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Archive for the ‘Movie Reviews’ Category

This is a remake of a 1951 movie by the same name.

Once the fodder for gossip as brassy as a Wagner horn solo, the behind-the-scenes operatics that delayed the release of Valkyrie are quickly forgotten the minute Tom Cruise gets down to the business of plotting to kill Adolf Hitler. Cruise plays Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, a Good German famous to his countrymen for his resistance to the Nazi mandate but less known among Americans. Trained as a loyal soldier, the well-bred officer’s disgust at his Führer’s leadership deepened following severe wounds suffered during battle in Tunisia, where he lost a hand and an eye. And the assassination plan and subsequent government transition that Stauffenberg devised, with help from a network of dissident army officers and political leaders, was an audacious blend of suspenseful daring and wonkish political strategy.

History confirms, of course, that the July 20, 1944, operation failed when a bomb planted in Hitler’s presence did too little damage; the Nazi leader survived with minor scratches, army loyalists quelled the coup, and Stauffenberg suffered the consequences, along with scores of others.

This movie had gotten terrible reviews, therefore, I went mainly to be able to criticize it like everyone else. I had no level of expectation. It was, at least, watchable. Again, why this was released at Christmas is beyond me other than they either wanted to get it out of the way or had some glimmer of hope that someone or the movie itself would be nominated for the Academy Awards this year.

It was interesting from its historical perspective. While Cruise is aging well and looks the part of an adult, his still cherubic voice detracts as it has in most every movie he’s been in since Risky Business. For the most part, every movie he’s been in except the Mission Impossibles have been busts.

Since I had not expections, it was better than I thought it would be. Cruise wasn’t totally plastic. Certainly not a holiday theme, but would hold off seeing it til it comes to HBO or network TV.

Rating: 0.5 out of 5

Doubt is a fictional drama, starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman, about a mid-1960s confrontation between an imperious Bronx nun in charge of a parochial school and a liberal priest she is convinced has behaved improperly with a student.

I only went to see this as it has been touted as a possible for Best Picture. The acting by both Streep and Hoffman are superb. Streep is at her best, including facial expressions and body language. One must pay attention to the dialog as every word is important.

I don’t understand why this was a Christmas release other than it was Winter in the movie. It is not a light-hearted, feel-good type movie, but for sheer quality of acting, it is a must see.

Rating: 4.7 out of 5

Twilight is a young adult vampire/romance novel written by author Stephenie Meyer. It was originally published in hardcover in 2005. It is the first book of the Twilight series, and introduces seventeen-year-old Isabella “Bella” Swan who moves from Phoenix, Arizona, to Forks, Washington, and finds her life in danger when she falls in love with a vampire, Edward Cullen. The novel is followed by New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn.

If you aren’t familiar with the book, you may want to read the story line below to get an idea of what to expect. If you have read the book, don’t read any further as it may spoil the movie for you since no movie can ever be totally true to the book.

Isabella “Bella” Swan moves from sunny Phoenix, Arizona, to rainy Forks, Washington, to live with her father, Charlie. She chooses to do this so that her mother, Renée, can travel with her new husband, Phil Dwyer, who is a minor league baseball player. In Phoenix she was a bit of an outcast, so it surprises her that she attracts much attention at her new school, and is quickly befriended by several students. Much to her dismay, several boys in the school compete for shy Bella’s attention.

When Bella sits next to Edward Cullen in class on her first day of school, Edward seems utterly repulsed by her. He even attempts to change his schedule to avoid her, leaving Bella completely puzzled about his attitude towards her. After tricking a family friend, Jacob Black, into telling her the local tribal legends, Bella concludes that Edward and his family are vampires. Although she was inexplicably attracted to him even when she thought Edward drank human blood, she is much relieved to learn that the Cullens choose to abstain from drinking human blood, and drink animal blood instead. Over time, Edward and Bella fall in love.

The seemingly perfect state of their relationship is thrown into chaos when another vampire coven sweeps into Forks, and James, a tracker vampire, decides that he wants to hunt Bella for sport. The Cullens plan to distract the tracker by splitting up Bella and Edward, and Bella is sent to hide in a hotel in Phoenix. Bella then gets a phone call from James in which he says that he has her mother, and Bella must give herself up to James at her old dance studio, to save her. She does so, and while at the dance studio, James attacks her. Edward, along with the rest of the Cullen family, rescue Bella before James can kill her. Once they realize that James has bitten Bella’s hand, Edward sucks the venom out of her system before it can spread and change her into a vampire. Upon returning to Forks, Bella and Edward attend their prom and Bella expresses her desire to become a vampire, which Edward refuses to let happen.

The target audience is young girls and women. The box office opening clearly proved their power for a movie. The movie clocks in at two hours. It seems a little slow at first, but when it begins to move, hold on to your seat. Integral to the angst expressed  in the book, I guess it needs to be a little slow. Facial expressions, body  language, and cast chemistry is the key to this movie’s success. The two principles did a fantastic job of conveying feelings and emotions without  dialogue, making it an interesting watch. Also, the cinematography was quite superb. If only the Anne Rice movies could have fared so well. Since we already  know there are 3 more books and hopefully at least 3 more movies, there is, of course, the cliffhanger making you want for more and feeling satisfied at the same time. The cast in this movie demostrated the sensuality that should have come across in the Anne  Rice movies which were absolute bombs primarily because of no cast chemistry.

The books were targeted to the young high school female and the movie succeeded in focusing on that same audience. I personally would have preferred a little more gore, but it was very refreshing to actually see a movie that didn’t thrive on four letter words.

This movie is a “chick flick” but certainly worth taking a look.

Rating: 4.3 out of 5

(I would have given it a higher rating except  that it is more focused to the teen audience than the adult audience.)

It looks like SAW will be replacing Freddie Kruger, Jason, and the Halloween franchises for the October horror flick. There never seems to be an end to the types of devices and methods for inflicting carnage. This one, did some flashbacks. Hopefully Saw VI will begin to move forward with a younger and healthier vigilante (of sorts) and spend a little more time drawing out the demise of the miscreants.

Following Jigsaw’s grisly demise, Mark Hoffman, the final apprentice to the serial killer is deigned a hero. Meanwhile, Agent Strahm is tested and puts the pieces together. While Strahm realizes that Hoffman is helping Jigsaw, five seemingly unconnected people face a horrible lesson about teamwork.

Strahm follows all the leads he can get off Hoffman, including the death of his sister and why he joined Jigsaw. Hoffman and Strahm circle each other until it boils down to a gruesome and bone-crushing finale.
The film starts with Seth in the pendulum trap. The trap is later revealed to be unwinnable, but Seth is made to believe that the aim of the trap is for him to push buttons inside of two devices which would crush both of his hands before a bladed pendulum (intended to slice him in half) descends upon him. Meanwhile, Agent Strahm shoots Jeff and enters the room where Jigsaw died. After investigating and finding Jigsaw’s corpse, the door is locked on Strahm. Strahm manages to exit through a secret door, and finds a recorder. The recording warns him he can find salvation or die in the room, and urges him to make the right choice. He disregards it, then is attacked by a figure in a pig mask. He wakes to find himself in one of Jigsaw’s traps. His head is in a sealed box, which quickly starts to fill with water. Before he runs out of air, he performs a tracheotomy with the tube of a ballpoint pen in order to breathe. The police make it to the Gideon warehouse, and Hoffman emerges carrying Corbett, claiming that he saved her. Strahm is carried out on a stretcher, still alive, but badly injured. The next day the police hold a service for all the people who have died chasing Jigsaw. The Chief of Police announces that the Jigsaw murders are over. Jill is given a videotape and box from John’s lawyer. The contents of the box, says John, are of grave importance to her. After looking in the box, Jill leaves without telling John’s lawyer what’s inside.

Strahm is shown mourning next to a empty hospital bed, because Perez died in the night. Hoffman walks into the room. Strahm starts to act strange and says that Perez’s final word was “Hoffman.” Hoffman worriedly says he has no idea what Strahm is talking about. He heads back to his office and finds a note for him saying “I know who you are.” Hoffman gets worried that the fact that he may be in danger.

Meanwhile, five people wake up in a sewer, in a neck tie trap. This trap involves pulling against a cable to get a key at the end of the room to release themselves. The consequence for not completing the trap is to be beheaded. Mallack gets anxious and runs ahead, starting the timer. In the end, the whole group, except for Ashley, get their keys. Ashley is eventually beheaded by the blade once the cable is pulled tight. The group walk through a door to another room.

Strahm, contemplating what his deceased partner said, starts to go mad and heads over to FBI headquarters to find files on Hoffman. He finds a file saying that Hoffman’s sister was murdered, and her killer (Seth) was killed in his trap, which was revealed to have taken place before the events of the first film. Strahm comes to the conclusion that Hoffman killed Seth, but staged it as a Jigsaw trap. A flashback depicting Hoffman looking at the pendulum trap ensues, as he was the person watching at the start of the film. A couple of weeks after Seth’s death, Hoffman is kidnapped by Jigsaw. Jigsaw blackmails Hoffman into working for him, which Hoffman reluctantly agrees to. Hoffman is then shown, through flashbacks, setting up the house trap, talking to Jigsaw before the events of “Saw IV”, and kidnapping Paul. By the end of these events, Hoffman is a willing apprentice to Jigsaw.

Back in the sewers, Charles, Mallick, Luba, and Brit make it to the next trap. In this trap, the group has to smash jars and find keys to enter bomb shelters before a bomb goes off in the sewer. Charles smashes Mallick’s jar in an attempt to steal his key, but fails. Brit and Luba pick up keys. Mallick attempts to pick up a key but Charles steps in his hand and takes it. Just as Charles is about to enter his shelter, Luba hits him with a pole and gives the key back to Mallick. The trio enter the shelter and leave Charles to die by the explosion. Luba, Mallick, and Brit make it to their next test. In this test, they have to find a way for a cord of electricity to make it into a bath of water to complete a circuit opening the door to the next test, but the cord is not long enough to reach the bath, so they think they need to use a person’s body. Luba tries to kill Mallick to use his body, but Brit stabs her in the neck, saying she never trusted her. Mallick and Brit use Luba’s body for the electricity to reach the bath, and the door opens to their final test.

Meanwhile, Hoffman plants Strahm’s cell phone at the house where Brit and Mallick’s game is being held, in hopes to frame him. Strahm is now sure that Hoffman is Jigsaw’s apprentice. Meanwhile, Brit and Mallick make it to their final test. In this test they have to stick their hands into saws and bleed into a beaker. When the beaker fills with their blood, they will be free to go. Before they start the test they realize that there are five saws, they then realize that everyone could have made it through every test alive, if hurt. Only one key was needed to unlock each neck restraint in the first trap, the bomb shelters had room for two in the second trap, and each person could have sustained a mild electric shock to complete the circuit in the third trap. It is also revealed that they were all connected by an act of arson that happened some time ago which resulted in the death’s of 8 people. In the final test, each could have given just just two pints of blood each and easily lived. With no other options, Brit and Mallick begin sawing their arms in an attempt to fill the beaker meant for five with 10 pints of their blood. Just as Brit and Mallick fill the beaker with blood, finishing the final test, a FBI agent named Erickson (Strahm’s superior whom Hoffman fooled into trailing Strahm’s cell phone signal) makes to the scene. Both pass out from blood loss as Erickson calls for backup. It appears as though Brit and Mallick survived. FBI agent Erickson, having found the Jigsaw files Strahm took and his cell phone, issues an APB on Strahm, assuming him to be the other Jigsaw accomplice.

Strahm follows Hoffman to the location of the current game, and enters a room with a transparent box filled with broken glass and a recording. It urges Strahm to have trust and to get into the box. He’ll be hurt, but has a chance at life. Strahm shuts off the tape when he hears Hoffman walking in the distance. Shortly after, Hoffman walks into the room and Strahm then comes from behind and shoves Hoffman into the box and seals him in. Hoffman signals for Strahm to play the rest of the tape. The rest of the tape starts to play and explains the rest of the rules to Strahm, making him realize he would have lived if he had gotten into the box, stating that if he wouldn’t, the room would become his tomb, and he would simply “vanish”. The walls begins to close in on the room as the glass box lowers into the floor, safe from the enclosing walls. Strahm attempts to break into the glass box by shooting it and trying to pull it open, but the glass material is impenetrable, leaving Strahm on the outside to be crushed by the walls. Strahm starts shouting at Hoffman, “I know who you are!”. Soon the walls come close enough for Strahm to attempt in climbing up to the ceiling and escape by the roof filter, but it is too late, and he becomes slowly crushed by the walls while Hoffman watches Strahm getting crushed from down below. With all evidence planted to frame Strahm for being the next Jigsaw accomplice, Hoffman is now able to continue his work as the next Jigsaw, undetected, leaving the Jigsaw legacy pinpointed at Strahm who is in fact dead.

I would like the movie to be a little longer than the traditional 90 minutes and certainly the more victims the better. While we look at Saw (I) as the standard, there just weren’t enough “victims” to suite me. Let’s face it, October is fright time, so lets spend less time with plot and a lot more time with the unique and unusual forms of torturing, maiming, and killing the miscreants.

Rating: 3.8 our of 5

Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) is the best man U.S. Intelligence has on the ground, in places where human life is worth no more than the information it can get you. In operations that take him around the globe, Ferris’ next breath often depends on the voice at the other end of a secure phone line — CIA veteran Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe). Strategizing from a laptop in the suburbs, Hoffman is on the trail of an emerging terrorist leader who has orchestrated a campaign of bombings while eluding the most sophisticated intelligence network in the world. To lure the terrorist out into the open, Ferris will have to penetrate his murky world, but the closer Ferris gets to the target, the more he discovers that trust is both a dangerous commodity and the only one that will get him out alive.

Rotten Tomatoes rated this 5.9/10; it got mixed review and for the most part was panned as a bad venue for two great actors. I think Ridley Scott did an excellent job with this not only with the underlying plot line of “people in the trenches” know more of what is going on and how to deal with it than the politicians and bureaucrats at the top. Also, the utilization of spy technoloogy and the sufficient carnage makes this an excellent movie. I think this makes a good political statement as well as an excellent movie. I  am glad to see DeCaprio working with good, seasoned (albeit tempermental) actors and continuing to mature as a dramatic actor.

Rating: 4.7 out of 5

Chris Mattson (Patrick Wilson) and Lisa Mattson (Kerry Washington), a young interracial couple, have just moved into their California dream home when they become the target of their next-door neighbor, who disapproves of their interracial relationship. A stern, widowed-single father of two, LAPD officer Abel Turner (Samuel L. Jackson) is the watchdog of the neighborhood. His nightly foot patrols and overly watchful eyes bring comfort to some, but he becomes increasingly harassing to the newlyweds. The persistent intrusions into the lives of Chris and Lisa ultimately take a turn for the worse when the couple decides to fight back.

Samuel L. Jackson is the disturbed cop who for some reason doesn’t like his new neighbors, probably because it is an interracial marriage and he comes across as one who does not approve of such. Since his wife died, he has become a very strict disciplinarian to his two children.

After all the predictable foibles of back and forth harassment, it also ends predictably.

Although not a new plot line, and certainly with no real surprises, it is still watchable. Definitely matinee fodder.

Rating: 3.7 out of 5