Apollo 18

Rating: 3.4 out of 5 stars

Movie: Apollo 18 (2011)

Studio : Dimension Films

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 87 min

Website : apollo18movie.net

Rating : PG-13

Trailer :

Click here to view the embedded video.

Review:

Two astronauts (Warren Christie and Lloyd Owen) are sent on a secret mission to the moon to determine why NASA had deemed the lunar surface unsafe and cancelled all future missions. In the real world, this was due to funding issues which shut down the program in 1972, but this revisionist look at the space program shows that there was something far more sinister afoot than a lack of coin. And the Department of Defense wanted to know what it was. The filmmakers then supposedly found 80 hours of footage, which was classified but leaked out for the world to know in what I guess is a shout out to Wikileaks.

The company releasing this film has gone through some great lengths to pretend that this is actual footage of a real life event that was hidden away from the public. Even the two stars of the film are listed with no credit in the Internet Movie Database. It contends that they are not real actors at all, but real astronauts that had to endure their terrible journey. To me, what the producers are trying to do just insults the movie going audience’s intelligence. This isn’t like Area 51 where things happened on a secret base somewhere that no outsider could get to. This is space we are talking about. And to get to space is not just a hop into your personal spacecraft and off you go. Rockets being hauled out onto the pad and the days of preparations can not be done in shadow. As someone who lived close to Cape Canaveral, any launch is big news and would have been back in 1973, when the space race was in full force. At the very least, people would have remembered it. If you are going to push the conspiracy idea, it works better if the facts are at least somewhat believable. This footage gimmick may have worked in Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity, but only because people could relate to not knowing what goes on inside every house or deep in the dark woods. Finding a tape would be almost believable. But using low budget camera tricks and pawning it off as some sort of real footage is stupid.

But in all fairness, that really doesn’t have anything to do with the movie itself except that it sets the tone of the film from the very start with the opening written narration. From there, the story plays in three acts using what looks like 40 year old video tape. It’s grainy. It flickers out a lot, having been supposedly damaged over time, and has that hand held queasiness factor that is only kept in check by some still camera work such as when they are in the capsule. This can get a bit annoying after a bit, but thankfully the shorter running time doesn’t make it too much of a strain on the eyes and in some parts these low budget visual effects actually work in the movie’s favor. At the very least, they do make you feel as though this is the 1970’s you are watching, thankfully without the leisure suits.

The story is far more character driven than other entries into the hand held thriller genre. There is a great dynamic between the two men as the danger gets more and more real. And their fear comes across very well. The close quarters, what lies outside, are all phobias that can be attributed to the human condition and the movie plays on that. It also does well delving in the conspiracy theory that the movie tries to imply. My only minor fault here is that a little more information about what happened prior would have been helpful in understanding and relating to their predicament. We don’t know anything about them and why they are there.

If this was a pseudo documentary into a false conspiracy, it might have been okay, but this being billed as a horror movie. So it has to be reviewed as one. And in this case, it failed pretty badly on the scare factor. Like Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark that we just reviewed, it relies on suspense to fuel the few gotcha moments in the film. But it does not do this successfully. While there are some pretty disturbing moments, the anxiety is never really that heightened that the jumps are off the chart. And once we see the enemy, the film becomes even more anti-climatic. The trailer promised that the last 10 minutes would go down in movie history. Not sure what history they were referring to. The end doesn’t seem to justify the journey making one walk out of the theater really scratching their heads. I guess the sequel will help.

For a low budget film, director Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego did his best to try to stretch every dollar and there are parts that are better than some big budget action movies, especially in the acting, but it wasn’t enough to pull the film out of mediocrity. I give this film a 3.2/5, a little better than some, but not able to scare, which was the point.

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Dont Be Afraid of Dark

Rating: 3.8 out of 5 stars

Movie: Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (2011)

Studio : Miramax

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 99 min

Website : dontbeafraidofthedark.com

Rating : R

Trailer :

Click here to view the embedded video.

Review:

Sally (Bailee Madison) is a young girl, who was sent to her father Alex (Guy Pearce) when she didn’t want her anymore. But Alex has a new girlfriend Kim (Katie Holmes) that isn’t fond of the idea of suddenly being saddled with a child. But Kim has little choice and the family settles back down in a gothic mansion that Alex is remodeling. But Blackwood Manor has a horrific past and when Sally goes exploring, she finds that they are not alone. That there are voices coming up through the vent, voices that try to convince her that they are friends and they need to be let out of their prison. The moppet tries to tell her father, but he’s too busy in his work to pay any attention and Kim doesn’t believe her. And so she finds comfort from the isolation in these odd whispers that come from below, so much comfort that she lets them out, bringing horrible results to the family.

I can see why this got some bad press by a more contemporary audience that is used to movies like Friday the 13th and Saw, where horror is defined by the number of shock moments and horrible bloody messes with chainsaws and axes. But back in my day, the genre also included suspense. Alfred Hitchcock never showed the blood of the woman Norman Bates chopped up in the shower in Psycho, but we knew it was there. Suspense was something that was built up, starting as an uneasy feeling and getting progressively more eerie as it went along. And that is what this and its predecessor, the 1973 classic by the same name did. It provided less gore and less gotcha moments, but a slow building that made one sufficiently unsettled by the end.

A lot of that buildup had to do with the house itself, the set design created the mood for the film. It starts off in the initial scene that earned the movie its R rating, of Edward Blackwood a hundred years earlier, trying to extract the teeth of his maid in the most painful way possible. Every detail of the house from it’s interior to his drawings, to the art on the walls, everything screamed gothic and creepy. The house reeked of the horrible things that had happened there in the past, and even when the remodeling began, the lighting kept the tone of the dark spirits that inhabited the dwelling.

Sally represents the little kid in all of us, who slept with the light on after seeing our first horror film, who wondered if there were things under the bed or in the closet, who visited haunted houses on Halloween and screamed in terror. And newcomer Bailee Madison did well playing both the jilted child scorned by her parents and her father’s girlfriend and the scared little girl who just wants to leave this horrid place. And I think Madison should have a bright future ahead of her in films.

Guy Pearce was equally as good, even if we hated his character, at playing the father who is too busy to care what his daughter is doing or scared of. Katie Holmes is just so so as the girlfriend turned mother. As her character progressed, I actually found her more annoying and flat than when she started out as the hesitant mom.

There were two parts of the film though that drags down the score. The first was the creatures. The CGI goblins that looked a bit like a cross between Quasimodo and the dog from Taco Bell were not suspenseful, but a bit funny at places where they shouldn’t have been. The big reveal seemed to get more guffaws than it did frights. Del Toro would have done better keeping them in the dark and not be so open about what they were doing. That would have certainly added to the creepiness.

The other problem was the insane way that some of the characters dealt with the horror that surrounded them, which is a staple of horror films I know, but this one could have rose above that. I mean if you had these creepy things in your house, wouldn’t you leave or at least call an exterminator or something? It wasn’t like the house was keeping them there as in Amityville Horror.

Still even despite these two things, we still found the film a fun way to spend an afternoon and the movie will appeal to the ones who like their horror less on the Saw side and more on the Psycho side. And so we give it a 3.8/5. Newer and more jaded audiences might not get it, but those that can relate to Sally as a mirror of their own childhood should enjoy it.

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Colombiana

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Movie: Colombiana (2011)

Studio : EuropaCorp

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 107 min

Website : www.colombiana-movie.com

Rating : PG-13

Trailer :

Click here to view the embedded video.

Review:

When a mob boss in Bogota, Columbia feels that her family has betrayed him, he orders everyone killed and believes that is what happened. But what he doesn’t know is that the young daughter Cataleya (Amandla Stenberg) survived. Taken in by her uncle, she learns the ways of being a professional killer and by the time she’s an adult (Zoe Saldana), she is very good at what she does. But there is only one target she’s interested in, and that’s the one that murdered her parents. In order to root him out, she leaves clues that catch the attention of not only him, but of the FBI as well.

The movie is not an original concept. It takes cues from Luc Besson’s previous works such as The Professional which brought Natalie Portman to the public eye as the little girl who sees her family murdered and decides to take up with an assassin for protection and training. Colombiana doesn’t end when she is still a child however, but follows Catalaya into adulthood as a ruthless killer, much like in Besson’s other film Nikita. But even though these two film plots combined into one, the movie is no where near the level in terms of plot and complex characterizations that portrayed the brutal side of the psyche scorned in the other ones, even in someone so young.

But that is not what Besson obviously intended here, but to provide action over the path of enlightened portrayals. And in that respect, he did okay. The movie is filled with all sorts of action scenes, one right after the other, leading audiences on an exhausting, but somewhat exhilarating pace. And that is what most b-rated action movies do, but the lack of any sort of plot and generic characters and villains that were laughable got in the way of even the scenes that were decent.

The one lone star in the movie was Zoe Saldana herself. She portrayed Cataleya with a focus that was unparalleled. Every step she took, every action, even though she had limited dialog, was in character and made the assassin come alive. There was no time that we didn’t believe who she was and that takes a good deal of talent. I can’t think of anyone who could have handled it better. These type of films don’t usually get recognized at the awards, but she really does deserve one for the ruthless persona she brought to Cataleya.

It’s just a shame that she received no support from those around her or the script itself. The acting was generic at best, in some parts even horrible, and the plot that did exist was just there to move the action along.

Colombiana is a recent example of what used to be called a b-rated film. It has a lot of action and not much else. And so we give it a 3.0/5 stars and the only reason we are really going that high is because of Saldana’s performance.

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Conan the Barbarian

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Movie: Conan the Barbarian (2011)

Studio : Lionsgate

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 113 min

Website : conanthebarbarianin3d.com

Rating : R

Trailer :

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Review:

In this origin story of the Cimmerian warrior, Conan the Barbarian is shown from his bloody birth on the battlefield, literally cut out of his mother’s stomach by his father (Ron Perlman) to his training as a young warrior (Leo Howard) to his final transformation into the man (Jason Momoa) who would become a legend. It seems that an evil sorcerer Kahlar Zym (Stephen Lang) wants an ancient mask that holds horrific powers, but pieces of it were scattered to different Cimmerian villages after the war to keep the power from ever being used again. His searching brings him to Conan’s village, where the boy’s father is killed right before his eyes and Conan vows to get his revenge. But Zym discovers that the mask’s power has one other requirement, the blood of a descendant of the tribe for which it was forged and so he sends his witchy daughter (Rose McGowan) to find her. But when Conan rescues her from the evil sorceress, he finds himself in a web of not only barbaric events but magical ones as well.

I liked the original Conan movies, even the second one which was fun for the comedy and Arnie’s ability to play both sides. But from the trailer, I knew what I was getting into here. The director Marcus Nispel, after all, is known for his remakes of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th, which no one would argue wasn’t gory and violent. And so I went in with an open mind that this was not going to be the Conan I knew from the past, an important distinction I thought to enjoying the film. I say this because I don’t want people thinking that I was just being overly judgmental because of the original.

But there was really little to enjoy here and I blame that mostly on the writing more than anything else. The story was absolutely as messy as the bloody battlefield, as if the broken up mask being put together was the symbol of the script itself. There were a lot of loose ideas and senseless plot points that were thrown together from whatever seemed to pop in their heads at the moment. I could see the development meeting where it was like “Let’s throw this in…” “Why?” “Cause its cool and something for Conan to chop up with his sword.” “Great.” Except for the first few minutes, there was no attention to the characters’ emotional states at all. Instead they came off as just mindless robots being put through their paces towards a goal. Conan wound up being just a killing machine like Jason, rather than the smart, clever warrior that the Howard stories portrayed him as.

Nispel was the wrong man for the job as director. His previous experience did not at all lend itself well to this sort of movie. The large battle sequences and action scenes seemed to be out of his league, which he tried to cover with fast paced camera moves. These did not make the movie more exciting, only distracting. Since the movie is about a man whose life is full of such scenarios, you think this would have been something producers considered when finding a director. Not only that, but he also found it difficult, even with the script aside, to draw emotion out of his actors, but then documentaries of music concerts and straight up slasher films are not exactly emotional experiences.

Jason Momoa seemed like the perfect fit as Conan. As Ronan in Stargate Atlantis, he was already basically the epitome of the role. He had that caring soul that was extremely loyal to his friends, but took no crap and would rather spend his day killing enemies if given the chance. There wasn’t a fight he didn’t like. And so while I never saw him on Game of Thrones, I could very much see him in the role. And he did as good a job as could be expected, but the script did him in worse than any sword could.

Given nothing to work with in both script and direction, the rest of the cast just ran through their paces, using little of their combined acting talent. And there was quite a bit that could have been there, especially with names like Ron Perlman, Rachel Nichols and Rose McGowan. The only one who really got to shine was Leo Howard, the young Conan, because he was in a portion of the movie that allowed some emotion between a father and a son rather than mindless revenge and villainy.

And finally, don’t bother paying the extra money to see this in the 3D theaters. This is one film that you can see in 2D and not feel like you missed something. The implementation doesn’t seem to be anything more than an after thought and so there is only a few moments of any value, mixed in with a lot that isn’t.

All in all, we didn’t like this film, although Momoa did what he could. And so we give it a 2/5 with no further comment.

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Spy Kids 4

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Movie: Spy Kids 4 (2011)

Studio : Dimension Films

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 89 min

Website : spykidsmovie.net

Rating : PG

Trailer :

Click here to view the embedded video.

Review:

The Spy Kids are back in a new adventure, only it’s the next generation courtesy of Marissa Wilson (Jessica Alba), who is sister to Antonio Banderas’ character in the original. She’s a top spy who while pregnant even took down the arch villain Tik Tok. But having a baby with husband Wilbur (Joel McHale) gives her reason to quit the spy biz and settle down. But a year later, Tik Tok, now with an accomplice Timekeeper (Jeremy Piven), decides to take ‘time’ away from the world and Marissa must return to stop him. This time, though, she gets her whole family involved including her two step kids Rebecca (Rowan Blanchard) and Cecil (Mason Cook), her baby daughter, their guard dog Argonaut (voiced by Ricky Gervais) and a blast from the past, the original Spy Kids (Daryl Sabara and Alexa Vega) to save the world once again.

As an adult, movies meant for kids are often difficult to see from a kids’ perspective. I took my niece with me to see the film and from her and other kids’ reactions to the numerous sight gags and poop/fart/puke jokes, it was obvious the target audience was a very young age. Although writer and director Robert Rodriguez did try his hardest to include those over 6, most of those moments were either few and far between, or fell flat against the backdrop. The previous endeavors, especially the first two, were much better at entertaining those parents who would be forced to sit there with their kids, but to me, it was a long 83 minutes.

While it was good to see Jessica Alba using her martial arts training once again that we haven’t seen since Dark Angel, she really is wasted in this film as an actress. It was obvious, although a good sport about the predicaments she found herself in, that she was doing this perhaps only to show daughter Honor what her mommy did for a living later on. Although I don’t know what kind of mother would bring her one year old child on a potentially dangerous mission. I kept thinking that if this was real life, she’d probably have CPS take her children away for endangerment. But it’s just a movie, so all is good I guess.

All the adults in this movie were as they are in most aimed at kid’s movies, flat and used as a bumper for the kids to defy. I have to admit though that Jeremy Piven was actually pretty good as the over the top villain Timekeeper, his scenes being some of the best.

Blanchard and Cook did quite well for their age and were very believable without being overly cute or obnoxious, which kids in these films often are. They handled the scenes well and dare I say almost better than their older veterans. Having Vega and Sabara return was inspired to not only serve as a continuity conduit but also they had some of the same vibe as their screen parents did in the original movies, which helped with the nostalgia and kept the film from slipping all the way into the abyss.

An appearance by Danny Trejo was also a welcome sight as the gadget creating Machete.

The 3D was very well done in this one, much better than previous outings. Of course, in this one, the 3D is the real deal, and shot in native 3D format, which makes some of the scenes incredible to watch. It’s definitely worth seeing this one in the 3D theater for nothing else but the jawdropping effects. Ships and even some of the characters actually fly out of the screen at you, which I have to say was very impressive.

Less impressive was the Aroma-Scope, which is basically a card with numbered areas. When the appropriate number comes on the screen, you scratch the surface and sniff, like back when we were kids. It’s not very potent and you could smell some of the odors to some extent. This really only works for the kids as parents are too jaded to really get the effect. Actually I found the whole thing rather bothersome while trying to watch the action that I gave up after the first couple.

In the end, the kids liked it and the movie left the parents and uncles basically groaning and so we give this movie a 2.5/5. The 3D was great, the movie not so much, especially at the price of 3D films, but it’s an okay family time film if you have some cash and afternoon to blow with the young-ins.

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Fright Night

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Movie: Fright Night (2011)

Studio : Walt Disney/DreamWorks

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 106 min

Website : welcometofrightnight.com

Rating : R

Trailer :

Click here to view the embedded video.

Review:

Charlie Brewster (Anton Yelchin) has his suspicions that his next door neighbor Jerry (Colin Ferrell) is not quite what he seems. Sure, he’s charming and debonair, but his nightly activities are not exactly what you’d expect from a gentleman. And Charlie soon realizes that he may be a vampire, but no one will take the young lad seriously, not his mother (Toni Collette), his popular girlfriend (Imogen Poots). The only one is his best friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), who is actually the first to suspect something isn’t right. And so Charlie enlists the help of a Las Vegas magician and vampire expert (David Tennant) to rid the world of this creature of the night before it destroys the town and his family and friends.

I really enjoyed the cult classic 27 years ago and as I sat down in the theater, I grumbled something about ruining another memory for me, but I decided to keep an open mind. And I have to say that this remake did do the original 1983 film justice actually. It was not incredibly scary or gory film. If you are expecting Jason or Freddie type antics, then this isn’t it. But then neither was the original. They are both based more on suspense and the cat and mouse game played by Charlie and Jerry, but with a dose of hearty laughter and fun thrown in to keep the fear factor down to a minimum. Besides, being distributed by Disney, even though it’s a DreamWorks film, you knew it wouldn’t be too over the top.

Marti Noxon is a name you may recognize from another vampire project, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the series), where she worked with Josh Whedon, and in this film, you can see that that experience comes through in a script that is both scary and funny. In fact, I really did feel like I was watching an episode of Buffy, sans Sarah Michelle Gellar and the Scooby gang. But since I always liked that combination, I rather enjoyed it here.

Colin Farrell, IMO, did a much better job than Chris Sarandon did in the original. Sarandon played the part a bit too stuffy, while Farrell was able to bring a much more calm, much more subtle intensity to the character. Oddly enough, the role was originally supposed to go to Heath Ledger, who died before they could get started. And so Farrell got the part. It’s not the first time that Farrell has been part of the cast after the death of Ledger. The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus was Ledger’s last film and when he died in the midst of filming, the director had the idea to replace him with several different actors at different places in the movie such as Johnny Depp and Farrell.

Young Anton Yelchin and Imogen Poots did well at their roles, although neither really stood out that much. Christopher Mintz-Plasse does a good job of providing a lot of the comic relief in the movie as the nerdish friend, which he is excellent at portraying.

The 3D was frightful in some places, although I do think that you could see the movie fine in 2D and not be too incredibly disappointed at the results.

All in all, we really did like this new version and thus give it a 4.5/5. It’s a solid afternoon or evening of fun and a bit of fright that will truly entertain. Sure, we did like some of the original better, but this one has a lot to go for it on its own and is actually a worthwhile remake.

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30 Minutes or Less

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Movie: 30 Minutes or Less (2011)

Studio : Columbia Pictures

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 83 min

Website : 30minutesorless.com

Rating : R

Trailer :

Click here to view the embedded video.

Review:

Travis (Nick Swardson) and Dwayne (Danny McBride) have an idea. They want to kill Dwayne’s father, but murder is serious business and expensive too. So where can they get that kind of cash to handle it properly. From a bank of course, but they don’t want to do the job themselves. Instead, they hijack a down on his luck pizza delivery guy (Jesse Eisenberg) and to force him to do the crime, slap a bomb on him and give him ten hours before it explodes. If he returns the money, he’s good. If not, well.

It’s obvious that there is no longer any adults in comedy writing anymore, because what seems to fuel what passes as comedy in this day and age is jokes that were probably snickered at in a middle school bathroom. Sure, there are bound to be a few laughs. If you spend 83 minutes telling one joke after the other, one is bound to stick to the ribs. But a constant barrage of sex jokes or bodily function humor, like in McBride’s other “comedy” Your Highness, gets very old and a bit offensive, very quickly. I, for one, was glad that the movie wasn’t two hours long because there is only so much one can take. Although, a longer running time may have allowed the director to focus more on plot and time the jokes out to be more effective, which would have provided better balance.

Pacing is the biggest problem in this film, but it also suffers from another issue. Because the jokes were obviously top priority, it seems like the characterizations were not very important. Several of the cast seemed to completely change personalities during the course of the film. I’m not talking about the usual gradual attitude change as the person develops throughout the story, I’m talking about literally changing personalities as if the actor was suddenly playing a different character with the same name. This basically showed that the cast was more interested in a paycheck then keeping to their parts. Given the material, it’s hard to blame them I guess. Clearly this movie will probably be left off their resumes. I will say, however, that Aziz Anzari, who is making his movie debut, wasn’t bad and actually of all the cast, was probably the best in holding his character to one line, which stood out here.

Of all the juvenile comedies, this one is really at the top of list, which isn’t a good thing. It’s vulgar, flat and the laughs just fall by the wayside one by one because of the horrific pacing. We give this movie a 2.5/5. It has some funny moments because of the sheer number of attempts, but all in all, is just a contender for this year’s Razzies.

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Glee 3D

Rating: 3.8 out of 5 stars

Movie: Glee: The 3D Concert Movie (2011)

Studio : 20th Century Fox

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 100 min

Website : facebook.com

Rating : PG

Trailer :

Click here to view the embedded video.

Review:

The Fox sensation Glee had a summer tour in 2011 and producers filmed the concerts in 3D adding in clips of fans and the stars themselves in a concert/documentary about the hit show that tells the lives of a bunch of high school glee club members.

What can I say? If you enjoy Glee on a regular basis, then you will most likely love this, but then if you were a huge fan, you probably saw the live concert. But it’s full of amazing music and an energy that you would expect from a Broadway production, which is a good thing. The director did an excellent job to capture the high power and emotional songs sung wonderfully by the cast, showing they really can sing live and not just pre-recorded.

The 3D does enhance the experience quite a bit. You feel like you are actually watching the real concert and not just images on a flat screen. It’s probably the closest thing you can get to actually having been there during their tour. The process of bringing these concerts together in 3D has really come along nicely since Disney did it with Hannah Montana a few years ago.

I have to say there was one thing that really bugged me and that was the documentary elements that were sprinkled in. There are clips with fan comments and talking appearances by the cast about their experiences on tour, but were these necessary? Back in the old days, when concerts were taped to put on DVD or VHS even, this was the way it was generally done. But back then, the movies were really targeted at people watching at home. And no one on their small screens (even at 60”) with no 3D were fooled in the slightest that they were actually at a concert. The whole point of the 3D is to give you the impression that are really there and so having these clips thrown in really takes away from that “fantasy” that the movie is designed around. Perhaps they do that so people won’t wait until the film instead of seeing the live concert. Who knows?

Notably absent was Jane Lynch, whose scenes were deleted out of the film for some reason or another. Adults that enjoy the show find great humor in her character and I was sorry to see her omitted from the presentation. But beyond that, pretty much all of the singing cast were there including guest Gwyneth Paltrow.

Glee has not yet done well at the box office. This is probably because Glee appeals as much to an older audience who is likely to not be interested in the 3D or to pay extra to see it in 3D. After all, adults are usually much more money conscience about paying $20 for a film, versus $7. Its 3D only format also limited it to only those theaters so equipped, so you couldn’t just catch it at any theater. There will most likely be a 2D version released on DVD later on and people figure that they’ll catch it then. This and a lot of stiff competition from surprise hit The Help, the Smurfs and of course the boy who lived Harry Potter really served to be the demise of the film on the big screen. But on other hand, it didn’t cost that much to make, so they are bound to get their money back and then some.

All in all, if you like Glee as I said earlier, than you should see it. It’s fun, exciting with a touch of Broadway. If you don’t like that sort of thing, you will probably hate it. We give it a 3.8/5. It’s a great performance by the cast, but the documentary portion is distracting and its appeal as a whole limited.

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The Help

Rating: 4.9 out of 5 stars

Movie: The Help (2011)

Studio : Dreamworks SKG

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 137 min

Website : thehelpmovie.com

Rating : PG-13

Trailer :

Click here to view the embedded video.

Review:

On the brink of the civil rights movement in the south, a young college socialite named Skeeter (Emma Stone) asks Aibileen (Viola Davis), her friend’s African American maid, to share her life story after seeing her mistreated by the family. At first Aibileen is hesitant as the black culture frowned upon such association and speaking up at the time, but she bravely defies their advice and tells her tale. As her life unfolds before Skeeter, who transcribes it as she speaks, they become friends. And the revelations that are revealed by this woman and her outspoken friend (Octavia Spencer) ruffle the small Mississippi town’s perceptions on race and the treatment of humankind.

This period piece set in the South of the 60’s pulls no punches in describing what life was like back then, the racial divide between the white folk and the black folk. Even though slavery had been abolished one hundred years before, the prejudices are clearly defined in this film. But this is not a film that is meant to depress or look down on anyone, but to show the strength, the optimism, the power of these gracious women. Despite being mistreated, they were able to triumph against incredible odds and Aibileen’s story inspires not only the town, but the audience as well.

I can’t help but think back to Color Purple and how much of a groundbreaking film it was and this, I believe, this is the Color Purple of this generation. The talent of the African American women in defining just how it was back then, complete with the attitudes, the fears, the joys and the issues that abounded, is just spectacular. I could see Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer being up for an Academy Award for their portrayals. Bryce Dallas Howard proved her acting chops in playing Hilly, who starts out prejudice, but mellows as time goes on. Her conversion is handled quite well throughout. And Emma Stone is excellent as the socialite who wants to change perceptions as a writer and journalist.

It’s unfortunate that this film will be drowned out by other blockbusters that are out, but this is definitely a movie to see, especially if you like your films smart, subtle, dramatic, and even a bit lighthearted at times. It’s certainly a step away from the current fare that has ruled the box office as of late.

We give this movie a 4.9/5 and recommend it to everyone. All those in our group came out inspired and even a bit more educated, and that is really something. See it now and definitely look for it at this year’s Oscars.

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Final Destination 5

Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars

Movie: Final Destination 5 (2011)

Studio : New Line Cinema

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 105 min

Website : finaldestinationmovie.com

Rating : R

Trailer :

Click here to view the embedded video.

Review:

Death is back with a new twist as a bunch of strangers riding a bus escape the tragedy after one of their fellow passengers warns them to get off before the bridge the bus is on collapses. And as in the previous films, they are then targeted by the grim reaper one by one. But this time, there is a new rule. If they kill someone else, that person will take their place and they will no longer be on the list. But will they be able to take someone’s life to save their own?

I had my doubts about this film. After all, we’ve seen it all before over and over and this is the fifth time out. And given that the third and fourth were not very exciting, the hope for this one was that it at least didn’t suck too badly. But this one actually exceeded expectations to be one of the best in the series. It’s resurgence of the main element, which is the characters themselves, are what raises this to new heights.

One of the things missing in the last two was that I didn’t really care about who lived or who died. It was all the same to me. I didn’t get to know them and as a result, they wound up just becoming part of a mindless kill fest, despite how unique the scenarios might have been. That is not the case here. The characters are designed to be just like the audience, regular people that are now faced with an impossible decision, leaving me wondering what I would do in that situation. The excellent acting puts me in their shoes and when one dies, it’s almost like a part of myself died with them. That’s a pretty powerful feeling that creates a, pardon the pun, new dimension in the series.

It is also this twist that gives each death scene the possibility of turning out much differently then what you’d expect, giving it a very strong sense of suspense before each killing begins, which only serves to heighten the experience even more. You never know what is really going to happen and that will keep you glued to the story and at the edge of your seat.

Filmed in true 3D from the ground up, the effects are very scary and very real looking. Much better than they were in the previous edition. In fact, some effects were so real, I actually found myself ducking or moving as if the items were really coming out at me. And I’m pretty jaded by now on the whole 3D thing, but this one really portrays the process in its best, if not freakiest, light. And despite the darkness of the subject matter, things were very easy to see.

Nicholas D’Agosto and Emma Bell lead a relatively obscure cast, but that works in the movie’s favor because it gives each one more chance to be seen as a regular person and not a celebrity. If they had really pushed the top names, it would not have had half of the impact it does. All do a superb job portraying their individual characters as we said above, so it was excellent casting in our opinion.

Final Destination 5 is an awesome film and if you only see one horror movie this year, this is the one you should check out. But a word of warning. It is not for the squeamish. Along with improvements in 3D and characterization, it is also much sicker with the gory than the previous ones. One scene in particular, which I won’t get into as to spoil it, will most likely even shake the most unshakable. I give this movie a 4.6/5. It’s a bit more blood and guts than I really like in my horror movies, but the suspense and well thought out death scenarios, along with the added twist definitely give me reason to forgive that.

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Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars

Movie: Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Studio : 20th Century Fox

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 105 min

Website : apeswillrise.com

Rating : PG-13

Trailer :

Click here to view the embedded video.

In the prequel to Planet of the Apes, this film endeavors to reveal how man gave up it’s supremacy in the future to the intelligent apes that it created. In modern day San Francisco, Will Rodman (James Franco) is doing experiments on genetic engineering for the good of Alzheimer’s patients, which his father (John Lithgow) suffers from. But the serum he thinks is the answer has profound effects on the ape they test it on, making him as smart, if not smarter than humans, and able to speak. Enthused, he believes the same will happen in humans, but the genetic differences cause it to have a terrible effect on people, making them sick and die. Determined not to give up, he continues his work for years. But at one point, has to give up the creature who has become his confidante. The ape is taken to a primate reserve, where he uses his new found intelligence to train an army of his fellow apes, with the purpose of getting revenge for how animals and apes have been treated.

It’s only fair in this review to start with Caesar, the ape. When I heard he was voiced by Andy Serkis and was CGI, my heart sunk. How will they make a movie that hinges on this character with these two things going against them? Perhaps I’m being unfair to Serkis, but Gollum is one of my least favorite characters of all time and computer graphics are usually used for Smurfs and chipmunks than for heavy dramatic creatures. But all of my fears were belayed as I sat there watching this amazing creation by Weta Digital. They were able to portray every feeling in the most realistic manner possible. You couldn’t help but believe that this ape was completely real and how he interacted with his captor for lack of a better term was simply amazing. In fact, it made the live action actors in the old movies that wore masks seem downright stuffy. And Serkis was incredibly, using his voice to really put forth the necessary tones to make you really feel for him. I no longer doubt his ability.

James Franco was another reservation I had about this film. His recent movie choices haven’t been spectacular and after the disaster that was Your Highness, I couldn’t see him playing the other side of the duo, but he turns in a performance here which I think is Academy Award quality. The way he’s able to relate to Caesar and portray the emotional rollercoaster that the intelligent script requires works very well. I’d say that he really was a good choice in the end.

We haven’t seen too much of John Lithgow lately, but he was another one that should be considered for an Oscar. His tender, yet sad portrayal of someone suffering from Alzheimer’s really showed the horrors of the disease in its purest darkness. For those who have lived with the disease first hand, the recognition of his actions in the film really hit home.

Frieda Pinto, who emerges as the love interest over her shared caring for the research, but her presense doesn’t really do anything for the story. It’s almost as if studio execs said, “But it needs a woman.” She’s good at the part, it’s just the substory just seemed an unnecessary distraction.

Tom Felton (Draco Malfroy) who is in his first blockbuster since the Potter series, doesn’t stretch at all as the son of a scumbag (Brian Cox). He plays the character just as he did in his previous job. We hope to see him mature into other roles that don’t stereotype him later on.

The film really does have something for every taste, a masterpiece that comes together in just the right way to make it a favorite even among those that hated Planet of the Apes. The heart thumping action, the sensitive drama, the light hearted moments, and the terrific casting earn this film one of our highest scores, 4.8/5. Even though this is a prequel to the rebooted Planet of the Apes which wasn’t as hot, we certainly want to see more prequels that further explore the relationships between all these characters.

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The Change-Up

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Movie: The Change-Up (2011)

Studio : Universal

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 112 min

Website : thechangeupmovie.com

Rating : R

Trailer :

Click here to view the embedded video.

In this more mature version of Freaky Friday, two best friends from long ago pee in the same fountain when reunited. But it’s not just any old fountain. It’s a wishing fountain and they both make a wish that they had the other’s lives. Of course, it comes true and Dave (Jason Bateman) and Mitch (Ryan Reynolds) switch bodies. For Mitch, it’s a terrible deal. He has always been the irresponsible care free type who is only partially employed and loving his single life. And now he’s saddled with Bateman’s wife and three kids. For Dave, on the other hand, he gets to forego all of his responsibilities and try to enjoy life as a single man. The only problem is he hasn’t been single in a long time and the world outside is not what he remembered from his younger days. And so they both find out that the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fountain. They must then find a way to switch back and restore everything to normal before it’s too late.

This film is by the same people that did Hangover and so they tried to put that formula into the Freaky Friday storyline. This means that the film is full of sexual innuendos, gags involving poop, social bumbling and way out situations (including the main plot). It’s not for anyone who likes their comedy sophisticated or high brow. The feel of the movie is actually summed up in the first scene when Dave gets crapped on in his mouth by his infant son. Yeah, it’s like watching Jackass in a sitcom. When a movie starts out with a scene like that, you would think there was no way to go but up, but it doesn’t. Instead it lingers in the toilet bowl of comedy, floating and waiting to be flushed. The push to make it funny by shock makes it actually difficult to watch at times. There were some funny moments, but there were too many questionable scenes, some a bit sickening, that took away from those.

It’s a shame too. Because actually both Jason Bateman (Arrested Development), who usually plays the straight down to earth guy, and Ryan Reynolds (Van Wilder), who often plays the wild arrogant womanizer, were actually excellent at mimicking the other’s persona. They had the mannerisms down pat and were able to do it believably. But even with that talent, they couldn’t bring it out of the mold that the script was in, but I give them points for trying.

Rounding out the cast is Olivia Wilde, who is also in Cowboys & Aliens. She is once again basically wasted as eye-candy. Now I’ll admit she’s incredibly beautiful, but they really do need to give her some substance to allow her to express her acting better. Leslie Mann is a highlight of the film as Dave’s wife and gets a good deal of the laughs. And Alan Arkin plays Mitch’s dad in his usual film persona, the tough and disappointed father figure.

All in all, if you liked Hangover, you’ll probably like this one. Or maybe not. We did like Hangover and we still found this one too intense at points. If a constant barrage of material designed to be shockingly offensive is not your cup of tea, then you should avoid this one like the plague. Since our group fell more into the latter, we are only going to give this 3.5/5 stars. It’s funny at times, but goes too far in trying to get to the laughs.

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Life In A Day

Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars

Movie: Life In A Day (2011)

Studio : National Geographic

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 90 min

Website : Facebook

Rating : PG-13

Trailer :

Click here to view the embedded video.

Imagine what life is like in one day. That is what this film does through the submissions of people from around the world, all on June 24th, 2010. Produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Kevin McDonald, this project, in cooperation with YouTube and National Geographic sets out to document 24 hours on our shining blue planet. 80,000 submissions were sent in from all areas of the globe. They even gave cameras to people who didn’t even have such technologies so that they could be included in this tribute. And in the end, they looked at 4,500 hours of video and selected 350 portions of those for just over 90 minutes of on screen film. It was quite a feat just narrowing it down.

So what did they narrow it down too? Well, basically it’s a documentary of what we in the human race go through each day. In some cases, it’s awesome. In other cases, it’s boring. In still others, it’s tragic and sad. National Geographic has never been afraid to show the darker side of humanity and this film does not shy away from what might be disturbing to some. The clips are rapid fire so that if one is not your cup of tea there will be another one along in a moment. And that’s the beauty of this experiment turned into a major film. That everyone can find their own stories, even if they aren’t one of the ones in the clips, from what is there. There is something for every person to relate to on some level. And the sheer compassion and work that went into this is surely going to be inspirational and uplifting to those who experience it.

Being citizens of the world and geeks that love to watch YouTube, we really loved this film and strongly hope that it will be released in a wider market. It seems almost a shame that its release is limited to select cities, although we certainly hope that once it reaches DVD and Netflix that more people will get to see it. We realize it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but we think that people should experience it. If for nothing else, than to remind ourselves that we are on a planet filled with a diverse set of people and not everyone lives the same way as others. That there is glory in the world and tragedy as well. That the smallest sacrifice and the biggest dreams can share this place we call Earth. At the risk of sounding like a movie promo, mixed with propaganda, it is worth the 90 minutes.

In an age where reality TV rules and YouTube viewership is commonplace, this movie is custom made to show people as they really are, even if it’s only for a day. Check out Life in a Day, hopefully playing in a theater near you. We think you’ll be glad you did. And thus, we give this movie 4.7/5 as a rating…

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Smurfs

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Movie: Smurfs (2011)

Studio : Sony Pictures

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 86 min

Website : Smurf Happens

Rating : PG

Trailer :

Click here to view the embedded video.

The little blue guys (and a girl) with the white beanies are back in this “Enchanted” mixed with “Alvin and the Chipmunks”. The Smurfs are sent through a magical portal while trying to escape from Gargamel (Hank Azaria) and wind up in the real world, New York City to be exact, where they are completely lost, but know one thing. Their enemy and his cat Azrael are hot on their trail. Fortunately, they wind up in a box belonging to Patrick (Neil Patrick Harris) and his wife (Jayma Mays). Now they must get home before the blue moon when they can open a portal back to their world, a portal that Gargamel realizes comes from their blue magic.

This movie is strictly for kids. For parents, these aren’t your childhood Smurfs that you remember fondly. In the cartoon so long ago, 30 years, they all lived in a nice Utopian society that helped each other out and generally loved eachother. The movie does have a couple semi-touching moments and tries to pay a bit of respect to original creator Peyo, but it fails badly. What the movie is mostly is sight gags like Smurfs falling in toilets and juvenile humor that is funny for a few minutes, but not long enough to keep adults from wanting to head for the door. Fortunately, the time is relatively short, thus cutting the pain down to a manageable 81 minutes without the credits.

The placing of the blue critters in the real world is very, very good, just like it was in Alvin and the Chipmunks. They are believable as being in this world, and Gargamel’s cat is one of the best crossbreed animations we’ve seen. The 3D also plays well with objects coming at you and with the medium in mind when they conceived and filmed it.

As to the acting, about as good as you would see in a Saturday morning cartoon, kind of generic performances that range from horrible to not that bad, but not on the par of their other acting work. Harris, aka Barney from How I Met Your Mother, is terribly wasted in this, while Jayna Mays (Heroes and Glee) just plays it the best she can, but they gave both very little to work with. These two obviously just did it for the kids they have or the kids they plan to have. Hank Azaria is the only one who almost stands out as Gargamel. Seems he actually studied the mannerisms of the cartoon character and was able to create a reasonable facsimile. Of course, this is the guy on Simpsons who is the man of many voices and is used to cartoon work.

In the end, kids will love it. My six year old niece thought it was hilarious. And why not? The smurfs are cute, blue and have all the energy of a two year old, but parents will be groaning at the end. Maybe sending the kid to the movies with a babysitter, rather than going yourself is the best idea on this one. We only give it a 2.5/5 because we’ve seen kid’s movies done much better with Disney, Pixar and others.

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Crazy, Stupid, Love

Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars

Movie: Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011)

Studio : Warner Brothers

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 118 min

Website : Crazy, Stupid, Love

Rating : PG13

Trailer :

Click here to view the embedded video.

Seen as the perfect couple, Cal (Steve Carell) is shocked when his wife Emily (Julianne Moore) wants a divorce. Now he must face life as a single guy with a 13 year old son Robbie (Jonah Bobo). Cal doesn’t take the separation very well. He winds up in a bar where he meets professional bachelor Jacob (Ryan Gosling). Feeling pity for the older sap, Jacob takes him under his wing which he finds out is a bigger task than he expected. After all, Cal hasn’t dated in years, leaving his style, his pickup lines and his drinks even pretty dated. Meanwhile back at home, his son is crushing on his 17 year old babysitter, who has a crush on Cal to make matters even more complicated. Emily, the wife, is being hit up by David (Kevin Bacon) and Jacob, who is supposed to be training Cal might need some help of his own when he meets Hannah (Emma Stone).

The whole thing is like a soap opera with a lot of characters and a lot of different couple’s storylines. And from the description above, you would think the movie is just too crowded, but it’s not actually. The writer Dan Fogleman (Disney-Pixar’s Cars and Fred Claus) and directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (both for I Love You Phillip Morris) have managed to pace their stories in such a way that it never seems to be too much. They are really able to transition between couples with little effort making it all so seamless and enjoyable to boot.

And as I’ve said before, sometimes romantic comedies shouldn’t be called comedies as they often wind up being too dramatic and sappy to be funny. And this movie starts out in a very dark place when Cal gets dumped and has to work through the pain. But even though he’s in a lot of hurt, the movie doesn’t sink so far as to turn off the audience. In fact, it gives him a sympathy that Carell is able to extract from the audience with his amazing portrayal in the fast paced film. And so when he begins his rise back to a force to be reckoned with, we are right there cheering him on. And unlike most romantic comedies, this one actually stays true to its concept. It is a comedy, hilarious and a feel good film that shows the genre in the best possible way.

While Carell really shows off his acting ability with both deep drama and comic genius, Ryan Gosling is just okay as Jacob. He plays the part of the stud well enough, but there is nothing really spectacular. Moore and Stone are equally as average in the story. But in all fairness to them, someone has to be the lesser of the cast in a script that has such wonderfully memorable characters such as Marisa Tomei as one of Cal’s transition women. She is perfect as the over the top, crazed, wild child, which she portrays so well. And Kevin Bacon gets points for the cunning charm that he puts into Emily’s love interest. Even the son, who pines over what he can’t have, is played with such honestly by Jonah Bobo, that maybe it’s hard to see them through the glare.

This movie is not Hangover funny, but it’s a touching and at a lot of times, hilarious look at the dating scene and we really loved it, guy and girl alike. It looks like Steve Carell’s decision to leave NBC’s Office and return to movies was a good idea. We give this movie a 4.7/5. We really enjoyed it and while it may not be cinematic history, it’s a great time and we left the theater a happy bunch and that in itself is worth the ticket price.

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