The Hobbit: An unexpected Journey (H:AUJ)

After peter Jackson completed his perfect Lord of the Rings trilogy, it was no surprise that he wanted to take a crack at The Hobbit. Rumors swirled about how he would tackle it. Would it one movie, or two movies? Would he create a whole movie from scratch to bridge the gap between LOTR and The Hobbit? Honestly, I did not care what he did, as long as he did something. Peter Jackson showed a comprehensive understanding of how Tolkien's world worked. Then he was just going to produce, but he brought in Guillermo Del Toro to direct, which was also fine with me. After years of hold ups, Del Toro left the project to pursue Pacific Rim, an amazing looking Science Fiction movie, and Jackson was back on as a director. Then it came out it would be three movies which just threw the world off its nerd axis. But, The Hobbit is a short book and how could he possibly find a way to make it three movies. Yes, the Hobbit is a short book, but Middle Earth is rich with characters and stories. I have trusted Peter Jackson. The extended versions of the LOTR movies are actually better than the theatrical cuts. However, after the disappointment of Lincoln, I wanted to lower my expectations, but that was hard when I was getting to go back to Middle Earth!

Bilbo was once a hobbit who had a great adventure. Now an elder hobbit, Bilbo Baggins(Ian Holm) starts writing his story so Frodo will be able to read it. As a young hobbit Bilbo (Martin Freeman) was approached Gandalf (Ian McKellen)but not really given a reason. A few hours later Bilbo starts getting visitors and soon his house is overrun by 12 dwarves and Gandalf the Grey. These Dwarves are setting off on an adventure to get their underground kingdom back from the dragon Smaug. Smaug took it decades ago after the Dwarf king got greedy and started stock piling his riches. Dragons love treasure and the Dwarves were no match for the fire breather. However, signs have started to appear that make the Dwarves believe the time is now. They have to take back their home. Led by the great Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), the dwarves appear fearless. Gandalf believes Bilbo is the right person to fill out their group because Hobbits can go along being unseen. It gives them a surprise. Bilbo has no intention of laving his home, and this puzzles Gandalf because as a young hobbit Bilbo was quite adventurous. Bilbo gives in and they head off to find the Dwarves old kingdom.

Much like the LOTR trilogy, H:AUJ is, at its core, a road trip movie. We have a big group of people trying to get from point A to point B and encountering the most insane predicaments. In the Hobbit, our group of heroes are being chased by a Pale Orc with a grudge against Thorin, they get mixed up with rock creatures, and an underground army of Goblins. There is also a big bad unknown Necromancer looming, probably giant spiders and the mostly unseen Smaug. However, the Hobbit has to stand on its own and not just lean against the LOTR trilogy. As a first picture in a new trilogy set in the same world as LOTR, H:AUJ is quite successful. I am not as blindingly positive about this as I was about the original trilogy, but I am still full of wonderful raves. H:AUJ gives me precisely what I wanted it to give me. There is this great sense of epic adventure and wonder, which had to be difficult to cultivate because, in a sense, we have seen all of this before. The sweeping helicopter shots of the great New Zealand landscapes are still as stunning now as they were 10 years ago, Howard Shore's sweeping score still sends shivers down my spine as a signal of a magical journey to a magical time. Peter Jackson uses motion capture and CG graphics in a stellar fashion, even if the Pale Orc's movements were not as fluid as they would have been if it was a human in make up. I loved the sense of danger and revenge and honor and duty that these movies are supposed to fill me with.

That is not to say there are not some issues to be found. Luckily for me, the entirety of the issues come within the first hour and they were long out of my head as the film picked up steam. As we are introduced to these characters and reintroduced to this world there is some serious clumsiness in terms of tone and pacing. The Hobbit is not as serious a story as LOTR, and Peter Jackson has always had a twisted sense of slapstick humor. Here the slapstick is more traditional. The introduction to the Dwarves is incredibly wonky. They are characters we are supposed to believe in battle later, but they are all goofy characters. They are vaguely gross, they eat everything, show no care for Bilbo's stuff and it just was a wonky way to get going. The pacing in the first hour is also a bit jerky. The Prologue soars, then the movie slows down, then the dwarves come in and the pacing gets exploded. It felt like Jackson was still trying to figure out where he wanted the movie to go and what he wanted it to be. The first hour feels like the first hour of a two hour innocuous adventure film. I would not say I was bored by it, just uneasy about what it spelled for the rest of the film.

However, once the group set off on their adventure, the movie sidesteps the wonky pacing, save for an unfortunate turn to the Brown Wizard Radagast and his sled of bunnies. And even the Radagast thing did not bother me too much especially when he turned out to be helpful in a scene that was both amusing, and thrilling. The second hour of constantly changing scenery was a great trip through middle Earth. We get to see Sarumon, Elrond, and Galadriel again. We get an extended look at the gorgeous Elf kingdom of Rivendell and of course all of the gorgeous shots of the New Zealand landscape. In all honesty, there is not a ton of battle sequences until the final hour, save for a flashback as to how Thorin Oakenshield got his last name and why he understands better than anyone why the Orcs are so problematic. The second hour is, though, where we get the incredible action sequence set on these giant rocky cliffs that are actually rock creatures hurling rocks at each other causing these insane avalanches. It is a stunning work of CGI, and editing and cinematography. Hour two is also where we get a kind of ridiculous scene with three idiot Orcs that I have heard many people complain about. I actually liked this scene because it was funny, and it also showed why Gandalf wanted Bilbo on the journey. He is smart and thinks on his feet. However, it does start a trend of Gandalf being absent, then coming in at the last second and saving the day.

The final hour is a spectacle of frenzied action, and one quiet intimate scene that will live inside for a long time. That scene, the most important scene in the film and the scene that launched the LOTR trilogy is between Bilbo and an unnamed creature. We, of course, know his name to be Gollum (Andy Serkis). After being separated from the group during a Goblin invasion, Bilbo falls down a dark hole and winds up near a creature who he witnesses kill and Orc. This creature finds Bilbo and they begin a back and forth that is funny, quietly intense, subtle and brilliant. During the course of the scene, Gollum loses a ring and Bilbo, without Gollum knowing, picks it up. Bilbo is looking for a way out and Gollum offers him a deal. They will engage in a game of riddles and if Bilbo wins, Gollum will show him the way out, but if Gollum wins, he gets to eat Bilbo whole. It is the most stunning work in the film. The writing is crisp, Serkis' work s Gollum is as good as it was 10 years ago, the direction and blocking are excellent and Freeman is perfect. It slows the movie down in the best way possible and when it ends, you are left breathless and even sad. It is a monumental moment for the entire world of Middle Earth and I loved how patient Peter Jackson was with it.

The final hour features two just outstanding action sequences. And they transition into each other so incredibly well. We get the heart of the film in the end here and it sets up the next film perfectly. I loved how Jackson takes the action seriously, but also has fun with it. The entire battle sequence between our heroic group and the underground Goblins is quite a feat of fight choreography and then to follow that up with a more brutal and rough action sequence is brilliant because the heroes go from looking like superheroes, unstoppable in any situation, to destroyed and beaten to mere inches from death. That contrast makes it even more thrilling for me. I found Martin Freeman's Bilbo Baggins to be funny, risky, and full of great character tics. I love his facial expressions. They fit within this world very well. I admit, I was hoping for Thorin to be just a bit more mysterious like Aragorn, but that might have been my inability to disconnect from the LOTR trilogy. I also liked that Jackson is not afraid to put in some Hobbit songs. One of them was too goofy for me. but they are a huge part of Tolkien's world and it was nice to hear some of them.

H:AUJ is not the perfect film I hoped it would be, but when it was over I was ready for the next one to start. I was ready to stay in the world of Middle Earth and to still crave that after a three hour movie is quite a feat. I am disappointed I did not get any real great shots of Smaug, but I am willing to wait, if that is what I have to do. The movie really soars once the group of heroes sets off, but I would not be surprised if people out there do not take to it. I do believe it is a movie that is more for fans of Middle Earth. It does not necessarily leave the impact the original trilogy made, but I think it sets the story up for a great next chapter. I am not at all sure where a third chapter fits in, but Tolkien's writings about Middle Earth are rich with material. There are definitely things in this movie that do not technically appear in The Hobbit book. He is pulling for all of Tolkien's Middle Earth writings and that is why I know Jackson understands Tolkien's world. I will probably see HAUJ twice more, with on of those being in the High Frame Rate with 3D, just I can see if it really is the future of cinema.

Final Grade: A-

Red Dawn

A few years ago I heard about someone wanting to remake Red Dawn. I was unsure how this was going to go because Russia is not really our biggest threat these days. Okay not really, I was pretty much excited. Who would not want to watch another movie where a rag-tag group of teenagers essentially stop the world from fully going into WWIII? I mean seriously, who would not want to watch that movie? In the 80s it was a brilliantly cheesy concept and in 2012, it is still a brilliantly cheesy concept. You take a group of known young actors, mix with a couple of up and coming young actors, put in some ridiculous action sequences, shake well and serve with a side of AWESOME and enjoy the feast. It should be the perfect empty calorie meal.

Jed Eckert (Chris Hemsworth in full action stud mode) is home from the Marine Corp, for reasons unknown. Is he just on leave? Did something happen? These are pesky questions not answered. His younger brother, Matt (Josh Peck) is a punk high school kid who does not understand teamwork. A football game happens, awkward family exchanges happen and then 5 minutes later, BAM!!! North Korea invades their hometown and we are off to the race. Jed, Matt and a group of teenagers escape the attack and head for the Eckert family cabin. This scrappy group of young people decide, with Jed as their leader, that they need to fight back. They cannot defeat them head on, but with sneak attacks and trickery they can put a dent into the terrorists. Go 'MERICA! But, they are just teenagers, how can they possible understand how to attack trained terrorists? Silly movie goer, there is a serious montage of Jed teaching everyone how to shoot, fight, listen for footsteps and how to dress wounds. Matt, though becomes an issue because he wants to sacrifice the team to save his gorgeous girlfriend, Erica (Isabel Lucas) and he is still angry at Jed for running to the military after their mom died many years ago. Do not concern yourself with how she died, it is not important, because...EXPLOSIONS!!!

If it seems like I did not enjoy Red Dawn, please know that I loved it. It sacrifices character, story, exposition, in favor of an awesome car chase, great explosions and a doozy of a climatic action set piece. I was not expecting a life changing event with this movie, I just wanted a good time and I was treated to just that. Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck and Josh Hutcherson are all likely going to have great movie careers. Hemsworth is this decade's best pure young action stud. He is likable, but distant. He is charming, but cold and he is believable as a man who can out-action everyone else. Peck is a bit whiny in this, but the character is at fault for that. He proves he work as part of an ensemble, but also shows he can probably hold a big movie on his own. Hutcherson already has big budget cred with The Hunger Games, but I really thought he was under the radar in this movie. I was hoping he would have more to do, but when he does get a chance, he shines and he gets the best moment in the movie, if you have an affinity for the original. Connor Cruise (Yes, Tom's son) is solid without too much to do and Lucas is stunning, but she is not much of an actress. Adrianne Palecki is the true female star of this one. I have loved her since Friday Night Lights and keep hoping she will find the right vehicle to break out. This is probably not it, but she plays a tough, yet vulnerable girl very well. You believe she will get down in an action scene, but also that she is break down and cry if needed.

Red Dawn moves quickly, which is probably its best asset. It gets going in the first five minutes and does not really spend much time away from keeping the action moving. There are a lot of speeches, but they are almost all voice overs as the Wolverines are setting up a sneak attack, or setting bombs up to explode. The actions scenes are shot a bit too frenetically for some, I imagine, especially anytime they are running in the woods. The opening car chase is especially frenetic. It might be too much for some people, but I actually loved it. It really helped sell me on the kind of improvisation of the group of teenagers. By filming so haphazardly, I got the sense that the danger was real. Even Jed, who is pretty calm throughout, loses his crap during the initial invasion. The shot of the Korean's parachuting into this town was also pretty outstanding. It was almost a first person account, as if to say, what would happen if we looked up and saw a bunch of Koreans dropping from the sky like rain? The key sequence though, is that climatic action set piece. Set inside a fortified jailhouse, guns blaze, gas bombs explode and there is also some awesome hand to hand combat. It has a little bit of everything you want in an action scene. I loved how it was staged. The levels of the building are perfectly utilized and the writers does a great job of spreading out the cast, so the action can constantly move from one person to the next. The director does a good job of keeping the action from getting too messy as well. We never lose sight of who is who and what the motivations for each characters are. it is very well done.

There is not a lot of explaining why all of this is going on. The opening credits gives us exposition as to why North Korea is our biggest threat and during some of the scenes, we can hear speeches from the Korean's to the American prisoners about how America needs someone new to lead it because we have gotten too much freedom. It looks as if some sort of brainwashing might be going on, or an attempt of it. The Wolverines offer all of the people hope. They become a symbol of a nation refusing to give up. Yes, the movie is very pro-military. It is very conservative thinking in that way, but honestly, it is a dumb action movie about a group of teenagers who destroy a terrorist plot to take over the USA, so please do not take it seriously. No, Red Dawn is not a great movie. Anyone who says so is probably an idiot, but it is a fun action movie and I think it does exactly what it set out to achieve. I had a great time for 110 minutes and there are times when that is all I want.

Final Grade: B-

The Avengers

I am not going to spend too much time giving my own personal back story on the level of excitement for this movie. I am exactly the target audience for The Avengers. I was worried it would be a muddled mess, but Joss Whedon being on board really calmed me down. He has a history of creating stories that involve a big ensemble, but giving everyone a chance to shine. That was going to be key for me. I loved Ironman and Captain America. I really enjoyed Thor, Ironman 2 and Incredible HULK. I love the characters, I love the comic books, and I love the animated Avengers comics. Marvel was doing a big risky thing here and Avengers was meant to be the pay off, but was it?

LOKI(Tom Hiddelston)the viallain from THOR, is back, with a vengeance. After appearing at the secret lair of SHIELD, getting it destroyed and high jacking Clint Barton (Hawkeye, Jeremy Renner) and Prof. Selvig, LOKI puts them all to work to get the Tesseract up and working so he can create a portal that cannot be closed and then big nasty alien monsters can come through and destroy Earth. LOKI believe believes humans do not like the freedom they have and should be ruled by him. Agent Nick Fury (Sam Jackson) is not cool with this, so he attempts to round up a group of remarkable people, beginning with Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). After dispensing of some Russian thugs, Widow heads off to find "The Big Guy." Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) has been trying to stay off the radar helping those in need and trying to keep "the other guy" in check. He resists, but eventually he gets on board after he is told they just need his help locating the tesseract, and not to turn in HULK and fight things.

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is busy creating cleaner, more efficient energy sources, but after a surprise drop in from series favorite Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg), Stark is on board. Captain America (Chris Evans) is the first to meet up with LOKI, and with help from Stark, they capture him. The capture is short lived at first because THOR(Chris Hemsworth) grabs LOKI and takes off. This leads us to our first super awesome. THOR and IRONMAN fight it out, with CAPTAIN getting in on the action. Eventually they settle in and LOKI is transferred to the aerial base and stuff goes crazy from there.

If that appears a bit confusing, it is not, it is just tough to write out. If you know the characters the film is incredibly easy to follow. Whedon has written and directed a breezy, perfectly paced summer extravagnaza. It is a summer movie version of a big theme park. If you think fo that as a critique, it is not. I mean it in the very best way possible. However, unlike many theme parks, AVENGERS is totally worth the money. Downey Jr. swoops in with his snarky perfection and creates this perfect chemistry with every single member of the team, Evans remains the calm, quiet confident CAPTAIN AMERICA. Hemsworth delivers the second funniest line in the movie, proving he is not just all biceps, but I want to talk about Ruffalo for a little bit. I have always found Ruffalo to be an actor in search of a great defining role. He is very talented, but it never quite clicked. That is no longer the case. Ruffalo nails Banner's duality even though he only bodies half of the character. He is never quite sure of what he can do and he emotionally drives this movie, I think. He also gets to deliver the best line of the movie, a line so perfect, it completely changed my view on who Banner was. I cannot wait to go watch the movie again with this new Banner lens.

All of this is well and good, but if the action did not deliver, what would be the point? LOKI's entrance is totally bad ass, his fight with Captain and IRONMAN, while short is very cool. I loved the fight between THOR and IRONMAN. The aerial base attack was breathtaking and manages to give us all of our heroes doing something. How kick ass is black widow? But also, how kick ass Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders)? But they are all just teases for the humdinger of a climatic battle.

For roughly 35 minutes, New York feels the wrath of an alien monster race reigning down and wrecking shop. Havoc is their game and they are excellent. However, a newly focused AVENGERS are on the case. Shot with dazzling clarity, insane swiftness and never without losing the Whedon trademark humor, this action sequence is about as perfect as they come. The stakes are perfectly raised, each hero gets to do what he/she does best and the audience never gets to catch its breath, but it is never overwhelmed. CAPTAIN and Black Widow do insane hand to hand combat, HAWKEYE's bow and arrow tricks are awesome, THOR goes toe to toe with LOKI and takes on quite a few aliens. IRONMAN never stops his one-liners as he flies through New York dodging buildings and weaving through the skyscrapers and it is wonderful. However, it is all topped by HULK. For two films I have been waiting for someone to do HULK the way HULK is meant to be used. Finally, I get my pay off. WOW!!! Watching HULK smash everything, was beyond epic for me and for everyone else in the theater. The Motion Capture is gorgeous, as you can see Ruffalo in there, and the way he moves and emotes, makes him my favorite Motion Capture character after Gollum and Ceasar.

For 150 minutes I was in nerd heaven, yes. I am perfectly okay with that. The relationships built in this movie are going to carry this Marvel thing for years and years and I hope they can keep coming back and doing the AVENGERS thing. If the movies come out like this, I will never tire of them. Summer movies in their purest form are supposed to be just like this. It was thrilling, genuinely hilarious, and for a brief moment, it even choked me up. I have a feeling this movie is going to require a few viewings just to hear everything I missed over the sound of my own laughter.

P.S. STAY ALL THE WAY UNTIL THE END!! SO many people left after the first credit sequence scene, but there is a second one and it is perfection.

The Hunger Games

Not that I really have the time to completely bring back this review blog in the way it once was, but I miss writing movie reviews and what better way to jump back in than with the movie biggest opening non-sequel ever. Granted, inflated ticket sales help, but hey, at least this thing was not in 3D, right? I was first turned on to The Hunger Games when Borders was going out of business and I was able to pick up the first book for $4.00. I had heard much about how great the first book was, but my hesitation stemmed from hearing about how unimpressive the final book was. Who wants to invest in a trilogy when it appears a foregone conclusion that the ending was going to suck. I picked up the first book was hooked pretty instantly. However, that does not always translate into a good movie. Before I go on, those of you who have read this blog over the years and anyone who converses with me on a regular basis knows this, but for any newcomers, I will not spend this review comparing the book to the movie. It is a feeble and pointless act and I have no time for it. They are completely different animals that do different things to my imagination and enjoyment.

In a future North America where everything is controlled by The Capital, a competition exists. This competition exists as a reminder to the 12 districts of what happened 74 years ago when the districts tried to revolt against the leadership. The games are called The Hunger Games. 1 boy and 1 girl between the ages of 12-18 are "reaped" from a lottery to represent the district in a fight to the death game for the enjoyment of the national audience. These games are carefully crafted by the Capital so that they get the best show possible. Katniss Everdeen(Jennifer Lawrence) of District 12 volunteers herself to be in the games after her 12 year old sister is "reaped." District 12 is the outermost district, therefore the most poor and unhealthy. Katniss, though, is incredibly skilled with a bow and arrow and survives on her hunting skills. The male from District 12, Peeta(Josh Hutcherson), does not look like he presents much of a threat, but he is strong and as the competitors prepare for the games, Peeta turns out to be incredibly charming and intelligent. On the other hand, Katniss is a fiesty, seemingly unlikable girl, but that all changes once Cinna(Lenny Kravitz) gets his hands on her and styles her to look like the knockout she does not believe she is.

The show is where The Hunger Games really starts to gain traction. The film wastes no time introducing us to the world of Panem and taking Katniss and Peeta swiftly from the bleak greys of District 12 to the eye popping colors and gorgeously futuristic capital. The colors and designs of the set pop off the screen and the faceless crowds in bright pink wigs, luxurious clothes and ridiculous make up provide a wonderfully biting satire on current American life. Katniss has to learn to play a part, the way the best reality television stars of our time have learned to play a part. The only difference is, Katniss has to try not be killed by the other 22, or 23, contestants. The training before the games does not offer much in the way of developing the other characters, but it gives us 2 good villains, 1 small girl to care about and allows us to see Katniss practice her skills.

This first half of the movie may seem like mere filler for those desiring bloodlust, but I found it to be completely fascinating. Lawrence's Katniss is a strong female role model and Lawrence really owns this picture. The scene where volunteers as tribute had me choking up. It is a stripped down and honest performance, which is even more of a feat when everything about the character is done up. She never loses this laser focus on who Katniss is and what she wants. She is a superstar on the verge of shooting into the stratosphere, but she never shows it. She remains completely within the world of The Hunger Games. It is a true testament of her talent. There was never a moment where I wandered from her story. For his contribution, Hutcherson turns Peeta into a more rounded character than I would have imagined from him. The hair is ridiculous, but his Peeta is thoughtful, soulful and just the right amount of charming without seeming too fake. Their chemistry is not as bristling with sexual sparks as I would have liked, but they clearly work well together.

The supporting cast just adds extra fun to the film. Stanley Tucci is pitch perfect as Ceasar the talk show host. If he seems superficial, look deeper. Tucci really flushes him out in just his reactions to everything going on. I cannot wait to see what Kravitz does with Cinna in the later movies because here he was exactly what I hoped he would be. I was hoping Anthony Mackie would be Cinna, but Kravitz did a great job. Wes Bentley, Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Banks (stealing every scene) and Woody Harrelson all did great work without too much screen time. T his is truly a case of me not being able to wait and see what these actors do with the progression of these characters.

One cannot review The Hunger Games without talking about the game itself. From the grueling (how great that they counted down from 45 and not just 10) countdown, to that brief quiet moment before the frenzied insanity, Director Gary Ross knew exactly how to let tension build. Then when the clock hit 0 and the tributes started their quest, wow, what insanity. This is a PG-13 movies, but it was not without brutality. Blood splattered, helpless teenagers fell and the body count rose with such furious tenacity that people in the audience were definitely flinching and trying hard not to look straight on. The pacing in the jungle was exquisite. I had a fear that everything in the jungle would be too quickly paced, but Ross was not afraid to let the action breathe. Our point of view remained Katniss, and Lawrence's ability to portray a girl who is lost, but confident, bruised but determined really shined through in the final hour.

I have 1 issue with the movie and that is the very end, but that is because I was expecting the book ending. It changed a bit here and it is difficult for me to remark on it before I see where the series goes from here. Therefore, I do not feel right making a big deal out it. Our expectations are not the fault of a film. If this was a totally original screenplay, I probably would have been completely satisfied with the ending of the film. I am ready for the next installment already. I hope the studio does the right thing and lets Gary Ross direct each installment because he has really taken great care in this world. The camera work was top notch, especially in the frenzied jungle. The film was not afraid to get gritty. In fact, it was often gritty. The Hunger Games is a top notch cinematic adventure with rich themes, a star making performance, and great attention to detail. It is devastating blockbuster entertainment in the middle of March. It has explosions, sci-fi technology, sexy people, and a big blood pumping heart right in the center. Do yourself a favor and check it out.

Final Grade: A

Super 8

J.J Abrams gets me. He gets what I like and what I want to see. He also gets how to keep a movie mysterious and has the absolute best trailers for his movies. I truly believe Abrams is the future Spielberg, once he better figures out how to connect humanity to his epic stories. Star Trek was certainly on the path to that and it looked like Super 8 was going to make giant leaps forward in that category. It does not hurt that Spielberg was a major producer on the film and clearly his presence was felt in terms of story. I was crazy excited about this from day one. The moment i heard Abrams and Spielberg were teaming up, I was sold. My favorite director and one of my favorite up and comers together? Yes, please! There was nothing that I saw from the trailers or the reviews that made me think this movie would be less than totally awesome, which is always dangerous, as I have mentioned many times in this blog. But, I believed Abrams would not let me down! Would he?

In a sleepy Ohio town, a factory accident has left Joe Lamb(Joel Courtney) motherless. His father, Jackson(Kyle Chandler) is a well meaning man, but he is not equipped to raise a young boy on his own. Joe and his group of friends spend their days making movies and at the moment, they are making a zombie film with Charles(Riley Griffiths) as the writer and director. Joe is a master with make up, Cary does explosions, and Martin and Preston fill out the cast and crew. Charles, thinking the story is not emotional enough, decides to add a wife to the main character, Alice(Elle Fanning) is asked to be the wife. On a late night shoot near a train station, the group of kids witness an insane train derailment and total explosion. They talk to an ominous black man who warns them to keep quiet. This Ohio town is quickly overrun with military personal and Jackson, as the deputy, is soon in charge as the sheriff goes missing. It is not long after the train wreck that things start to go weird. First, all of the dogs in town leave, then electronics all over the town are either stolen or damaged, there are rolling black outs and of course, people are going missing. The young kids try hard not to talk about it and all they really want is to finish their film, but soon as the military evacuates the town, the boys set off to find answers and they find something in their footage.

Super 8 is the best movie of this year so far. It has heart, thrills, genuine laughs, and a great sense of nostalgia. It reminded me so much of all of the movies that made me a movie lover in the first place. It remembers a time when kids wanted nothing more than to be outside being creative. It has elements of Stand By Me, The Goonies, Jurassic Park, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. It also has young kids filming a zombie movie, so you have those references as well. it is a wonderful blend of low budget humanity and big budget blockbuster. It is the kind of movie I know I will watch and love many times because of the feeling it gives me. Yes, there are issues and it is not a perfect movie, but when a movie makes you feel this wonderful sense of joy, how can you really start nitpicking at it?

let us begin with the wonderful cast. The young actors in this film are just outstanding. The moments between the kids feels incredibly organic and the dialogue between them is often times hilarious and peppered with really honest lines and emotions. Elle Fanning is a star in the making for sure and she has great chemistry with Courtney and it lies at the heart of the story. Joel Courtney, in his first movie ever, is exactly what the movie needs and he really makes you believe everything he is feeling. If you have not seen Kyle Chandler in Friday Night Lights on television, you are really missing out. Very few actors can say more with a shift of weight, or with eye movement than he can. He says more with actually talking less than most actors and he brings that to the role of a father doing his best to figure out life.

Abrams knows how to direct action, there is no denying that. The train crash is about the best crash of that level I have seen. It is littered with thrills, explosions and death defying moments with the kids. He also does a great job of concealing the creature until he absolutely needs to show it to us. The final action sequence that interlocks the human side and the blockbuster side is quite a wonderful spectacle, but I felt like it never lost the human core. In fact, it kept it so intact, one of the people I saw it with thought it bordered on cheesy, but to that I say, the movie is about a father and son trying to come to terms with the death of a loved one, it had better be a little bit cheesy! I will never tire of watching people dodge tanks, bullets and exploding houses and Abrams shoots this finale in a nice blend of long and tight shots. He shoots overhead when we need to see the scope of what is going on, but he knows exactly when to pull it in and give us something intimate.

I am very much aware that there are some flaws. yes, it is a little convenient as certain points for the boys to stumble upon exactly what they are looking for, but if that is what you are focusing on, then the movie is clearly not for you, because the movie did not grab you and fill you the way it did me. I will not listen to anyone complaining about Lens Flares because it is a J.J Abrams movie and you knew what you were getting into. It is like going to a Michael Bay and complaining about sweeping slow motion shots, it is part of who Abrams is as a film maker. I am not sure Super 8 will stay my favorite movie of the year, but I am pretty sure it will end up in my top 5 and it will be a movie I love for years to come. Any movie that can combine the adventure of The Goonies and the thrills of Jurassic park is always going to be watchable in my book. Super 8 is the kind of movie that makes me glad I can just get lost in a movie.

Final Grade: A+

Red

Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren in the same movie lends itself to a lot of jokes about retirement homes, or at the very least bad old person jokes. The fact of the matter is, all four of these actors have a lot left in the tank, and honestly, Malkovich seems to just be having more fun as he gets older. While, I am not familiar with the source material, it is tailor made for Bruce Willis. If ever there was an old man who we had to believe could still beat people up while keeping his wits about him, it is Willis. If you want an all out action dude, go to Stallone, but if you need an old dude to kick ass, crack wise and be smart, Bruce Willis is your man. You need Freeman because he does the wily veteran thing so well and since every movie needs eye candy, we have Helen Mirren, sexy sexy Helen Mirren.

Frank Moses(Willis) has a secret. He is getting his social security checks, but he is ripping them up so he can call the office and tell the lady he is not getting them. He does this because he has a crush on the call operator, Sarah Ross(Mary Louise Parker) and he does not know how else to talk to her. Now that is not really his big secret, his big secret is that he used to be an American spy and now someone is coming after him with murderous intent. In order to find out how, Moses enlists the help of his old friends, Joe(Freeman), Marvin(Malkovich) and Victoria(Mirren). Joe is good with plans, Marvin has information and Victoria is a weapons goddess. Moses is not sure what is happening, but soon he is put in touch with the notes of a recently killed reporter and learns that in the 1980s the vice president went crazy with killing in the army and Moses and his crew may have been privy to that information. However, these old timers also have a ruthless Secret Service agent on their tail. William Cooper(the wonderful Karl Urban) is smart, savvy and brutal, but he also has ethics and to him, Moses is the man behind a bunch of serious crimes.

This year has seen more than its fair share of action comedies and a majority of them have failed more than they have succeeded. Red succeeds more than it fails, but not by the best of margins. The pacing is totally wonky, the constant freeze frames that are "wink wink, nudge nudge" moments of "HEY THIS IS A COMIC BOOK MOVIE" but it is also so much fun and the action is very much top notch. Willis and Co are clearly having a blast as the old people still shooting guns, punching people out and running from the bad guys. Malkovich has perfected this crazy guy routine that Christopher Walken used to have on lock, Willis looks more invested in a movie than he has in years, Freeman cannot wipe the giant smile off of his face and no one has ever looked like they were having more fun shooting a Gatling Gun than Helen Mirren. Mary Louise Parker is merely along for the ride but even she is having a blast playing this girl who is in for the ride of her life and finds herself very turned on by a guy in action.

the script has some nice jokes and a few great gags, but I think, on the page it probably is a bit lackluster. It is one of those movies fully brought out by the cast and because they have all bought into the movie, the movie gets a nice boost. Red starts strong, and finishes incredibly strong, but it lags big time in the middle. I think the film was hoping introducing the crazy Malkovich character half way through would allow them to slow the movie down without losing the punch, but it nearly derails the movie, not because Malkovich does not work, but because they put it all on him and do not keep the forward momentum going. As the group tries to figure out the plot, the movie lingers in this limbo between action and comedy, but neither gets much to do. I did enjoy the little action sequence at the airport, including the absolutely ridiculous climax to that scene, but other than that, the movie loses its way.

Luckily Red gets back on track and in a major way. The climatic action sequence is absolutely phenomenal. It gives us wonderful stunts, seriously awesome gun play, a little emotion, sexy Helen Mirren and then, while the twist is not much of a twist, it gives us a satisfying conclusion. It is a well paced, well thought out and excellently executed conclusion to an up and down film. It is such a good action sequence that it pushed the movie into that realm of succeeding more than failing. Red does not set the genre on fire, nor will I really remember much of it in a few months, but it was an entertaining distraction and it is fun to watch a group of people having such a good damn time at work.

Final Grade: C+

The Town

It seems like only yesterday Ben Affleck was kryptonite for a movie. If you put him in your film, it would fail, but not only would it fail, it would be panned mercilessly. I always felt like he got a bad rap because of his relationship with Jennifer Lopez. He was the ultimate victim of this idea of celebrity overwhelming the work. Go back and watch some of those movies and you will see they are not the worst movies ever made. Affleck did a smart thing after that. he took a supporting role in HollywoodLand and then he co-wrote and directed the absolutely stunning Gone Baby Gone. His eye and ear for detail in the mean street of Boston coupled with this excellent story of moral ambiguity mixed with a wonderful set of performances revitalized Affleck's career and took it in a completely different direction. Of course the first questions asked about The Town, from inside my brain, were all about whether Gone Baby Gone was a fluke, a one off perfect storm that caused Affleck to succeed. Would The Town realize my fears, or brush them aside?

Charlestown, Ma, a small blue collar town just outside of Boston is the bank heist capital of the United States. They are big on car jacking and muggings as well. it is a place for people with no real future and who are doing anything to scratch out a living. Doug(Affleck) and James(Jeremy Renner) are life long best friends who were raised on these mean streets and they run a four man crew of bank robbers. On one of their jobs, James gets out of hand and they briefly take a hostage, Claire(Rebecca Hall) and worried that she will cause problems, James wants her offed. Doug does not want murder on his hands, so he says he will watch her, but he does more than watch her. He falls for her. With the F.B.I, led by Agent Frawley, on their heels, Doug wants to take some time before their next project, but James is a hot head and Doug owes him, but when things go terribly wrong, Doug wants out. He wants Claire to go with him and he wants to find a way to start fresh away from the old neighborhood. Agent Frawley will do anything he can to put a stop to as much of this serial bank robbery as possible, but can he catch these guys?

The Town is a tight, intense and raw film starting to solidify Ben Affleck's career as a big time director. His acting is good, serviceable, if a little lackluster when compared to Jeremy Renner, but the pacing of the film is excellent and his confidence as a director shines through. He is not afraid to establish the world in which we are immersed. If the characters are a bit flat and the relationships a bit rushed, it can be forgiven because he establishes the world with these great B-roll shots of a broken, beaten little offshoot of Boston. The dialogue is incredibly blue-collar and filthy and the accents are all very hard. Everyone is just a bit dirty and there is a whole layer of filth covering everything. We understand the world from the on-screen text, but Affleck does not let the text do all fo the work, he works hard for us to understand why these characters feel trapped the way they do.

Aside from that work, Affleck gets great performances out of everybody, including Blake Lively, who has limited screen time, but makes the most of it. She is believable, makes interesting choices and overall made an impression on me. She is probably capable of more than just playing rich snobby girls on The CW. Jon Hamm has the thankless task of playing the "cop" role. It is a role that is so often thrown away in films like this, but Hamm is a presence! He has real star power and he delivers Ferocious lines with juicy intensity, including the most hardened line in the screenplay that will leave you in between a giggle and shock. However, Jeremy Renner is the star of this show. In The Hurt Locker, Renner had a tightly wound intensity, but here he lets loose and goes for it. His accent, line delivery, mannerisms and just the way he carries himself, you never once question whether or not he will go crazy, it is just a matter of when.

One of the most brilliant moments in this film comes at a cafe. It starts as a fairly innocent scene, an almost cute scene and by injecting Renner's character into it, the entire scene flips and Affleck brilliantly handles the scene shift and the pacing of the scene and the editing of the scene all change at exactly the right time. Of course, this scene is not what everyone is going to be talking about, but it was this scene that made me a full believer in the picture. That is not to say the big action sequences are not great because they are. The opening bank heist is a wonderful introduction into what kind of movie we are watching. Full of quick cuts, striking violence and this gritty realism Affleck exudes, the opening Heist really captures the audience, but if the rest of the film had been mishandled, it would not have been so impressive.

To say The Town borrows from Michael Mann's Heat may be obvious, but Affleck does not just copy it, he makes it his own. Yes, he was clearly influenced by it, but I have seen many movies with big shoot outs clearly inspired by Michael Mann, including other Michael Mann movies, that were not successful. The final shoot out in this, though, is incredibly successful. The bullets sounds like they are whizzing by your head and they pop with such violence that you cringe and bullets fly like the world is running out of them and they all need to be shot off to save the world. When you think the shoot out is over and then it spills out into the world, then it gets even more intense for a few seconds. You actually wonder who will live and who will die and I like when a movie can do that.

Really great intense movies do not come around all that often and The Town does the job. It is intense, for sure, but it also entertains. It is an edge of your seat cops and robbers story, where you are not entirely sure you know what you want to have happen to the characters. Affleck's attention to detail as a director overshadows his own performances and the love story might feel a bit shoe-horned and rushed, but there is so much to love about the movie that it can be forgiven. It is worth seeing for Renner's performance alone, but there is so much more to enjoy. From beginning to end, The Town succeeds!

Final Grade: A-

P.S. one of the best things about bank heist movies is seeing the masks and the masks in this one do not disappoint.

The American

From people on The Facebook I have heard nothing but how boring this movie was. I have heard from critics I read that the movie was smart, slow and ultimately rewarding. George Clooney is a strange animal. He has this old school movie star charm, but he often makes movies not for the general public consumption. He is not afraid to remove his natural charm to make a movie. He has always chased movies/roles that interest him, even if he has to fight hard for them. He is never content just being Clooney and doing that Ocean's 11 thing in every film. For every Ocean's he does a Michael Clayton and so on. The American, from the trailers, looked like Clooney's foray into the action movie, his Jason Bourne style role, but those reviews I mentioned at the top had me believing the trailers were quite misleading.

Jack(Clooney) is a man of few words and in those words most of them are lies. He is a killer, but "cold blooded" does not really describe him. he is certainly a man who has seen too much and done too much to ever really find peace and when he finds a girl, he has to kill her. This is the beginning of the movie. He is being chased by people from Sweden, so he hides in a little town near Rome. He wants to do one more job and then get out. He meets a hooker, he meets a priest and he tries to keep his head down. If this sounds a bit straight forward it is. Jack wants out of the game and he wants to take his hooker away and try and find some peace. That is pretty much it.

The American is a very slow, deliberate, quiet movie. It might be the first arthouse assassin movie. It opens with this quick burst of violence, has 1 or 2 more quick bursts of violence, including a quick car chase, but other than that, it is a very moody, atmospheric film. It has a minimalistic score, but every time you start to hear the score, you pay close attention because the film gets tense in those moments. The cinematography is gorgeous and we get a lot of wide shots of sunsets, bodies of water and bodies of water. There are long stretches in the movie where we hear almost nothing because nothing is being said. We are just watching Clooney quietly try and live his life. Can it be boring? Yes, there are times when I was wondering what the hell the point of it all was.

Clooney has excelled in playing these guys who are lonely, but they are lonely because of what they do, or that they prefer it that way. In this movie, it is clear the character does not want to be lonely any longer. He finds this knock out hooker and while it starts as just him paying for sex, it moves into something much more. There is a fair amount of female nudity and there is a sex scene that could be considered awkward because it is not set to gorgeous music and you just see the girl the whole time. There is break from it. It certainly turned on the couple seated to my right. Of course, the movie may have just been boring them.

The direction is nice, if a little on the lacking side. Both of the on-foot chases look exactly the same, which is never a good sign for an action scene. The blocking could have been a little less bland, but the set up the camera and shoot thing kind of works. I mean there is toying with close ups and such, but often the movie is shot from this semi wide angle and we just kind of see what is in camera.

Also, it is the kind of movie where you know exactly how it is going to end and you spend most of the movie hoping it does not end that way. For whatever reason, because of the subject matter, the star, the tone, or pacing, you just know exactly where the movie is going and that is not a bad thing necessarily, but I did spend the final 40 minutes hoping to be thrown for a loop.

There is not a lot to recommend about the movie and there is not a lot to talk about, either. The movie is this pseudo navel gazing arthouse movie starring one of the biggest A-listers in the game. There are no other known American actors, the director is not well known, the guy who did the score is a German musician and the story does not appear to be something that interests American audiences. I am sure there are plenty of people who feel like you did not get the movie if you did not like it, but I am not that person. I enjoyed the film, but have no trouble believing people out there will find it dull and awfully slow.

Final Grade: C

Machete

I will never understand how this movie got made. I will never understand how Robert Rodriguez was able to con a studio into giving him the money to make a full length Grindhouse style movie from a fake trailer Rodriguez made to put in front of the under performing Grindhouse. Then, how he got Robert De Niro to agree to be in it with Steven Segal, Jessica Alba and Lindsay Lohan is a whole other story. Regardless of what Rodriguez had to agree to do, or how he worked his trickery, he did it. He got this movie made. They released a Cinco De Mayo trailer and took some jabs at the Arizona racial profiling bill, which is somewhat factored into the story. So going into the movie my main thought was "How did they get this movie made?" and my question coming out of the movie was "How did they get this movie made?"

Machete(Danny Trejo) is one bad ass Federali. By his nickname you can guess his weapon of choice and he uses it to hack off various body parts and basically clean shop, but the man was betrayed by the chief and a naked girl, who pulls a cell phone out of her vagina after stabbing Machete. Cut to a few years later and Machete is just another illegal alien in the United State looking for work. He makes friends with Luz(Michelle Rodriguez) and is being watched by Sartana(Jessica Alba), who works for Immigration. Machete is approached by Booth(Jeff Fahey) to kill Senator McLaughlin(De Niro), but it was a set up and soon all of Texas is looking for Machete. McLaughlin is courting the hardcore Conservative vote by wanting to build a protective fence to keep illegals out and this shooting has him rising in the polls. All the while Luz has set up an underground army of Mexicans ready to fight for the right to be in The USA.

Told with complete tongue in cheek violence, cheesy B-movie dialog and acting, Machete hits and misses, but ultimately falls flat. Danny Trejo is an invaluable character actor in so many roles, but as the leading man, he just does not have enough presence. Rodriguez wisely gives him minimal dialogue, but he just cannot carry the movie. Because of this, Rodriguez has assembled an impressive roster of actors both A list and C list. Jeff Fahey is a wonderful talent and does great work in this movie and his subplot involving his dirty thoughts towards his daughter, Lindsay Lohan, provides the one subplot I actually liked. De Niro is clearly having a blast hamming it up and both Alba and Michelle Rodriguez are bad ass enough, but the characters really should have been condensed into one character to save us about 10 minutes. Michelle is sexy as hell in the climax and Alba does get to kick some nice ass using the heel of a stiletto as a weapon.

The action is such a mixed bag. The movie starts off incredibly strong with this twisted, gory action sequence and it ends with a huge bang in terms of action, but the few action sequences in the middle of the movie are not as impressive. Robert Rodriguez seems a little gun shy at times to really let loose on the movie. he understands how not to take himself or the material seriously, but something is just missing with this one. A part of it is the material just does not warrant a feature length movie. It feels stretched way beyond what it should be. We get these side characters played by people like Don Johnson that do not serve enough of a function to make an impact on the screen or on the story.

Steven Seagal being the main villain was absolutely a big draw for me. I know that sounds stupid, but I grew up watching his movies on television. I loved his 1980s persona as a quiet, effective anti-hero who could not be killed. To see him as the full on villain was a treat and he did not disappoint. While he certainly does not move the way he used to, I had a total blast watching him squint and angrily whisper his way through the movie.

Machete does not lose the sense of ridiculousness as Lindsay Lohan is seen in a Nun's uniform shooting De Niro with a shot gun and for some that is worth the price of admission, but I cannot say I that I had as good a time as I had hoped. I loved Grindhouse, both halves, but this is almost Grindhouse light. Rodriguez had the actors and they were clearly game for whatever he was going to throw at them, but he squandered the opportunity, which is too bad because I was really hoping to just sit back and have one hell of a ride.

Final Grade: C-

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

I have been trying to figure out how to best tackle reviewing this movie from the moment the movie ended. For the last 10 days this movie has swirling around in the brain and marinating in my brain folds letting me soak it all in. Part action movie, part coming of age story, part comedy, part geekgasm, it is difficult to figure out how to classify it and how to talk/write about it. The movie is turning out to be a commercial failure, which, while not shocking, is absolutely disheartening, but I am not sure it was meant to be a hit. Every so often a movie comes out that I think is ahead of the times in which it was created. Scott Pilgrim is that kind of movie. People are written it off as too hipster, or too knowing, but I think that is point. I think it is so hipster, because the only way to properly mock the hipster attitude is to embrace it fully and turn it on its head. Who better for the job than Michael Cera and Edgar Wright? Okay, maybe I am getting a little ahead of myself. Let me rewind/unwind a bit and go from the start.

Scott Pilgrim(Cera) is an underachieving 20-something that spends his days playing in a band called the Sex Bob-Ombs and he is dating a high school girl, Knives(Ellen Wong) much to the mockery of his band mates, roommate (Kieren Culkin) and sister(Anna Kendrick). That all changes when he meet Ramona(Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and instantly falls in love. He has a date with Romona and the two share a bed for the night, but Scott did not break up with Knives first. However, Knives is about to be the least of his problems. In order to date Romona, Scott is going to have to do battle with and defeat her 7 evil exes. Through his battles, Scott will learn a lot about himself, about his resolve and about the people around him. Will the young man who has spent his life doing as little as possible man up and defeat the evil exes, or will the whole thing just get to be too much?

If the story is very straight forward, the way it is told is not. The movie uses elements of musicals, serious action movies, sci-fi, anime, video games, sitcoms, and a host of other avenues to get the story to the audience. It is impossible to classify the narrative framework and I could spend hours analyzing why certain things were done the way they were. I have to admit, I am ignorant to the source material as I have never read the Graphic Novel on which this is based. However, I understand perfectly, the kind of movie this is. This is the ultimate in post-post-modern genre bending film making. Edgar Wright, the genius director behind Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, has elevated his game and in doing so creating a movie I believe will come to be a defining film of a generation. The film is an mishmash of nerdiness, but also intrinsically cool. There are visual gags that callback to 8 bit Nintendo and each battle plays like a level of a video game, but intercut into the video game visuals is a stunningly vulnerable story.

This blending of visual with the story, make Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World play the kind of coming of Age tale high school students clamour for. Scott Pilgrim is a young man who is searching for more than just a girl, he is searching for meaning, he is searching for a way to feel something in a world that has grown cold and too ironic to understand how to feel anything. He fights a hipster Vegan with special powers(Brandon Routh), he does battle with an action star(Chris Evans) who is so detached from the world, his stunt doubles do most of his fighting. The music is also important, because in this iPod world in which we live, music is how people express themselves and this movie even uses music to be a battle, when a battle of the bands turns into a BATTLE of the bands.

Each fight is very different from the last which was welcome and the action is hard hitting, visually stunning, wonderfully choreographed and also absolutely hilarious in parts. To see Michael Cera as an action star is astonishing in its own right, but to see him do it well is just giggle inducing and I think that helps the movie. Cera is so...vanilla, that we become the character. He is so void of personality that he can become whoever we want him to be. We want him to succeed because he is us. The movie does a lot right, from all of the quick edits that can take us to 4 different locations in a matter of seconds, to the nonchalant way the movie deals with homosexuality. Scott actually shares a bed with his gay roommate and the boyfriends of his gay roommate and not a big deal is made of it.

The way relationships are dealt with is also very interesting. Romantic relationships are not treated with a great deal of respect, as these characters almost buy into the idea that we are in a post-relationship world. The gay roommate steals Scott's sister's boyfriend, Scott once had a fling with his drummer and now he treats her like it did not happen. He semi-cheated on Knives, and does not really pay the consequences at first. It is the stuff of classic Young Adult novels. It becomes a movie that could be paired with works of literature in a classroom setting, but it comes with all of these colorful bells and musical whistles that it becomes a study of both style and substance.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World might be the best movie I have seen at combining genres this side of a Tarantino flick. It has wit, heart, soul and flare, with great catchphrases to keep people reciting it, but it is so much more. I went in expecting a fun movie that would make me nostalgic for my old Nintendo and I was expecting a few cool action scenes enhanced by the video game bells and whistles, but I was not expecting for the movie to hit me the way it did. I did not expect the metaphors to be so fleshed out and the symbolism to be so effective. When the 1UP icon came up in the right hand corner, I thought it was clever, but I never expected it to be some meaningful. By the time Jason Schwartzman shows up, the movie is already amazing, but his performance and the scene in which he appears raises the movie even more.

I know I am missing things, and I know this review probably got a bit self indulgent, but it is my blog and I can write what I want. If this movie does not end up in my top 10 for the end of the year that will mean this was an insane final few months of the year.

Final Grade: A+

The Other Guys

It seems like a Will Ferrell has become a summer staple, the way an Adam Sandler movie is. We can be guaranteed a movie from this guy to infest our summer movie season and normally I skip them. I have no need for Will Ferrell in a starring role in a movie and I certainly have no need for a Ferrell movie directed by Adam McKay. This pairing just does not work for me. Yet there were things in the trailer that appealed to me. First off, Mark Wahlberg doing a comic version of his persona is always funny. People say this is his first real comedy attempt, but I promise, his role as himself on Entourage is always hilarious. Next, you have The Rock and Sam Jackson playing very arrogant versions of their perceived personas. Next, the movie had the look of a throwback buddy cop action movie. It almost felt like The Beastie Boys video for "Sabotage" in a way. With all of those in the plus column I decided to waive my policy on seeing Will Ferrell movies. Was I fooled or would I be rewarded?

When New York city needs heroes who will take up the call? With a void in in the NYPD which team of cops will step up and fill the void left by the hero cops? That is the basic question asked by our narrator(Ice-T, yes Ice-T). After a shooting gone horribly wrong, Detective Terry Hoitz(Wahlberg) has been assigned to be partners with a paper pusher, Allen Gamble(Ferrell) and it is stifling his mojo. Hoitz was a detective on the rise and now he is stuck to a desk. He is looking for a way out and he will get it even if it means kidnapping his partner. Looking for any reason to do cop work, Hoitz humors Gamble on a quest to arrest David Ershon(Steve Coogan)for not having the right building permits. Ershon is a big shot finance guy but he has people after him and soon Hoitz and Gamble find themselves being shot at, beaten up and having buildings around them blown up. Hoitz is excited by this, but Gamble wants to play things safe. In college Gamble got out of hand as a pimp and now he tries to quell the demons inside of him. But New York needs to put a stop to a Ponzi scheme and needs people who are not afraid to stand up to evil forces that lurk around the shadows of the city.

Every so often The Other Guys veers into Will Ferrell insanity and it is in those moments where the movie fails, but otherwise, it is actually a pretty solid film. Wahlberg is excellent as the tightly wound, overly frustrated Terry Hoitz. His whiny, angry performance is the perfect balance to Ferrell's ridiculous antics. Wahlberg's reactions to Eva Mendes being Ferrell's wife are picture perfect, the ballet he does is wonderful and every time his voices gets to that high pitched whine, I could not help but laugh. There is no doubt Wahlberg can handle the action scenes in the movie, but he pulls off the comedy flawlessly. Ferrell has good chemistry with Wahlberg and there are times I found him to be quite funny, especially in the first 30 minutes or so when he is remaining calm to Wahlberg's threats. However, as the movie went on, Ferrell got more and more Ferrell and the movie indulges him too much. The back story of him being a pimp in college is totally distracting and obnoxious. The jokes between he and Eva Mendes just do not work, and it is not the fault of the delivery, it is just a horrible bit.

Having Ice-T narrate the movie is brilliant and The Rock and Sam Jackson, in what amount to glorified cameos, are wonderful and the way they exit the movie is totally ridiculous, hilarious and unexpected. Kudos to the two men for being willing to take these parts. It elevates the first 15 minutes greatly. Rob Riggle and Damon Wayans Jr. have supporting roles and Riggle is his usual half funny/half terrible self and Wayans Jr. lands enough of his jokes to think he could succeed in Hollywood, but probably on television. Michael Keaton continues his good year with a hilarious supporting turn as the captain of the precinct who has a part time job at Bed, Bath and Beyond. His constant unintentional references to TLC songs make for a great running bit, even though the movie squanders the opportunity to play "Waterfalls" at a better time than they actually do. Steve Coogan is an actor who plenty like, but I have yet to fully see his appeal. He does smarmy and weaselly pretty well in this movie, though. SO he does his job.

On the other side of this movie is the action and the commentary on the action. Ferrell's Gamble leads the duo through a few car chases and comments that he learned to drive that way via Grand Theft Auto. It is an old joke, but it actually lands pretty well because of the kind of chase that was choreographed. Also, the reactions from both cops when a building explodes near them is even funnier in the movie than it is in the trailer and it does offer a nice commentary about how ridiculous it is when characters in movies walk away unscathed from explosions. I absolutely loved the gun fights, the Heat like one in the street and the awesome slow motion one that we see glimpses of in the trailer. Wahlberg's presence really helps sell the action and the movie needs to have the action look good because the entire look of the movie is a throwback.

The Other Guys hits a lot more than it misses and I really did have a nostalgic sense throughout the entire movie. The way the film is almost washed out to look retro helps and the music has a very throwback feel most of the time and that really helps sell the film for me. Ice-T's narration also gives the movie the sense of an exploitation film that felt very organic. I hated the Will Ferrellness of chunks, but when he is reeled in, I enjoyed his buttoned up performance and I hope Wahlberg continues to explore this comic side of his tough guy persona. In a summer with pretty weak comedies, The Other Guys scores as a wonderful comic action piece and a total surprise for me.

Final Grade: B

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

David Slade is a director I am going to always check out. His first two movies, Hard Candy and 30 Days of Night are wonderful visions of terror, in completely different ways. He understands how to build tension, how to shoot scenes in horrifying ways and he gets the kind of performances he needs from his actors. I was more than a little surprised when I heard he was going to be taking on the third movie in this ridiculous Twilight series. He is better than that. His movies are dark and grisly, the way a movie about vampires and werewolves should be, but Twilight is not about the dark and grisly, it is about this weak ass love story that is not really about love. Why would Slade agree to this? Why would he do this to me? Now I had to go back and watch New Moon to prepare myself for this because I was not going to miss a David Slade movie. So, the movie became about "Can a good director save a weak story?" Read on to find out the answer.

At the end of New Moon, the Cullen family decides that Bella(Kristen Stewart) becoming a vampire would be a good thing. Well, most of them anyway. So, the race is on as to when that will happen. Edward(Robert Pattinson) is dead set against it and in this movie we get a glimpse into way because there is a vampire out there creating an army of new vampires and new vampires are CRAZY! That is when vampires are at their most inhumane. Luckily, Jasper knows how it goes because in one of the far too many flashbacks we see his previous life and how that went. Jacob(Taylor Lautner), the resident double-digit abdominal muscle having werewolf, is also madly in love with Bella and he is not willing to let it go. Bella refuses to admit she is in love with Jacob, but Jacob presses on anyway. Victoria(Now Bryce Dallas Howard) continues to run around aimlessly terrorizing the Cullens, the werewolves and Bella, all while not seeming to have any considerable talent. Is she behind the baby vampire army? Will Jacob and Bella finally kiss? Will Edward do anything but sulk?

This might just be the best possible movie one can get out of such a terrible story. David Slade must be a genius because he made a watchable Twilight movie. Do not get me wrong, it is far from a great movie and every damn time the movie turned its full attention to Edward and Bella I wanted to walk out of the theater in exasperated haste, but Slade makes everything else watchable. His opening scene reminded me of his work in 30 Days of Night, and the action sequences are all wonderfully shot, paced and actually have an element of surprise about them. I found myself getting a bit into the action stuff, the way the last two movies could not do. Slade is such a sure handed director that he knew he could find the good in the suckfest that is Twilight.

Taylor Lautner has a definite future in the genre of action movies. To say the guy looks good would be an understatement. The kid is great looking and he is ripped and built the way a 19 yr old kid should not be, but he also has presence. He is not a great actor by any means, but most action stars are not, but you are drawn to watching his stoic face. Granted it could be because he is acting opposite two disgustingly awful actors in Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. I am not sure where Lautner's career will take him, but I imagine it will take him very far into the realm of action movies and dramas where he kisses girls in the rain. Speaking of kisses, why is it that every time Bella and Edward kiss it is super awkward and not at all filled with heat, but when Bella and Jacob finally get their moment, it is an erotic wonderful kiss? I am not going to get into the debate of teams, or any of that nonsense, but on the screen, the chemistry between Stewart and Lautner is far more interesting.

Because it is Twilight there is a certain level of ridiculousness, especially any scene that forces Jacob, Bella and Edward to be int he same place, but this movie actually finds a bit of humor in what is my favorite non action scene, where Bella is freezing, but Edward cannot warm her up, so Jacob gets into bed with her to warm her up while Edward is there. It is the kind of throw-your-hands-in-the-air-ridiculous, but it is actually played for laughs. Lautner's swagger against Pattinson's bumbling scowl play well off each other and when the two guys are having a conversation, it is the only time Pattinson changes his facial expression. Perhaps Edward is not jealous that Bella wants Jacob, but that Jacob wants Bella. Just food for thought.

There are plenty of unintentional laugh out loud moments thanks to a horrible script, bad plot and somewhat awkward pacing at times, but overall Eclipse is actually semi-enjoyable. I like the idea of a human girl fighting her feelings between a werewolf and a vampire, but I would rather now have it covered in a Mormon gloss and not be aimed at the teenage girl demographic because I think there could be a lot more interesting and complex stories to tell about animals vs. human and life vs. death. Jacob makes these cases pretty well in the movies and to be honest, in the way the movies have played out, it seems Bella loves Jacob more, but that the stories dictate she must love Edward and so she does. Or maybe, there is no reason given as to why she loves Edward, other than that is the way the author wants it, which is just an awful way to go.

Final Grade: C

Salt

This movie made waves before it ever got going on filming. It was set to be Tom Cruise's comeback picture, but he passed on it and Angelina Jolie took over. The part had to be re-written for a woman, and the battle was set for the summer of 2010: Tom Cruise's actual comeback vehicle vs. the one he passed on. I was not really anticipating Salt all that much. I like Jolie in the action genre, but I could not get excited about this particular one. There was no reason for the lack of enthusiasm. In fact, this is usually the kind of movie I get up for. I love espionage action flicks! The trailers were just so "blah." Yet the reviews were mostly positive and that has the ability to swing me one way or the other if I am unsure about a movie. I mean, I probably would have seen it eventually, but with all of these critics saying it was a solid, fun action movie, I ventured out hoping I was not being led astray.

Evelyn Salt(Jolie) is an American Spy with a specialty in Russian spy stuff. When a Russian defector comes in to the office, Salt is charged with finding out if the guy is on the level, or not. The defector tells that a Russian spy is going to kill the Russian President on United States soil during the United States Vice President's funeral. He also tells a story of groups of young kids who were stolen from their parents as kids and turned into killing machines and then planted all over the world with assumed identities and when the time is right, they will all be called upon. Salt smells the B.S, but the defector says the name of the operative and, you guessed it, the operative is Eveyln Salt. From there, the chase is on. Salt is the one being chased and Ted Winter(Liev Schreiber) her friend/boss, and Peabody(Chiwetel Ejiofor) are the ones doing the chasing. Winter believes that Salt is being framed, Peabody does not. With crazy twists and turns hitting every 15 to 20 minutes after that, it would be wrong to divulge anymore of the plot from there.

Salt has a title that lends itself to really bad puns about flavor for critics to put in the headlines of their reviews and it is hard to get away from that for the first little while of watching the movie. You think to yourself, why is her name Salt? Could the writer really not come up with something that was not so silly? However, when you get over that, you settle in and realize you are watching a surprisingly kick ass movie. With old school action stunts, Jolie's winning charm and solid acting performances from Schreiber and Ejiofor, Salt turns out to be a great action movie. From the moment Jolie's Salt goes on the run, through every twist and turn (some awesome, some totally ridiculous) to the even more ridiculous but fun ending, Salt kept my attention and at times put me on the literal edge of my seat. The car chases all have this very old school feel to them and the limited use of CGI effects helps that. Yes, there are explosions, but mostly there are just cars running into each other and this brilliant moment of Jolie stealing a motorcycle to better weave through the traffic. This sequence is one of the best, and the most extended. She is leaping off of trucks, she is running while getting shot at, she drives the motorcycle and dodges oncoming traffic and when this scene comes to an end, you can finally exhale.

I do not want to compare this movie to some movies that I want to mention, but I want people to know what kind of action movie this is. I really got a The Fugitive vibe from this whole movie. The Fugitive worked because it was constantly moving, had a lead who was comfortable in the role and had this wonderful supporting role. It also hearkens back to another Harrison Ford movie, Patriot Games, which was directed by the same man who did this one, Phillip Noyce. These action movies work because they keep the foot on the gas. Yes, there are pauses in the action, but the tension never really goes away once the movie gets going. There are no light hearted jokes once the action gets moving. We do not pull away from the main characters to see what someone else might be doing. No, we watch Jolie on the run for nearly 90 minutes and she handles all of the action stuff wonderfully. She never looks out of place holding weapons, or shooting them and She keeps the mystery alive at every twist. We are never entirely comfortable with Evelyn Salt and that is to Jolie's credit.

The script might have some holes, upon closer examination, but that is the fun of this style of action. it moves too fast to really pay attention to those potential holes. I love the sequence at the church, and how creatively it is set up and the hand held fights, while semi plagued with shaky camera syndrome, look crisp and clean and it is possible to actually see what is going on, which is always a welcome change in action movies. I know we are supposed to feel the action as opposed to seeing, but I like to be able to see Jolie totally kicking ass. The effectiveness of an action movie rests on the action and Salt has great set ups, wonderful execution and it is all shot in ways that allow the audience to actually see what is going on. That is all the important factors.

Salt is not a genre changer, nor is it this wonderfully epic movie that everyone needs to run out and see, but it is a solid action movie. It would have been a wonderful comeback vehicle for Tom Cruise, but Jolie is definitely solid in the role and it helps having pros like Schreiber and Ejiofor handling some of the more tedious work. Your enjoyment of the film may rest on how you handle the 3 or 4 big twists, but I think the action looks good enough that it can overcome twist problems, although I had no problems with the twists, even the more ridiculous ones.

Final Grade: B+

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

My excitement for this movie is hard to explain. I knew it would be a bad movie. And I think that is mostly why I was so excited. I get that it makes absolutely no sense, but there is something about this awful looking, CGI infected, bad Nic Cage hair having movie that just made me giggle about how bad it could be. It is the absolute worst reason to see a movie, but whatever, it is my life and my money and not yours. Of course, the movie is taken from the Mickey Mouse section of Fantasia and Disney turning movies out of rides and things like that have had success, with Pirates and I think Disney had hoped this movie would on that level. You have the CGI and the big budget director, so why could they not spin gold twice.

Opening in the time of Merlin and quickly jumping to the year 2000 and then again jumping quickly to 2010, we are clearly in need of some exposition. First off, there were 3 apprentice's under Merlin-Balthazar(Cage), Maxim(Alfred Molina), and Veronica(Monica Bellucci). Maxim goes bad and joins Merlin's nemesis helping to kill Merlin. Veronica does a spell that merges herself with the villain and Balthazar captures her in a cute little jar. Balthazar does this to bad sorcerers all through time until he is the last one left, with a dragon bracelet to put on the hand o the true successor of Merlin who can actually kill these evil guys, not just trap them. In 2000, a young boy, David, stumbles into a magic shop where Balthazar works. Balthazar gives the boy the dragon thingy and it works, but quickly, David breaks something and lets out Maxim. Maxim and Balthazar fight, get trapped and we jump to 2010 where David(Jay Baruchel) is a total science nerd. He loves physics and cannot get a girl. Maxim and Balthazar get free and go after David. Turns out David is the heir to Merlin's power and he must defeat everything thrown at him. David buys into the idea pretty quickly, but does not buy into himself. He is self loathing, a dork and a loser. He meets a hot girl, Becky(Teresa Palmer) who helps him find his confidence, but will it ever be enough to defeat the evils of the supernatural world?

There is a lot lacking in The Sorcerer's Apprentice. This probably does not shock anyone, but the stuff that is lacking is the stuff I was hoping to find. The movie is too small. There are action sequences to be sure, but it just feels too small. There is too much time spent on the romance, or even the training and not enough on the fact that these guys shoot plasma balls and fire balls. Yes, there is a giant steel eagle that pops up, but it is not used enough, along with the giant bull they are thrown away in favor of story!! Boring! I mean it would be fine if the story was great, but I just wanted action because who cares about the story?

I liked some of the stuff, like the scenes where David is working on his physics stuff and we get these electric wave lengths that give off sound and David uses them to create music for Becky. It is a charming moment and Jay is a charming young actor. He is from the Michael Cera school of charm, but it works for him, Teresa Palmer is far too hot for him, but she does not play Becky shallow in any way shape or form, so in a weird way the whole thing works between them. With Jay and Mr. Cage, though, that is a whole other story. In my opinion, I wanted Cage to be bigger, crazier and more obnoxious. He is too subtle in this role. He is playing a sorcerer who is thousands of years old, but he is far too serious. Lighten up man!

I really do not have much else to say about the movie. It was harmless, and the CGI was pretty good, but I just was not invested in it at all. It was on the screen for a while, I watched it and when it was over, I felt like I was already starting to forget the experience. There is just nothing memorable here. I liked some of the nods to the original section of movie, from which the movie comes, and Alfred Molina playing a villain is always fun, but even he was too serious. It just felt like they all forgot they were making a big fun summer movie.

Final Grade: D

Predators

I am a fan of Predator. I am also a fan of Alien Vs. Predators 2. You can toss anything else involving the Predator creatures away because the rest of it just sucks. When I read Robert Rodriguez' journal about getting El Mariachi and Desperado made, I remember reading about a treatment he once had to revitalize The Predator series. I thought it would be a good project for him. Apparently someone at FOX thought the same thing, only what, 15 years later? At this point, Rodriguez was not as interested in directing the film, but he wanted to produce it and have a say in how it went, so his Troublemaker production company took the major producing credit and Rodriguez picked Nimrod Antal to direct. Antal had previously directed 2 American, 1 excellent(Vacancy) and 1 not so excellent(Armored). I was still excited about the idea.

With a story very close to The World's Most Dangerous Game, People are set on an island and then promptly hunted. Why? Well that is never entirely clear. This particular island happens to be on another planet and the hunters happen to be crazy alien creatures. The humans are some of the most vicious killers/predators on the planet and they are not friendly. We have Royce(Adrien Brody), a former black ops military guy, Isabelle(Alice Braga) also some sort of mercenary. Then there is a Japanese mobster, a Mexican thug, Russian mercenary, Death row inmate, an African rebel and randomly a scrawny, wimpy doctor(Topher Grace), who is there seemingly just to provide us with comic relief, and maybe to patch up our humans. This band of multi colored human beings must somehow band together and stay alive against these creatures who adapt very quickly and have awesome weapons and a cloaking ability. Pretty basic stuff.

Predators is a bit too talky, but when the action gets going, it really worked for me. Too much time is spent in exposition, considering we get a crazy EXPOSITION MAN(E.M) character in the form of Laurence Fishbourne. For those of you not well versed in Kyle movie lingo. The Exposition Man character is one who exists solely to tell us what is going on. In horror movies like this, he is usually a minority and usually he is crazy. In this movie he is both. Yet even with E.M, the characters also give much expository dialog, which always brings the movie to a screeching halt. There had to be a way to have maximum amount of action, and use E.M more to give us the information we need without all of the other dialog. It is a script pet peeve of mine to have too many people explaining what is going on. One or two characters is all we need to get what is happening.

It is kind of a minor complaint because the action is totally awesome. I remember being worried that Brody was not bad ass enough to carry a picture like this, but he is. He worked out, clearly, but more importantly, Brody has always projected himself to be an actor who is always thinking and to play a Black-ops guy, he has to use that and it works completely. I believed him as a strategist and if you needed help buying the baddassery, Brody spends a majority of the movie with a giant gun in his hands. Could that be overcompensating? Maybe, but it is awesome. The weaponry all the way around is totally sick. The Predators have these cool blasters and the humans have all sorts of guns they can use to blow away the little pig like creatures in the first cool action sequence and then hopefully to kill the predators.

Predators is not a remake, or reboot, it is another movie in the canon of Predator movies. It references the original film and it is a nice addition to the world. The movie opens in this awesome moment, of someone(Broady) falling out of the sky and waking up and opening his parachute. It is a wonderfully claustrophobic moment and sets the tone perfectly. The jungle looks amazing and it is utilized well, as the characters move all over the place throughout the jungle, so we get a very good sense of geography, which is important for this type of film. The predators look great, although Megan, my movie going companion does a wicked impression of the predators and made them less scary because of it. The climatic fight between Brody and the last standing Predator is totally kick ass, but I tend to think any fight that takes place around a ring of fire, is pretty kick ass. I also enjoyed the little twist towards the end. It kind of came from nowhere, but I am sure it makes sense if you go back and watch again. It is not going to start trends in action movies, but Predators packs enough of a punch that it kept me entertained.

Final Grade: C+

The Karate Kid (2010)

When I first heard of this remake, I got concerned. Not because I have these romantic notions that the original is this amazing movie that should not be touched, but because I thought it was a weird choice for Jaden Smith's first starring role. The kid did well in his first two movies- The Pursuit of Happyness and The Day the Earth Stood Still- but to pin his starring hopes on a remake no one really wanted seemed like a dangerous proposition for the budding star. I think often we, as movie fans, decide the movies we grew up loving are better than they really are. The Karate Kid is a cool movie, but no remake is going to ruin my childhood, nor do I think The Karate Kid was this experience that should not be messed with. In fact, karate movies should come back. I want another Three Ninjas and Surf Ninjas as well. I know we are in an age of street fighting/Mixed Martial Arts, but the Martial Arts are a fascinating study of control and ass kicking and why shouldn't we have more movies balancing the two? Plus the first time I saw the trailer, I thought that 12 or 13 year old Kyle would be all over it!

For somewhat unspecified work related issues Sherry and Dre Parker(Taraji P. Henson and Jaden Smith respectively) are moving to China. Dre's father is dead and he is not a bad kid, just hardened. His first day in China he meets a friend, a girl and an enemy. It was a big first day! At school his enemy tortures him, and eventually Dre just starts hiding. He wants to learn martial arts, but the big martial arts school is where the bully learned all of his tricks. After a serious confrontation with 6 bullies, Mr. Han(Jackie Chan) agrees to teach Dre Kung-Fu in order for Dre to compete in a Kung-Fu tournament and get these bullies off of Dre's back. Dre is an attentive student, but he rarely sees the point of the discipline minded activities Han gives him, like making him take off, pick up and hang up his jacket thousands of times. To Mr. Han "Everything is Kung-Fu." The young Dre's attention is not fully on Kung-Fu as he starts a romance with an adorable little Chinese girl, but she is a violinist and as their budding romance takes her away from her practicing she is forbidden to see Dre. Will this underdog be able to win the tournament? Will Mr. Han find redemption in this young kid? Who knows?!?!?!

Jaden Smith will be a star for decades to come if he plays his cards right. He has this amazing pedigree, yes, but he also has instincts. he carries the heft of this overly long movie and he is up to the challenge. He is quietly charming, the way his father, Will, is outwardly charming. The young Smith finds that not saying something is, at times, the right way to act. He spends a lot of time quietly contemplating Dre's next move or anticipating Han's next move. He is a talented kid and he very much impressed me in this movie. He also seems to be void of vanity and as a young actor, that is priceless. He had absolutely no reason to play a character who gets beat up over and over again and is forced to cry and scream about hating his life and Jaden allows us to fully understand how hopeless the kid feels. He is not afraid to let his Dre very much hide from danger without making Dre feel too weak. We never call Dre names because we understand because Jaden makes us understand with his face.

The movie is surprisingly good, too. The beginning has a nice mix of action and humor, with Jaden getting a chance to show just how charming he can be, but the very first time we see Jaden get beat up is brutal. I mean the movie is hard hitting in the action. We see, hear and feel every hit, kick and every time Jaden hits the pavement. I actually flinched in a PG movie a few times. This has to be on the verge of PG13, that is how brutal the action is for a family film. It was nearly shocking how brutal it is. Jackie Chan does very little fighting, but he has slid into the mentor role nicely. He wears it the way his Mr. Han wears a rundown baseball cap, presumably to hide himself from his shame. His Han lacks the usual Jackie Chan joy, which made Han much more believable. As Chan is less able to do all of his crazy stunts with age, I much prefer him in this type of role to the crazy goofy kid comedies he is doing. Henson does not have much to do but be the overly worried, overly sassy mother, but she is a talented actress and fills the role well.

At the running time reaching nearly 2 and a half hours, The Karate Kid is just too bloated. Much of the romantic side plot could have been cut and perhaps 1 of the training montages could have been trimmed a bit. By the time we get to the tournament, the movie starts to try the patience of the audience. Now, the tournament is very cool. Again, the action is more brutal than I would have guessed and the nods to the tournament in the original are nice, if a little pandering and there is never a question as to what is going to happen, but I went with it. I knew the ending was coming and it still got me all into it. I wanted to see what was going to happen, even though I could have drawn exactly what was going to happen. Also, there is a whole lot of obnoxious shaky camera that does not serve much of a point. Not everyone needs to use it just because they can.

When it comes to underdog stories, the climax is never the defining feature. There are only two ways for it to go, either the underdog wins, or he loses but learns something valuable and gains the respect of the favorite. it is what the movie does before it gets there that makes a movie, and The Karate Kid offers enough good stuff to make it worth it. The emotional climax with Chan and the young Mr. Smith hits the right notes and shows range for Chan, but it also shows that Jaden knows what he is doing on screen. These are two actors and characters that require the other to reach the goal. They need each other, whereas it seems like Dre needs Han. So, besides a bloated midsection, I was pleasantly surprised by The Karate Kid. The world is in Jaden's hands and I am excited to see the kind of actor he will become, because he really has all the tools to do a lot of very strong work.

Final Grade: B+