Taken

–MOVIE REVIEW a couple little spoilers—

I don’t have a daughter, but I am married, I do have a son. I can tell you that if anyone were to kidnap my son and try to do what these people in the Taken did I assure you that I would lose my mind. That is one thing that I could never understand, you see this in movies like one off the top of my head Ransom with Mel Gibson. Don’t get me wrong, but he did not pop a cork like I think I would do, if it had happened to me in real life. It’s never happened to me so maybe I am just not seeing life though their eyes. To top if off I am not some kick butt retired spy that could just whip out my cell phone recording device and speaker set within seconds of a phone call. Either way I don’t have the ninja skills that would be needed to pull this one off…

Now where to start, OK I leaned over to my wife and said, I don’t ever remember Lian Neesom in some kick but action movie, my wife mentioned Darkman but I don’t remember seeing that one. I mean when he started to whip out that stewed up 56 year old can a whoop ass, it took time for me to pick up my jaw. I look though the movies that he as done and I see there are some action parts in there. I just don’t remember these. I can tell you that I am impressed. They picked the right actor for that roll. This guy was awesome. And the best part was there was very little that was unbelievable. So the man can act, and whoop some tail.

I think another thing that has really got me liking this movie was the weird way that it was predictable yet still surprised me at points. Yes he gets his daughter, yes he whips the bad guys but man some of the things he did just made you go wow, if that happened to me I could see me freaking out like that. Another thing that I really liked about the movie, I don’t recall a curse word. Now I am not offended by them, but I do feel like some actors or scripts have them in there to add a little to the scene. This movie did not need it. In my eyes this is one of the best action flicks in a long time.

Now does it rate better them 007 or Jason Bourne no not quite. But it was a great change of pace from seeing the same faces in the same cookie cutter films just change a little around. Is it the movie of they year, well maybe we will just have to wait to see what comes out. I thought at first that it was just me that thought this was a great movie, but as I walked out people were talking about how much they liked it. So what the heck, I say go see it watch it in the theater and I am going to buy it as soon as it comes out.

Movies that I am keeping my eye out for… Friday the 13^th, this one actually looks like a good one, Mall Cop has some great funny parts in the trailer, I just hope that there is more then those in the move. In the next day or so, I will post one on Step Brothers. Its new to DVD and I think many missed it in the theater.

 

Righteous Kill

When you take two incredible actors, I mean top notch guys, these are the best at what they do, they are both just incredible actors they do the best rolls and they play them to a T. Now when you put them into to the same movie you would expect Magic. The movie of that they talk about for years, a movie that just clicks, it sits in your mind and all the one liners or the scenes never leave your mind. Me I think of lines like “Say what again” or “Zed is Dead baby, Zeds Dead”. What about “Luke I am your father” or “Houston I think we have a problem”. Now my quotes are not dead on, but I think you could pick the movies they are from. Well now I know why the DVD of a Righteous Kill came out so quickly.

The chemistry between Robert De Niro and Al Pacino was awesome; these two were meant to be in movies together. These guys are studs, the attitude comes out and the passion for what they do is there. So why did this hurt to watch? Maybe hurt is a strong word. The movie was not bad, but is was bad for what these two could do. Oh wait I am having a tangent thought here, lets develop this…

There is De Niro he leads one of the biggest families in Chicago, but then there is Pacino and he is leading the other big family in Chicago, toss in Joe Pesci and Frank Vincent as Captains for either family, and then the guy Gandolfini as the thug who plays for both crews. Gandolfini, decides that he wants to run the city and starts a war between the two families. He waits to see the bodies fall and swoops in to pick up the pieces. He becomes the new King of the streets and owns Chicago and does it without raising a gun.

Now there is a story where you can see all the actors in rolls they were made for, what is the good cop bad cop crap? The actors are what made this movie and the rating that I give it, but story lacks some luster, It’s not bad, but not great, and great actors need great stories. I really hope this is not the last time I see these two together. They played off each other like Robin Williams and Billy Crystal did for so many years. This movie has got to be between a must rent and a maybe buy. I think I will buy it because I think so highly of who they are and well, I could not stand to see this not be in my collection.

I have to tell you my favorite scene is when they are at the gun range, it’s a short scene but it shows how these two guys feel, one says between the eyes after letting a round fly down range, the second says, Two between the eyes after letting two fly down range, well it was something like that. But let those boys compete.

What about a cool Jack Nicholson playing the Irish mobster in New York and then De Niro and Pacino are the Italian competitors to each other that have to come together to take down the Irish Mob, who would win that one.

When I see these guys I don’t want another Steel Magnolia’s, I want to see bullets fly, I want to see bodies on the ground, I want to see De Niro pissed and Pacino losing his mind over some crazy stuff. I want to see better writing for some of the best two actors in the world. They deserve it.

The Unborn Should Have Ended Up on the Cutting Room Floor

**Warning Spoiler but you may want to read**

Well I am not sure how a piece of junk movie like this has ever been made. Who in their right mind thought of this? I think that my wife and I could sit down in 30 min’s and come up with a better scary movie then this hunk of crap. The worst part is the acting was great, the photography was great, and the direction was awesome. The Story just out right sucked. The true name of this movie should be… Dyson, Great looks, Great commercial, and could suck the carpet off your floor. So that is how I really feel. Let me see if I get this right. There was a TV episode on what show I don’t recall but the execs were sitting around talking about what has to be in the movie for it to be a block buster. Well let’s see if they had them all.

1. There was a teenage star.
2. There was a shower seen (no nudity)
3. There was a number of Boo moments. (Where everyone jumps)
4. There was a freaky kid chasing everyone
5. There was a love scene
6. There was a best friend who we knew would be one of the first to go.
7. The lights in this movie seem to not have the ability to stay on.
8. The always loved climax chased scene
9. Then the ever inevitable star running into a room with no escape.
10. Oh we can not forget the Super Natural feeling there.
11. And that stupid Dad that likes to head out on business trips when his daughter is having a breakdown.
12. The Mirror is the real way to travel to other worlds.

Well I think we hit 10 of what they may have needed to make this a great movie, but someone over there at the studio should tell Michael Bay that this movie has already been made did he just take small parts from other movies. Let’s see there was The Ring, The Grudge, The Exorcist, Omen, and the smart mouthed kid calling people an A-Hole. And a movie made in the 80’s I think about the bad guy jumping around and taking over other peoples bodies.

One other side note that I just had to mention here. There is a picture in the movie that was dated to 1988 when the star was still in the womb, she find old film from when her mother committed suicide that looked to me like the old history films I watched back in 1970. Here is what I don’t understand, I remember 1988 I was in high school then, we had VCR’s, and shoulder held cameras to film, not this old 8mm junk no one used that back in 88.

Now I must admit there were some really good parts to this so called movie. See we were sitting there in the first row of the stadium sitting in a room full of kids no where close to 17, and no adult (But who cares, if this gives them nightmares they really need some help). So this on kid all of 14 thought that he would add some of his own action to the movie, He snuck up behind a bunch of girls during a dark scene and was more then happy to grab her on the shoulder. That was the loudest scream I heard all night, followed by the theater filled with laughter.

Mr. Bay, if you were to somehow read this and I doubt you will, please thing of some of your own stuff, you have made some great movies, heck I even liked Pearl Harbor. But as I look at what you have either in production or in the works, I believe I see only one that is not going to be either a remake or a sequel. Please tell me you did not jump the shark just yet. Have you been sitting around with M. Night kicking back some brews? How could you make this junk? I am looking forward to seeing the next Friday the 13^th, but I know what to expect, and from the preview this will be an awesome flick. Please don’t leave us now, I believe you have much more in you then this piece of junk.

Odette Yustman, you have some talent. Keep it up. But please check the script better; you know what just read the script, I was staring to think this was the next “Scary Movie” the movie spoofs.

So the final call on this one, folks if you like a good Boo scare, rent this in a month when it hits the shelves, turn out the lights and enjoy otherwise. Skip it. It’s not even on my rent list.

Tell me what you think.

The Day the Earth Stood Still Review

Well here is my last movie review for a little while, then again maybe not…

Well for those of us that did not know this is a remake from a 1951 movie that did rather well. From what I understand the movie did well because of the time it was released. The new one I saw a couple of days ago left me thinking about how the heck something like this got all the press that it did. Did people not see the many movies about the end of the world before, Lets see off the top of my head I can think of Deep Impact, or the Day After Tomorrow, or even War of the Worlds.

The special effects were good and well the lead actor was Keanu Reeves. I really do like Keanu Reeves, I remember watching him in Bill and Teds Excellent adventure, but after the remarkable success The Matrix we just are not seeing this man act. I am not sure we really have, I would never consider attacking an actor on a personal level but I have to wonder if this is the way he holds himself everyday. Its that so relaxing “we are here to save the planet”… yes the part required him to have little emotion but we are seeing this time and time again from him.

Jaden Smith plays a son of a fallen soldier that is now living with his Step Mom and you can tell that there is some pressure in that situation; however I really started to get annoyed by his characters roll. I just kept thinking that no child would talk and behave like that with me. I can be sympathetic towards a bad situation. It can not be easy but enough is enough. As far as the acting that Jaden did… What a great job. He has really taken on acting with flair like his father. Mr. Smith you have a lot to be proud of.

Now I must say that I am the only one in my family that did not like this movie. Maybe saying that I did not like it was not fair at all, see I judge a movie by how many times I look at my watch to see how long it will be until the movie is over, I did not do that once. So it did have my attention. I just think with all the hype I would have liked to see a little more. What would I have like to see, well I am not sure, if I knew I would be writing movie scripts and sending them in. So to wrap this up I would have to say that I am going to call it like I see it, wait for the DVD to come out, I am not sure I would even buy the DVD, rent it or put it on your Net Flix list.

Movie Review of Valkyrie

It’s a little hard for me to go camping when the weather is like this, however I do wish that I would have not winterized my motor home so soon, November was a great weather month.

This is a movie review that I just do for me sometimes. I love to watch movies and today I did a Double Feature, well I paid for both movies, but they were back to back. Look tomorrow if you care to see what I though about the other one. As far as a Spoiler goes this will not ruin anything for those who know about the death of Hitler, or the assassination attempts. I mean it would sort of be like me telling you that at the end of Titanic that the ship sinks…

First I would like to say, I am not a huge fan at all of movies that usually end up winning or are nominated for Academy awards. There have been some that have been really good but for the most part I look at what they have up and they just look to, well I don’t know how to say it. I go to the movies for entertainment, if that means bombs, booms, or a good slasher flick I am there. This movie however caught my attention, I love to study and watch movies about WWII. I like the history and I think that many people forget about things that happened not to long ago. Anyway, I was not disappointed.

When you think of Tom Cruise you may think of him dancing in his underwear, or hanging off a cliff in Mission Impossible. I think this has got to be one of my favorite movies that he has ever done. I was a little caught off guard when the film started to roll that there was not a huge “Go Tom” moment, yes there was a little, but more for the history then the Hey I am TC and I am so cool. This movie reminds us that every side of the war had impacts, there were people in Germany that we would have looked down upon for all they did. But there were people there that were seeing that the country was not being run like it should be, or at least not the way they think it should be.

The only complaints that I had about the movie were the actor David Bamber did not look like Hitler to me, and I am not sure that I took away from it how difficult it must have been to plan something like this.

The acting was great, and from what I know it was pretty close to an accurate account of what happened. This is not a sit on the end of your seat thriller but if you want to see something that will open your eyes and at the same time entertain then I would have to recommend this movie to you. It was all that I expected and more. I knew growing up that there were attempts to kill Hitler, and I knew about this one. But I did not know what happened to get them to that point or what happened afterwards. Maybe I did not pay enough attention in History or maybe I got one paragraph on something that almost turned that country in a different direction.

For what its worth if this is up for an award, I hope it wins, the cast was awesome and it showed WWII in a different light, just like Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan among many others.