Les Misérables

Rating 5 out of 10

As anyone that knows me might have guessed I'm not a big musical person.  I like some musicals.  One's like Grease or even Momma Mia where they talk, talk, talk and then someone bursts into song and dance.  Les Miserables is not that type of musical.  There are maybe 5-6 words in the whole movie.  All the rest of the dialog is singing.  If that does not sound so bad to you I highly recommend this movie for you.  

The acting for the most part is first rate.  I feel sure Hugh Jackman having been overlooked for  oscar nominations playing Wolverine in the X-Men films will get his shot this year.  He does a good job and the Academy seems to like performances like that.  Anne Hathaway also does a good job even though it's heartbreaking to watch them shave off her pretty hair. The one miscast for my taste was Russell Crowe.  He plays the local inspector and besides looking on the fat side is not a very good singer.  

The movie is set in 1800s France where Jean Valjean (Jackman) in sentenced to five years prison for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sisters family.  Five turns into fifteen years when he keeps trying escape.  When he is finally released he breaks parole and finds a new identity. In a few years he becomes a successful business man and Mayor of the town.  Things start to unravel when his old prison guard is named lead Inspector (Crowe) of the town he now lives in.  

As I said if you like musicals you will find this movie incredible.  It just wasn't my thing.  

Jack Reacher

Jack Reacher

Rating 8 out of 10

Jack Reacher is a main character in a series of novels written by Lee Child.  I have read many of Child's entertaining books although not the one this movie was based on.  Reacher is a tough as nails ex-military man that has done it all.  He retired from a lifetime in the military to travel around America.  No frills.  No phones, credit cards, not even a suitcase. As luck would have it everywhere he goes trouble seem to find him.

In the first in what I'm guessing will be a series of movies Jack shows up when a guy he convicted of murder in the military police but got off from a technicality is arrested for shooting five people in downtown Pittsburg with a sniper rifle.  He is there hoping the guy hangs yet as the evidence mounts he may have been set up.

When I first heard Tom Cruise was playing Jack Reacher I thought he was too short for the 6'4" military bad a$$. He does a good joband kicked buns plenty of times.  He works with a pretty defense attorney played by the lovely Rosamund Pike (when you see her picture you will have an ah-hah moment realizing who she is).

There probably could have been a little more action, but the action there is very good.  There is a cool car chase thru the city of Pittsburg.  I enjoyed the movie.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The Hobbit

Rating 7 out of 10

I can't say this is a movie I had high anticipation on.  After watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy I hoped it would be good, but the trailers left me more confused than excited.  I am glad to say I enjoyed it even though like the LOR trilogy it may not be for everyone.  I would think if you liked the LOR movies you will indeed like this prequel.

As most movies that are intended in a series the first one usually lags as all the characters have to be introduced and a story has to be told.  I remember not liking the first LOR movie thinking it was too slow and confusing. I found The Hobbit easier to follow even though at nearly three hour playing time there was a little wiggling in the seat.

I have not read any of the books like my nerdy brother inlaw has (I'm sure he has a Gandalf action figure.  The movie starts off with the peaceful Kingdom of Erebor and the dwarfs being taken over by an evil dragon.  Sixty years later the dwarves are determine to take back their kingdom.  Not sure why it took so long.  Our star hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) is dragged into the adventure even though he'd much rather stay with his slow boring life.

They battle across the continent with danger at ever turn.  Plenty of battles against some interesting and beastly creatures.  I was entertained although I could have trimmed atleast 30 minutes from the film.

I liked it.  Teenage Rocky did not like it at all.  Your taste may vary.

Life of Pi

Life of Pi

Rating 8 out of 10

This was a movie I went back and forth whether I wanted to see or not.  In fact had it not been a roofers holiday (rain day) and nothing else with a starting time that worked I would probably not be writing this  review.  I'm very glad I went.

Visually this is one of the most incredible movies you will see.  By watching the previews you would think it is a two hour movie of a boy floating in a boat with a large tiger.  There is that and much more.  Director Ang Lee can be a strange bird. He rarely gives you what you are expecting.  I did not read the book this movie is based on but now have the desire to do so.  As you also know I'm not a fan of 3d movies.  This might be one that is worth the extra three bucks for those goofy glasses.

The first third of the movie tells the story of a boy growing up in India with his parents and older brother.  His parents run a zoo in a hotel they oversee.  From an early age Pi (short for Picine) is amazed by the Bengal tiger while not really understanding the danger involved.  When a political change in the country forces Pi's parents to move to French speaking Canada they load up the animals on a ship to sell in North America where they can get a better price.  Sadly in a big storm the ship sinks taking Pi's family with it.  Pi then does end up on that small boat with the Tiger.

The voyage at sea is anything but boring.  At my NCG theater we get free refills on drinks. I always feel the need to get my monies worth out of that $3 diet coke with a refill.  I hated to leave the theater with fear of missing something.  Suraj Sharma did a good job as the young Pi.  I even liked the guy that played the older Pi.

While the story does not make you believe in God as it boasts it will give you a visually entertaining couple hours in a theater.

Rise of the Guardians

Rise of the Guardians

Rating 8.5 out of 10

I have been on a string of disappointing movies and went into the theater for this one with high hopes.  I am very glad to say this movie met my expectations and then some!  This is a movie you will buy the dvd for your kids and enjoy watching it over and over as they cycle it in with the Beauty and the Beast videos.  Clearly computer animation has gone to incredible levels.  Rise of the Guardians takes it another step higher.

Every now and then there are threats against the world children.  Luckily for all of us there are the Guardians.  Santa, Sandman, Easter Bunny and the tooth fairy.  These are picked by the Man in the Moon.  When a new threat presents himself another Guardian is needed.  Pitch the Boogieman is determined to take happiness away from the worlds children.  Jack Frost is enlisted to help the Guardians defeat evil even if he can't understand why he is needed.

As I said the animation is first rate even in the 2D version I saw.  The story is entertaining and filled with laughs for kids of all ages.  The voices are perfect.  Often in movies like this I find myself thinking of who is voicing the character rather than the character itself.  Not here.  Every voice just fits.  Alec Baldwin as Santa, Hugh Jackman is the Easter Bunny, Isla Fisher is the Tooth Fairy and Chris Pine is Jack Frost.

Take your kids to see this.  If you don't have kids, borrow some.  I'll be taking my grandkids to see this again and buying the dvd when it comes out.

Good movie.

Silver Linings Playbook

Silver Linings Playbook

Rating 4 out of 10

There will be plenty who will like this movie much more than I did.  I had high hopes as I like the stars alot.  Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence do a good job here with what they have to work with.  I wouldn't be surprised if they get award nominations.  Robert De Niro is usually good even though he hasn't really picked the right movies lately.

Pat (Cooper) is a troubled Philadelphia Eagles football fan that when we meet him is in a state institution.  Let's be honest.  Most Eagles fans belong in an institution of some sort!  : >   Pat finds he is bi-polar with a bad temper.  He loses his wife, job and home.  Forced to live with his parents (who are a little nutty too) he meets the lovely Tiffany (Lawrence).   As luck would have it she has issues too.  Her husband died six months earlier and she has been having sex with everyone in sight.   She is interested in Pat but he only wants to get his wife back.

The key that will fix everything is Pat and Tiffany are entering a ballroom dancing contest.  This is a conflicted movie of people dealing with mental illness.  Movie reviewers love movies like this.  So do the awards shows.  Royce does not.  The movie is right at two hours long and to me seemed much longer.  Not my cup...

If anyone sees this movie and enjoys it please drop me a line.

Red Dawn

Red Dawn

Rating 5 out of 10

They have run out of good movies to remake and have dropped down to remaking bad movies of the 1980s.  When you think of it that is pretty smart.  When remaking a good movie like Footloose it's too easy to suffer by comparison.  When you are remaking a movie as bad as the 1984 original starring Patrick Swayze  you have nowhere to go but up.  That is the best I can say about the new Red Dawn is it's better than the original.  This was my Thanksgiving movie with the youngest son as the wife plots out her Black Friday attack schedule with her sister.  Rocky was determine to see this one.  He didn't remember the original since he wasn't born yet.

A Washington town wakes up one morning as all the power goes out and hundreds of North Korean soldiers parachuting in.  It seems the Korean's have come up with a pulse bomb that kills all electrical power.  Of course without electricity our military is held defenseless?  Well lucky for us our hero Jed (Chris Hemsworth who is Thor in his off time) is home from serving in Iraq.  His dad is the towns sherif and brother is the HS football star.  He gathers a rag tag group of mostly high school boys and heads into the hills.  From there they execute attacks against the military that can not be stopped.

I can pick this movie apart with my eyes closed.  I'll be nice here.  It is pretty silly for the most part.  The action is as good as you would expect for a movie like this.  The stars (including Tom Cruise's adopted son) are good looking.  It's not a horrible way to spend a couple hours.  Rocky liked it alot.

Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2

Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2

Rating 8 out of 10

I know.  I'm too old and too male to be enjoying these Twilight movies/books.  My daughter Stacy got me started on the first book.  It took me a couple tries before I finally go it going.  I have been reading the books (listening to the audio books) each year just before the next movie comes out.  For the most part the books are always better.  This movie was by far the best of the bunch.

If you haven't followed along here is what you missed.  Young moody girl moves to a dreary rainy Washington town.  Falls in love with the tall pale white guy with a spiky haircut who just happens to be a vampire.  Amazingly enough that only makes her want him more.  When they do break up she becomes close with a family friend who of course turns out to be a werewolf and hates vampires.  Of course.  They have all the usual relationship issues.  Other vampires coming to town to kill them, battles with the other werewolves, problems with the Volturi (King of the vamps that lives in Italy), ect.

They work through all the problems and eventually get married with the plans of moody girl (still moody after all this) being eventually turned into a vampire to spend eternity with tall pale vampire.  They wait until after marriage to have sex but unfortunately she becomes pregnant on the honeymoon while she is still human.  This is a bad thing and almost kills her giving birth.  The problems don't stop there.  Seems the first year after becoming a vampire is the worst.  You can't control yourself and kill WAY too many humans.  Having strict rules the vampires are against turning small children into vamps.  They can't control themselves and wipe out whole villages.   The Volturi hears of the baby and decide this is a reason to wipe out the whole Cullen clan.  Maybe it's because they gave her the awful name of Renesmee?

One of the vampires in the Cullens can see into the future and sees the Volturi is definitely coming.  Luckily in the Vampire world justice is not swift.  They have a couple months to prepare and they travel the globe looking for friendly vampires to go to battle with them.

The big battle is full of bloodsuckers and werewolves duking it out in entertaining fashion.  It ends it a way that will satisfy those that have read the books and those that have not.  The twist they talk about it a good one.  Overall I liked it.

Skyfall

Skyfall

Rating 7 out of 10

It's funny how it works with Bond, James Bond.  There have been several actors play that secret agent man and mostly the one a guy feels attached to is the Bond of his teen years.  For me that was Roger Moore.  He was Mr. Cool for me.  Lots of cool gadgets, fancy cars and beautiful women.  I didn't care for Timothy Dalton one bit.  Pierce Brosnan grew on me.  I know I'm in the minority but I just don't like Daniel Craig as 007.  Sure he has a body that looks to be carved from stone.  He does not seem like Bond to me.  If you are a big Daniel Craig fan feel free to read the rest of my review with a grain of salt or two.

Skyfall starts off in wonderful Bond fashion with an incredible action scene.  The bad guy has killed one of the other agents and ran off with a computer hard drive that has the name of every undercover operative in the world.  It's up to James to track him down and save the day.

The action is for the most part what you'd expect out of a 007 movie.  The bad guy this time is Javier Bardem who was so scary in No Country for Old Men.  Here for some reason they play him as a blond gay villain.  Not sure why they went that direction.

You are reminded several times that these movies are prequels as they have to introduce the characters we grow to know so well (Moneypenny, Q, ect.).

If you liked the last two Bond films with Craig you can be assured you will like this one too.

Flight

Flight

Rating 6 out of 10

Denzel Washington is one of my all time favorite actors.  He has made a few bad movies but has never been bad in a movie.  Denzel is great in this movie.  The movie for me was just okay.  I was hoping for great.  It's basically a movie about an alcoholic that happens to fly planes.

Denzel plays airline pilot Whip Whitaker.  Right off the bat we see Whip in a hotel room after a long night of drinking and drugging and sex with one of the flight attendants.  He gets out of bed, does a line of coke and puts on his uniform to head out to the airport to fly 106 souls from Orlando to Atlanta on a very bad weather day.  He has done this many times and thinks he has it under control.  Mechanical problems with the plane sends it into a steep dive that certainly will kill everyone on board.  Whip pulls off a miracle and saves all but six on the plane.

Problems start when a blood test after the crash show Whip was very drunk while he was flying the plane.  This is a bad thing.  He can go from hero to serving jail time in a heartbeat.  He needs to clean up his act in a hurry. We get to see the demons of a person with a bad drinking problem.  Some people find this more interesting than I do.

One cool thing about the movie is much of it was filmed in the Atlanta area.  One of the main characters lives in the Georgian Terraces apartments.  I put the roof on that complex several years ago!

As I said some may like this movie more than I did.  At just over 2.5 hours I think it could have been 45 minutes shorter.  Denzel is very good as you would expect and keeps the movie moving along.  Sadly another movie that would be better saved as a dvd rental.

Man with the Iron Fists

Man with the Iron Fists

Rating 5 out of 10

Anyone that has read my blog knows I like action movies.  Lots of karate kicks to the head and limbs severed and I'm probably there.  Throw Lucy Lu into the mix and I'm definitely there.  This looked interesting with Russell Crowe as the English knifesman named ironically Jack Knife.  That's pretty much how this movie goes.  Quentin Tarantino's name is on the film yet I don't think he had a thing to do with making it.  Instead the movie is directed by and one of the stars by rapper RZA.  As an old white male I am proud to say I have no idea who he is.

This movie has a feel of a cheesy throw back 80's karate movie.  You almost expect the words not to match their mouths as in Chinese dubbed movies.  The plot is very thin and not real easy to follow.  Not that it matters.

There is a town in China that seems to be the center of all that is bad.  Right in the middle is a brothel run by Lucy Lu.  There is a story about a couple clans fighting, a big transport of gold by the Chinese government and a very tubby Russell Crowe (not in his Gladiator form).  The local blacksmith is RZA who loves one of Lucy's girls and dreams of making enough money buy her freedom.

Lots of fighting and buckets of blood.  The movie is entertaining for what it is.  If you like these type movies you could do worse than this one.  Although I'd recommend renting it instead.

Wreck-it Ralph

Wreck-it Ralph

Rating 6.5 out of 10

This was a good week for me.  This was the second movie I got to go to with a granddaughter.  This was my youngest granddaughters first movie with her mom and dad.

Wreck-it Ralph is a cute movie from Disney.  That's different that a movie from Pixar which is owned by Disney.  Ralph is a character is an old school video game in the local arcade called Fix-it Felix.  He is the bad guy that tears a building up while the good guy (Felix) comes along and fixes the damage thus winning the game.  After closing time the characters from all the video games get together and socialize.  Ralph is tired of being the bad guy.  If he can just get a gold medal like Felix people will like him and he will be a good guy.

Ralph goes into different games in search.  First stop is a cool kick buns action war game where the leader is the always funny Jane Lynch. Then on to a Candyland type game with cute little girl voiced by Sarah Silverman.

The movie has impressive animation in the 2D version we saw.  John C. Reilly is the perfect voice for Ralph.  The movie is cute.  It has some laughs and sweet awww shucks feel good moments at the end.  The movie tho is clearly aimed at ten year olds.  The kids will love it while the parents are mildly entertained.

Hotel Transylvania

Hotel Transylvania

Rating 4 out of 10

Adam Sandler just can't catch a break.  Somehow his name is still enough to get the box office numbers up on some of his movies but personally I can't remember the last time I saw one of his movies in a theater and left feeling good about it.  Sadly his step into animated films is no better.

I had a date with my lovely granddaughter to see a movie.  We are not having much luck.  Last time we went to a movie someone broke into my car while we were in the theater and stole the stereo.  I still get to enjoy time with Delilah.

In Hotel Transylvania Dracula has become an over protective father.  His loving wife was killed by evil humans a hundred years before.  He builds a fancy hotel in Transylvania where monsters can come to vacation without having to worry about humans trying to kill them.  It is disguised so that humans can't tell it is there.  His daughter Mavis (voiced by Selena Gomez) has never seen life outside the hotel and has always wanted to go out into the world.  She is turning 118 and feels she is old enough to handle it.

When an unsuspecting human stumbles into the hotel (Jonathan voiced by Andy Sandberg) Dracula is worried all his business will be gone if the monsters find out Humans know where it is.  Jonathan plays along when Dracula dresses him up as Frankensteins nephew the party planner there to help with Mavis birthday bash.  The movie starts off slow and goes downhill from there.

Great cast of voices but sadly the movie has nothing else needed to make an animated film succeed.  The story is boring and uninteresting.  The music is not something you would tap your foot to.  Worst is in this day and age of great animation this seems much more like a Saturday cartoon than a full feature release.

Delilah crawled up in my lap and fell asleep and honestly I was wondering if the clean up kids would wake us if I dozed off too.  If you have a small child you want to rent a movie for next Halloween you can do better than this one, but rent if you want.  Can't say I didn't warn you. : <

Taken 2

Taken 2

Rating 5 out of 10

I was a fan of the first Taken movie in 2008.  Didn't think it was great, but I enjoyed it.  I thought it was  funny when I saw the star Liam Neeson in interviews saying he had very low expectations for the original.  He thought it would go straight to dvd.  I would say even with Liam's particular set of skills this movie should have gone straight to video.  It's not really bad just not nearly as good as the first one.

As we remember in the first movie bad guys in Europe abduct Liam's daughter.  Nothing upsets a CIA agent more than messing with his little girl.  He leaves a trail of dead bodies as he tracks her down and makes the bad guys pay.

In Taken 2 we find some time later the father of one of the bad guys he killed is out for revenge.  As luck would have it Liam, his daughter and ex wife are in nearby Turkey.  The fight is on.  Good thing the CIA trained him to be blindfolded and thrown in a van and drive him across town. With his spidey senses tell someone looking at a map where he is within a few yards.

There is more action in this movie as the 60 year old actor shoots and slices and dices his way through the European underworld.  Much more money should have been spent on the script and storyline.

This would be a nice rainy day rental.  Not worth full price.

Argo

Argo

Rating 8.5 out of 10

When I first saw the previews for Argo my thoughts went to boring political movie based on a true story.  Several friends of mine saw the movie and raved about how good it was.  I'm glad to say it was wrong.  This is a great movie that does not become dull for a minute.

This movie is based on the true story back in 1979 when the Iranian people deposed the Shaw.  They were very upset when the US took him in.  They rushed the US embassy in Tehran and took 52 hostages.  Six Americans were able to sneak out the back door and found their way to the home of the Canadian ambassador.  The noose is beginning to tighten around them as the Iranians start to figure out some are missing and start to look for them.

The CIA is looking for options on how to get them out.  Can't just go in there with tanks and clear them out that way.  After many bad ideas are shot down they come up with posing as a Canadian film crew scouting locations.

What makes this movie work is Ben Affleck with a 70s haircut and beard.  I predict an Oscar nomination and probably a win.  Ben plays CIA agent Tony Mendez who is a specialist in getting people out.  I was surprised to think this happened enough to have a specialist.

Even though I kinda remembered this happening and what the outcome was I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat knowing if they were caught they would be ripped apart by the angry mobs.  Affleck the director absolutely captures the time frame, haircuts, dressing, ect.

I enjoyed this movie alot and highly recommend it.

Here Comes the Boom

Here Comes the Boom

Rating 5 out of 10

Out of town in Los Angeles with the lovely wife.  Looking to kill a couple hours before dinner and this was the first movie that fit our schedule.  Let's be honest, when you go to a Kevin James movie your bar is set fairly low walking in the door.  You are not expecting a movie you will stand in line to buy the dvd when it comes out.  You hope it's nearly as funny as his old tv show (it's not still on the air is it?) King of Queens.  By those standards I'd say I was pleasantly surprised.  Especially when you throw in some eye candy in Salma Hayek.

James plays slacker biology teacher, Scott Voss,  in a Boston High School who is far more interested in getting a date with the school nurse, Bella  (Hayek) than teaching his kids.  When budget cuts hit the school hard enough to eliminate the music program and it's beloved teacher (played by mis-cast Henry Winkler).  In trying to impress Bella he speaks up saying he would come up with the money to save the  program.  Amazingly enough it only takes $48,000 to save the whole program.

After trying a few small jobs here and there and coming up very short he gets the genius idea of fighting MMA fights.  After all he was a pretty good college wrestler before he gained all the weight.  Sometimes the loser gets $10,000!  Somehow when he gets the stew beat out of him he only has minor scrapes enough for him to visit the school nurse.   Bella before would have nothing to do with him but NOW he is looking kinda hunky.

You can guess the rest.  As I said it's not rocket science.  The movie mixes in some laughs with some groan inducing dumb parts.  It's a harmless way to kill a couple hours.  When you leave you'll be wishing someone as funny as Kevin James could find that right movie.  No I'm not a Mall Cop fan.

New Fall TV Report Card

This years new season for TV came in with less fanfare than any in recent memory.  Either that or I'm just not watching commercials anymore.  Little of both I think.

My dvr has been working overtime.  Some shows I have liked, some I didn't and some just were not worth the space on my dvr.

New shows I like-

The New Normal-  I'm sure my friends will be shocked I like this show!  It is really funny and well written show.  Two gay guys decided they want to add a baby to their lives.  They hire a young woman with a 10 year old daughter to be the surrogate.  Racist grandma is in the picture.  I laugh out loud every show.

Last Resort-  This is one of those new shows I hate to invest too much time on.  It is very good, but large cast and expensive shoot means if it's not a big hit right off the bat it will be canceled.  I'm not sure where the story can go long term.  For now the show is good and deserves a chance.

Nashville-  First show was good.  Younger hottie country singer trying to give the boot to the veteran yet still good looking older singer.  Good cast.  Not sure how the show can go long term but I enjoyed the first one.

Elementary-  I like Lucy Lu alot.  This is a nice take on the Sherlock Holmes story.  First few episodes have been good and looks to be getting better.

Jury is still out-

Revolution-  I liked the first one alot.  Sadly the last 2-3 seem to be going downhill into a confusing storyline.  Hopefully it gets back on track.  I'm wanting it to succeed.

Vegas-  Seems I have seen this story before.  Mobsters chttp://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/oming in to rule Las Vegas and one ultra tough sheriff is all there is protecting the good folks.  Great cast is all that keeps me from stopping the recordings.

I have the first episode of Chicago Fire recorded.  Hope it's good.  Big fan of Hill Street Blues, Third Watch, ect.  Hope this falls in that group.

Not so great-

Go On- I keep wishing Matthew Perry's new show would be better.  My wishing is just not working.  He is such a likable guy but this show is just not going to make it.

Major Crimes-  They tried to continue with the main cast of the Closer.  Great cast yet it's just not working.

Returning shows I"m glad are coming back-

Love the Amazing Race. Want to be on it some day!  Still watching Survivor after all these years.  More out of habit than loving the show.  So glad Dexter and Homeland are back on Showtime.  The Mentalist is still very good.  The Walking Dead is starting back very soon! I love Halloween Wars on the Food Network.  If you have never watched Mantracker you should give it a try.  Big Bang Theory and Modern Family are classics. Nikita will be kicking bad guys in the head very soon.

Good thing I have a dvr or I'd have to spend quality time with the family!

Dredd

Dredd

Rating 6.5 out of 10

I understand this movie is not for everyone.  It is an action movie based on a comic book.  The easiest way to decide if you will like this movie or not is to watch the trailer.  If you watch the trailer and think it's something you would like to see, you will probably like it.  If it doesn't float your boat you should probably keep walking.   I will say this movie is better than the 1995 dud Judge Dredd with Sly Stalone.

In the future once again we find the world a nasty waste land.  It's all one huge city now of 80 million people.  Crime lords rule the roost in most areas.  The only thing between them and you and me is the Judges.  Cool robocop looking men and women riding motorcycles that have the authority to judge and pass sentence on the bad guys on the spot.  The baddest judge of them all is Judge Dredd.  Karl Urban plays Dredd.  He does a good enough job although his face is covered with the judge mask the whole movie.  Dredd and the cute little blonde rookie judge (Olivia Thirlby) who can read minds are called to a 200 story apartment building on a disturbance.  This building is the center piece of one of the worst crime lords- the evil Ma-Ma (Lena Headly- she has had a hard life since she was Leonidas' queen in 300).

Ma-Ma locks the place down and puts all the bad guys toward killing the judges.  They have to fight their way out.  Lots of bad guys meet bullets.  Lots of action. This is not a great movie.  I was mostly entertained for the type movie I was expecting to see.  If you like these type movies I think you will feel it was worth the drive.

Looper

Looper

Rating 4 out of 10

I like using the www.rottentomatoes.com website with movies.  If you are not familiar with it (doubtful but you never know) the site collects reviews from hundreds of certified reviewers.  They then give the movie a red tomato rating (60% or better positive reviews) or a rotten tomato rating.  I am always leery of any movie that gets above an 80% rating.  Movie reviewers are a goofy lot.  For some reason they tend to be very artistic.  When you look at many movie reviewers year end top ten lists you see they are usually out of touch with the American public.  When you get more than eight of ten reviewers agreeing on something there is probably something wrong with it.  --- END of Royces RANT.

The idea of this movie seemed a little off to me but had lots of actors I really like.  Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Jeff Daniels, Joseph Gordon-Levitt.  The movie even has a friend of mine on my tennis team Frank Brennan in a small part!

The movie starts in the year 2044.  Good to know thirty years in the future we are not only driving old trucks but have flying motorcycles too!  The world is a rough place.  You are either very rich driving fancy cars (or flying cycles!) or living homeless on the street.  Thirty years further in the future it's harder for the mob to kill their enemies because of tagging of the bodies.  They have gained control of the only time machine around and they use it to send people they want to kill back in time thirty years.  Waiting there is their hit man (a Looper) who kills him and disposes of the body.  Joe (Levitt) is a Looper living the high life of wild women and drugs to help him cope with what he does for a living.

Every so often for a reason not given or I didn't pick up a Loop is closed.  The head bad guy in the future sends that Looper back in time to be killed by his younger self.  Time travel movies are always full of crazy things like this.  After a Looper kills his older self he retires and knows how he will end thirty years in the future.

Problems begin when Joe's future self shows up and overpowers current Joe.  He is determined to find the future bad guy in 2044 and kill him thus keeping all this bad things from ever happening.  Kinda like the logic used by the Terminator in coming back in time for Sarah Conner.  The current bad guy (Daniels) sends all the bad guys out to kill current and future Joe.

It's not as confusing as I may be making it sound, but for me not real entertaining either.  With this cast I expected better.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt (does he really need three names) is a good actor and maybe our next Batman?  Here they put a bunch of makeup on him trying to make him look like a younger Bruce Willis.  Instead he looks more like the old Max Headroom.  

The movie is less than two hours run time, but seemed much longer.  Wasn't crazy about the ending.  For the life of me I can't see what all those reviewers LOVED on this movie.

End of Watch

End of Watch 

Rating 5 out of 10

This is an interesting cop movie that isn't a regular type movie with a beginning, middle and end plot line.  It's closer to a documentary of a couple young gun LA police officers working some of the worst sections of the city.  Gangs, drugs, gunfights... They see them all.  That is just fine with Officer Taylor ( Jake Gyllenhaal) and Officer Zavala (Michael Pena).  They like the life on the edge.  The movie follows along the lives of the two.  The scrapes on the job and the relationships after work.  It's entertaining the way all the officers toss barbs and insults toward each other in ways of burning off the stress of the job.

When they stumble upon a couple different big busts they make a name for themselves.  The problem is  that name carries over to the Mexican Mafia who decide they have had enough.  A hit is put out on them without their knowledge.

The acting is good.  I like most all the actors involved.  If you have read any of my posts you know besides pointless 3D movies the thing that drives me nuts the most is the SHAKY CAM!!  To me the shaky cam is something a bad director does to try to spice up a movie and make it seem more gritty.

Unfortunately End of Watch is the king of shaky cam.  Seems everyone in the movie has their own video camera.  From Officer Taylor who says he is filming everything for a after work class he is taking to all the bad guys who seem to film every crime they commit.  Way too much of the movie looks like some of my old vacation videos.  Zooming in and out for no apparent reason.  The camera never seems to hold still.  If shaky cam does not bother you then you will enjoy it much more than I did.

I would instead watch the tv show Southland.  It is filmed in similar fashion but the story lines are much better.

This would be a good rental.

Trouble with the Curve

Trouble with the Curve

Rating 7 out of 10

I am a fan of Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams and baseball.  Yeah, I like apple pie too.  I liked this movie. This isn't a unique movie type that will change your life?  No.  When you watch the trailer you get a pretty good idea what the movie is about and where it is going.  Luckily that is all you need.  This movie just makes you feel good.

Clint plays the old timer, old school, old fart baseball scout for the Atlanta Braves.  He doesn't base his decisions on computer print outs and batting averages.  He watches the player and from years of experience can tell if the guy will make it to the bigs or not.  The problem is his eyes are fading and he refuses to have them treated.  His estranged daughter (Adams) is called in to try to get him to help himself.  I have not been much of a Justin Timberlake fan in his acting or his music.  I have to admit he is getting much better and does a great job here.  He has some of the better lines of the movie.  Justin plays one of Clint's recruited ball players that blew his arm out pitching for another team.  Now he works for the Boston Red Sox trying to decide who they should pick with their first draft pick.

The story is basic, the acting is very good.  I enjoyed the movie and recommend it.

Resident Evil: Retribution

Resident Evil: Retribution

Rating 5 out of 10

This is the fifth in a series of Resident Evil movies starring Milla Jovovich as the hot leather clad karate kicking gun shooting woman out to save humanity.  I'm not a gamer but I know the movies were based on a popular video game.  Unfortunately it shows.  I have seen each of the previous four.  After each movie I would say the action is good but the movie was so stupid I'd never go to another one.  A year or two would go by and I would forget how bad the previous movie was.  The slick trailers get my blood pumping and before I know it I'm shelling out my pesos for a movie ticket.

The movie does have some incredible visuals and action.  Alice (Milla) starts out in a paper dress then switches to a skin tight leather outfit complete with guns that never run out of bullets.  As I said I have seen now all five of these movies and admit I had no clue what was going on here.  She was breaking out of a facility with five hunky soldiers breaking in the other side of the facility fighting their way to her to help out.  Hundreds of zombies and faceless soldiers that can't shoot a person 50 ft in front of them.  The cast is actually pretty good and they spent million$ on effects.  Why they can't use a few of those dollars to make a script that makes sense I'll never know.

It was fun watching Alice and the hot asian babe in a tight red dress kicking butt.  Unfortunately it's just too stupid to recommend.  I'll never go see another Resident Evil movie... well until the next one comes out.  : >

The Words

The Words

Rating 3 out of 10

This was not really a movie I was interested in seeing.  Movie night with my movie buddy Ted and the wives and for some reason we couldn't talk them into seeing Expendables.  I think in the end they wished we had seen Stalone and guys.

This movie is about a mostly failed writer at the end of his rope that lucks upon a book of a lifetime.  He is not sure who wrote it but he knows it's not him.  He releases the book as his own and it becomes a smash hit.  When an old man confronts him as the true author he has to decide what he is to do.  We know all this from the trailer.  What we learn in two minutes in the trailer you have to sit for more than an hour in the theater to see.  The story plays out verrrrrry slowly.  We know he didn't write the book now get to it!

The acting is as good as you can expect with pretty boy Bradley Cooper playing the depressed writer.  The lovely Zoe Saldana plays his wife.  To me she just didn't fit the movie.  Don't know why.  Old timer Jeremy Irons is the old guy who has enough wrinkles you wonder how he gets around.

The story mostly moves way too slow.  Too long to get to the point.  Throw in one of those art house movie endings that I hate so much and you get a not so fun movie watching experience.  Well atleast the dinner and company was good.

Lawless

Lawless

Rating 5 out of 10

I had very high hopes for this movie.  The trailer looks like an action packed movie of the moonshiners in the Prohibition Era.  Bad cops against the guys getting rich making moonshine.

I will say the acting is very good.  I like Tom Hardy (from one of my all time favorite movies Warrior- if you haven't seen it you need to rent it!)  and he does a good job as the elder Bondurant brother-Forrest and one of the baddest dudes in the land.  He oversees the family moonshine organization in back woods Virginia where the local police not only look the other way but are one of their good customers.  Shia LaBeouf plays the younger brother who never really measured up.  The lovely Jessica Chastain is thrown in as the hot ex-stripper now working in their country cafe.

When the corrupt Feds come in and shake down the moonshiners- they either pay up or they will use the law to shut them down- Forrest tells them he doesn't bow down to anyone.  The main bad guy for the Feds in Guy Pearce with one of the goofiest haircuts I have ever seen.  The battle begins.

The problem for me is the battle isn't much of a battle.  It is very slow paced and doesn't flow very well.  They do battle then nothing for a long time.  This to me seemed more like a documentary of the old days than an action packed movie.

This will make a good rental.

Premium Rush

Premium Rush

Rating 6.5 out of 10

I'm not sure on the timing of the release of this movie.  It seems more like an early summer movie.  When I saw the trailer for Premium Rush I had a mild interest in seeing it.  Saw some pretty good reviews on it.  Had some time to kill so I gave it a shot.

This movie won't win any awards and yes has a few plot holes.  Still I found it entertaining and worth the price of the ticket.  Acting was good.  Action was good.  It was a fun way to kill a couple hours.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (maybe the next Robin for Batman?) plays our superstar NYC bike messenger Wilee (as in coyote).  He is a burned out law student that can't stand being trapped in an office.  He rides thru the city on an old school bike with no breaks taking chances no human should take.  When it absolutely has to get there they call Wilee.

On this day Wilee picks up a package from a law student he knows and is told it was very important.  Yep and dangerous too.  A very bad dirty cop played by great character actor Michael Shannon wants the package and will do anything to get it.

There are a several twists and turns.  Nothing earth shattering but as I said fun to watch.  I enjoyed it.

Expendables 2

Expendables 2

Rating 8.5 out of 10

This is a movie I have been waiting for.  I liked the first Expendables movie while admitting it was lacking.  These movies have testosterone  by the train car full.  Virtually every bad ass action star in the last twenty years was in Expendables.  Anyone they forgot they picked up for Expendables 2.

Returning from the first movie was Sylvester Stalone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Terry Crews, Randy Couture.  Expanding their cameo roles was Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis.  To add some female kick ass they brought in newbie Nan Yu. For some young blood in comes heart throb Liam Hemsworth.  Playing a great bad guy we get Jean-Claude Van Damme.

The movie actually has a complicated and intricate plot... Oh, who am I kidding.  The basic plot was probably written on a cocktail napkin at a Stalone party.  Good guys go into China to recover a secret file that was in a safe when a plane went down.  The file shows where the makings for nuclear bombs were buried by the Russians.  Why would these be in a plane flying over China?  Who cares.  Did I tell you Chuck Norris is in the movie too.  When Van Damme makes the mistake of killing one of the crew he opens the whole can of whoop ass.  Now it's time for the Expendables to hunt him down and make him pay.

How do you know who the good guys are?  They of course are the ones standing in the middle of everything killing bad guys by the dozens (literally) without hardly a scratch.  The best thing Expendables 2 does is poke fun at itself.  It doesn't take itself too seriously which could easily turn into boring hokum. Several laugh out loud moments.  My biggest complaint was at just under two hours the movie wasn't long enough.  With so many action stars there scenes had to be cut to less than I'd like to see.  I guess they are saving something for Expendables 3 which will probably be out next Summer.  They will have to knock these out quickly before Stalone or one of the other aging stars breaks a hip or something.

I show a little age with this one when Chuck Norris pops out to help the good guys and my 15 year old wonders who that is.  Seriously?

If you watch this trailer and think it looks like a fun time at the movie then you should make your way to the theater.  Lots of blood and things that go boom so it's not for everyone.  The wife won't bother seeing this one.  I think I'll go see it again.

Hope Springs

Hope Springs

Rating 5 out of 10

Had a date with the lovely bride.  Riding motorcycles to breakfast and then a movie.  With it being a date movie you can be assured nothing will blow up and most likely no one will get shot.  She picked Hope Springs and with the laughs in the trailer it looked like a good choice.  It had a top notch cast including Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones and Steve Carell.  It's a decent enough movie.  It's just not a comedy.  There are a few funny parts, but mostly this is a wrenching drama about an aging couple stuck in a loveless marriage.

Kay (Streep) and Arnold (leather faced Jones showing his age) have been married for 31 years.  Never a hot and heavy type of marriage it has gone stale in the past five years when the kids left the house.  They are sleeping in separate bedrooms and hardly touch.  Kay decides she is ready for things to change.  Arnold likes the slow boring life and just wants to watch the golf channel before he falls asleep at night.  Kay finds Dr. Feld (Carell) who specializes in marriage counseling in the small Maine town of Hope Springs.

The acting is so good it's painful to watch this couple try to work things out.  Carell is very good as he tries to help them work through things.  Sadly for me things get harder to watch when they start working things out.  Both lead actors are in their late 60's and even at my age it's like watching my parents make out or worse.  While nothing too graphic is shown it still goes a little farther than I was comfortable seeing.

Not a bad movie if you are in the mood for a relationship movie and not expecting a comedy.  I'd say wait and rent it.

Bourne Legacy

The Bourne Legacy

Rating 7 out of 10

I was never a big fan of the Bourne movies with Matt Damon.  I like Damon enough and felt he did a good job.  I just never felt the story was that great or believable and mostly the stupid shaky cam the director used.  Drove me nuts!  I am glad to say the new Bourne movie shy's away from most of the shaky cam.

The trio of Bourne movies either ran it's course or Matt Damon decided to move on.  This movie actually has very little to do with Bourne and just milks the name.  It does milk the name fairly well.  It seems Jason Bourne's success in averting the government agencies that were looking for him causes a domino effect in closing down all the other secret programs in progress.  Those evil CIA people along with another group so secret I can't remember the name has come up with a drug that turns spies into SUPER spies.  They think better, jump higher, shoot straighter, ect.  When they shut this program down it means killing all of these super spies to hide all the evidence.

This is where Aaron Cross comes in.  He is harder to kill than the others.  In the hands of a lesser actor this could have been a campy rip off movie.  Jeremy Renner does an exceptional job as the super spy.  He makes the movie.  When Cross realizes he has been targeted he goes on the search for the little blue pill.  Not THAT blue pill.  The one that he has to take every 24 hours to keep up his super strength.  That leads him to Dr Marta Shearing played by the lovely Rachel Weisz. Dr. Shearing was to be eliminated too so she and Aaron Cross are off to the races with the really bad guys not far behind.

As I said Renner and Weisz are very good.  There are enough action scenes to satisfy the Bourne fans.  My problem is it becomes obvious when you leave the theater it isn't so much a movie with a beginning, middle and end as it is a reboot setting you up for the next Bourne movie.

I enjoyed it even though I didn't care for the ending.  Slightly better than rental only because of the good action scenes.

My daughter when I told her what I thought of the movie pointed out that I had not liked that many movies this year.  I said I noticed that too.  Luckily I haven't hated many either.  Plenty of movies like this one that I enjoyed watching but can't highly recommend to my friends.  I'll keep hoping...

Total Recall

Total Recall

Rating 6.5 out of 10

I saw the original Total Recall back in 1990 staring Arnold Schwarzenegger.  I barely remembered it.  I remember it not being that good and wondering why they'd remake it.  I looked up my mini-review (yes I have been doing these since 1985) and found I gave the original a 5 rating.  I thought the plot was kinda stupid but the effects were good.

I would say the new version of Total Recall is much the same yet better.

In the future (not sure how far in the future) nuclear wars have left much of the world unlivable.  There are two areas left where big domes have been built.  The rich live in one dome and the poor workers live in the other.  The rich are the bad guys of course and they have an evil plot that centers around our star Doug Quaid (Colin Farrell).  In the future you can take a vacation just by sitting in a chair and letting your mind go places your body can't.  When Doug tries this things go bad wrong.  Turns out Doug was a super spy that had his mind wiped and a new life put in place.  Those evil bastards have put him in a small apartment with Kate Beckinsale as the loving affectionate wife.  How do I sign up for this??

Some of the plot makes sense.  Some does not.  The action is very good.  Colin Ferrell is in his top form hunky self.  Kate is always the price of the movie ticket.  If you want a good action movie and don't want to bother much with plot line you could do worse than this.  It's not much more than that.

The Big Year- rental

The Big Year

When this was released last year I remember it getting pretty good reviews although looking at rottentomatoes.com I see it only had a 39% approval rating.  A movie about three guys doing extreme bird watching?  Was I going to waste my hard earned peso's on this movie?  Not a chance!  Jack Black?  I can't stand him.  He is so obnoxious I want to give him a good slap.  Not crazy about Owen Wilson either.  How long has it been since Steve Martin was in a good movie?  A LONG time.

I accidentally recorded this on my DVR thinking it was a different movie.  Guess what?  It was actually a pretty good movie!  I know many will think I'm sniffing glue again.  No way can a movie about three grown men spending their time looking for birds be a good movie.  That's the hitch.  The bird watching does not really have much to do with the movie.  It could be stamp collecting or playing chess.  It really is a relationship movie.  That and showing how stupid men can be when the competitive nature kicks in! : >


Black plays Brad Harris.  He has always enjoyed bird watching and wants to take it to the next level.  There is a magazine that keeps a record of most birds seen in a year.  It's completely on the honor system.  No pictures or other verification needed.  Brad has a strained relationship with his gruff father who does not get his son wasting all this time looking at birds.  Steve Martin is Stu.  He is a retiring executive with a very understanding wife who befriends Brad.  The record for birds is held by the master, Kenny Bostick (Wilson) who is obsessed with birds and even more holding on to the record.  His wife is not understanding and their relationship is unraveling at a fast pace.  


As I said I normally don't care for Jack Black.  Here he is very constrained and likable as he really wants to mend his relationship with his dad.  


This movie won't win any awards but I enjoyed it.  I was touched at the end and felt the acting took what clearly is a goofy subject and made it watchable.  

The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises

I'm not going to put a rating on this movie.  There are MANY of you out there that LOVED the past two Dark Knight movies.  Some that think the second movie was one of the GREATEST of all time! I'm just not one of those people.  If you fall in the category above you should probably stop reading now and go to the movies.  If you loved the first two movies I feel sure you will like this one.  Three is not as good as two.  It will still surely make $100 million in it's first week in theaters even with the tragic events of opening night in Colorado.

I am not sure why I don't really care for these Batman movies.  Lots of action and those things going boom.  There are just too many things that if you strip off the glitz and show that just don't make sense. I know I'm too picky with some of these.  Wish I could be like my movie buddy Ted and love every movie I see.

The movie starts with a bang with our bad guy Bane (played by Tom Hardy who was great in Warrior but wasted here since you couldn't see his face for 99% of the movie) taking over a flight with some exciting action.  Later when you think about what was done you will understand it made no sense.

Christian Bale does a good Batman again this time.  I'm not sure I understand why one minute his is a cripple using a cane and the next he can beat up 20 bad guys and leap tall buildings.  The highlight of the movie for me was Anne Hathaway as Selina (Catwoman?  They never really say).  She is way better than I thought she would be.  She also shows she can be pretty hot in black leather when she's not skeleton skinny and a boys haircut.

One last gripe.  I'm over the superhero's having a high ranking official even with overwhelming evidence that the superhero is helping people (Batman, Spiderman...) is convinced he is a criminal and does everything in his power to bring him down.  Where did Commissioner Gordon go?  Did he die in the last one?

If you loved the movie and think I'm all wrong I'd love to hear from you.  I think the original Batman with Michael Keaton are far better than these movies.  This movie is right at three hours long and could easily be 45 minutes shorter.  I'm not sorry I saw it.  I'm just not going gaga like so many others.

Savages

Savages

Rating 4 out of 10

When I bought my ticket for Savages I wasn't expecting an elaborate plot line.  With Oliver Stone directing I didn't really even expect it to make sense.  I mostly expected a good action revenge movie with a high body count.  I guess for the most part I did get that.  With the good cast I just expected a little more.

Taylor Kitsch is turning into a pretty good action star even if he can't pick a good movie to be in (John Carter?).  Here he plays John.  He and his partner Ben are drug dealers in Souther California.  Not content to just sell to all the legal pot places they have out there they start selling on the illegal market.  As is always the case their stuff is always the best around.  True these two are drug dealers BUT there are good drug dealers. They are nice to everyone and even help the poor kids in Africa get fresh water in their off time.  They also share the same shapely blonde girlfriend (Blake Lively) who likes to get high alot and have sex with both guys.

When the mean Mexican drug cartel wants them to join up with them they politely say no.  The leader ( Salma Hayek- I'd watch her read the phone book) doesn't like people saying no.  She sends her head thug Lado (Benicio Del Toro- He used to be a good actor.  Here is is more of a crazy joke) to kidnap the blonde girlfriend.

That just makes John and Ben mad. With the help of corrupt DEA agent (John Travolta when he wasn't getting a massage) goes after the bad guys (gals).

The story just doesn't play out well.  A movie like this has to speed along and keep the action rolling.  Instead this one seems to drag you down the road where you know what is going to happen and wish it would just get here.  Throw in a really stupid ending that will make you say bad words and I'd say rent this one if you must.  It's a shame Oliver Stone wasted such a good cast.

People Like Us

People Like Us

Rating 6.5 out of 10

In a Summer movie season where most go boom or shoot web from their wrists this is a smaller "people" movie.  It won't change your life or even make you want to see it multiple times, but if you like movies like this you will be glad you saw it.  If nothing else it gets you in a cool air conditioned theater with a comfortable seat.  Overpriced popcorn is optional.

The movie is mostly well acted with a pretty good cast for this small of a movie.  Chris Pine plays Sam.  He is a mover and shaker smooth talking salesman type with the pretty girlfriend (Olivia Wilde) that he can't commit to. When his estranged dad passes away he doesn't even want to go to the funeral.  He was a bad father who had little to do with him ever.  Michelle Pfeiffer plays mom who is there try to defend dad and smooth the bad feelings between the two.

In the will the family lawyer hands Sam a shaving kit that turns out to be full of $100 bills.  Unfortunately there is a note in there too that says the money is for a sister he never knew he had.  Frankie was birthed by another woman and they never met even though they lived in the same city.  Frankie is played by Elizabeth Banks.  I'm not usually a fan of Liz but she does a good job here as the single mom just trying to get by.

Sam really does not want to give her the money.  He decides to meet her not telling who he is to decide if she is worthy.  Somehow he likes the shaggy headed smart mouth teenage son.  I don't know what it is about Hollywood and teenagers.  This father of five just wanted to give the kid a haircut!  Anyway...

You can probably guess most of the rest of the story but it doesn't matter.  It's a nice little story that is well acted and worth a look.

The Amazing Spider-Man

The Amazing Spider-Man


Rating 8 out of 10

When I heard they were doing a reboot of SpiderMan only ten years after the original I had to scratch my head. Spiderman III was only released five years ago and it wasn't very good.   Then I hear Spidey is being played by that skinny nerdy guy from the Social Network Andrew Garfield?  Just sounds like a bad idea.  Then I saw a few of the trailers with the giant lizard guy chasing people around NYC.  Okay, I'll give it a try.

I'm sure my comic book nerd brother inlaw can explain to me the big difference in the plots.  This story while similar to the 2002 SpiderMan movie is similar, but also is way different.  Emma Stone is far better than Kristen Dunst.  That does not really matter since they are different people.  MJ, the love of Peter Parkers life is not in this movie.  Now there is Gwen Stacy.  I have not hear of her.  Then again I haven't read a comic book since middle school.  I hear Gwen is also a character in the books.

This Spider-Man movie deals more with the childhood of Peter Parker and what happened to his parents.  Explains what his dad was working on with another scientist before dad dropped Pete off with Uncle Ben and Aunt Mae.  The movie pace drags a bit here as we are being told a story we have mostly heard before.

Once he figures out his powers and stitches his suit the action starts.  The bad guy is a big lizard guy that is out to turn everyone in to lizards like him.  The big star of this movie is the effects.  Clearly things have improved a good bit in ten years.  They were quite impressive in the 2D version we saw (I don't like 3D at all!).

This is a good summer movie that is fun to watch and lots of things go boom and miles of spider webs are spun.  I wouldn't say it's better than the first one, but it's better than most of what is out there now.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Rating 5 out of 10

Okay, no one see's the title of this movie and expects (or even hopes) this will be a great movie.  At best you hope it's not too cheesy and the action scenes are good.  I admit I was intrigued at the thought of one of our great presidents wielding a silver coated ax killing vampires and delivering karate kicks like Jackie Chan.  I went in with low expectations and it still fell slightly below the bar.

The story starts when Abe was a small child.  He was a good kid who loves his mother.  When he see's a vampire kill Mom he swears he will make all vampires pay.  When he gets older he hooks up with a man who promises to make him the best vampire killer ever.  He also learns vampires are everywhere in every major US city.  For some reason they are worse in Springfield, Illinois.

Abe mostly gets into politics so he can keep tabs on the bloodsuckers.  The vampires are big into slavery.  They can use the slaves to work a year or two then have them for lunch, literally.  So when the Civil War breaks out the vampires on the side of the South.  In fact in some of the final big battles it was all vampires voting for the South.  Luckily the good guys have Abe and his ax on their side!

The effects are good at times, cheesy most of the time.  The acting is ok for mostly unknown actors.  In fact one of my neighbors has a part in the move of one of the Senators helping Abe get his political start.  It was interesting seeing him pop in there.

This would be an interesting tongue in cheek rental in a few months when it hits the shelves (are there any video shelves left?).  Don't pay full price for the movie.

Brave

Brave

Rating 5.5 out of 10

I have been a big Pixar fan from the start.  Loved nearly every movie they have released (Cars II?).  From the first trailer released I was looking forward to this movie.  With a Pixar film you know you are going to get incredible visuals.  Usually have characters you fall in love with and a cute story you can root for.  What I really like is their movies are for the whole family.  It's just as entertaining for the parents as it is for the small kids.

Sadly Brave is little of that.  While this movie probably deserves better than a 5.5 rating I just expected so much more that it is a let down.  The biggest star of the movie is the cool red hair attached to our star, the young princess.  She is cute enough and likable enough but for the life of me I can't remember what her name (or any other character in the movie) is.  The story is probably pretty good for the ten and under crowd.  It had the wife and myself checking our watches.

In Brave there is a kingdom that has been split into four areas.  Our redhead's father is the King of it all.   Her mom desperately wants a prissy girly girl to be the next queen.  Instead she is very much the tomboy that prefers to riding horses and shooting arrows to dressing up and fine china.

When Mom throws a big party with the son's of the other kingdoms battling it out for her hand in marriage Red want's none of that.  She runs away to the forrest and finds a witch who creates a magic potion to change her mom.  The potion goes wrong and mom is in a bad way.  Can't say much more than that without giving spoilers other than to say it's up to Red to save the day.

Not a bad movie.  Just aimed at the much younger crowd.  Kiddos will love it.  Parents will be bored.

 : <

Calico Joe- Book

Calico Joe by John Grisham

Rating 8 out of 10

I have been a fan of Grisham's books since the beginning with mixed results.  Some I really liked ( The Firm, Painted House, the Appeal, the Summons, the Pelican Brief, the Rainmaker and Playing for Pizza to name a few) and some I did not ( The Testament, the Brethren, Skipping Christmas and most of his newer books).  I would put Calico Joe on the books I liked list.

The book parallels the lives of a would be great baseball player for the Chicago Cubs and a young boy who idolizes him while is own very abusive father is a major league pitcher for the New York Mets.  Joe Castle (from the small Arkansas town of Calico Rock thus the nickname of Calico Joe) starts is baseball career is historic fashion that Summer of 1973 when it is tragically cut short.

This is a book that is hard to describe without giving spoilers.  You don't have to be a baseball fan to enjoy this book, but I would say it helps.  The book is a little slow to start and some of the baseball stories are a little far fetched (no rookie is going to hit 20 home runs in his first 50 at bats).  The book does wrap up all the loose ends and has an ending I think most all will be happy with.

It's not a very long book and is a quick read.  If you like Grisham books in general I don't think you'll be disappointed here.

Prometheus

Prometheus


Rating 5 out of 10

I am a huge fan of the first Alien movie by Prometheus director Ridley Scott.  In my book it's a classic as is Aliens.  We don't have to talk about three and four.  Scott has swore to high heaven Prometheus is not a prequel to Alien and after viewing I'd say he's probably right.  But he threw in enough Alien things and made it similar enough to get the fans into the theater seats.  Prometheus definitely does not explain Alien.  In fact it goes two hours without explaining much of anything.  It leaves you with more questions than answers.

The movie starts with our star Elizabeth Shaw (played all by Noomi Rapace- the original and best Girl with Dragon Tattoo) and her partner finding paintings on a wall somewhere from cave man days that match paintings other other walls around the world that somehow proves there is another planet way out there that has beings that created humans on Earth.  Hollywood always seems to go out of their way to try to prove there is no God and this movie bends over backward trying.

When a Ted Turner type old guy on his death bed funds this zillion dollar trip to that planet he is hoping since these beings created us they can show him how to live forever.  Problem is when they get to the planet things are not as he hoped.  Hard to say much more than that without giving spoilers.  Things go bad right away.  Not sure I get the "if we leave now there may not be an Earth to go back to" line in the movie.  That along with about a hundred others.

Still the movie is visually fun to look at (even in the 2D I saw) and acting is very good.  Charlize Theron shows us for the second time this month she can be very good in an average movie (looks good too).  Michael Fassbender (how did Hollywood not get him to change his name?) is great as the robot droid guy that it seems will be common thing in 75 short years.

It's after you leave the theater and try to make sense of what you just saw when the problems start.  My rating dropped 1.5 points from yesterday.  If this movie looks like something you want to see I'd recommend a theater viewing rather than small screen dvd.  It's worth a watch just set the bar lower than I did.

If you have seen it and would like to discuss I'd love to hear from you.  You can email me or add comments in the section here.