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Movie Review: Iron Lady
2012-02-06 05:58:00 To watch the film “The Iron Lady” is like trying to learn about a person from a list. Grocer’s daughter, check. Politician, check. Anti Thatcher demonstrations, check. Falklands war, check. Going to celebrate the fall of the Iron curtain, check. For anyone not aware of the history of the 1970’s and 1980’s, the quick scenes depicting some ...
Movie Review: The Help DVD/Blu Ray Combo
2011-12-11 01:37:00 Surely it’s bad form to extensively quote another reviewer in one’s own review (especially right at the start), but having stumbled upon the perfect quote, it’s hard to resist. It’s with that recognition and understanding that I quote the introduction to David Denby’s review of The Help from August’s issue of The New Yorker: ?The Help,? ...
Movie Review: Mr. Nice
2011-10-03 05:33:00 It’s unfortunate for Rhys Ifans, who turns out a terrific performance in this lightly dramatic biopic about the life and times of British dope smuggler Howard Marks (aka Mr. Donald Nice, among other names) that writer/director Bernard Rose (Candyman, Immortal Beloved) didn’t give him a more coherent story to take part in. It starts out ...
Movie Review: The Trip
2011-10-02 23:52:00 Returning to the exaggerated self-portraits that they created in director Michael Winterbottom’s meta-film Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon again play versions of themselves in this Michael Winterbottom film - created by editing down bits and pieces from the critically acclaimed six-episode television series of the same name. The ...
Movie Review - Bad Teacher (*** out of 5)
2011-06-29 04:17:00 BAD TEACHER. 92 mins. R. Directed by Jake Kasdan. Written by Gene Stupnitsky & Lee Eisenberg.Call it the summer of the R-rated comedy. Hot on the heels of Bridesmaids and The Hangover Part II comes Bad Teacher, an agreeably crude and entertaining time waster with a few solid laughs up its sleeve. The movie is populated with a series of unlikeable characters, each more stupid and detestable than the next, but that ends up being a good thing. Though it's not a sequel to 2003's Bad Santa, the two films do share a kindred spirit in that both feature drunken, profane adult authority figures mixing it up inappropriately with kids. If Bad Teacher falls a bit short of Santa's mark,...
Movie Review - Bad Teacher
2011-06-28 16:24:00 Timberlake and Diazby David SchusterRemember the movie "Bad Santa" with Billy Bob Thornton? That movie was hilarious and good. "Bad Teacher" on the other hand is neither. In fact it was just the opposite. Incredibly non funny and plain junk. "Bad Teacher" stars Cameron Diaz who still has that kick ass hot body but to be honest she's beginning to look a little weathered in the face. Diaz plays a mopey almost nasty teacher who hates her profession and is just looking for a rich guy to take her away. Of course the producers and director dress her in everything possible tight and that alone accounts for the final rating (grade) on this movie. Otherwise it's a complete waste of time. Justin Timberlake...
Movie Review - Green Lantern
2011-06-20 15:30:00 by David SchusterFor months I had been seeing previews for "The Green Lantern" and thinking, boy this looks like junk. And Ryan Reynolds as the hero and title character, are you serious? But then again I thought the same thing about Seth Rogin in "The Green Hornet" and though he played the role differently then I imagined he would, I actually thought it was pretty good. Well I guess I can say the same thing for Reynolds and this movie. Certainly far from great and incredibly comic bookish but that's what this movie is, an adaptation of a comic book. Far from the Batman movies and a lot more then the Superman flicks, this movie uses a ton of special effects. In...
Movie Review - Green Lantern (** out of 5)
2011-06-18 20:05:00 GREEN LANTERN. 105 mins. PG-13. Directed by Martin Campbell. Written by Greg Berlanti & Michael Green & Marc Guggenheim and Michael Goldenberg. The new DC comic book adaptation, Green Lantern, may be another in a long line of superhero flicks being thrown at audiences this summer, but it's also got to be the first of its kind. The studio, Warner Bros., spent approximately $300 million making and marketing this critically drubbed franchise starter. And what's most remarkable is that with all that money spent, the most it has to show for its efforts is tepid audience goodwill towards the Green Lantern character and Ryan Reynolds as its star. Nothing else. The best it can hope for at this point is to...
Movie Review - Midnight in Paris (** out of 5)
2011-06-14 13:11:00 MIDNIGHT IN PARIS. 93 mins. PG-13. Written and Directed by Woody Allen.For those of you curious to check out Woody Allen's latest based on the overwhelming critical kudos, impressive box office take, and 92% fresh rating on rottentomatoes.com, let me do you a favor: don't. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself though. If you count yourself a fan of Woody Allen, and enjoy almost everything he does, by all means, enjoy. For the rest of us - a majority, I suspect at this point - don't believe the hype.Though he's had plenty of practice, releasing a film a year for the last three decades or so, Allen stubbornly refuses to make a movie with anything resembling modern sensibilities. Some may...
Movie Review - Super 8 (****1/2 out of 5)
2011-06-13 20:26:00 SUPER 8. 111 mins. PG-13. Written and Directed by J.J. Abrams.Shrouded in secrecy and hugely anticipated by anyone who cares anything about movies, the new J.J. Abrams-Steven Spielberg collaboration, Super 8, delivers summer entertainment thrills in ways moviegoers haven't seen in decades. Super 8 evokes waves of nostalgia for the films you enjoyed as a child, and functions as an homage to the late '70s/early '80s Spielberg films that a young Abrams was so clearly influenced by. It is a marvelous movie, made special not by visual effects and bombastic action sequences (though both are certainly not in short supply here), but by solid storytelling, heartfelt acting, and Abrams' unrivaled - except for maybe Spielberg himself - ability to craft...
Movie Review - Super 8
2011-06-10 21:08:00 by David SchusterA lot of times movie studios will keep certain films completely under wraps until they are released. Often it's because the movie just plain sucks and they want to sucker as many people initially in before the foul word of mouth spreads. However, periodically these same studios know they have a hit on their hands and the movie contains certain surprises that they don't want known until the flick comes out. "Super 8" falls into the second category. For weeks we have been seeing the same trailer for "Super 8" of kids making a film and a train crash occurs behind them. Then something breaks out of one of the cars but you never saw what it is. There...
"The Trip" Movie Review
2011-06-09 14:23:00 I was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy of the soon to be released British film, "The Trip." Original a six part TV show it's been edited in to a film. Don't let that dissuade you from seeing this. The movie is well paced and a brilliant comedy. The movie follows Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon on an improvised tour of Northern England. Steve has been asked to go on a trip and review 6 restaurants. His last resort companion is his friend Rob. The interaction between the two is much funnier and real than the male duo in Sideways. The story is about their life and how they're in different places despite being the same age....
Movie Review - X-Men: First Class (**** out of 5)
2011-06-04 20:55:00 X-Men: First Class. 138 mins. PG-13. Directed by Matthew Vaughn. Written by Ashley Miller & Zach Stentz and Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn.The new X-Men movie, First Class, does what every questionable reboot of a fading franchise needs to do in order to shut up its detractors: it's good. Really good. I think a lot of people are going to be surprised by the quality on screen. After punishing audiences with The Last Stand (which I actively disliked) and Wolverine (which I downright hated), Fox has wisely brought Bryan Singer back into the fold, and, even better, handed the directing reins to Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass). The result is a smart, confident, and briskly paced action movie that truly delivers the goods.Taking...
Movie Review - X-Men First Class
2011-06-04 15:44:00 by David SchusterThis certainly has been the summer for sequels with "Pirates Of The Caribbean", "Fast And Furious" and "Hangover". And more will follow but we also have our first prequel in the form of "X-Men: First Class". If you hadn't seen any of the X-Men movies, they're about mutants who live amongst us who have special talents but are shunned by the general population. Some mutants are good and some are evil and this movie shows you the origin of how it all began. In the later installments you get the two main characters of Professor X (good) and Magneto (bad) pitted vs each other. Sort of like professional wrestling (good vs. evil). Here in the prequel you see how the...
Movie Review - Midnight in Paris
2011-06-01 22:12:00 by David SchusterWilson and McAdamsIn the midst of all the big time summer movies (some good and most bad) comes a Woody Allen flick, "Midnight in Paris" Now I'll admit that I would love for Allen to revisit his early successes like "Bananas, "Sleeper" and "Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex". Those movies were off the wall hysterical. He then followed those up by moving into a different direction with flicks like "Annie Hall", "Zelig" and "Broadway Danny Rose". And then he went (in my opinion) in the dumper with a string of movies that were just plain boring. But with "Midnight In Paris" Allen has delivered his best movie in years. Owen Wilson plays a typical Allen character...
Movie Review - Bridesmaids
2011-05-30 00:07:00 by David SchusterFinally a movie that you truly can laugh at and I mean... really loud. "Hangover 2" was a complete dud and "Pirates of the Caribbean" was plain stupid. Added to that the Bulls elimination and nothi-ng but mediocre (at best) baseball for the next four months and I needed my humor bone touched. And touched it was by "Bridesmaids". I'l-l admit I held out for almost two weeks before seeing this because I was a chauvinist and thought how could a movie with a bunch of women be funny. Well, I was dead wrong and I encourage all males to see it and have a good time. Kristen Wiig if you weren't familiar with her work previously (currently on Saturday Night Live) has a chance to be a...
Movie Review - Kung Fu Panda 2 (***1/2)
2011-05-29 14:59:00 KUNG FU PANDA 2. 92 mins. PG. Directed by Jennifer Yuh. Written by Jonathan Aibel & Glenn Berger.Another summer weekend, another sequel. When the first Kung Fu Panda was released three years ago, I think it caught audiences by surprise. Though it looked like a broad, one-joke comedy, the actual movie was a beautifully animated, exciting action drama. It took its story seriously and avoided lame pop culture gags. The kung fu fight scenes were grandly staged and intricately rendered. And let's face it, Jack Black is the perfect actor to voice Po, the panda.The sequel picks up not too long after the first film wrapped up. Po is still the "Dragon Master" and together with the Furious Five...
Movie Review - The Hangover Part 2
2011-05-28 15:57:00 by David SchusterWhile nursing my own hangover from the quick end of the Bulls season I opted to see "Hangover 2." Now I will tell you up front that I was in the minority in thinking that the original was not all that funny. Silly with some embarrassing moments for sure but no where near rip roaring laughter. And with that I'm not happy to tell you that the sequel was even worse. And it wasn't just me. In a theater half full on a Friday morning I didn't hear so much as a chuckle until the final credits rolled. I might have heard some snoring but no laughing. The follow up has the boys going over to Asia for Ed Helms...
Movie Review - The Hangover Part II (*1/2)
2011-05-28 14:41:00 THE HANGOVER PART II. 102 mins. R. Directed by Todd Phillips. Written by Craig Mazin & Scot Armstrong & Todd Phillips.How's that line go? "Second verse, same as the first." Welcome to The Hangover Part II, folks. Just last week, in my Pirates 4 review, I discussed one of my least favorite types of sequels: the kind that don't raise the bar. While those are problematic, sure, they pale in comparison to the grave mistake made by The Hangover Part II (following in the footsteps of similarly flawed sequels like Home Alone 2): it's the same damn movie! Part II is utterly worthless as a movie, as a sequel, and as summer entertainment. It is the epitome of lazy screenwriting, amounting...
Movie Review - Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (**)
2011-05-25 03:55:00 PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES. 141 mins. PG-13. Directed by Rob Marshall. Written by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio.Alright, I'm just going to come right out and say it: the first Pirates of the Caribbean was just okay. Good even. A fun summer movie. But not great. Certainly not worthy of three inferior sequels, each one worse than the last. These Pirates movies are prime examples of the law of diminishing returns. Yes, Johnny Depp was a hoot as Capt. Jack Sparrow, and earned himself a surprise Oscar nom in the process. But whatever charm and offbeat moxie Depp once brought to the role has long since vanished. We've seen him go to the eccentric well one too...
Movie Review: Bridesmaids (**)
2011-05-18 05:04:00 BRIDESMAIDS. 125 mins. R. Directed by Paul Feig. Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig.In all respects, I really should have loved Bridesmaids. I'm a big fan of female comedians, especially Kristen Wiig. I never met a Judd Apatow production I didn't like (okay, maybe that last hour of Funny People kind of tested my patience). And the R-rated humor in Bridesmaids is definitely up my alley. But after about 45 minutes of muted, flat comedic bits, I found myself jumping ship on the movie and it lost all benefit of the doubt after that. All the shitting in a sink moments in the world couldn't save it. More on that in a sec.Co-written by Wiig and directed by Freaks...
movie review: bridesmaids
2011-05-16 08:42:00 If you have ever been in a wedding, will be in a wedding, or are a girl, go see this movie...
Movie Review: Priest (*) Will Molest Your Wallet
2011-05-15 15:47:00 Not to be confused with the similarly titled 1994 indie drama about a gay man of the cloth, this Priest is a super-dumb, hacked-to-pieces action film that, like its vampire characters, never should have seen the light of day. Directed by visual effects man Scott Stewart, Priest plays like some weird mix of Blade Runner, Mad Max, and Resident Evil, with a religious bent. Oh, and with vampires thrown in because...well, why not? If the mention of those movies perks your interest, don't let it. To even put Priest in the same sentence does those movies a dishonor. Despite the presence of several talented actors (Paul Bettany, Karl Urban, Maggie Q), Priest is unintentionally bad - it comes off like...
Movie Review - Thor (***)
2011-05-11 05:08:00 THOR. 114 mins. PG-13. Directed by Kenneth Branagh. Written by Ashley Miller & Zack Stentz and Don Payne.Of all of Marvel's A-list superheroes, Thor is probably the trickiest one to build a movie around. Given the vast mythology, ornate costumes, and awkward plot elements involving things called Asgard, Frost Giants, and "Odinsleep," the difficulty level to pull this one off is quite high. One false step and the project devolves into silliness and high camp.This big-budget adaptation of the Thor comics is still silly and campy - I don't think there's any way around it really - but Marvel has a secret weapon to counteract those elements. An ace up the movie's sleeve, if you will. And his name is...
Movie Review - Prom (**)
2011-05-03 04:16:00 PROM. 103 mins. PG. Directed by Joe Nussbaum. Written by Katie Wech.I recognize that I'm no longer the target audience for Disney's Prom, so it makes sense why I wouldn't necessarily take to it, but I can't imagine any real high schoolers about to head to their own prom liking it either. Earnest and well-intentioned to a fault, this is a clean-cut, scrubbed-clean look at the momentous high school dance that only a fourth grader could love. I doubt that's the target audience the filmmakers had in mind. This makes High School Musical look like The Basketball Diaries. No wonder the movie flopped last weekend, barely grossing $5 million. To add insult to injury, the actual prom itself only factors...
Movie Review - Fast Five (****)
2011-05-01 21:00:00 FAST FIVE. 130 mins. PG-13. Directed by Justin Lin. Written by Chris Morgan.When Fast & Furious opened in April 2009 to a surprising $71 million and rescued the Fast/Furious franchise from the dead by reuniting the original cast, you just knew the studio and filmmakers would take a victory lap in the form of a fifth movie. But the amazing thing about Fast Five is that it plays less like a creatively bankrupt money-grab sequel, and more like a firing-on-all-cylinders first movie in an all-new franchise. Action junkies and car chase lovers, take note. The summer movie season is off to an excellent start.Writer Chris Morgan and Director Justin Lin have worked on the last three movies in the series,...
Movie Review - Water for Elephants
2011-04-29 05:21:00 BY ROBERT HAMMERLE, guest contributor to HammervisionCuriously, "Water for Elephants" is a rather lightweight pleasure, functioning as a bastard offspring of a daytime TV Soap Opera and James Cameron's colossal hit "Titanic" (1997). While the illicit romance between Reese Witherspoon's Marlena and Robert Pattison's Jacob ignites even fewer sparks than that between Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman in Baz Luhrmann's "Australia" (2008), it is a film you are likely to enjoy if you can simply sit there uncritically. In a sense, it's kind of like the same feeling you get when having a glass of wine after taking a vicodin. (Or so I am told.) Yes, it is absolutely true that there is little real chemistry between Pattison and Witherspoon....
Movie Review - Super (***)
2011-04-26 04:43:00 SUPER. 89 mins. R. Written and Directed by James Gunn.Despite being released in the marketplace about two movies too late (after the similarly themed (and plotted) Defendor and Kick-Ass), the twisted new superhero spoof/deconstruction Super- (from Slither writer-director James Gunn) has cult classic written all over it. I didn't care for it much on first viewing, but something tells me a select group of midnight movie vultures will latch onto it.The movie veers wildly from comedy to dark psychodrama to gory action, which, while keeping the audience on its toes, prevents it from ever really gelling as a whole. Rainn Wilson does an effective, impressive job in the lead as Frank a/k/a The Crimson Bolt. Frank is a well-intentioned, yet probably...
Movie Review - The Conspirator
2011-04-21 04:02:00 BY ROBERT HAMMERLE, guest contributor to HammervisionHe stood in the crowd, tears in his eyes, as he stared at the scaffolding containing his client and her other three condemned co-conspirators. Having nobly fought to save her life, he now could only look on in anguish at the magnitude of the injustice. She stood there stoically, as their eyes temporarily met. He nodded as if to let her know that there was at least one friend in the crowd before the rope was placed over her neck and she fell to her doom. Robert Redford's "The Conspirator" is a story about an historical injustice that took place in the summer of 1865 that resonates to this very day. It is an...
Movie Review - Win Win
2011-04-21 03:56:00 BY ROBERT HAMMERLE, guest contributor to Hammervision"Win Win" is a glorious film about average human beings struggling with the imperfections inherent in the human condition. As he did with "The Station Agent" (2003) and "The Visitor" (2007), Director Thomas McCarthy has painted a cinematic tapestry that shows small, decent people fighting to keep their head above water no matter how unfair the rising tide. Here we find Hollywood's everyman, Paul Giamatti, playing Mike Flaherty, a lawyer with a loving family who also is the coach of his high school wrestling team, a group of misfits who don't know the meaning of victory. But he also has a darker side, namely financial difficulties that he is hiding from his family. A...
Movie Review - Rio (***)
2011-04-20 04:52:00 RIO. 96 mins. G. Directed by Carlos Saldanha.Rio is a cheery, colorful animated film that kids are sure to dig. The script is serviceable, and avoids any real missteps. The animation by Blue Sky Studios (Ice Age, Horton Hears a Who) is crisp and playful. The voicework by actors like Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway is charming. There is nothing really wrong with the movie - I'd go so far as to call it good - but it lacks that certain...something. Even as I was entertained by it, I was plagued by a nagging sense that this is just an efficient, assembly line production. Cute animals? Check. Exotic locale? Check. Will.i.am song? Check. Rio is pre-programmed to generically appeal to...
Movie Review - Scream 4 (***1/2)
2011-04-19 04:56:00 SCREAM 4. 103 mins. R. Directed by Wes Craven. Written by Kevin Williamson.All things considered, Scream 4 (or, if you want to buy into all the stupid marketing, Scre4m) does a pretty good job as the fourth film in a franchise dating back to 1996 of keeping things fresh, fun, and entertaining. It's been 11 years since Scream 3 came out, and the series shows no signs of being worse for the wear. All the necessary parties are in play: writer Kevin Williamson, director Wes Craven, and the trio of surviving stars: Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Courtney Cox. Fans of the Scream movies are probably going to have a blast watching these characters battle Ghostface again. But if you...
Movie Review - "Arthur" with Russell Brand
2011-04-15 17:17:00 by David SchusterIt might have been telling that of the two movies that featured Russell Brand that came out last weekend it was the animated movie that garnered more money. Yes it was "Hop" that pulled in more cash then "Arthur". But since many consider Brand to be a cartoon like character maybe it makes sense after all. "Arthur" of course is a remake of the hugely successful original from thirty years ago that starred the late Dudley Moore. In the original, Moore played a lovable drunk who had money up the wazoo and a heart of gold. Brand also has a heart of gold in this sequel and does drink a lot, but really doesn't come off as a drunk. Rather, he comes...
Movie Review - Hanna
2011-04-14 17:04:00 by David SchusterSaoirse Ronan as "Hanna"Never have I seen such a range of reviews on a movie as I have with "Hanna" I have seen 4 stars (they must have been on acid) all the way down to zippo. And rarely have I ever totally agreed with Rex Reed but when it comes to this movie we are in lock step. Too bad because the trailers really suckered me in on this one. "Hanna" is about a girl who is raised in the frozen tundra near the Arctic Circle. Her father is a former CIA assassin who teaches his little girl everything he knows about killing. Not exactly playing with Barbie Dolls but an interesting premise. Hanna is played by the immensely...
Movie Review - Of Gods and Men
2011-04-14 06:00:00 BY ROBERT HAMMERLE, guest contributor to HammervisionAs I watched "Of Gods and Men," I felt I was sitting through a silent film of a still life painting of a never ending church service directed by an aging Ingmar Bergman. Devout, somber and well intentioned, it ultimately drowns in its own excruciating tedium. Quite frankly, the repetitive church services where dedicated monks were seen engaged in liturgical rituals reminded me of my childhood in Batesville, Indiana, at a Catholic grade school in the 1950's. For 8 years my classmates and I attended Mass at least 6 times a week during the school year, and it was often 12 times when our turn came to assist the Priests at various daily Masses...
Movie Review - The Music Never Stopped
2011-04-14 05:53:00 BY ROBERT HAMMERLE, guest contributor to HammervisionThere may be more emotionally powerful films released this year, but there will be none more emotionally satisfying. It will not win an Oscar, but it will win your heart. It is sweet, beguiling and only the most callous will likely resist its innate charm. I am speaking of "The Music Never Stopped," a modern day retelling of the Prodigal Son returning home. It is 1986, and Henry and Helen Sawyer, a couple in their 60's, receive a call that their only child Gabriel, a son they haven't seen in 20 years, is in a local hospital. Once at his bedside, they learn that he has a large brain tumor where his long term...
Movie Review - Your Highness
2011-04-13 16:41:00 One critic wrote of "Your Highness," "What if you wrote a comedy and nobody laughed?" Granted, there were only half a dozen others in the theater, but they were laughing along with me. He also wrote "McBride is dull. Franco does his best to invoke ridiculous overacting." Some people just don't get it. That's the whole point of this movie. Over the top jokes, hideous monsters, and an evil wizard who can't keep a straight face when deceiving his kidnapped maiden.The way the trailers and commercials make it seem that McBride's Thadeous is getting high through the entire film. In fact, there are only a couple of scenes where he is smoking whatever passed for weed in ancient England. Instead,...
Movie Review - Your Highness (**1/2)
2011-04-10 21:13:00 YOUR HIGHNESS. 102 mins. R. Directed by David Gordon Green. Written by Danny McBride & Ben Best.Give it points for taking a risk. Say what you will about the new comedy co-written by Danny McBride and directed by Pineapple Express' David Gordon Green, but I don't know of any other medieval stoner action comedies being made these days. Your Highness is probably not going to give studios a reason to make any more. At best, it's a one-joke comedy that may or may not make you laugh depending on two things: (1) how much you can tolerate McBride; and (2) how familiar you are with '80s fantasy cheese like Krull and Dragonslayer. Despite a promising set-up, McBride and co-writer Ben...
(4/2011) Hanna: Movie Review
2011-04-10 01:14:00 5 Stars Review By James R. Holland One Of The Year’s Best Action Thrillers! This 111-minute, PG-l3 Rated Action/Adventure/Thriller starts out very quietly in the winter snows just south of the Artic Circle in Finland. A father is raising his teenage daughter to track, hunt and survive against any possible danger. They live in a Hansel and Gretel looking house deep in the forest. The daughter has been raised on the Brothers Gimm Fairy Tales. She reads the lavishly illustrated stories each night before bedtime. The Brothers Grimm is an important plot thread for this modern day story. In fact, the entire movie has a German fairy tale surrealism flavor to it. Sixteen-year-old Hanna is played very convincingly by Saoirse Ronan. She manages to get all the way through this movie, which includes scenes in Morocco, Spain, Finland and various German locations without combing her long blonde hair so it doesn’t keeping covering her pene...
By: BasilandSpice
(4/2011) Movie Review: Your Highness
2011-04-08 23:39:00 2 1/2 Stars Review By James R. Holland Too Much Improvising Going On! &-nbsp; &n-bsp; At 102-minutes running time, this R-Rated was a yawner. The script, or more like an outline, was written by Ben Best and actor Danny McBride but it wasn’t used on set. The actors simply improvised as they shot the various action scenes and it showed. That’s probably why so much grossness came pouring out of the casts' mouths in a poor excuse for good dialogue. The director Gordon Green was probably as surprised with the dialogue as the audience will be. If the actors couldn’t think of anything clever to say, they just cursed, made funny faces and looked stupid. &-nbsp; &n-bsp; This adventure/fantasy/comedy was set in ancient mythological times when knights in shining amour went on quests for entertainment and if successful, came home ca...
By: BasilandSpice
Movie Review - Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
2011-04-07 06:18:00 BY ROBERT HAMMERLE, guest contributor to HammervisionYou know that they're out there, and try as you might you also know that you are going to go. Yes, despite praying more fervently than Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane where he implored his divine Father to "let this cup pass," you know you have a date with a regrettable artistic destiny. Let's face it, some films have a tractor beam appeal to kids that makes an adult seem like Simon Lagree if you tried to say, "Oh God no." Furthermore, despite your well-founded apprehensions, there is always that chance that they may deliver something resembling adult satire that will make the experience at least borderline tolerable. Sure, the whole thought...
Movie Review - Source Code (***)
2011-04-06 05:02:00 SOURCE CODE. 93 mins. PG-13. Directed by Duncan Jones. Written by Ben Ripley.Duncan Jones' follow-up to Moon is an interesting, unique action thriller with a healthy dose of sci-fi thrown in for good measure. It earns bonus points with viewers for offering something new and engaging the mind as it quickens the pulses. What keeps Source Code from truly achieving lift-off, however, are some dumb leaps of logic, bad acting from the supporting characters, and dwindling suspense as the movie progresses.Jake Gyllenhaal is actually quite good as Colter Stevens, the soldier who wakes up in another man's body aboard a Chicago commuter train and re-lives the same eight minutes over and over in an attempt to locate a bomber and prevent...
Movie Review - Source Code
2011-04-05 16:50:00 "Source Code" is a mix between science fiction and a thriller with an interesting concept of potentially changing events. Jake Gylenhaal continues his winning formula with another successful role that has you guessing from start to finish as to how this movie unfolds. Gylenhaal has really blossomed as an actor and has been in a lot of recent hits. My only problem with him is the spelling of his name because I have to keep looking it up every time I type it. "Source Code" is a project where they take someone and place them in an event (in this instance a terrorist attack aboard a train) and have them try and change the event to alter the history. The concept fascinated me...
(4/2011) Movie Review: Source Code
2011-04-03 11:23:00 4 Stars Review By James R. Holland This is a pretty decent 93-minute, PG-13 Rated Sci-Fi Action-Mystery-Romantic-Thrille-r. It was definitely the best new movie release of the weekend. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Captain Colter Stevens. He wakes up and discovers he is occupying another man’s body and seated across from a beautiful fellow Chicago commuter train passenger named Christina Warren who is well played by Michelle Monaghan. He has trouble figuring out what is happening. Eight minutes later the train blows up killing everyone on board. &-nbsp; &n-bsp; However, the captain wakes up inside a satellite and is soon being contacted by a beautiful female military officer named Colleen Goodwin who is played very believably by Vera Farmiga. She turns out to be his no nonsense mission control officer, but with more sensitivity than would be suspected. She immediately wants to know what ...
By: BasilandSpice
Spring Break Movie Review: It's a WIN WIN!
2011-03-30 16:16:00 As the More is More Mom®, I'm all about.........more entertaining movies over spring break! While the kids are away, the parents can play. We are a movie loving people, but with a busy family that needs to be driven here, or would like to have 6 friends over for dinner there, it can be nearly impossible to eak out time to head over to the Cineplex.
Movie Review - Paul (***1/2)
2011-03-30 06:13:00 PAUL. 100 mins . R. Directed by Greg Mottola. Written by Simon Pegg & Nick Frost.Julie and I had the chance to sneak out of the house on Sunday and catch the latest Simon Pegg-Nick Frost collaborative effort, Paul. They wrote and star in this alien adventure comedy, though, sadly, partner-in-crime Edgar Wright (director of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) is nowhere in sight. Instead, we've got Superbad's Greg Mottola in his place, and the results are about what you'd expect: jovial, profane R-rated fun.Pegg and Frost load up the movie with a ton of cheeky, amusing references to the history of aliens in pop culture. Those bits work, while the potshots they take at rural America -...
Movie Review - The Lincoln Lawyer
2011-03-25 06:12:00 BY ROBERT HAMMERLE, guest contributor to HammervisionNEWS FLASH! Matthew McConaughey can actually act! REPEAT! Matthew McConaughey, particularly when liberated from co-starring with the woeful Kate Hudson, can actually act! Okay, Okay, so I am being a bit melodramatic. But having watched "The Lincoln Lawyer," it is gratifying to see what Mr. McConaughey can actually accomplish when he once again gets to work with a nuanced screenplay. Unfortunately, most movie fans today have long ago forgotten the promise McConaughey demonstrated in such enjoyable films as "Lone Star" (1996); "A Time to Kill" (1996); "Contact" (1997); "Amistad" (1997) and the very underrated Sci-fi gem "Reign of Fire" (2002). Poised for not only stardom but critical recognition as a genuine talent, he then decided to do such trashy films as...
Movie Review - Justin Bieber: Never Say Never 3D
2011-03-24 04:53:00 Hey folks - Hammer here. I'm not even sure if the "Bieber" is still in theaters these days, but it sounds like we may just have a winner here. That is, until Jaden Smith inevitably shows up for his title song duet with the Biebs. Still, I don't think I can shell out $13 bucks for this one - better to wait and add it to the Netflix queue so you can rock out with it on the home theater system. Sing with me now - "Baby, baby, baby..."BY ROBERT HAMMERLE, guest contributor to HammervisionWARNING: The following review could be toxic to anyone considered to be a skeptical, thinking human being with a minimal amount of artistic taste. The writer...
Movie Review - Limitless
2011-03-22 04:20:00 Hey folks - Hammer here. Had a chance to see this one myself over the weekend. It's a fun flick, entertaining though not very fulfilling. Alternately funny, thrilling, and dramatic - it operates on a number of mostly interesting levels. Director Neil Burger (The Illusionist) employs some cool long-take zoom shots through cities and cars. Bradley Cooper gives an engaging lead performance, though I still don't buy him as a washed-up writer with stringy hair (as he appears in the first 20 minutes or so). Limitless is certainly worth a rental at some point. *** stars.Here's my Uncle's take on it:BY ROBERT HAMMERLE, guest contributor to Hammervision"Limitless" is a very intriguing movie that is marred only by an incredibly idiotic...
Movie Review - The Lincoln Lawyer
2011-03-20 17:42:00 by David SchusterTook time out in the midst of all the NCAA games to catch "The Lincoln Lawyer" and was glad I did. This was Matthew McConaughey at his wise cracking dramatic best unlike his recent string of comedic failures. "The Lincoln Lawyer" stars McConaughey as a slick lawyer who is used to representing one sleeze ball after another but catches (what he thinks) is a big break with a rich kid on a murder case. The rick kid is played by Ryan Phillippe who in real life dumped Reese Witherspoon (what a dope) and he is definitely a creep in this movie too. ... |
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