Olympus Has Fallen

What if North Korean terrorists assaulted The White House and actually took it over?

This is the premise of the film. All through the making-of special feature, the filmmakers and actors were talking about "how this could happen". Of this I was dubious.

First of all, the Koreans were able to get a C130 into White House airspace. They actually took out the fighter jets flying interference. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable could help me figure it out.

After the C130 scene, with the high body count, I needed to remind myself that this was a movie in the vein of Die Hard. In fact, I keep seeing reviews comparing the two and how this should have been the latest version of Die Hard.

The body count is high and very bloody. The graphic violence may be movie-realistic I have no clue. I grew more uneasy as I watched the fatal shots over and over.

The actors are good. Butler, Eckhart, Freeman all do quality jobs.

I just couldn't get past the graphic violence, the high "f-bombs" tossed,  and how the film-makers were going on and on about how realistic their film was.

Man of Steel

The first thirty minutes reminded me of so many other movies. The creature Jor El mounted in the skies of Krypton reminded me of Avatar. The hatchery reminded me of The Matrix. The way Jor El fits into his battle armor reminded me of Iron Man.

It was a bizarre case of deja-vu.

Even with this issue, I thought Man of Steel was a fantastic superhero movie. Henry Cavill is a perfect fit for the Last Son of Krypton. His Superman was one of the best performances in a film that had plenty of talented actors. Russell Crowe does a fine job as Jor El, Kevin Costner is the "every man" in Jonathan Kent. I am one of the viewers who would have been happier with more scenes with Jonathan and Clark growing up. He's worth some flashbacks in the sequels.

The movie is worth it just for those three performances.

Amy Adams is a good Lois Lane. My only complaint is she's in almost every scene: she's the press allowed on the ice where the military found an alien spacecraft. Then she's the one human allowed to go on General Zod's craft. When the military plans a dangerous mission on a C-130, somehow it's Lois who joins the group. It got to the point where I began wondering if they should have called the movie, "Man of Steel: featuring Lois Lane".

The final (LONG and loud) battle reminded me of Transformers meets Avengers. With the tag-battle having a Matrix Revolutions flavor. How long can you watch two people pummel each other, knowing they can keep going for a long time...

These feelings of replication are unfortunate because the film actually serves the performers very well. The emotion fits perfectly with the action which gives credence to the characters.

I'll look forward to the Blu-ray release.

Zach Snyder did a good job. I just hope the sequel doesn't copy from as many other films.

The Watch

Is this supposed to be a type of re-make of The Burbs? Is it supposed to be a comedy or a scary alien movie? Maybe it's trying to be like Shaun of the Dead where it's scary but funny?

This seems to be a problem with this movie. I was hoping for some hours of good laughs with the likes of Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, and Richard Ayoade (The I.T. Crowd) but I was greatly disappointed.

The Watch is rated R which right off the bat is a letdown. Why is it that so many comedies have to go for the R rating in order to try to pull the audience in? Do they think the raunchy jokes, heavy sexual themes, and endless bad language attracts the laughs?

It doesn't for this viewer.

After learning that this movie was originally planned for Will Farrell to star before he and the director had a falling out, I understood the juvenile tendencies. Farrell has fallen very low in my expectations and this movie is exactly the kind of movie he would make.

The "life lessons" are shoehorned into the plot - a husband is sterile and another man is trying to be a decent father to his daughter - and it just feels like it's trying too hard.

Then let's talk about the twist...at that point it looked like Ayoade had given up.

While I'm not a fan, enough people must think these sort of gags and jokes are the rave because the studios keep churning them out.

The Campaign

Will Farrell is quickly going the way of Adam Sandler - when you think you're running out of funny, you opt to go crude and offensive.

This has been the case for the past few Farrell comedies. I don't understand the humor of having children use filthy, crude language for comedy...and I don't understand the constant swearing as a laugh.

Farrell used to be comedy gold and I suppose he's simply taping into what the ticket holders want but I didn't finish this movie. The beginning that I saw, I laughed not.

Real Steel

Take the story from Rocky, add giant robots, an annoying kid and some rock 'n roll and you'll experience Real Steel.

Hugh Jackman used to be a boxer before the sport was outlawed. Now he operates a giant robot in the new boxing ring. Unfortunately, he's a lousy human being. He's fathered a kid but cares nothing for his offspring. His main concern is making money with the bots.

When he's called to court for a custody hearing, Jackman makes a deal in order to "watch" his son for the summer for a large sum of money. (He's the cliched low-life.)

During the summer, father and son find and update an old sparring robot in order for it to fight in the arenas. This bot was created to take a beating and in this way is very much the robotic version of the Italian Stallion.

The film tries very hard to get you to believe this robot is alive, having it stare into a mirror and shadow box with the boy, but we're lucky in that they kept it lifeless. It's just a robot but people still cringe when the punches are delivered.

Young boys will love the boxing robots and the high-octane music while their moms will enjoy seeing Hugh Jackman become a better man.

Seriously, Jackman is the reason this movie is so good. He has the ability to take a less than so-so movie and turn it into a fairly successful flick.

Outside of the incredibly annoying kid and a few bad examples of foul language, Real Steel is a decent movie.

Courageous

At just over two hours, this movie feels a bit long.

Other than that, Courageous is the best yet from Alex Kendrick and Sherwood Pictures.

First we had a used car salesman, then a football coach. Next came Kirk Cameron and the firefighters and now we have police officers.

Like a television sitcom from the 90s, the main theme of this movie is handed to you in a very obvious way early on - this story is about being a good dad. The focus is on four officers who must deal with how to be good dads. Many of the plot lines are telegraphed early. There won't be the twists in many of today's films but this movie is actually quite solid.

The acting is great. (Coming from Sherwood Pictures this is amazing!) The humor had me laughing out loud multiple times. (I loved the Snake King in the back of the police car!) I really liked how they dealt with the father and his teenage daughter. It was your typical, "she likes a not-so-good boy" and with her dad not agreeing with the relationship until trust is earned, I was expecting a brooding, hostile teen. But the father/daughter scene in the restaurant was exactly how it should go.

Unlike Facing the Giants in which everyone got what they wanted in the end, this movie has some real-life consequences. Not everyone gets what they want.

I was impressed about everything in this film. It just proves that you can make a fantastic movie without having to resort to graphic nudity or language. While God, church, and Jesus are mentioned and they do come up in conversations, the religious aspect didn't feel shoved in my throat. It may have been that I knew what it was coming into the movie so it didn't catch me off guard.

This is a 4-star movie with great lessons for dads in our society. A guilt trip? No, it's a call to integrity.

The Ides of March

You just can't stop a juggernaut movie starring George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Marissa Tomei, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. This movie is a character-driven dream.

While they call it a thriller, I wouldn't say it delivers the thrills. It does offer an fictional inside glimpse of how twisted politics can be.

I think this movie ends all speculation as to whether Clooney would ever become a politician. Much to his follower's dismay, there is just too much poison in that sphere for him.

What if there was a perfect candidate? Someone you felt had it all: vision, purpose, charisma, intellect and principles that stood firm against all else? Would anything be able to pull you away from that person/presidential candidate? What if you discovered a secret that could unravel everything?

Political intrigue. Backstabbing. Twists and turns.

Clooney does a fine job as an Obama-like candidate. Gosling is the brains of his campaign who has complete loyalty only to have it tested by the rival's campaign manager, Giamatti.

There is foul language throughout the film but I think that's expected nowadays. Especially when dealing with American politics.  

The Ides of March is a very strong commentary on the state of our political system and how crooked it truly is. Will you be able to trust anyone after watching this movie?
 

Paranormal Activity 3

This third venture into the lives of sisters Kristi and Katie being haunted by a demon is more back-story than scary.

You'll discover the origin of the Paranormal Activity. While the DVD boasts, "The last 15 minutes will mess you up for life" have no fear - it really won't. It just provides the explanation.

Back in the 80s when Kristi and Katie were young girls, their mother, Julie, and her boyfriend, Dennis, move into a new home. Dennis videotapes weddings and so we have our collection of video recordings of how this new house is haunted.

Kristi has an invisible friend named Toby and this thing wants something; least of all being called fat. ("Don't call him fat")  Katie doesn't believe Kristi at first. Then she plays Bloody Mary with Dennis' assistant and the house begins to come apart.

While there are a few jump-in-your-seat scares, this film simply cannot recapture the building dread of the original. (But I will admit that a scare involving a closet did cause my heart to literally stop for a split second.) You'll get the multiple camera angels: two bedroom shots and the kitchen. You'll get the sudden kitchen scares and the camera-on-the-oscillating fan gimmick does provide a couple nice effects.

They left enough story open in order to continue the saga if they wish (and they will).

I remember being frightened by the original and then intrigued by the simple genius of the filmmakers. With the two sequels, I seem to have lost whatever "fun" I had. It's almost like the Matrix movies where the original was superb but the sequels were just too heavy for their own good.

Sometimes I wish Hollywood would leave well enough alone and not rush sequels.

Scream 4

I look back in fondness for the first Scream movie. It's one of those movies where you remember where you were the first time you saw it. It was the film for the 90s teen scene.

When I heard they were making a fourth film I was not pleased. My worry was tamed a bit when I learned that the main characters were coming back. But once again, we're dealing with a series that was successful many years ago and they're trying to bring it back ten years later. I'm trying to think of any positive example where this worked...

Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) returns to her hometown with her new book. Police Officer Dewey (David Arquette) is now the Sheriff and his wife, Gale (Courtney Cox) is trying to get her swagger back.

Since they are too old for the current generation, new characters have been added to the bloodbath. We have Sidney's younger cousin and her classmates who basically rehash the original characters with less depth. (If that's even possible)

The reveal is one of the worst of all time in horror who-done-it. The motive frighteningly resonates with the current media-saturated/youtube loving kids. But this movie isn't as scary as the originals were. Ghostface was relegated to the jump out and "gotcha" moments instead of the truly horrifying pursuit moments.

I thought the language was extreme for this outing. I couldn't remember this many F-bombs being thrown around with the first film. The blood was obviously fake and perhaps they were aiming for the camp near the end of the film.

I'm afraid Emma Roberts was not ready for this level of spotlight. I don't care if you're related to Julia.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Everyone said this was going to be the biggest flop. Then people watched it and everyone said it was the surprise hit of the year.

When you have only CGI apes, even the promise of Andy Serkis donning the motion capture and James Franco being anything other than Spider-man's back-up kept me from hoping this movie would be decent.

Then I watched it on DVD.

This movie is a prequel-like movie to the original Planet of the Apes (with Charleton Heston). It sets up the idea of how the apes took over the planet. There are the honorary nods and winks to Heston's epic: "Get your stinking paws off me..." and "It's a mad house!!" are woven into the movie. Names of the original apes are quickly given and then dismissed. You'll even get a hint at the space vessel that crashes in the future. We're bound to get a sequel with a possible re-telling of the original.

James Franco does a decent job as a scientist who's on the verge of curing Alzheimer's. His character arc is bound to his father who suffers from the disease. Serkis certainly deserves some kind of award or honorary mention for his bringing a CGI creation to such life. Other characters are simply there to fill the void. Tom Felton (Harry Potter's nemesis, Malfoy) continues his mean streak by abusing the apes in his father's so-called sanctuary. Brian Cox is shuttled to the side as Felton's sleazy father. John Lithgow never ages. He looks the same as when he was in 3rd Rock from the Sun.

They leave enough threads open for future films if the studio decides to green-light the sequels.

I enjoyed this movie. If you can deal with easy-viewing, popcorn flicks, you'll sit back and enjoy this one.

Contagion

Mix one part Traffic with one part Outbreak, mix for 104 minutes and you'll get Contagion.

How in the world did they collect this many boom actors and actresses? Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Lawrence Fishburne, John Hawkes, Chin Han, and Sanaa Lathan. This is the ultimate cast where you'll spend more time trying to figure out where you've seen these actors instead of following the many plots.

Paltrow brings an ugly virus back to her home after spending some time in Asia. This virus has an extremely high mortality rate and has no vaccine.

With the fears surrounding Bird Flu and Swine Flu, this movie strikes a sensitive nerve. The first two-thirds of this film are fantastic. Kate Winslet is the point person in order to set up the response to the pandemic. However, once her character story leaves the film, the movie goes into a comatose-like state.

Jude Law is a blogger, with twelve million followers, who thinks the government is keeping the cure from us and pushes a homeopathic treatment.

Damon is Paltrow's husband who, someone, is immune.

Good luck keeping up with the multiple stories. Even the writers of the film left many holes unattended or answered.

You will feel a little ill after watching this film. It's just like talking about lice and then feeling like you have to scratch your head.

Watch the first part of this movie for intriguing storytelling then finish it while reading a book.

Moneyball

Remember when the Athletic A's won 20 straight games?

Neither do I. But this is the basis for the movie Moneyball. Brad Pitt stars as Athletic A's General Manager Billy Beane.

Back in the day, Beane was drafted into the Pros right out of High School on the promise that he was going to be one of the greatest ball players in the history of baseball. Alas, this prophecy did not pan out. Beane never grew into the athlete the scouts imagined he would become, and after multiple trades, he became a scout and then GM of the A's.

After losing three of their greatest players to the Yankees, Beane realizes they will never compete with the kind of money teams like New York or Boston are willing to throw around. He visits Cleveland for a possible trade and meets a fresh-from-Yale gradutate, played by Jonah Hill.

Hill's ideas about players and how the stats come into play for scouts intrigues Beane who hires him as his new Assistant.

Of course, their new ways of doing things upsets the veteran scouts and even the team's field manager. (Philip Seymour Hoffman)

How could a bunch of no-namers lead a team to victory?


I was impressed with Jonah Hill. I have grown tired of his kind of comedy so it was refreshing to see him in a semi-serious role next to the always-great Pitt. And Philip Seymour Hoffman can hit any role out of the park.

This is a decent baseball movie. It tacks on the added bonus of being based on actual events. So even though you may know how the movie will end, it's fun to see how things worked out behind the scenes.

The only downside was the length. There were many times I felt it could have ended or, at least, cut out a few scenes to make it not as long. Of course it could have been that I was tired and ready for bed but had to finish the film first...

Shark Night

This is not a movie for those who enjoy decent movies. By no means is Shark Night a decent movie.

The acting is bad. The storyline is practically DOA. The CGI and puppet sharks try to give it a go but it never jumps.

A group of college students head out to a lakeside house in Louisiana for a break. While at a gas station, they have a momentary scrap with a couple lame-brained locals. Obviously these locals will play some further plot point later on in the story.

After stripping down to their swim wear, three of them go out on a boat for some water boarding. (Not the torture but you wouldn't know the difference at this point) The dude gets hit, from below, by a shark and loses his arm. Later he takes a spear out to the shallows in order to get him some revenge on the shark that kills his girlfriend.

But all-in-all, expect one or two of these "kids" to survive the shark attacks.

The story will try to explain why sharks are in a lake and why they have cameras attached to them.

I don't understand why every shark movie since Jaws has been dismal. It must be quite difficult to come up with a decent movie about shark attacks. Add to that the difficulty of creating realistic sharks and I doubt if we'll ever get a shark movie worth it's soup.

I'd expect to see this film honored on Mystery Science Theatre 3000 before anything else.

Oh so bad.

0 shark fins out of 10.

Bridesmaids

Why do comedy writers believe they have to write in so many swear words in their script to make their movie funny?

Bridesmaids had one redeeming value and it was not the script, the women or the humor.

What happens when two best friends are divided because of a woman with money? You get the plot for Bridesmaids. Lillian is getting married, her best friend Annie is supposed to plan her party and all the fun. Unfortunately everything Annie plans fails. Enter Helen to the rescue. Her money will buy all kinds of love. Including a bridal shower in which the guests go home with puppies as party favors.

Touted as the year's funniest movie, but I didn't laugh once.

Even when they try to devolve to bathroom humor with food poisoning puke and diarrhea, this movie barely registers on the funny meter.

As I said, the only redeeming value for this movie comes in the form of the loveable police officer played by Chris O'Dowd. (From tv's The I.T. Crowd) He is a breath of fresh air in this putrid calamity.


This movie isn't even worth a rental.

Crazy Stupid Love

At first glance I thought this was going to be another Hitch movie - man can't get girl so "Rico Suave" comes along and teaches geek/nerd to be a lady's man.

Boy was I wrong.

Steve Carell plays Cal, a man whose wife has just told him she wants a divorce and that she slept with another man.

In his depressed stupor, Cal meets Jacob (Ryan Gosling) a lady's man who goes home with a different girl every night. Jacob makes it his mission to get Cal back in the dating scene.

Meanwhile, there's a girl who brings out a new side of Jacob that makes him awkward. He begins to feel like he's in a real relationship.

Carell saves this movie as he does with every film he's in. There are some truly awesome comedy moments in this game, but they are always marred by taking the crude humor/language too far.

A case-in-point is at the cliched "speech" moment at the end of the film. It could have ended with the cheese but the son just has to add one more sentence which pretty much ruined it.

This is not exactly a romantic comedy in the traditional sense. Yes, it deals with the foibles of romance and fleeting love but it also touches on some darker aspects of married love that looks to have failed.

I was surprised with the twist in this film. It was great and created a wonderful collision mid-climax for an awkward-paced movie.

Steve Carell seems to be a fantastic actor who gets cast in some crude movies.

Cowboys and Aliens

For whatever reason, Westerns have not been a hot genre in the movie business for quite some time. Cowboys and Aliens did not bolster that confidence.

I will give the team credit for creating an interesting mix of western and sci-fi. Kudos as well for combining Han Solo with James Bond. These are two iconic actors with great acting chops.

Harrison Ford does a great job as a cynical old war horse who's plagued with a fool for a son. Daniel Craig passes as a man who has forgotten everything about his past yet loves his hat...that crazy hat.

I thought the aliens were well done. Even though Steven Spielberg had a hand in this film, you will not find friendly ETs anywhere. These creatures want our gold and are insanely fast.

The script was decent. You can't blame the film too much whenever the script passes through as many hands as this one did. While the plot seems to drag often, you can always play the fun game of guessing how many times Craig will take off or put on his freaky hat.

Bottom line: good attempt at creating something fun & new but I was really hoping for something so much better.

The Help

It's not often that a single movie can pull out every emotion the human body can produce in one viewing. This was accomplished by watching The Help.

I wasn't sure what to expect outside of the fact that it was full of top-notch actresses. I am willing to go out on a limb and say this was the best movie I've seen in 2011 based on how it connected emotionally.

You will hate Bryce Dallas Howard's character, Hilly, as her racist venom stays just beneath the surface. Your heart will break while watching a little girl and her pathetic excuse for a mother who has no idea that a girl needs to feel special and loved.

The ladies who make up "the help" don't come across as the stereotype nor a caricature that insults.

This isn't emotion manipulation either. These ladies simply know how to act and create an authentic experience from the days of the growing unrest in the South during the 60s.

Skeeter(Emma Stone) has returned to her home after graduating with a degree for writing and getting a job with a paper. She wants to write a book from the maid's point of view, ("How does it feel to raise a white woman's baby when your own child has to be on its own?")

This is a movie everyone has to watch. You will laugh till you cry, and probably cry till you're exhausted. But you will finish this movie in awe.

Conan the Barbarian

What are we to expect from a movie called Conan the Barbarian? As it turns out, we get exactly what you expect.

Horrible script, atrocious acting, excessive nudity and over-the-top bloodbath.

Seriously, no one thought this was going to be a huge blockbuster right? This is the origin story of a boy who witnesses his clan be decimated by another clan led by a man who wants to resurrect his sorceress wife. And when Ron Pearlman is your dad, you know you've reached that level of barbarianism. Conan learns, years later, that this man is still alive, and sets off on a revenge journey.

There is absolutely nothing of value to this movie. I suppose it attempts to stay close to the heart of the Conan books but the transition fell short.

I began laughing out loud at the number of blood bags busting open during the sword fights. (The sword taps a man's back and suddenly there's blood splashing everywhere) The dialog matches the dregs of an episode of Barney & Friends ("Barbarian, I don't like you anymore")

It felt like I was watching The Scorpion King meets Temple of Doom.

Leave this movie on the shelf.

Super 8

There is no doubt that this movie was made in honor of Steven Spielberg.

J.J. Abrams and his co-horts say it in so many ways during their commentary and throughout the featurettes.

Set in a small Ohio town in 1979, a group of pre-teen friends set out to make their zombie movie on a super 8 camera. While filming near the train station, a truck plows onto the tracks and causes the entire train to derail. This train was carrying a life-form. A life-form that is captured on their film.

While the military come in to contain the situation, the kids discuss what they are going to do.

The movie is trademark Abrams - so many lens flares - with a strong mix of Spielbergian storytelling - focus in on a group of people thrown into extraordinary circumstances.

Kyle Chandler does a fantastic job as the town's deputy. The other actors keep the interest between peeks at the creature.

Speaking of the creature, you never really get a good look at the thing. Even at the end, when you typically get the full views of monsters, things are kept in the dark. And that is because the monster really isn't the point of this movie.

There are critics who didn't like this movie because they thought it would be something akin to Cloverfield instead of focusing on kids. But this is a fulfilling movie in the spirit of when making movies and watching them were fun.

This is such a good movie. Like the Goonies, this one will be quoted for a long time.

Source Code

A mind-twisting movie that feels like a 30 minute television show.

I thought Jake Gyllenhaal did a good job as a soldier tasked with identifying a terrorist by reliving the last eight minutes of someone's life over and over.

This is science fiction mixed with ideas of time & space. The confined space of a commuter train and the machine Gyllenhaal's character sits in helps create some of the atmosphere of tension and deep threat.

I thought this movie went very fast. It felt like I was watching an episode of television instead of a feature film simply because of how quick it was over.

I didn't connect with the romance forced into the plot nor did I empathize with the whole father-son dynamic either. This film was all about the science behind the plot. Nevermind the characters.

This is a movie similar to Pandorum in that you discover answers to the plot along with the characters. In the end, it's a far-fetched idea about combating terrorism with super computers, time/space and physics.