Movie Review: World War Z

 Before I get into the review, I have two things to say. First, within the ‘monster universe’ I like Zombies the least. At least vampires are seductive and sexy. Werewolves are animalistic and .. sexy. Ghoest are terrifying but kind of cool. Zombies? Zombies are unattractive, not especially bright, have no charm to speak of and their cannibals… Gross!

Having said that, I went into World War Z with an open mind. As always, I saw it at a morning show. It’s always a good thing for a film’s box office when a 10:15 a.m. has a healthy audience. It is also good for the film when there is spontaneous applause when the credits begin to roll. What that says to me is that regardless of what the critics say, if this is your kind of movie. Then you’ll probably like it.

We never find out exactly how World War Z started. Basically former UN operative Gerry (Brad Pitt) and his wife Karen (Mireille Enos) are the happy parents of two happy daughters. While taken then to school, all hell breaks loose. Really it does. A traffic jam turns into madness and mayhem when zombies take to the street and begin turning people into zombies.

Brad Pitt gets called back to duty and before we know it, he’s jet-setting around the world – from South Korea to Israel to Europe in search of Patient Zero or some kind of cure.

The action starts and never stops. However, there is a great deal of humanity to the activities that make the action more than just gratuitous scenes action for the sake of action. I also appreciated the fact that the gory was kept to a minimum. Flesh-eating zombies can give filmmakers carte blache to get all bloody and gory and gross. Thankfully, they didn’t go that route.

Can’t say I loved it but I liked it a lot more than I thought I would.

Movie Review: Pitch Perfect

Pitch Perfect was the perfect film to see on a cloudy, slightly chilly Sunday. I really enjoyed it. As readers of this blog know, I love a singing competition and my favorite is not American Idol or even X-Factor or The Voice but, it’s actually, The Sing-Off. Various a capella groups get together and sing. Sure, there is a cash prize and a recording contract, but Iget the feeling that these groups are formed for one reason and one reason only, and that is to sing. Pitch Perfect captured that fun, well, perfectly.

Beca (Anna Kendrick) is a wannabe deejay whose college professor father wants her to get a college eduation before she heads off to Los Angeles to find deejaying fame. What she finds is a campus filled with a capella groups including the all-male national champions, the Treble Makers, and runner-up the Bellas led by task master Aubrey (Anna Camp) and her nicer half, Chloe (Brittany Snow). Aubrey is convinced, the only way to national success is to have her hot group of girl singers sing traditional a capella songs. She’s running into two problems. Auditions make it clear that she’s going to have to dramatically expand her definition of hot girls. New members include Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson), black lesbian Cynthia Rose (Ester Dean) and others who don’t fit the mold. Secondly, she insists on using the same songs and routines that got them to nationals the year before.

Beca has other plans for the group, as well as a love interest in Jesse (Skylar Astin) who sings with the competition.

When I left Pitch Perfect, my thoughts immediately went to a movie released in June, Magic Mike. Stay with me now. Magic Mike promised to be the ultimate girls night out film. However, the movie us girls saw was not the same as the one that was promised. It was a lot more serious and there was a lot less stripping and dancing than we’d wanted. With Pitch Perfect, the audience wanted light comedy, lots of singing and fun – that’s exactly what the movie delivered.

The singing and performances were on point. Sure, it’s hard to believe that the Bellas ever got to nationals with the songs and routines they were doing but this is not a film where thinking to hard will work in your favor. Just sit back and enjoy it.

Movie Review: This Means War

 I have to admit, ever since I saw Inception, I've had a bit of a thing for Tom Hardy. My friend KJ has a bit of a thing for Chris Pine, so it was a foregone conclusion that we'd see This Means War together. Our verdict? This is the perfect date movie with its mix of romance (and eye candy) and action.

FDR (Chris Pine) and Tuck (Tom Hardy) are best friends and dangerous CIA operatives. Tuck is the recently divorced father who is just tipping his toes back into the dating pool. FDR is a playboy who dives into that same dating pool with gusto. Tuck puts his profile on a dating site and ends up with Lauren, a consumer products tester who needs to jumpstart her dating life.

FDR plans to be at a nearby video rental store when Tuck and Lauren meet for coffee, just in case his BFF needs to get out of his date. Fortunately, he doesn't need to. However, when Lauren stops by the same video store, she meets FDR. Once the two realize they are after the same girl, their gentlemen's agreement to let the best man win (while maintaining their friendship) quickly falls by the wayside.

While they should be looking for an assassin, they spend most of their time using their formidible CIA resources to bug Lauren's home, instal GPS units in her car and phone, with the expressed goal of using all of this intel to get the girl.

We really enjoyed this movie, it had a great mix of romance and some serious action. As a rom-com, no one expects a lot of plot twist and I pretty much knew who'd end up with the girl about 10 minutes in but it was a fun ride and that is all anyone really wants from a movie like this anyway.

Safe House is a Safe Bet

If it’s action you’re jonsing for, Safe House is a safe bet. The Denzel Washington-Ryan Reynolds’ thriller is worth your time. In fact, I saw an early morning showing with my friend KJ. As we left, she said, she would have paid full price for Safe House (and that’s saying something).

Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) is a CIA recruit who’s assigned to watch a ‘safe house’ in Capetown, South Africa. The safe house is a place CIA operatives would bring suspects in custody that were in the area. The only problem is there are no suspects in the area, so Matt fills his days bouncing balls against the wall and twiddling his thumbs. Of course, that is about to change.

Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) a former brilliant CIA operative has spent the last decade as a wanted man and traitor, selling secrets to anyone with the cash to pay for them. Only the CIA isn’t the only group after Tobin. A group of mysterious renegades is after him as well. After an edge-of-your-seat chase, Tobin ends up in front of the US embassy. He decides to take his chances and turns himself in. And, all of the sudden, Weston has his first safe house guest. … And what a guest he is.

It’s hard to believe that this is the same Ryan Reynolds that starred in National Lampoon’s Van Wilder. He held his own with Denzel who, of course, made a very good bad guy. With this group of thugs and the CIA on his tail, Weston more than proves that he’s ready to be moved out of the safe house.

Car chases, shoot-outs ,changing allegiances, Safe House had it all. The subplot with Weston and his girlfriend (Nora Arnezeder) was thankfully short. With a movie like this, a lull in the action, really is a lull. Safe House is best when it’s behind the wheel or wielding a gun. Fortunately, that is most of the movie.

I also liked the change of scenery that the South African backdrop provided. Europe has been done to death, and the Middle East is getting there. Capetown came alive on film and served the movie well.

I knew who the real bad guy would turn out to be from the first scene, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment of this movie. I highly recommend Safe House.

Red Tails Soars at the Box Office

Red Tails soared at the box office over the weekend doing better than expected and bringing in $19.1 million. It was good but not good enough to best the number one film Underworld: Awakening which brought in $25.4 million. Rounding out the top five, Contraband – in its second week  - with $12.2 million, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close 10.5 million (in its first week in wide release) and Haywire with 9 million.

What I've Been Watching - Movies

During my time away, I saw Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Mission Impossible 4. Here are my thoughts (in a capsulized version!).

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

In order to enjoy Guy Ritchie's take on the cerebral logic-deducing sleuth, you have to forget everything you ever thought you knew about Holmes: the hat, the pipe, Basil Rathbone, ... all of it. Ritchie's Holmes is a feisty, fighting, hot sexy mess. With that being said, if you can put all that aside, you might be able to enjoy A Game of Shadows. I did. It was supposed to be fun and it was. The chemistry between Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and Watson (Jude Law) was so strong that you didn't even miss the lack of any romantic lead. Holmes's friend, Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) and Kelly Reilly as Watson's soon-to-be-missus barely rated any real screen time. Sherlock Holmes was about the boys with a colorful turn by Stephen Fry as Holmes's brother Mycroft and Jared Harris as the evil Moriarty, Holmes ultimate nemesis.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I didn't read the book. I never read the book. The movie will never be like the book, so what's the point? An author has pages to describe scenery and characters inner thoughts and dialogues. They can fill the pages with quirky characters. A screenwriter has roughly 120 pages and is limited to dialogue and short bits of action. Having said that, I went into The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with high hopes. However, while the movie was 'good', it wasn't the 'great' experience I was expecting. I've never seen Rooney Mara before but I enjoyed her performance. As the unstable background investigator she was at turns angry and rage-filled, vulnerable and even loving. This was her show and she carried it well. If she doesn't get a boat=load of nominations during award season, I will be surprised. However, there were some plot twists that I questioned ... maybe because I haven't read the book; however, I shouldn't have to read the book to understand the film. And be warned, there is a brutal rape scene and those always make me uneasy.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

I have enjoyed the Mission Impossible series and looked forward to seeing this. My friend Kiera and I were part of the Christmas Day throng that filled the theater to see this latest installment. Disguises and action sequences are what MI movies are all about and there were several scenes where the audience audibly gasped. Joined by a new crew, (Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton and Simon Pegg), Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is out to find out who bombed the Kremlin and to retrieve some rogue nuclear missiles pointed at the US. The stunts were amazing and there were some great action sequences and fight scenes. I loved the first Mission: Impossible but with II and III, I was a little disappointed. Ghost Protocol was up there with the original for me. My dad loves action and I actually recommended this to him.

Movie Review: Tower Heist

With Tower Heist, I saw glimpses of an old friend, the old Eddie Murphy. You know the Eddie Murphy who made a career out of playing the street-smart, wise-ass. The Eddie Murphy whom adults found funny in a host of movies from  Delirious and Raw to Trading Places, 48 Hours, Beverly Hills Cop and even to Boomerang. This was the pre-fatherhood Eddie before he devoted himself to family friendly fare like Shrek, Daddy Daycare, The Nutty Professor and The Haunted Mansion. Old Eddie … we missed you!

I say we saw glimpses of the old Eddie in Tower Heist because Tower Heist is an ensemble piece and not an exclusive Eddie Murphy vehicle. In Tower Heist, Ben Stiller plays Josh Kovacs, the manager of the swankiest address in New York City. He knows every tenant and he and his staff are there to meet their every need … even before they know they need it . Among the staff are: brother-in-law, concierge and soon-to-be first time dad Charlie (Casey Affleck), doorman extraordinaire and hopeful retiree Lester (Stephen Henderson), Jamaican maid in search of a green card husband, Odessa (Gabourey Sidibe), and new elevator operator Enrique (Michael Pena). Their richest resident is Arthur Cross (Alan Alda) an investment banker who has recently been given control of the staff’s pensions (with a promise that he can triple their returns).

Problems arise when the Feds (led by Tea Leoni) arrest Arthur for defrauding his investors. Josh learns that his entire staff has lost their pensions. Josh loses it too, taking a golf club to Shaw’s beloved car (once owned by Steve McQueen). That reckless, though understandable act, leads Josh, Charlie and new guy Enrique to get fired. It’s then that together with evicted former Wall St. Whiz Kid, Mr. Fitzhugh (Matthew Broderick), that they decide to get their money back. Of course, they need a real robber. Enter, Slide (Murphy), a career criminal that lives in Josh’s neighborhood and who actually went to day care with Slide back in the day.

With the Occupy Wall Streeters in the news daily and the bitter taste of bank bail outs and Bernie Madoff still on our collective tongues, Tower Heist is as cathartic as it is funny. A bunch of regular Joes taking down the Wall Street honcho. Yet, Tower Heist isn’t preachy or political. It’s a funny film.

We get some sparks from Murphy but Broderick, Pena and Sidibe are bringing the funny too. Stiller here is more of a straight man who generously allows those around him to help themselves to the punch lines.

There were a few laugh-out loud, moments and lots of chuckles. In fact, many people in my audience cheered at the end.

Murphy’s children range in age from 22 to 9 (plus the one he had with former Spice Girl Mel B is five). I hope he’s ready to at least add some more adult fare to his film choices, even if he doesn’t leave the family films behind for good. He has been missed.  Now, I wonder if he’ll be any good as the hosts of the Oscars come February.

Movie Review: The Ides of March

George Clooney and his writing/producing partner Grant Heslov are back with The Ides of March, an adaptation of the play Farragut North. For those who aren't familiar, Farragut North is a stop on the Red Line for the DC Metro. It lets you off near K Street where all of the political consulting firms are.

Clooney and Heslov renamed it The Ides of March, which is part of the line from Shakespeare's Julius Cesar. The emperor is told to "Beware the Ides of March" because that is when he will be assassinated by those closes to him.

Clooney grew up in Covington, Kentucky (a suburb of Cincinnati on the other side of the Ohio River), and The Ides of March is set right in Clooney's backyard in the week before the big Ohio primary. Although he is featured as Governor Mike Morris, who is vying for the Democratic presidential nomination, the film's star is Ryan Gosling. As Morris's press secretary, Steven Myers, he's a 30-year old veteran, who's viewed as a bit of a wunderkind by his colleagues. He's jaded but still manages to be idealistic believing that Morris is the candidate, the only candidate, who can really make a difference. Sharing in his cynicism but not his optimism is his boss, Paul Zara (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti) the head of media for Morris's rival, and Ida Horowicz (Marisa Tomei) a political reporter.

Myers makes two mistakes. First, he takes a meeting, behind Zara's back, with Duffy who wants to recruit him for his team. He also starts an affair with a young intern (Evan Rachel Wood) that has some nasty repercussions. There is also a sizable subplot about both teams courting the delegates of one Ohio senator Thompson (Jeffrey Wright) because both sides know whoever takes Ohio, takes the nomination.

The actors in Ides are first-rate and they deliver first-rate performances. Watching Clooney, Gosling, Hoffman, and even in lesser roles, Giamatti, Wright, Tomei and Wood, was enjoyable. That alone was worth the price of admission.

At first, I had trouble believing that Myers could be so naive as to pin on his hopes on one guy. In fact, I found it hard to believe that he would have hopes at all. However, by the end of the film, I'd come to believe that it was this particular chain of events that killed whatever hope that Morris had initially ignited in him.

Ides of March is a political and cerebral thriller. The machinations and betrayals come more through words than actions so if you go into it expecting an action thriller, you will be disappointed. There is a lot of talking and posturing. It works for this film and I enjoyed it.

Also, I have a friend, K, who is a rabid conservative Republican. If you share K's views, do not, I repeat, do not see this movie. There are several speeches that reveal Morris's left-leaning Democrat tendencies (yes on gay marriage, free college after two years of public service, ...) if that is going to tick you off, don't go. The older couple seated in front of me left after one key speech and I think that's why ... but it was George Clooney so what did they really expect?

Anyway, politics aside, I enjoyed the Ides of March and if you like strong performances with a little politics thrown in on the side, I think you will too.

Movie Review: Contagion

It’s been a long standing pet peeve of mine that people no longer cover their mouths when they cough, sneeze or yawn. Hopefully, those people will see this movie and rethink that behavior.

In Contagion, director Steven Soderbergh takes the same approach he took with Traffic a decade earlier. Traffic focused on the spawling ‘war on drugs’ and it looked at it from a variety of separate and occasionally overlapping stories and characters. In Contagion, he applies that approach to a rapidly evolving, deadly virus.

Possible Patient A, Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) finishes up a business trip in China. She has a lusty layover with her lover in Chicago before heading home to her unsuspecting husband (Matt Damon) and son in Minnesota. Soon, there are patients all over the globe coming down with and dying from this virus: Japan, London, Chicago.

In a matter of days, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) is called in. Led by Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurance Fishburne), his new lead investigator (Kate Winslet) and lead researcher (Jennifer Elhe), they hope to contain the virus initially and then find a vaccine after it begins spirally out of control. Over at the WHO (World Health Organization), Marion Cotillard’s Dr. Leonora Orantes, goes to the heart of the outbreak in China. Meanwhile Jude Law is a blogger who wants more than truth, he wants to profit from a potential cure. If that weren’t enough, this outbreak is a concern of Homeland Security (led by Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston).

The tentacles of this outbreak - its origins, its spread, its cure - are all over the place and Soderbergh is the director to keep all of these infectious balls in the air. He creepily shows how something as innocuous as a door knob or a glass can be a carrier of disease and death. A ‘harmless’ cough by a stranger on a train can have deadly consequences.

As he soberly numbers the days since the outbreak of, we see how quickly a virus can spread moving from the contagion of the disease to a contagion of fear among survivors. It is a provocative and thought-provoking look at something that could potentially happen. How does it spread? How quickly can we come up with a cure? How will people respond? What if you had enough of a vaccine to give to some but not to others? Soderbergh addresses all of these questions and more.

However, he does this from a distance. Contagion is not character-driven … unless you consider the virus to be the main character. Everyone else is there to support the virus. Don’t expect to cry because (outside of Damon who has his moment towards the end) you won’t be that invested in the characters. You feel bad for a moment, but then we are off to the next scene, quite possibly on another side of the world.

At the end of the movie, the audience did not applaud. We all just sat there for a few seconds, and I think that is the intended effect. — stunned silence.

My takeaways from Contagion: cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze and for goodness sakes, if you have a sweaty fever and hacking cough, do the really noble thing, don’t drag yourself into work, keep your sick ass at home!

Guess Who's Back??? It's Me!

I’m back! And, I’m definitely looking forward to the Fall Season. My birthday is September 21 and it falls smack dab in the middle of Premiere Week. In fact, The X Factor premieres on my birthday. So as I get back into the swing of things, let me share some of my thoughts on what I’ve been watching over the summer.


Favorite Networks

As fans of this blog (both of you) know, I’m a FOX girl. I watch a lot of FOX, some NBC, a little ABC and no CBS. I’ve given some thought about why CBS isn’t on my radar and I can’t figure it out. Suffice to say if you are looking for NCIS, or CSI or The Good Wife, you’ll want to look elsewhere.


Lately, my new obsession – and it is an obsession is ID TV – Identification Discovery. It is what CourtTV used to be before it morphed into the unwatchable TruTV. It’s all crime all of the time. Seriously, I have spent almost entire days watching episodes of Wicked Attraction, Deadly Women, The Nightmare Next Door and most recently Unusual Suspects. I cannot explain my fascination with true crime … suffice to say that I share a birthday with Stephen King.


The Glee Project

I watched this show religiously every week. In fact, my last few blogs before my hiatus were about The Glee Project which ended last night. I was ultimately happy. The last four standing were Lindsay (I started off liking her but she turned out to be a major b***h); Alex (who I abhorred from Day One and my animosity toward him grew with each passing week); Samuel (white boys with dreds are kinda creepy but outside of that he was okay); and, Damian (my favorite, the cutie with the Irish brogue).


Last week, all four moved into the finals and I spent a solid week and one hour dreading that Alex would win and my favorite show would be tainted with that shrill non-acting drag/drama queen for seven excruciating episodes.


Thankfully, I’m only stuck with him for two! Samuel and Damian were the last two standing and Sam ended up winning (and I didn’t mind that). Yet, before I could even fully formulate my disappointment, Ryan announced that Damian would also receive a 7-episode arc on the show. I was so happy!


Yet, Lindsay and Alex weren’t total losers (even though I would not have had a problem with that). Both will receive two-episode arcs. The only lingering disappointment I had was that Cameron had bowed out. I think he could have won it all. Both he and Damian with 7-episode arcs would have been amazing!


Rise of the Planet of the Apes

A lot of people have issues with evil clowns or just clowns, in genearal. I’m not Coulrophobic (that’s fear of clowns … don’t say you never learned anything from reading this blog!) – However, I do have a fear of evil
monkeys. Now, don't get me wrong, I love monkeys. In fact, according to Chinese astrology, I am a monkey (it sounds vaguely racist for a black girl to be a monkey. Anyway…). So monkeys, good. Evil monkeys, bad.


A co-worker asked if I’d be seeing Rise of Planet of the Apes and I explained that I would not be seeing it on the count that the monkey in the commercial looked evil. Then my dad came for a visit and surprise! He wanted to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes.


I was surprised at how good the movie was. It was a thoroughly unexpected surprise.


First off, the monkey, Caesar, wasn’t evil. He was just mad, sad and upset and for good reason. Once I knew he wasn’t evil, I was fine. Yet, the movie was just overall really good. I loved the way they explained the rise of the apes as well as the demise of the humans.


The actor that played Caesar was incredible. Apparently, they did some CGI effects to get his expressions to register on Caesar’s face and it was incredible. The nuances and subtleties that came across were amazing.


This proves that once again, Father really does know best!

Movie Review: Bad Teacher

I have to admit, I've been looking forward to Bad Teacher since I saw the first preview. Apparently, a lot of people were looking forward to it too because the theatre was packed. More importantly, everyone was laughing. In a comedy, that's always a good thing (in a drama ... not so much).

Cameron Diaz plays Elizabeth a woman biding her time as a teacher until she can marry her meal ticket. There’s just one problem … her meal ticket’s mom, who smells a gold-digger. Before she can said ‘wallet’, Elizabeth's been dumped and reluctantly returns to school.

She returns to an overzealous and overly perky coworker Amy Squirrel (Lucy Punch), an interested gym teacher Russell (Jason Segel), a principal obsessed with dolphins (John Michael Higgins) and a new substitute, Scott (Justin Timberlake) who just happens to be loaded. Elizabeth passes her time in class by showing movies while she plots to get Scott … if her professional, and soon romantic, rival Amy doesn’t get to him first.

The major sub-plot involves, of all things, teaching … well, sort of. Obsessed with getting a boob job, Elizabeth tries her hand at actually teaching when she finds out the teacher with the highest scores will win $5,700. Of course, she’s not going to rely on just teaching ability to get by. Elizabeth goes to great lengths to make sure her class passes.

If you are looking for precocious kids or even hard-edged kids that soften and blossom under the love of a good teacher, you’ve got the wrong movie. This ain’t Stand and Deliver, it’s Bad Teacher and it has more in common with Bad Santa.

I applaud Cameron Diaz for being a real woman and actually looking her age her. Don’t get me wrong, she looks amazing but she also looks like she’s in her mid-30’s . She not been nipped, tucked and botoxed within an inch of her life … yet. Diaz has always been the funny girl and is willing to do just about anything to get a laugh.

Her supporting cast is game as well. Timberlake, consistently funny on Saturday Night Live, delivers here as the object of Elizabeth’s financial affections. I had never heard of Lucy Punch before but after this I’ll be keeping a look out for her (according to IMDB, she’s been working steadily sing 1998 but I don’t remember her at all, not even from Dinner for Schmucks or Hot Fuzz).

There are some really funny moments in Bad Teacher and of course, like any comedy, there are moments that fall flat. John Michael Higgins is usually hysterical but his whole dolphin shtick fell flat for me.

At the end of the day, there were more laughs (and laugh out loud moments) than there were duds which makes Bad Teacher a pretty good bet.

Movie Review: The Green Lantern

Even with RR's abs, I was
bored! Can you believe that?

It’s a good thing that the Green Lantern had a decent opening weekend (it earned $52.6 million) because I suspect it will fall off considerably next week. Even with the charm (and abs) of Ryan Reynolds, the movie just wasn’t good. It barely managed to hold my attention.

Apparently, for those of you not up on your superhero lore, the Green Lantern Corp is an intergalactic group dedicated to prowling the universe and eradicating evil and fear. To be a Green Lantern, you have to be fearless. So when one of the most fearless Green Lanterns, Abin Sur (Temuera Morrison),crash lands on Earth, he sends his ring to find the best person on the planet to replace him.

The ring finds test pilot Hal Jordan, who is fearless when it comes to bravery and fearful when it comes to responsibility. Hal learns quickly that the ring has the power to manifest whatever he’s thinking. Of course there has to be a villan. The Green Lantern’s nemesis is Parallax, who thrives on fear. At the beginning of the film, Parallax escapes, and is responsible for killing Abin Sur. However, the government gets a hold of his alien corpse and brings in geeky scientist Hector Hammond (Peter Saarsgard) to conduct the autopsy. However, he gets some of the evil alien goop on his finger and begins his metamorphosis into evil.

I’ll be honest. This is a hard review to write because I was just bored. I was bored with Reynolds learning to use his powers. I was bored with all the metaphysical talk of the Green Lanterns out in the universe harnessing the power of will to banish fear. I was bored with Hal's relationship with fellow test pilot Carol Ferris (Blake Lively). I was just bored.

I like Ryan Reynolds and totally believe in his ability to carry a movie, but not this one. I am also a fan of Saarsgard but he was given very little to do here. And the script was wooden and horrific. Any actor tasked with these lines is in trouble, not matter how good they are.

This movie is all about effects (and I wasn’t even impressed there) but effects alone don’t make a decent movie. As far as Green Lantern, someone needs to turn the light off.

Movie Review: The Hangover 2

The Bangkok weather ain't
the only thing that's hot
in The Hangover 2!

The secret to a good recipe is that it's repeatable. You should get the same result every time you put the same ingredients, in the same amount and follow the same  instructions. That's exactly what Todd Phillip's did with The Hangover 2. He took the same characters and placed them in a very similar situation and hoped to produce the same results.

This time, it was Stu (Ed Helms) getting married. The difference is that instead of returning to Vegas, the action takes place in Bangkok because Stu's bride Lauren (Jamie Cheung) is Thai. With Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Alan (Zack Galifianakis) in tow, instead of loosing the groom, they lose the bride's younger brother Teddy (Mason Lee) a boy genius. We even have Ken Jeong reprising his role as Mr. Chow and a cameo from Mike Tyson.

Once again, the guys wake up without a clue as to what happened to Teddy and, for that matter, what happened the night before. To find Teddy, they have to sort it all out. Tattoos, chain-smoking monkeys and missing fingers are just the tip of the iceberg.

I never have high expectations for sequels. I just don't. While The Hangover 2 is definitely formulaic, I did have some laugh out loud moments. I also enjoyed how they kept the integrity of The Wolf Pack. Justin Bartha's Doug wasn't stuck on a rooftop this time around but he didn't stay with the group either and that was a wise decision. Phil, Alan and Stu work will together (along with Mr. Chow). There was no reason to mess with that part of the formula.

I laughed throughout The Hangover 2. I think I had more laughs with the original but I enjoyed myself and so did the audience I saw it with. Like the original, it is raunchy and there is some male frontal nudity (but nothing that's impressive).

However, let me add. I watched part of Wedding Crashers last night on cable. Bradley Cooper was kind of cute there but he was actually hot in The Hangover 2. I mean he was sexy! Hubba hubba!

But back to the review. I would say that it wasn't as funny as the original but it was funny. I had a good time. If this (and Bridesmaids) is your cup of tea, I think you'll enjoy it.

Movie Review: Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids proves how funny us girls can be when we stop trying to be polite and play nice. With many laugh out loud moments, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie ... and it isn't just me, everyone I've talked to about this movie has enjoyed it just as much.

Annie (Kristen Wiig) is searching for rock bottom. Her baking business has folded and her boyfriend/business partner left at the same time. Now, she's underemployed (at a jewelery store), living with a pair of self-satisfied British siblings and having occasional okay sex with an asshole (played wonderfully by John Hamm - who definitely lives up to his name). As Annie's downward spiral picks up speed, her best friend's upswing just keeps getting better and better. Lillian (Maya Rudolph) is marrying her rich boyfriend and also picking up a new best friend in rich, gorgeous Helen (Damages' Rose Bryne). If there is a downside, it's that Lillian's fiance just isn't that cute (not even in a dorky way).

The bridesmaids in question are the unhappily married with kids, Rita (Reno 911's Wendi McLendon-Covey), naive newlywed Becca (The Office's Ellie Kemper) and Megan (Mike and Molly's Melissa McCarthy) as the groom's burly brusque sister (who had a lot of the film's best one-liners). Together, they endure the engagement party where Helen and Annie use the toast to try and show who's the better friend to a potential Vegas misadventure.

What makes Bridesmaids such a fun movie is that these women aren't afraid to be dirty, raunchy, honest and just plain funny. So often romantic comedies feature pretty funny girls like Julia Roberts or Cameron Diaz and while they are willing to take a risk for a joke, I doubt either woman would go as far as these bridesmaids do for a joke.

And yes, there is romance. Irish actor Chris O'Dowd plays a sweetie of a state patrolman who is a former fan of Annie's bakery who quickly becomes a fan of Annie.

At the beginning of Bridesmaids, there are a few lulls but as the movie picks up steam, it picks up a ton of laughs along the way!

Movie Review: The Roommate

The Roommate, or what I like to call Single White Female 2.0, wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It was far from amazing or even original, but having said that, it could have been a lot worse.

Friday Night Lights’ Minka Kelly is Sarah Matthews, the beautiful, talented fashion design freshman at University of Los Angeles. Fresh from Des Moines, she has the misfortune of getting a psycho for a roommate. The psycho is Rebecca — not Becky — (Leighton Meester). Before long, Rebecca is staking her claim to Sarah. She wants to be her one and only friend. No one, and I mean no one, not a party girl freshman (Alyson Michalka), a friend from back home (Daneel Harris), an old boyfriend (Matt Lanter), or a new one (Cam Gigandet) will stand in her way.

We know where this one is headed before the previews are over; so, in a movie like this, it’s less about where you are going and more about how you are going to get there. Kelly and Meester have good chemistry but the character of Sarah should have been a little more creeped out a little bit earlier.

Having said that, Meester is pretty creepy and Gigandet is likeable as the requisite boy toy. Billy Zane has a small role as the lecherous design teacher who has designs on young Sarah. Frances Farmer, a great actress, is relegated to an even smaller role as Rebecca's concerned mother.

I had to laugh (unintentionally) when Rebecca terrorized Sarah's friend Tracy while she was in the dorm showers. Tracy gets a bad case of IWGS (Investigative White Girl Syndrome) when the lights go off. I don't know about you, but if I'm in the shower and the lights go off, I'm leaving the bathroom, not sticking around and trying to figure out the mystery of the lights while I'm naked in the dark in the shower. Just leave!

Consider Yourself Warned: Like the psycho movies that came before it (Fatal Attraction and Single White Female), you KNOW bad things are in store for the little kitten Sarah finds outside the dorm. I’m definitely a dog person but I don’t like to see anything bad happen to any cuddly creature. If you don’t like to see bad things happen to cuddly creatures either, you have been warned.

Nevertheless, The Roommate passed my audience test. In other words, those who came out to see this movie seemed to leave the theater pleased. So if this is your cup of tea, take a chance, you might just like it (not love it but like it).

Movie Review: The Rite

Anthony Hopkins had a solid career before his iconic role as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. Every since then, we love to see Sir Anthony do something ‘creepy.’ It’s as if that career that came before (complete with performances of Shakespeare and Ibsen) just went ‘poof’ and disappeared. It seems as if all we know or want from Hopkins is the old ‘creepy guy’ thing.

And we are treated to creepy Hopkins in The Rite. Loosely based on a ‘true story’, Michael Kovak (Colin O'Donoghue) is the son of a creepy mortician (Rutger Hauer) who enters the priesthood to avoid a creepy future in the family business. Four years later and poised to graduate from seminary, Michael attempts to quit when he’s convinced to study exorcisms at the Vatican.

In Italy, sensing his lack of faith and his unorthodox views, one of the priest sends Michael to spend time with Father Lucas Trevant (Anthony Hopkins), a local exorcist. He observes an on-going exorcism of a pregnant teen and gets to know the priest. Things get complicated however when Father Trevant becomes the host for a powerful demon. Of course, it’s Michael who’s tasked with exorcising the good father’s demon.

To paraphrase a quote from a more famous exorcism movie, “The power of The Rite did not compel me.” In fact, it had a hard time keeping my interest. Colin O’Donoghue had absolutely no leading man charisma whether he was playing against Hopkins or potential love interest (if it wasn’t for the whole priest thing), Angelina Braga. She played a journalist taking the exorcism course for a story.

The best part of The Rite was when the actual exorcism rite was being performed on Father Trevant; everything before and after that seemed to just middle along. Most of the movie lacked any kind of real energy or potent scares.

The Rite, unfortunately, got most of it wrong.

Movie Review: The Dilemma

 

As I’ve said repeatedly, January is like a movie graveyard. It’s where bad movies go to be released. It’s as far away as you can get from awards season; people are burnt out from the holidays and aren’t seeing too many flicks; and, everything really worth season is being saved for summer (or nowadays even spring) or fall as the ramp of for awards seasons begin. As such, forgettable movies come out in January.

I went into The Dilemma with the requisite low expectations, and I came out pleasantly surprised. I actually kind of liked The Dilemma. Ronny (Vince Vaughn) and Nick (Kevin James) play best friends who run a business building hybrid car engines. They are sort of a dynamic duo with Ronny being the fast-talking salesman and Nick being the brains behind the scenes. It isn’t surprising that Ronny, the fast-talker, is slow to commit to his sous chef girlfriend, Beth (Jennifer Connelly), or that Nick, the stable one, is happily married to the beautiful Geneva (Winona Ryder). In Hollywood, the average guy always ends up with the hot wife. However, I digress.

Things get complicated when planning a proposal for Beth, Ronny sees Geneva with the truly hot Channing Tatum playing a hottie named Zip. Now Ronny has quite the dilemma: to tell or not to tell? And then, how to tell and when to tell? While figuring all of this out, his dilemma gets even more complicated when he realizes that even the innocent party isn’t as innocent as he seems.

The Dilemma takes a real dilemma which, if you have a best friend (and I have several) makes you wonder what you would do and how would you do it. Unfortunately, as a comedy, the dilemma The Dilemma faces is making this scenario funny. There were a few laugh out moments in my audience (one lady laughed VERY loud), but to me there should have been more of those. Queen Latifah has a few funny moments as the executive from Dodge who is working with them on a big partnership opportunity. Still I wanted more.

Directed by Ron Howard, there are a few scenes that might have packed a greater punch if they had been a little shorter. There is a painfully long ‘toast’ Ronny does at Beth’s parents 40th anniversary that focuses on the importance of honesty in a marriage. We got it. Ronny made his point but it just kept going on and on. As did the fight scene between Ronny and Zip, call ‘cut’ already!

If your dilemma is whether or not to see The Dilemma, I’ll make it easy for you. If you really want to see it, make it a matinee. Otherwise, wait for the DVD.

Movie Review: Black Swan

Black Swan chronicles a prima ballerina’s descent into madness and it is both beautiful and horrific. The story of Swan Lake starts out as if it’s destined for the animated Disney treatment. An evil sorcerer casts a spell on a beautiful princess turning her into a beautiful swan. Only a confession of true love can break the spell and as fate would have it, a young prince becomes smitten with her. However, this is where the story takes a dark and unDisney-like turn. The sorcerer tricks the prince into falling for the seductive Black Swan, who impersonates our pure princess and gets the prince to declare his love to her. When the deception is revealed, the star-crossed lovers realize that they can only be united in death.

I can tell you the story of Swan Lake because it is a backdrop for Black Swan and it isn’t the story of Black Swan. Black Swan is about Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman), a sweet ballerina with a doting former ballerina mother (Barbara Hershey). For several years, Nina has danced with a major New Your City dance company, with aging prima ballerina Beth McIntyre (Winona Ryder), when she is offered the opportunity of a lifetime. Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassell) picks Nina for the lead in the company’s new production of Swan Lake. Although he appreciates her technical perfection and has no doubt she can master the role of the White Swan, he doubts she has the ability to let loose and become the seductress needed to master the Black Swan role.

As we get to know Nina, we can see his reservations. She and her mother live in a happy bubble that consists of Nina’s ballet and her mother’s artwork. The décor of Nina’s bedroom gives us a glimpse into her world — complete with teddy bears in tutus and its 14-year old girl motif. Her innocence is painfully obvious when she’s with the other girls in the troupe. She doesn’t fit in with the catty, Mean Girls atmosphere. In fact, you question if Nina has what it takes to make it in the competitive, cutthroat world of dance.

Then a new girl joins the company. Lily (Mila Kunis) effortlessly embodies the essence of the Black Swan. She’s seductive. She takes chances. She’s even a little dangerous. Nina is immediately intrigued but keeps her at an arm’s length, at least initially. However, as her obsession with nailing the Black Swan takes over, she and Lily get closer.

Director Darren Aronofsky has crafted a psychological thriller that uses the demanding and all-consuming world of ballet to show one woman’s descent into madness. It’s beautiful and graceful and at the same time brutal. Aronofsky shows the physical sacrifices that dancers must endure for their art. He also uses a growing rash on Nina’s back to mirror Nina’s psychological change.

As she begins to embody the Black Swan, we see Nina actually grow up before our eyes. She questions her mother. She allows herself to experience her sexuality, first timidly and then boldly. As she puts her innocence aside, her interpretation and performance of the Black Swan improves.

The kudos and acclaim Portman has received is well-deserved and an Oscar could very well be in her future. While I enjoyed Kunis as the catalyst, Lily, her part was not as big as I thought it would be. The person who surprised me the most in her supporting role was Winona Ryder as the aging ballerina forced into retirement. At turns bitchy, bitter and needy, I think her performance as good as it was, is being largely overlooked.

Movie Review: Burlesque

 My friend KJ and I spent part of our Thanksgiving Day in the cineplex. We wanted a fun, light movie and most of the holiday releases didn’t fit the bill. Faster is an action-packed, angry revenge pic, and we wanted laughter not a pissed off Rock. Thanks to reading a spoiler-laden review of Love and Other Drugs, I got the feeling that it might be a bit of a downer. And who wants to feel down before stuffing themselves with stuffing, turkey and all of the rest of the fixings? Tangled was light and fun, but we weren’t in the mood to be surrounded by the kiddies on Thanksgiving. Since KJ and I both liked musicals, we settled on Burlesque. We got what we were looking for a fun light movie. We enjoyed ourselves.

Now, Burlesque isn’t Chicago. It won’t be winning a bunch of Academy Awards … which is probably why the critics, for the most part, have hated it. However, I’m not judging the movie on some lofty set of standards that it wasn’t aiming for in the first place, which is probably why I enjoyed it so much. I went to see some great singing and dancing an awesome set design and costumes, and I got exactly what I was looking for.

The plot was straightforward enough. Small town Iowa girl Ali (Christina Aguilera) heads for the bright lights of Los Angeles. She stumbles on the Burlesque club, with its fabulous owner Tess (Cher) and has to be a part of it. She starts off as a waitress and moves up to show girl, where she clashes with headlining diva, Nikki. Of course, once Tess and company hear The Voice, Ali becomes the new HDIC (Head Diva in Charge).

Clichés abound. There is the obligatory love triangle. Ali must choose between the wealthy Marcus (Eric Dane) and bartender/songwriter/roommate Jack (Cam Gigandet). Then, there is the club-in-jeopardy angle. Marcus wants to buy the club from the cash-strapped Tess who is facing a huge balloon payment on the club that she can’t possibly pay.

Aguilera will never be accused of being a great actress (and the wig she wore for most of the movie was bad to the point of distraction), but she is passable here. What she lacks in acting chops, she more than makes up for on the stage. The musical numbers are what everyone seeing Burlesque is coming to see and they were awesome. Great costumes. Catchy tunes. Christina Aguilera and Cher on vocals. It was a good time.

Movie Review: Due Date

 In 1987, Planes, Trains and Automobiles followed straight-laced Steve Martin as he gets stuck traveling with kooky John Candy (who is still mourning the death of his beloved wife) across the country, to make it home for Thanksgiving dinner. In 2010, Due Date follows straight-laced (and in need of anger management) Robert Downey Jr. as he gets stuck traveling cross country with kooky Zach Galifianakis (who is mourning the recent death of his beloved father).

It’s easy to see how the producers pitched this film to the studios, It’s Planes, Trains and Automobiles for a new generation (i.e. – it includes pot smoking, immigration gags, masturbation and an inappropriate use of someone’s ashes).

Aspiring actor Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis) literally runs into Peter Highman (Downey) (or at least his car) as he’s trying to catch a flight out of Atlanta’s Hartfield Airport. In the process, their bags get switched which causes a problem when TSA agents find Ethan’s glaucoma medicine (read: pot) in what appears to be Peter’s bag. It gets worst from there when Ethan ends up in first class where Highman’s Blackberry and Ethan’s repeated use of the words “terrorist” and “bomb” not only get the pair kicked off of the plane but also added to the federal government’s “No Fly” list.

When Highman realizes that he has lost his wallet in the ruckus, he has no choice but to drive with Ethan and his dog, Sonny, to Los Angeles.

I enjoyed this movie and went in expecting lots of laughs. While there were definitely some laugh out loud moments, there weren’t as many as I was expecting – which is often the case with ‘sweet’ comedies. What made the movie work was the undeniable chemistry between Downey and Galifianakis. This movie would have completely fallen flat without their connection.

Jamie Foxx as Highman’s best friend and Juliette Lewis as a pot dealer in Birmingham are good in their extended cameos but, make no mistake, it’s up to the two stars to carry this. They carried it as far as they can, but to go the distance, they needed funnier material to work with.