Knowing, Duplicity, Monsters VS Aliens

It’s been too long! I am sorry if I have let anyone down! I have seen tree films in the last week Knowing, Duplicity and Monsters Vs Aliens.

KNOWING- Please save yourself and do not waste your time on this film! I don’t know if anyone out there feels the same way, but it seems like Nicholas Cage is constantly revisiting the same roles. Here Nicolas Cage plays a widower and a father to a young child I would guess about 9 years old. He also is a professor at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) specializes in the solar system. I will say the first half was really good, kept you on the edge of your seat and special effects and sound was amazing! Then it just goes downhill, over dramatized and I hate to give anything away but once the Aliens show up it’s over. I can say that I am still laughing about the final scene! In my perspective, from a religious aspect I would say that this film was developed by some type of Scientology perspective. If you do want a good laugh waste your money on this film, but I say save your money and wait for a TV special or something!


DUPLICITY- I loved this film! What a great way for Julia Roberts to make a comeback! This film reminded me somewhat of the Ocean’s 11 series, with the flashbacks and the show all at the end. Tony Gilroy directed and wrote this, along with the Bourne Identity Trilogy. It kept my mind trying to figure it out and was very entertaining.

The film starts out in honestly one of the best openings I have seen for awhile with Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti both walking out of their own private jets and onto the tarmac. They have a silent by visual confrontation and fighting breaks out all the time with just facial expressions and no words, just back round music. Clive Owen and Julia Roberts both play secret spies who reunite to help try to take down a leading pharmaceutical company by giving out their “secret” new invention. Between the flashbacks the comedic action and secrecy I would completely recommend this film, I even bought popcorn for this one!

MONSTERS VS ALIENS- What a heartwarming cute film! This film was from the maker’s of Shrek and Kung Fu Panda, and they hit another one out of the ballpark! With an all-star cast of giving amazing comedic talents and great voice over’s, I would gladly see this again, and in 3-D. When Susan Murphy (voice of Reese Witherspoon) is about the get married to Derek (Voice of Paul Rudd), she is struck by a meteorite and grows to extreme size. She is captured and sent to “monster prison” where she meets Dr. Cockroach PhD (voice of Hugh Laurie), The Missing Link (Voice of Will Arnett) and my favorite B.O.B (voice of Seth Rogan). When the Alien Gallaxhar (voice of Rainn Wilson) finds that Susan contains the coveted chemical that will make all of his dreams come true he send robotic alien to capture her. The meeting of the Alien is greeted by President Hathaway (voice of Stephan Colbert) it turns into a mini Axel-F concert and the realization that they cannot take down this alien without the help of the “monsters”.

The graphics alone on this film was amazing, a new touch from the other recent films produced by DreamWorks as well as Pixar. My favorite scenes in this film was with B.O.B. he added great comedic relief and left you wanted more! His lines was something you will remember for a long time to come and my favorite was him falling in love with the Jell-O! Take your kids to go see this and enjoy the time to forget abut everything else going on in the world!

I LOVE YOU, MAN

Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) Decides to pop the question to his girlfriend Zooey (Played by Rashida Jones, most known for her role of Karen off the hit show The Office) of 8 months Some say its too soon, but for Peter he thinks it was long enough! They share a special relationship of him being the caring, considerate, ladies friend, and not having any real guy friends. When Peter comes home early and walks in on his Fiancé’s girls night and over hears her friends saying that it would be strange not having any groomsmen in the wedding party, Peter starts to stress out and goes on a series of “man dates” to find the perfect best man!

From Peter’s Mother (Jane Curtin) to his younger gay brother Robbie (Andy Samburg) trying to set him up with other guys, Peter has some very interesting encounters. After a series disastrous encounters, Peter meets Sydney Fife (Jason Segel) at an open house for Lou Ferrigno (as himself). Peter was overcome by Sydney’s honesty and how well he is able to read people, and exchanges contact information. Once they finally get to hang out, Peter realizes how much they really have in common, and how honest he can be with someone else.

This film is hilarious with laughter from start all the way to the end of the credits! I would gladly go see this again, and pay the full price. This film is rated R, however I surprised to an extent to see that. There is no nudity, yes they have a few slip ups with some language, but all in all it was put together very well. There are a few indiscrete jokes her and there, so it might not be for everyone.

7 Pounds

SEVEN POUNDS- I normally boycott Will Smith films, and have not see his last three films. I had the joys of going Saturday night with some friends to go see this film. I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. There where issues at the theatre about the focusing, but I was able to still follow it and enjoyed every second of it. In the opening, Will Smith is on the phone with a call center for a meat order that went weary. The gentleman on the other end of the phone, was Woody Harrelson who portrayed a blind man. Smith in turn harasses him and makes crude comments about Harrelson’s disability, and ends up having a breakdown and screams the name of seven individuals. I felt sick inside, and want to get up and leave, but I am glad I stuck through it.

Through flashbacks and everything else going on, you come to find out that Smith got in a horrific car accident due to him emailing on his Blackberry while driving and kills the love of his life along with a van full of 6 other people. Smith is torn up about this, and tries to do good for the world. In his quest to save the lives of others that are battling terminal illnesses, he steals his brothers IRS badge and finds people that are being audited for not paying their taxes, and tries to find out what type of person they really are. Some of them are not very nice, and one person in particular runs a nursing home and doesn’t treat the elderly with much respect.

This film was heart whelming, and inspiring. I know that I saw it in the dollar theatre, but I would recommend it to everyone, and knowing how good it was I would have paid for at least a matinee price.

WATCHMEN

WATCHMEN- I had the joys or viewing Watchmen last night at another advanced screening. I will try to be nice about this review, since some are very excited to see this film. I on that note, was one of them, but I can honestly say do not waste your money or the 163 minutes of your life. Granite I have never read the book, but I figured it would be okay. The film was very slow pace and I personally felt as though it dragged on FOREVER! There was no real climax to the film, and the there where flashbacks constantly and for me it was difficult to figure out what was going on.

I will say that the sound effects where good (even though the theatre had the volume up way too high, most of the audience had their ears covered), and most of the special effects where amazing, even for a film that was set back for the 80’s. That would be the only reason why I would say go see it in the theatre’s if it is a must see, but really I had the hardest time sitting through it.

This film should have been rated at least NC-17, I knew for a while they where trying to decide what the rating would be, and I surprised it got even an R rating. Nudity is one thing, but full frontal shots of the male anatomy not one or twice, but at least 10 times was uncalled for.

The other thing about this film that was disappointing was that there was no real conclusion. It did not make you feel like there was a sequel on the way by any means, but the ending was just strange. It felt like the conclusion to Pirates of the Caribbean 3, where it circled around back to the beginning.

Personally, I would not even recommend this film at the dollar movie, or Redbox, not even on HBO/Starz if it is on. Save yourself, and take my word that it is not worth it. It cost over 100 million to film and lots of legal battles, yet I would be surprised if it makes what it cost to film, this will flop in the box office after the word gets out.

Movie Catch-Up

*I know I am a little behind in updating this blog, but it has been a crazy couple of weeks! The following movies I saw over the past three weeks.

HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU- This movie was hilarious and very well put together. It honestly touches base on various different scenarios in the dating world. I felt like somebody finally got it right in the film! This movie is based off of a best Selling novel, and the writer is friends with the creators of Sex and the City. I think if any of you have ever experienced dating in this day and age, you have come across some of these situations. Sitting, waiting, wishing for that one special person’s phone call, wondering if they are really into you or not. Big Love’s Ginnifer Goodwin plays a spunky spice editor who is helpless when it comes to dating. From trying to “run” into someone at the known Sports Bar he goes to, to leaving long and rambling messages just trying to get something in return. She then runs into Kevin Connolly (the guy she *thinks* she is in love with)’s best friend and restaurant/bar owner Justin Long who helps Goodwin’s character through these horrible dating situations. Romance blossoms in some cases, and in others it just fizzles out.

Bradley Cooper plays the married man in this film, who felt like he jumped into marriage too soon. His wife however seemed like she could have cared less when he tells her he slept with Scarlett Johansson, but is more concerned and trying to figure out if he has taken to Smoking again. Whereas Ben Affleck who has been dating and living with Jennifer Aniston for over seven years, refuses to Marry. This upsets Jennifer Aniston, since she is helping plan her baby sisters wedding.

This film is filled with ups and downs and honest to goodness goes through almost every situation you could ever imagine. I had free tickets to this film the first time, and paid the full $8.50 for the second time. I would highly recommend this film to anyone in the mood for a cute romantic comedy, that the men are sure to enjoy themselves!

TAKEN- Liam Neeson plays an ex spy who worked for the government whose daughter goes to France for the summer and gets kidnapped. Neeson does not have a very strong relationship with his daughter, and is hesitant to let her go away. Part of the arrangement is that she has to call every night before bed, and let him know every place she goes. When he checks her arriving flight to Paris and sees that she still has yet to call, he gets frantic and continues to call. She finally answers, and goes into the bathroom to get away from the loud music blaring and witnesses her best friend being kidnapped. Her father walks her through whats going to happen and decided that at this point it is revenge.

With Neeson flying across the world to rescue his baby girl, a lot is uncovered including corruption within the police department, and a huge underground mob/prostitution/drug ring. He has very few hours to uncover everything before it’s too late and looses his daughter forever. This film was gripping and kept me on the edge of my seat. If you are in the mood for a great thriller action packed film check this out! It is definitely a theatre must see, especially for the sound quality alone!

CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC- based off the book by Sophie Kinsella, Ilsa Fisher plays a shopaholic that owes over $16,000 in debt due to her addiction. The trailers made this film look appealing but I would not recommend wasting your money. I felt as thought his film was all way to predictable and that it dragged on forever. Fisher’s character plays a young mid-twenties girl whose dream is to write for an upscale fashion magazine, but mistakenly lands a job for a financial magazine. This coming from a girl, who cannot pay any of her bills (including rent), and has a collections officer after her for a debt over $9,000. The antics this collections guy will go through to get his commission on this case is ridiculous and dragged on. I normally like “chick” flicks and what not, but this did not entice me at all. Personally I would not waste my money to see this again, but if you must subject yourself to it, wait for either a dollar film or Red Box.

Pink Panther 2

I had the ‘joys’ of viewing an advanced screening of this film last night. All I can say is I thankfully forgot how horrible the first one, and it was literally quite painful to try to watch the second one! Steve Martin is once again plays a ridiculous blubbering French detective Jacques Clouseau, who has to try to solve the mystery of who stole the Pink Panther diamond (I think the story lines are almost the same as the first one, except this time there is no Beyonce in it, sorry guys!). This film was a waste of 92 minutes, filled with slapstick dirty humor, that I felt should have been rated PG-13. Maybe some of the crude humor could overpass a small child, but my teenage cousins could definitely pick up on it, and makes me wonder what type of audience this so called ‘family film’ is really trying to target. Do yourself a favor and not waste even a dollar on Redbox for this one, and as my kind roommate put it “wait for it to come to HBO if you must see it”. This film is so far in the running for worst film of the year, and it is only Feb!

NEW IN TOWN

What a cute wholesome movie! I was surprised by how funny and clean this movie was! Just like most romantic comedies or “chick flicks” as some might call it, it was slightly predictable at parts, but it was okay in this context. I personally felt that a lot of people could relate to Renée Zellweger’s character in this film, a person who is set in their ways and not really up for experiencing new things. She finally decides to make the most of her experience and reach out to the community and find happiness! If you are looking for a nice getaway with cute humor, go see this film. I would recommend it to anyone; even some of the guys that went enjoyed it. Worth at least a matinee price!