Whatever Works - B+ (Gotta Rent)
When you take an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm and inject it into a Woody Allen film, Whatever Works is the byproduct. Larry David and Woody Allen combine to make an unconventional romantic comedy where the most unlikely of couples emerge in Larry David and Evan Rachel Wood. David's character, who is a certified genius, takes in the naive Wood whom to say is far less intelligent would be a huge understatement. The contrast between Wood's character with a heart of gold and the ever cynical and very self-absorbed character of Larry David makes for some hilarious banter. Wood does this thing throughout the film where he talks to the audience when everyone around him can’t see who he talking to, as proof of his “genius”. It gets a little slow at times and the direction of the film is not always clear. That being said if you like CYE or Woody Allen in general then you'll definitely like this film.
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs - A- (Gotta Own for kids, Rent for everyone else)
The third installment of the Ice Age series is perhaps its best one yet. All of the original characters return (including all the original voices) as well as some very funny new ones. The animation is top notch and on par with some of Pixar greats. Dawn of the Dinosaurs is definitely better than the second film (which wasn't nearly as good as the first one) and as good as if not better than the one that started it all. The best parts of the movie involve Scratte, the squirrel trying desperately to get his nut. This time he's found a lady friend and the 2 of them lead to all sorts of laughs. It's better than most of the Dreamworks movies and is one of the best non-Pixar animated films of 2009. Ice Age 3 is funny and entertaining both for children and adults and is well worth the rent.
The Orphan - A- (Gotta Rent)
There is something about creepy little children in movies that is far scarier than any masked villain with a machete. Esther, an adopted Russian girl, is sweet, shy, a talented artist and pianist, oh and also just a little mentally unstable. When she is adopted by a family that recently experienced a tragedy during childbirth, it seems as if she has finally found a family and a place to call home. That is until she tries to destroy it. She is far more sadistic than even the devil child Damien from The Omen. The casting is great, with Peter Sarsgaard playing the easily manipulated father and Vera Farmiga playing the mother who knows the truth behind her new daughter. This thriller will keep you watching until the finale, which is a total shocker that you won't see coming. The Orphan is the perfect rental for Halloween.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
DVD Release Reviews for October 20th
The Tournament - B+ (Gotta Rent)
The Tournament is a straight to DVD, non-stop action packed movie starring Ving Rhames and Robert Carlyle. The plot is very similar to Death Race or The Condemned where a group of assassins all compete in a last-man standing, winner takes all death match. The main difference between this and the others is the prize is purely monetary, not their own freedom, like most of the others. Surprisingly, I found it to be quite entertaining and compelling from start to finish. The plot was nothing special, but the action was very realistic and not over the top (like Punisher: War Zone, or Crank 2) and the assassins were interesting enough to keep your keep your attention. Rhames is fun to watch as the “ultimate assassin” and Carlyle’s role as a priest in the wrong place at the wrong time is also well cast. Its main downfall is the really cheesy lines that the writing provided the actors and it really prevents the film from being on par with some of the really good actions films. That being said it’s entertaining enough to be worth a rent.
Transformers 2 - B- (Gotta Rent)
Transformers 2 shares quite a bit with Spider-Man 3 as both were huge box office successes, both had huge expectations from their predecessors, and both are overall a disappointment. The good part of the movie was what Michael Bay is known for, very expensive action scenes that blow up everything in sight (and most things out of sight). One scene in particular is one of the coolest fight scenes I’ve seen when Optimus Prime takes on 3 Decepticons at the same time. However, everything else that matters in a movie, such as the story, dialogue, and even length of the movie are all done very poorly. There is an entire half hour long scene that should have been removed, as with the majority of the scenes with the parents. The balance of action vs. comedy in the first one was perfect, but in this Bay tried way too hard to make it funnier than it was. That being said it’s the ultimate dream movie for someone with a Blu-Ray player and an HDTV as the action scenes are what HD was made for. It’s not as good as the first by a long-shot, but overall it’s a fun movie to experience.
Maiden Heist - A- (Gotta Rent)
Maiden Heist takes the common storyline of an art heist and adds a little bit of The Odd Couple. Whereas most other heist movies like the Ocean trilogy focuses more on the thieves trying to make a quick buck, this one is about 3 older security guards trying to hold onto the art they guarded for so long. The 3 main characters’ heart and love for the art must overcome their pure stupidity when it comes to crime. It’s funny, clever and a refreshing change from the normal bank job films where professionals plan out these elaborate schemes to rob millions of dollars of cash and jewels. The casting is fantastic with Morgan Freeman, Christopher Walken and William H. Macy all playing their roles as normal senior citizens turned felons with ease. Don’t expect lots of action or fast cars like most heist movies, but it’s great nonetheless and well worth a rent.
The Tournament is a straight to DVD, non-stop action packed movie starring Ving Rhames and Robert Carlyle. The plot is very similar to Death Race or The Condemned where a group of assassins all compete in a last-man standing, winner takes all death match. The main difference between this and the others is the prize is purely monetary, not their own freedom, like most of the others. Surprisingly, I found it to be quite entertaining and compelling from start to finish. The plot was nothing special, but the action was very realistic and not over the top (like Punisher: War Zone, or Crank 2) and the assassins were interesting enough to keep your keep your attention. Rhames is fun to watch as the “ultimate assassin” and Carlyle’s role as a priest in the wrong place at the wrong time is also well cast. Its main downfall is the really cheesy lines that the writing provided the actors and it really prevents the film from being on par with some of the really good actions films. That being said it’s entertaining enough to be worth a rent.
Transformers 2 - B- (Gotta Rent)
Transformers 2 shares quite a bit with Spider-Man 3 as both were huge box office successes, both had huge expectations from their predecessors, and both are overall a disappointment. The good part of the movie was what Michael Bay is known for, very expensive action scenes that blow up everything in sight (and most things out of sight). One scene in particular is one of the coolest fight scenes I’ve seen when Optimus Prime takes on 3 Decepticons at the same time. However, everything else that matters in a movie, such as the story, dialogue, and even length of the movie are all done very poorly. There is an entire half hour long scene that should have been removed, as with the majority of the scenes with the parents. The balance of action vs. comedy in the first one was perfect, but in this Bay tried way too hard to make it funnier than it was. That being said it’s the ultimate dream movie for someone with a Blu-Ray player and an HDTV as the action scenes are what HD was made for. It’s not as good as the first by a long-shot, but overall it’s a fun movie to experience.
Maiden Heist - A- (Gotta Rent)
Maiden Heist takes the common storyline of an art heist and adds a little bit of The Odd Couple. Whereas most other heist movies like the Ocean trilogy focuses more on the thieves trying to make a quick buck, this one is about 3 older security guards trying to hold onto the art they guarded for so long. The 3 main characters’ heart and love for the art must overcome their pure stupidity when it comes to crime. It’s funny, clever and a refreshing change from the normal bank job films where professionals plan out these elaborate schemes to rob millions of dollars of cash and jewels. The casting is fantastic with Morgan Freeman, Christopher Walken and William H. Macy all playing their roles as normal senior citizens turned felons with ease. Don’t expect lots of action or fast cars like most heist movies, but it’s great nonetheless and well worth a rent.
Monday, October 12, 2009
DVD Release Reviews for October 13th
The Proposal - A- (Gotta Own)
The Proposal is a funny and charming version of a basic, formulaic storyline that has been done an innumerable amount of times. Following your typical blueprint of a romantic comedy, The Proposal also adds a little bit of Devil Wears Prada with Sandra Bolluck playing the role of Meryl Streep and Ryan Reynolds playing her “love interest”. Bolluck and Reynolds have great chemistry and provide tons of laughs as they must pretend they are in love and engaged in order to keep Bolluck from being deported. Although it’s very predictable, the up and down relationship between Reynolds and Bolluck as well as the very unique assortment of family and friends that Reynolds’s character has easily sets it aside from most Rom-Coms. If you’re a fan of When Harry Met Sally, Definitely, Maybe, or any other good romantic comedy then this is a must-rent.
Drag Me to Hell - A- (Evil Dead fans Gotta Own, Gotta Rent for all others)
Drag Me to Hell is one of those absolutely love or absolutely hate horror movies. I thought it was great as it was a refreshing change to all the garbage horror movies released in the last decade. Directed by Sam Raimi, and starring Alison Lohman and Justin Long, it combines both comedy and horror to create one of the best PG-13 horror movies since The Ring. It has a good balance between actually being scary as well as providing many “shock value” scenes to momentarily startle you. Fans of the Evil Dead series, the last horror flick directed by Raimi, will love this film as their humor and horror are very similar. My only disappointment was not having a cameo from Bruce Campbell with his chainsaw. If you are more into the current trend of horror movies such as My Bloody Valentine, Haunting in Connecticut, or any of the other 200 slasher films then you may not like, however anyone else interested in a horror movie with a great ending and many twists along the way should check it out.
Land of the Lost - B- (Wait for It)
Will Ferrell tackles yet another classic television series in this remake of the old show from the 70’s. Land of the Lost is not a very good film and could really only be enjoyed if you know ahead of time that you cannot take it seriously whatsoever. Fans of the original show will appreciate the monsters and their zombie like speed of attack, as well as the (I hope intentionally) poor animation of the dinosaurs. If it wasn’t for Danny McBride and Anna Friel I would say that this movie should be tossed into its own world lost in time, alongside Ferrell’s previous television series remake Bewitched. McBride (Tropic Thunder, Pineapple Express) and Ferrell both provide some funny moments, although they are few and far between. It’s along the same lines as Night at the Museum or Journey to the Center of the Earth, so if you’re looking for a teenager oriented adventure movie then this may fill that need, albeit not nearly as strong as the aforementioned.
The Proposal is a funny and charming version of a basic, formulaic storyline that has been done an innumerable amount of times. Following your typical blueprint of a romantic comedy, The Proposal also adds a little bit of Devil Wears Prada with Sandra Bolluck playing the role of Meryl Streep and Ryan Reynolds playing her “love interest”. Bolluck and Reynolds have great chemistry and provide tons of laughs as they must pretend they are in love and engaged in order to keep Bolluck from being deported. Although it’s very predictable, the up and down relationship between Reynolds and Bolluck as well as the very unique assortment of family and friends that Reynolds’s character has easily sets it aside from most Rom-Coms. If you’re a fan of When Harry Met Sally, Definitely, Maybe, or any other good romantic comedy then this is a must-rent.
Drag Me to Hell - A- (Evil Dead fans Gotta Own, Gotta Rent for all others)
Drag Me to Hell is one of those absolutely love or absolutely hate horror movies. I thought it was great as it was a refreshing change to all the garbage horror movies released in the last decade. Directed by Sam Raimi, and starring Alison Lohman and Justin Long, it combines both comedy and horror to create one of the best PG-13 horror movies since The Ring. It has a good balance between actually being scary as well as providing many “shock value” scenes to momentarily startle you. Fans of the Evil Dead series, the last horror flick directed by Raimi, will love this film as their humor and horror are very similar. My only disappointment was not having a cameo from Bruce Campbell with his chainsaw. If you are more into the current trend of horror movies such as My Bloody Valentine, Haunting in Connecticut, or any of the other 200 slasher films then you may not like, however anyone else interested in a horror movie with a great ending and many twists along the way should check it out.
Land of the Lost - B- (Wait for It)
Will Ferrell tackles yet another classic television series in this remake of the old show from the 70’s. Land of the Lost is not a very good film and could really only be enjoyed if you know ahead of time that you cannot take it seriously whatsoever. Fans of the original show will appreciate the monsters and their zombie like speed of attack, as well as the (I hope intentionally) poor animation of the dinosaurs. If it wasn’t for Danny McBride and Anna Friel I would say that this movie should be tossed into its own world lost in time, alongside Ferrell’s previous television series remake Bewitched. McBride (Tropic Thunder, Pineapple Express) and Ferrell both provide some funny moments, although they are few and far between. It’s along the same lines as Night at the Museum or Journey to the Center of the Earth, so if you’re looking for a teenager oriented adventure movie then this may fill that need, albeit not nearly as strong as the aforementioned.
Monday, October 5, 2009
DVD Release Reviews for October 6th, 2009
Year One - D+ (Don’t Bother)
Year One starts off with 2 or 3 semi-funny scenes in the first 10 minutes. After that, it’s another hour and a half of one of the dumbest comedies in recent years. Whereas movies like Love Guru, You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, and all of the Epic, Dance and Superhero movies are expected to be terrible and provide few to no laughs, I fully expected Year One to be hilarious. With a fairly original plot, and a great cast featuring Jack Black, Michael Cera, David Cross and Paul Rudd this should have been an instant classic. Instead, the plot turned out to be horrible, the dialogue was terrible, the jokes were either not funny or just plain gross, and the actors were given virtually no freedom to ad-lib. This is a complete failure of a comedy and should be skipped altogether.
Assassination of a High School President - B+ (Gotta Rent)
Assassination is not your typical high school movie, and it’s for that reason as to why it’s good. Whereas most high school movies are your typical comedies that’s light-hearted, provides a lesson to be learned, and has all your normal high school problems; this one is much more of a dark atmosphere similar to that of Brick. Set in a catholic high school, a student reporter who is ignored by everyone tries to write the story of his life about who stole the SATs from the principal’s safe. The whole film has a film noir feeling as the main character narrates through the whole thing. The supporting roles consists Mischa Barton reprising her stereotypical role from The O.C. as the stuck-up beauty of the school and Bruce Willis does a great job as an ex-military man who is the principal of the school. The acting, story, and feeling of the movie makes it well worth the time to watch.
Trick R Treat - A (Gotta Own for Horror Lovers)
As far as horror movies go this is an A all the way as it is one of the best horror movies in a very long time. It goes away from the typical hack and slash teenage horror flick and pays homage to the classics of Tales from the Crypt and Twilight Zone. It essentially takes 4 separate stories, and focuses about 20 minutes or so on each one. The first one focuses on a man being particularly disgruntled with a trick or treater and intends to teach him a lesson. The second revolves around 4 kids visiting the spot of a terrible disaster. The third stars Anna Paquin from True Blood desiring to lose her innocence, while the last features Brian Cox playing a grumpy old man who hates Halloween. With each story there is some aspect that connects it to each of the other stories. Each individual segment is done perfectly and all of them are interwoven seamlessly. This will easily go down as one of the greatest Halloween themed movies ever made.
The Merry Gentleman - B+ (Gotta Rent)
In Michael Keaton’s directorial debut, Keaton also stars as an assassin in this dramatic thriller during Christmas time. During one of Keaton’s kills, Kelly Macdonald happens to mistake him for a potential suicide jumper instead of a killer. When Keaton goes to take care of her he becomes deathly ill and must be saved by Macdonald’s mistaken character. The story does a great job not taking the route of your normal hitman movie and instead becomes more of about the friendly relationship between the two while the cops close in on Keaton’s true identity. Although it’s quite hard to picture the same man who starred in Mr. Mom and Multiplicity to be a hardcore killer, the writing enables you to forget all about this fact during the film and channels you towards his more human side. A surprising success for a directorial debut, The Merry Gentleman is definitely worth a rent as it’s not likely to come onto paid television.
Year One starts off with 2 or 3 semi-funny scenes in the first 10 minutes. After that, it’s another hour and a half of one of the dumbest comedies in recent years. Whereas movies like Love Guru, You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, and all of the Epic, Dance and Superhero movies are expected to be terrible and provide few to no laughs, I fully expected Year One to be hilarious. With a fairly original plot, and a great cast featuring Jack Black, Michael Cera, David Cross and Paul Rudd this should have been an instant classic. Instead, the plot turned out to be horrible, the dialogue was terrible, the jokes were either not funny or just plain gross, and the actors were given virtually no freedom to ad-lib. This is a complete failure of a comedy and should be skipped altogether.
Assassination of a High School President - B+ (Gotta Rent)
Assassination is not your typical high school movie, and it’s for that reason as to why it’s good. Whereas most high school movies are your typical comedies that’s light-hearted, provides a lesson to be learned, and has all your normal high school problems; this one is much more of a dark atmosphere similar to that of Brick. Set in a catholic high school, a student reporter who is ignored by everyone tries to write the story of his life about who stole the SATs from the principal’s safe. The whole film has a film noir feeling as the main character narrates through the whole thing. The supporting roles consists Mischa Barton reprising her stereotypical role from The O.C. as the stuck-up beauty of the school and Bruce Willis does a great job as an ex-military man who is the principal of the school. The acting, story, and feeling of the movie makes it well worth the time to watch.
Trick R Treat - A (Gotta Own for Horror Lovers)
As far as horror movies go this is an A all the way as it is one of the best horror movies in a very long time. It goes away from the typical hack and slash teenage horror flick and pays homage to the classics of Tales from the Crypt and Twilight Zone. It essentially takes 4 separate stories, and focuses about 20 minutes or so on each one. The first one focuses on a man being particularly disgruntled with a trick or treater and intends to teach him a lesson. The second revolves around 4 kids visiting the spot of a terrible disaster. The third stars Anna Paquin from True Blood desiring to lose her innocence, while the last features Brian Cox playing a grumpy old man who hates Halloween. With each story there is some aspect that connects it to each of the other stories. Each individual segment is done perfectly and all of them are interwoven seamlessly. This will easily go down as one of the greatest Halloween themed movies ever made.
The Merry Gentleman - B+ (Gotta Rent)
In Michael Keaton’s directorial debut, Keaton also stars as an assassin in this dramatic thriller during Christmas time. During one of Keaton’s kills, Kelly Macdonald happens to mistake him for a potential suicide jumper instead of a killer. When Keaton goes to take care of her he becomes deathly ill and must be saved by Macdonald’s mistaken character. The story does a great job not taking the route of your normal hitman movie and instead becomes more of about the friendly relationship between the two while the cops close in on Keaton’s true identity. Although it’s quite hard to picture the same man who starred in Mr. Mom and Multiplicity to be a hardcore killer, the writing enables you to forget all about this fact during the film and channels you towards his more human side. A surprising success for a directorial debut, The Merry Gentleman is definitely worth a rent as it’s not likely to come onto paid television.
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