Pompeii

Pompeii

Rating 7 out of 10

Before this movie I had heard of Pompeii and knew they had a bad day with a volcano.  That was about it.  I knew nothing else about it.  When it happened or even where it was.  Turns out Pompeii was a small town in South Italy built just outside Mount Vesuvius.  It was destroyed in 79 AD

The movie Pompeii is part Gladiator, part Romeo and Juliet and part 80s disaster movie.  Milo (Game of Thrones Kit Harington) as a child watches the evil Roman soldiers led by Corvus (Keifer Sutherland playing a bad guy) slaughter his whole village to set and example to other villages what happens if you defy Rome.  He becomes a slave and eventually becomes a gladiator killing others for the enjoyment of Romans.  He catches the eye of the local princess (Emily Browning) when he helps with her favorite horse.  Here we get the forbidden love.  We know there is little time before the volcano blows.

This movie is no Gladiator or even close.  I was entertained.  The acting is pretty good.  The scenes where the volcano does blow and destroys everything is quite impressive.  The action and fight scenes are pretty good.

You won't stand in line to buy the dvd but if you like these type movies I think you'll be mildly entertained.  I was.

About Last Night

About Last Night

Rating 5 out of 10

This February seems to be the month of remaking classic movies of the 80s.  First was RoboCop and now About Last Night along with Endless Love which I will probably skip.  I am a big fan of the 1986 version of About Last Night with Rob Lowe and Demi Moore.  It is one of my favorite films of that era.  It was a sweet and comical movie that had nice back up's with Jim Belushi and Elizabeth Perkins. It was a movie about relationships.   If you haven't seen this version I highly recommend it.  You can borrow my dvd if you promise to bring it back.

This new version is clearly very different.  Kevin Hart is hot right now and seems to be in every movie released.  He is very funny and when he finally gets that one great movie like Eddie Murphy did in 48 Hrs and Beverly Hills Cop he will zoom to that next level.  I don't believe this is the movie to do that.

Bernie (Hart) is a one night stand playboy in Los Angeles that is proud of his status.  He cruises the bars looking for his next sexual conquest.  His best friend and work partner is Danny (Michael Ealy) is the nice guy who is still nursing a broken heart from a breakup a year earlier.   Bernies latest conquest is Joan (Regina Hall) a foul mouthed wild child that matches Bernie for raunch.  With Bernie and Joan dating they set up Danny with Joan's roommate and best friend Debbie (the lovely Joy Bryant) and they really hit it off.  They become the loving couple moving in together while Bernie and Joy are on again/off again.

When the first version was sweet and comical with this version they went with raunch, foul language and near port standard sex.  Hint:  Don't go see this movie with your teenage child.  After 15 minutes my wife couldn't handle being in the theater with my teenage son and left.  This movie could go for soft porn and they leave little for the imagination .  Both male and females discuss oral sex in very descriptive terms.  Clearly they were going for the younger audience and not the fans of the original.

Some of it works.  When Hart is funny he is very funny.  Hall has her moments too.  For me the movie goes too much to raunch for their comedy instead of good writing.  A little raunch can be funny and good.  But when you base your whole movie on it you lose the edge and it just becomes irritating.

I would wait to rent this one.

RoboCop

RoboCop

Rating 5 out of 10

I was a fan of the original RoboCop.  Hard to believe it was 25 years ago.  Was looking forward to seeing this movie even though I set the bar low in expectations.  Turns out it was needed.  This movie is mildly entertaining and on a cold icy/snowy day that was about all that was needed.

My first question with this version is the choice of lead actor.  Joel Kinnaman is mostly known as the skinny chain smoking cop on the tv show The Killing.  He is a good character actor but not nearly the chops needed for this action movie.

The movie begins in the year 2028.  We now have the ability to have robot cops and soldiers all over the world.  Everywhere but the US where they have been banned.  Politicians are worried that a robot has no morals or humanity.  For the huge corporation OmniCorp getting the robots into the States would mean Billion$.  To skirt around the law they come up with the idea of a robot with a human inside.  In comes Alex Murphy (Kinnaman).  One of the few honest cops in Detroit that is this close to taking down a bug crime lord.  When he gets too close and a car bomb nearly kills him he becomes the new RoboCop.

The movie didn't have as much action as I expected/wanted.  Sadly the special effects were not much if any better than the original so long ago.  Much of the movie is the talking of the politics of what all is going on.  There are some good actors involved.  Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton, Gary Oldman and the lovely Abbie Cornish.  I just wish they had put a little more effort into the story.

This will make a decent rental but would probably grab the old version first.

Her

Her

Rating 4 out of 10

There are several movies released every year that push the envelope.  They are way different than other movies released.  Usually small budget films with a very different outlook on life. I generally don't care for these strange movies and I'm usually pretty good at avoiding them.  As I have said in the past if a movie rates above 90% on rottentomatoes.com it's a sign I want to avoid it.  Movie reviewers as a whole are strange birds and when that many agree on a movie you probably want to avoid it.   Normally I would not have bothered with this movie.  I had a couple free passes to a nearby Regal theater and Rocky wanted to see it.

The movie starts off kinda interesting.  Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) several years in the future is trying to get over a divorce a year before.  He gets a new operating system for his computer that is said to have artificial intelligence.  Kind of like Suri on steroids.  The new operating system, Samatha, voiced by Scarlett Johansson becomes his best friend.  He talks to her night and day via a strange little earpiece.  It's kinda cute how the computer learns and how they get along.  There is a bit of witty dialog.

Then it turns reaaaallly strange.  Theodore and Samantha turns into a couple.  They do some really nasty phone sex that creeped me out.  Theodore begins to tell everyone his new girlfriend is his OS and no one bats an eye.  It is really creepy when Samantha complains to Theodore that they never have sex anymore.

The movie is just over two hours in length and seemed much longer.  Can't blame the cast.  Besides Joaquin and Scarlett there is Amy Adams, Rooney Mara and Olivia Wilde.  It's just way to strange for me.

I, Frankenstein

I, Frankenstein

Rating 7 out of 10

When I saw the trailer for this movie I thought it looked interesting.  I generally am drawn to movies like this.  Then I saw the absolutely horrible reviews across the board.  I also realized the star was Aaron Eckhart.  Whenever I see him in a movie I usually wonder how many A-list actors said no before it finally got to him.  He is not a bad actor just generally doesn't have the stones to carry a film.    So going into the theater on this freezing Saturday afternoon with my movie buddy Ted who is up for ANY movie expectations were set very low.

I'm glad to say I was pleasantly surprised.  I like most of the Underworld movies.  I would say if you liked any of the Underworld movies you will feel you got your moneys worth with this one.  I, Frankenstein was made by the same people that made the Underworld movies.

In I, Frankenstein we start 200 years in the past when Dr. Frankenstein was making history creating a man out of body parts of five different bodies and figuring out how to bring it to life.  When some demons try to capture him he is saved by a couple angelic gargoyles where he is then taken to their castle and told the story.  Seems the devil put 666 demons on earth to cause havoc and lucky for us humans heaven sent down the very cool flying gargoyles to kill these demons and protect them.  The demons want Frankenstein as he is the key to bringing a soul-less body to life thus a carrying case for all the evil souls of the demons the gargoyles had killed already.  If this happens the evil demons can take over the world and end all for humankind.   Yes it's based on a true story.  : >

The action and effects are pretty good.  The movie moved on at a good pace and I was entertained.  If you watch the trailer and find it appealing I think you will enjoy it to.  It's not for everyone.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Rating 8 out of 10

Jack Ryan, you may or may not know is a long running character in the books written by Tom Clancy.  Over the years Ryan has been played by a who's who of actors in movies made from other Clancy films.  Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck and now Chris Pine shows us how it all began.

Clancy made his hay writing books that showed the Russians were our number one enemy and lost some steam when the cold war ended.  Here the Ruskies are back and determine to bring the US to our knees.  This time through the financial services.

The movie starts with 9/11 and then Ryan's rough tour of duty in Afghanistan.  He is drafted into the CIA where his analyst intellect come in handy.  When Ryan uncovers a Russian plot to undermine the US economy.

The action is good.  Action is good.  Kevin Costner is good as the old CIA mentor.  Keira Knightly plays the love interest.

Usually January is a dumping ground for really bad movies.  I enjoyed this movie.

Ride Along

Ride Along

Rating 5 out of 10

Kevin Hart is a funny guy.  He is now what Eddie Murphy was as a young man.  Very funny and full of energy.  The world is his oyster.  The problem is he is picking his movies now like the older less wiser Murphy.  Hart was very funny in the underrated movie Think Like a Man.  He is also funny at times in Ride Along.  Sadly he has to work way too hard to get most of those laughs.

Hart plays a Atlanta high school security guard with aspirations of someday becoming a police detective.  He wants to marry his way too hot for him girlfriend Angela (Tika Sumpter) but needs the approval of her tough as nails actual police detective (Ice Cube).  The brother has no respect for him and asks him to go on the "ride along" in the rough streets of ATL so he can ridicule him and persuade him from marrying his sister.

There is a side story of a years long investigation of an unseen evil arms dealer that is coming to an head on the one night of the ride along.  There are some funny parts and it is fun seeing the many parts of downtown Atlanta used in filming this movie.

I was mildly entertained.  Just keep your expectations low walking into the theater.