The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

( 2008 )

*** 1/2

One of my most anticipating films this summer was the next Narnia film, Prince Caspian.  I loved the first film, enjoyed every second.  However, this film just did not do it for me.  I was expecting much more from this film.

The film is about Prince Caspian trying to escape the clutch of his power-hungry uncle.  His uncle wants nothing less than Caspian’s thrown, and is willing to do anything to get it.  Even if it meant killing his own nephew to do so.  Also, when the kids arrive back at Narnia, they find themselves 1300 years from when they last visited.

Apparently while they were gone, Narnia was invaded by some evil men.  The friendly talking animals are supposed to be extinct.  So everything is in turmoil in Narnia, and it is up to the kids to fix everything up.  Understandable.

I had a few big problems with that.  The kids have been out of Narnia for an entire year, and the first chance they get, they bust out the weapon’s, and are ready to kill anything that moves.  The entire movie is action-packed.  Now, I am not saying action-packed films are bad or anything, but that’s all I saw.  There was a story, but they didn’t really take the time to flat out tell you what it was.

I was expecting so much more from this film.  I believe they owe it to themselves to make something better.  The movie in itself was actually pretty lengthy.  Even though it was long, I still think it was very rushed.

Overall, I think the movie is good enough for DVD, but not for a matinee.  You can check it out for yourself, peace out!

Speed Racer

( 2008 )

****

My first instinct watching this film, was the overwhelming knowledge that this film did not do so well, and it is unfortunate.  It’s opening weekend flopped, grossing in at around $20 million.  I wasn’t really looking forward to seeing this movie, to tell you the truth.  As it turns out, I was wrong, I really ended up enjoying it, and I’ll tell you why.

You have to get used to the concept of the film.  It is so vibrant, and so colorful, you have to blink a few times to let it all in.  I’ll admit that throughout the film, I honestly felt like I took some powerful drugs.  Everything had me dizzy. Not to mention it never stopped throughout the entire film.

Once you get around all the action and dizziness of the colors, you really start to understand the heart of the film.  It is about Speed Racer coping with the fact that his brother died in an accident years before.  Though such a terrible event occurred in his families life, he finds it his job to fill his brothers shoes, to finish what his brother had started.

I only had two problems with this film.  The first being it is too long.  The Wachowski Brothers could have made it a lot shorter, if they cut out all the unnecessary parts.  Another problem being it’s presentation.  It had too many flashbacks that blended into the actual time line, leaving me confused as to what is actually happening.

Overall, the movie really surprised me.  I never expected this much from the movie.  I was sitting in my seat the entire time saying, “Wow.”  It was a unique film.  Don’t judge a book by it’s cover, or  don’t judge a movie by its reviews.  Peace out!

The Bucket List

( 2008 )

**** 1/2

Morgan Freeman, and Jack Nicholson star in this film about two old men venturing out into the world together.  This movie surprised me, it really was fantastic.

The movie starts off with, of course, Morgan Freeman doing voiceover work.  I don’t mean to hate on Freeman’s voiceovers, but he does them in almost every movie he’s ever been in.  Though, I really felt that no one else could do a better job for this movie, than him.  If Sean Hayes was the narrator, for example, I would be concerned.  Freeman does an excellent job.

Enough about voiceover work.  The movie is all about these two men who discover they are dying, and only have a year, at best, to live.  So the two decide to embark on a adventure.  Carter (Freeman) and Edward (Nicholson) write down a list of things they wish to do before they “kick the bucket,” and put it into action.

It really is a fantastic film, full of laughter, and even some tearjerking moments for the ladies, and the occational male.  This movie left me satisfied in the end, and I will definitley buy it when it comes out.

I only have one problem with this.  Old people in love are just so weird.  Morgan Freeman plays an 81 year-old man, and there’s suppose to be this romantic scene with his wife, but really, who wants to see that?

I gave this 4 1/2 stars, it was brilliant.  Go see it! Peace out!

Iron Man

( 2008 )

*****

Let the summer blockbusters begin!  Iron Man definitely began this year’s summer blockbusters.  It’s been a while since I have seen such an amazing film. Keep in mind, though this movie is not a comedy, it was very funny.  It had the entire theater booming with laughter.  I wasn’t only enjoying this film when watching it, I was having fun with the rest of the crowd.  It was great!

Robert Downey Jr stars as Tony Stark, a billionaire weapons developer from what looks like the future.  Sure, there are a lot of questionable features this movie had.  It had computers that talked like a human, which anyone knows is impossible, but who cares?  The movie is based off of a comic book superhero, it can do what it wants.

Stark is taken hostage by terrorists, and was told to build them “The Jericho,” which was a powerful missile he created.  Since he knew the terrorists wouldn’t allow him to live, he created, with what little scraps he had, the first Iron Man suit.  From there, Stark went on to build the suit everyone knows and loves.

What I love about this movie is, Stark is human.  He hasn’t been bitten by anything radioactive.  He wasn’t caught in a nuclear explosion or anything, he is just, plain and simple, a man.  He has no powers, and that is the beauty of it!.  Much like Batman of DC comics.  Though Iron Man is cooler.  He is basically invincible, if you think about it.

I was having fun while watching this movie.  It was truly an amazing movie.  I have to give it 5 stars, and I reccomend this to everyone to check out.  Peace Out

21

( 2008 )

**** 1/2

Wow.  This movie blew me away.  I had absolutely no idea how great it would turn out.  The movie is all about card playing, for crying out loud!  The writers of this movie really knew how to write a movie, I’ll tell you that much.

The movie, based on a true story, stars Jim Sturgess, who plays the main character, Ben.  Ben is just a genius in math, and every other subject, it seems.  He has life going for him, about to get into Harvard, but the only problem is, he doesn’t have enough money to get in.  This is when Kevin Spacey’s character comes in and invites him into a secret club, teaching him everything he needs to know dealing with counting cards.  Ben really has no other option, he simply needs the cash, fast.

So, in a plan to make just enough money to get into Harvard, Ben joins the club.  It didn’t take him too long to gather enough cash, but it doesn’t take too long to get addicted to money either.  So, he continues to count cards, continues to win tons of money.  He was the best at what he did, and he liked it.

There were so many things in this movie.  To be honest, I really didn’t expect much of this film.  In the end, I was very glad I went to see this film.  I gave this 4.5/5 stars. Trust me, you should watch this movie.  You will be satisfied in the end.   Peace out!

The Forbidden Kingdom

( 2008 )

****

For years, I have been watching great martial arts films starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li.  Never, though, have they starred together, let alone fought against each other.  For a few months, I’ve been anticipating this film.  I needed to see what they would do with it.  When it comes to Action films, I always enjoy a good martial arts film, especially if it has these actors in them.

This movie was about an American teenager who loves martial-arts films, Jason Tripitikas (Michael Angarano) who journeys into an alternate universe called “The Forbidden Kingdom” where he meets some…colorful characters.  He was transported to this strange dimension when he found a mysterious magical staff. Jackie Chan plays a drunken kung-fu master, who is immortal.  Jet Li plays a silent monk, and they both help Jason return the magical staff to its rightful owner.

Along the way, Jason had to be taught how to fight kung-fu, in order to ward off the “Jade Warriors.” This movie was part “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon,” “Karate Kid” and “Lord of the Rings.”  I enjoyed it a lot.  I have seen plenty martial arts films which were, in my opinion, more worthwhile to watch.  Though, that fact wouldn’t stop me from watching this film over and over again.  I give it four out of five stars.  Peace Out

Street Kings

( 2008 )

****

Keanu Reeves, Hugh Laurie, Forest Whitaker, these are just a few big names that are in this action-packed cop drama.  When I saw this movie, I had no idea what it was about.  I never read or watched any reviews, I never saw any trailers, nothing.  The only thing I knew was there was a strong male cast in this film, and one guy loved it, so what did I do, I felt spontaneous, and had to see a movie, and this one simply was calling out my name.

So what this movie basically is, is about a group of vigilante cops who take matters into their own hands when it comes to what they believe is right.  An ex-partner of Keanu Reeve’s character ratted him out, and Hugh Laurie’s character stepped into the view.  He played a cop who was out for dirty cops, and he was convinced Keanu’s character was dirty.  So in order to keep his character in the down-low, he was forced to work a desk job for the time being.

When his ex-partner was completely destroyed by machine guns, Keanu felt it was his duty to find his old partners killers, and put justice in his own hands.  Apart from the fact that his boss and colleagues told him not to.  He simply would not put the death aside, and let the killers go, he believed they needed to be put down, for good.

The movie was pretty good, kept me interested for the most part.  They even threw some nice twisting endings at the end.  So I was pretty satisfied with the whole movie.  I give this 4 stars, and wouldn’t recommend this to anyone that has a light stomach.  There are some gruesome scenes.  Peace Out.

Superhero Movie

( 2008 )

** 1/2

Drake Bell plays what basically seems to be Toby Maguire’s role in the Spider-man movie franchise.  The movie spoofs what is basically the first Spiderman film.  It has tidbits here and there from other superhero movies, but seriously, not much at all.

To get right down to it, spoof movies have been made for decades.  When they started out, they were classics, movies like Airplane! And Naked Gun.  These films are ones everyone will remember.  Ever since they started movies like “Scary Movie,” and spinoffs of the like, it has been getting worse and worse.  They stretch it out way too far to the point of asking yourself why you went to the movie in the first place.

When this came out, I thought what I basically think when these spoof movies come out, oh, maybe this will be good.  Nope.  Another flop, just like the rest.  This movie let me down.  I love superhero movies, and I was almost positive this would be something I would at least like.  I never thought I’d dislike it at all.

The acting was horrible.  Why did they even bring Leslie Nielson into this film at all?  Was it because of his role in basically every other spoof movie ever made?  His role was small in this, if they are bringing in a celebrity like him, at least give him a better role.  The best part of this movie was the soundtrack, that’s it.  They got the music spot on, almost sounded like they ripped it right out of Spider-man’s soundtrack, and tweaked it up here and there.

Drake may have just ruined his career with this movie. Not likely because of his previous success.  But I think he knew how bad it would turn out.  I’m thinking that could possibly be why he decided to grow a hideous beard, and where glasses.  Weird. Must have been so no one would recognize him in the streets.

I gave this film two and a half stars, basically just because I didn’t HATE it, but I really didn’t like it too much.  I probably won’t watch it again.  But don’t waste your money on this.  See something else.  Peace Out

Special Report

February 13, 2008, I started a new project, every year I seem to get new ideas for projects. Last year it was The Extraordinary Project, a podcast the Gilleand brothers hosted about their favorite television shows. The second idea of the year 2007, was Daves life, a video journal about a day in the life of my own life. Now both of those ideas have been scrapped and are now blogs, Daves Life being a blog about my life, and The Extraordinary Project is a blog about television shows, and recaps.

The new project I started this year is The Veoh Review, which is not only a blog, but a video as well accompany almost each blog. The reviews are on movies, good and bad. The title of the project is based off of a popular video website much like youtube, or other like-websites. For a little less than two months, it has just been me having fun, doing what I love to do, well now, almost 2 months later, The Veoh Review has been found.

Views on Veoh.com began to increasingly get higher and higher, then I found my answer. One of the head honchos at Veoh, Brad Seraphin, contacted me about my videos. At first I was afraid that he might sue me due to copyright issues, since I did use their logo afterall, but quite the contrary, he loved that I did that. He went on to say that he wished to feature me weekly on the Veoh blog. The Veoh blog would show my video, which might, (I’m not sure) also feature me on their featured video section on their homepage. He will be sending me a contract with Veoh, and after I sign it, I am in.

Heres the thing, I love movies, and with this amazing opportunity, I’ll basically have to see at least one movie every week, which I dont have a problem with, Im just going to need some dough. But this is going to fun, I will be working directly with the staff of Veoh in CA. Ladies and Gentlemen, let’s start our engines.

No Country For Old Men

(2007)

*****

Wow.  This movie really surprised me.  I got to admit, before pushing play on this blu-ray, I didn’t even know what this movie was about, and I’m glad I didn’t!  Not knowing what it was about made it Oh so much better!  I was expecting to see two old men sitting on a porch with a shotgun telling kids to get off their lawn, not at all!  This was an amazing original crime thriller.  In the beginning it was a confusing story, what’s going on, but quickly I got into it, and before I knew it, it was one of my favorite movies of 2007!

So you got your main characters, a cowboy who just found 2 million dollars, and is running from a homicidal maniac.  A homicidal maniac that has probably the best weapon ever used in the history of motion-pictures, which was some kind of air-pressure gun, amazing.  And the sheriff of the town, Tommy Lee Jones.  Now, what I found interesting was the sheriff lives in a nice quiet town in the middle of absolutely nowhere.  Then this massive shootout of Mexicans happens, when a drug deal goes bad.  The sheriff finds this homicide spot, like CSI gone wild, and how does he act? He acts like this is something he sees every day, yup, that’s a lot of dead bodies, let’s move on….  I would be like HOLY CRAP! DEAD BODIES, but hey, its Tommy Lee Jones, awesome guy.

The story itself is a cat and mouse game of trying to get the cowboy, who has the 2 million in a small suitcase.  I got into it, and was waiting for the huge climax, the part where the best shootout of American filmmaking was about to happen.  They completely didn’t show it happen.  It skipped it, just showed Tommy Lee Jones’s crinkled forehead.  How exciting…

Then there was the fact that it had no ending at all.  I was watching it, and even though it was like two hours in or so, I thought there was going to be another hour, one thing I know the sheriffs’ talking, next thing I know the credits are rolling.  I looked up and was like, wait, did I miss something? Surely I did? No, no I didn’t, and either did you, its just how it ended.  Or didn’t end, however you look at it.

Anyways, this truley was one of the best movies of 2007, watch it if you haven’t seen it.  I recommend this to anyone, and I don’t care that its rated “R,” watch it anyways, its life altering.  Peace Out.