Sunday, January 29, 2012
The Grey
The Grey is the type of movie you are totally engaged in because you are not sure how it's going to end. Liam Neeson plays Ottway, a guy who's job it is to protect oil drilling teams in Alaska from wolves. A plane crash strands him and an oil drill team in the wild. A pack of wolves who see them as intruders start to hunt them. It's man vs. wild and the only females in the movie (briefly) is the flight attendant and Liam's wife in flashbacks.
This movie reminded me of Anthony Hopkins movie The Edge where he was stranded in The Wild with Adam Baldwin and you are not sure how it's going to end.
Director Joe Carnahan does an excellent job of having the audience learn about the characters as the men try to survive.
Liam Neeson pretty much plays the same tough guy he did in Taken except he wants to save his men vs. his daughter. I was good with that because I loved his character in Taken and I'm looking forward to Taken 2 which is now filming.
Verdict:
Good movie that you will want to see prior to someone telling you how it ends.
This movie reminded me of Anthony Hopkins movie The Edge where he was stranded in The Wild with Adam Baldwin and you are not sure how it's going to end.
Director Joe Carnahan does an excellent job of having the audience learn about the characters as the men try to survive.
Liam Neeson pretty much plays the same tough guy he did in Taken except he wants to save his men vs. his daughter. I was good with that because I loved his character in Taken and I'm looking forward to Taken 2 which is now filming.
Verdict:
Good movie that you will want to see prior to someone telling you how it ends.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Haywire
The director for this movie, Steven Soderbergh, mentioned in an interview that he wanted to get out of movie directing. Why couldn't he have done that prior to my wasting my time and money on his latest failure?
Haywire is the story of a black ops super soldier, played by Gina Carano, who seeks payback after she is betrayed and set up during a mission.
A number of "A List" actors show up in this movie but you can see that they were only doing the Director a favor. Antonio Banderas is in the movie and he shows more passion doing the voice for Puss and Boots than he does in this Haywire.
The flick is a poor man's rip off of Angelina Jolie's Salt movie. Salt was much better and I was think throughout the show that I would be better entertained by renting and watching Salt again.. Who is Gina Carano? I don't know and after seeing her in Haywire I don't care.
You can tell from the very start of the movie, with it's eclectic 70's soundtrack, that Soderbergh was trying to make a Quentin Tarantino type flick but I don't think Tarantino could have saved this bomb.
Verdict:
Died on the vine.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Contraband
When you watch this movie you need to be convinced that the bad guys are from another planet because they are so stupid. The story is about John Bryce, Mark Wahlberg, a former smuggler who heads to Panama to score millions of dollars in counterfeit bills. He goes because he needs to protect his brother-in-law and family from a drug lord. Wahlberg gave up drug smuggling to raise a family but due to his wife's brother he gets dragged back in.
The film falls apart when Wahlberg leaves his family right in arms length of the bad guys when he sets sail to Panama. There are twist and turns but the movie is not believable at all.
Verdict:
Mark Whalburg is a very good Executive Producer for shows like Entourage and; Boardwalk Empire. He needs to stick to that and stop trying to be James Cagney. Jeremy Renner already nailed that in the movie The Town.
The Devil Inside
From the shaky camera school of Paranormal Activity comes a film about exorcism.
The story takes place in Italy where a woman becomes involved in a series of unauthorized exorcisms during her mission to discover what happened to her mother, who allegedly murdered three people during her own exorcism.
This trailer that became a movie is less than 90 minutes but it's so bad that it feels like it will never end. Low budget horror "shock" movies have been done many times before ie: 1970's Mark of the Devil where a witches tongue gets pulled out of her mouth. Vomit bags were given out in the theater specifically for that scene. The acting in The Devil Inside is from people that were probably hired from Craigslist. You end up not caring about the characters. The Exorcist is a one of a kind Bentley convertible where the Devil Inside is a 20 year old broken down VW Jetta.
Verdict:
So they recycled Haunted House (Paranormal Activity) and Exorcisms, What next? Witches, Demons? If they are anything like Devil Inside then skip them all and save your money.
The story takes place in Italy where a woman becomes involved in a series of unauthorized exorcisms during her mission to discover what happened to her mother, who allegedly murdered three people during her own exorcism.
This trailer that became a movie is less than 90 minutes but it's so bad that it feels like it will never end. Low budget horror "shock" movies have been done many times before ie: 1970's Mark of the Devil where a witches tongue gets pulled out of her mouth. Vomit bags were given out in the theater specifically for that scene. The acting in The Devil Inside is from people that were probably hired from Craigslist. You end up not caring about the characters. The Exorcist is a one of a kind Bentley convertible where the Devil Inside is a 20 year old broken down VW Jetta.
Verdict:
So they recycled Haunted House (Paranormal Activity) and Exorcisms, What next? Witches, Demons? If they are anything like Devil Inside then skip them all and save your money.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol
This is a summer action movie that is a Christmas gift to everyone that is looking to escape the shopping crowds and packed parking lots.
M.I. 4 is the first movie being released to IMAX theaters on it's debut date and the skyscraper scene in IMAX is worth the price of admission. The story goes that the IMF is shut down when it's implicated in a global terrorist bombing plot. Ghost Protocol is initiated and Tom Cruise and his rogue new team must go undercover to clear their organization's name.
Most of the movie is ridiculous but it's a joyride and at 133 minutes you will not be bored. I found myself at times rocking in my seat.
Director Brad Bird knows how to film an action movie.
Palua Patton is the new Hallie Barry and Léa Seydoux as an assasian is a great addition. Fans of the Television show Lost will be happy to see Josh Holloway in a role as an agent.
Verdict:
Tom Cruise's best movie in years. It does not look like he is turning over the franchise to Jeremy Renner just yet. Just as good as M.I. 3 maybe even better. I will decide when I go to see this again on the big screen.
M.I. 4 is the first movie being released to IMAX theaters on it's debut date and the skyscraper scene in IMAX is worth the price of admission. The story goes that the IMF is shut down when it's implicated in a global terrorist bombing plot. Ghost Protocol is initiated and Tom Cruise and his rogue new team must go undercover to clear their organization's name.
Most of the movie is ridiculous but it's a joyride and at 133 minutes you will not be bored. I found myself at times rocking in my seat.
Director Brad Bird knows how to film an action movie.
Palua Patton is the new Hallie Barry and Léa Seydoux as an assasian is a great addition. Fans of the Television show Lost will be happy to see Josh Holloway in a role as an agent.
Verdict:
Tom Cruise's best movie in years. It does not look like he is turning over the franchise to Jeremy Renner just yet. Just as good as M.I. 3 maybe even better. I will decide when I go to see this again on the big screen.
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