Movie Review: Avatar

As much as I hate to admit this...I really enjoyed Avatar. I am usually so disappointed by movie as hyped as this one was, but I am pleased to be wrong in this case. As everyone knows, the camera work and special effects are absolutely amazing. I could probably watch the entire movie with no sound, that's how good the visuals are. Okay, maybe not the WHOLE movie...it was almost 3 hours long. Now for my downside. First, the acting. I think it could have been much better. Sam Worthington(Terminator Salvation) plays the lead role, Jake Sully, and to be honest, he was less than believable in this role. He just didn't work for me, way to bland an actor for such an intense role. This goes for almost every actor in the movie. Stephen Lang(Men Who Stare At Goats, Public enemies) plays the antagonist, Col. Quaritch. He is such an "over the top" character, in my opinion. Just too cartoonish for my taste, but maybe that was on purpose. Basically, it just keeps going on this route as far as the acting goes. As for the story as a whole, it was pretty good. I wish there was more background information for the story, mainly on the land, like why it glows when touched? All in all, it is well worth a watch (As if anyone HASN'T already seen it) but if you haven't, check it out.


Rating: 4 1/2 stars

Movie Review: Zombieland

I will start by saying this...I do not like zombie movies. The only ones I'd say are even decent are Shaun of the Dead and Resident Evil. With that said, I actually enjoyed Zombieland, I think Woody Harrleson and Jesse Eisenberg do a great job and are quite funny. It's possible I appreciate the comical "zombie" flick more than a serious one, but either way, I liked it, it made me laugh. I was entertained throughout and that's really what's important. Columbus (Eisenberg) has an entire set of rules that helps him stay alive in this so called "zombieland" and I guess they work because he is one of five people yet to be killed or turned into a zombie. Tallahassee(Harrelson) is hysterical, with his immense desire for a "twinkie" and the utter joy he takes in dispatching the "undead." Bill Murray has a cameo as well and does a pretty good job of playing himself. Witchita(Emma Stone) and Little Rock(Abigail Breslin) round out the cast, as the other two survivors of the zombie apocalypse. Breslin usually annoys the shit out of me, but she did not do so in this movie (must be that she is older now). Eventually all four characters find each other and make their own little "normal family". All in all its a good movie and worth a watch. I know, I know, I've been saying that a lot lately. What can I say, I have finally gone on a stretch of multiple good movies...And in the words of Tallahassee "nut up or shut up" and watch this movie.

Rating: 3 3/4

Season Review: Spartacus: Blood and Sand

If you never turned on the Starz original series, you are missing out. I will admit that when I did a review on the first episode I was less than excited. I thought it was an "okay" show, but nothing spectacular. Oh man did it get better! More sex and violence than any other show I've ever seen and that includes True Blood, The Tudors, Rome, The Sopranos, or any other show that has been on TV and known for its "mature" thematic elements. Every episode drew you more and more into the story. Leaving you rooting for the "Champion of Capua" and wishing for the downfall of Batiatus(John Hannah). Now I was hooked on the show probably by the 2nd or 3rd episode, but WOW! The season finale made that hook permanent. It is possibly the greatest episode of a TV show I have ever seen, absolutely amazing, and more blood and guts than you can possibly imagine. Now I don't recommend you watch the season finale without seeing the rest of the season first, but, if you refuse to watch it all, just watch the finale, you will not be disappointed.

UPDATE: due to the series star Andy Whitfield being treated for lymphoma, Starz has decided to do a 6 part prequel that will highlight the rise of the house of Batiatus, leading up to the days when Spartacus makes his first appearance at the gladiator school.


Rating: 5 STARS

Movie Review: Daybreakers

The next stage in the evolution of the vampire movie is upon us. In this movie starring Ethan Hawke(Training Day, Before Sunrise, Taking Lives), Willem Defoe (Spiderman, Shadow of a Vampire), and Sam Neil (Jurassic Park, Merlin, The Tudors), the vampires are the main population and the humans are the ones being hunted and on the brink of extinction. It is your regular vampire movie, except backwards, as we see all the everyday societal functions (police, bus drivers, students, vagrants, government officials, etc.) all being vampires. The vampires basically farm the humans they catch for blood to feed the growing population of vamps. Edward (Hawke) is a human sympathizer as he never wanted to be turned into a vampire in the first place. He is a hematologist searching for a blood alternative in hopes that the need to hunt humans will stop. Although he doesn't find the blood substitute, he does stumble across a cure. A way for a vampire to become human again. The question is, is it in time to save the human race before its extermination? Well worth a watch. It did not get good reviews so I was skeptical, but as usual, I completely disagree with the critics. So check this movie out.

Rating: 4 stars

Movie Review: Legion

Paul Bettany stars as the Archangel Michael who falls from heaven, clipping his wings, in order to save humanity from God's wrath. I must say, going into the movie I was expecting to see angels vs. demons, not angels vs. angels. It is an unusual portrayal of angels, how often do we think of them as evil (other than Lucifer, of course). In this film, hundreds of thousands of angels have descended from heaven, possessing the weak minded humans and turning them into killing machines. Michael must protect the unborn child of Charlie (Adrianne Palicki). This child is the key to saving humanity. Michael does his best to try and protect the baby and the other archangel Gabriel does his best to destroy it. The movie was entertaining, it's no The Prophecy, but good enough to keep you entertained. Just remember it's not heaven vs. hell, it's heaven vs. earth.

Rating: 3 1/2 stars

Movie Review: Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

The late Heath Ledger's last movie. That alone is enough to see it. Whether you liked him as an actor or not, he was part of some great movies over his short career (10 Things I Hate About You, A Knight's Tale, Dark Knight). In Parnassus Ledger plays one of three Tony's. The others are played by Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Ferrell, who all volunteered to fill in for Ledger after his passing. This movie was not the best I had ever seen, but it kept my interest and anyone who knows me knows how hard that is to do. As for weirdness, this movie gets a 10, no question. As you can imagine (no pun intended) the "imaginarium" depicted in this film is a very strange and unusual place where the dream of whomever enters comes to life. The trick being that in this dream world, Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) and Mr. Nick "The Devil" (Tom Waits) are fighting over the souls of those who enter the imaginarium. This movie is basically one big acid trip, but in a good way. It's entertaining and worth a watch if for nothing more than some great special fx, so check it out.

Rating: 3 1/2 stars

Movie Review: Twilight: New Moon

Team Edward or Team Jacob? Who the hell cares, other than teenage girls? The truth is that I will probably watch all of these movies because they are "vampire movies" and I use the term loosely, very loosely. I would more likely just say that these movies are really just a regular teen drama that happens to have vampires and werewolves in it. But again, I use those terms loosely. Vampires do not twinkle in the sunlight, they burn, and werewolves, well, they just looked horrible. As a whole this sequel was ten times worse than the original. It was too long, and way too boring. I remember mentioning in class how little I thought of this movie and how I was unleashed upon by some of the young ladies in the class. "OMG, it was so amazing." "Jacob and Edward are so hot!" Good to know. I am not a young girl, so I tend to disagree. Truth is, if you want a sappy teen drama then this movie is for you. If you want a vampire movie, look elsewhere. It's that simple.

Rating: 1 1/2 stars

Movie Review: Surrogates

I will open this review by asking a question. Did you enjoy I, Robot? If your answer is yes, then you will probably enjoy this movie. I found Surrogates to basically be a sequel to I, Robot. This may be due to the fact that in both movies, the "robots" were created by a doctor played by the same actor (James Cromwell). They are not actually the same character so this is not really a sequel, but it basically has the same plot, just takes place in an even lazier society than in I, Robot. This movie stars Bruce Willis as our protagonist, Tom Greer. He is a cop trying to solve a string of murders, yes it is the usual "who done it" movie. Basically people have become completely isolated and never leave the safety of their homes. They instead use surrogate robots to walk the streets in their place. They can make these surrogates look any way they please, and live vicariously through them using some form of virtual reality.
Someone has an advanced weapon that is being used to kill surrogates, Greer's surrogate is destroyed and he must walk the streets "for real" for the first time in years to find out who is killing the surrogates and why.
I really viewed this movie as a lesser version of I, Robot. With that said, Surrogates isn't the best movie I've ever seen, but its not the worst either. If you need your fix of Sci-Fi action/thrills, this will do the job just fine.

Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Movie Review: Adam

Adam, played by Hugh Dancy(Confessions of a Shopoholic, Basic Instinct 2), is a young man hindered by Asperger's Syndrome. It is a social disorder which makes Adam's interactions with other people to be quite difficult. Early on in the movie he meets Beth(Rose Byrne) who finds Adam to be endearing regardless of his mental state. They begin a relationship and although it is not a conventional one, love blossoms anyway. There is plenty of humor and drama that goes along with this story. I thoroughly enjoyed the first 3/4 of this movie, the last 1/4 was less than stellar in my opinion. Is it worth a watch? Without question. It is a very emotional and impactful film, so watch and enjoy. Just don't say I didn't warn you about the end of it.


Rating: 5 of 5 stars for the first 3/4 of the movie, then 2 of 5 for the last 1/4, so in total it gets
3.5 of 5 stars.

Movie Review: 500 Days of Summer

I don't know how to describe this movie to be honest. It is part romantic comedy, dark comedy, and drama. I'll say is a romantic dramedy, if that makes sense. It stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt(3rd Rock From the Sun, Brick, The Lookout) and Zooey Deschanel(Yes Man, The Happening, Elf) as two people who meet at work and start a "relationship" (when you see the movie you'll understand why that is in quotes). Levitt plays Tom Hansen, a believer in "the one" or soul mate, while Deschanel plays Summer, a complete cynic when it comes to love and relationships. We all know that opposites attract and that is exactly what happens here. The movie is all about the ups and downs of their relationship, it jumps back and forth through time (through the 500 days of Summer) so it may be a little hard for some people to follow. This movie will truly connect with anyone who has ever gone through a "what the fuck" break-up (if you don't know what a "what the fuck" break-up is you probably haven't gone through one). Anyway, I liked the movie, I would definitely suggest watching it. Its not very often that I connect with a movie and with this one I did. I felt for the protagonist and could put myself in his shoes. I love how this film ends (I'm not going to tell you how it ends so just watch it if you want to know). All in all, it was well done, so go watch it.


Rating: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Movie Review: Halloween 2

This is the sequal to the Rob Zombie remake of the original horror classic, Halloween. I know that there are a lot of people who think Zombie has an amazing and original vision in all of his work, but, most of the time I just don't see it. I liked his version of the first movie, but this one, it just had little to no story. It was basically just two hours of gratuitous violence, half of which served no purpose to "the story." It honestly felt like I was watching one of those Faces of Death movies. I have nothing against a "slasher movie," nothing at all, but you have to give me something other than blood and guts. Two hours of slaying is just too much when there isn't an enticing story to go along with it.

The little story that the movie did have made absolutely no sense at all. I was trying really hard to follow it, no offense, but, I shouldn't have to try so hard to follow the storyline of a "slasher movie."

The acting was average(at best). Special effects were decent enough. The killings looked pretty gruesome, which is a good thing considering the type of movie it is.

Last thing I will mention is how annoyed I am at how often and blatantly we see Michael Myers's(Tyler Mane) face. In the original films we never see him without the mask on, which gave those movies more mystery and higher fear factors because you didn't know what was behind the mask. It also drove the audience to want to know, which heightens our intrigue. Zombie lost this, and it was a shame.

Rating: 2 Stars

Spartacus: Blood and Sand Ep1 Review

This one is going to be short and sweet. I liked the show, I thought it could be better, but it was entertaining enough. I was really expecting a show similar to HBO's Rome, which it really is not. If I had to compare it, I would say it is a mix between Gladiator and 300. It has a very similar storyline to Gladiator and the special effects are the same type used in movies like 300 and Sin City. Almost the entire show is shot in front of a blue screen, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but again, I was expecting a show like Rome with huge gorgeous sets. So to me, all the SE kind of took away from the show. I will still watch the coming episodes because I did enjoy the story of it and I am a fan of shows and movies of that era. Check it out if you like those kinds of shows. Lastly, Lucy Lawless (Xena) is in the cast as well as John Hannah (The Mummy). This was a surprise to me because I really wasn't expecting to see anyone I recognized.


Rating: 3 1/2

Movie Review: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

It's not Pixar, it's not Dreamworks, it's Sony Pictures Animation. To be honest, I just always assumed all animated movies were either Pixar or Dreamworks...who knew? This isn't even Sony's first endeavor into animation (Open Season, Surf's Up, Monster House). It is, however, their best. Surf's Up was good, but I liked this one a little bit more. It had a decent story, not very believable, but who cares about believable stories in a cartoon movie? More importantly this movie actually gave me some laughs. The characters were enjoyable and there was even a talking monkey! Having a talking monkey is always a good idea.

Mr. T had a pretty big part, playing the police officer of the town, he was funny, and it was good to see him working in something other than a Worlds of Warcraft commercial. Other voices included Bill Hader(Adventureland, Forgetting Sarah Marshall), Anna Faris(Scary Movie, Just Friends), Bruce Campbell(Evil Dead, Burn Notice), and Neil Patrick Harris(you know who he is!).

So check it. It's a cute movie, good for the whole family, and don't forget...talking monkey! (voiced by Harris)

PS - This is the company that will be bringing us the upcoming movie, The Smurfs(2011).

Rating: 3 Stars

Movie Review: Extract

Mike Judge, the creator of Beavis and Butthead, Office Space, and King of the Hill, wrote and directed this film, Extract, about Joel (Jason Bateman), the owner of extract (as in vanilla) company. Basically, Joel is a middle aged man who's wife stopped putting out, his company is doing decent but is stressful, and he is being sued by an employee who got his testicles blown off while on the job (not as funny as it should have been). Joel's best friend (Ben Affleck) talks him into doing drugs which causes him to make a few bad decisions, leading his wife to cheat on him, and his business to go south.

Mila Kunis plays a con artist grifter. She is the one who talks the "testicularlly challenged" employee to sue the company, pretending to like him in hopes of stealing the money from his settlement. Eventually she gets caught and she feels bad, blah blah blah. Her role really was just pointless (as was most other characters)

All in all the movie was boring and seemed way longer than it should have been. I am a fan of Mike Judge, but this movie was no Office Space. The only bright spot in the movie was moronic gigolo played by Dustin Milligan, he was kinda funny. I think I laughed twice during the movie, both times at his character. I would not recommend seeing this movie, it would be a waste of your time. If you haven't seen Office Space, just watch that instead, hell even if you have seen it, watch it again. Plus Ben Affleck isn't in Office Space which is always a plus.

Rating: 1 star