I must start by saying that "Get Him To The Greek" actually exceeded whatever expectations of mediocrity I had for it. Actually, let me rephrase that. I had no idea how funny this movie would be, the trailer was only a blip on my radar.
"Get Him To The Greek" is just plain enjoyable. Every character had a high degree of likability, and each made me laugh. Jonah Hill's "fish out of water" personality worked, for me at least, as did Russel Brand's "rock music personified" Aldous Snow (a character carried over from the movie "Forgetting Sarah Marshall"). A surprise will come to some in the way of P. Diddy. His boisterous, outrageous, dick head attitude was hilarious, and possibly one of the funnier things in the entire movie.
What you think one character lacks in comedic value, you will probably find in another, or something, somewhere. The gross out jokes that do occur (often) may not appeal to some, but I believe they'll reach their intended audience just fine. In addition they serve to just push the point that Jonah Hill's character is about a trillion miles out of his element.
"I hope you're wearing a condom because I have a dirty mind."
(NOTE-- Unfortunately, the "I am motorist" scene was cut in the screening I saw.)
"A Very Long Engagement" is a French romance/war drama that comes from the writer/director of "Amelie." This is a pretty touching movie, but not in the way you would consider a chick flick. The movie takes place during World War 1 and follows a woman's search for her fiancée who disappeared during the Battle of Somme. Though he is believed to be dead, she relentlessly follows seemingly hopeless leads in order to be reunited with him.
This movie has some really good performances, moving moments, and some pretty intense battle scenes. But, just a warning, do not go into this movie expecting a huge epic tale of war similar to "Saving Private Ryan." This movie delves not only into scenes of battle in small bits to explain what happened to the man, but also the tragedy of the woman who clings to the hope that her fiancée has somehow survived a suicide mission.
Great story, touching performances, and moments of amusing humor.
What is there to say about Iron Man 2 that people don't already know or expect? The movie was full of amazing action and special effects, and a great cast. There really is not that much else to say. Not being a comic book reader myself, I can't really say how close to the comic the movie is, but I can say that it was terrific fun.
Downey gives a great, convincingly full of himself performance as Tony Stark. Rourke plays revenge fueled villain Whiplash. Cheadle replaces Terrance Howard as Stark's best friend James Rhodes. Johansson plays the smokin' Black Widow. Paltrow plays Stark's low key love interest Pepper Potts. The cast is just as solid as it, though I must admit while Downey and Paltrow have some great scenes together, there were times when you just didn't feel all that much of a connection between some of the other cast. Downey just doesn't feel like all that great of a pair up with Don Cheadle or Mickey Rourke at times, but these moments are nowhere near enough to distract you from the movie's entertainment value.
The story was standard, and just what you would expect. Absolutely no surprises, which won't necessarily upset people. The only thing that was kind of lame was the whole Tony Stark slowly dying aspect, it just didn't really make me care at all really (Downey is not at fault). There were some occasional lapses in logic, but no one goes to see a movie like Iron Man without preparing themselves for suspension of disbelief once in a while.
Overall, seriously fun movie, (though not totally on par with the first) see it with friends, and in theaters because you may not feel the need to buy it on dvd.
For the most part I am absolutely no authority on horror movies. Horror movie fans are a very, very particular group, they like things a certain way, and I just can't tap the mentality of horror movie fans, not to mention to the subsections of horror: gore hounds, those who like psychological scares, etc.
I went to an early screening of the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" remake yesterday, and I was pleasantly surprised, for it was pretty entertaining. First though, lets get the negative out of the way. Some of the acting on the part of the "kids" in this movie got pretty very corny at times. Also, the movie is very, very fast so you hardly get a chance to feel for some of the characters should you happen to start rooting for one, though the pace makes sense considering it happens over a mere few days, but some will agree it could have been fleshed out a little better.
Some who are unfamiliar with the original will be confused as to why some characters the movie seems to want to make the main characters suddenly and mercilessly die very early into the movie. Another point is Freddy doesn't really make perfect sense in this movie. The original Freddy was even a scary, ruthless man while he was alive, this incarnation of Freddy is seen alive as a very meek person (though I will say you get a glimpse of his dark side and what he is capable of. Perhaps this will be explained more in sequels.
Now for the positive. Jackie Earle Haley is really damn scary. Nuff said. His voice is creepy and his portrayal of Freddy is just absolutely ruthless. When word got out that Freddy wouldn't have his usual humor in the remake, many cried foul, be aware that Freddy is not completely devoid of humor in this movie (example: "How's that for a wet dream?")
As for the rest of the cast, even though above I mention you don't really get a chance to connect with many of them, I'll say you definitely get a sense of how scared their characters are, most of them legitimately seem scared (not to be a downer, but the ones I thought were the best died early in the movie.)
The scares in this movie are legitimately, well, scary. The scares are not entirely reliant on loud music building up, and jump moments (though there are a fair number, a lot actually). Many will still be scared when you they Freddy coming from a mile away.
The plot is standard horror fare, with some leaps in logic required, and unanswered questions which will assuredly be answered in sequels. If you are familiar with the original keep an eye out for easter eggs, especially at the end.
Overall, I think this was not a bad movie at all, though I am sure horror fans will disagree with me. I found this movie entertaining and definitely a heart pumper.
So as many people have already expected, Kick-Ass was a very good and very entertaining movie. It manages to create a perfect balance between Superbad-esque raunchy comedy and over the top, crazy, ultra violence. All of the actors are hilarious, and I don't remember any of main characters really falling flat.
I'm not the biggest fan of Nic Cage, but even I have to give credit where credit is due for this movie, and it was a nice touch he did channeling the voice of Adam West for his role as Big Daddy in this movie.
Aaron Johnson use of low-key humor is very effective, though I admit the most entertaining of his parts were just him getting his ass kicked.
As for Mclovin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), like I said all actors were good, and he looked like a raccoon. So if you happen to like raccoons, well then you'll love Plasse in the last half of the movie.
So it would be impossible for me to point some of the more crazy over the top in a good way things that happen in this movie without giving away some of the better surprises in the film, but I can say one thing...they do fire a bazooka. Nuff said.
The only thing people might not be thrilled with in this movie would be some of the jokes if they are "over" the whole Superbad style raunchy teen comedies that have been coming out lately, but honestly, who is?
Written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón who has been involved with other fine films such as "A Little Princess," "Y tu Mamá También," and "Pan's Labyrinth," and based on the novel of the same name comes this British dystopian/action/sci fi/thriller mix up.
I thought this movie was absolutely great and it actually found its way onto my list of all time favorites. While the film had a theatrical release and got positive reviews, it still flew under the radar of a lot of people despite its fantastic, some may say innovative, action shots. Though not technically filmed in one shot (several spliced together) the effect is absolutely flawless with three scenes of intense "single shot" action in particular.
I have heard of some people being put off by this movie, claiming it was was too slow. On the other hand I felt the movie moved at a perfect pace so I guess the term "slow" is relative.
A biology lesson from Julian: "Y'know that ringing in your ears? That 'eeeeeeeeee'? That's the sound of the ear cells dying, like their swan song. Once it's gone you'll never hear that frequency again. Enjoy it while it lasts."
Clash of the Titans ended up being a pretty fun action film. Although even clocking in at 1:50 it still felt surprisingly short which isn't necessarily a bad thing if you are a casual movie watcher and don't like sitting through anything that really takes a second to get going. The action is exciting and well choreographed and theres just enough breathing room between each that it doesn't feel like the action is completely mindless.
The movie isn't the deepest, but then it doesn't really try to be, and in the case of a fun action films this isn't really much of a problem for most people. The acting is good, the pace was at times a little fast at times, and sometimes the plot is a tad flimsy, but overall not a bad view.
um, not a whole lot of quotes that stuck in this one, but..."Release the Kraken!"
From director Nimrod Antal, a new direction for the Predator franchise. This time the most dangerous people on Earth (predators, if you will) have been brought to another planet to be hunted by predators (the aliens...if you will.) The human side includes Adrien Brody as a mercenary and Topher Grace as a serial killer.
"Conrack" is a terrific gem of a movie, but definitely not widely known. This fact-based drama stars Jon Voight (or Angelina Jolie's daddy as some know him) as Pat Conroy who goes to teach a two room schoolhouse on an island off the coast of South Carolina. He soon realizes that the children have very little formal education and none can tell him what state they live in, or even what 2+2 is. The plot is somewhat of a typical "nice white person goes into a school of underprivileged minorities and teaches them to overcome adversity and triumph in spite of hardships," but I find "Conrack" is just different and is more touching than most movies of that formula today.
So, I would usually add a link to the website where you can buy this movie on DVD, but apparently production was discontinued and I have no idea where to get it otherwise I'd be ordering it right now also. I couldn't even find a video clip to add to the post which gives you an idea of just how little known this film is. If you do find it and you're a fan of drama you should do yourself a favor and buy it immediately.
In the words of Pat Conroy...well actually without the DVD I can't remember any quotes off the top of my head so I'll just lift it from the poster, "I want you all to take a real long look at me. That shouldn't be any hardship because I'm handsome."
If you haven't seen the trailer for the upcoming Summer movie "Scott Pilgram vs. The World" well...here it is. Looks great, and its from the guy who brought us Shaun of the Dead.
This week you should consider buying this Bruce Willis action movie that really flew under the radar. It's called "16 Blocks" and while some ride it off as just a remake of "The Gauntlet" this movie is really something special. It has some nice action featuring Willis, a great antagonists in the form of David Morse, and a surprisingly, to some, very good performance and comic relief from Mos Def. Some found Def's voice to be annoying in this, but I personally thought that it worked. Another thing that surprised me about this movie was the lack of the love story that so many movies make mandatory now, and this movie does fine without it.
I’m going to kick things off with a post on Brooklyn’s Finest, a movie that’s not too far off everyone‘s radar and that is still in theaters. Just noting though that I will also make posts about films that have been out of theaters for a while, foreign films, etc; but lets just start it all off with a nice cliché cop drama.
Notice the use of the word ‘cliché.’ Technically cliché never ever means a good thing, but I had to make an exception in its use in this case. Brooklyn’s Finest is what clichés cop dramas should attempt to be. Its all there: the alcoholic cop, a week from retirement, the dirty cop struggling to make ends meet for his family, and the undercover cop who starts having a harder and harder time sorting out his priorities (Notice how many times I used the word ‘cop’). Despite all of these all too familiar elements the stories in Brooklyn’s Finest never feels boring, and the characters are not just boring archetypes, they are legitimately interesting characters who progress through the story just great.
On a bit of a downside the story was fairly predictable, and some people just have a hard time buying Richard Gere as a depressed, hooker loving, suicidal cop.
Overall, this movie is definitely worth the ticket price. It has great heart pumping moments, terrific characters, and of course the superb “hooker clean-up” scene.
In the words of Sal, “I don’t want God’s forgiveness–I want his fucking help!”
