Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time

Definitely a wild ride of a movie and an excellent start to the summer blockbuster season.  Jerry Bruckheimer does it again with an engaging, action packed, roller coaster of a movie.  Mr. Bruckheimer, often times gets panned by the critics as his movies generally suffer from a lack of detailed plot... focusing more on action sequences to keep people entertained.   The Prince Of Persia does follow this same formula and you pay attention you can instantly tell you are watching a Bruckheimer movie.   That being said, I STILL really liked Prince Of Persia.   The plot line, although a bit weak, was substantial enough to get the audience from one amazing visual to the next... and it also logically tied everything together.  The action sequences were of course amazing...  and everything you expect from a summer movie.   Casting Jake Gillenhal, on the other hand I am not too sure about.  Not that he isn't a good actor... but this is his first foray into the action movie genre..and I had a hard time swallowing it.   Gemma Atterton did a MUCH better job though, playing the female lead.   If you are looking for a good pop corn movie to start your summer off right... you could do worse than Prince Of Persia.  (4.0/6.0)

Letters To Juliet

Some of my male friends might be clamoring to have my "man" card revoked after learning that I went to see this movie but REALLY it was actually pretty good.   :-)  After watching the trailer I was a bit intrigued about this movie.  The trailer made it seem like it might be a good romantic drama, without going overboard on the sappiness.  Much to my relief I was right... Letters To Juliet, I would characterize as being more of a drama about a womens search for a lost opportunity, with a touch of romance thrown in.  The views of Verona and Sienna are BEAUTIFUL... and the movie is worth watching just to see these in themselves.   Vanessa Redgrave plays an excellent part as the women looking for her former "soul mate".   The story line, like I said earlier, is light and easy to follow and doesn't bog down into sentimentality.  A good movie to take a wife or girl friend to that won't make you squirm in your seat or fall asleep out of boredom.   (4.0/6.0)

Robin Hood

Despite the lack luster reviews that this rendition of the popular legend is getting I thought that this was one of the best that I have seen.   This is NOT the Robin Hood that you are used to seeing though.  Although I would probably call it a origins story as opposed to a re-imagining of previous movies.   The movie is set during the time BEFORE the man who becomes to be known as Robin in the Hood starts his famous campaign to take from the rich and give to the poor.  One of the things I liked was that they didn't portray Robin necessarily as a hero born.. but more like a man shoved into the role because of circumstances and a sense of justice.   Left to his own devices he would have rather have gone on into obscurity.   Russell Crowe plays a fantastic part..  as an understated hero.  SO much better than the annoying false bravado and "goody goody" part that Costner played.  Cate Blanchette is also excellent as Lady Marion... The cinematography was also fantastic which isn't surprising coming from Ridley Scott.   He is WELL used to making movies on this scale...  Gladiator.    If there is one nitpick its with some scenes that felt kind of contrived.  Without going into details and spoiling anything.. there was a few scenes that felt...  well... like they were put in to please the producers as opposed to being logically part of the story.  This is a small thing though and doesn't detract from the overall movie too much.  This is definitely a movie worth seeing at the theaters...  (4.5/6.0)

Iron Man 2

This was an excellent second act to the Iron Man story.  I must admit I was a bit nervous going into this one.  The first Iron Man was such a great movie and generally speaking sequels never work.  In this case the boys from Marvel entertainment did a fantastic job coming up with both an intriguing story and a bad guy on par to take on Tony Stark and Iron Man.   The romantic chemistry between Tony and Pepper is ratcheted up a notch and the addition of Scarlett Johansson's character Natasha Romanoff also adds a bit of sexual tension between the three.  The action cinematography was on par with the first Iron Man movie and the acting was superb from Downey, Paltrow, Johansson, Rourke and Cheadle.   Those of you seeing it at the theater make sure to stay past the credits to see a teaser clip from an upcoming Marvel movie.   Definitely worth seeing at the theaters.  (5.0/6.0)

The Losers

Okay so The Losers is your stereotypical action movie.  Complete with your group of friends, betrayed by the bad guy and left for dead, who need to clear their names and get revenge.  Now, don't get me wrong... THAT is not a bad thing.  :-)   I don't know about you but there is sometimes when the tried, true, and familiar are just what the doctor ordered.  There is something comforting about watching a familiar plot line with just a small difference or take.  Some may not agree but that's me.   So for me the like-ability was pretty high for this one.   The acting was also great...  Zoe Saldana once again is fantastic and shows that she can role with the punches, so to speak.  You can tell she is having a BLAST acting against the big boys in this action flick.   The action sequences and cinematography are also very good.   Like I alluded to earlier... where the movie fails a bit is in the story/plot.   Which is not very original.  It is, what it is though.  I would say that unless you are bored and want a night out... you could wait for this to come out on DVD.   If you want to get out though.. and enjoy some mindless entertainment then The Losers is the movie to see this weekend.  (4.0/6.0)

Kick-Ass

I have mixed feelings about this movie.   I am actually still trying to digest it all.  Kick-Ass in one sense is just like all the other action movies being released lately.  Lot's of action, violence, blood gun play, slow motion martial arts, wire work, etc.   The movie is chalk full of all the elements that go together to make an awesome roller coaster ride of a film.   There is nothing in it that you haven't seen before in movies like The Matrix.   Where it goes off the radar is in the character of Hit Girl played by Chloe Moretz.  In the movie she racks up MOST of the kills, swears like a trucker and gets the most laughs.  She is ALSO playing an 11 year old.   What I find I keep thinking about is that IF it wasn't for her in the movie...  I wouldn't think anything about the violence in the movie.  With her in it... its different... and really I don't that should be.   Again the cinematography was excellent and the acting as well.  It's the like-ability of the story that I am having trouble defining.   It definitely left me questioning where the line should be drawn..  Watch out for Moretz though... she is ONE talented little actress... I have no doubt she will do well.  (4.0/6.0)

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Okay.. first off this is a foreign movie from Sweden..  :-)  So that means sub-titles on this one.  Yes I know, it means reading while watching but believe me its well worth it.  I would have to say that this Suspense, Thriller, Mystery is about the best I have seen in a while.  Probably going back to Silence Of The Lambs or Jennifer 8.  The multi-faceted story line has plenty of twists and turns to keep the best sleuths amongst the audience guessing.  The main story line has to do with a discredited journalist, who is soon to go to jail for libel, who is assigned one last job, to solve a 40 year old missing persons case.  Helping him do this is a brilliant young hacker (with a dragon tattoo), with her own issues from the past.  Together they stumble upon a horrifying history of violence and ritual killing..  What I liked about the story was that there were several subplots that at first you wonder how they relate.. but by the time the movie is done everything comes together.  If there is one flaw to the movie its in one pretty graphic scene... which I wont detail in order not to spoil anything...  Needless to say I thought they went a bit too far in this scene IMO.   I know, some people might not feel it's a big deal when they see it.. but for me it detracted from the movie.   In the end though, this is definitely a  great film if you LOVE mystery thrillers.   (4.0/6.0)

Date Night

Hillarious!!!  :-) This was truly an enjoyable comedy in all aspects but what it comes down to is the chemistry between Tina Fey and Steve Carell.  I must admit, I have been a Steve Carell fan for a while now, ever since I saw him in Evan Almighty.  Tina Fey on the other hand, I had less experience with, not normally a big fan of Saturday Night Live.   I was pleasantly surprised though as her comedic timing was a match for Carell's and they were able to play well off each other.  What was great was that these two were TOTALLY believable as a married couple.  I could actually see these two being married in real life.  Then they took it further and continued to play that way, despite the extraordinary circumstances the movie plot line put them through.  Often times when you watch these "fish out of water" comedies.. it becomes some what surreal as the character's don't react as they should when you think about the situation they are in.  In real life if things happened like they do in movies.. the couple would freak out.. or at least be scared out of there wits and alot of times in movies the characters don't portray this.  Carell and Fey were able to pull this off.   YES, they were in somewhat unbelievable circumstances.. but they acted like they should.. and just let the hilarity of the situation and GREAT one liners make the scene.  Lastly there was nothing overly "out there" in the story.   The plot flowed, logically from start to finish, without asking for the audience to stretch there imaginations too much to think that this could possibly happen.  On the whole a GREAT story/plot line and FANTASTIC acting make this movie truly enjoyable.  (4.5/6.0)

To 3D Or Not To 3D??

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So as many of you have might have noticed there has been a TON of the new Real D 3D movies coming out in the past few months.  And although it seems like this started with the release of Avatar, there had been a few rather forgettable movies before this... anybody remember Beowulf??   That being said...this year has been slated as the year of the 3D movie, with more than 20 new major motion pictures scheduled to be released in that format.   After reading up on the subject and on the advice of a good friend... I am going to weigh in and give my two cents worth.  :-)

So to start off with, in my mind there are basically two distinct approaches to making a 3D movie.  The first and best way is to set out to MAKE a 3D movie in the first place.  Using specially designed 3D camera's to capture the live action scenes, and computers to render the animated scenes in 3D.  As you are filming in 3D the director is keeping this in mind when designing his shots so as to take advantage of the depth he is going to get from the effect.   The best example of this of course is Avatar..  which I truly believe set the bar for 3D movies in general.  Say what you want about Cameron's epic... like it or hate it..  the 3D is spectacular

The second approach is to convert a standard 2D movie into a 3D movie in post production.  This approach I feel is where its possible to get into trouble.  On one end if you have a fully animated movie then you still can get a great 3D movie... as the 3D is handled completely through computer rendering.  An example of this would be How To Train Your Dragon.  Which is also a fantastic 3D movie.

On the other hand, where you have a movie that is a mix of live action and animated shots you will almost inevitably get mixed results, depending on the amount of animated shots you have.  Alice In Wonderland for instance was largely done with animated shots, with the actors filming against green screens... and in the end the 3D was decent and enjoyable.  (Although some may have noticed that the early scenes with Alice in the real world looked rather flat in comparison to when she was in Wonderland itself)  

Finally on the opposite end of the spectrum you have Clash Of The Titans...  (awesome 2D movie BTW) which was converted, only, to try to cash in on the 3D phenomenon... looks downright awful, in my opinion.   The 3D, what there was of it... was too little to be compelling and in fact became distracting. 

So in the end, I think that this year we are most likely going to be seeing a wide range of quality and as these movies COST more to see it makes sense to be wise in picking which ones we decide to fork over the extra dough.  To me movies shot in 3D or fully animated movies are the best bets...   anything else is not worth the money.  And really what's WRONG with 2D...  some of the best movies to date have been filmed in that manner and will continue to be so for some time to come.   Anyways that is my opinion...  and I would LOVE to hear yours.. Talk soon.. Dave.

Clash Of The Titans

Okay, I've been looking forward to seeing this movie ever since I saw the first teaser trailer for it last year.  Growing up in the '80s I remember and loved the first one so the idea of them remaking it using modern technology kind of thrilled me.  Now I know there are going to be comparison's between the two versions but I think that would be a mistake.  I think they both can stand on their own merits.   The earlier one built on, at the time, state of the art stop motion animation... to later one on CG.  Without going into much detail, and spoiling anything.. they changed enough of the story line to make a unique movie, while keeping all of the key components from the original.  Look for the bubo's cameo.  The acting wasn't bad... Sam Worthington once again does a credible job in role that he was given.  I would like to see him go further... I think he could possibly become a great leading man/action star.   I went to see this movie in 2D...  I know, I know..  but there was a valid reason.  This movie was originally filmed in 2D and was never intended to be 3D.  It was only converted to 3D later on with the success of Avatar.  I was just afraid that beings it wasn't intended then I can imagine the 3D might be less than stellar.  I haven't seen it yet though.. so I will leave that opinion for later.   That being said.. this is definitely a great movie.. that does justice to its origins.  Definitely worth seeing in the theaters.. (The Kraken will blow you away)  3D though... not sure its necessary to pay the extra money.    (5.0/6.0)

Please Don't Feed The Trolls

I am sure many of you already know what I am talking about but for those of you who don't: "a troll is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room or blog, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion. [1]"  I am also sure that you have ALL run into one at least once.  These people seem to strive on annoying the heck out of others, going on fan communities and the like to write their verbal graffiti.  I know maybe I shouldn't let them bother me as much as they do.  I should ignore them, as they are getting out of me EXACTLY what they intended... a reaction.  The thing is, it seems like lately they are becoming more and more prevalent.  I am seeing their signs in more places. I just wonder what is driving this phenomenon.

For an example on a thread concerning the movie Alice In Wonderland, someone posted up, "That movie sucked".   That's it.  Now I am all for people expressing there likes/dislikes about movies.  I believe you have a right to your opinion and can state that... but... you should also post up the WHY you feel a certain way.  Otherwise you are just saying it for no reason.   Other than, of course, to annoy the rest of us.  So how do we get rid of these bottom feeders..  I guess ignoring them is the best policy..  The theory being if they don't get any attention perhaps they will go else where.   Not very satisfying though.. :-)  It's too bad it's not possible to swat people long side the head.. virtually speaking of course.  Anyways that's just me...  thoughts??

Great Sense Of Humor

I must say I love a good sense of humor.  Especially when it comes to sarcasm and politics.   I was out for supper this weekend at Jack Astors and upon receiving the bill I was tickled to see the labels on the tax section of the bill.  The Dalton Food and Liquor taxes and the Harper tax had me rolling in my seat.   Anyways maybe some people don't find this as funny as I do.. but to me its a riot.

How To Train Your Dragon

Alright... BEST MOVIE of the year so far, by far.  I LOVED this movie...  and everything about it.  First off the story line.  It was original and engaging.  The characters were deep and you become attached to them very quickly.  You come to believe that IF there was such things as dragons during the time of the vikings that they very well could be like this.  The voice acting was superb...  fitting well with the characters.  Listen for Gerard Butler... yes from 300 as the voice of the father and lead viking.  Now to the 3D.  In my review of Alice In Wonderland, I stated I was dissapointed in the 3D.. .and I was.   Avatar had set the bar SO high that when I saw Alice it was a let down.  Much to my surprise Dragon is on par if not better even, than Avatar, if you can believe it. It is THAT good.   You definitely NEED to see this movie.   As for kids... it will totally depend on how sensitive they are.   There are a few pretty intense scenes that could scare them...   but there is no deaths or other disturbing situations.   Adults will like the sophisticated story line and fantastic imagery. (6.0/6.0)

Cat Unexplained Mystery #001

I have always wondered why a cat that has HUGE water dishes on every floor of my house decides that the water on the bottom of the shower is so MUCH preferable.  Every morning its the same.. Sam can't wait for me to open the door so he can get at this intoxicating vintage.  I guess I shouldn't complain too much.. as he isn't a toilet water cat.   Thank heavens.

The Bounty Hunter

This was a great light hearted romantic comedy, which was thoroughly enjoyable in my opinion.  Some critics said that there was no chemistry between Aniston and Butler but I would have to disagree.  I thought they played very well together.  The story line was intriguing and was able to keep my interest throughout.. and the ending was nice but not too sappy.   (4.0/6.0)

Repo Men

So  I have mixed feelings about this movie.  On one hand there is several things wrong with the film.  The first being that it was extremely slow to get started.  They spent alot of time in the beginning establishing character and taking you through the time before Law's character gets in trouble and begins being chased for repossession himself.  Now there is nothing wrong setting up your character but in this case it was excessively wrong.  On the other hand the storyline was extremely clever.  I haven't seen such an intriguing idea in a long time.  Especially for a science fiction / action movie.  The twist at the end made me think and contemplate the whole movie for a while after I left.  That being said... I did NOT like the ending.  I know that not all movies are supposed to make you feel good... but what can I say.. I prefer it that way.  On the whole I have to say that I am coming down on the side of dislike in this case.  It's a strange feeling to know you have seen a good movie but still not liking it.  Oh well...   (2.5/6.0)

Green Zone

So Matt Damon does it again... in this intelligent and actionable movie about the "Desert Storm" war.  Damon plays a Chief Warrant Officer in charge of sniffing out the supposed WMD's that caused the whole war.  Frustration sets in when every place he is sent to look turns up empty.   Suspecting something fishy is going wrong with the intelligence reports and the U.S. supposed source.  Damon takes on the task of locating the source and getting to the truth.  Directed by the same people who did the Bourne movies you can see that they are well familiar with the action genre.  Matt Damon of course is well versed in this type of role and plays it well.  I must say I like Matt Damon.. and think he is a top notch actor much better than many of he supposed "stars" of Hollywood.  4.0/6.0

The Ghost Writer

Not many people have heard of this movie.  Which is a shame.  This "art film" by Roland Polanski has a fantastic story line that twists and turns through out.   This is definitely a thinking movie as opposed to a thriller or action movie.   It's a mystery at heart.   It draws you in, getting you to invest in the characters, and then at the end it gives you a good twist.. which I will not spoil for you.  Pierce Brosnan and Ewan McGregor are there usual selves..  very good actors.. but nothing fantastic.   Look out for James Belushi... he has a small part... not comedic... that surprised the heck out of me.   I hardly recognized him when I first saw him.  It took me a moment to recognize his voice and then it hit me.   The cinematography was quite good for this type of movie.  Moody and wet...   Definitely one of the best mysteries in a long while.  4.0/6.0

Alice In Wonderland

Well Tim Burton and Johnny Depp have done it again.  Which isn't surprising as they must be able to read each others minds after working together so much.  Alice is a visually stunning movie with a intricate story line on par with Lewis Carolls books.   It's like Burton took all the insane imagery of the books, added a plot, for the movie and then through Depp in the mix.  This makes for a wild ride that doesn't stop from start to finish.  Of course, some purists, might not like some of the liberties that Burton took.. but I don't mind.  I've always been of the mind that a movie is a movie and a book is a book.. and you can't compare one against the other. Now to the 3D.   I really don't think it added much to the story.  Yes it was interesting but I could have watched in 2D and been just as happy.   I guess after watching Avatar, which set the bar insanely high, I am a bit spoiled.   Not that the FX in this movie aren't excellent..  but in comparison they are lacking.   Still the movie as a whole was WELL worth the price for admission.. even in 3D.  IMAX on the other hand...  I think you would be over paying.   4.5/6.0

Survivor: Best Blind Side Ever

All right...  THAT was the best blind side I have ever seen on Survivor in all the seasons that I have been watching.   If not the best then the most satisfying that is for sure.  Cerie TOTALLY didn't see it coming which is great... I remember, in one of the beginning episodes she was saying that "as long as it WASN'T her she didn't care who went".  If she would have stuck to her strategy last night she would still be there.  Instead she made the mistake of sticking her head out and making a play for Tom and Colby.  Not knowing that J.T. was listening.   In the end her manipulation cost her.  I think the best part was when Rupert and her started giggling when Tom played his immunity idol.  Little did she know that the joke was on her.   I LOVED every minute of it.  Man I love it when the cocky get humbled.