Plot: When time literally becomes the ultimate currency, the 'rich' live forever without aging a day while everyone else struggles to live day to day.
Review: Going into this movie I honestly didn't think it would work. I'm very happy to say I was extremely surprised!!! This is a vaguely familiar, yet unnervingly original take on a nightmare world. There are no bill extensions, no loans giving you a very different perspective on the day-to-day grind. If you haven't earned more time you drop dead looking like a 25 year old. And the cast members are happy to take you along for the ride. Justin Timberlake creates a fantastic down to earth hero to root for. The story fleshes out the supporting characters flawlessly, giving the audience plenty of time to gain an emotional connection with each character keeping the movie from becoming a one man show. This is one of the few times a cast full of Hollywood's most attractive actually serves the story better. While the tone takes itself seriously, there are some great moments that made me laugh out loud and even had the audience cheering! A thin backstory setting up the film is the only complaint I have about this one, but it's a small one.
In the end: With a disturbiling convincing story and a great cast lead by Justin Timberlake this movie is one hell of a ride!
Grade: A-
Monday, October 31, 2011
Contagion Review
Synopsis: When a new virus outbreak spreads across the globe searches for cure while an increasingly desperate population and media want answers.
Review: This is the most blatantly unoriginal movie I've seen in at least 5 years. If you've seen the movie 'Outbreak', this is the same exact storyline. The differences being, it has to juggle too many plotlines and characters, giving the story no time to flesh out the people involved or anything resembling a linear storyline. The dialogue is so dull and lifeless I caught my mind wandering occasionally. With such a fantastic cast I felt a little embarrassed, but I couldn't help it.
In the end: at the risk of repeating myself, see everything above.
Grade: F
Review: This is the most blatantly unoriginal movie I've seen in at least 5 years. If you've seen the movie 'Outbreak', this is the same exact storyline. The differences being, it has to juggle too many plotlines and characters, giving the story no time to flesh out the people involved or anything resembling a linear storyline. The dialogue is so dull and lifeless I caught my mind wandering occasionally. With such a fantastic cast I felt a little embarrassed, but I couldn't help it.
In the end: at the risk of repeating myself, see everything above.
Grade: F
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Saturday, October 8, 2011
A Dolphin Tale Review
Plot: The life of Sawyer Nelson (Nathan Gamble) changes dramatically when he discovers a beached dolphin stuck in a crab trap and he becomes attached to the dolphin and the doctors who is trying to save him.
Review: This is another example of those gems that Disney has a knack for finding. Getting the right actors to fill each role and placing the film as closely as possible to the locations the story took place in. Even showing really footage of the dolphin on a real website devoted to him, filming at an animal hospital do introduce Dr. Clay Haskett (Henry Conick Jr.) and a hospital for disabled veterans in order to introduce Dr.Cameron McCarthy (Morgan Freeman).
For better or worse, the movies stays pretty closely to it's central character, but that doesn't really allow anyone else to shine on camera and as a result the storyline outside doesn't have to strength to stand on it's own or pack any real punch. Occasionally, the dialogue drifts toward something campy, but the actors in those scenes pull them off so well it doesn't really hurt them too much.
In the end: Despite a few bumps, this is a wonderful story, with a great cast and a lot of authenticity to back it up.
Grade: B-
Review: This is another example of those gems that Disney has a knack for finding. Getting the right actors to fill each role and placing the film as closely as possible to the locations the story took place in. Even showing really footage of the dolphin on a real website devoted to him, filming at an animal hospital do introduce Dr. Clay Haskett (Henry Conick Jr.) and a hospital for disabled veterans in order to introduce Dr.Cameron McCarthy (Morgan Freeman).
For better or worse, the movies stays pretty closely to it's central character, but that doesn't really allow anyone else to shine on camera and as a result the storyline outside doesn't have to strength to stand on it's own or pack any real punch. Occasionally, the dialogue drifts toward something campy, but the actors in those scenes pull them off so well it doesn't really hurt them too much.
In the end: Despite a few bumps, this is a wonderful story, with a great cast and a lot of authenticity to back it up.
Grade: B-
Friday, October 7, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Real Steel Review
Real Steel: When the popularity of the more brutal sport of 'robot boxing' spread around the world, traditional boxers and their sport became obsolete. Now former champions like Charlie Gibson (Hugh Jackman) have been forced to evolve their roles, becoming mechanical engineers, mechanics and 'promoters'. Charlie has proven he's much better in the ring than anything else, losing fights, building up bigger debts to exceedingly nasty people and suddenly charged with taking care of an ll year old son Max (Dakota Goyo). Their relationship and luck change when they discover the remains of an old 'sparring robot'.
Review: I'll admit, the first time I saw a trailer for this one I was probably not the only one wondering how Hugh Jackman, an actor with a penchant for making the worst concepts worth watching (Van Helsing, anyone?), and Shawn Levy known, mostly for Cheaper by the Dozen and Night at the Museum (not exactly major contributions), could pull this off and make it an interesting, more dynamic story and not just a high-tech version of Rock'em, Sock'em Robots. Leaving the theatre, I was surprised how much liked this movie. The fights (and plenty of them, with Sugar Ray Leonard providing the choreography, they're extremely authentic) never really take center stage, even with the exception of 'Atom', the sparring 'bot. Goyo's intelligent, often smart-ass performance is more than a match for Hugh Jackman's cynical, world-weary, often foolish character and they tend to steal the show with every scene they're in together. Max has some of the funniest lines in the movie! That becomes even more pronounced as their relationship evolves into something more personal and their walls come down. They become even more engaging when Max practically forces Charlie to train Atom and the boy takes center stage as their promoter! The only real problem I had (and it was in the back of my mind as the movie kept going) was a virtually nonexistent storyline about the dead girlfriend/mother.
They story never leaves its supporting characters behind. Each actor effectively makes the best of the screentime they have. The fellow promoter (Anthony Mackie The Adjustment Bureau) who used to believe that Charlie was worth it, the thug who wants his money back or Charlie's life, if not both (Kevin Durand) but most importantly, Charlie's childhood friend, Bailey (Evangeline Lilly Lost) who's been with him from the beginning while hiding how she really feels about him as they got older.
In the end: This is a smart, funny and surprisingly emotional film. With pretty redefining direction from Shawn Levy and flat out fantastic performances from it's cast that keep this from being a completely ridiculous movie.
Grade: B+
Review: I'll admit, the first time I saw a trailer for this one I was probably not the only one wondering how Hugh Jackman, an actor with a penchant for making the worst concepts worth watching (Van Helsing, anyone?), and Shawn Levy known, mostly for Cheaper by the Dozen and Night at the Museum (not exactly major contributions), could pull this off and make it an interesting, more dynamic story and not just a high-tech version of Rock'em, Sock'em Robots. Leaving the theatre, I was surprised how much liked this movie. The fights (and plenty of them, with Sugar Ray Leonard providing the choreography, they're extremely authentic) never really take center stage, even with the exception of 'Atom', the sparring 'bot. Goyo's intelligent, often smart-ass performance is more than a match for Hugh Jackman's cynical, world-weary, often foolish character and they tend to steal the show with every scene they're in together. Max has some of the funniest lines in the movie! That becomes even more pronounced as their relationship evolves into something more personal and their walls come down. They become even more engaging when Max practically forces Charlie to train Atom and the boy takes center stage as their promoter! The only real problem I had (and it was in the back of my mind as the movie kept going) was a virtually nonexistent storyline about the dead girlfriend/mother.
They story never leaves its supporting characters behind. Each actor effectively makes the best of the screentime they have. The fellow promoter (Anthony Mackie The Adjustment Bureau) who used to believe that Charlie was worth it, the thug who wants his money back or Charlie's life, if not both (Kevin Durand) but most importantly, Charlie's childhood friend, Bailey (Evangeline Lilly Lost) who's been with him from the beginning while hiding how she really feels about him as they got older.
In the end: This is a smart, funny and surprisingly emotional film. With pretty redefining direction from Shawn Levy and flat out fantastic performances from it's cast that keep this from being a completely ridiculous movie.
Grade: B+
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