Snakehead Swamp

If you have been following Syfy films for the last year or so, it seems like they are following the same themes. These films either have a Louisiana bayou theme or they are dealing with sharks. Even though set in Los Angeles, Sharnkado was about sharks basically coming out of waterspouts. Ghost Shark was about a shark that was also a ghost. Snakehead Swamp is quite more of the same.

Back again in the Louisiana bayou, teenagers go out to a party on the water with intentions of having a good time. After a truck is crashed near the water, a snakehead is released and sets off a curse. The curse dates back to olden times and causes more trouble at hand.

For a horror film, this is very so formulaic. Kids going out in the middle of nowhere and you get to know nothing about these characters as they are not developed at all. These kids also don't seem to have a brain because it just seems ludicrous to go swimming in a bayou swamp.

Even more so, this film seems to turn into what Syfy films typically are. We expected this to be very low budget with the limited special effects being a prime example of that. On that, the effects do seem to come off a computer and a very old one at that. The acting is really hit or miss. Maybe the biggest point to make about Snakehead Swap is that it is very old for these Syfy movies to keep returning to the bayou.

Sure, even the good SyFy films are still at most times nothing special. That said, Snakehead Swamp has really nothing here to make it passable. It is just another cliche'd and problematic film from this channel.

1.5/5

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Underworld

In every decade, you can find vampire films. Famous horror director Bela Lugosi was one of first director to make these films with his 1931 Dracula and countless inspirations and type of sequels followed it. In the 70's, Blacula fells into what the 70's were and that trend contented with Lost Boys in the 80's and Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the 90's which later turned into a popular tv show. Even though it was met with fair amount of criticism, the Twilight series was a recent film adaptation of a vampire story from 2008 to 2014.

In the world of this film, Lycans are a type of werewolf and have been at war for years with a group of vampires who call themselves "Death Dealers". Michael (Scott Speedman), is a medical student and a normal human who eventually the Lycans show interest in and in a mysterious way. Selene (Kate Beckinsale) is a member of the Death Dealers who also shows an attraction to Michael, and investigates the reasons as to why the Lycans are interested in Michael. This is a Romeo and Juilet love story in the middle of a horror-war in a dark world. The story is frankly all over the place.

Underworld does have some ideas it seems but it is very low on substance. To say that lead actress Kate Beckinsale had a career after Underworld would be correct but before this, she was just coming into her own. She brings an edge to the lead character and it helps of course that she is very attractive but this love story the film conveys is very light on substance and ideas. The supporting characters are also over the place and it's hard to figure out who who's. Underworld  is a movie that ends on a note that comes with very serious question mark as to even how another story could come out of it.

Maybe the most interesting thing here but still not done right is the depiction of this future world. It is always dark with daily thunderstorms and it has a feel of Britain. There are flaws here and one is that it is always nighttime in this world because no sunlight is shown throughout the movie. Why? The film does have some nice sets but then the film gives us a lot of action scenes in sewers which is interesting but maybe not the best scenes.

Underworld feels like kind of like a direct-to-dvd film or like a potential blockbuster that really lost it's way. It  would work ok for a rainy day but I question how and why this has a sort of a cult following and a series that followed. I can only guess.

2.5/5

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Sleepless in Seattle

In the 1993 movie, Sleepless in Seattle, Sam Baldwin (Tom Hanks) is a single and widowed father in Seattle who is trying to raise his only son Jonah (Ross Malinger) by himself. Jonah calls into a late night radio program asking for a mother. Annie Reed (Meg Ryan) all the way in New York City and lonely herself takes an interest in the story and she falls for Sam without ever seeing him. A love story forms on fate and some rather ridiculous antics.  

I have liked Tom Hanks for years and I have always wished Meg Ryan's career had panned out better  for her. You can't say this duo does not have chemistry because they really do while Ross Malinger as Jonah fits into the mix perfectly and the story the film tells is very original. Still though, the likelihood of this story actually happening is very far fetched. Seattle and New York are such a long distance apart and it is filled with a predictable ending involving an airplane that wouldn't work now because of 9/11. Bill Pullman and Rosie O'Donnell are the leaders of the supporting cast and the mixture is frankly beyond uneven.

Now a week after it's 21th anniversary release week, Sleepless in Seattle is surely a very loved film. This film is one I can see living on for awhile and of course it is a classic for the ladies. Maybe it's the boy in me but I find Sleepless in Seattle to be a flawed piece more than anything. I think it is an overrated and somewhat underwhelming romantic flick.   


3/5

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Runaway Bride

In 1990, Gary Marshall created Pretty Woman and basically made a name for himself even though he was doing pretty well before. It was a love story based upon a stripper which had different love elements and was mostly surely the star vehicle film for Julia Roberts. Close to ten years after that, he considered doing a Pretty Woman 2. The film that would surely make money and have an audience because Pretty Woman with Richard Gere and Roberts was so very popular. Instead, he made Runaway Bride.

 Runaway Bride is the story of Maggie Carpenter a girl in a small town who literally ran away from the three weddings and who found a strange attraction in the news reporter in town, Ike Davis (Richard Gere), who wrote about Maggie's many wedding day antics.

As a person who never been married and far from it, the idea a bride running away from a wedding seems unlikely and just makes you not like the Maggie Carpenter character. Who could like a lady who's never certain about anything and who treats each different fiance like dirt? You can't even like Ike Davis who's does seem to be the better of the two but you do have to wonder as to why he is interested in Maggie. It's like when your best friend has that awful girlfriend who you don't like and she makes you like your friend a little less.

Runaway Bride does have star power with it leads but there are even better performances from the supporting cast. Joan Cusack as Peggy Flemming is the very loud, best friend of Maggie and they are the type of friends that get drunk every Saturday night. Paul Dooley plays Walter Carpenter, Maggie's dad and is maybe the only character you can like because he's likes to make fun of Maggie a lot. Christopher Meloni as Bob Kelly and Donal Logue as Priest Norris were the latest fiancés, in Maggie's trap and frankly you just feel bad for them. Even Hector Elizondo and Rita Wilson show up as a couple though there really is no point for them to be here.

The ending is beyond predictable and pretty unlikely but still Runaway Bride is your typical romantic film. Sure it's different and has all that talent going for it and it will find an audience with woman because what woman does not like weddings? That said Julia Roberts is a poor lead character that takes this downhill a little bit. I'm not really a fan of sequels but this movie from 1999 makes me wish for the Pretty Woman sequel that we never got. Instead, we just got this sappy junk.

2.5/5

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Hitch

Dating is a process full of so many important steps that all need to be right. Some people are really into dating while some people like me don't care. To say I don't like romantic film is wrong though. I do find most to be geocentric and I feel we sure do get enough of them. Hitch is the romantic film we need in this world. It is a love doctor story filled with it's fair share of problems though.

Hitch is a love doctor played by well known actor Will Smith. He makes a businesses of helping guys with their love life to set them up with the perfect girls. He tries to help one of new clients Albert (Kevin James) to get a celebrity Allegra Cole (Amber Valletta) and Hitch himself falls for Sara Melas (Eva Mendes). The film is set in New York City and conveys the big dating world in one small picture.

In every way that you look at, this is a typical Will Smith character and performance. Hitch is a player who could get any girl he wanted and he is very good at being this date doctor and it makes him so unlikable at times. The same thing could be said about the female characters of the story. Allegra and Sara are doing so well in every aspect of life that you really don't care about them and you just wished the film created different characters as love inserts. The person you should care about the most is Albert, the chubby guy who's struggled all his life with dating and you just want him to have his chance. He's also very likable and funny.

You should totally dig the Albert character but he is faced with some uncertain factors. No way in the real world would a guy like Albert get a celebrity like Allegra. She is just too pretty. We can also question Hitch because it seems like no one can make a business off of what he does but he is somehow living in what seems like an upscale New York apartment? Can Hitch be this good at his job because he seems to be right on everything? He is an unrealistic love doctor it seems.

I really do like the general concept of Hitch but there are too many needed pieces that are missing to make it fully good film. In the end, Hitch is a barely above average film that should have been more.

3/5

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Reviving Ophelia

Elizabeth (Rebecca Williams) is a typical teenager who's found what's seems to be a great guy in her boyfriend Mark (Nick Thurston). The relationship starts to turn sour once Mark starts to be abusive and controlling. Reviving Ophelia is Lifetime movie trying to convey the dark sides and dangers of relationships.

I am all for a film trying to show how important to be safe in relationships even if it's only a televison film. I think it is important to expose this important issue and in the most serious manner which maybe could even save a life and the Lifetime channel would seem to be the perfect place for a tv film like this. The Lifetime channel seems to have a wide audience and they have made many films.

So why then is Reviving Opehia so cheesy when it's dealing with a such touchy and important subject?

Even though she is a victim of assault, Elizabeth is hard character to root for because she can get away from her abuser Mark and she is clearly something of a button-pusher. You obviously can't like Mark either because he is a guy beating up a woman and not taking responsibility for his actions. Keil (Carleigh Beverly) Elizabeth cousin, is the character in the middle who's supposed be trying to help Elizabeth get away from Mark but the two unlikable characters are in the way of her character realizing her full potential. Even Jane Kaczmarek as mother Marie Jones, previously known for good stuff like Malcolm in the Middle and Part of Five, falls short and her acting here is far from where it usually is. The cast does have some chemistry though everything is toned down due to this being a tv film. The plot really has only one subject and it really has little substance.

Reviving Ophelia is so full of problems that it's main message that "that abuse is bad" gets very lost in the middle of it. After that, it is a bit laughable and you keep watching because you have nothing else to do. We watched this in my high school Relationships class as we spent a whole unit learning about abusive relationships. Frankly, just about whole class laughed at this movie and my buddy next to me cracked some sex jokes and commented about all the attractive actresses that appear in this film. It did make this bad tv film seem more bearable.

2.5/5

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Gremlins

There are so many types of monsters around in the film industry. Godzilla and King Kong are the type of monsters that are massively big and known to cause terror to large cities. You can also say a monster is something like Dracula, Freddy Krueger or just a murdering villain. In my mind, you can't always put a type of monster into a certain genre and this is a type of discussion that could last for a while.

Fitting into that long discussion should be the 1984 film Gremlins, a monster film in many ways. Inventor Randy Pultzer (Hoyt Axton) while in Chinatown gets an animal known as a mogwai as a early Christmas present for his son Billy (Zach Galligan). A mogwai could be described as very small and fury creature who's owner must observe strict rules regarding their handling or negative consequences will occur. For example, they can't be fed after midnight, can't be exposed to bright lights nor can they come into contact with water. If these rules are not observed basically you get "monster terror".

To say a mogwai is one certain type of creature would wrong. A mogwai is a type of creature that could appear in a Saturday morning cartoon or a family film but once those mogwai handling rules are broken, he turns into the exact opposite who could be something very R rated. It is then a type of creature wanting to cause harm to the town and also a very ugly looking thing. The actions scenes involving them interestingly combine horror and comedy. The scenes involving them are quite fun and also ahead of it's time with some great special effects.

 That said, there are some plot holes in these scenes. Being set at Christmas time, many of the action scenes are set in the snow. So how can the gremlins run through snow as they do when you know snow is filled with water which is against the mogwai rules? You can't feed a mogwai past a certain time but the film gives us no clue to what time zone we are in and if you think about it, anywhere in the world it's past midnight somewhere?

As any good film should do, this film give the cast many things to do. Billy is our leader and main fighter for the town. Phoebe Cates playing Kate Beringer is the Billy's love interest. She is very likable and also very sexy as always. Randall Peltzer is the father who I'm sure feels some sort of blame towards the creatures creating havoc in his town and his character does have some funny moments with his strange and worthless inventions. Even Corey Feldman shows up as the character Pete who is like your little brother in that he is highly annoying and just seems to roam around without direction but you like him though.
  

Gremlins apparently was one of the movies which introduced the PG-13 rating. It is a film that in some respects defines 1980's era films. It is a film that I enjoyed more when I was a little boy but the teenager in me still found something in it that I liked. Gremlins would surely work for a modern family audience today. This is a film that is as powerful then as it is now. Monster film joy.

4/5

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Ghostbusters

In the heart of Manhattan, Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), Peter Venkman (Billy Murray) and Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) are scientists who careers are all falling as parapsychologists. After an idea that seems silly, this team creates their own company. Their idea involves a company stopping the ghosts of New York City and they are a team who eventually who's has to save the world. This is the movie Ghostbusters.

What first could be said about this 1984 film is that it definitely relies on the characters. Peter Venkman is the person in the group that could be called the James Belushi of the group. He's the type of guy who basically "slacked" his way to being a scientist and who spends most of his time trying to get at Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) who's apartment was the first place Zuul, a creature wanting to take over the world was found. Egon is the smart guy who is not be messed with and it is his way or the highway. Ray is likely the most likable person of the group who seems to like everyone. Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) joins the ghostbusters group midway through their success but he's the least developed character of them all. Now retired actor Rick Moranis plays Louis Tully who's the nerdy neighbor of Dana who also trying to get Dana's interest and who eventually has his own encounter with Zuul. This is a cast that works so well together and are equally funny and energetic.


                                

The movie takes this original idea of people fighting and eliminating ghosts and gives it quite a bit of depth. The movie is filled with great special effects that are ahead of it's time and the movie also has a cool 80's New York vibe. The plot is more convoluted then it needs to be at times this is the type of story that would only come around in the 80's but is filled with so many highlights that the flaws seem insignificant.

To find someone who doesn't know what Ghostsbusters is in our society, is hard to come by. This is a type of art that will live on forever and creates new audiences daily. Ghostbusters is truly a revolutionary film that you can't get enough of. It is one of those films you could watch ten times without getting tired of it and there aren't many films you can say that about. This movie is truly remarkable indeed.

4.5/5

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Godzilla (2014)

There are monster films that stand alone and then there are monster films that are the godfathers of them all. You could say that the King Kong from 1933 was among the most influential which spawned sequels and remakes in 1976 and 2005. That said, the 1954 Japanese movie Godzilla towers over them all. With over ten sequels and an American remake in 1998, Godzilla is on the biggest scale of all monster movies, to me anyway.

No doubt, the 1998 Godzilla by Roland Emmerich was critically panned. From the silly ideas of babies and asexual reproduction, it was very simple-minded action flick. The sequels that were planned were cancelled due to the bad reception to the film. I actually who enjoyed this version of Godzilla and like others, I think we have all waited too long for this new version. Godzilla is that interesting a character and movie phenomenon.

This new installment, follows around Joe Brody (Bryon Cranston) who is in a Japanese town that has been quarantined after what is said to be a nuclear power plant incident. Joe is arrested for trespassing in this nuclear area as he believes something else is happening there. This suppression leads to more of the same and eventually the beast himself.

Unlike the 1998 film where your cast was typical, this new Godzilla cast is much more diverse. Ford Brody (Aaron Tyler Johnson) plays Joe's son, who's main role is to fight for his family and who eventually starts believing his father that something strange is going on in the area. His wife Elle is played by rising star, Elizabeth Olsen and is a nurse who is running around the city looking for a shelter for her family which makes the her the least interesting character here. Dr Vivienne Graham (Sally Hawkins) and Ichrio Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) are the scientists who have been investigating the phenomena in this area since the beginning which makes us root for them all the way through the movie.

Besides a few shots in Jamaica, Tahiti and South Pacific Ocean, the 1998 Godzilla movie was set in New York. You can say that took down the film but it also made us question the budget. Once again, this new version is quite exactly the opposite. Ford Brody grew up in Japan but now lives with wife and child in San Francisco. The action scene settings range from Las Vegas, Nevada to Honolulu, Hawaii. It does kind of come off as "all over the place" and maybe a bit too much being attempted but the atmosphere is original and this movie appears to have more of a budget than the last one.

Obviously biggest factor in any Godzilla movie is the creature itself. Whatever Godzilla film you are watching, he is always going to be what you want to see and why you are watching in the first place. This new Godzilla is made to look very modern, with ideas and character development and also his entrance to this film comes much later then you would like. The action scenes and effects involving Godzilla are beyond dazzling but the action scenes are kind of  light on buildup and ideas. Also the final shot of Godzilla is very silly and it's feels as if this is a set up to a sequel.  

In the end, I enjoyed this big budget, summer film but it is such a different Godzilla film than I expected that it is a little hard to take in. It will likely take me more than a few more viewings to fully accept and appreciate this "very different Godzilla". With this film being so different, you are only to left wonder what the likely sequel will be like and that may be the biggest question mark of them all.      

4/5

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The Amazing-Spider Man 2

In 2012, the first Spider-Man came out from the new reboot series and it came out in a very "out of the blue" way. I can't say I never did appreciate a Spider-Man film though because Spider-Man is for sure one of my favorite superheroes out there. Why though, would they create a Spider-Man series five years after the last film in the original series?

The Amazing Spider-Man of 2012 still was a positive even with all the hate I give it. It brought in new rising stars who we got to know and it played well in the summer market. The film got a new audience for this famous Marvel character and it generated sequels.

In this movie, following the events in last movie, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) is really up in the air (no pun intended) with his relationship with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) and a new villain, Electro (Jamie Fox) comes into the spotlight. Peter Parker also must deal with an old friend Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) who is now in charge of Oscorp and who's emotions turn him into the villain the Green Goblin. Parker is sure dealing with lot of tuff and it's starts to show.

Andrew Garfield is again likable which makes you wish he was around more often in films. He has very good chemistry with his co-star Emma Stone but the story of them trying to solve their relationship is surely past done by now. Still though, they make this film and I don't know where this film would be without the two of them together. Electro is nerdy and not a mentally stable guy and it's quite interesting for him to be in this film because he is not the most known villain in the Spider-Man universe which makes him original. The special effects with him are quite quirky and of a different vibe than what we have seen before but like the most characters in this film, his pacing is way off. Rising star, Dane DeHaan known for the forgotten but solid film Chronicle is just as silly as Electro but it's Dehaan himself who eventually who ruins this character for us. He can't develop the character himself making it a mundane character nor is his acting really up to a par. Even the usually lovable Sally Field as Aunt Jane is nowhere to be found and really adds nothing to film even when she is around.  

There also isn't much of a plot here. Sure, these characters do add something but a large portion of the film wanders around going nowhere and the movie has some really bad pacing. You would expect the typical long, action battle scenes to end the story and here the last battle scene sure does change the whole series. The main settings is New York City which it had to be but really you know what you are getting with this setting by now. It' a plot that has a lot to it but doesn't really go anywhere with it. I give the substance here a barely passing grade.

These are probably some reasons why this is movie is getting hated on after only one week at the top of the box office. You have wonder what Sony Pictures thinks of the future now for this series. This reboot continues to introduce us to new things to this character that we never thought would come to us but still fails to deliver the necessary stuff to make a really good Spider-Man film. I can't even say that I'm even looking forward to the likely sequels coming in the next few years and I never said this when the original sequels were coming. The Amazing Spider Man 2 and this whole reboot series  sure seems like a big question mark to me.

3/5

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Godzilla (1998)

In 1954, the new film "Godzilla" hit the theaters in Japan and made an impact that nobody foresaw or thought would have happened. Sure, in 1933 the famous King Kong was released but Godzilla was still an inspiration for many monster films to follow. These movies include the classic 1954 movie, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and even more recent films including the 2006 South Korean film, "The Host" and "Cloverfield" from 2008. So many monster movies world-wide have been inspired by the original Godzilla movie.

In my mind, around the 1990's, we were long overdue for an American Godzilla film for many years. It is true that in 1956, there was an American production of Godzilla, King of the Monsters! but it had mostly the same footage from the original Godzilla to introduce the monster Godzilla to an American audience. It would seem that a new American version would surely find an audience in the States and create a new audience so to generate sequels.

In 1998, an American version of Godzilla was indeed released. It came with a risk because of the past history of Godzilla movies and it also needed a big budget to properly depict this large monster. In the end, this movie version of Godzilla is mostly hated but I was able to look past this.

After a sudden and mysterious attack on a Japanese vessel and  also some big footprints found in the Panamanian forests, Dr. Nick Tatopoulos (Matthew Broderick) is contacted by the U.S. State Department who discovered a giant mystery which a monster we later called Godzilla and who's main target for attack is the Big Apple, New York City. This is an attack that later turns into much more.

At the time of the movies release, director Roland Emmerich was coming off the huge success of Independence Day and there was much hype surround this film because of that. He brought Matthew Broderick in for the lead role but I believe Broderick is a questionable lead because he has never been the action film actor and his inexperience in this genre shows in this movie. Emmerich also casts popular television actor Hank Azaria as Victor Palotti as a funny guy but he mostly meanders around and is not very funny. Maria Pitillo is the love interest of Dr. Tatopoulos but her acting here is a mess and she gives some clear reasons as to why she's not around in films any more.

 
At first glance, it seems like this is a simple plot but the plot does have some substance. Even though New York City comes off as a simple setting, the film does give us many interesting shots of the city during it's action scenes. The action scenes don't really stand out and the ending is tiresome but the action here is enough to get by. Popular actor Jean Reno plays an very interesting French secret agent which adds a foreign spy angle to this new Godzilla.

What's becomes even more interesting about this American remake is the Godzilla creature itself. Godzilla sure looks like a dinosaur and that maybe is understandable considering this film was made  during the heights of the popularity of Jurassic Park. The special effects here are hit or miss. The film does sets itself up perfectly for sequels but these were late canceled due to the poor audience reaction to this movie. There is also a baby element which later turns into a type of biology lesson that involves asexual reproduction. As you can see, the substance of this movie is kind of all over the place but it sure does add some elements to a film that could have easily been too simple.

In the end, this is a somewhat standard Roland Emmerich film. The movie is very dumb at times and has many problems but in the end Godzilla works in a cheesy kind of way. This was a  silly action film from the 90's that I wish had found it's audience. This is "guilty pleasure" fun indeed.

3/5

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Heaven is for Real

Every year, there are a certain amount of Christian films released. You could say that they are unnoticed or that people forget about them because studios don't seem to have confidence in them to make a profit. No doubt though there have been some religious films that have made their mark on the film industry including The Passion of the Christ in 2004, Jonah: Veggie Tales in 2002 and the famous The Ten Commandments in 1956.

Twenty years down the road, when we look back to the films of 2014, you could say that religion was a theme in some of the films. Even though panned by most people and based off a mini series, Son of God about the life of Jesus was a profitable movie. Noah the Ark with Darren Aronofsky and Russell Crowe about of course the story of Noah the Ark was a blockbuster. The year 2015 will bring us a film about the life of Mary, and also Exodus: Gods and Kings that is in post-production. Only time will tell if there will be more films about religion down the road.

Based off the best selling novel of the same name, Heaven for Real is the true story of Colton Burpo who went through emergency surgery in 2003 and went on a magical journey through heaven during it. It is a journey that left a family in wonder and a small town in Nebraska in a media frenzy .

Even though looked at as a small market film, this film very includes big names. Greg Kinnear plays father and pastor Todd Burpo who is mystified but excited about Colton's experience. Kelly Reilly plays the mother Sonia who takes a more of an emotional approach to the Colton story. Big name actor Thomas Haden Church plays family friend Jay Olson who we can like but really adds nothing to the story.The center of attention to the story is of course Colton with acting by young actor by Connor Corum which is hit or miss and a character that you feel is out of his head. His sister Cassie is played by Lane Style who is given nothing to do and is a character that doesn't add anything to the story. Overall, the cast is kind of a mess.  

This film eventually fails because of it's lack of attention to detail. It just mopes around, gives us no secondary ideas and has a very repetitive in plot. You are left to wonder to as what's more to this story and if this film was a just marketing campaign for the book. You literally leave the theater knowing as much as you did coming in.                                                      

 

Maybe this movie found its audience and I would think most religious people would like it but Heaven for Real is lousy beyond belief. It has an interesting plot to work off of but doesn't do much with it. This is a film with not a lot to it and not for me.

2/5

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The Grand Budapest Hotel

If you follow the film industry as much as I have, you must surely know about director Wes Anderson. Anderson is a very quirky filmmaker who came into the public eye in the late 90's and then developed a following. His is a type of filmmaking that you either love or hate but either way, it is definitely different compared to what usually comes out of the film.

Anderson's newest film is The Grand Budapest Hotel and the most misleading thing about this film is that its not all about this hotel. Sure, the plot centers around the hotel but the story is about an art heist in the 1930's involving characters Monsieur Gustave (Ralph Fiennes) and Zero (Tony Revolori) in the fictional town of the Republic of Zubrowka. The heist leads to deaths, a friendship, a family's fortune and of course the Grand Budapest Hotel.

I can't say that I've seen many art heist films because there aren't many of them. The art heist story is quite convoluted and can be on the dull side but it is very smart with depth and the story involves  much more than a typical heist. The story contains many elements ranging from black comedy to action/thriller scenes. The movie has a type of depth that can't really be described in full to someone who hasn't seen it.

What makes this an even more interesting art heist story is how Anderson's filmmaking style fits into it. He makes this story very quirky and strange; so much so that is a borderline "art house" film. It is a type of style that is again hard to describe and frankly it is best when watching this to just go with it. Anderson brings many characters to the story including big name actors like Jeff Goldblum, Bill Murray, Luke Wilson and Owen Wilson. Yes, it's too many characters to keep track of at times but only Anderson could have gotten together a cast like this and it is very inspiring to see a cast like this in an "indie type" film.

I don't see The Grand Budapest Hotel as a film that I will be watching very often nor is it close to the type of films I'm normally into but Wes Anderson really makes this film worthwhile. He does so much here to tell the story and make it unfold into something really good and something we could not imagine being so good. The Grand Budapest Hotel is very grand and heartwarming and one of the first different types of films of 2014.

4/5

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The Tall Man

 
In the poor town of Cold Rock, Washington, children disappear daily because of a man the town calls the Tall Man and the town that comes together to solve this mystery. Julia (Jessica Biel) is the local nurse who is just trying to survive in this tough town with her son but he too disappears at the hands of the Tall Man.

There are many reasons why this film could have been good. Director Pascal Laugier made the famous film Martyrs which some consider one of the most grisly horror films of all-time which also included some brutal scenes involving women. The Tall Man features the plot of lost children which is not the most original thing in horror movies but it is scary in it's own right. In the end though, The Tall Man is perfectly fine for what it is but could have been so much more.

The film relies solely on a twist near the end. It is a twist that shows the film has some creative bones in it's story but you can see it coming miles away. It also gives no back-story putting us in a position where it is hard to follow and we become lost. Once we get to know this villain, we see that it is a character that is not given much to do. We also have no idea how the Tall Man is able to take the kids, his motive for doing this and also the third act is full of well....nothing.

The Tall Man is a film with a few good ideas with a creative atmosphere but it is simply way too simple and plain. It is cool to see Jessica Biel in a horror film which is not a common thing but I also wouldn't be surprised if she was casted because of her sex appeal. The Tall Man makes fine watching for a dull day but there is nothing here that makes this more than a matinee film.

2.5/5

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Captain America: The Winter Soldier

It might have not came as a shock to others but the first Captain America movie of 2011 came out of nowhere for me. I found that the Captain American origin story in that movie to be one of the more interesting origin stories around and very much original. Steve Rogers was the slightly built soldier in World War Two who makes his way to the present day through a block of frozen ice. Captain America was a superhero that eventually brought the war, the Nazis, a cool villain and different time period to the Marvel universe in Captain's first ever film.

Now in 2014, Captain America is back with the sequel Captain America: The Winter Soldier directed by new directors Anthony Russo and Joe Russo. After Nick Fury (Samuel J. Jackson) is gunned down by a villain named White Soldier, Steve Rogers is now is a fugitive on the run and who must get down to business and solve the S.H.I.E.L.D vs HYDRA espionage battle in the Nation's capital.

Like the first movie, this sequel has a nice cast. Nick Fury is given more to do in this movie and even though the character goes some predictable ways, he still should be the character you most look forward to in upcoming Marvel films. As he was in the first movie, Chris Evans is flawless as Captain America. He plays the character as a very likable Captain America and adds depth and chemistry to the role. Scarlett Johansson is back as the Black Widow who again brings sexuality through her tight outfits. The newest member of the cast, and a very impressive character indeed, is Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce. Redford's character can be described as unlikable and it is very impressive for an actor like Redford at the age of 77 to be doing high levels action scenes as he does here. The only character that is lacking is Falcon (Anthony Mackie) who really does nothing noteworthy or interesting but a character that maybe I could see some change or development for the next film. Last by not least is our great villain, the White Soldier who does come off as creepy and pretty cool twist comes to him yet again.

I do question the film's running time and structure. You have to question as to why this film is as long as there are many obvious places that it could have been cut down. The pacing is all over the place and the action often comes randomly. The action scenes are still very well done and do show off the  big budget of this film but they are all kind of the same. The settings are numerous and kind of all over the place and the movie does drag big time.

Of course, one thing this sequel is doing is setting itself up for another sequel that has already been announced for 2016. This one works fine for what it is but between the other recent Marvel movies including two Thor films, three Iron Man films, the Avengers and the first Captain America film, it really comes up lacking. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a disappointing sequel to say the least.

3.5/5

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Divergent

After the success of the first Harry Potter movie that later that spawned a very successful series of movies or the Twilight movies that made big money off the " teenage vampires and humans in love" theme, it has become more and more common each year for the studios to look for successful teen novels that could spawn a film series. It does come at some risk though as a film like Vampire Academy from this year was a bomb and critically panned followed by a cancelled series. This was a prime example of a film based on a teen novel-based film that didn't quite work and there are other examples.

Being not a reader of the Divergent book series, I was clueless as to what Divergent was all about. Based off the popular teen novel written by Veronica Roth, Divergent is a three part trilogy with two spin-off mini stories on e-books. In total, this series could be possibly five films and by judging from strong box office from it's first week, you wonder what kind of money how much a movie series like this could make or how long it could last.

Based in the future in a dystopian society in Chicago, Divergent's setting is a world where everyone is put into specific factions based on their own virtues. Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley) learns that she is a "divergent", an extremely rare condition in which a person can't be assigned due to one faction because she has the attributes of many factions. Divergents are considered threatening by the government because they are free-thinkers who cannot be controlled by the government. Later after Tris puts herself into Dauntless, a faction of people based on courage, it becomes evident that the main faction leader Jeannie Matthews (Kate Winslet) is planning to kill any divergent that they can identify. Tris must find herself, fight her enemies and learn to survive all at the same time.

Like The Hunger Games and other sci-fi films, I am always interested in seeing a dystopian society if done right. Shot in Chicago, this dystopian setting offers real some cool shots of the city including Navy Pier and Michigan Avenue. Most of the film interior sets are placed in what seems to be abandoned warehouses which gives the film a different and hollow atmosphere. This dystopian society of Chicago is enclosed by a big wall and it seems as if this government wants it's people to be held up within the walls forever. The movie gives no hints as to why the city is walled up or what is beyond the walls and you really would hope a sequel will give some type of explanation on this. Still though, the setting here is a strength of the film.

With yet another correlation to Hunger Games, rising star, Shailene Woddley works as the young adult lead who's trying to rise up against this society and who you do root for. Her instructor for Dauntless, Four Eaton (Theo James) is both a mean and likable character and a romantic relationship eventually develops between the two. The chemistry between them is not there at first but it eventually falls into place. Peter (Miles Teller) is the mean member of Dauntless and you can say the only cast member who brings humor to the story. Divergent has a big cast filled with a lot of depth and emotions from the characters.

Where the idea of "training" as Hunger Games was only a small aspect of that movie, one of the main themes of  Divergent is training. The training is often brutal as we see many people trying to get into Dauntless who did not get to a certain level and then were thrown into the streets. Much of the training is people fighting one on one and further you are tested on your fears. For example, to even enter the training building, you have to jump down a big hole in a building where you do not know what is below.

Unlike the Harry Potter movies or The Hunger Games, this is a much more dark film based on a teen novel. The overall tone is quite dark with a suicide and an attempted sexual assault depicted among other things. This might not be some of the most fun things to watch but it does add variety and possibly brings a slightly different audience to Divergent than some of the other teen films mentioned earlier.

Divergent can be very long and also tiresome at points. It also has some lack of originality but there is still a lot to like here. Treat Divergent as another version of The Hunger Games, then it works.  

3.5/5

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Kicking and Screaming

As Jason Batman plays what seems to be every role as a character lost in the middle, Will Ferrell has been playing the same type of character for years but unlike Batman, Ferrell's niche can't really be described. As in the Anchorman films or The Campaign, Ferrell's characters are all over the place and can be beyond strange and hard to put a finger on. Throughout Will Ferrell's filmography, we are used to getting the same type of silly comedy from him but Kicking and Screaming is his most different role. In it, he is trying to be a father figure and also a motivator in a sports film. In the end, Kicking and Screaming is just too generic to work fully.

Phil Weston ( Ferrell) is the type of guy who has never been able to live up to his father's expectations throughout his whole life and was always a benchwarmer in younger days as a soccer player. After his son's soccer coach leaves the team, Phil steps in to be the coach and that also makes him the father that he never was to his son. At the same time, he is trying to win against his old man Buck (Robert Duvall) who is also a coach in the league.

Kicking and Screaming is in the same mold of the original Bad News Bears. Actually you could now say that about many sports films because Bad News Bears was such an influential movie and the influence here is even more obvious. Ferrell is someone who never had anything himself and eventually finds himself through coaching this team that is so dysfunctional but in the end, they learn how to to play a soccer somehow. Robert Duvall works as unaccredited villain who's eventually turns into the good guy at the end. Even Mike Ditka shows up as the assistant coach but really he's not given much to do and I assume he is here on name value alone and to sell some tickets.

As like "Coach Carter" of the same year, Phil makes it but in a very interesting way. In some ways, Ferrell is  pulling off some of his past character traits and the character even appears to be  channeling The Anchorman character which is not surprising considering the films were only released one year apart. Phil is a strange character no doubt and at times very unlikable. He yells at his team a lot and wants his opponents to be injured which I would think go against most parent's ethics. He does however does admit many of his wrongs in a lengthy speech near the end. We can like Coach Carter more as character but Phil Weston gives us another more silly version of the sports coach.

This movie does have a lot of soccer in it for people that are interested in that though I'm not one of those. It does produce more than it's share of chuckles and you can also say you say you saw Josh Hutcherson before his career really took off. Kids will love this movie because of the humor but it really is a mixed bag for the parents and also the teenager audience because that humor is too childish. By the end, Kicking and Screaming will have you kicking and screaming because it's kind of a mess that barely survives.

3/5

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Coach Carter

In 1999, head basketball coach Ken Carter of Richmond High School in Richmond, California made national headlines for benching his undefeated team due to poor grades. This was a story that caused a great deal of dislike towards the coach but brought up the always important ideas of leadership, grades and that there is more to life than just basketball.  In 2005, the story of Ken Carter story turned into the movie "Coach Carter" starring Samuel L. Jackson and directed by Thomas Carter.

What this movie all boils down to is Samuel L. Jackson who is a great asset and who makes this film. He brings this attitude and temper of a hard guy but eventually a likable basketball coach that makes this film move and succeed. This is the type of character that people look up to because of the fact that he is trying to bring something positive to the life of teenagers even if he's a little hard on them during the process. Some might call it "tough love".

Another reason this story and film are so successful is due to the atmosphere of the setting of the movie, Richmond, California. Richmond is a rough area that nobody expects good basketball teams to come out of. People don't expect kids to get good grades with the graduation rate being so poor. Considering this, Ken Carter deserves even more credit for trying to accomplish something that would seem doubtful and highly unlikely.

As a person who loves basketball and has followed the NBA for years, I especially should have loved Coach Carter due to the basketball theme. Well the basketball scenes aren't bad and are set-up ok but they are generic and very unrealistic. We can see where most of these scenes are going as we go along. We also don't know much about the players or who they are which is common in sport films and the ending is predictable. If this film improved the basketball scenes and added something there, who knows how good this could have been.

Coach Carter works the motivation angle pretty well but falls off from there. In the end, this is a sports story which you should probably skip because you have seen all this before. This likely will  be one of the forgotten films of Samuel L. Jackson career and rightfully so.

3/5 

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Non-Stop

It's hard to believe but it really seems like Liam Neeson has been around forever in the film world. First starting out in the early 80's with the medieval and sci-fi films, "Excalibur" and "Krull", then close to twenty years later in 1999 where we first recognized him as Qui-Gon Jinn in the Star Wars prequel "Phantom Menace". Then to "Taken" in 2009 and to "Unknown" in 2011, Neeson has turned himself into a action star over the last five years and you could say he has found a niche at this stage of his career.

In his new action film, Non-Stop, Liam Neeson is Bill Marks, a drunk and a lonely Federal Air Marshall who must save his plane after a text message is sent to him from an unknown source wanting $150 million or else a person will be killed every twenty minutes on the flight if the the money is not sent. With the recent disappearance of Malaysian Flight MH370, this is the type of plot that fits perfectly into our modern society in a scary, eerie way.

You really can't say that there are many films are like Non-Stop. Liam Neeson really works as Bill Mark because Neeson is (past) middle age and he's fits right into the Bill Marks character timeline. The film centers on Marks as a federal marshal which itself is somewhat uncommon. The movie is also set only on an airplane and for just one setting, it's gives more than usual, and many, supporting characters and also very well developed characters. This different and confined atmosphere is stuffy and creates tension and also explains the film's rather low $50 million budget. Julianne Moore plays Jen Summers perfectly as a passenger lost in the middle of the attacks and brings out some possible hints of a romantic side to Marks.
   

 With a film like this with a twist at the end, much of this film comes down to the ending and how effective the last act is. You can say the villain is not that hard to figure out and is someone who seems to know too much about Marks and he also delivers a motive that is very far-fetched. The ending does bring good action scenes and special effects but the premise is beyond impossible and it has the notion of trying to be too happy and sweet. It is the type of twist and ending that doesn't ruin it's film like others but it's more sour than sweet.

Non-Stop had the potential to be a great action film with such a bright idea but some wrong turns and phony ending turned this into an uneven mess. Non-Stop does eventually stop but not into the film that we wanted.

3 /5

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Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory

In 1993, news of the West Memphis Three Killings swept through the nation and made it's way into the history books. Three eight-year old boys Steve Branch, Michael Moore, Christopher Byers were killed in the woods near a busy truck stop in West Memphis, Arkansas and three teenage boys were then convicted of the murders. Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory is the conclusion of the Paradise Lost series regarding the West Memphis Three and chronicles their release from jail and what lies ahead for this unsolved murder case.

This documentary first points to why Jessie Misskelly, Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols were convicted of these murders. From the ludicrous theories of satanic rituals, their past history including how they liked to wear black and listen to Metallica, the film presents much evidence of how wrong the police were in bringing these boys to trial. Through this evidence, you get a feel for these teenagers and who they are. Baldwin seems to be the quiet guy of the group who wouldn't seem to hurt a fly. Misskelley is the tough guy of the group and Echols is lost in the middle but of course, all were in the same predicament.

The documentary also goes into details about Mark Byers, the adoptive father of Byers who we know through neighbors was with the kids before they died and how his DNA was found at the scene of the crime. There were some interesting facts about this suspect but the film includes calls to the police to look into this guy more.

Even though it did start to drag a little, the ending of this movie has a feel of watching history. This HBO film release date was postponed two months to show the prison release of the West Memphis Three and it was quite worth it. The ending feels fulfilling, and has a interesting legal side to it.
                                                                                 

 
With the beautiful shots of West Memphis, Arkansas, some great Metallica tunes, and a compelling story, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory is quite an accomplishment. Some of these facts we could obviously have been found online but this documentary brings so much more depth to this story. Even though we got what we wanted with the release of these innocent men, this investigation is far from over and we have to wonder what more there may be to come for this film series as more facts are known. This third installment leaves the possibility of future movies in this series wide open.

4.5/5

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The Blind Side

From 2009 to the present day, I wrote off The Blind Side like it was nothing. I've never been a big football fan even though it is the most popular sport in the United States and I just got tired of all the praise that this film got. As with any film though, The Blind Side can't be judged until it's watched. It offers like a dozen things that seems to come out of nowhere and it's very likable indeed. An overall great film.

Based on a true story, The Blind Side follows around homeless teen Micheal Orr (Quinton Aaron) who never grew up with parents who were there for him and who's really got nothing going for him. Like a billet family, Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) and her husband Sean Tuohy (Tim McGraw) take Micheal in and raise him in a proper home that he never had. They show him the ways of life and Michael ends up turning into a football star through it all.

It sounds exactly like a football film but it also has the elements of family, how to do well in school and also how to channel violence in the right way. Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw play perfect parents and Bullock's work here won her the Best Supporting Actress Oscar Award in 2010. Collins (Lily Collins) and S.J. (Jae Head) play the kids of the family and both come off as unexpectedly good and add fun and humor to the film.

Another reason this cannot be considered just a full football film is the racial issues touched on here. This part of the story is of a African-American teenager trying to live in the South where we know it can be hard and the film tries to deliver the message that everybody is the same regardless of  the color of your skin. I think this is one of the important messages in this world today and it is always nice when a film touches on this.

Once we get to the football scenes, we can't stay it's bad either. It's typical in the sense that it shows  the character Michael Orr developing a toughness that wasn't there before. It also adds a football flavor to an already packed film and it is fun to watch cameos from college football coaches Nick Saban to Lou Holtz. Don't expect any good acting from these coaches but that is to be expected and the quality of the acting by the cameos is kind of beside the point anyway.

The Blind Side is a majestic, heartfelt and insightful film that would work perfectly for the Relationship classes that are now taught in High School and College. The film is mostly for teenagers but also for the whole family too. Expect a tearjerker though.

4.5/5

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You've Got Mail

 

It's hard to believe but there was once a time in the dating world where the use of technology didn't have the impact that is does today. With Facebook, Twitter, dating sites and advancements in phone technology, there are now so many ways to connect or make contact with a person where as before you really only had a home telephone or even letters. You've Got Mail was a 1998 romantic comedy that introduced new technology to the dating world and in a very cheesy way. 

Small time book owner Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) is living in the Big Apple and must compete with the opening of the new Fox Books run by the high profile Joe Fox (Tom Hanks). As it turns out, both of these business-owners are instant-messaging each other without realizing who the other is and a love relationship forms.

                     Nothing better than a REALLY dated computer

If anything, this seems very much like a typical relationship film. It is a love story that starts with people not connecting, being enemies and both doing opposite type of things. Even though these ideas are very dated now (when that last time you heard of anyone using AOL?), the instant- messaging is what makes this story. At the time, instant-messaging was somewhat new and I believe AOL may have been using the movie as a marketing idea. The idea that these people are messaging each other without realizing each other is unlikely but we can still very much go with it. It provides us with an ending that we see coming a mile away but there is still something in it to make us like it.

In this love story, there are a lot of hidden messages and surprises offered. Through the book theme, we learn what it means to own a book company whether big or small. We also get to watch life as it was in 1998 which is quite interesting close to twenty years after the fact. Even though it is redundant in every shape of form, we do learn a little about dating and how that works. From Greg Kinnear to Steve Zahn, You've Got Mail has a surprisingly strong supporting cast for a type of film like this. It's a very needed part of a love story that's only half-good.

You've Got Mail is far from an outstanding love story. As mentioned earlier, it's as dated as it ever could be and the leads have done much better romantic films. That said, You've Got Mail is still very much revolutionary while still sappy. It is one of the few tech love stories that men could really enjoy.

3.5/5

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2014 Week 5 box office totals

1. Ride Along $12.0 million - I expect this to fall by next weekend but this has had a really good run that can't be described as simply noteworthy.

2. Frozen $8.9 million - For a film that came out in mid-November, it is very impressive that week after week it is making money and strong money too.

3. That Awkward Moment $8.7 million - Not necessarily bad for an opening on this weekend but I really question why this wasn't released in the summer or the spring.

4. The Nut Job $7.3 million - If this was a normal week, I would expected for this to fall and it did  but it got lucky more than anything this week.

5.  Lone Survivor $7.1 million

6. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit $5.3 million - I expected this film to do well at the beginning but once again it is just in the middle of the road for box office receipts. It is slowly but surely making it's money back though.

7. Labor Day $5.2 million - I didn't except this to make much on it's opening weekend due to the dull subject matter but even so and for this type of week, this should have made more.

8. American Hustle $4.2 million

9. I, Frankenstein $3.8 million- For a slow week, this was the week for this type of film that could rise but it didn't really and is still a ways off.

10. The Wolf of Wall Street $ 3.4 million - Like American Hustle, this film is starting to slow down and both should be out of the top ten by next week.

What we have learned: Ride Along is impressive again and Super Bowl Sunday week is always a slow week.

What's ahead: The Monuments Men, The Lego Movie and Vampire Academy all come out next weekend.

Predictions for next week: I expect The Lego Movie to dominate and it will be another weekend for the kids.

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Argo

Like John Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis or our treatment of the Japanese during the second world war, you could say the Iran hostage crisis is basically forgotten. As a reminder, the Iran hostage crisis took place during the 70's with fifty-two Americans held hostage in the U.S. embassy by Iranian students during the Iranian Revolution. Along with 9/11, this is still one of the biggest acts of terrorism against the United States.

Argo is the fictional story of the real Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck), a U.S. CIA agent who must pose as the producer of the fictional movie Argo with the idea that this will hopefully free the hostages and lead them out of Iran.

Years ago, you could put a big disaster mark at the idea of Affleck directing a film on the Iranian hostage crisis. Now though, Affleck is really at the top of his game. Throughout this film, we can tell that he knows this story and did his homework. He really looks at every possible angle and worked well with the budget provided. The bottom line is this is not the same shallow Ben Affleck that we knew back in the early 2000's.

One highlight is how Affleck creates a tense feel in this movie. We watch characters that you feel for so badly because they are innocent and should not be in this predicament.  These are characters that you can root for with acting just where it needs to be. The 70's setting is accurately depicted and this is a film that you can say "I feel like we are in the 70's". Once we reach the final act, you really don't know what the final outcome will be which keeps the viewers interested right until the end.

The most beautiful thing the film does is to depict how a film is made. The movie is not only original but you really learn how to make a film including how to do casting, marketing and set location. Most of it was stuff I knew but it is still some very fun and interesting stuff.

I could never love this film like some others and I don't see this having a big impact on me. It is a little long for my taste but Argo is a movie I recommend because we can learn so much about an important story and also see some outstanding direction by Ben Affleck. This is a film that in the end feels like a big fun history lesson.

4/5

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