Red Tails (2012)

Like most boys, I watched many war movies like 'Memphis Belle', 'Iron Eagle', 'Top Gun', and of course the HBO movie 'The Tuskegee Airmen.' I grew up wanting to be a fighter pilot, a plan I kept to until I was 17 when the AirForce Academy application stated I would never be allowed to fly due to eyesight. I still love aviation  movies with dogfights in them.  When I heard that George Lucas was going to make a modern blockbuster movie about the Tuskegee airmen, I was excited. More accurately I was stoked.

The story of the Tuskegee Airmen is amazing.  A unit of African American and Haitian airmen, mechanics and support personnel , that overcame racism, prejudice and bigotry to become one of the most successful, decorated  and respected units of WWII.  The 332nd flew over 311 missions and only lost 25 bombers to enemy fire.  They shot down over 112 enemy planes, destroyed another 150 on the ground, 600 train cars, 40 boats and one destroyer.  A truly amazing record.

Red Tails has everything you would expect in a WWII aviation movie. Dog fights, explosions, planes flying past the camera, etc. It also has every cliche too.  The scarred German ace pilot, the grumpy aircraft mechanic, the maverick fighter pilot, the beautiful European love interest, etc.  The movie is a bit predictable and I don't to expect to see any Oscar nominations, but overall the story is enjoyable.

I read an article in the New York Times where Lucas said he wanted this movie to appeal to black teenagers.  He said he wasn't making it for grown-ups.  He wanted it to have a patriotic naiveté to it.  Now, in retrospect, I can see that intention.  So many of the movies I loved as a kid, I now find corny and predictable.  But they appealed to me and inspired me.  While Red Tails isn't as corny as Iron Eagle, it will definitely appeal to kids who see it.  It will instill pride in black teenagers who see it, and help drive home the point to all that it is the character and the drive of the man, not the color of his skin that determines ability.

Red Tails is envisioned as the middle movie in a trilogy.  Since Lucas had to foot the bill for the whole movie, I'm not sure if a studio will sign up to film the prequel, but if it does get filmed, I'll be in the theater to watch it.

Despite being a war movie, Red Tails does not have much blood in it. A few characters are shot and one gets burned, but by war movie standards it is very mild.  It is PG-13, but I think it would be fine for kids 10 and up.  I give it 8 / 10.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011)

September 11, 2001 is a day that changed the world.  Thousands of lives ended, families were torn apart, and the course of nations changed.  Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is the fictional story of one family.  Oskar (Thomas Horn) is a 10 year old boy who probably has Asperger’s Syndrome.  His father, Thomas Schell (Tom Hanks), is a dedicated father, who uses puzzles, and a form of geo-questing to help his son overcome his fears.  When Thomas is killed on 9/11 Oskar’s disability only gets worse.  A year after his father died, Oskar finds a key among his father’s belongings.  Believing it was a quest his father had prepared for him, Oskar sets out to find the matching lock.

While aspects of the story are ludicrous, it is nonetheless a good story.  The real strength of the movie is in the performances by the cast.  Thomas Horn delivers a spectacularly emotional performance that is even more amazing when you consider his prior acting experience consisted of a grasshopper in a school play of James and the Giant Peach.  This kid has amazing talent and a lot of potential.  Max von Sydow manages to give a spectacular performance without ever speaking a word.  It takes a tremendous amount of talent as an actor to give that kind of performance with just body language and expressions.

This movie is a bit emotionally draining.  I would not recommend it for a date night, or for young kids.  It is however a great movie to watch purely for the enjoyment of film.  The PG-13 rating is quite appropriate.  I give it a 9 / 10.

The Descendants (2011)

George Clooney plays Matt King, the descendant of Hawaiian nobility. He is a lawyer and the executed of the family trust worth billions to him and his cousins. When a new law forces the trust to sell off its property the Kings begin looking for a buyer. Tragedy strikes when Matt's thrill seeking wife is critically injured in a boating accident. Matt finds himself trying to gather his children, deal with his wife's coma, keep up his practice and proceed with the sale of the family trust. When Matt finds out his wife had been having an affair, Matt's world is thrown even further into chaos as he struggles to come to terms with the pain and provide guidance for his immediate and extended family. This movie is an emotional drama/comedy that leaves you sympathizing with the main characters. Each actor delivers an exceptional performance. I was particularly impressed with Clooney's performance. Each character has depth and different facets to their personality. The writing is exceptional and the cinematography is beautiful. Some will feel that the movie moves too slowly, but I feel it is paced appropriately for the story being told. The Descendants is rated R primarily for language. While I believe that teenagers would be fine watching the movie, they will probably be bored. I would encourage you to see this film. I give it a 9/10.

Anonymous (2011)

William Shakespeare ; arguably the most influential English author in history. But what if he wasn’t? What if Macbeth, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliette etc were actually written by an English nobleman who had Shakespeare take the credit? Anonymous attempts to persuade you to this viewpoint through a twisting political drama set in London during Queen Elizabeth I’s reign at the end of the 16^th century.

Though the storyline is most likely total fantasy, is extremely compelling and well written. The acting was superb. Oscar deserving performances by Vanessa Redgrave and Rhys Ifans, lead the way for the other actors, whom also deliver great performances.

The costume design is excellent, and the CG creating the London landscape is beautiful. I am fully expecting to see this film nominated for an Oscar for costume design. The lighting and choreography are also done extremely well. This movie is stunning to watch from start to finish.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and I think you will too. I give it 9.5 / 10.

Contagion (2011)

Back in 2009, the H1N1 Pandemic had a worldwide death toll of less than 19,000 people. The seasonal flu kills between 250,000 - 500,000 people a year. Smallpox used to kill well over 2 million people a year. The Spanish Flu of 1918 killed between 20 million - 100 million people (3%-15% of the world population). Imagine a pandemic like the Spanish Flu in modern society. Now imagine it being one that is not only transmitted airborne, but by any touch. This is the story of Contagion. Contagion follows the lives of the victims, the health professionals trying to find a cure, and the survivors. It shows what might happen to society and the moral fabric of man.

I was not all that excited to go see this movie. The trailer did not excite me, and I've watched enough History/Discovery and the News to know that a pandemic is bad juju and that there will be panic, riots, etc. With that in mind, I'm very glad I did go and see it. The movie is extremely well written and directed. Each of the main characters delivers a great performance. The cinematography is beautiful and the lighting really sets the appropriate mood. The musical score fits very well with the mood and story. Overall, I'm highly impressed.

Now this movie does show several people dying and numeorus dead people, including children. I would not take kids to this, nor would I recommend it for a date. It is however an excellent piece of character driven story telling. I give it a 9 / 10.

The Help (2011)

The Help is set in Mississippi during the segregated 1960’s. It tells the tale of a group of black women who come together to help a white woman write a book detailing their lives as the maids of the upper class white families in a small town.

When Skeeter (Emma Stone) decides to try and break into the publishing world, she decides to interview maids to find out what their lives are actually like. When she cannot get anyone to go along, she learns that the Jim Crow laws actually prohibit what she wants to do. Finally, one brave woman, Aibileen (Viola Davis), agrees. As the civil rights movement continues, and violence against blacks escalates, more women agree to participate. The stories they tell are touching, hilarious, infuriating, and sad; but each has the overall mood of despair. Through telling their stories, the movie progresses to a sense of hope.

The acting in this movie is above par. In fact several actors, especially Davis and Octavia Spencer, deliver excellent performances. You can’t help but feel connected with the characters, their emotions and struggles. The cinematography is excellent. The set design, and wardrobes feel period accurate.

I really enjoyed this movie. It is one of the best “feel good” movies I have seen in a long time. My co-critic Tony Route (a black male) and I couldn’t help but reflect on how far our society has come since the 1960’s. While we still have a long way to go toward realizing Dr King’s dream of a colorblind society, I’m certain if you asked a black maid living under Jim Crowe if she believed a black man would be president in her lifetime, the answer would be no. I would highly recommend you see this film. I think there may be some Oscar nominations for The Help and its cast/crew. I give the movie a 9 / 10.

The King’s Speech (2010)

Originally written April 8, 2011 at 7:33 pm

Watching the Academy Awards this year, it seemed like The King’s Speech could not lose. It won four Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, and Best Director. The Academy nominated it for another eight. Amazingly, neither my fellow critic Tony Route nor I had seen it. We decided to fix that and headed to the theater.
Colin Firth plays Prince Albert “Bertie” who later becomes King George VI. Bertie is afflicted with terrible stammering and is humiliated when his father, the king, forces him to make public speeches at events and on the radio. He and his wife seek out numerous treatment options to no avail. He eventually ends up at the office of Lionel Logue (played by Geoffrey Rush). Lionel secretly helps Bertie to improve his stammer. Fate and circumstance thrust Bertie into the throne just as England is drawn into World War II.
What an amazing movie. It is hard to say enough good things about this movie. The cinematography is beautiful. Every frame could make a photograph. The dialogue and script is intelligent, witty, and believable. The characters are solid, fleshed out and wonderfully flawed just like real people. You find yourself empathizing with each of them as the movie progresses.
The acting was top notch. Firth and Rush both give tremendous performances, each nominated for and worthy of an Oscar; however only Firth walked away with one. Helena Bonham Carter plays Queen Elizabeth (mother of the current queen). Carter seems destined to play a queen. She was the Red Queen in the recent incarnation of Alice in Wonderland. She looks and sounds like a queen. She portrayed understated elegance and gave a great performance.
I exceedingly enjoyed this movie and feel it deserved the awards it received. I highly recommend watching this movie. It is rated R (edited version is PG-13) but is mostly because of some cursing, nearly all of it in a single scene. I would say that it should really just be PG-13. I give it a 9.5 /10.

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Originally written March 12, 2011 at 3:31 am

When I heard the title of Slumdog Millionaire, I thought it sounded corny. I only added it to my Netflix DVD queue because I had won the Oscar for Best Picture. The DVD has sat on my desk since the end of January. I had no burning desire to watch it. Considering the Academy also awarded best picture that the drivel that is The Hurt Locker, I don’t trust their judgment all the time. While they had their collective heads up their fourth point of contact when they chose The Hurt Locker, they had it spot on with Slumdog Millionaire.
The movie is about an 18-year-old orphan in India who finds himself on the Indian version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”. When he makes it all the way to within one question of the top prize, time runs out and the show is continued until the next day. He is promptly arrested by the police for suspected fraud and tortured to try and get him to confess. While being questioned he explains to the detective how he knew the answers to the questions. He knew them from his life experiences.
The general premise sounds a bit contrived and stupid. However, the execution is superb. The story is not really about the game show. The questions of the game serve more as a narration for the flashbacks to his life growing up. Some of them are funny, some sweet, but the majority are tragic. Three actors/actresses portray each character: as children, young teenagers, and finally as young adults. This gives great character development of not only the lead character, Jamal, but also of his brother Salim and Jamal’s love interest Latika. The acting was superb in this film, yet amazingly, there were no nominations for any of the actors involved. Guys, take a look at Freida Pinto. This was her first performance, but with her amazing beauty, I’m sure she will be appearing in more films soon. Dev Patel has had a major film since Slumdog. Unfortunately it was as Prince Zuko in The Last Airbender, a film which did not live up to the promise he showed in this film.
One area where Slumdog did win awards was in its stunning cinematography. The cinematography of this film was spectacular. Nearly every frame could be a photograph. The movie is beautifully crafted and directed. It also had a cool original song, Jai Ho. If you watch America’s Got Talent then you have heard it by every Bollywood dance troop on the show (Pussycat Dolls bastardized a version of it, but that is not the one in the film). Slumdog was also nominated for a second original song as well; if you have to loose, might as well loose to yourself.
The movie is extremely entertaining, and fun to watch. I started the movie expecting crap, and instead found a gem of a movie. I give it 9 / 10.

Black Swan (2010)

Originally written January 5, 2011 at 2:49 am

Ballet. Something men dread seeing, and many women dreamed of being in when they were girls. Gorgeous flexible women in tights...and unfortunately dudes wearing the same. When I took my fellow movie critic Tony Route to see this film he asked what it was about. The second I said ballerina, I thought he was going to revoke my man card. I assured him that I'd heard good things about it. He conceded that he had chosen several "stinkers" of movies of late, and that I would be permitted one. I'm glad to say he changed his mind.


Black Swan stars Natalie Portman (Star Wars) as Nina, a very technical ballet dancer. She dances to perfection, but her dancing is cold and emotionless. Then there is Lily played by Mila Kunis (That 70's Show) who, while not perfect, dances with emotion. When the director of their ballet company announces he is putting the aging lead to pasture and that he is auditioning for a new Swan Queen for the ballet "Swan Lake." Nina sees her chance.


In Swan Lake a virginal princes is cursed by a sorcerer and turned into a swan and needs love to break the spell. The lead plays both the white swan and the evil twin, the black swan. One innocent and fragile, one sexual and predatory. The dancing styles have to match. Nina, who states she isn't but probably is a virgin, can't seem make the transition to the black swan. As Nina starts to explore her sexual side she starts to become two different people.


You start to realize from her relationship with her mother and some of her mother's statements that Nina already has some psychological health issues. As Nina embraces the black swan these mental instabilities start to manifest themselves more and more with delusions, hallucinations and all. This builds and builds till the FINAL climax (although I think the first one was my favorite - you will know what I mean when you see it). Nina and the director metaphorically become the princess and the sorcerer.
The cinematography is dark but beautiful. The special effects are great. The dance choreography is graceful. But the most important part is the acting. I feel that Portman gave an outstanding performance. I'm expecting an Oscar nomination if not a win. Kunis and Vincent Cassel (the director Thomas) also gave great performances. This movie was superb. It was suspenseful, hot, mesmerizing. It is an intense psychological thriller where you can't tell what is real and what isn't. In short it was the best movie I've seen in theaters since Inception. Unless something steps up soon, I think those two films are going to take home a majority of the Oscars this year.


I would highly encourage you go and see this movie. It is rated R for a reason. Leave the kiddies at home unless you want them to have nightmares and come get in between you and your significant other as you try to recreate the hottest scene in the movie. I give it 9 / 10.

Cool Hand Luke (1967)

Originally written January 2, 2011 at 10:47 pm

When Paul Newman died back in 2008 I realized I had not seen many of his early movies that make him famous. I knew him from Cars, Road to Perdition, his food brands and while growing up had heard many middle age to older women talk about how handsome he was. I decided to see some of his movies, then promptly forgot.


That changed the other night when I realized that Netflix's rights to Cool Hand Luke were going to expire on Jan 01. I sat down with no expectation other than to hear the infamous like "What we have here is a failure to communicate." Since this movie is as old as my parents, I'm not going to try to write the review without giving up the plot.


The movie starts off with a drunk Luke (Newman) cutting the heads off of parking meters. He is sentenced to two years hard labor in a chain gang. I couldn't help but laugh at the though of a vandal getting sentenced to two years hard labor today. We can't even get the jail to keep them for a few hours.


Luke is a decorated war veteran who came out the service the same rank he went in, Private. That revelation kind of sets the stage for the development of Luke's character. Which as it turns out is stubborn. Luke will not quit even when he can't win. Luke's disdain for his fellow prisoners is expressed in his cool attitude toward him. When he bluffs in poker and wins with nothing he says that sometimes nothing is a real cool hand. His nickname was born.


Then came the scene that has to be one of the hottest scenes in movie history; when you consider when the movie was made that is really saying something. While working the chain gang a gorgeous blond, Lucille (Joy Harmon), comes out and starts washing her car. This had to be the original car wash scene because I can not imagine this scene making it into a movie prior to this one. Hot is all I'll say about it. Worth seeing the movie just for this scene. LOL


Luke ends up in a boxing match with Dragline (George Kennedy) in which Luke gets the ass kicking of a lifetime. However every time he is knocked down, he gets right back up. Dragline and the other prisoners keep telling Luke to stay down but he refuses. Dragline eventually grabs Luke and carries him off to the bunkhouse. Despite soundly whooping Luke, Dragline and the other prisoners develop a lot of respect for his resolve. This respect builds throughout the movie. Dragline ends up as Luke's biggest fan. Kind of like a reverse of the old Spike and Chester cartoon.


When Luke's mom dies, the warden puts Luke in solitary confinement to ensure he doesn't escape. I don't believe that Luke would have had the warden tried to prevent it. No one pushes Luke around, so as soon as he is released from solitary "the box" he escapes. When he is caught he is beat and returned. He escapes again, this time for an extended period. While gone he mailed the prisoners a photo of him with two beautiful women. The other prisoners look upon the photo and live vicariously through him. When he is brought back he is beaten and made to dig and fill in a ditch several times and beaten some more. Eventually they break old Cool Hand Luke. He plays the role of being totally broken and subservient, right up until his most daring escape yet. Luke is shot by the guards when they corner him and they intentionally let him die. But Luke, cool and stubborn to the end, just smiles as his life trickles away.


The plot and character development of this movie are superb. The main characters are fleshed out, and relatable. You may not agree with their actions, but you can understand them. Newman and Kennedy deliver great performances. Kennedy won an Oscar for best supporting actor and Newman was nominated for best lead.


I greatly enjoyed this movie. It had to have been extremely controversial and provocative for its time. I wish I had seen it sooner. I would encourage you to rent or buy this movie as it is well worth the money. I give it a 9 / 10.

The Hurt Locker (2008)

Originally written December 20, 2010 at 12:10 am

**SPOILER ALERT** In my rant I give away huge chunks of the movie.
When I watched Avatar, I was blown away. It is the only movie I have ever watched multiple times in the theater. When it lost the Academy Awards in almost every category to The Hurt Locker, a movie I had not seen, I assumed it was because The Hurt Locker must have been beyond awesome. I had heard that there was some politics behind it since the director of The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow is the ex-wife of the director of Avatar, James Cameron. I now firmly believe that Cameron was robbed in some sort of popularity contest. I was excited as I started the DVD. That excitement turned, quickly, into sighs.


The Hurt Locker follows a three man Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) team based out of Camp Victory in Baghdad (October 2004, year after I was there) as they are called out to diffuse numerous Improvised Explosive Devices (IED).


Let us start with the things the movie did well. The cinematography is well done. The sets featuring Iraqi streets were done fairly well. The best I have seen in a movie set in Iraq to date. Jeremy Renner delivered a very good performance as the lead character William "Will" James (great name!). That is about it.


Now for the things that were just beyond ridiculous. The three-man EOD team moves about Baghdad in an HMMWV (Humvee) by themselves. Not in convoy, etc. In fact, there are scenes where they do not even have someone in the turret. Like they are out for a nice leisurely Sunday drive. We did this in blacked out civilian vehicles working with the Iraqi Police, but never in a Humvee. That is just asking to be ambushed which is why standing orders were (and probably still are) three vehicle convoys minimum.


Then amazingly, they seem to be out on long distance patrols for no apparent reason. While out on the patrol they come across a bunch of private contractors (think Blackwater) who happen to have had a flat tire in the middle of the desert while transporting two of the Playing Card members of Saddam's regime. Amazingly, the soldiers cannot tell that they are contractors so they get out of the Humvee, and advance across a great deal of open terrain without cover to disarm one of them. Then they finally realize what is going on. Amazingly, an Iraqi sniper team ambushes them from a distant building. So far distant in fact that the American's can barely make out the enemy through the scope of the Barrett .50 sniper rifle. The Iraqi sniper is using what appears to be a Draganov and has channeled the spirit of Carlos Hathcock, rarely missing a shot. After killing the sniper, they sit watching for the rest of the day, in the sun. They never get reinforcements, air support, etc. When one member tells Will that he sees movement behind them (in the middle of a bunch of goats) the team leader does not look, instead he tells the guy it is his call. The guy shoots (and kills an insurgent), and Will the psychic knows that the insurgent is dead and says good job.


The scene that throws all logic to the wind is one of the first. Will and his crew go to diffuse a bomb. They cannot find the soldiers who called for them. They find their Humvee empty, soldiers nowhere to be seen. Will spots someone waving a small American flag out of a building. He walks over and the entire squad is hiding in the entryway of a building and says that the bomb is down the road. The soldiers fear is plainly evident. Will shuns the use of the robot, and instead suits up. He walks out and deploys smoke on the way. Okay, I could possibly see deploying smoke to obscure your movement so an insurgent does not see you getting close to the bomb to diffuse it, but you would need to put smoke in all directions the guy might be watching from. He then continues down the road, the only ones not able to see him, are the troops. Iraqi's are everywhere watching. Oh, and this is a magic smoke grenade. He keeps walking through smoke even though the grenade is far behind him and not being blown forward. He then walks into an intersection with Americans guarding it. So I guess the cowardly soldiers he is disgusted with, are also the ones furthest from the bomb. Suddenly an Iraqi in a taxicab drives around the roadblock (without being shot at all) and nearly runs Will over. Will draws his US Army issue Beretta. Amazingly it is a Beretta 92 which has not been manufactured since 1976 (obvious because it has no safety) instead of the 92FS. He then gets the driver to back up to the soldiers who promptly take him into custody. He then continues down the road, now probably about 1/4 mile from where he started. He finds and diffuses a bomb. Then realizes it leads to multiple more. He quickly diffuses them all while the insurgent who buried them watches. The insurgent waits to go downstairs and blow the bombs until Will is almost done. By the time he gets down the two flights of stairs, it is too late and Will is finished. Will shows him the blasting cap in victory and lets him go.


Shortly thereafter, a Psychologist Lieutenant Colonel decides to go on a mission with them. An IED in a rice bag goes off and vaporizes him, leaving only his helmet. He is so obliterated that there is no blood, and apparently no body, because one team member is desperately trying to find him. The three-man team is called to collect unexploded ordinance from a building. Amazingly the troops who called them had not actually cleared the building yet. I'm still unclear how the psychic troops knew that there were bomb making materials in the building if they hadn't gone in it yet, but hey this is Hollywood right. Therefore, the three-man team clears the whole building by themselves while the dozens of infantry stay outside. I guess EOD is trained to act as Delta operators in their spare time or something.


The Hurt Locker is Hollywood's extreme left wing biased view of what war is and soldiers are. The most telling moment is the scene where there is a wounded insurgent and the soldiers are ordered to execute him despite the medic's assertions that his wounds are survivable. If this were the case in reality then we would not have to have any debates about Guantanamo Bay because there would not be anyone there.


In short, this movie was so frustratingly illogical that I found it impossible to enjoy. Even looking back at it and trying to imagine watching it as if I was never a soldier, nor an OIF vet, I still do not think I could get past the total lack of logic. Amazingly nearly all the top critics love it. Reading up on it, it seems that many OIF veterans and EOD Techs are quite disgusted with it. I totally agree with them. I give it a 4.5 / 10, which places it on par with GI Joe Rise of the Cobra, which seemed more realistic.

The Blind Side (2009)

Originally written December 8, 2010 at 8:41 am

The Blind Side is based upon the true life story of Michael Oher. The Blind Side tells of how Oher was born in the ghetto and, while in high school, was taken in by an affluent family. Oher went on to be a heavily recruited football player and eventually was drafted into the NFL by the Baltimore Ravens.


The cast is diverse and effective. Sandra Bullock delivers an awesome role as the mom of the family. Oher is played by Quinton Aaron, a relative newcomer to movies. For most of the movie Oher seems depressed. He seems more like like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh than a teenage guy. Aaron does a great deal of acting with his facial features though which shows much of Oher's inner thoughts etc. All in all a very sound performance by the novice actor. Bullock's character is like a hurricane of will and determination. Reminds me of my wife (even has a great butt too, the similarities are uncanny). Bullock played her character very well, and was rewarded with the academy award for best leading actress. Her husband, played by Tim McGraw of country music fame, is a nice guy and obviously used to bowing down to his wife's forceful character, but is happy to do so. His performance was lackluster. One of their children, Collins, played by another newcomer Lily Collins, is seen only sparingly throughout the movie. Her brother SJ, played by Jae Head of Hancock and Friday Night Lights, on the other hand is shown nearly as much as Oher. He is extremely energetic and quite the scene stealer, making him cute but borderline obnoxious.


While there are a few moments that are over the top, like Oher testing 98% on Protective Instincts for the states standardized tests. What kind of test is there for protective instincts? None; but who needs reality when you have Hollywood. Then there were the scouts showing up after his first game, etc. The Blind Side may not be the deepest and most profound movie, but it is a good movie that successfully ties your emotions to that of the characters. The Blind Side is a feel good movie that delivers on its promise. I would call it a family movie, except that there are a couple of scenes that I would not want my kids watching. There is some racism and bigotry shown as well as gang violence. I'd like my daughter to remain ignorant of those things for now. As the country song says; "Let them be little."
All in all I really enjoyed The Blind Side. I would recommend watching it. I give it 7.5 / 10.

Cinderella Man (2005)

Originally written November 17, 2010 at 5:27 am

I went into this movie knowing only that it was about a boxing champion back in the era of the Great Depression. My dad and step-mom are avid boxing fans. I enjoy watching boxing, but I'm too cheap for HBO or PayPerView. As such, I pretty much only watch it when visiting my family in Reno. I didn't know the story of Jim Braddock. I knew only that it had Russel Crowe (Jim Braddock), one of my favorite actors, and that several of my friends had said they enjoyed it.


Not only did I enjoy it, I actually got excited. Toward the end I was on the edge of my seat silently rooting for Braddock. Hoping for the ending I logically knew had to happen, but worried there would be a twist (again I didn't know the story ahead of time). But it isn't the fight that made the movie.


What made the movie was how much you were able to relate to Braddock. In the beginning you can tell he is fighting for himself. He is providing for his family and is a good man, but there is pride in his fighting. After a series of injuries he is on the outs with the boxing commission and his family is living in poverty. Braddock is trying to survive the Great Depression working on the docks. He is skipping eating so his daughter can have his slice of bologna. Eventually he gets on public assistance (welfare) and begs from the commission and his former manager to raise enough money to support his family. Every step of the way you see what a good honorable man he is. As a father I was totally able to understand the pain of seeing his family struggling. After being brought out of forced retirement for a couple of fights, Braddock even pays back his public assistance money. Further showing what an honorable man he was. Braddock's wife Mae, played by Rene Zellweger, is equally as good and strong of character.


You go through the movie finding yourself really liking the characters and feeling like you have a vested interest in their well being. That is a testament to Crowe and Zellweger's acting. Both delivered amazing performances, as did Paul Giamatti. The movie was beautifully filmed, well directed and the fights were choreographed excellently. There is very little in the film I can find fault in.


I would highly encourage you to see this movie. It has something for both adult men and women. I would not recommend letting kids watch it as the fights are brutal and there is a lot of blood. I give it a 9 / 10.

Scarface (1983)

Originally written October 29, 2010 at 3:05 am

Scarface, one of the most iconic gangster movies of all time. You can't swing a dead cat in Fresno without hitting either a wannabe thug with Tony Montana on a T-shirt, or on a poster in their room. The line "Say hello to my little friend." is quoted by gamers almost daily. Having not seen the movie before I've listened to dozens of people tell me that I HAVE TO SEE IT! Tonight I did.

Boy was I disappointed. The hype really built this movie up to be on par with the Godfather. In reality it didn't even measure up to Godfather 2. Everything in the movie was set up so predictably. It was as if the director felt the audience was so dumb that he had to advertise every nuance of the plot and every plot twist so that they could keep up. You could tell Tony was going to be at the door to stab the guy. When Tony was going over the plan with Manny for the deal with the Columbians you knew it was going to go bad and Manny was going to be flirting with a woman. You could tell that either Tony, Omar, or both were about to be attacked as soon as they showed the guy with the phone. The second Omar walked off, you knew he was about to be whacked. As soon as they showed the clock with the camera in it you knew they were going to bust Tony. As soon as they couldn't find Manny, they conveniently noted that they couldn't find Tony's sister either. You immediately know they are together and probably eloped and Tony was going to kill Manny. As soon as Tony shot Manny you knew that Gina was going to say that they had just gotten married. Etc. Etc. Etc.

The movie was so transparent that it makes a porno look like a psychological thriller. The acting performances ranged from acceptable to strong depending on the character. The cinematography was acceptable for the period the movie was filmed in.

If you can watch a movie and not start looking forward then the movie is probably fairly good. If you are like me and your mind moves faster than the movie, then you are going to be frustrated. Especially since the movie is nearly three hours long. I give it 7 / 10.

Gran Torino (2008)

Originally written October 25, 2010 at 8:31 pm

The first indication that this was going to be a great movie was it being titled after a kick ass Ford muscle car. Clint Eastwood delivers a spectacular performance in this self directed film. I forgot how old Eastwood is getting prior to watching this movie. Eastwood plays Walt Kowalski a retired autoworker who served three years in the Korean War. Walt is old, grumpy, racist, and extremely judgmental of everyone, especially his own family. The movie starts at the funeral of Walt's wife and continues from there. Considering Walt's kids are so different from him, we are left to assume that his wife was drastically different from Walt.


Without his wife to balance Walt, he becomes more focused on his Hmong neighbors. Walt is one of the last white families in a neighborhood whose demographics have shifted to primarily Hmong and black residents. As you can imagine this is a sore point for the unashamedly and openly and extremely prejudiced (if not racist) Walt. Walt is at least an equal opportunity hater. He seems to dislike everyone, even calling his white friends derogatory ethnic slurs for their ancestry.


After stopping several Hmong gangsters from kidnapping the shy neighbor Walt becomes an unlikely hero amongst the Hmong community in his neighborhood. This is reinforced when he rescues another neighbor (the sister of the boy he saved earlier) from three black thugs who seemed poised to rape her. Walt begrudgingly agrees to spend some time with her family and has a paradigm shift when he realizes he has more in common with his Hmong neighbors than his own family. While he continues to spout racial slurs, Walt's actions no longer match his words. The film builds steadily toward a climactic ending. In the end we see the core of Walt. The Walt beneath all the anger and gruffness. You see the good man, the soldier who earned the silver star in the battlefields of Korea.


The character development in the movie is excellent. The main characters are fleshed out and have depth. You get the good with the bad, just as in real life. The acting is well done by the majority of the cast. The cinematography is good considering the setting. It's set in a run down neighborhood in Detroit, so don't expect sweeping views etc.


In all I greatly enjoyed the movie. I would highly encourage you to rent or buy this film. I give it 8 /10.

The Godfather (1972)

Originally written October 15, 2010 at 4:38 am

Shockingly I have never seen any of the Godfather movies, Scarface etc. My first jaunt into the classic 70's Mafia films is the iconic "The Godfather directed by Francis Ford Coppola and staring Marlon Brando and a very young Al Pacino. I now totally understand why this movie has held such a respected place in the history of American movies.


There was not a single aspect of the movie I can really find fault with. The acting was superb by all the main characters and even by most of the support characters. Brando did a great job playing an aging man in the waning days of his life. Pacino's character grew and changed as the movie progressed. The progression was told not only with the plot and dialog but with Pacino's emotions and expressions as well. After the attempted assassination of his father, he progresses from being the war hero son who wants nothing to do with the family business, to being the head, the Don. The transition is evident in his political vision of a retaliation strike. It becomes even more so when he negotiates with a man to court his daughter. At the end of the movie when the transition is complete you see that deep down he still wants to be seen, at least by his wife, as the innocent war hero he was. It seems that his wife, naively and despite all evidence to the contrary, wishes to believe it too.


The cinematography is well done, for the time, and the lighting worked beautifully to set the mood for each scene. The movie is a whopping three hours long and moves as a moderate pace. However everything works together to make it feel right. The pace and length just work for this movie.
If you haven't seen The Godfather before, I highly recommend you do. It is one of the few movies I have seen that truly lives up to its hype. I give it a 9.5 / 10.

The Last King of Scotland (2007)

Originally written April 23, 2007

The Last King of Scotland recreates Uganda after the rise to power of Idi Amin (Forrest Whitaker). The story is told from the perspective of Amin's personal physician, Dr Garrigan (James McAvoy).


Whitaker delivers what many have accurately described as the performance of Whitaker's career. Whitaker not only portrayed Amin for the camera, he became him. There are times in the film where Whitaker is so intense, so into the character, that you can smell Amin's insanity like a foul odor in the wind. Every scene with Whitaker leaves you wondering if it will be the scene where he snaps. Whitaker goes from bright, charismatic, and fun loving to terrifying. His expressions speak volumes more than even his lines do. Whitaker deservedly won an Oscar for his riveting performance in the film. The performances of the other actors and actresses in the film were merely adequate and paled in comparison to Whitaker's.


The first half hour of the film grabs your attention but the time building up to the last half hour or so of the movie seems to drag on a bit. I started to lose interest toward the middle of the movie (that says a great deal coming from me) but the film built its tempo back up to its thrilling finish.


Without Whitaker's star performance, I would have stopped watching the movie halfway through, but Whitaker carries the movie through to make it worth watching. Worth a trip to the rental store but not worth purchasing the DVD.
RECOMENDATION:Rent (don't buy)

Black Snake Moan (2007)

Originally written August 18, 2007

Recently released on DVD, Black Snake Moan stars Samuel L Jackson playing Lazarus; a deeply religious former Blues artist turned farmer struggling with the recent separation from his unfaithful wife. Christina Ricci plays Rae, an ultra sexy nymphomaniac who struggles with issues of childhood sexual abuse. When Lazarus finds Rae badly beaten on the side of the roadway he decides to cure her of her sinful ways.


While helping Rae learn to control her addiction, Lazarus rediscovers his lost love, the Blues. The music in Black Snake Moan is emotional, powerful and personal, like the Blues are supposed to be. Ricci and Jackson deliver great performances that really develop their characters and allow you to see their underlying thoughts behind their actions. The much overhyped Justin Timberlake, Rae's boyfriend Ronnie, gives an adequate performance, however his acting was by far the weak link in the film.


The movie is rated R and deservedly so. The strong sexual context and the violent lyrics of the songs in the movie are not appropriate for younger viewers. Throughout most of the film Ricci is wearing only a pair of panties and a cut off T-shirt. In many scenes she wears far less than that. The nudity and sex scenes are used as part of the development of Rae's character and not merely a cheap ploy to get male viewers with the promise of a pair of breasts. However as my wife described the movie "good but it left me feeling dirty."


All in all Black Snake Moan was a great movie and is well worth renting or buying on DVD.
RECOMENDATION:Rent or Buy

Fireproof (2008)

Originally written October 14, 2008

My buddy and I just went to see the movie Fireproof. What I didn't know until after watching it, was that it was the third time he had seen it. Once at his family's prompting, once with his wife and then with me. He said, and I agree, that the movie held a couple of paradigm shifts for him. It did for me too.


In Fireproof, Kirk Cameron plays a firefighter who's marriage is falling apart after several years. When divorce seems imminent he calls his father, played by John Holt (a real life pastor), who challenges him to wait forty days. Holt gives Cameron a book titled "The Love Dare." in which he is challenged daily to work on his marriage through small actions.


Fireproof is a Christian film that has managed to make it into the top 10 despite having a total production budget of around $500,000 and only opening in a handful of theaters (1/4 the number of the other films in the top 10). The production quality is surprisingly high for a Christian film production. The acting is pretty good though not likely to earn any major nominations. There were a few moments where Kirk Cameron's performance was a little corny, but all in all he did quite well. A supporting actor that gave a great performance was Ken Bevel (in real life a full time Captain in the USMC...don't hold it against him though. GO ARMY!!) Bevel played Cameron's friend and co-worker. His performance was excellent, and very believable. I hope to see more of him in future films and see how his talent develops.


The message of the movie was profound and has been leading people to Christ and convincing people to seek to improve their marriage. In addition to making 33x as much money as was spent to make it, the film is changing lives for the better. My buddy and I left the theater, drove to Barnes & Noble and bought the book "The Love Dare." They had just gotten it in and were scanning it into the inventory when we walked in and asked for it. Good timing.


I would highly encourage going to see this film, especially if you are in a Christian relationship, or are a Christian that is unevenly yoked. Take your significant other with you. Non-Christians may feel the movie is too faith based and thus may not enjoy it as much. I'm planning on taking Lisa to see it and would like to get my parents and my in-laws to go as well.
Recommendation:Go See, take your significant other.

District 9 (2009)

Originally written September 29, 2010 at 2:54 am

Saw District 9 was on Netflix and decided to give it a try. I'm quite happy I did. This movie has no star power to speak of, and half of the characters are CG and speak in clicks etc. However the movie is extremely enjoyable. The whole premise is such a departure from what we have come to expect in Sci-fi. As a Sci-fi fan, this was a breath of fresh air.


For starters the movie is set in Johannesburg, South Africa, instead of LA, San Francisco or New York etc. *GASP* you mean aliens might actually come to a single place on Earth and it not be in the USA? The location setting ends up working extremely well to the plot. Furthermore movie is set up like a History Channel documentary of a historical event complete with interviews etc. The movie shows the xenophobic relationship that developed after 20 years between humans and the technologically advanced aliens who happen to all be the dumb worker class of their race (think insect societal structure). When an accident occurs during the forced relocation of the aliens, the main character suddenly finds he needs their help; and they need his.


The cinematography was very well done, and the CG blended extremely well with the live action video. The storyline was compelling and well thought out. The acting of the human actors was believable, but certainly nothing that would deserve any sort of a prize. Looking up the Oscars shows that the film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Editing, Best Visual Effects, and Best Writing. However it didn't win any of the awards. It should be noted that it was up against powerhouse movies such as Avatar, The Hurt Locker and Precious.


I would highly recommend watching this film. It is well worth the cost of renting, and if you subscribe to Netflix, it is available for immediate streaming. I give it 8.5/10.