Movie Review-Public Enemies

It's a known fact that Johnny Depp is the most versatile actor in Hollywood, and Christian Bale may be creeping up behind him, far behind, but creeping nonetheless. That's what made me so excited to see this movie initially. But what drives this film isn't just the acting performances, it's a great plot told with an equal balance of action and storytelling.

Plot:
The story of infamous 1930s gangster and bank robber John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) and the government's, led by Agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), attempts to catch him.

PROS:
A natural pro automatically is Johnny Depp. Depp's Dillinger combines all the things we like about him. Dillinger is charming, smooth, and likable.

I think the writing itself is strong. The dialogue had to be realistic towards the 30s, but the writers did a good job of not making it corny and cliche'.

The end of John Dillinger's story is actually kinda anti-climactic. But Mann crafts the scene with the right amount of realism, while making it incredibly tense.

And lastly, A LEELEE SOBIESKI SIGHTING!!!! Blast from the past.

CONS:
As much as i like Michael Mann's directing, I didn't like the times when he turned to guerrilla filmaking. I like the rocky feel, always have, but it just ended up being a distraction in this one. Though it gave the shootout in Little Bohemia a realistic feel, it took away from scenes that were dialogue-driven. Steady to rocky doesn't always work.

Recommendation:
Rent it.

Main Cast:
Johnny Depp ("Donnie Brasco", "Sweeney Todd")
Christian Bale ("Dark Knight", "Terminator Salvation")
Marion Cotillard ("Big Fish", "Nine")
Giovanni Ribisi ("Saving Private Ryan", "That thing You Do")
Billy Crudup ("Big Fish", "Watchmen")
Stephen Dorff ("Cold Creek Manor", "World Trade Center")
Stephen Graham ("Snatch", "Gangs of New York")
Stephen Lang ("Avatar", "The Men Who Stare at Goats")
LeeLee Sobieski ("Never Been Kissed", "Deep Impact")
Shawn Hatosy ("In and Out", "Alpha Dog")
Channing Tatum ("Fighting", "G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra")

Similar Titles:
Heat, Bonnie and Clyde, American Gangster

Next Review:
Carriers- Trailer

Movie Review- Terminator Salvation

So it's only been a few years since the last "Terminator" and the franchise has been very busy. From the cartoons, to the TV show, and now this new film are making sure "Terminator" doesn't disappear anytime soon.

Much like some of the other big budget action films that have popped up in the last few years, fans come in knowing alot more about the film. In terms of "Terminator Salvation" i did something I've never had to do in all my years of movie viewing. I had to stop the movie in order to read up on some of the history of the "Terminator" franchise. Now that's not a knock on the film by any means, it's my fault for not watching the original 2 "Terminators" in more than a decade. But that's the only break I'm going to give this movie.

PLOT:
John Connor (Christian Bale) must travel back in time to help save his teenage father Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) who is trying to save remaining humans from the Terminators.

PROS:
The film is a solid action film. It has a better story then "G.I. Joe" and better acting than Joe and "Transformers". The initial draw to the film is megastar Christian Bale. Bale, Sam Worthington, and Yelchin all give good acting performances, which drive the movie during its action-less scenes. The filmmakers did a good job of staying true to the franchise and not veering too far off the path, though we are of course way more technologically advanced than 25 years ago.

CONS:
Overall, the movie just good. Not great, not bad, but good. I think the steady influx of similar action/CG-laden films makes it harder for these films to stand out. With less action than some its other counterparts and a weaker storyline than "Star Trek", "Terminator Salvation" did nothing to set itself apart. Bale is a boost in credibility, but his acting was better than the script. And it wasn't nearly as fun to watch as some of the others. It's not a film I would rush out to go see.

Recommendation:
Wait til it comes on HBO.

WRITTEN BY:
John Brancato
Michael Ferris

DIRECTED BY:
McG

Main Cast:
Christian Bale ("The Machinist", "The Dark Knight")
Sam Worthington ("Hart's War", "Avatar")
Anton Yelchin ("Alpha Dog", "Star Trek")
Helena Bohnam Carter ("Fight Club", "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince")
Common ("Smokin' Aces", "Wanted")
Moon Bloodgood ("Win a Date With Tad Hamilton", "Pathfinder")
Michael Ironside ("Starship Troopers", "Perfect Storm")
Bryce Dallas Howard ("Spiderman 3", "The Village")
Jadagrace

Similar Titles:
"Terminator" Franchise, Star Trek

Next Review:
Public Enemies- Trailer

Movie Review- Four Christmases

It used to be so easy. You come up with a concept for a comedic film, you cast Vince Vaughn, he improvises for 2 hours and you make a $100 million. But after a while fans catch on. You can't play the same characters over and over for a decade and fans just accept it. You almost insult their intelligence. Just ask Will Ferrell.

"Four Christmases" looks good on paper. Funny Vince Vaughn and cute Reese Witherspoon together having to go to four different Christmases with their weird family. But something got lost between the paper and filming, and that's real unfortunate.

Plot:
Happy couple Brad (Vince Vaughn) and Kate (Reese Witherspoon) spend every Christmas avoiding their families. But after a travel mishap the two are forced to visit their families all in one day.

PROS:
Vince Vaughn is funny, and as old as his shtick gets, he still manages to get real genuine laughs. His best scene was at Kate's mother's boyfriend's church where he is tricked into playing Joesph in the church's nativity play. In that one scene he showed exactly why he is so famous. You might not roll on the floor laughing, but its light-hearted and fun enough to provide solid laughs.

CONS:
The movie just seems half-assed. It seemed slapped together. The jokes were set-up properly, but the jokes didn't land. They had a real chance to pile it on some good laughs by making the family members eccentric and out of the ordinary. But all the families were one-note and had no depth to them. Though they followed some of the traditions of family/holiday comedy, they rushed all the storylines and dove head first into a lackluster climax. Vaughn and Witherspoon lacked chemistry and Witherspoon seemed lost during some of Vaughn improvisation tirades, which all seemed like an attempt to save a weak script.

Recommendation:
Wait til it comes on HBO

Written By:
Matt Allen
Caleb Wilson

Directed by:
Seth Gordon

Main Cast:
Vince Vaughn ("Old School", "Fred Clause")
Reese Witherspoon ("Walk the Line", "Election")
Robert Duvall ("Apostle", "Tender Mercies")
Jon Favreau ("Rudy", "I Love You, Man")
Tim McGraw ("Flicka", "Friday Night Lights")
Mary Steenburgen ("Melvin and Howard", "Stepbrothers")
Kristin Chenoweth (TVs "Pushing Daisies", "RV")
Dwight Yoakam ("Sling Blade", "Crank")
Sissy Spacek ("Coal Miner's Daughter", "Hot Rod")
John Voight ("Coming Home", "Transformers")
Katy Mixon (TV's "Eastbound and Down", "State of Play")

Similar Titles:
Nothing Like the Holidays, The Family Stone

Next Review:
Terminator Salvation- Trailer

Movie Review- Funny People

Judd Apatow is a man that over the last few years I've come to admire. He is a talented director, who knows how to utilize his actors best talents. He adds senses of realism and makes you feel like you are in their circle of friends. Like you know them. Alot of the conversation Apatow guys have in his movies are similar to the ones my friends and I have. I guess that's why this film resonates with me. But i refuse to be bias, though i probably liked this movie more because it is an Apatow movie.

PLOT:
Legendary comedian George Simmons (Adam Sandler) hires struggling comic Ira (Seth Rogen) to write jokes and assist him after he finds out he is dying.

PROS:
Out of all the Apatow movies of recent years, this film has the most heart of all of them. You do have the usual smut and raunchiness, but its done in a way where it fits the characters in lieu of being just dialogue used to shock. You get the feeling that the characters are true to life. Apatow wisely creates a world around the characters that you feel could actually be plausible. I thought the coolest thing was how Apatow uses actual home video or former commercial and movie clips from the last 2 decades to make George Simmons more of a real character. I especially like the opening clips from the early 90s where Sandler is making prank phone calls to local restaurants while Ben Stiller, Judd Apatow, and Jeaneane Garofalo laugh in the background. And you can't beat the hilarious cameos by Eminem, and Ray Romano. And i died laughing when James Taylor yelled "F*ck Facebook" at a myspace event. Priceless.

CONS:
The tone of the movie was never light, it had realistic sadness mixed with solid comedy, which truly displayed Sandler's strengths as an actor. But once the Leslie Mann storyline was further fleshed out, some of the magic of the original storyline and dialogue got lost in the shuffle. Seth Rogen's character seemed to go from the main supporting actor, to an ensemble member while Sandler and Mann dominated the story. Though Eric Bana added some much needed comedy, his character was so unlikable it was hard to enjoy him as much.

Recommendation:
Rent it.

Written by:
Judd Apatow

Directed by:
Judd Apatow

MAIN CAST:
Adam Sandler ("Big Daddy", "Reign Over Me")
Seth Rogen (40 Year Old Virgin", "Superbad")
Leslie Mann ("Knocked Up", "Shorts")
Eric Bana ("Munic", "Star Trek")
Jonah Hill ("Evan Almighty", "Superbad")
Jason Schwartzman ("Walk Hard", Rushmore")
RZA ("American Gangster", "Derailed")
Aubrey Plaza ("Mystery Team")
Aziz Ansari ("The Rocker", "Observe and Report")

Similar Titles:
Knocked Up, Man on the Moon

Next Review:
Four Christmases- Trailer

Movie Review- Bruno

"Borat" was awesome. Never had i ever felt more uncomfortable and amused at the same time. The "sequel", like many sequels, it struggles to capture the magic of the original and it sometimes can be embarrassing to watch the film try to to top itself.

"Bruno" is not as charming, the character is not as likeable, and the shock value is not nearly as...well shocking. But it is worth a few disturbing laughs.

Plot:
Exiled Austrian fashion TV show host Bruno (Sacha Baron Cohen) decides to move to the U.S. in an attempt to become a big star.

Pros:
Much like his previous film, Cohen does a good job of putting his socially unacceptable character in very awkward situations. Cohen is smart, a genius even at that. His adoption of a black child from Africa and then taking him to an all-black talk show, awesome. His interaction with manly camping men, and his make out session with his love at a UFC fighting event were purely classic. But those were the tamer of his events, and they were the best parts of the movie.

And I loved the song at the end featuring some of the greatest musicians of our time. Watch it online if you want to see it.

Cons:
Some of the situations and scenes were just...off. His attempted seduction of former Presidential candidate Ron Paul, his penis swinging video, and him giving fellatio to ghost of Milli from Milli Vanilli is funny, for a second and then gets disturbing. I understand wanting to shock and outrage, but what about being funny. You can't forget that part.

The character Borat had something that made the movie special. Borat was naive, and had a certain energy and innocence that made people's reactions to him funnier, because people seemed to put up with him longer, making the gags funnier. One long gay joke dies eventually, a naive foreigner is worth a few more looks.

Recommendation:
Wait til it comes on HBO.

Written By:
Sacha Baron Cohen
Anthony Hines

Directed by:
Larry Charles

MAIN CAST:
Sacha Baron Cohen ("Borat", "Sweeney Todd")
Gustaf Hammerstien
Josh Meyers ("Date Movie", "College Road Trip")

Similar Titles:
Borat, TV's Da Ali G Show

Next Review:
Funny People- Trailer

Movie Review- My Sister's Keeper

This is probably the saddest movie I've ever seen. From start to finish. Sure, there are some moments that made me chuckle and smile, but overall a really really sad movie. I mean i knew a story about a little girl battling cancer was bound to me sad, but I was thinking Lifetime sad, not i might bawl like a chick sad. And that's not exactly a bad thing.

PLOT:
11 year old Anna (Abigail Breslin) decides to sue her parents (Cameron Diaz and Jason Patric) for the rights her own body after years of forced medical procedures in order to save her dying sister Kate (Sofia Vassilieva).

PROS:
I loved the acting performances in this film. Diaz, Patric, Breslin, Vassilieva, and Evan Ellingson all had great chemistry with eachother. They felt like a real family. Add Alec Baldwin and a poorly aging Joan Cusack, you got a great nucleus. Breslin, in my opinion, is continuing to prove that she is the best young actress in Hollywood. Suck it Dakota Fanning!

The story was also a believable one. A family trying to save one child but needing another to do it. It looks like a really cruel thing to do, and runs a chance of making the parents unlikable. But that manage to avoid it with good acting. The story wraps around nicely and weave in a way that could come odd as cheesy but doesn't. And kudos for not showing over-emotional death scenes in an already emotional movie.

CONS:
The acting may not have been pedestrian, but the writing was. It had a habit of stating the obvious. As well crafted as the film is, the movie did run like a Valerie Bertinelli TV movie at times, only because of the writing. Even though the twist in the story near the end was good.

Recommendation:
Rent it.

Written by:
Jeremy Leven
Nick Cassavetes

Directed by:
Nick Cassavetes

MAIN CAST:
Cameron Diaz ("Any Given Sunday", "Charlie's Angel")
Abigail Breslin ("Little Miss Sunshine", "No Reservations")
Jason Patric ("Lost Boys", "Narc")
Sofia Vassilieva ("Eloise at the Plaza", "Day Zero")
Evan Ellingson ("Letter's From Iwo Jima", TVs "CSI:Miami")
Alec Baldwin ("Pearl Harbor", "The Departed")
Joan Cusack ("In and Out", "School of Rock")
Heather Wahlquist ("The Notebook", "Alpha Dog")
Emily Deschanel (TVs "Bones", "Glory Road")
David Thornton ("The Notebook", "Alpha Dog")

Similar Titles:
I Am Sam, One True Thing

Next Review:
Bruno- Trailer

Movie Review- Stark Trek

I'm not a trekkie, never have been, but i may turn into one if the sequels to this film are as awesome as this one. This is how an action/sci-fi movie is supposed to be made. It's supposed to have awesome special effects and great acting. All of this genre should take notice and duplicate. At least acting-wise.

A kudos are in order for Abrams and company. It's not easy to please the trekkie-nerd following, well impossible, plus satisfy people like myself who were never into past "Treks" but enjoy movies like "G.I. Joe" and "Transformers".

PLOT:
After the planet Vulcan is destroyed, James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) must join forces to intercept evil Romulan Captain Nero (Eric Bana) who is on his way to destroy Earth.

PROS:
I've said it in my earlier posts and I'll say it again, there is a bad trend developing amongst these sci-fi/action flicks. All aesthetics and poor acting. What "Transformers 2" lacked in storyline and "G.I. Joe" lacked in acting is made up for in "Star Trek".

I was impressed by the acting, but enough about that. I think the storyline was well done, once understood. Alot of trekkies have complained about the presence of the Leonard Nimoy-Spock and the Zachary Quinto-spock in the same film and no William Shatner. Well Shatner would've thrown things array and with his success as T.J. Hooker, Denny Crane, and Priceline, he may have been a distraction.

I thought the flow of the movie was even, in a good way. There were no intense cheesy close-ups, and regardless of the unrealistic story the emotions are realistic and fit the moment.

I loved the humor. There were alot of funny moments and dialogue that had me rolling. Many of the characters are deadpan, robotic and speak using proper, intelligent speech. That works in their favor, especially with their conversations.

CONS:
The only real problem is that for a good while the plot was confusing. The terminology is kind of hard to follow at first, until Lenard Nimoy-spock breaks things down. But once that happens its all good from there.

Oh wait...and I may not be a big fan, but I thought James T. Kirk was a badass, he got his butt kicked this whole film, even by spock. He may be able to lead, point a gun, and later sell products on television, but he can't fight.

Recommendation:
Buy it.

Main Cast:
Chris Pine ("Smokin' Aces", "Just My Luck")
Zachary Quinto (TVs "Heroes")
Eric Bana ("Munic", "Troy")
Leonard Nimoy (TVs "Star Trek", "Land of the Lost")
Bruce Greenwood ("Capote", "National Treasure: Book of Secrets")
Clifton Collins Jr. ("Dirty", "Crank 2: High Voltage")
Karl Urban ("Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King", "The Bourne Supremacy")
Zoe Saldana ("Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl", "The Terminal")
Simon Pegg ("Hot Fuzz", "Run Fatboy Run")
John Cho ("American Pie", "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle")
Tyler Perry ("Madea Goes to Jail", "Why Did I Get Married")
Winona Ryder ("Edward Scissorhands", "Mr. Deeds")
Rachel Nichols ("Charlie Wilson's War", "G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra")

Similar Titles:
G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Star Trek-series

Next Review:
My Sister's Keeper - Trailer

Movie Review-The Ugly Truth

"The Ugly Truth" really is Ugly. Ugly is perfect for this film. It pulls no punches, it's not cute, sensitive, or patronizing. But it is a romantic comedy nonetheless. Katherine Heigl is becoming a romantic comedy veteran of late, but she does play a stuck-up,stuffy character, similar to her character in "Knocked Up". The biggest surprise comes from Gerard Butler who appears to be out of his element, but appearances can be deceiving, well it is deceiving.

PLOT:
Abby (Katherine Heigl) is a television producer whose morning show is going down the tubes. Much to her chagrin a misogynistic, crude, relationship expert and cable access show host, Mike (Gerard Butler), is hired to raise rating and in addition helps her cure her sagging social life by giving her the male perspective.

PROS:
Gerard Butler seems out of place, but truthfully he makes this movie a success. His crude, blunt, egotistical Mike adds alot of the humor and distinguishes this one from your a-typical romcom. Butler makes this a man's chick flick. Adding to Butler is just outright unique and funny moments not seen in other films. It's amazing when only a few scenes make it worth seeing, but I'm thinking that most people will laugh as hard as I did, at least i hope so.

Heigls spazz dance makes me laugh everytime I think about it. There is something about a beautiful woman making a fool out of herself by doing a silly dance.

I loved the ballpark scene. Hilarious. I wish i could descibe it, but I wouldn't give the scene justice.

The vibrating panties scene is not completely original, but it was golden.

And last, Butler's funny monologues about relationships rang true, at times and provide good, genuine laughs.

CONS:
Between the funny moments, there were some scenes that just dragged. No movie can be LOL funny 24/7 but i was highly disappointed in those in-between scenes. And I know I've said this a million times before, but the movie ended the way i thought it would, but that's romantic comedies for you.

Recommendation:
Rent it.

Written by:
Nicole Eastman
Karen McCullah Lutz

Directed by:
Robert Liketic

MAIN CAST:
Katherine Heigl ("Knocked Up", "27 Dresses")
Gerard Butler ("300", "Law Abiding Citizen")
John Michael Higgins ("Mighty Wind", "The Break-Up")
Cheryl Hines ("RV", "Along Came Polly")
Nick Searcy ("Head of State", "Cast Away")
Bree Turner ("American Pie 2", "Joe Dirt")
Eric Winter ("Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay")
Yvette Nicole Brown ("Hotel for Dogs", TVs "Community")

Similar Titles:
Knocked Up, Ghosts of Girlfriend's Past

Next Review:
Star Trek- Trailer

Movie Review: Accidental Husband

The plot sounds intriguing. Uma Thurman might make you want to take a peak. If you like "Grey's Anatomy", though that does make me question your taste in the first place, Jeffrey Dean Morgan might make you interested. Add Colin Firth, it's sounds like a decent romantic comedy. Don't be fooled.

Though Romantic Comedies are not the most artistically advanced as some, it can be done well. Some have done it really well. But it takes talent to make a romantic comedy 1) unfunny and 2) look amazingly cheap thrown together.

PLOT:
After being dumped by his fiance due to the advice of psychiatrist/radio DJ Emma (Uma Thurman), firefighter Patrick (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) seeks revenge by rigging computer records to say they are married.

PROS:
Nothing really. I mean it has some charm, and it does provide a few chuckles, but overall the film would be a horrendous waste of money.

CONS:
There are 3 big issues that made this film a failure. 1) It is predictable. From the first 5 minutes on, anybody who knows anything about movies, will guess the film scene for scene. 2) Everything happens way to fast. Not even 3 minutes into the film, Morgan's character is plotting his revenge. No character development, no set-up, and no real start. 3) The underutlilization of Colin Firth was a serious waste of his time. I'm not a huge Firth fan, but he is talented and can be funny when given proper material. This movie certainly wasn't it.

Recommendation:
Wait til it comes on HBO.

Written by:
Mimi Hare
Claie Naylor

Directed by:
Griffin Dunne

MAIN CAST:
Uma Thurman ("Kill Bill Vol. 1", "Be Cool")
Jeffrey Dean Morgan ("P.S. I Love You", "Watchmen")
Colin Firth ("Mamma Mia", "Easy Virtue")
Justina Machado ("Full Frontal", "Torque")
Sam Shepard ("Stealth", "Charlotte's Web")
Lindsey Sloane ("Bring it On", "Over Her Dead Body")
Ajay Naidu ("Hotel for Dogs", "The Wrestler")
Isabella Rossellini ("White Nights", "Wyatt Earp")

Similar Titles:
The Proposal, Management

Next Review:
The Ugly Truth-Trailer

Movie Review- G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra

It has almost as much special effects as "Transformers", a less complicated story, and worse acting, but G.I. has captured everything that "Transformers 2" lost, but adding a whole new list of problems to an increasingly popular genre that will more than likely continue for years to come.

I think the best action-sci-fi movies are the ones that combine creative writing, solid dialogue, and good acting. G.I. Joe is not the worst acted film in the world by no means, but it could have been alot better. There are alot of similarities between the upcoming "G.I. Joe" franchise and the "Transformers" franchise, but Joe rids itself of the slow, sentimental moments, takes all the moments with depth and makes it just as action-packed as the rest of the film. That almost makes the bad acting bearable...almost.

PLOT:
Alter being attacked delivering warheads, Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) join an elite, secret government Army unit, the G.I. Joes, who's goal is to take down an organization attempting to steal the warhead.

PROS:
I love the special effects. Just when you think you've seen it all, you get surprised. I enjoyed the humor in this film as much as i did the original "Transformers". The storyline wasn't complicated and even if you are avid fan who knows the story, all of it is delivered in a way that enables an actual element of surprise. The best casting move, to me at least, was Dennis Quaid as Hawk. He was perfect as the leader of the Joes, and he found a way deliver what were corny cartoon sayings and catchphrases and make them work. The flow of the movie was good as well. The pace was frantic, but it needed to be. We don't need slow, deep scenes in a movie like this.

CONS:
I had a serious issue with the dialogue. At times it ran dry and lacked actual depth. I hate when great action movies neglect storylines and character development. The plot wasn't complicated and it didn't need to be, but making the characters real would have worked when there were scenes void of action, mainly the flashbacks.

Now I've always liked Channing Tatum, but honestly he's not that good of an actor and I think he's a little out of his league in this one. He's low-toned, and at times emotionless. This movie may not seem like one that requires a great actor at the reins, but it really did. I'm not looking for an Oscar winner, but a Golden Globe nominee would do. That's my main problem with this genre of movies, ignoring acting and writing and relying on special effects and computer generation.

Recommendation:
Rent it.

Written by:
Stuart Beattie
David Elliot
Paul Lovett

Directed by:
Stephen Sommers

Main Cast:
Channing Tatum ("Coach Carter", "Fighting")
Marlon Wayans ("White Chicks", "Scary Movie")
Sienna Miller ("Alfie", "Stardust")
Dennis Quaid ("The Rookie", "Vantage Point")
Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje ("Bourne Identity", "Get Rich or Die Tryin'")
Rachel Nichols ("Charlie Wilson's War", "Star Trek")
Byung-hin Lee ("Hero")
Ray Park ("Mortal Combat: Annihilation", "X-Men")
Christopher Eccleston ("28 Days Later")
Joeseph Gordon-Levitt ("Angels in the Outfield", "Stop-loss")
Saiid Taghmaoui ("Kite Runner", "Vantage Point")
Arnold Vosloo ("The Mummy", "Blood Diamond")
Jonathan Pryce ("Pirates of the Carribean", "Bedtime Stories")

Similar Titles:
Transformers, G.I. Joe: The Movie

Next Review:
Accidental Husband -Trailer