it will be a good flick to watch on T.V. I will also say that the battle scenes are ridiculous and the scene that actually takes place at ST. ANNA is just heartbreaking. That was really the only scene where I felt emotion. For some reason, I did not feel any emotional connection between the characters throughout the film. Back to Top |
Eagle EyeGenre: Action/Mystery/Thriller Released: 2008 Rating: I was waiting for Will Smith to pop up in this sequel to Enemy of The State, which was extremely far-fetched but still deliver pretty decent entertainment. As you can see, I am a little torn. This is the kind of movie, that on my scale, I would normally give a higher rating too based on the action. The main issue is how over-the-top it is. It is just trying to be cool. The trailers initially sparked my sequel initiative because it looked just like a Tony Scott film; he also directed films similar to this like Enemy of the State and Spy Game. Scott is known for that fast paced editing style and usually goes for that nice grainy look. His brother Ridley (Gladiator, American Gangster) is very similar in that regard but has a greater range in my opinion. The problem with Eagle Eye is that it is hard to hate it and it is hard to like it at the same time. I wanted to like it because the story was interesting and the twists were fun but I wanted to hate it because it was so unbelievable at the same time. That is why I was going back and forth on my rating. I initially wanted to give this a 3.5 but the more I thought about the film, the more forgettable and unoriginal it became. Eagle Eye has a great cast which includes Shia LaBeouf (Disturbia, Transformers), Michelle Monoghan (Mission Impossible 3, Gone Baby Gone), Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade, The Astronaut Farmer), Rosario Dawson (25th Hour, Alexander) and Michael Chiklis (Fantastic Four, "The Shield"). The flick opens and we meet the typical irresponsible kid in his 20's; Jerry Shaw (LaBeouf). He is living on his own in a big city and can't even afford the rent. He has just received the terrible news that his twin brother, Ethan Shaw, has died in a horrible accident. The day he comes back from the funeral, he all of a sudden has $750,000k in his bank account and his apartment is filled with military guns, weapons and substances to make explosives out of. His phone rings and it is a computer woman telling him he has 30 seconds to get out of his place before the FBI come to him. Obviously, he has been framed for some sort of crime and now the FBI is after him. This computer woman refuses to let Shia go and throughout the film is giving him instructions on where to go. He is being told that he is carrying out a mission for National Security. A woman (Monoghan) receives a similar phone call and this voice tells her that her son Sam is at risk and she must comply or he will die. Billy Bob Thornton plays the FBI agent who is after Jerry, who is now a supposed terrorist. Rosario Dawson plays a detective for the Air Force who is looking into Jerry's twin brother's death and thinking it might have something to do with Jerry's set-up. Chiklis is the Secretary of Defense and you can figure out why he is tied into the film. Let's just the say the film has some very interesting twists but that is all I will divulge at the time. Overall, it is not hard to have fun with this film but the issues lies in the fact that is way too far-fetched. See, I have no problem with far-fetched films. Transformers was completely unbelievable but I still thought it was a modern day action classic. That is supposed to be far-fetched; although that seemed more realistic than Eagle Eye. Enemy of the State had a very similar story but, throughout the entire film, I felt that that could happen to me any minute. Eagle Eye was just way too much and way too over the top. It just became ridiculous and the guy next to me was even laughing because of how retarded some of the film was. Shia is a great actor and does his job but his parts are all starting to run together. This was pretty much his character from Disturbia and Transformer; the dumbfounded youngster who gets involved in some serious stuff and has to find a way out of it. I love watching him on screen but he needs to something different. I will admit that he is young and he has time to grow so we shall see what happens. I would not recommend the film be seen in theatres. You have already seen it a long time ago with Will Smith and Gene Hackman. Wait for the rental on this one. It does have a lot of entertaining action scenes, but none of the originality that you will be looking for. I give this film a 2.5 BDK rating. Back to Top |
Nights in RodantheGenre: Drama/Romance Released: 2008 Rating: CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO MY INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR NICHOLAS SPARKS Imagine picking up a book, reading a couple of pages and the skipping ahead a couple of chapters. The connection between these two characters came out of nowhere. Don't get me wrong, the story is extremely powerful but I felt that they didn't do a good job with the pacing. Now, I never read the book so I am not sure if that is exactly how it went down but as a viewer, I did not feel a connection between the two main characters UNTIL after a certain tragedy occurs. I wanted to feel that what they had was real but it felt a little too unnatural for me. Once this one event does occur though, the connection seems stronger than ever. That to me is a little bit backwards. Nicholas Sparks definitely knows how to write tearjerkers though. This guy is the king of the LOVE/TRAGEDY stories. If you saw his last novel brought to film; The Notebook, you know exactly what I mean. The Notebook might be one of the greatest love stories of our time considering the end of that film is so PERFECT and just hits all the right emotions. He has a lot riding on him because of that film and Rodanthe just can't hit those same notes. While it is still a great story, it lacked the emotions and the substance that The Notebook had. Nights in Rodanthe stars Richard Gere (The Mothman Prophecies), Diane Lane (Unfaithful, Untraceable) and James Franco (Spider-Man, Annapolis). The flick opens and we meet Adrienne Wilson (Lane) who has two kids and is currently separated from her husband, Jack (Christopher Meloni), who cheated on her. He has come to take the kids for the weekend while she goes to watch her friends hotel/inn located in North Carolina. Shocker, there is a massive storm coming that weekend and Jean (Davis), the owner, is leaving to go out of town. She wanted to close it down but a rich Dr. offered to pay double for 4 nights. Dr. Paul Flanner (Gere) just sold his house and has nowhere to go and just wants to go away for a couple of days. When he arrives at the Inn, he meets Adrienne. Now just for background, Flanner and his wife are now divorced and Flanner's son is now living out of country and hasn't talked to Dr. Flanner in over a year. Dr. Flanner had a terrible tragedy occur a year ago and that is why he has chosen Rodanthe because he wants to visit the family of the person who died under his knife. Adrienne has her issues too with a cheating husband. While they spend these four days together, they fall in love and are helpful to each others problems. This is not the end because they become separated and tragedy strikes. Overall, the movie just felt very unbalanced to me. The flick had no substance in the beginning and the middle seemed forced but the end was phenomenal. The film just needed a better adaptation of the novel and maybe some more filler. In fact, I thought the movie was going to end about an hour into the movie. The music was cued and it was a long shot of the two characters walking on the beach. The guy next to me started to get up. Maybe it is just me but I just didn't feel Lane and Gere's connection until later in the film. A lot of their connection had to do with the problems they shared with each other. They needed each other to be strong. When they finally do fall in love, I didn't feel it. I felt it later in the film when it was too late. I could stare at Diane Lane all day long. That woman is so beautiful. I actually am taking off a .5 RATING because we didn't a good enough sex scene and no nudity (Kidding of course). I was expecting hot passionate sex scenes like they had in The Notebook. I will say this though; Sparks knows how to dive into the tragedy realm. His tragic moments hit you really hard and are very tough. I would recommend this film as a rental. One of the strongest positive points are the beautiful shots of North Carolina. There is one particular shot of the INN/HOTEL where the movie takes place that is literally breathtaking. It was a 2 minute wrap around long shot of the place and it just felt like it never ended. You just sit there with your jaw open. If there was more connection with the movie and maybe a better sex scene, I would have gone higher with my rating, but I am sticking with a 2.5 BDK rating. I am kidding about the sex scene lowering the points but I did want a better scene. Back to Top |
Lakeview TerraceGenre: Drama/Thriller Released: 2008 Rating: Samuel L. Jackson pulls off an extremely terrifying performance in this formulaic thriller which looses all of its sizzle with an AWFUL ending. I was all for this movie about an hour into it, considering I had very low expectations. The movie was going by and it was extremely intense. I was actually out of breath for a lot of the scenes and they just had to ruin the flick with an ending that was just going for a message. I thought that Keenan Ivory Wayans was going to pop up and say "Message," like he did in the hilarious movie; Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood. What happened to Sam Jackson? He used to be such a bad-ass. I think has a lot to do with his awful haircut, or should I say lack thereof. The guy has gone bald so many times in his last couple of roles that they are all starting to blend together. What happened to the bad-ass hair he had in Pulp Fiction or Jackie Brown? Those hairdos made those roles what they were. I will never forget the look of someone's brain matter stuck in the middle of Jules' hair in Pulp Fiction. Lakeview Terrace also stars an up and coming actor that I have had my eyes on for a while now; Patrick Wilson. He starred in a little known flick with Juno's Ellen Page called Hard Candy; which to me is one of the quintessential thrillers of the past 10 years. Please check it out if you haven't seen it yet and if you are a guy, please be careful while watching it. You also have a minor performance from Jay Hernandez (Hostel). The flick opens up and we meet AT (JACKSON) who is an LAPD officer that is a complete hard-ass. He is raising two kids by himself in California, right outside of LA. This is all taking place during those horrible California fires and the imagery of the fires is ridiculous. I couldn't tell if they actually had footage of that or if it was computer generated. It looked pretty real to me. AT's wife had died three years ago in a terrible accident and he just hasn't been the same since. He is practically a Nazi father that doesn't let his kids do anything and is always correcting their English and being over protective. One day, an interracial couple move in next door to him and this just sets him off. He finds it wrong that a white guy married a black woman. Chris (Wilson) and his beautiful wife move in next door thinking they will be able to start a new life together. What they don't know is that AT is going to make their life a living hell. Here is the problem. If one of your neighbors is hassling you or keeping you up at night, you can call the cops and have them reported. AT is a cop though which makes the entire situation a lot worse. This guy keeps BRIGHT lights on at night time that shine through Chris's window which he can't do anything about. Needless to say, he starts pissing off his neighbors and it turns ugly. Overall, I was surprised at the intensity level of this flick. Every time Sam Jackson was on screen I just couldn't wait to see what he was going to do or say. He played a very relentless and unpredictable character that was pretty mind blowing. There were scenes where I could not believe what I was seeing. Wilson and Jackson's tension works perfectly together and you can really feel the heat between the two. Every time the characters are together you just get this really awkward vibe which just shoots off screen. Honestly, what do you do if the guy that lives next door to you is messing with you, but he is a cop, so you have no one to call? He is the law and it is AT's word vs. Chris's word. The ending is what killed the film for me. I will not say what it is but let's just say it goes against what the entire film was trying to do and becomes hypocritical of itself. I wish I could say why but that would ruin the flick. After you see it, shoot me an email at bdk@bdkreviews.com and we can discuss it. The film was going along great until the film decided to become a hypocrite, so because of that, the film will receive a 2.5 BDK rating meaning that you should just wait for the rental or cable viewing. It is a shame that it had to end on the note it did or the film would have been a 3.5 or maybe even a 4 BDK rating. Back to Top |
Ghost TownGenre: Comedy/Fantasy/Romance Released: 2008 Rating: Ghost Town had the exact feel as every other flick where a dead person talks to the living but what sets it apart is Ricky Gervais' hilarious performance. This guy stole the entire flick and had me cracking up the entire. He is the ONLY part of the film that sets this film aside from all of those other movies like P.S. I Love You and Over Her Dead Body and whatever the heck the name of that movie was with Mark Ruffalo and Reese Witherspoon. Does anyone even care about the title of that film? There have just been so many of those films where a character dies. That character comes back and ONE person can see them and they try to fix their lives through the alive character. That is why I had very low expectations for the film. There was no way that Hollywood was going to expect viewers to sit through another film like that. Well, they found the solution. The flick also stars Greg Kinnear (Little Miss Sunshine, Flash of Genius) and Tea Leoni (Bad Boys, Spanglish). The flick opens up and we meet Frank (Kinnear) who is a married man but is cheating on his wife. As he is walking home one day from work in New York City, he is hit by a bus and immediately killed. He also immediately comes back as a dead version of himself in the same exact outfit he was wearing before he died. It turns out that New York City is a GHOST TOWN and there are many dead people wandering around. No one can see them but if you were to drive through one or walk through one, you would immediately sneeze. Frank dies before getting to say goodbye to his wife, Gwen (Leoni). We then meet Dr. Pincus (Gervais). He is your typical uptight guy who hates people and just prefers to be by himself. He chose to work as a dentist people he spends all day putting things in people's mouths so that they cannot talk. He tells awful jokes and is completely rude to everyone around him. One day when going in for a colonoscopy, he asks the doctors for anesthesia and they think it is a bad move. It turns out that during the surgery he actually dies for seven minutes and then he was brought back to life. Now, he can see and hear all of the dead people in New York City and they all want his help getting back in contact with their loved ones. One in particular is Greg Kinnear's character Frank who wants to make his wife stop seeing this new guy. Dr. Pincus just has to be friendly with her to help Frank out so he can get him off his back. Overall, you have seen this film over and over again the past couple of years, but this one had a special spark to it. The comedy was real and it just felt like a good film. Gervais really pulls it off for me. You know him from the British (Original) version of "The Office." He was STEVE CARRELL's character and a lot of people agree that the British show was the best. I know people are going to be reluctant to seeing this because it has that same flavor as the other films of it's genre but this one is different. Again, the comedy is real. Kinnear, who I thought was going to be the star, was just an afterthought. He did a fine job but he was barely in the film to begin with. Gervais and Leoni took up all the screen time and it was perfect. They did such a good job together. This is just a cute little date movie you can either see as a matinee or a rental, hence the 3.5 BDK rating. Gervais will make you laugh but you have to know that the flick isn't that original. Back to Top |
TowelheadGenre: Drama Released: 2008 Rating: Towelhead is one of the more disturbing films to come out in years and to this day, a month after seeing it, there is one particular scene that still shakes me up. Alan Ball is just such a powerhouse writer and knows how to bring the goods. Ball is responsible for the Academy Award winning screen play for a little flick called American Beauty. He also created a little known television show called "Six Feet Under." His current TV show is a show called "True Blood" starring X-Men's Anna Paquin, which is actually very intriguing. Ball is adapting Towelhead from a book with the same title. This is the type of movie that will make you question your morals and make you realize how messed up people really are. I will say this though and Nell Minow from Beliefnet agrees as well, this movie will shock you. I have no idea how Alan Ball was able to pass this film through as an R-rating because some of the scenes are so racy that it could be almost looked at as pornographic. Nell appeared on my movie show last week to discuss the MPAA and we were talking the difference between what you can show and what you can imply. This movie implies so much to the point where it's just downright horrifying and disturbing; yet I couldn't help but to keep watching and hope that I didn't blink too much. You won't believe what you are seeing. Towelhead stars Aaron Eckhart (Thank you for Smoking, The Dark Knight), Summer Bishil (up and coming star who plays the lead girl in the film), Peter Macdissi (Three Kings—this character had similar racist undertones to Sam Jackson's character from Lakeview Terrace) and Maria Bello (The Cooler, A History of Violence). The film opens up with an extremely awkward scene that deals with shaving. I will not go into further details but it does deal with a thirteen year-old. Jasira (Bishil) is not your typical 13 year-old girl. She is already extremely interested in sex and doing some pretty insane things. She is so interested that she loves to read dirty magazines and fantasize to herself while rubbing her self in such a way that she gets off. Yeah, I know!! The actress was 18 during the filming so everything is ok. It is just a little awkward. In the beginning of the film, she is living with her mom and boyfriend and the shaving incident with Jasira and her mom's boyfriend gets a little out of hand. She gets into a fight at school and her mom has her move back with her dad in Texas. Her dad is a complete hard-ass and doesn't want his daughter ever thinking about sex or dating another race besides someone from the Lebanon (which is where the title of the film comes from because "Towelhead" is a derogatory term towards someone from the Middle East). He is one of those backwards racist guys that thinks everyone around him is being racist, when he in turn, is being the racist one. Aaron Eckart and his family live right next door to them and this is where it starts getting weird. Jasira is hired to baby sit for Eckhart's kid but when she finds the porn magazines it gets awkward because Eckhart catches her. This starts up their sexual tension between them both and you will see where the movie goes from there. Overall, this film is the KING of awkward. One thing about Alan Ball's writing is that it is so realistic and raw that you don't want to turn it off. Everything he writes is just so brutally honest and intriguing. Do I want to watch a 13 year old girl getting sexually abused by an older man? Not at all but for the movie's purpose, it makes the story more intriguing and interesting to watch. The girl who played Jasira (Summer Bishil) needs to be nominated for an Oscar. She was just flat out amazing and played the part perfectly. You could just feel every emotion she gave you on the screen and you could even feel what she was thinking. It was such an interesting character and she pulled it off perfectly. Remember she was around 18 years old when they shot this, but she is playing a 13 year old girl. My question is; did Aaron Eckhart feel awkward during these scenes. The guy pulled off one hell of a performance as a guy trying to decide between right/wrong and his lustful thoughts. It was pretty wild watching his character. Ball has created a disturbing, yet brutally honest movie that will shock you. This is one of those movies that the trailers do not do it justice because they can't show/tell you a lot about the story line. The movie is all about sex and will keep you intrigued throughout the entire. GO CHECK IT OUT! It is definitely worth the matinee viewing on the sole purpose that you should people watch and see who walks out of the movie before it ends. Back to Top |
Righteous KillGenre: Crime/Drama/Mystery Released: 2008 Rating: The flick is nowhere near the level of Heat because of the predictability but it does deliver great performances and hilariously awkward dialogue. Trust me; I had the lowest expectations possible for this film. The trailers were awful and it just looked like the actors were doing it for a paycheck. De Niro and Pacino have been in two films together before this but were only screen together for one of them. The Godfather Part II did star both of the actors but they were never on screen together considering the story line. They do meet up together in what I like to call one of the greatest dialogues of all time; the famous restaurant scene from Heat. I would rank that right behind the dialogue from True Romance between Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper about the ancestors of Sicilians. Heat was the first time we were able to see these two prolific actors on screen together and in the same scene. So why not make a movie with these two stars in it? Well, they probably wouldn't have done it years back because they are two actors of similar taste. They star in similar films and both have that aura of being one of the greatest actors of all time. Now, since they both have just been putting out duds the past couple of years, why not make a bad-ass dirty cop flick together. Well, here it is and it isn't that bad. It has it's flaws and dragged a little here and there but ended up being enjoyable. Righteous Kill also stars Carla Gugino (Sin City, Spy Kids), John Leguizamo (The Pest), Donnie Whalberg (Saw 3) and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson (Get Rich or Die Tryin'). The film is directed by Jon Avnet who also directed one of the worst films of all time; 88 Minutes but he produced a lot of great flicks including The Mighty Ducks. I am going to base my plot line on the trailers because there are a lot of twists going on and I don't want to give anything away. The film opens up and we meet both Detective Turk (De Niro) and Detective Rooster (Pacino). They have been partners for over 30 years for the NYPD and nothing has ever come between them. They have taken down a lot of the scum of New York City. We learn in the beginning of the film that someone is taking out the bad-guys that get off from their cases and walk free. This serial killer is leaving poems behind with his murder victims. Turk and Rooster are on the case of this serial killer and they are joined by Detective Simon Perez (Leguizamo) and Detective Ted Riley (Whalberg). Perez and Riley feel that it is a cop on the inside who is doing the killings. If you want to know more, please read below the review for a NOTE SECTION. I am not going to give away the ending but I will tell you something that you find out in the first 5 MINUTES that makes the plot line more interesting. Regardless, these detectives are put on the case by their Lieutenant (Brian Denney). You can't forget the love interest of the film, Karen Correlli (Gugino). Let's just say she likes it rough and you will see who with. Her sex life was a very funny topic of the film. Question is, if the serial killer is a cop, then who is it? Overall, the performances alone are worth seeing it. It was pretty cool to see Pacino and De Niro back in their hard core roles as wise guy cops. I love De Niro and Pacino's facial expressions and having them on screen together is a lot of fun. I will say this. Since it is such a big deal that they are on screen together, I had a hard time suspending my disbelief at points because I just kept thinking to myself, "that is Pacino and De Niro." It did not occur the whole film but it happened enough to take me out of the picture. The film's biggest problem is the predictability factor. The nugget they give you in the first five minutes makes the movie what it is. I am afraid to say what it is here because I don't want to spoil anything but you will see what I mean. That is where the predictability of the film begins because I figured out the ending twist about 30 minutes into the movie. That is not saying much since I watch movies all the time but I would be curious to see if people figured it out as well. A lot of people I talk to think they have already figured out who the killer is just based on the trailer. One thing I loved about the film was the no holds barred dialogue. It was filthy and bad-ass. Pacino and De Niro had some great zingers and one-liners that will make you laugh. I guess my 2 biggest complaints are the predictability of the film and the fact that there were so many different names for all of the characters that I became confused. I will say this though; 50 CENT is not the greatest actor in the world and they used him perfectly. He wasn't on screen too much. He was there just enough to be noticed and serve his character's purpose. Was this just a paycheck for De Niro and Pacino? Possibly. They pretty much played themselves but I had fun watching it and it is always great to see Gugino on screen. Her sex life, like I said, makes for a lot of funny moments in the film. Listen, the movie isn't the greatest and had a very similar tone to The Boondock Saints. You are probably better off watching Heat and that flick then seeing this but you can't deny though that you don't want to see these two on camera. I say go to see it for that reason alone. It will keep you entertained and you can have a good laugh with it. It does take itself seriously and it is a serious film but they give you exactly what you want; Pacino and De Niro being bad-asses. I give the film a 3.5 BDK rating because I do feel that it is a good matinee/rental. I would check it out. Just don't expect Heat. Back to Top |
Burn After ReadingGenre: Comedy/Crime Released: 2008 Rating: Another Coen Brothers classic. The point of Burn After Reading is that there is no point and that is the entire point. Are you completely confused? To use an oxy-moron, this was officially the dumbest-smart film I have ever seen. The Coen Brothers are back with a film that I think was more entertaining than No Country For Old Men and had an ending that actually made sense (after seeing the film multiple times I understand it but they could have done without it and just left out Tommy Lee Jones' character completely). I will say right off the bat that Burn After Reading is not a movie for everybody. This is the type of film that people will walk out of, pissed off and wondering what they just paid for. If you do that, then you obviously didn't the point of the film. Remember, there is NO POINT. That is the whole joke and it is extremely smart and well written. The Coen Brothers brought back their awkwardly weird dark humor which always works. To this day, I still stand by Blood Simple being their best film. It was their first film and it was just great to see two independent filmmakers at the birth of their genius. These guys don't make bad films and if you haven't seen Raising Arizona, Fargo, The Big Lebowski or Miller's Crossing, then I have no idea what you are doing. Now, I know what you are saying. Are the Coen Brothers trying to prove that they are smarter than us and that only smart people can get this type of a film? Not at all! I am not that smart, as you can tell by my writing skills. It is just a different style of comedy and doesn't follow the norm. If you want a perfect example of dark comedy, think of the scene in Pulp Fiction where Marvin gets shot in the face by John Travolta's character. I was laughing so hard when that happened. Is it funny that he was shot? Not really. It is funny because of how the scene is directed and acted. This new Coen Brothers adventure follows that style of comedy exactly and almost to the T if you catch my drift. Burn After Reading stars George Clooney (Out of Sight, O Brother Where Art Thou?), John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich, Con-Air), Brad Pitt (True Romance, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford), Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe), Francis McDormand (Blood Simple, Fargo) and Richard Jenkins (The Visitor). The plot line to this film will sound retarded. I will admit that. Essentially, the movie opens and we meet Osborne Cox (Malkovich) and he quits his job at the CIA after being demoted to a lower security level. His wife Katie (Swinton) wants to leave him for a guy named Harry (Clooney) who works for the Department of Treasury. He wants to leave his wife as well. Essentially, everyone is sleeping with everyone in this film. Because Katie wants to leave him, she gets advice from a lawyer that she should take control of his Osborne's finances so that she doesn't walk away broke. She burns a C.D. of what she thinks is his financial files, but happens to just be a MEM-WAA (memoir) that he is writing. To make a long story short, the C.D. ends up being lost at a gym called Hardbodies, where Linda Litzkie (McDormand) and Chad Feldheimer (Pitt) work. Chad and Linda are two of the dumbest people on the planet and they try to bribe Osborne by asking for money for the disc. I don't want to give too much away but all of the characters are connected in someway and let the stupidity begin. The fact that the movie is just completely dumb is the whole JOKE of the film. What makes this apparent is all of the dialogue that happens between the characters played by JK SIMMONS and DAVID RASHE. That is all I will say. Overall, the flick is definitely original, nutty, smart and just completely out there. If that is your cup of tea, and it is mine, then you will really enjoy this. Like I said, I think the jokes in the movie will go over a lot of people's heads. Malkovich stood out the most for me out of all of the actors. Maybe it was the fact that he used an "F" word every five seconds but his mannerisms and facial expressions were so chaotic that you just feel his pain as to how stupid these other characters really are. Brad Pitt gives one hell of a dumb performance, which kind of reminded of the outlandish performance we received from Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder. It was a completely different character but I am just comparing the fact that they were so out of their norm. See, the thing that makes Brad Pitt such an amazing actor is the wide variety of the roles he takes. The guy can seriously play anything. He really showed that in this film as well as a little flick called Snatch. He is one of the few actors that is in the news so much but doesn't let that affect him. He really knows how to take his job seriously and it is obvious that he takes all his characters seriously, even if he is playing a DUMB trainer in a gym. McDormand is to the Coen Brothers what Diane Keaton was to Woody Allen. My roommate pointed out that film had a lot of similarities to Fargo and I couldn't agree more. McDormand's character was just as quirky as her character from Fargo except she didn't have that crazy accent. As always, she pulls off her best quirky role. For a movie that is so all over the place, it is so well written that the Coen Brothers somehow keep it together and make sure that everything is tied perfectly together. What is funny is that none of it matters because it is all so ridiculous. The movie is DUMB-GENIUS, if that makes sense. I would literally sit there during the movie and say, how the hell did they come up with this? It just seemed so out there but it worked. The flick is a perfect example of a mess that doesn't need to be cleaned up. THE KEY TO THE MOVIE and I WON'T GIVE ANYTHING AWAY is the end. The last scene really seals the entire film, no pun intended. You will see why. Don't leave before that. I give this film a 4.5 BDK rating because it was great to see more originality this year and it's a movie that was so smart that it was dumb. (I am having trouble really figuring out why I liked this movie so much. There was just so much going on) Back to Top |
Bangkok DangerousGenre: Action/Crime/Thriller Released: 2008 Rating: Instead of killing people, Nicolas Cage's character should have been more worried about getting a hair cut. I had to catch a midnight screening of the flick because they did not screen it to the critics and it makes perfect sense as to why they chose to do so within the first five minutes of it. What was this movie going for? It has nothing to offer to the action/hitman genre and is completely predictable. A fifth grader could probably figure out the ending of this film halfway through. I was talking to a buddy of mine and we were trying to figure out the last good Nicolas Cage film. The guy has been on a really bad streak recently and he ruined Ghost Rider. That flick was one of the worst comic book films I had ever seen. I grew up on his films, though, which is why I still hold out some kind of hope for the guy. You can call me an idiot but one of my favorite films of all time is Face/Off. That along with The Rock and Con-Air, are some of my favorite action films. This is the part of my review where I list the names of the actors in the film but the only one that you will recognize is Cage. I was reading somewhere that since he was one of the only American actors in the film, there was barely any English spoken on set. The flick also stars a guy named Shahrit Yahnarm who plays Kong in the film. Bangkong Dangerous is directed by The Pang Brothers who decided to pull a Michael Haneke on this one. He directed a movie called Funny Games a few years ago and then directed the American version of the film which starred Naomi Watts and Tim Roth. That is a great film if you haven't seen it yet. The Pang Brothers directed Bangkok Dangerous back in 1999, which was the Thai version of the film. It was the first film they ever did. Now, they have decided to remake their own film nine years later. Why did they do that? Cage must have loved the original because he decided to sign on as a producer on this film. In the 2008 version, Cage is a hitman who has decided to leave the game but he must complete a 4 person job in Bangkok, Thailand. He is hired to do the job and kill these four people one by one. When he gets to Bangkok, Thailand he finds an assistant named Kong to help transport the suitcases which contain the targets. In the beginning of the film we see Cage's character, Joe, as this hard hitting guy who doesn't care. Now, he has become a little soft because he meets a deaf-mute girl who works in a pharmacy. It starts to make him realize that maybe he should get out now and live a normal life. What should he do though, considering he was fired? In the original 1999 film, the main hitman was a deaf-mute. Overall, the movie felt completely A.D.D. to me. It was all over the place and I found myself putting my hands up in the air. The entire film was unnecessary and honestly just didn't make any sense. I had no clue why he was doing half of the things he was doing. At one point, he is treating everyone like crap and then the next minute he becomes a nice guy who can't kill anymore. That is totally fine but the movie is so poorly done, the transition doesn't work and makes the film appear sloppy. Cage's hair cut was beyond horrendous. I know it is dumb to say something like this but his hair was one of the reasons I didn't like the movie. It just made my friends and I laugh the entire time. He needed to have shorter hair or they should have maybe cast a different actor play this Joe character. He just didn't seem to fit the part. His character was so dull and boring and you could just tell that Cage was doing this for the paycheck. I will admit that the film has 3 great action scenes (scene where he stops the lights and rides up on the motorcycle is awesome) that had some pretty bad-ass death sequences. They are few and far between and are not worth spending the money to see the film. It just didn't make sense that he would hate everyone one moment and then start training this Kong character the next. It was just awful! I am giving the film a 1 BDK rating because it should only be seen if you have NOTHING BETTER to watch. That shouldn't be the problem because there are so many other better films out there. I guarantee when Cage watches this film, even he realizes how bad it is. Back to Top |
Babylon A.D.Genre: Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi/Thriller Released: 2008 Rating: Besides the visuals being mediocre, Babylon A.D. has nothing special to offer except for maybe advice how not to act in a movie. I honestly felt like I was watching a FIRST reading of the script. The way the dialogue was read and edited together was just completely awful. I couldn't believe that the editor of a high budget production would edit the dialogue so tightly. Apparently, according to numerous articles online and rottentomatoes.com, the director of the film (Mathieu Kassovitz) is actually ashamed at the outcome and feels that they butchered the movie. It just made it seem amateurish and absurd. The midday show on 106.7 WJFK-FM in Washington D.C. (Big O and Dukes) were talking about Vin Diesel's career on the air. The guy hasn't had a hit in forever and apparently now he has FAST AND THE FURIOUS 4 coming out! I loved the first one so I am hoping that will help revive his career because this movie sure will not help. I am not sure what he is doing. The guy has done some decent movies but he hasn't been in anything great recently. I think we can all agree that this new flick looked a lot like another Riddick movie. It had that same futuristic look from the trailers. Let me say this; the trailers for the film are WAY cooler than the actual movie itself. I was watching T.V. the other night and they kept airing the trailers and of course they were showing you all of the cool special effects scenes. You are better off just watching the trailer on APPLE.COM then shelling out the 10 bucks to see this film in theatres. The film stars Vin Diesel, Melanie Thierry, Michelle Yeoh (Memoirs of Geisha), Charlotte Rampling (Basic Instinct 2) and Gerard Depardieu who plays Gorsky in the film. The movie opened cold to the critics in Washington D.C. Luckily I was able to catch a midnight screening of the flick so I could warn you guys. The film opens up in the future and we are placed in Russia. There really is no background given but we are lead to believe there is still a war going on and people are just living horrible lives. The best place to be is America. We meet Torrop (Diesel) who was a former mercenary that is now considered a terrorist in America and is never aloud to set foot there again. We learn from the beginning that he is going to die at some point and this is his story. He is given a job as a smuggler to bring a young Russian woman named Aurora (Thierry) to the United States to keep her safe. The only problem is that she is a high target and has some kind of special AURA around her. Haha. Trying to make a funny. She doesn't travel alone though which is why Sister Rebecca (Yeoh) goes along with her and Torrop, much to his disliking. Throughout their journey, we slowly start to learn about Aurora and what her special powers are. Her main power is that she can see into the future. She was able to speak nineteen languages by the age of 2. Therefore, the plot revolves around Torrop getting her to New York safely. The bad guys are this religious group who want to use her as a miracle in order to get their religion off the ground. Their leader is a total b**** and is played by Charlotte Rampling who has the weirdest eyes I have ever seen. Overall, the movie starts off strong but quickly goes down hill. It was great to see Diesel as a bad-ass at the beginning. There is nothing cooler than having The Rza's score playing as Diesel is walking through a broken down city. The Rza from the Wu-Tang Clan also helped with the score for Kill Bill. We get a cool vibe from Diesel in the beginning but once the plot actually begins, the writing loses it's cool and it just becomes a mess. I am willing to look past that stuff when it comes to these types of movies but when it is so obviously bad and in your face, it is hard to look away. There aren't enough cool action scenes and effects to cover up the film's flaws. At least with a trashy movie like Death Race, the movie was 80% action. Therefore, none of that stuff mattered. Diesel needs to change his characters up. He is playing the same guy in every single movie; just a washed up has been who is struggling to get through life and just loves kicking ass. That is fine but it would be cool to see him do something different. This is his same character that he has played a million different times. The girl who played Aurora (Thierry) was great. Her facial expressions were perfect for her part and she actually lit up the screen, overpowering Diesel awful acting. Like I said above, the script felt like it was being read for the first time as they were filming the movie. I know I have said that before for another film but this was bad. I think it had a lot to do with the way the film was edited together. The edits were too quick and needed a little more spacing because it just seemed manufactured. After typing this review and learning the story about the director hating the final outcome, it now makes sense why the editing was so bad. I give the film a 2 BDK rating out of 5. There were some pretty cool visuals with the slow motion missiles but overall, the movie just doesn't work. I would wait for the cable viewing and spend your money on something better this weekend; like Traitor or Hamlet 2. Back to Top |
TraitorGenre: Drama Released: 2008 Rating: Traitor is an amazing flick that perfectly balances out the reality of terrorism but keeps the audience guessing and entertained throughout. I will say that what you are about to read will make me sound ignorant but please hear me out. I was sitting there during the movie just thinking about how real this seems. Everything in this movie could happen which literally makes me feel unsafe in today's society. The fact that terrorists will just suicide bomb innocent people, because they feel they are doing a service, is just so freaky. I am not judging anyone about religion. I am just speaking from the perspective of terrorism, in general. That is not a new idea but for some reason, after seeing this film, it has turned a light on in my head about how serious and real this is. It happens every day all across the world and could happen at any moment (9/11). I think people become ignorant to how real it actually is and how it could happen at any moment. The cool thing about the movie is that they give you both sides of the argument and show why the terrorists feel that they are right. The movie does leave you feeling that it is wrong, obviously, but it was interesting to see it from that perspective. I know I might sound like an idiot right now but I am just admitting a common ignorance that many people have. For some reason, this movie really struck a chord with me. I will stop now though. Traitor stars Guy Pearce (Memento, The Time Machine), Don Cheadle (Boogie Nights, Talk To Me), Said Aghmaoui (The Kite Runner, Vantage Point) and Aly Khan who plays Fareed in the film. I have only seen one trailer for the film which said that this movie was this year's Bourne Ultimatum. That makes me so mad because it makes the movie seem more like a straight action flick. While it does have some great action scenes, I think it perfectly balances out the reality of terrorism and intensity. The flick revolves around a Sudanese man named Samir (Cheadle). I don't know how much they tell you in the trailer but I will tread lightly. Basically Cheadle is taken prisoner in Yemen for selling bombs to a group of terrorists that the FBI have been after for a while now. While being held in Yemen, he is visited by Agent Clayton (Pearce) and Agent Archer (McDonough) from the F.B.I. They try to get Cheadle to talk about where he got the bombs but he won't give them answers. Eventually, Samir and the group of terrorists escape from Prison and Samir starts to carry out terrorist attacks with them. *******Do not read this paragraph if you do not want to know anymore******* I am still going to tread lightly but I don't want to ruin anything for anyone who hasn't seen the trailers. The kicker is that Samir is actually working undercover with the F.B.I. but only one agent knows who he is. That agent is played by Jeff Daniels. As the F.B.I. is tracking Samir, they have no idea that he is actually undercover. Now, Samir is actually a devout Muslim and believes totally in the faith but he is not a terrorist. That is all of the plot I will give for now. I will say that the terrorist group is planning out a MASSIVE ATTACK on the U.S. and they need Samir's help. You can see where the drama will come from. Overall, for a fictionalized action/drama flick, they did a good job showing the audience just how serious this stuff really is. Obviously the movie contains the typical Hollywood moments but they were very few and far between. I think a lot of that had to do with it coming out of a smaller studio; Overture. I think they were able to keep the film a little darker because of that. Don Cheadle pulls off a very sick performance in this movie as a supposed terrorist. He was actually very convincing and really scared me. It is just amazing to see someone so immersed in what they believe that they will kill. You could honestly feel his pain through the screen. The performance that blew me away the most was the character of Omar, played by Said Aghmoui. He played a terrorist struggling with what he believed and you could tell he was a little on edge a lot of the film. Guy Pearce reminded me a lot of Brad Pitt in the film. His performance was pretty bland and didn't really do much for me. The main focus was Cheadle and Aghmoui. I also wanted to point out the film's amazing score. I really like the declining note portion during the intense scenes. It is hard to put in writing but there was this part of the score that was very full and just felt like it was declining. It was very interesting and added a lot of depth to the film. It is amazing how much a score can for a scene. Please check this film out. It is a great flick to see in theatres with all of the explosions and action. It also is an important movie to see because it just shows you how scary this entire situation is and that this could happen at any moment in the U.S. I give the film a 4.5 BDK rating out of 5. Listen, I know there have been a million films dealing with this subject; Syriana, The Kingdom, etc. For some reason, this one just felt less Hollywood and more real to me. The film isn't perfect and does have flaws. Some of the situations did seem a little over the top and unbelievable but I only felt that way about a couple parts. Sometimes it did feel that they were trying to be too scary but if you take a step back, you can realize that there are people out there that are really like that. Back to Top |
Hamlet 2Genre: Comedy Released: 2008 Rating: With all of the unoriginal garbage in Hollywood recently, Hamlet 2 gives us hope that there is still talent left in the world. I am honestly sitting wondering which I liked better; the film itself or the play the actors put on within the film. Who is Steve Coogan? That is a great question. I feel bad saying this but he was one of those actors I knew by face but not really by name until I saw his last film; Tropic Thunder. He played the terrible director, Damien Cockburn, in that film. That kind of put him on the map for me. Then I started seeing trailers for Hamlet 2. Now, you may be asking yourself; "What the hell is Hamlet 2 and why are they making a sequel?" Trust me, it is the same exact question that I had before knowing what the film is about. It is and it is not what you are thinking. It is because they are actually are making a play that is a sequel to Hamlet 2, but the film itself is not a sequel to the famous Shakespeare play. You will see exactly what I mean when you go out and pay full ticket price for this film over the weekend. The reason you are going to go see is that I am giving it a great rating. Does that sound big headed? Maybe so! I just want people to go out and see this. It really is something new and original. You will be freaked out and the film will definitely not appeal to the masses. Well, that is what happens with original films. They don't really open wide (In Bruges, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford). They stay limited because only a select amount out of people can appreciate something different. Hamlet 2 stars Steve Coogan (Tropic Thunder), Amy Phoeler (SNL, Baby Mama), Catherine Keener (The 40 Year Old Virgin), David Arquette (Scream, Scream 2) and Elizabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas). I guarantee you that half the people who start reading this plot description will exit from my page because of how dumb they think the plot sounds. All I ask is that you stay with me on this. The movie opens up with some hilarious acting performances that Dana Marschz (Coogan) did before heading to West Mesa High School in Tuscan, Arizona to teach Drama. He is basically a failed actor who couldn't find his way and no one to represent him. Dave and his wife, Brie (Keener), are miserable and basically living paycheck to paycheck. They even have a random guy named Gary (Arquette) living in their house to help pay rent. When the high school starts cutting costs and canceling classes a bunch of random students, that normally wouldn't set foot in a drama room, take drama as an elective. Think of it as a Dangerous Minds type of situation. Dave has been sober for 7 year but life just keeps crapping on him. The school's paper keeps trashing his plays which are just play versions of popular box office hits such as Erin Brockivich. He needs desperately to create something original. Why not do a sequel to HAMLET and add in sex, violence, religion and little song called "Rock Me Sexy Jesus." The song was so good that I was singing it on the way home and I am still humming it in my head as I write this review. The play obviously starts to gather problems because of the fact that Jesus is being considering a sex symbol. You will just have to see what happens from there. Overall, please go out and see this flick. It will make you laugh and just show you how original people can still be. Anyone who is offended by this movie, like Tropic Thunder, obviously doesn't get the jokes. They are not trying to be offensive. They are trying to prove a point about free speech and how sensitive people are to politically incorrect humor. Steve Coogan is absolutely priceless in this film. Everything about him was PERFECT from his smile to his teeth and just his outlandish acting. He was absolutely hilarious and the perfect man to carry this film. I want to see it again so badly! This guy is now a rising star in my book even though he has been around forever. Forgive me for not knowing his previous work, but I am not a super fan of this dude. You can check out my interview with him on the red carpet of Tropic Thunder by clicking here. I am giving this film a 4.5 BDK rating because I feel that it is definitely worth seeing in theatres. Please go see this film as soon as you can. Mark my words that this film will blow up and become a hit. The reviews have been insane already. I am not the only one but I am happy to be on that bandwagon. ROCK ME SEXY JESUS! (p.s. I mean no offense by that). Back to Top |
CollegeGenre: Comedy Released: 2008 Rating: College is exactly like every other film you have seen in the genre. You definitely shouldn't waste your money to see it theatres but it is worth a cable viewing. This is the type of film that will give you a couple of classic moments that will make you laugh and that is all. I wish they could combine all of the classic comedic moments from these types of films and make one ultimate good college film. We haven't had a good one since Van Wilder. Superbad is definitely the ultimate high school film, at least for my generation. A lot of people would say The Breakfast Club. Superbad was just a gem because it was actually a good flick and made you laugh your ass off at the same time. That is a rarity these days. College has influences from that film and pretty much every movie ever made in that genre. The one that it reminded me of mostly was American Pie: Beta House, which was the same exact story line as this flick. Now, don't get me wrong, I didn't hate this flick at all. It was a little long but it did keep me entertained. The only problem is that it is nothing new and really doesn't need to be seen in the theatres. College stars Drake Bell (High Fidelity), Andrew Caldwell (kid who says "This is easily 100 times cooler than Armageddon" in Transformers), Kevin Covais, Ryan Pinkston (PUNK'D) and Nick Zano (who will be starring in the new FINAL DESTINATION flick). I think the highlight of the film was this guy Gary Owen. He plays a character named Bearcat and has a lot of scene stealing moments. Everyone I saw the film with kept yelling out Superbad. The characters were pretty much the same. You have these 3 seniors in High school who visit Fieldmont College over the weekend and have the greatest weekend of their lives. Kevin (Bell) is your typical emo-type high school kid. He is supposed to be the "good looking" character. Carter (Caldwell) is the over weight funny guy. Finally, you have Morris (Covais} who is the nerdy guy who wants to get a scholarship to the college. They arrive at the college expecting the weekend of their lives, which is what they kind of get. I say kind of because they end up staying in a frat house and were basically treated like pledges. The President of the Fraternity is a total D-BAG. His name is Teague (Zano) and he is your typical good looking, muscular frat guy that can get any girl he wants. He notices his opportunity to mess with these high school kids and he takes full advantage. Let's just say that some pretty nasty stuff starts to happen. It gets really ugly. Overall, the movie does have some pretty funny moments but it is nothing you haven't seen before. It is the same old college movie that you have seen a million times. You can tell that from the trailer and while the movie is entertaining, you don't need to spend your hard earned money to see it in theatres. Just wait till you are drunk at a frat party one night and you will have more fun doing that than watching this movie. I will admit though that the body shots scene had me cringing and laughing really hard. This is where Bearcat (Gary Owen) has his shining moment. The characters were very clichéd and just fit that perfect stereotype that they were going for. There really is no plot besides the fact that these kids are spending a weekend at college as high school seniors. I think the goal was to just throw nudity and gross out humor on screen and have fun. They succeeded with that and while I had no problem with it, I am not going to encourage you to spend money to see it in theatres. I am giving the film a 2 BDK rating out of 5, meaning that you should watch it as a cable viewing. Go back and watch Superbad or American Pie 2 if you want a coming of age comedy. Back to Top |
Death RaceGenre: Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi/Thriller Released: 2008 Rating: Any bad-ass who wears Chuck Taylors, kills people in amazing ways and just spouts off amazing dialogue is totally cool in my book. As my friend said, in a totally heterosexual way, Statham's abs might be worth the price of admission. That dude must have been working out 24 hours a day. What? I am a guy so I can't notice that kind of stuff? Whatever! It is right there on screen. I guarantee you the guy's abs work themselves out in his sleep. The promos for this film had me right from the start. I love that gritty old look of the film and just the bad-ass explosions. Yes, this film is a re-make of a 1970's film called Death Race 2000 starring Sylvester Stallone and David Carradine. It was directed by Roger Corman who came back to produce this new film. Back then, a film had never been made like that. People were getting killed for sport |