Now You See Me Review

I'll be one step ahead of you---Isla Fisher, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco as a group of magicians who pull off a mind bending heist in Now You See Me 

                                               Now You See Me is an incredibly fun film that I will most likely never want to see again. About 99% of the fun is figuring out the mystery behind the whole thing so once the mystery aspect is revealed...I can guarantee that you won't want to go for a second time. That is, unless you forgot everything from this film. The film is not as complex as Christopher Nolan's The Prestige but like that masterpiece...it engages the audience with the question of what are these magicians really up to? The film is directed by Louis Leterrier who has previously done four impressive films (The Transporter, Unleashed, The Transporter 2 and The Incredible Hulk.) However, the film he made before this was the unbearable remake of Clash Of The Titans. Here---Leterrier proves that his 2010 pile of garbage disguised as a remake was just a small misstep. Give the man a break---even the best directors make a bad film every once in a while. Now You See Me is another impressive film for Leterrier to add to his resume.

                                                The film follows four street magicians (Isla Fisher, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco) who soon join forces to become a superior team of professional magicians. Seeing as one's an escape artist, one can do any card trick one can think of, one's a mentalist and one's a common thief....they have the powers to make it work and they use those powers. One night at a Las Vegas show....they pull off a bank heist that confuses every audience member. This isn't just any bank heist...they transport a man from Las Vegas, Nevada to Paris, France for crying out loud. Oh yeah...and they don't keep a penny for themselves. This trick not only confuses two FBI agents (Mark Ruffalo and Melanie Laurent) who are hot on their tail but the man who brought them together (Michael Caine.) The only person this trick doesn't seem to confuse is an ex-magician turned expert magic trick cracker (Morgan Freeman.)

                                                  The question now becomes why these four magicians did this heist in the first place. Are they setting up for an even bigger trick? Are they Robin Hood and his merry men in disguise? Or are they just ordinary thieves? This question keeps the audience invested throughout the entire film. If it were just a predictable reason as to why they are doing what they are doing...the film would be dull as watching paint dry. The film needed the mystery in order to be successful.

                                                    That's not to say there's not some other bright spots in the film. The film is expertly performed by a very talented cast. Fisher, Eisenberg, Harrelson and Franco work well together. Caine and Freeman show just how experienced they can be. Laurent continues to show what a good actress she is. The surprise standout here is Ruffalo. He's been good in many other films in the past but this is the first time he's truly impressed me. He gives significantly more depth to his character than is deserved and leaves us wondering why Ruffalo isn't getting more work nowadays. Also...there are some really cool action scenes. They're shot in somewhat shaky cam form but they're well shot in and of themselves. 

                                                    The film goes slightly wrong in a few spots. The end keeps throwing on twist on top of twist to the point where it becomes pretentious. That's only for the last few minutes, however. Some of the clues leading up to the big mystery aren't quite subtle enough. However, it would still take a lot of hard, deep thinking in order to figure out the whole reveal by these clues alone. That's about all I can say about it that is really considered a flaw.

                                                   Now You See Me is a very, very, very good film. I can't quite say it's great but it's so much fun that it doesn't need to be great. Sure---the film goes wrong and perhaps gets a bit full of itself here and there but these are very insignificant flaws for a film I enjoyed so much. I recommend seeing it with a big crowd and without much knowledge of the film going in. If you do both of these things...you too will have a blast.

(4 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated PG-13 for language, some action and sexual content) 

Unfinished Song Review

Musical cares---Vanessa Redgrave as a passionate musician who has her husband (Terence Stamp) take her to singing lessons in Unfinished Song
                                                         Unfinished Song is one of those films that had a lot of potential but never quite delivered on said potential enough. It's the type of film that was written to manipulate the audience. It forces so much down the audience's throats to the point where one may feel the urge to yell "Stop it!" at the screen. The film, however, also does some good with its manipulation. In the last 5-10 minutes....the film defies the audience to have one member who is dry eyed. Judging by my audience....this might be an impossible task. Up to that point, though, the film mainly just wallows in its own blandness.

                                                          The film follows Arthur (Terence Stamp) and his wife Marion (Vanessa Redgrave.) Arthur is a miserable old kook who loves his wife dearly but wants to be left alone by everyone else. One day---Marion tells Arthur that he has to take her to singing lessons for her choir. Arthur's skeptical to say the least and it might even be the last thing in the world he wants to do. However, seeing as Marion's not doing well---Arthur reluctantly agrees. Now---before I go on with the plot summary---some of you may not know what happens next so if you don't please skip to the next paragraph. It's only when Marion dies that Arthur really becomes involved in her choir. He develops a friendship with young Elizabeth (Gemma Arterton)---the unlucky in love gal who runs the choir and tries to find a way to make everything up to his estranged son (Christopher Eccleston.)

                                                           Perhaps I'm being too much like Arthur here but the film---even with is 90 minute run time is quite slow. I sat there watching the end credits roll thinking I had just watched a two hour film. It was then that I looked at my watch and realized I had only been in the theater for an hour and a half. This is a major flaw of the film. The film keeps adding new stuff to the plot that isn't really needed except to pad the length. Also---writer-director Paul Andrew Williams doesn't really seem comfortable with the material. His last three feature length films were two crime dramas/thrillers (London To Brighton, Cherry Tree Lane) and a horror-comedy (The Cottage.) It showed that Williams was not used to writing a screenplay about a geriatric choir singing songs about sex or about a man who must join said choir under his wife's request.

                                                          The performances, however, are all fantastic. Stamp shows the kind of incredible charisma that has let him work in the film industry for so many years. Redgrave gives the character of Marion a genuine feel that makes it so that the audience has all the more sympathy for her. Arterton is a sweet and natural presence who gives the character of Elizabeth just the spunk she needs. Also---the film is very touching throughout. As the audience gets to see Arthur grow more and more as a person---we start to see why he's so grumpy. Arthur is one of those men who's been through a lot and that's why we like him so much despite his grouchiness. And as I mentioned before...don't even get me started on the last 10 minutes.

                                                           It may not be a masterpiece but Unfinished Song is miles and miles above similar films such as last year's The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Quartet. The difference between those films and this one is that Unfinished Song doesn't use the seniors as a gateway to laughs. It doesn't have them talk dirty or be typical wacky old folks. It treats them with genuine respect and to that I say congratulations, Unfinished Song...you have my vote.
(3 and 1/2 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated PG-13 for some sexual references and rude gestures)

Monsters University Review

Scared you!---Sullivan (John Goodman) and Mike (Billy Crystal) must join forces to get into the Scare Program in Monsters University
                                                Monsters University is the perfect excuse to distract your kids for a few hours by taking them to it. However, you might want to just go into the theater for This Is The End. Have no fear---your kids are being distracted by the bright colors and cliched story that may have them in its grasp because they're too young to understand just how many times this idea has been done.

                                                 The film follows Sullivan (John Goodman) and Mike (Billy Crystal.) They both attended college at the prestigious MU and meet in a class taught by Professor Knight (Alfred Molina.) They are complete opposites and hate each other because of the fact. Sullivan scares by being physically present and Mike scares by using the tactics listed in his MU textbook. When an incident almost gets both of them expelled...they must join forces to play in The Scare Games and prove their worthiness to Dean Hardscrabble (Helen Mirren.) However, they must compete against bigger, better scares. If this all sounds familiar...you may have went from the theater playing The Internship to the theater playing this. However, in The Internship...the idea was done well. Here...it's just so humdrum.
                                                         

                                                   It's sad, actually that a film with such potential could fail so badly. It's not funny, it's not clever and it just keeps going on and on. Never have I been so excited for a film and then just wanted to end so badly. The film will no doubt please kids and maybe even some parents who are happy enough that it means they won't have to pay 100 dollars for a babysitter. However, as a single man with no kids....I could never get into it. The same with mostly be said for all people like myself.

                                                 The film is not horrible. It does have some nice touches although none of them come as a surprise at all. The film wobbles on to its very obvious conclusion and the bright colors are just rehashed from Monsters, Inc. Perhaps kids who aren't old enough to have seen Monsters, Inc in 2D when it first came out will enjoy this because it will be a new experience for them. For everyone else---it's just the same old song and dance told the same way. However, this time...the dance has no heart, no soul and no rhythm.
(1 and 1/2 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated G)

The Heat Review

They're on fire----Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy as a mismatched pair of female cops who must stop a drug kingpin in The Heat
                                                 Generally speaking---I really do hate Sandra Bullock. I don't think she even came close to deserving the Oscar for The Blind Side and she always manages to rub me the wrong way. Melissa McCarthy's not too high on my list of favorites, either. Don't get me wrong---I think McCarthy can be hilarious. It's just that she's not hilarious like she should be a lot of the time and she's incredibly overrated in my opinion. Also...am I really the only one who thought the fact that she got nominated for Bridesmaids was ludicrous? I mean---I liked her performance but an Oscar nomination? Get real. However, The Heat proves that you can put two people I don't particularly like in a film together and I may even find both of them and the movie to be something pretty fantastic. This one of those times. Re teaming McCarthy with Bridesmaids director Paul Fieg and featuring a hilarious script by first time screenwriter Katie Dippold....this is a comedy in which I rarely stopped laughing during its whole two hours. This might be the second year in a row that the funniest film of the summer is a mismatched buddy cop comedy. However, last year's 21 Jump Street featured actors I thoroughly enjoy. Here....the two cops are played by one actress I almost never enjoy and one I enjoy only on occasion.

                                                  The film follows FBI agent Sarah Ashburn (Bullock) who always manages to get the bad guys but doesn't work well with any other agents. She constantly insults them and bosses them around and thinks she's always going to be the best. Her boss (Demian Bichir) sends her to Boston to stop a drug kingpin. When she first gets to Boston...she angers Detective Shannon Mullins (McCarthy.) Little does Ashburn know that she'll soon need Mullins' help to crack the case.

                                                   The thing that consistently made me laugh was McCarthy's character. The coupling is funny enough as is. Ashburn is a squeaky clean agent who just wants to get in, do the job correctly and get out. Mullins is an easily triggered, foul mouthed agent who doesn't care about doing the job correctly as long as she gets to make someone's life miserable. However, McCarthy makes Mullins into what could soon become a classic character. The insults she throws at people as well as just how little it takes to get her mad is hysterical. The first scene we see her in she's ruining a guy's life despite the fact that she doesn't know him. This was a dangerous move for the film to make because it could have made us hate Mullins throughout but McCarthy pulls it off so well. Bullock is also pretty great here. As the complete opposite of Mullins, Bullock plays off McCarthy fantastically. She makes us truly believe that Ashburn will never get out of her straight laced life but also makes us think that she may have a wild side after all.

                                                  The film also features a surprisingly touching subplot about Mullins' family and her imprisoned brother (Michael Rapaport.) Also...another similarity to 21 Jump Street besides the fact that it's tons of fun is that it works incredibly well as a straight cop film. You get more and more intrigued with whether or not these two cops will find the main drug kingpin as they dig further and further into the case. This is the type of plot that, although in a comedy setting, can very easily be taken seriously.

                                                   There's no other way to put it----The Heat is the most fun I've had at the movies so far this summer. Sure---This Is The End may be more inventive and Furious 6 may be more action packed but The Heat surprised the most and that doesn't count for nothing.
(4 and 1/2 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated R for pervasive language, strong crude content and some violence)

What Maisie Knew Review

Be cool to your step dads---Onata Aprile and Alexander Skarsgard as a girl with recently divorced parents and her step dad in What Maisie Knew
                                                    What Maisie Knew is an undeniably uncomfortable film to sit through. Whether you have had to be a part of your parents' divorce or not...this is a film that will hit you where it hurts. As someone whose parents got divorced when I was just 7....it especially spoke to me. Perhaps this is why I am putting my foot down and saying this is an excellent film. This is not without reservations, however, as one of the main characters in this film is perhaps one of the meanest characters in the history of Hollywood. I'll get to that in a second.

                                                       The film stars Onata Aprile as Maisie...a little girl whose parents, Susanna (Julianne Moore) and Beale (Steve Coogan) are going through a very rough divorce. The first half of the film shows how they use Maisie against one another in order to make the other look bad. The second half of the film more focuses on Maisie's new found relationship with Susanna's new husband, Lincoln (Alexander Skarsgard) and her on going relationship with Beale's new wife, Margo (Joanna Vanderham.)

                                                         The character I'm referring to as being so mean and I forget to mention, so unpleasant is Susanna. She doesn't even try to be a good mother and we can see from the second the film opens that Maisie shouldn't be in her care. This is not to say Moore is bad in the film. On the contrary, she makes the character so unlikable to the point where we want to go inside the screen and tell her off. This is an extremely impressive feat for any actor. Coogan is good as the dad who's always away on business. Vanderham is good---showing real emotion as she discovers her life isn't as great as she expected it might have been.

                                                          However, Aprile and Skarsgard are the real standouts here. Completely underplaying her role and yet never giving off a false note...Aprile shows extreme emotion in the character of Maisie. She maintains our sympathy and a rooting interest as we see this little girl being used as a pawn in the divorce. Aprile also knows how to act with her eyes. This is a much harder thing to do than one might think. When you look deep into her eyes...you see a girl who is hurt and broken inside. Skarsgard also makes us root for his character...even at his worst. Lincoln is made into such a nice guy by the actor's performance that he gives us no reason not to like him. The film also shares the wealth so to speak. It gives the audience a sense of what a messy divorce is like even if they haven't directly experienced one. Walking out of the theater...I can safely say that everyone will now feel as if they have been in these people's lives directly.

                                                             The film is based on an 18th century novel by Henry James but somehow this version seems most relevant today. The screenplay by first timer Nancy Doyne and second timer Carroll Cartwright is filled with tons of sharp dialogue. Also...the direction by Scott McGehee and David Siegel (who previously did two other solid films---The Deep End and Bee Season) is beautiful and authentic. If for nothing else...see What Maisie Knew for the performances.
(4 and 1/2 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated R for some language)

Furious 6 Review

Fast cars, good times---Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson as a professional car racer and a cop who offers him a deal in Furious 6
                                            Furious 6 is the latest and dare I say---the best in the long running The Fast And The Furious franchise. It's an action film that's fun. In fact, it's fun almost to a fault but never quite gets to that point. It's the perfect mix of action and surprisingly hilarious comedy and after the 130 minutes are up...I only wished I could have watched it for 30 minutes longer. Sure---none of the film is believable at all but you have to let it slide or you won't know what fun you're missing while you're nitpicking too much.

                                             The film stars Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto...the street car racer we all know and love. Officer Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) offers him and his crew full pardons from jail if they help stop a bigger threat. That threat is car expert and criminal mastermind Shaw (Luke Evans.) Meanwhile, Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) just had a baby with wife Mia (Jordana Brewster) and must rejoin the crew both out of principal and to get his pardon.

                                              Sure...this isn't the most amazing film you'll ever see. It's ridiculous and unbelievable and mostly predictable despite a few clever twists. However, the action is fantastic. For Christ sake...they take on both a tank and airplane. Unlike most action films nowadays...the action scenes are shot so that you can tell exactly what's going on. This is a huge relief from the usual shaky cam. Also...the dialogue is hilarious. Johnson has many great lines as the sardonic Hobbs and the chemistry between the whole crew is incredibly palpable now as it should be. Also...Gina Carano plays Hobbs' new partner and while she's no great actress...she is terrific eye candy and a great, athletic action star.

                                                Like I said....Furious 6 could be torn to shreds for its ridiculous nature, general predictability and lack of any real substance. However, the film is so much damn fun that these flaws never seem to matter. If you haven't enjoyed any of the last five....you won't enjoy this one. If you've enjoyed even one of the last five...there's a 99% chance of you liking this one. If you're a virgin to this series...this will be a good one to see because it's the best of them yet. In other words...unless you hate this whole series of films...there's almost no way you won't enjoy this.
(4 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action and mayhem throughout, some sexuality and language)

The East Review

Still no direction---Brit Marling and Shiloh Fernandez as a reporter and a part of  her newest topic in The East

                   The East is like one of those thrillers you would watch at 2 AM if you couldn't fall asleep and there was nothing else on. It is not a film so much as a test for just how much boredom one can take before walking out of the theater. I myself passed the test...staying in the theater for the whole two hours...a decision I thoroughly regret now.

                    The film stars the usually reliable Brit Marling (who also co-wrote the film with director Zal Batmanglij) as Sarah...a reporter who has been asked to take on a new topic of interest. That topic is an environmental activist group called The East. They kill people who have done bad things to the environment such as poison drinking water, dump stuff in lakes and rivers, ETC. This group is led by Benji (Alexander Skarsgard) and Izzy (Ellen Page.) Sarah is brought in by Luca (Shiloh Fernandez) and soon starts investigating this strange cult. The only problem is that they know when people are spying on them and lying to their faces and they will do it right back.

                      The talented cast including Patricia Clarkson as Sarah's boss can't seem to rise beyond the level of amateurish. These are all very good actors but the script gives them absolutely nothing to work with. In fact---the whole idea behind the film is just an environmentally themed version of Marling and Batmanglij's last film---the excellent Sound Of My Voice in which two investigative journalists join a cult. Marling is a terrific actress and writer but she can't just keep making the same film over and over. Skarsgaard is so good in another film out right now---What Maisie Knew that there's no reason to see him in this garbage.

                       The film is terrible throughout but really falls apart at the end as The East tries to give us messages about religion, trust, friendship and the environment. The film also flies completely off the handle every time it tries to build up some suspense with a "what's going to happen next" moment. It just becomes laughable as those moments become more and more predictable.

                         I urge you not to see The East. There's another terrific thriller out with Brit Marling called The Company You Keep. If it's playing near you....go catch that one. If it's not...it would still be very smart to avoid the melodrama disguised as a thriller that is The East.
(1/2 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated PG-13 for thematic elements, violence, some disturbing images, sexual content and partial nudity)

World War Z Review

World Bore Z's---Brad Pitt as a man who comes out of retirement to fight off a zombie invasion in World War Z
                             World War Z was one of those films that couldn't seem to get off the cutting room floor due to so many production problems. Some of this is due to the fact, probably, that as with Life Of Pi or Atlas Shrugged Parts 1 and 2...the film is based on a novel that the masses deemed impossible to film. If I had to say which one of these four films most proves that the masses were right...I would have to say World War Z is it. It's based on a novel by Mel Brooks' son, Max. It's directed by Marc Forster who has done many excellent films in his day (Stranger Than Fiction, Monster's Ball, The Kite Runner) and some not so excellent films (Stay, Quantam Of Solace.) You can chalk his latest up to probably his worst. Also...being that it's based on what I've heard is a very funny novel from an author who's the son of one of the funniest men to ever live....I did not expect the film to be so unnecessarily grim and so tedious. It's a zombie film for crying out loud...have a little humor.

                           The film stars Brad Pitt as Gerry Lane...a retired United Nations Employee who must come back into action when a zombie invasion strikes. This means leaving his wife (Mireille Enos) and kids (Sterling Jerins and Abagail Hargrove) behind. There's really not much else to the plot that I can't tell you about without giving something away. This is not because the film is surprising. On the contrary, it's because if I even say what the plots are...the conclusions will be so painfully obvious to everyone who reads this review.

                           I will admit...Pitt is excellent. He gives the kind of performance that would have fit perfectly in a stronger, more fun film. He makes the character of Gerry someone to root for even though the whole time we know exactly what his fate will be, The rest of the cast which includes Daniella Kertesz as a woman Gerry meets and ultimately teams up with and Fana Mokoena as the man who brings Gerry back to work try their best but end up failing miserably. I can't even blame the actors. These are all such boring characters that Pitt was the only one with enough experience to bring his to life. The zombies are interesting in the way they move but that ends up being neither visually stunning nor amounting to anything significant.

                          The film was written by two men. One is Joe Carnahan's brothers, Matthew Michael Carnahan. Joe is infamous in my book for making his films such as Smokin Aces and The Grey way too serious. It shows that Matthew's headed in the same direction. The last three films he wrote were three very serious films---State Of Play, The Kingdom and Lions For Lambs. I personally liked the first two. The third I didn't like at all. I think the Carnahan brothers show talent in a lot of their films---they just have to stop being so serious. In this case---Michael did not do that. The other writer on the film is Joss Whedon's partner, Drew Goddard. Goddard is a major talent which makes me question why on earth he decided to co-wrote such a boring, depressing film.

                           Enough about the writers, though. The point I'm trying to make is that at almost two hours long...the film drags on and on and on up until its inevitable and predictable conclusion Pitt hands in a strong performance but there's only so much one person can do to save a film. World War Z will only keep you awake with its loudness.
(1 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated PG-13 for intense frightening zombie sequences, violence and disturbing images)

The Purge Review

Don't die on me---Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey and Max Burkholder must survive the night in The Purge
                                         The Purge is a horror film with a cool premise that fails to execute said premise very well. It feels like a very, very, very trashy and tacky version of the excellent Straw Dogs films. In other words...it's a typical home invasion film that stole 90 minutes of my life. It's so boring and tedious that after a while---you check your watch and realize you're only 20 minutes into the film. Sure...there's a lot of action in the film but it's not suspenseful and it's certainly not well done.

                                          The premise is simple but does *try to* provoke the question of "what if this premise were real?" It goes like this---one night a week for 12 hours, all crime is legal. This means anyone can kill anyone they want and do anything else they want. Mainly, though, the night is focused on killing. While most people take it as a time to get their anger out...an upper class family (Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey, Max Burkholder and Adelaide Kane) just stay sealed up in their house with high tech security backing them up. However, on this particular purge...the son lets in a man (Edwin Hodge) who is bleeding profusely. It turns out that this man is the target of someone else's purge. This someone else is a group of creepy, masked strangers led by an unmasked man (Rhys Wakefield) and they want him back.

                                          As I said---the film did have a good amount of action but that never amounted to anything. With such a potentially realistic premise...you would think the film would take a lot of chances. On the contrary, just like the family...it stays locked up because it doesn't feel the need to take any chances. We're supposed to root for this family the entire time but how can we when they're such morons? They do everything wrong and are asking to get killed. Also...the masks are a cool premise at first but then become tiresome as the film relies too heavily on the creepiness of said masks.

                                          The overall vibe of the film is weird and not in a good way. It's such an icky film that I actually had to take a shower when I got home. I don't mind gruesome violence if there's something to it such as in Straw Dogs. Here, however...there's no real reason to have people's head smashed in glass, people stabbed constantly, ETC. The acting is actually decent. Hawke and Headey both manage to make their fear realistic. Burkholder and Kane as the children do the same. Hodge makes it convincing that he just wants out and Wakefield is the ideal mix of creepy and unpredictable as the head villain. However, The Purge is too strange and clueless for its own good and does not make a convincing argument that purges are a thing of the future.
(1 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated R for strong disturbing violence and some language)

Man Of Steel Review

  Not so super----Henry Cavill as Superman before he became Clark Kent in the origin film Man Of Steel
                               Man Of Steel is yet another film in a long line of superhero epics that relies heavily on CGI and special effects. The problem here is that this is also the first very, very boring CGI/FX-laden superhero production. I don't know if it's because I'm so familiar with this kind of film by now or because I enjoyed all four (you read that right---all four) Christopher Reeve Superman films but Man Of Steel completely turned me off with its humdrum narrative and tedious action.

                              The film follows Kal-El (Henry Cavill) before he becomes Clark Kent and *for the most part* before he becomes Superman. His father, Jor-El (Russell Crowe) sent him away from Krypton as a baby before it blew up. There are flashbacks of Kal-El and his human parents (Kevin Costner and Diane Lane) and their relationship with the mysterious boy. Lois Lane (Amy Adams) is an intrinsically intrigued by the mysterious man and General Zod (Michael Shannon) is the "monster" trying to make Earth into Krypton.

                               The acting is great by some and terrible by others. The problem here is that the worst acting comes from Cavill who seems to not even be able to keep a straight face most of the time. Crowe is equally bad because he seems to be teasing the audience by hamming it up completely. Costner and Lane are excellent and the scenes involving them are interesting and touching up to a point. Adams is quite good....effectively underplaying her role. Shannon does the contrary and makes an effective crazy villain. However, what General Zod is doing is not that villainous. Zod is just trying to get his planet back to normal and while he is using Earth as a foreground...Superman is destroying Krypton by not letting him do so. So why is the audience supposed to hate Zod when Superman is doing the same thing as he is doing except vice versa?

                             The first half of the film is littered with laughable dialogue but then the second half features way too many people crashing through buildings, car windows, ETC. In other words... I really wanted the first half to be over until I saw what the second half had in store. The film is also unnecessarily loud. It's not that I have a problem with loud films. It's just that Man Of Steel relies too much on breaking the eardrums when it should be focusing on having good acting, a good story, adequate direction, ETC. I can't recommend the film at all. It's too boring and slow and cliche to make me anticipate the inevitable sequel.
(2 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence, action and destruction and for some language)

                             

This Is The End Review

Party poopers---Danny McBride, Seth Rogen and James Franco get caught up in an apocalypse in This Is The End
                              Renowned Shakespearean stage actor Edmund Kean died in 1833 and his last words were "Dying is easy. Comedy is hard." This has since become a very famous quote. Perhaps it has become so popular because it's a very true statement (well...at least the second part.) Comedy seems incredibly difficult to actually make funny nowadays. 21 Jump Street did it brilliantly. Scary Movie 5, A Haunted House and The Hangover Part III all failed miserably. Now we have This Is The End...a comedy about an apocalyptic even that may just be the end of the world. It's written and directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg...who also made the incredible Superbad and primarily features six actors playing themselves stuck in a house together. There are many cameos spread throughout but mostly---it's just six. Those six are Seth Rogen,. Jay Baruchel, Craig Robinson, Danny McBride, James Franco and Jonah Hill. Due to the fact that all of these talented people know one another....this film is not only hilarious but real and gun to my head...mostly improvised.

                               The film features these six actors stuck in Franco's house after an apocalypse strikes. While stuck inside the house....these six men must keep their egos and attitudes in check as they wait to be rescued. My favorite jokes revolve around the fact that Baruchel is lesser known than any of the others and how Hill tries to be nice to him due to this fact. Each of these six men get a lot of hilarious moments of their own, however. The best scene in the film revolves around McBride, Franco and a magazine and that's all I am going to say.

                                Even though all of these men are hilarious in their own right throughout...McBride steals the show. He is such an exaggerated version of how he's supposed to be in real life and so amazingly over the top that whenever he's on screen...the focus is on him and him alone.

                                This is also the most audacious and innovative comedy you are likely to see this or any other year. Never have I seen a film that is so drop dead funny and yet so smart and original since I saw Anchorman in 2004. Where else are you going to see a film where you can see something as funny as Kevin Hart kicks Aziz Ansari in the face or Michael Cera slapping Rihanna's butt? No...I'll answer that for you....nowhere.

                                Sure...21 Jump Street may be a bit funnier but you are never going to see a more laugh out loud, clever and awesome comedy anywhere else. This Is The End could have easily been too much of a self indulgent inside joke a la Grown Ups. However, unlike Adam Sandler and Dennis Dugan...Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and the whole cast knows how to make a film that is both incredibly entertaining for the audience and fun for them to make. And for that....I tip my hat to the cast and crew of this film.
(5 out of 5 Stars,  The film is rated R for crude and sexual content throughout, brief graphic nudity, pervasive language, drug use and some violence)

Epic Review

Environmental activists---Mub The Slug (Aziz Ansari) and MK (Amanda Seyfried) must save a forest in Epic
                    Epic is the latest animated kids film from Blue Sky Studios...that company that has brought us multiple, unnecessary Ice Age sequels. While Epic might not be as unbearable as last year's Ice Age: Continental Drift....it is still quite boring and just as unnecessary. The film is a plethora of different environmentally themed plots (although they don't directly admit that they're environmentally themed...they most certainly are)...now of which make any sense. The film felt quite a bit like Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest as written by a college student who is really, really, really high.

                     The film follows MK (voiced by Amanda Seyfried) who is shrunk down to size by her obsessive dad (Jason Sudekis.) MK meets Ronin (Colin Farrell)...a fellow tiny person whose son, Nod (Josh Hutcherson) wants to be respected by him. Meanwhile...all three of them have to take down Mandrake (Christoph Waltz) who plans on destroying the forest they live in. Helping them out are a slug and a snail named Mub and Grub (Aziz Ansari and Chris O'Dowd.)

                       Let's start with the one good thing about the film. Although Mandrake is not a believable or effective villain...Waltz does do great voice work. He's the only person is this talented cast who manages to make his voice have such an impact that the character comes to live more than he deserves to. This is the one thing that makes this film not completely stink.

                        Now for the bad. I'll actually start with my least favorite thing about the film. Mub and Grub are quite possibly the most irritating characters in movie history. Yes...I know they're in the film for comic relief that toddlers can enjoy. However, since I'm not a toddler...I found nothing they said or did to be remotely funny and they started to grate on my nerves more and more as the film went along. Also....the film's not that visually stunning. In fact...it's pretty ugly. The action scenes aren't the only things that are shot so fast that you can't tell what's happening. In fact...98% of the film is shot in such a shaky, fast way that I felt as if my theater was showing a bootleg of the film. Lastly...the save the environment theme of this film is incredibly annoying. I go to an animated children's film to have fun. I don't go to feel like I'm watching An Inconvenient Truth.

                         Epic will certainly not break any barriers for animated films. It's not even that much of an improvement (slight at the most) for Blue Sky Studios. With such films as Finding Nemo and Toy Story 3 available on DVD and Monsters University coming out in less than a month...why spend your money on such a boring waste of talent?
(1 and 1/2 out of 5 Stars...The film is rated PG for mild action, some scary images and brief rude language)

Lost & Found In Armenia Review

            Armenian Vacation---Jamie Kennedy as a senator's son who find himself in Armenia in Lost & Found In Armenia                                          
             Lost & Found In Armenia is a low brow, bottom of the barrel comedy that manages to be only barely unendurable. It feels like a dated film that Pauly Shore may have done if he were still working today a la Bio Dome, Encino Man, ETC. This film, however, stars Jamie Kennedy who's as close to Shore as one is able to get. They sound about the same, they have the same style of comedy and both of them only have one film on their resumes which they can actually point out and say it was fairly successful. This is a comedy that features stereotypical characters, a plot that may have worked if the execution weren't so bad and a message that is actually pretty nice but is done in such a mean spirited way that you can't really buy into it.

                                                                     In the film...Kennedy plays Bill...the son to a wealthy senator who has just had his heart broken and is vacationing in Turkey. When his friend, George (Dave Sheridan) convinces him to (1) go on the beach in the first place and (2) go para sailing....Bill ends up in Armenia. This is because while para sailing, Bill's cable accidentally gets cut loose and then his parachute gets stuck to the wing of an airplane. Once he crashes into a barn in Armenia....he gets tied up because the Armenians think he's a Turkish spy. Not knowing anyone who speaks English..they find Ani (Angela Sarafyan)...a fellow villager who has been studying English abroad for three years. Bill then develops a kind of romance with Ani.

                                                                      The first ten minutes are actually pretty funny. The idea of this happening to Bill because of a para sailing accident is actually kind of hilarious and the execution in that scene isn't bad itself. Also...the romance between Bill and Ani is sweet if not completely unbelievable. However, their romance doesn't get going until the last 15 minutes of the film. The 80 minutes in the middle consists of cliche comedy in which you're supposed to point and laugh at how wacky the foreigners are. Rather...you just there depressed at how unfunny the film is and at how low it aims. The character of Bill may have been funny and charming if giving something to do. However, the script gives him nothing to do but yell at the Armenians about the fact that he's not a spy. Also....the film's character of Ani's grandpa (Mikael Pogosyan) is yet another unrealistically wacky old person.

                                                                      There is a subplot involving a man named Alexan (Hrant Tokhatyan)'s attempt to marry Ani despite her all too obvious chagrin. This subplot provides the film with a feature length running time. It is a ridiculous, completely unfunny subplot that takes up about half of the film. Perhaps that's what the filmmakers failed to see. They weren't fully aware that they had a script that didn't have enough to fill even an hour so they thought the subplot would fit in perfectly with the rest of the film and allow the film to have an adequate running time. Well, I'd like to personally tell the filmmakers that thinking the subplot would actually fit in was dead wrong but thinking that this was a good idea for a film in the first place was even more wrong.
(1 out of 5 Stars, The film is Not Rated)

The Internship Review

Computer crashers---Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn play salesmen forced to intern at Google in The Internship
                                    Google has topped the list many years in a row as the best place to work. The Internship tries to make you believe that theory hook line and sinker despite the fact that 98% of the population already knows this is true. This is Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson's first film together in eight years. The last film they appeared in together was 2005's Wedding Crashers....a brilliant mix of a dudes being dudes raunchfest and a surprisingly sweet romantic comedy. While The Internship certainly does not live up to the standards of Vaughn and Wilson's last collaboration....it is still a very funny, surprisingly touching film that you can't help but enjoy if not just for the fact that Vaughn and Wilson are always both so likable and funny.

                                     The film's plot is not as cut and dry as you may think even if it is a tad cliche. Vaughn (who I forgot to mention also co-wrote the script with Jared Stern and came up with the story) and Wilson play Billy and Nick...two watch salesmen. After getting excited about what they think is going to be an open and shut sale...they are informed by the client that their company has been closed down. After they are fired...Billy signs him and Nick up for an internship at Google. However, in order to get hired full time...they must compete against a bunch of young geniuses including a college student named Graham (Max Minghella) who is looking to take them down.

                                       By far the best part of the film is the hilarious banter between Billy and Nick. Vaughn and Wilson are not only actors who are very experienced in the art of bantering but who know each other very well thereby giving their conversations a very genuine feel. Also...I liked how the film portrays Billy and Nick as a bit behind the times but not as idiots. Sure...Billy constantly quotes 80's films and still believes watches are useful but he's also smart enough to come up with the idea of interning at Google. The supporting cast is quite good as well. Perhaps it's because next to Vaughn and Wilson anyone can seem likable but I'm leaning more towards the fact that it's simply because the cast is so likable in and of themselves. The likable supporting cast includes such veterans as Rose Byrne and Aasif Mandvi and such newcomers as Josh Brener and Tiya Sircar. Lastly---the film keeps you rooting for these guys even at their most ridiculous.

                                      The film is very flawed, however. The premise is completely far-fetched and there are a few too many jokes revolving around the fact that Billy and Nick are such old farts compared to the other interns. Also...there is a bit of a twist at the end that comes completely out of left field without any real explanation.

                                      Sure...you could nitpick The Internship to pieces and end up hating every second of it. But why do that when you have two of the most likable actors paired up at your disposal? And yes...it may even be another eight years before they make another film together so take advantage of it while you can.
(3 and 1/2 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated PG-13 for sexuality, some crude humor, partying and language)

The Company You Keep Review

Protests and arrests---Stephen Root and Shia LaBeouf as a former Weather Underground activist and a journalist in The Company You Keep
                                                         The Company You Keep is a film that features a great ensemble cast and a story line that is just thrilling enough to work. Among the top players are Robert Redford, Shia LaBeouf, Julie Christie, Nick Nolte, Susan Sarandon, Richard Jenkins, Stanley Tucci, Chris Cooper, Anna Kendrick, Brendan Gleeson and Terrence Howard. There are even a few I am leaving out to prove what an irresistible cast this is. As I said...the narrative is intriguing enough to work but as I sat there watching this cast of actors who obviously know what they're doing...I couldn't help but feel as if much of the narrative is intriguing simply because everyone in the cast knew how to pull it off.

                                                           The film begins with Sharon Solarz (Sarandon) getting arrested at a gas station for a bank robbery that has long past. She was a former member of the Weather Underground...a team of activists who did such things as rob a bank back in the day. We then flash to Jim Grant (Redford) who is being pursued by journalist Ben Shepard (LaBeouf.) Jim then goes on the run and meets up with some of his former partners (Christie, Nolte, Jenkins and Stephen Root) one by one to try and get his name cleared. All the while...federal agents (Howard, Gleeson and Kendrick) are trying to track down Grant. And if you're wondering who Cooper and Tucci play...Cooper plays Jim's brother and Tucci plays Ben's boss.

                                                               What worked for me the most is how quaint it felt. There are multiple scenes that give the film a classic man on the run film feeling. This is not to say that the film is cliche or feels dated. On the contrary, this is a very original aspect of the film. Rarely have I seen a film that reminded me so much of old fashioned entertainment such as "The Fugitive" and "The Prisoner." The other great aspect of the film is the acting. If it weren't for the top of the line cast at hand...this could easily have been a boring, tedious film that would have never gotten its feet off the ground. However, as performed by these phenomenal, versatile actors...the film works wonders. Also..the direction by Redford is quite impressive. He gives the visual a creative pop that I was not expecting.

                                                                   All in all....I thoroughly enjoyed The Company You Keep. It's one of the better films I've seen this year even if it does get a bit dull toward the end as it enters into cliche crime drama territory. Still...it's a film I recommend going to see if you want to see some great acting and a very good story line.
(4 and 1/2 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated R for language)