The Dilemma

How could this movie end up being so bad? You have 2 of the best comedy actors, Vince Vaughn and Kevin Smith, coming off of a string of hit movies. You also have one of the best movie trailers of the year. However The Dilemma is a lemon, dud, and a comedy that is not funny. The story is about a man who discovers that his best friend's wife is having an affair. The pacing is slow, the jokes are weak, there are unnecessary flashbacks, and having Queen Latifah in a cameo role seems strained. Director Ron Howard should not have tried his hand at comedy again, The last hit comedy he had was Splash and Night Shift and that was in the early 80’s He has produced many hit movies that I have enjoyed however he has not had one lately and may be passed his prime.

Verdict: The premise was only good for a Saturday Night Live skit, not a 2 hr. movie.

The Mechanic

A 100 years ago there was a movie box office champion named Charles Bronson best known for Death Wish. One of the movies he made that became a cult favorite was The Mechanic where he starred as a killer for hire. The new movie has almost the same story but stars a different type of action star Jason Statham.
Bronson was older and didn’t say much in his movies. Statham is younger , and does most of his talking with his fists.
The movie follows an elite hit man as he teaches his trade to an apprentice who has a connection to one of his previous victims. Ben Foster from The Messenger stars as the apprentice.
I am a fan of Jason Statham and Charles Bronson and I found both movies very boring. The original and the remake try to be a psychological action flicks and to me they both fail. The original must have been a cult favorite of the director Simon West.

Verdict: With all the great movies that came be remade, this should have not been on the list.

The Worst Movies of 2010

I have more than 10 but here are the ones that should never have made it past the pitch meeting:

1) The Bounty Hunter
Jennifer you are a TV star not a movie star. PLEASE go back to TV!

2) Wolfman
Why was this made???

3)Cop Out
Not everybody black from Saturday Night Live can be Eddie Murphy.

4) Wall St. 2
Gorden Gecko a nice guy???? Shades of Godfather 3.

5) Killers
Did Ashton peep the Tom Cruise script for Knight & Day?

6) When In Rome
The sixties are over and Doris Day is near death, why try to recreate chemistry that is long gone?

7) The Back Up Plan
Now we know why J-Lo is on American Idol.

8) The American
Clooney, you tried, now go back to being what the audience wants you to be. The Cary Grant of our time not a Foreign film star.

9) Iron Man 2
God this story sucked, and we all spent our shekels on it.

10) Piranha 3D
Need I say more?

Top Ten Movies of 2010

This was a very, very poor year for movies but here are my Top Ten:

1) Social Network
The Citizen Kane of this generation. It will stand up to the test of time as a classic.

2) Inception
Not a remake but the most original action movie of the last decade.

3) Black Swan
Thank God for Natalie Portman and her awesome talents.

4) The Kings Speech
Everything about this movie is "A" List.

5) Shutter Island
Mesmerizing and thought provoking, Martin and Leo's best picture to date.

6) Toy Story 3
If you didn't cry then you are SOFT.

7)Kick Ass
Best surprise action movie of the year.

8) Colored Girls
All the critics were wrong. Tyler Perry's best movie to date.

9) Joan Rivers A Piece of Work
The only Oscar worthy Documentary next to Client 9.

10) The Town
Affleck nailed it.

Fast Five - Official Trailer [HD]

Black Swan

Black Swan stars Natalie Portman as a ballet dancer in an Oscar worthy performance. We have seen Natalie grow up on the screen from The Professional to Star Wars so you would think that you would know what kind of performance to expect from her. But in Black Swan she raises the bar and shows why she is one of the best female actresses on the screen today.
The story is a about a ballet dancer who wins the lead in "Swan Lake" Babara Hershey, who's talents has been missing from the screen for years, stars as her mother and does an excellent job.
The movie is a study in madness and is one of my favorite movies of the year.
Black Swan is why I fell in love with the movie experience. Every few years a movie comes out that is not predictable and that takes viewers to a place they have not visited before where they are taken on a journey for 2 hours.

Verdict:
MUST SEE! One of the best movies of 2010. Natalie Portman will win the Oscar, sorry Annette Bening but The Kids Are Alright was just alright.

Tron: Legacy 3D - imax -DBox - etc.

The original Tron was light years ahead in special effects back in 1982. It was never a box office blockbuster but it did become a cult favorite. I never liked the story which was not engaging enough for me and I found it boring.
Tron: Legacy is a dazzling, awesome movie to watch but once again I was not very captivated by the story. Legacy bring back (2) Jeff Bridges, one that is present day Jeff and one that is a computer version of his young self. This special cinema plastic surgery effect was used earlier this year on Bruce Willis in the flop movie Surrogates.
Legacy is about Jeff Bridges's son who goes looking for his father and ends up inside the digital world that his father designed.
Some theaters are showing this movie with a new creation called DBox where your seat moves in sync with the action scenes. This movie is also in 3D and IMAX. Why? because there is not much of a story and if your eyes are not dazzled and your seat is not moving you will fall asleep.
Based on this movie the future of cinema looks like actors will always stay young and you will not need much of a story due to the mechanics that will keep you engaged.

Verdict:
Like a bright shiny apple that looks good on the outside but full of worms on the inside.