‘Repo! The Genetic Opera’ tells the story of an epidemic of organ failures, where organ transplants are financed by GeneCo, a company that sends out murderous Repo Men to reclaim body parts from patients who miss payments.

“I wanted the ‘what-the-fuck’ factor,” director Darren Lynn Bousman laughs.

“It was a five-year battle to make this,” says Bousman, who essentially bartered his success in helming three ‘Saw’ sequels to see this passion project come to life. “The idea to do something different was invigorating,” he says.

Being different can be a curse in Hollywood, where new ideas are eschewed in favor of familiar formulas. The talents behind ’Repo!’ hope being different is a blessing.

‘Repo!’ was created by Terrance Zdunich and Darren Smith and looks like it might become heir apparent to ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’. Cast and crew recently attended a screening of that cult classic to do some word-of-mouth marketing.         

“We beseeched the ‘Rocky Horror’ people,” says Bill Moseley, one of the film’s lead actors. “Please, come see our movie.”

‘Repo!’ opens on November 7 in eight theaters and without a big budget marketing campaign, so this film needs all the support it can get.

“Fans have taken it upon themselves to market the movie,” says Bousman. “The hope is… we show everyone there’s an audience for this.”

“Everyone likes music,” Terrance Zdunich rationalizes.

The ‘Repo!’ co-creator even sees a link to the popularity of recent comic book adaptations. “Superhero movies are operatic archetypes,” he says. “Our dream is that it latches on.”

“People are experiencing it they way we want them to,” says Darren Smith, co-creator and composer. “In the theater, people are clapping and singing along.”

“So many movies are the same thing,” laments actress Paris Hilton, “it’s an experience.”

Nivek Ogre, a musician best known as the frontman to Skinny Puppy, thinks that the film’s dense music tableau is a blessing.

“It requires repeated viewings,” says Ogre. “It appeals to my counterculture audience.”

‘Repo!’ not only appeals to the rock ‘n’ roll crowd but also features British favorite, Sarah Brightman.

“I think she’s incredible,” says Hilton, “an icon. Nobody could have played Blind Mag like she did.”

But don’t just take an heiress’s opinion, go see the movie and find out for yourself.

Repo! The Genetic Opera is in select theaters Now.

Related Posts:

‘Repo! The Genetic Opera’ … A movie you NEED to see!

The Movies you NEED to see: November 2008

Final ‘Repo!’ Poster…

Repo!

Ram Man:

What would you do if the doctor told you “I’m sorry but you have an incurable disease and you are going to die.”? If you Henry Poole you are going to shut down, return to your childhood home and try a little self euthanasia..do all the bad things that would supposedly kill you before the disease can.

Luke Wilson (Old School, A Family Stone) is Henry Poole. Following a routine physical, Henry is told his days are numbered. So he quits his job and moves back to the last place he was really happy… his childhood neighborhood. He wasn’t able to but his old house (they people wouldn’t sell) , but did manage to get a fixer upper down the street for $100,000 more than its worth. The neighborhood is right out of a TV set, I expected Mr Rogers to jump out from behind a bush. Adriana Barraza gives an astounding performance as Esperanza the local busy-body next door. She was shagging the guy who previously owned the house (she found him dead on the kitchen floor) and comes over tamales in hand to welcome Henry to the Neighborhood. Poole who is on a diet of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, pizza,champagne and vodka just wants to be left alone to die. He slips in “I’m not going to be here long” to everyone he meets. Esperanza makes a riveting discovery as she leaves Henry’s house. The face of GOD is appearing on the terrible stucco job on the side of Henry’s house. Henry, who has lost his faith in everyone and everything tells Esperanza she is nuts and not to make a big deal out of it. Bring on the Bible Brigade! George Lopez, who turns in a wonderful cameo as Father Salizar, comes to test the validity of the “miracle”.

Like the USA Today, Esperanza get the word out to the neighborhood so people begin to appear at his back door. Poole next makes the acquaintance of Millie (Morgan Lilly) who spends her days recording people conversations and like Henry avoiding personal contact if she can. Millie daughter of Dawn (Radha Mitchell) next door, hasn’t spoken a word in almost a year since her dad left them. Millie makes her way to the spot on the wall, touches it and SPEAKS! This all Esperanza needs, now Henry’s back yard is standing room only. This sends Henry back to the store only this time for bleach not vodka. Rachel Seiferth is wonderful as Patience the practically Blind grocery checker that continuously tries to bring Poole out of his depression. She asks Henry “Isn’t it better to feel sad than not to fell anything at all?” Let me say YES! She also adds “I hope your not mixing with this (Bleach)!” Henry begins to try to wipe out the Holy smudge and only makes it more clear and now hes angered the oh mighty.. tears of blood are rolling down the wall.

Patience is the next parishioner to show up at Henry’s backyard cathedral. She touches the wall and falls to her knees and yells “I can See!!!!” The touch of God’s stucco has given the girl with the coke bottle glasses 20/20. This is far too much for Henry to handle. His blossoming romance with Dawn and his own incurable fate mixed with the smudge from heaven send Henry into a rage. Poole takes a sledge hammer to God and God brings down the house… on Henry.

Director Mark Pellington and Writer Albert Torres team up to tell this wonderful story of faith and hope in a way not to preach to the audience but to entertain us. Pellington, who identifies with Poole’s character, having lost his wife at the age of 42 injects some of his grief into the story. Henry Poole is a fable set in modern times to expain the unexpected wonders in the world around us. The acting is great. The only criticism I have is it is very slow moving but worth your time. Henry Poole is here and you should be there… watching… so go… go on… catch Henry before the title reads Henry Poole was here!

(3.5 out of 5 angels)

Michelle:

What do you do when your doctor’s prognosis is grim and you’re given only a short time to live? If you’re Henry Poole (Luke Wilson), you try to return to the home of your childhood - or at least one down the street. But in ‘Henry Poole Is Here,’ one really can’t go home again. Sadly, when Poole realizes he can’t recapture the brief happiness of his youth, he sets out to die quietly in his newly bought “prison.” That is, til well-meaning neighbors (Adriana Barraza and Radha Mitchell) filled with faith and hope, a priest (George Lopez), along with a lofty apparition on his house, make Henry’s solitude and redemption more than he bargained for.

While based on director Mark Pellington’s own personal loss, ‘Henry Poole Is Here’ feels like a present day O. Henry story. With its ordinary people, coincidental plot, and surprise twist, ‘Poole’ ironically has a typical O. Henry ending.

(3 out of 5 stars)

Kat:

When Henry Poole (Luke Wilson) gets the news that he’s contracted an unnamed but rare disease, his response is to quit his job and return to the Southern California suburb where he was raised. He tries to buy the house he grew up in but alas, it’s not for sale, even though he’s willing to offer a good price. “They live there,” his realtor (Cheryl Hines) explains with a strained smile, “it’s their home.” Resigned to his fate, Henry stocks up on booze and frozen pizzas and prepares to die. Only his pesky neighbors won’t leave him in peace.

First Esperanza (Adriana Barraza) shows up bearing tamales and tales of the house’s former owner, who was her boyfriend. Then the little mute girl next door (Morgan Lily) insists on tape recording all his conversations—a habit that leads to a pivotal plot twist later on. Even the check-out girl at the local supermarket (Rachel Seiferth) urges him to spill his sad and angry thoughts and is taken aback when he finds the suggestion intrusive.

When Esperanza discovers what she believes to be the image of Christ in a water-stained section of stucco on Henry’s house, a battle of wills begins with Henry on one side and the rest of the world, including Esperanza’s priest (George Lopez in a warm and understated performance) on the other.

Somewhere beneath the overwrought soundtrack and the overwhelming overkill of the movie’s message, there’s an affecting story about faith and hope and love that’s trying to come out. In fact, there are a couple of moments where you can see what this movie could have been, like a scene where Henry good-naturedly supervises a group of Esperanza’s friends who have come to pray at his wall. There’s an easy-going vibe to the scene that almost feels improvised and we never like Henry and Esperanza more than we do in that moment.

But for every scene like that, there are a dozen that are so manufactured and mechanical that they bury the emotion. Henry frets that it’s unfair for him to start a romance with single mother Dawn (Radha Mitchell) who assures him it’s fine, apparently forgetting that her child has such severe abandonment issues that she went mute when her father left.

Albert Torres’ script is sincere but simplistic, with its themes pounded home in an unsubtle manner that underlines the movie’s “big moments” as if shining a light on them.

The audience will be able to tell when one of those scenes is coming because that over-the-top soundtrack is cranked up to 11 and all the actors put on really serious faces. Wilson gives a somewhat monotone performance here, although there are times when he’s really present and those times register strongly. His discomfort at being hugged, for instance, tells us much more about his character than his frequent cranky outbursts.

Director Mark Pellington (The Mothman Prophecies) has a very heavy hand here, particularly with certain images he repeats over and over. There’s a behind-the-stain” shot of some miracle blood that may not be able to turn water into wine but that can apparently turn stone into glass. It’s distracting. Then there are the repeated shots of a particular group of clouds. We’re not certain if it’s meant to be a leitmotif or the filmmakers just didn’t have the coverage they needed to cut the sequence together.

Pellington also micro-manages his actresses, and a few of the choices he makes seem ill-conceived. Barraza’s Esperanza is all exaggerated facial expressions and over-emphatic gestures. Anyone who saw her in Babel will be surprised to see how broad her performance is here. Cheryl Hines has apparently been encouraged to channel her inner Kathy Lee Gifford and her perkilicious performance gives the movie an atonal feeling from the get-go.

Mitchell isn’t over-directed, but she’s bland. Her lovely, luminous eyes practically glow in the first glimpse we get of her, but after awhile, she seems to be posing more than acting and her poses have that slightly pained look Princess Diana always seemed to have in official photographs.

Character-driven dramas like Henry Poole is Here are becoming endangered species, so it’s a shame that this one failed to live up to its potential.

Travis:

I like Luke Wilson. I always have, ever since I first saw ‘Bottle Rockets’. No one would argue he’s the world’s greatest actor, but he does have a certain realism and subtle innocent, yet worldly charm about his acting style. He tends to play the “everyman” type of characters and does convincingly well, as he does in director Mark Pellington’s ‘Henry Poole is Here’.

I’m not going to sugar coat this review… I just can’t. The movie deserves better than that. It’s not the greatest film of the year and it’s not even the most original. In fact, the story is kind of predictable. However, its the brilliantly shot and structured visual acuity from an experienced music video director combined with a fabulous soundtrack and beautifully understated performances that give this film it’s appeal. ‘Henry Poole’ is a spiritual film, not a religious film. It’s a satisfying journey into the inner working of belief and hope and the powers these human experiences have over us, both positive and negative. It’s obvious that this was a personal film, especially if you’re aware of the personal tragedy that Pellington went through prior to making this movie, which was born of that unfortunate experience that inspired him to make a more meaningful film.

“Henry Poole’ moves at a slowly addictive pace, pulling you in little by little as Henry Poole’s character is developed further and further. The mystery lies not within the details of Henry Poole’s past, but within the intricate details of his present life as he lives it one moment at a time. The supporting characters were delightfully well-played, offering color and texture without interfering with the complex emotions that Wilson is able to pull off so well.

Every character in the film shines, from Poole’s nosey neighbor Esperanza to the attractive single mother Dawn (Radha Mitchell) and her adorable daughter Milly. Personally, my favorite supporting performance in the film is by Rachel Seiferth as Patience, a grocery clerk with hopelessly poor eyesight and extreme Coke-bottle glasses who gets Henry Poole probably better than anyone else. Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm) also makes a brief, but hilarious cameo as the Poole’s real estate agent at the beginning of the film. When so many movies feel the need to go over the top to tell a truly touching story of the human experience, ‘Henry Poole’ finds it’s muse within a miraculously water-stained stucco house.

(3.5 water stains out of 5)

[rating: 3.5/5]

Ram Man:

Fly Me To The Moon is the first fully animated film created for 3-D. It’s 1969 and the USA and Russia are in a race to be the first nation to send a man to the moon. The same holds true in the insect world. Fly Me To The Moon tells the story of three young flies who make a courageous journey stowing away aboard the Apollo 11 rocket to the Moon. The film follows the exact NASA transcripts and rocket blueprints from the mission. The film is accurate and informative and will connect to a whole new generation by use of 3D animation.

Nat (Trevor Gagnon), IQ (Phillip Bolden) and Scooter(David Gore) are young flies with aspirations of greatness. Nat, after years of listening to his grandpa (Christopher LLoyd) tell stories of his cross-Atlantic flights with Amelia Earhardt, decides that he and his friend will be the first Flies on the moon. The three insects secretly sneak aboard the Apollo 11 rocket and are sent into a weeks journey to the Moon. Nat, IQ and Scooter, not to be robbed of their 15 minutes of fame, manage to mugg for the camera during a TV interview with Astronaut Neil Armstrong. Mission Control notices them and has the crew capture the flies in a test tube. Following a very bumpy approach and difficult lunar landing the three amigos are sprung from their glass incarceration. Timing is everything on a space flight. Nat is able to fly into Armstrong’s helmet just before he makes the famous walk..”One small step for man, One giant leap for mankind” I guess insect kind also. While Nat is out on the Moon, IQ is able to repair a loose wire that allows the mission to proceed as planned.

Remember I said this was a race. The Russian have flies too, big ones. So the KGB insects, seeing the same TV interview cannot be outdone by American flies, send their best agent Yegor (Tim Curry) to Cape Canaveral to sabatoge the misson and insure they will be the first insect to safely make it to the Moon and back. One of Grandpa’s old flames Nadia (Nicolette Sheridan) warns the old fly about the eminent disaster. Grandpa comes out of retirement with the rest of the family heads to mission control to save the kids!

Don’t get me wrong, Fly Me To The Moon is by no means Wall-E or even in it’s league. But it is an enjoyable family film that has characters the kids can relate to and enjoy watching and the 3D effect and historical accuracy will entertain the adults. So gather the flock and leave the swatters and the bug spray at home at this little cinematic picnic the flies are the stars!

[rating:3/5]

Michelle:

Three little flies are “haulin the mail” all the way to moon in ‘Fly Me to the Moon.’ This 3-D animated flick tells the story of Scooter, Nat, and IQ’s eagerness for seats on the Apollo 11 mission.

Even though the 3-D animation looks somewhat dated, ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ introduces today’s kids to the awe-inspiring achievement of Apollo 11’s historic mission. From NASA’s flight transcripts and original blueprints, the film’s visuals and attention to detail do the job.

The filmmakers even had astronaut Buzz Aldrin appear at the end to swat off any thoughts buzzing around in kids heads that flies went to the moon. It’s a film that show NASA at its heights….the days when Saturn V rockets ruled the heavens.

[rating:3/5]

Ram Man:

Beer For My Horses is a movie written by Toby Keith and Rodney Carrington adapted from Keith’s hit country tune of the same name.  Just because your song does well doesn’t mean you turn it into a movie. Country music fans will probably want to hang me for ripping on one of their Gods, but I’m not saying anything about the man’s singing..he just can’t act!

Beer For My Horses is the story of two Oklahoma “good ol’ boy’ sheriff’s deputies that spend their days settling town squabbles, chasing women and drinking at the local bar. Remember I did say it came from a country song. Rack (Keith) and Lonnie (Carrington) always seem to get the short end of the stick from Sheriff Landry (Tom Skerritt). Landry send the boys and fellow deputy Skunk (Ted Nugent) to stake out a fertilizer factory that has been constantly robbed that past few days. Nugent does one of the best Silent Bob impersonations not speaking until the last 2 minutes of the film. The three end up catching a crew that included Mexican drug lord Tito Garza’s little brother. In an act of retaliation Garza kidnaps Rack’s girlfriend Annie (Claire Forlani) and takes her down to Mexico and demands an exchange Bro for Ho. Rack, Lonnie and Skunk break out the Monster truck for a road trip south of the border. Beer For My horses is a predictable glorified Dukes of Hazzard style TV movie on the big screen. You know Garza isn’t the head bad guy 1/2 way through the film. The supporting cast of characters featuring Mel Tillis, Mac Davis, Cletis T. Judd and Willie Nelson reads like a CMT reunion in Dollywood, Tenn.

Beer For My Horses and Rum for the audience! It’s the only way to get through this 80 minutes of sheer hell. To ask the public for $8-10 dollars for a ticket to this is highway robbery. If you are a Toby Kieth fan or like Rodney Carrington’s stand up routine, and you feel obligated to see this film..wait a couple of days and it will be on the dollar rack at your local video store or the Saturday night movie on CMT. Keith stick to singing and Ford commercials. Rodney stay with the comedy tour and classics like Dear Penis and Fred. Leave the film roles to professionals. My charity only extends so far for For Ted and Rodney I give you a half a star to share.

[rating 1/2 out of 5]

Travis:

Toby Keith has now officially made the leap from country music singer to Hollywood actor. Woo-Hoo! I am SOOO excited… NOT! ‘Beer For My Horses’ is co-written by Toby Keith and he also stars as the main character, a deputy sheriff named Rack who is sort of a cross between Andy Griffith and Harry Callahan. His girlfriend Cammie (Gina Gershon) dumps his butt and then he finds out that his high school fling Annie (Claire Forlani) is back in town and he hooks up with her. Meanwhile, there’s a string of fertilizer thefts in town and the sheriff suspects it’s the work of meth chefs. Not entirely confident of Rack and his crew’s competence, Sheriff Landry (Tom Skerritt) sends Rack and his partners out to bust the culprit red handed. After the stake-out turns into a gun-fight, Rack finds his new-old girlfriend Annie has been kidnapped by a Mexican drug lord and taken to Mexico. Against the sheriff’s orders, Rack road trips down to Mexico to save her, accomodated by some peculiar encounters and goofy antics along the way.

Barney Fife type deputy sidekick Lonnie (Rodney Carrington) and his silent, but deadly deputy Skunk (Ted Nugent) are crucial in saving this movie from total disaster. Toby Keith couldn’t act his way out of a paper bag. Nugent has maybe two lines the entire film, but his character is kind of cool, having been raising on an indian reservation and portraying a sort of crazy Rambo-like personality. Carrington actually pulled some decent laughs out of his performance, especially the scene when he’s in the rest stop bathroom and notices the acoustics. He begins singing an old R&B song (sorry, don’t remember the song name) and the “thugs” in the bathroom join in acapella. Rack and crew wind up in a bizarre make-shift town of traveling circus performers after their truck gets damaged. The scene isn’t bad, but feels out of place as it resembles something out of a David Lynch film than something that belongs in this movie. Of course, there’s lots of music in the movie from Toby Keith, so that’s a bonus if you like his songs (not my cup of tea).

The action in ‘Beer For My Horses’ was second-rate stuff you’d expect to see in a direct-to-DVD b-movie. I was actually surprised by how many stars wound up in the movie, all of whom did fine. Additional appearances came from Willie Nelson and Barry Corbin (Northern Exposure). Overall, the movie had some laughs, but I felt the movie was old hat comedy that’s been done to death and lacked any originality.

(1 out of 5 stars)

Ram Man:

We already had Harold and Kumar sightseeing around Cuba this year so I thought to myself “Do we need another stoner buddy flick?” I did like Superbad so I gave in and checked out Pineapple Express. Pineapple Express written by and starring Seth Rogen (Superbad,Knocked Up) and James Franco (Spiderman Trilogy) as a couple of stoners that end up in the wrong place at the wrong time caught in between rival factions of organized crime.

Pineapple Express begins with a sort of Homage to the classic Reefer Madness with a flash-back scene (in black and white) from the 50’s where General Brat (James Remar) of the U.S. Army is conducting secret tests on the repercussions of soldiers smoking marijuana. They rule it “ILLEGAL!”

Flash-forward to present day LA. Dale Denton (Seth Rogen), talk radio junkie, is caught in traffic..getting high while serving subpoenas to unsuspecting people at the jobs. Dale decides to replenish his supply on his way to serve his last subpoena. Saul Silver (James Franco) is Dale’s drug dealer. Saul is a stoner with principles: he only deals weed and only does it to keep his granny in the finest of retirement homes. Saul has ambitions of someday becoming a structural engineer..right, take another hit Saul. Saul introduces Dale to the finest marijuana ever grown:Pineapple Express. Th hear Saul describe it “It’s smells like God’s Vagina”. I guess that says it all. Saul also explains to Dale to keep it on the down low because Pineapple Express is exclusive to him. Dale decides to sample the new weed outside the house of his next “victim” who happens to be the city’s most ruthless drug-lord Ted Jones (Gary Cole). This is the wrong place/wrong time part. Dales witness an execution of a rival gang member by Ted’s crooked cop girlfriend Carol (Rosie Perez). Dales dumps his roach of the new weed and sideswipes three cars in his exit that is noticed by everyone in the neighborhood. Ted finds the remnants of the joint and knows whose dope it is. The chase then ensues. Dale and Saul go on the lamb with Ted Jones and his hired thugs(Kevin Corrigan, Craig Robinson) out to erase them while the Chinese Triads are following everyone to avenge the death of their man. Amber Heard (Mandy Lane) and Danny Mc Bride (Heartbreak Kid) give some great supporting performances as Dales high-school girlfriend and Saul’s supplier. All forces finally meet at the very same secret bunker the Army was using in the beginning of the film for the last-blast slobber-knocker fight.

Pineapple Express, while it’s not a laugh riot throughout, is a really good buddy flick. Franco gives a great performance, I almost think he may have actually been stoned during filming. The only thing that i can knock about Pineapple Express is the “Bad Guys”. I felt more threatened by my chihuahua at home than I was from Gary Cole and Rosie Perez. Pineapple Express is a fun ride down the marijuana highway, I guess the only way better to see the movie is to get some of Saul’s special weed and bring the bong to the theater!

(3.75 stars out of 5)

Michelle:

In this zany film from Judd Apatow, life is good for dealer Saul (Franco) and stoner Dale (Rogen) with the newest weed on the block, the Pineapple Express. When Dale witnesses a murder by a crime boss (Cole) and bad cop (Perez), things go from bad to worse when he panics and drops the joint. Then he and Saul are quickly on the run for fear that this rare weed will lead directly back to them.

The Pineapple Express’s train of graphic violence speeds straight through this joke-filled comedy. The filmmakers found the right balance between keeping it light and the main characters bloody, impending doom. There’s more than one scene that funnyman Danny McBride’s, “Red”, steals right out from under Rogen. Directed by David Gordon Green, ‘Pineapple Express’ is more shtick to add to Apatow’s ever growing repertoire.

(4 out of 5 stars)

Travis:

Stoner comedies have a tendency towards the ridiculously stupid end of the comedic spectrum, from the enjoyably stupid ‘Half Baked’ to the awfully stupid ‘Smiley Face’, but ‘Pineapple Express’ is a new kind of stoner comedy… it has a story, action and just enough drama to to take it seriously. Watching the movie, I kind of started to empathize with Dale (Seth Rogen). Dale Denton is a process server, one of those guys who delivers subpoenas ans summons that no one ever wants have pay a visit. He also dates a high school senior (Amanda Heard) and is a recreational pot smoker, one who recreates often… at home, in his car, while driving, in public, at his dealer’s apartment, etc. Saul (James Franco) is Dale’s dealer, perhaps the only person in town stoned on a more regular basis than Dale, and to a far greater extent.

Dale pays Saul a visit to pickup his weed, when Saul offers Dale some of the premo-pot in the world, exclusively available though him and he’s the first to get a hit. Dale instantly falls in love with the chronic called Pineapple Express. Dale visits his next job and decides to light one up before going in, but ends up witnessing a murder while sitting in his car smoking that blunt. In a frantic, red-eyed effort to flee the scene, he causes a commotion, tipping the guilty party off to his presence. Thus, begins the chase in which drug lord Ted Jones (Gary Cole) sends his goons to find the witness. In the process, Saul’s supplier Red (Danny McBride) gets involved and proves awkwardly resilient against the goons’ attempts to physically convince him to cooperate.

‘Pineapple Express’ weaves a wonderfully intricate web of fortune and misfortune, trust and deceit, cleverness and idiocracy, with priceless moments of dialogue and character interaction that will be remembered by fans for years. Dale and Saul, and ultimately Red, form a bond of friendship and loyalty that allows them to survive the many ordeals that they encounter on the run from the bad guys. There are several great “little” moments in the film, one of mine being when Dale takes a flying leap off a second story balcony to attack a thug from behind, Wolverine style. By far, the most outright hilarious scene in the movie is the ending, with Dale, Saul and Red in a diner reminiscing and sealing their friendship. Overall, ‘Pineapple Express’ was not what I had expected… in fact, its better than I had expected and more than just another ridiculous stoner comedy.

(4 out of 5 stars)

Zac:

Seth Rogen and James Franco star in a stoner/buddy/action/comedy that is usually fairly humorous, but drags at the end and maybe over stayed its welcome a bit too long.
Dale (Seth Rogen) is a process server, handing out subpoenas all day while intermittently getting high between stop to stop. Saul (James Franco) is Dale’s dealer of two months who spends his day watching two TV’s and getting high himself. After a recent stop to Saul’s, in which he and Dale had a bit of a bonding experience over his exclusive rights to the very good Pineapple Express weed, Dale is about to serve Ted Jones (Gary Cole) when he witness him murder and Asian man with the assistance of female cop Carol (Rosie Perez). Dale attempts to flee the scene, making a scene himself ramming into the cars around him, tossing his joint out the window and rushing to Saul’s for help. Jones finds the joint and is able to detect that it is Pineapple Express, hence sending his goons to Saul’s to figure out what just happened and to shut up who ever saw him. The odd couple gets bent out of shape on paranoia and flees into the woods as the try and figure out how they can track them with their ridiculous philosophies. The movie carries on from here as a traditional cat and mouse hunt between Jones and his thugs pursuing Saul and Dale, with a smattering or random faces being pulled into the bigger picture as the overall mess grows bigger and bigger over the significance of Dale witnessing the murder.
The film itself is pretty funny over the course of the first 2/3 of the film or so, with a couple of dragging scenes, but nothing that holds the film back. The actors are allowed to create these silly, but real, conversations and we get to kind of just look in on the bonding among these characters. It is when we get to the predictable and clichéd comedy “break-up” between the leads that the film starts to drag a bit and almost grinds to a halt during the big finale. The film kind of wants to make fun of conventional turns in a film and action set pieces, but for every convention it lampoons it falls right into another. And the action is silly and funny at moments, but also seems like they were trying to make it really cool other times. The director David Gordon Green and scripter’s Rogen and Evan Goldberg just seem to not be able to really settle on what they want the film to be or find a good balance; the action is pretty much mediocre most of the time outside a couple of good explosions here or there. The film overall is a bold attempt to mix a lot of genre’s and it kind of works, kind of doesn’t, but it is definitely not terrible by any means; and many times it is pretty good.
Luckily, any confusion in what the filmmakers were going for is made up for by the solid actors work in the film. Seth Rogen isn’t playing anything terribly new but we aren’t tired of his shtick yet so he continues to easily entertain. I think he is continuously funny because he doesn’t play dumb, even though he might do dumb things; he also spouts some of the best improv lines one could imagine as well. Gary Cole plays a decent bad guy, selling us on the ridiculousness of the coincidences and convoluted plot that come up, with Rosie Perez being pretty much a non-factor in the film. Bill Hader hasn’t an excellent and hilarious cameo to open the film, and no you aren’t in the wrong theater when it opens. Danny McBride continues to show up in almost every movie and he is pretty funny as the flip flopping drug middle man for Saul, Red. He has a number of good one liners, and the fight in his house is funny and memorable. Craig Robinson also crafts a unique and odd character as one of Jones’ thugs and you really don’t know what is going to come out of his mouth or what he might do next. His partner in the film played by Kevin Corrigan is a weird anomaly though as I don’t really get what he was supposed to be or why Robinson’s character is reasonably mad at him sometimes, odd. Amber Heard also has a couple of brief appearances as Dale’s girlfriend and she is consistently funny whenever she is on screen.
The stand out though is James Franco and he is worth the price of admission alone to see this film. He is just so out there, and nails that stoner/dealer role to a T, that it is just a joy to watch. Almost everything he says is funny and the film will be worth watching again just to get down some of his one liners you might have missed. Great work Franco.
In the end, Pineapple Express is a fun and silly stoner comedy that has some ok action. Go for the comedy and you will be happy as Franco really shines and the movie is never really dull in that department. The end of the film drags on and on for way to long with nothing really happening and could have been a lot better had they trimmed things up through out. I think Pineapple will grow on subsequent viewings like any good comedy should, but I can’t say I am not a little disappointed as they have seem to have squandered a potentially great premise and got mixed results in the end. Pineapple Express is a good film, with a great turn by James Franco.

(3 pineapples out of 5)

Charles:

Freaks, Seth Rogen and James Franco, worked together earlier in their career on Judd Apatows “Freaks and Geeks”, and garnered much critical acclaim as well as a devoted cult following. This launched the careers of Franco and Rogen to stardom and now here they are to present us with this kind nug, “Pineapple Express”. Yeah, that’s what I’m talkin’ about! Last year, when I heard about this film, I googled Seth Rogen to find out about all his upcoming projects in development. After discovering the plot and story of this movie, as sober as I was, I pretty much tipped nearly out of my chair. But I caught myself, so don’t worry. Ok… so, we’ve seen countless stoner buddie flicks from the classic Cheech and Chong to the current Harold and Kumar, but these talented writers, Seth Rogen and (best friend) Evan Goldberg, really got us high on this hit. I mean, its some really good stuff. Check it out dude. I’m buying it when it comes out and keepin’ it in my stash.This stoner comedy starts very quickly, never stopping throughout the whole film with the comedy and suspense. I saw this movie multiple times so I could truly understand all the jokes and catch everything that was going on. The acting in this movie is excellent from these comedic buds. Rogen, in my mind, is one of the funniest cats in this business, and was just hilarious as always but even better in this movie. To my surprise though, was a great performance by James Franco as Saul. He was the big standout in this movie, as Dales (Seth Rogen) herb resource, and was extremely believable as a druggie/dealer. It was kinda scary actually just how good he was. Besides this movie just being a comedy, the action actually kicks into ‘high’ gear throughout the movie, making for a tremendously enjoyable experience.For you smokers- roll your joints, pack your bongs, grab your munchies and cruise by for a sweeeet supply of Pineapple Express! For everyone else interested in a rude, crude comedy along the lines of ‘Knocked Up’ and ‘Superbad’, stop in and put this in your pipe and smoke it, maaaaan.

(5/5 stars)

[rating: 4/5]

‘Swing Vote’ is the story of Bud Johnson (Kevin Costner), an alcoholic, out-of-work father living in Texico, New Mexico with his precocious daughter, Molly, adeptly played by Madeline Carroll. Sadly, she takes on the part of adult in their daily lives and even more so by casting Bud’s vote in the upcoming Presidential Election after he passes out in a drunken stupor. Nice. Unbelievably, after an equipment malfunction, the election all comes down to Bud’s vote and he and Molly garner the unwelcomed attention of the world. Then we have to watch the supposed comedic spectacle of both candidates, over and over and over again, bearing gifts and favors. Director Joshua Michael Stern belabors the point to no end. The incumbent Republican president (Kelsey Grammer) and the Democratic nominee (Dennis Hopper), followed by their respective, sly aides Fox (Stanley Tucci) and Crumb (Nathan Lane), are on the warpath for Bud’s precious vote.

The trailer campaigned with the promise of a smart, political fun-fest. Alas, Swing Vote drags throughout and is sorely missing the right mix of emotional drama and political comedy. Just because its an election year, the writers felt compelled to stand on their soap-boxes and make the movie a message of “one man’s vote can change the world.” Uh-huh. I threw my arms up with this kind of condescension. As to Kevin Costner’s performance, I had trouble buyin it and definitely wasn’t lovin’ it. If you want a lesson in civics, watch Frank Capra’s ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.’

[rating: 1/5]

Ram Man:

It has been 6 years since Chris carter’s hit show “The X Files has been on television. So he chose now to see if there is still an audience out there by debuting his new film “X-Files: I Want To Believe”. Carter reunites David Duchovney and Gillian Anderson as former FBI agents Scully and Mulder and tell the story of what happened after they were run out of Washington D.C. There are some new faces with Amanda Peet and Rap star X-Zibit (fitting actor for X-Files) as FBI agents in need of a paranormal expert to assist in a current investigation.

We start out in the mountains of West Virgina, where a FBI agent is abducted. The bureau enlist a convicted pedophile Father Joseph Crissman, who happens to be a psychic, to help find their agent. Lead investigators Drummy (XZibit) and Whitney (Peet) believe Father Joe has hit a wall and seek out the assistance of The FBI’s authority on the paranormal Fox Mulder. Working through his live in girlfriend Dr. Dana Scully they manage to track down Fox who had fallen of the bureau’s radar. They work out a deal to forgive his past if he will help with this case. Mulder begrudgingly agrees and the team is back…or at least thats what we thought. Scully informs Mulder that she is a doctor and has left the life behind her. X-Files normally turns in a paranormal twist on crime, but “I Want To Believe” turns out to be a simple serial abduction case. These Russians (isn’t it always the Russians) experts in stem cell surgery Janke Dacyshyn has been abducting people and harvesting thier bodies to keep his lover Franz Tomczeszyn alive. Unlike the hit TV show there are no twists and you know who did what and why half way through this film.

I went to the “X-Files: I Want To Believe” wanting To Believe it was going to be an enjoyable blast from the past, but instead, X-Files closed up shop when Mulder and Scully were kick out and this ranks like a long last season below average episode from the TV series. This movie lacks some familiar faces that would have transitioned it into a fine feature. Mitch Peliggi shows up at the end of the film as Asst. Director Skinner (to the only crowd response in the film), why not have him show up earlier in the film to renew his relationship with Sculley and Mulder. I was a big X-Files fan, and for me, there was a notable absence of the trio of trouble, the Lone Gunmen. These small changes and a little better writing could have put a entirely different spin on this franchises attempted comeback. X-Files: I Want To Believe …I Believe Duchovney is heading back to Californication and Anderson will slip back into obscurity. X-Files  are simply put: CASE CLOSED!

(1.5 out of 5 stars)

Travis:

I’m going to come right out and say it … ‘X-Files 2′ was one of, if not the biggest let down of the year for me. Seriously though, I was realistic enough going into the screening to know that it wasn’t going to be great, but it failed at even being acceptable. I was never what you’d call an ‘X-Files’ fanboy, but I did really enjoy the TV series and watched regularly. I still think its one of the best shows that’s seen the light of picture tubes in the last 20 years. With that said, I also firmly believe the ‘X-Files’ should never have hit the big screen to begin with. The first movie was better than its follow-up, but it was a far cry from being worth the risk as well.

‘X-Files: I Want to Believe’ failed tremendously in making me believe, and while I wanted to believe it could revive Chris Carter’s creation, I now feel once more like I’ve been forsaken. This movie is less of a sequel than it is another feature-length episode of the TV series. An episode that is long and not very entertaining, ranking somewhere between poor and mediocre on a scale of favorite episodes. David Duchovny is certainly still Fox Mulder, but the time he’s spent away from the show that lifted him out of ‘Red Shoe Diaries’ and into mainstream success has taken its tole on his ability to connect with the character. Gillian Anderson also returns as Dr. Dana Scully, who now practices medicine in a small, church-run hospital. Ironic indeed, for the habitually persistent non-believer. Neither Mulder or Scully work for the FBI in this film, both of whom seem to have swapped ideologies slightly, when the FBI calls on Scully to bring Mulder out of hiding to help find a missing agent. Apparently, the backstory to be filled in suggests the FBI framed Mulder who is now a fugitive… oh yeah, and apparently sometime between this movie and the last, Mulder and Scully had quite a thing going on, or so the extrapolated dialogue would indicate.

I will say I managed to stay awake through the entire film, but there were a couple of rough points. Some of the movie was engaging and Mulder was humorously sarcastic as always, but much of the film felt old hat, repetitive of elements already done to death and a completely unsatisfying romance subplot between the former partners that barely gets off the ground and then goes nowhere, except in the general direction of a truly lousy, uncharacteristic ending. By the way, no aliens or creepy unexplained creatures or phenomena here … just a few missing persons, a dying boy, a psychic “priest” and a couple of freaky Russians who were mistaken and thought they were in ‘Brokeback Mountain’. The “truth is out there” element is extremely weak in this film and the anticlimactic climax to the unsuspenseful suspense is, well… you get the point. On a positive note, the “priest” was played well by Billy Connelly (Boondock Saints), a Scottish actor whom I enjoy but unfortunately see very little of anymore.

(2 out of 5 stars)

Michelle:

I wanted to believe that 20^thCentury Fox set out to make a serious, paranormal sequel, however the incoherent mess they ended up with was just a 2 part episode to the popular t.v. show. And man, did I want to change the channel. The film begins with Mulder and Fox, no longer F.B.I. agents, quickly brought back into the fold to help solve the disappearance of an fellow agent. I couldn’t help but notice that from then on, the story takes unadulterated pot shots at Catholicism…Fox’s only clue to the missing FBI agent is a “psychic,” defrocked, pedophile priest (Billy Connelly), Scully, now a doctor working at a Catholic hospital, is at odds with its director, an unsympathetic Catholic priest, who wants nothing to do with Scully using, of course, stem cell therapy to save her dying patient. To top it off, the surgery is overlooked by 3, frowning nuns. By that time, I was confused why director and creator Chris Carter had us playing connect-the-dots…are we watching a love story? a serial-killer story? a supernatural thriller?…good God man, make up your mind! With the addition of two forgettable agents played by Xzibit and Amanda Peet, die-hard fans will appreciate the brief scene with Mitch Pileggi’s Assistant Director Walter Skinner. While I have no doubt that loyal X-Philes fans, as they’re known, will be drooling over the sequel, the plain out bizarreness rates a 10 on the sphincter scale.

(1 out of 5 stars)

[rating: 1.5/5]

Ram Man:

2008 is the year of the comic book movie, then it’s also the year we send our animated stars into space. Following the smash hit Wall-E, 20Th Century Fox is sending the primates packing in Space Chimps! Space chimps features a cast of voices that include Patrick Warburton (The Tick), Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Stanley Tucci (Devil Wears Prada) and Andy Samberg (Hot Rod).

Kirk DiMecco tells the story of Ham III (Samberg) a circus stunt chimp and grandson of a famous chimp/astronaut Ham III that went to the moon in the early days prior to the manned Apollo missions. Ham III is trying to get his 15 minutes of fame and escape the large shadow cast by his grandfather. When a mysterious black hole opens in space and sucks a probe to the other end of the galaxy NASA is forced to bring back the chimps. That’s when the government comes knocking and Ham is drafted into service and will accompany Titan (Warburton) and Luna (Hines) into space.  NASA soon learns that they have the “wrong” stuff with Ham but continue with the mission anyway.

The primates are sent through the blackhole at 10.5 G’s that disables Luna and Titan and forces Ham to land/crash the ship on a new planet to recover the probe. This is where I was lost ..in the wormhole..because the planet on the other side of the galaxy was like a smurf cartoon on LSD. The new planet is full of bright colors and creature that look like exiles from Fraggle Rock. From the minute the chimps land I can’t wait for them to return home.

Space chimps is a kids movie. I am a movie geek and kid at heart according to my wife, so I made a point to get the crowd full of kids reaction to the picture…and I’m still waiting for it. I think Space chimps is opening this weekend opposite the Dark Knight to slip into DVD obscurity as fast as it can. Space Chimps could have been a great kids movie , if they wouldn’t have dumbed down the new world, had it in 3D and got a few bigger names for voices and they would have had the “Right Stuff”! My recommendation if you have kids that are under the age of 7 take them to check out a matinee of space chimps..otherwise get in line and go check out the bat.

Travis:

Yikes! Starz is really getting big, but I think they may have ventured into the realm of computer-animated features too quickly. I could have seen ‘Space Chimps’ making a debut on DVD, but after seeing the film I am shocked that it is being given a wide theatrical release. It’ll be interesting to see what its overall box office numbers end up looking like.

‘Space Chimps’ is about Ham III, grandson of the legendary chimp Ham I who was rocketed into space as a test flight before human astronauts would later make the same journey. Ham III is a daredevil chimp trying to make his name on the circus circuit, but has no interest in following in his grandfather’s footsteps … but, the government of humans doesn’t care and they team him with two other chimps, Luna (Cheryl Hines) and Titan (Patrick Warburton), sending them on a mission to retrieve a space probe that was lost through a wormhole in space. Their mission reveals life in outer space on a strange planet on the other side of the universe. On this planet, an alien bully has gained power as a tyrannical dictator over his fellow aliens and is forcing them into slavery, building a massive palace for him. If they refuse, he dunks them into the fresnar … which is some kind of quick-setting cement-like liquid that resembles aluminum and flows from the alien planet’s volcano. Ham III finds a love interest in Luna, an unlikely friendship with the by-the-books commander Titan and succeeds at fulfilling his destiny in the process of several near screw-ups.

The animation in ‘Space Chimps’ wasn’t too bad, until the space chimps arrive on the alien planet. When the alien planet is first revealed I was slapped in the face with what I can only describe as an animated Teletubbies set gone horribly wrong. The alien bully had a striking resemblance in personality characteristics to Shrek. The film is loaded with excruciatingly painful puns and cliche’s. ‘Space Chimps’ contains several truly blatant references to other sci-fi space movies, adding something to the movie, but not enough to save it from disaster. I saw ‘Space Chimps’ in a reasonably well-attended screening and I cannot account for seeing and/or hearing any adult (including myself) actually laughing at anything “funny” in this movie. On a rare occasion, a few (myself included) would snicker at something because its soooooooo bad. In fact, I recall only a few laughs coming from the child audience, and most of those were from kids too young to fully understand what they were watching. My overall opinion … you may want to avoid this film, kids or no kids. DANGER, WILL ROBINSON, DANGER!

Ram Man:

Big Red , Selma Blair, Guillermo Del Toro and the B.P.R.D. (Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense) gang are back in the second installment of the Hellboy franchise… Hellboy II:The Golden Army. Guillermo del Toro is back at the helm to tell the continuing story of these people that make humanity safe from creatures they don’t even know exist.Ron Perlman is back as the title character with Selma Blair at his side as Liz Sherman (Pyro-kenetic chic) .Doug Jones is back as Abe Sapien (fishman) and new comer Johann Krauss, a ectoplasmic mystic from Germany. A German leading Hellboy, can you see the fight coming?

In the Golden Army, Del Toro tells the story of an ancient truce between Humans and the Woodland Realm of creatures. Whomever is King of the Woodlands (New Jersey) and has the 3 pieces of the crown controls and unbeatable army of 5000 soldiers..The Golden Army. Prince Nuada (Luke Goss), an elf that makes Legolas from LOTR look like the Keebler elf, has had enough of exile and the Human race destroying his lands. Nuada breaks the truce and begins to assemble the crown in order to control the Golden Army and wage war against humanity. He didn’t take into account the defender of humanity Hellboy! Princess Nuada (Anna Walton), the prince’s twin sister, understanding her brother has gone off the deep end and wanting to continue the peace between the two worlds..takes the final piece of the crown and goes into hiding to prevent the resurrection of the Golden Army. Princess Nuada runs into Abe and is brought to BPRD headquarters and Hellboy is brought into the fight.

Del Toro has packed Hellboy II: The Golden Army with plenty of fascinating creatures, knock down slobber knocking battles, and some great comedic moments. One of the highlights is a Barry Manilow sing-a-long with Red and Abe…yes I said Barry Manilow and highlight in the same sentence. The Golden Army is the second story of a trilogy, to give you a clue on the story line of the follow-up, Guillermo has my permission to use “Three Demons and a Little Lady” as the title! Go check out Hellboy2: The Golden Army and see what a “real” hero is suppose to be!

4 1/2 out of 5

Michelle:

Our red-horned, rosary-carrying, wisecracking, cat-lover, Hellboy, is back for another round with the paranormal world. A misanthropic Prince Nuada (reminiscent of Jeremy Irons’, pasty faced Uber-Morlock from 2002’s ‘The Time Machine’) sets out to unleash hell on Earth. By committing patricide on his father, King Balor, Nuada ends the centuries old truce between humans and magical creatures with the rebirth of the Golden Army. An unfortunate event introduces the public to the secret agents of The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (B.P.R.D.) comprised of Hellboy’s girlfriend, Liz (Selma Blair), empathic Abe (Doug Jones), and their new leader, Johann Krauss (Seth MacFarlane) who comes with troll seeing glasses. We find Hellboy torn between his destiny to destroy the Earth and fighting on the side of the humans. His relationship with Liz is rocky, at best, and she has a certain “something” hidden from him throughout most of the film.

Oscar winning director Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) acquaints us with the mystical world of the Troll Market where, in the search for Nuada’s twin-sister Princess Nuala, the B.P.R.D. agents blend right in. What Del Toro does with the elaborate mythical sets and creatures far surpasses anything we’ve ever seen from Star Wars - the granite and floral behemoths are truly astonishing. With Del Toro’s evenly paced screenplay having Hellboy spewing “You woke up the baby” one-liners, his final act brings about the awakening of the “70 times 70 soldiers” Golden Army. We’re witness to a battle akin to ‘Rock ‘em, Sock ‘em Robots’ along with a fight-to-the-death finale between Hellboy and Prince Nuada. The hilarious “it” scene of the film has to be Hellboy & Abe commiserating over the dealings with the women in their lives with a Barry Manilow sing-a-long moment.

Not quite as funny as the first and certainly missing David Hyde Pierce’s unmistakable voice, Guillermo del Toro gives us another fun adventure… can’t wait to see what he does with “The Hobbit.” It should be one Hell-uva fight between Hellboy and Hancock this weekend.

4 out of 5

Travis:

First, the short version … I have been waiting eagerly for the sequel from the moment I left the theater after watching the first ‘Hellboy’ movie. I have anticipated great things, followed the sequel’s development but managed to avoid becoming too much of a fan-boy as I didn’t want to ruin anything for myself. (Charles?) Overall, the sequel was great! It satisfied all of my waiting and pondering and, while I don’t think it quite meets up to the level of success of the first movie, its pretty darn close and I’m cool with that.

Guillermo del Toro returns to direct ‘Hellboy II: The Golden Army’ and does so brilliantly and clearly with more greenbacks stuffed in his pocket to do so. It was very clear that del Toro was given mush more freedom to explore his dark, creative side for visual effects and creature design in this sequel. With the development of the back story done and behind us with the original, the sequel is much more free to delve into a completely new story … and that it does.

The film begins with a flashback of The Professor (John Hurt) reading a pre-teen aged Hellboy a story just before bed, sending him into a grinning dreamland of a fantastical ancient time on Earth that has long past … or has it? From here, we’re thrown into modern times. Led by the big red guy, the Bureau heads out to investigate an eerie and violent encounter at an auction house. Soon after arriving, the team discover they’re up against an entirely new force that far outnumbers their own. After the team’s “secrecy” is again compromised, Agent Manning (Jeffrey Tambor) is forced to bring in a mysterious new agent to lead the team in place of Hellboy (Ron Perlman). Special Agent Johann Kraus (physically performed by James Dodd and voiced by Seth MacFarlane) immediately rubs Hellboy and Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) the wrong way as Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) takes quickly to his keen intellect. Doug Jones once more gets kudos for carrying the load of three roles in the film.

As it turns out, the stories The Professor read to Hellboy as a child were based in reality. The team discovers that the Elven Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) has plans to steal a magical crown that will allow him to bring the indestructible Golden Army out of dormancy and command them into war with the humans. This basically sets up the premise for this film, but there’s romance as well. We’re already familiar with the love interest between Hellboy and Liz … the sequel takes it further and expands on their relationship. In addition, we find another member of the team falling head over heals for the twin sister of Nuada, Princess Nuala (Anna Walton) and ultimately causes a unique series of leverages and consequences in their mission to keep Nuada from succeeding in his diabolical plans.

Personally, I wasn’t really put off by the approach to the love stories being told in this film, but I can see where others have waned in favor of lesser opinions. Much of the story gets engulfed in the romance of the film and, while it does play an integral role in the story, it can at times be distracting from the action/adventure element … that is, of course, if you’re not a Hellboy fan-boy that’s interested in seeing the whole package and not just the masculinated Hollywood action-fest that other films become. It virtually goes without saying that the visual FX were outstanding. It should get no less than an Oscar nod for this category, and if not … heads will roll! I’m recommending this film to everyone based solely on the special effects. This way, once you see the movie … everything else is pure cinematic viewing profit!

4 out of 5

ZAC:

Guillermo del Toro returns to the comic franchise Hellboy and he has crafted a fantastical, action packed, and hilarious film that is the best live action entry of the Summer and possibly the year.
I can not sing the praises of this film enough. This film opens with a young Hellboy being read a bedtime story to him by Prof. Broom about the indestructible Golden Army built by the elves of ancient earth to help fight the humans during their ancient wars. After their original and only use, the Golden Army massacred the humans and the Elvin King who controlled them deemed them too powerful, splitting the crown which controls them into three pieces; much to the chagrin of his son Prince Nuada (Luke Goss). The King gives one piece to the humans as a truce and the elves move to the forests of the world, not to interact with the humans way of life, Nuada retreats into exile in protest, vowing to return when his people needs him most.
Flash forward a few millennium to present day, Nuada has returned, reclaiming the lost piece of the Golden Crown hostilely at an auction and drawing the attention of Hellboy (Ron Perlman) and the rest of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. The team is roughly the same, minus Myers thankfully, plus one new member, Johann Krauss, an ectoplasmic disembodied spirit that embodies a suit when he is a tangible person instead of a floating mist. Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) is back, and has a crush on Nuada’s sister Nuala, while Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) and Hellboy seem to be having relationship issues the can be a bit “explosive.” Manning (Jeffery Tambor) has more of an active role in setting up campaigns for the team while still trying to cover up the exploits of Hellboy on YouTube.
I won’t really go much more into the plot as this film pretty much hits the ground running as soon as the team investigates the auction house Nuada massacred. The film is full of life though, del Toro has greatly expanded on the fantasy of the Hellboy universe and the world is just endlessly populated with cool monsters and wonderful creatures that give the series a new depth and imagination that it is capable of. You can tell Universal gave del Toro free range and put their confidence behind him as he has crafted one of the better fantasy film worlds in recent memory which has allowed him to craft one of the finest comic book adaptations to date.
Del Toro’s look to this film is also just beautiful, there is always something imaginative and creative happening on screen and it just leaves one awed on a number of occasions. The opening bed time story is told through an awesome animation that looks like a mix of stop motion and puppeteering that really stands out and helps you look past the only hiccup in the movie; which is the actor’s portrayal of young Hellboy, it just didn’t feel right for whatever reason. The Golden Army is just awesome, and when it comes to the big fight with them the effects work is just amazing. Speaking of fights, the film is full of them, they just keep coming one after another with a total of 6 major fight scenes (and that’s not counting the times Hellboy just punches the shit out of a few characters) sprinkled throughout if my memory serves me correctly, with each getting better as you go. The effects work is also top notch like I previously mentioned, with the CGI and the animatronics work (which there is a ton of) just looking grade A almost all the time. It is also a breath of fresh air to see so much practical effects work in this film, and it goes to show that it is possible to awesome effects work with out having to do everything on a computer.
The acting in the film is also great across the board. Rob Perlman expands upon Hellboy and makes him even more sarcastic and likable while also taking on even more physical duties on the film. Doug Jones takes over voice and acting duties for Abe Sapien and he does an excellent job as well. Abe has a far meatier role and is consistently funny in his back and forth’s with Hellboy and Manning. The two above mentioned also deserve special props for everything involved in the scene where they bond over there love for women; priceless and hilarious. Selma Blair takes it up a notch as well and remembers how to act at a high caliber. The filmmakers also decide to ramp up the sexy factor on her to bring in the horny boys as well. Luke Goss is an excellent villain in Prince Nuada handling the fighting and acting very well all around. The voice and physical work for Krauss is also very funny as they are able to create such an interesting character that is technically nothing but a white mist. Finally, Jeffery Tambor also improves upon his Manning in an even meatier role providing a fun authority figure for Hellboy to disregard.
But enough rambling praise, in the end, Hellboy II: The Golden Army is an excellent sequel in that it expands on the world while providing a more compelling story now that the origins are out of the way. Hellboy II is hilarious, action packed, and full of endless creativity. Guillermo del Toro has given us an amazing fantasy world to enjoy and one that I hope he gets to come back to after he is done with The Hobbit. Comic book and fantasy fans should not miss, as this is probably going to end up as being one of the best films of the year when it is all said and done.

(4.5 out of 5)

[Rating: 4.25/5]

Ram Man:

Brendan Fraser is putting the mummy hunting on hold for a month or so to update the Jules Vern classic “Journey to the Center of the Earth”. This time its modern day and it’s in 3-D!  So be prepared for this ride, Dinosaurs are trying to steal your popcorn and you can almost feel the heat from the lava. Eric Brevig (The Island) used amazing visuals in his directorial debut.

2008’s Journey tells the story of Professor Trevor Anderson (Fraser) researching his brother Max’s hypothesis that there are large enough caverns and vent tubes near the center of the earth to have a world living in a world. Max Anderson went missing years before exploring in Iceland leaving behind a wife Elizabeth (Jane Wheeler) and son Sean (Josh Hutcherson). While taking Sean for the summer, Trevor observes a lot of seismic activity in Iceland just like when Max went missing, so the two set of to Iceland to get some answers. Upon arrival the hire a mountain guide Hannah (Anita Briem) and after a freak lightning storm find themselves trapped in a cave.  They set off to find another way out and after two prototype amusement park rides (roller-coaster mine train, water slide) they find themselves in the center of the Earth. This is where the fun really starts. The encounter Dinosaurs, mutant piranha fish, man-eating plants and glow-in-the-dark birds.

Remember to get your Real-D glasses upon entry because this is really 3D! People were jumping in the theater and don’t forget to watch out for those fish. This is a thrill ride enjoyable for the entire family. Brendan Fraser is a little hit and miss with his movies but with the 3D effects he hits this one out of the park!

3 out of 5

Travis:

Everyone have their Real-D 3-D spectacles on? Are you firmly planted in your seat with a tight grip on your popcorn? Great … now, everyone keep your arms and legs inside the viewing area and do not leave your seat until the experience has come to a complete stop.

‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’ succeeds on one level only and that’s purely a level of amusement park fun, offering roller coaster and theme park style thrills. That’s cool … nothing wrong with that. I actually enjoyed this ride despite my otherwise reluctant attitude towards seeing this film in the first place.

The film is directed by Eric Brevig, who prior to this film, was primarily a visual effects guy. Hence, the feature-length visual gimmick. ‘Journey’ is a moderately successful joyride of mild fun and humor, primarily rooted in that of children’s fantasy-adventure fare … both the kids and the adults in the theater appeared to have gotten a kick out of Brandon Frasier’s fantastic voyage to the center of the Earth. However, the film’s success lies solely in the gimmick of the 3-D glasses.

From having Professor Trevor (Frasier) spit his mouthwash into our faces to a wild and physically implausible mine car ride to having a T-Rex nearly bite our buns off, the gimmick works very well at keeping the audience entertained while wearing the somewhat uncomfortable 3-D glasses. But, take the viewing apparatus away and all you have left is your typical kid’s adventure film with little to show for in the way of originality. Not to mention the picture just looks weird without the glasses, as the entire film was shot with the intention of being viewed in 3-D, which is actually a step up from my last experience watching ‘Superman Returns’ and having only three scenes in 3-D, requiring me to watch for the signal to dawn the glasses and then time their removal appropriately as to avoid sudden 3-D glasses induced hallucinations when the 3-D effect was over.

I really have nothing more to say about ‘Journey’ … first time in a while I’ve been relatively short-winded on any movie. Its a good kid-flick with enough going on not to bore the rugrats. Adults will likely enjoy it as well for its novelty, but anyone who gets motion sickness may want to avoid watching an entire feature film presented in this new Real-D 3-D medium.

2.5 out of 5

Charles:

‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’ is a adventure-filled family film that’ll take you on the ride of your life…. in buttery theater seats littered with bunches of hooligan kids and teens. I enjoyed this movie because of the 3-D experience it had to offer. Crazy colored insanely large toothed fish were popping out all over the screen with ginormously monsterous plants that would tear the screen apart. WARNING! Must keep 3-D glasses ON because there is NO WAY you will appreciate the full effect of the film without them. Yes, so honestly the storys a little corny, but who cares!? If you like suspense at all, the 3-D action is bound to keep your complete attention. Now, I’m actually a fan of Brendan Frasers earlier successes, like ‘School Ties’,'Encino Man’, and ‘Airheads’. And while this is a typical Fraser film, its more along the lines of The Mummy Trilogy, which I’m not so impressed with, but apparently there are mummy fans I’m not gonna mess with. Nobody has heard from this guy in the last few years but I’m betting this will reboot his career, coupled with the new Mummy movie, and added to his 2007 ‘The Air I Breathe’ (where he brilliantly plays a psychic gangster) and !BANG! he’s back in business folks. Not gonna lie, this movie is totally for everybody. It delivers action, comedy, and romance. What more do you want? Just make sure to gather up the fam damily and kids for this journey and spectacular 3-D thrill ride! Oh and by the way, the movies ends off with a chapter from a new book that will follow in a sequel. Wait for it…

2.5 out of 5

I have been looking forward to this film all year. Being old enough to have seen and read the work of Hunter S. Thompson, I knew a documentary chronicling his life and work was going to be good. Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson is a unique look into the man and the personality of the rebel journalist of the 70’s and 80’s. It was rare in the pre-Internet era for a reporter to have the celebrity status of a rock-star… but Thompson did!

Gonzo starts with Thompson’s time spent cutting his writing “chops” while being embedded with the Hells Angels in Southern California and follows him to the 1972 McGovern Campaign trail. There are rare TV clips from his time on To Tell the Truth and numerous television interviews. There is also commentary by his wives, friends and even President Jimmy Carter. Laced through the film is personal friend Johnny Depp reciting some of Hunter’s work. Hunter did everything to the extreme..drinking, drugs, women and came up with a phrase for it: “Gonzo journalism” that continues to this day. Thompson came within a few votes of being elected sheriff of Pitkin County, Colorado near his home in Woody Creek. The film also has personal accounts by Thompson himself of numerous assignments as reporter for Rolling Stone Magazine. Like a trip to Zaire,Africa where Thompson met Muhammad Ali and then began a party that kept him from reporting on the heavyweight fight.  Thompson a visionary and primary character in the Doonsberry comic strip, also had a Gonzo plan for his grand exit from this world. He planned his funeral to a T, having a giant 153′ tower (Hunter designed it to resemble a clenched double thumbed fist) on his estate at Woody Creek and planned to have his ashes shot out of a cannon at the top so he wood be spread all over the Aspen area. The world lost Hunter on February 25, 2005 at 5:42 pm. to a self inflicted shot to the head. The last thing Thompson wrote was “No more games. no more bombs. no more walking. No more fun. No more Swimming. 67. that’s 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy.No Fun-for anybody.67. Your getting greedy. Act your old age. Relax-this won’t hurt”. The funeral was a star studded event with friends and family and some of Hollywood’s A-list side by side with the Hells Angels. To his exact wishes, Thompson was shot from the fist and is now floating on the winds of Woody Creek.

I encourage you to pick up (if you haven’t already) the films Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Where the Buffalo Roam.  Those combined with this fine documentary from Alex Gibney, will give you a quick lesson on Gonzo journalism and a view of an American legend. Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.  I just wonder what Hunter would have thought and more importantly would have written about the times we are going through today. Maybe Fear and Loathing in Iraq. Thank You Hunter..for making us laugh and more important for making us think.

[rating:5/5]

Ram Man:

Does any one know where the “real’ Eddie Murphy went???? I think this new guy stealing his billing Has just one goal in mind..Get the most Razzies (award for worst movie of the year) of any actor in Hollywood. This new comedy???? is a mixture of My Favorite Martian,Star Trek and Innerspace only dummied down for the kiddies.

Meet Dave is the story of an alien race forced to find salt to replenish their planet and allow their race to survive. They chose to deplete the Earth of it’s oceans, and end the human race in the process. Did I mention these aliens are 2″ tall and arrive on earthin a spaceship (Dave) that looks like Eddie Murphy! Eddie not one to hog all of the camera also plays the tiny captain. Elizabeth Banks, Scott Caan, Mike O’Malley and Gabrielle Union also cashed in for this one. They also saved a buck or two by naming the aliens with numbers instead of actually have writers create some. Upon arrival the crew starts to form emotions and take on habits of the humans. This segment provides the best parts of the film. No. 4 (Pat Kilbane) discovers Broadway and show tunes and soon turns Gay and gives No.3 (Union) a makeover to wow the captain (Murphy). Unfortunately the laughs are too far and few to make Meet Dave a good film. the end is also soooo predictable. A family flick that no one in the family except maybe the pre-teens will like.

I f you should Meet Dave , run..don’t walk away from the theater! Boldly go to any film other than Meet Dave. The only thing that was on my mind during the long 90 minutes of the film was Pluto Nash..Pluto Nash..Pluto Nash . After such films as Norbit, Daddy Day Camp, Pluto Nash and now Meet Dave I ask again what happened to the Eddie Murphy that made Axel Foley a household name and gave an Oscar worthy performance in Dreamgirls? Maybe both he and Mike Myers have slipped into just being able to do Shrek films. I don’t know what 20th Century Fox was thinking releasing this in the summer season opposite the smash hit Hellboy 2 and a 3D family adventure in Journey to the Center of the Earth.

1 out of 5

Charles:

Eddie Murphy is back with, yep - you guessed it - yet another run of the mill comedy. I went to the screening thinking it was going to be a waste of time and garbage. Meet Dave is what I expected. It’s a safe, family-fun comedy with loads of slapstick humor that will only appeal to teens and young children. I’m not scared to say it; this movie actually had me laughing at certain parts, but the remaining of the film is expectedly nothing to get excited over. You run into the same old performances Eddie has offered over the past (god only knows how many) years. 10? 15? 20? Enough already. It pains me to see Eddie’s career going down the drain, but also when you don’t show up to your own premiere… well, it explains why fans and critics don’t have sweet things to say. Sure, we love Eddie ’cause his old classics are great but HELLO, times have changed and these days he just can’t get the job done. Sorry. Beverly Hills Cop 4 will hopefully revive his corpse of a career! It’s definitely a stronger effort than Norbit (no fat suits in this one, Thank Goodness) but nothing special either. If silly slapstickish humor like this makes you laugh, then go ahead and Meet Wacky Dave!

1 1/2 out of 5

The movie geeks all showed out last night for ‘Wanted’, and we all have a great opinion on this flick. Hit the read more to see all of our reviews, this movie will definitely not disappoint anyone! We gave this movie a collective rating of [rating: 4/5]

Scott:

This has to be one of the most entertaining movies since ‘Shoot Em Up’, but this movie was done on a much larger scale. The casting was absolutely flawless… James McAvoy was funny in the humorous scenes, but you could still buy him as a new up and coming bad ass assassin. Oh, and Angelina Jolie was a pure sex kitten! Morgan Freeman turned in a great performance and delivers one of the greatest lines in the movie… “Kill this Mother%&$*er”, it was old school and had perfect execution. The movie stretches itself around a few things that you just have to buy into for the movie, curving bullets, flipping cars, a bath that can heal even the deepest of wounds (knife through the hand) in a matter of hours.

This movie keeps you on the edge of your seat, twists and plows through action craving emotions and leaves no apologies. This movie is like the best one night stand of your life, and when you wake up she is gone never to be heard from again…

4 out of 5

Ram Man:

Buckle up and keep your hands in the car at all times… the thrill ride is about to begin! Wanted, the latest comic-book adaptation, is an action packed… guns blazing… cars flying… adrenalin fest.

Wanted is the story of a group of super powered assassins call “the Fraternity” that eliminates the evil doers and keeps the world from falling into chaos. The fraternity is run by Sloan (Morgan Freeman). When their top agent is gunned down by a rogue agent they must find and recruit his son to avenge his death. Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy), an accountant that suffers from panic attacks and has a life going nowhere fast, is the new recruit for the Fraternity. Wesley is literally beaten into shape and trained by the best to kill with anything at hand. He is also trained to do the signature shot, bending bullets around corners to kill someone not in your sight! (Remember, based on a comic-book) His teacher is an assassin named Fox (Angelina Jolie) who takes Wesley under her wing and shows him how to cope with all the killing and prepares him for the main task… avenge your father’s death.

Wanted is full of head-shots and gun battles, but it has some of the best car stunts on film. There are also some twists that you won’t see coming. This is not a Bourne substitute, but if you are looking for a fun and thrilling ride in the theater… Go check out Wanted. After the first hour you will find yourself looking around for bullets coming around the corner at you!

4 1/2 out of 5

Travis:

Timur B [as I affectionately refer to him] has certainly cemented his place in the Hollywood elite of action filmmakers. Not since ‘Shoot Em Up’ have I experienced a movie as shamefully fun and over-the-top while still working marvelously. My only complaint about ‘Wanted’ has absolutely nothing to do with the movie, but with its inevitable success all but eliminating any hope of Timur B returning to make the third and final installment of the great Russian horror “Watch” trilogy. With that said, one would be hard-pressed to find another more action-packed all-out thrilling and crazy “oh my God, did that really just happen” kick a** over-the-top blockbuster bash all summer.

Now, with that said … one word of advice: If you’re a stickler for realism … stay home and watch your “reality” TV, because ‘Wanted’ is not for you. Hey, I’m just being honest …

Based on the comic book series, this movie clearly makes no claims to base its story in reality, instead wearing its graphic spectacular origins on its sleeve. Nearly every element of ‘Wanted’ works on a level of shear excitement and adrenaline. Even in the opening scenes of the film, when we’re first introduced to Wesley (James McAvoy) as a pathetic nobody office drone, the film screams its style out loud for everyone to jump on board because this is going to be one ride we won’t soon forget.

Wesley is “recruited” by Fox (Angelina Jolie) per the request of Sloan (Morgan Freeman), the leader of a super-secret underground coalition of master assassins called The Fraternity. After a brief dose of rather convincing “discussion” as to the nature of Wesley’s connection to The Fraternity, he makes a life-altering decision to join their ranks … followed by a brutal series of training regiments that would make a Navy SEAL think twice. Its true that there’s a lot of action and a lot of it would someday be fascinating fodder for The Mythbusters, but this physics defying collection of unbelievable stunts, gunfights and best of all, automobile chases, works for one reason … Timur B has a fresh and visually alluring style of his own that is a sort of cross between the Wachowski brother’s bullet-time and Guy Ritchie’s eye for angles and composition, but still maintains its own flair and succeeds on its own merit.

4 out of 5

Michelle:

Meet the League of Extraordinary Assassins. Based on the graphic novel series, Wanted, in a frantic opening sequence, throws us into the secret world of a fraternity of super assassins set about to save mankind through a centuries old code. Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman are the nefarious teachers to James McAvoy’s passive nobody. Fortunately for us, we are spectators to the birth of the newest action hero, James McAvoy. His feisty performance will certainly rocket him into movie star status and sex symbol. (yummy!). With its dazzling visual effects, Wanted is the most innovative film on this summer’s landscape and one that should be at the top of your must-see lists. Welcome to the Fraternity.

5 out of 5

ZAC:

Timur Bekmambetov brings Mark Millar’s graphic novel to life in a visually stunning and entertaining film that comes off a bit rushed and short changed on material.
Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) is going no where in life. His girlfriend is cheating on him with his best friend, he hates his job, and he hates his boss all while having no direction for the future at all. This is in contrast to a member of the Brotherhood, one of which is his father who we see killed after leaping out a window taking out a number of would be assassins as he jumps out one building to another (he makes the jump, it’s a bullet that gets him). Wesley is quickly finds a brash change in his life when he is approached by Fox (Angelina Jolie) who is both recruiting him to the brotherhood as well as protecting him from his fathers assassin Cross (Thomas Kretschmann). The two go on a whirlwind chase around Chicago as they are chased by Cross performing super unrealistic, but stylish, moves in Fox’s corvette all while Wesley is nearly shitting himself. Upon escape, Wesley is introduced to Sloan (Morgan Freeman), the leader of the Brotherhood, who says Wesley has inherited all of his father’s assets and is destined to be a hit man of the Brotherhood. Upon Wesley’s release he awakes as if from a dream but quickly realizes his reality and begins down a path to a life he never thought he had.
The movie from here turns into a traditional origin story as we watch Wesley “train” and learn the history to the Brotherhood, but outside a small tidbit about Fox, the past of these guys helping train Wesley remain a complete mystery. A lot of these characters seem pretty cool as well and it would have been nice to get some kind of background at all on any of these supposed deadly killers.
Another complaint I have is that Wesley gets way to cocky and way to short a time, it’s one thing to be confident, it’s another to think he is the world’s deadliest killer seemingly overnight. This is even more surprising as he is such a pathetic mess when we first meet him. The middle of this film is quite rushed and breezes over any depth or meaning to the story and sticks to the absolute bare bones of what is happening. I feel just a couple minutes of showing his attitude change would have helped the classic training montage work a bit better.
The film is also filled with a number of silly elements that you just kind of shake your head at but have to accept because you are loving that these people can bend bullets and even make them collide in mid-air with their opponents. The loom of fate is just ridiculous, as this loom manned by no one, just spits out the supposed bad people of the world to tell the Brotherhood to kill them. It also must loom large sums of money because I couldn’t figure out who is paying these people all this money. Also, the back history of the Brotherhood, a group of weavers formed a secret society in medieval times to start caring out the fate of the evil. The candle wax healing bath is also quite ridiculous but it works as an effective device to move our characters along as they get this shit kicked out of them.
I should stop stressing the negatives though, as the film is full of many great bits as well. The action is superb and super imaginative with the effects looking solid throughout. There are three action set pieces with each being full of unbelievably and absurdness but you should just sit back and enjoy the visual feast and ingenuity in the scenes. The acting is also very good with James McAvoy showing he can handle the action chops to go along with the acting skills he has proven in his other films. He is believable as a bad ass out of nowhere and is full of intensity while also being very cool and funny when he needs to be; it’s nice to have an action hero with some range. Freeman walks through the motions as Sloan but does the job with class you would expect from him, and when he curses it is just so fantastic to hear in this film for some reason. Jolie does a good job of what she is supposed to do, kick ass and look sexy, and while there really isn’t a romantic plot in the film she gives the film a bad ass killer heroine that you don’t see to often. The rest of the supporting cast is adequate but really have little to nothing to do.
In the end, Wanted is full awesome visuals (got to love slow-mo head shots), great action, and good acting all around. A thin and bit predictable story hold it back at times but the blazing pace keeps you entertained throughout the run time as the film always recaptures your attention if a scene waivers. A very good action film to get lost in for two hours, Wanted is worth seeking out if you are a action junkie looking for a little R-Rated fun over the weekend.

(3.5 out of 5)

]]> http://wearemoviegeeks.com/2008/06/review-wanted/feed/ http://wearemoviegeeks.com/2008/06/review-the-foot-fist-way/ http://wearemoviegeeks.com/2008/06/review-the-foot-fist-way/#comments Fri, 20 Jun 2008 05:25:00 +0000 Charles http://wearemoviegeeks.com/?p=3250

Danny McBride and Jody Hill team up to bring you The Foot Fist Way ,a hilarious karate chop master of a film. You might not know too much about Danny but he has been in a recent slew of comedy flicks from Superbad,Hot Rod,Drillbit Taylor, and the upcoming Pineapple Express, he is a master of comedy. This film is his big break and I think he is destined to become a big comedy star. This film was a bit like Napoleon Dynamite, it had the indie effect and the retarded humor but does not get old at any cost! This is on my list as one of the best comedies of the year.

Former champion, Mr. Simmons fancies himself one in the same as his hero, Chuck “The Truck” Wallace, a B-movie Martial Arts star. Mr. Simmons hypes about his self-proclaimed status as “king of the demo” [Tae Kwon Do demonstration], even though he can’t do diddley squat on the mats. His only vulnerability lies in his devotion of his wife Suzie- a weakness that comes to surface when Simmons finds Suzie cheating on him with her new boss. When Suzie leaves on break from their relationship, Simmons finds himself slipping into chaos. He sets a war on anybody who stands in his way. He finds allies in Julio Chavez, his nine-year-old apprentice, and Henry Harrison, one of his students with a confidence problem. When his weird friend Mike McAllister shows up, the four make a trip to a  Tae Kwon Do convention to meet the greatest Martial Artist of all time, Chuck “The Truck” Wallace. What starts as a crazy man’s journey to escape instantly turns into a trip of discovery, as Simmons and his crew party with “The Truck” , Simmons convinces “Truck” to perform a demo at his Tae Kwon Do school during the upcoming belt-qualifying test. Fred returns from the convention at the top of his game, until he is shocked by the return of Suzie, and the “The Truck” appears at his Tae Kwon Do school. In the end, Simmons faces the greatest challenge of his life and finds out that he is a champion at heart.

Do yourself a favor and go check out The Foot Fist Way, this is loaded with laughs and is very enjoyable. This should not be an overlooked film of 2008. Foot Fist your way to the theaters as soon as you can so you can learn a thing or two from the King of the Demo!

[rating: 4.5/5]

John C. Reilly and Seann William Scott star in the new supermarket satire film..”The Promotion”. Usually when a new comedy comes out, there is a marketing blitz and all the trailers show you all the funny scenes from the film. Not so with this one. I think they are using a word of mouth campaign to get people in the theaters to see the Promotion.

The film centers around two assistant managers for Donaldson’s Supermarket, both of them, competing for the same position managing the new store. This starts a series of one-up-manship battles and sneak attacks on each of them to try to sabotage the other’s chance at the Promotion. The film features a great cast of Jenna Fischer, Lili Taylor, Fred Armison Gil Bellows and Rick Gonzalez .One of the funniest characters is called “Teddy Grahams”, a Russian guy that doesn’t speak English and is pissed off with Donaldson’s and takes it out on Doug (Scott) by sneaking up on him and slapping him. Some of the best moments in the film come from the Hispanics stocking staff who do everything from sampling the food and putting it back on the shelves to shaving in the isles of the store. Kinda makes you think before going on a shopping run this weekend.

The Promotion isn’t one of those belly-buster comedies, but is an enjoyable film. The only thing I can gripe about is the pace of the film..for an 80 min movie it seems too long. But as I said before this is a word of mouth “Promotion” so if you are for a satirical look at you local grocer , I’m telling you to get “Promoted” and check-out the “Promotion”

Ram Man:

M.Night Shayamalan is back with his first “R” rated feature film …”The Happening” . This film has been cloaked in secrecy since production wrapped. Rumors leaked from a disgruntled projectionist that it was horrible. Everyone says Night’s career is riding on this…He will be fine! If you want to be surprised by what happens in the Happening read this after you see it and see if you agree with me (spoilers coming).

The Happening jumps right into it! The first scene in the movie has a pair of women in Central Park talking on a bench, when all of the sudden one takes a hair pin out a drives it into her own neck! People then begin to fall of buildings and drive cars of the road and die by the thousands. The Happening stars Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Dechanel as a married couple Elliot and Alma Moore. Their relationship “on the rocks” they must try to fix it while staying alive from the invisible force of death. Elliot and Alma together with their friend Julian (John Leguizamo) attempt to leave the city to a safer are outside the hot zone. Soon the force takes over the eastern coast of the country and out group finds themselves stranded in rural Pennsylvania. (I figured any kind of deadly force would be too bored to go to rural Pennsylvania).

After the large cities are decimated people begin to be affected in the smaller communities including the one Elloit and Alma are hold up in. Julian , once he loses contact with his wife leaves to go back to the city to find her (Noooooooo). Can you say Goner? By this time authorities have rule out terrorism and have no Idea what is causing this. Elliot , a science teacher, begins to believe a theory of this old farmer that the plants and trees are turning on us. I now expect to hear a chorus of “Trees” by Rush. Still on the run Elliot and Alma take up residence with a crazy old woman (Betty Buckley from eight is enough) and intended to wait it out and stay alive til this is over.

That is where the movie stops..and the ending takes over. The movie is thrilling and bloodier than anything M.Night has done before. The death scenes are great. My personal fave is a scene in Princeton NJ., Julian riding in a car on a suburban street, where people are hanging from trees like human Christmas ornaments. The movie was good but then he had to end it….that’s where you lose me. Like in his past films (Village & Lady in the Water) the end of his film ruins the ride you have taken up to that point. I’m not going to give it all away but I just have to quote an old TV slogan …Don’t mess with Mother Nature! The film is ok for DVD rental or catch it at a matinee.

I hold M.Night Shaymalan up to a higher mark with his past films (Six Sense, Unbreakable,Signs) and this one is still in that same rut with the Village. I do give him credit for night repeating or falling into the sequel trap. M.Night fans will go see this film and say I’m nuts. But the average movie goer will leave the theater and just say “Huh????”

Travis:

I know I’ve been shunned for having positive opinions for movies that the mass movie-going audience has found repulsively, unforgivably bad … so they say. But that’s the beauty of it … I don’t care. I think M. Night Shyamalan is a talented filmmaker and a promising storyteller. I’m not suggesting everything he does is perfect, but I believe the reason he gets crucified so often is because he’s doing something outside the box.

The Happening is a great sci-fi thriller that deals with a contemporary issue in a creative and entertaining way. What I admire about Shyamalan as a filmmaker is that he chooses to break out of the Hollywood mold [even if he does occasionally get stuck in his own mold] and he makes an effort to tell stories in a way that is fresh. I also respect him for doing his homework in writing an interesting story. The scientific “theory” presented in The Happening is based in relevant scientific concepts and addresses an issue that many, including myself, feel is important.

Like all of Shyamalan’s films, The Happening is rooted in suspense and the fear of the unknown. We can’t fault him for that, as its what he does. It would be like faulting Ingmar Bergman for making beautiful but depressing films … its what he did. I’m not going to start throwing Oscar comments out there, simply because there’s nothing in the movie that warrants any Oscar discussion. So, don’t worry about that. However, I feel this is a solid film that will find its audience amongst the fans who keep an open mind. The performances were perfect in that they served their purpose. This movie wasn’t about the characters, but rather about an idea. Wahlberg was convincing … serious and straight most of the time, emotional when necessary and even dabbled in light humor when called for. Zooey Deschanel … well, don’t get me started with her. I mean, those eyes … [*snap out of it*]

Sorry. Where was I … Oh, the cinematography and the score also carried this same relative characteristic of being subtle and appropriate, masterful on their own but maintaining a humble symbiosis with the film. There’s an organic quality to the flow of the story which is fitting, given the idea behind the incredible events taking place. I suppose the only thing I can really nit-pick about [if I must] is the somewhat convenient circumstance by which Elliot (Wahlberg), Alma (Deschanel) and Jess (Sanchez) manage to survive The Happening. Its a brief distraction, which is followed by the true ending to the film … which actually further illustrates my point that the story isn’t about Elliot and Alma. This is a very good film … I dare you to see it and really think about it. If you’ve already seen it and hated it … I triple-dog-dare you to watch it again without the blinders.

4 1/2 out of 5

Scott:

This movie is being promoted as the greatest B movie ever by Mr M Night, and I have to say..This movie isnt even the greatest D movie ever. This is your typical M Night crap..strange occurrences that have no explanation and the ending is just a big let down. If I wanted to walk away unfulfilled I would have went and watched a Uwe Boll movie, I might have scored it better.

1 out of 5.

[rating: 2.5/5]

The “Fab” four are back! After a 4 year vacation, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Catrell, Cynthia Nixon and Kristen Davis, are back reprising their roles of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte in the new Sex and the City Movie. One thing that worries me when they do a TV-based movie is that original cast members are missing. Not so in this case…all your faves are in it including the original writer/director Michael Patrick King. Ok..Ok.. before you revoke my “man” card, I went into this film thinking it was going to be a very,very long tv show but I was pleasantly surprised …IT was GOOD! (it is about a 1/2 hour too long running time is 2hours and 28 mins.)

The story picks up 3 years following Big (Chris Noth) going to Paris to tell Carrie (Parker) he loved her and bring her back to New York. Carrie and Big have been looking for the right Manhattan apartment to move in together. Three years later has Samantha on the west coast in Hollywood living with and managing her boy -toy Smith Jared (Jason Lewis). Samantha finds herself walking the thin line between monogamy and gluttony when she spies her new neighbor Raoul and his harem of sex partners. Miranda (Nixon) is still in Brooklyn with husband Steve (David Eigenberg) and son Brady (Joseph Pupo). Miranda is still with the law firm and approaches her marriage as all work and no sex makes Miranda a crappy wife. This leaves us with “Cinderella” Charlotte (Davis). Charlotte has her adopted baby Lily and Husband Harry (Evan Handler) and the canine trio from the finale. Three years has just made Charlotte happier living the “dream”. It wouldn’t be the same if our favorite designers didn’t pop in for cameos …yes Stanford Blatch and Anthony Marintino (Willie Garrison, Mario Catone) show up for the Big/ Bradshaw nuptuals. There is also a forgettable performance by American Idol Jennifer Hudson as an assistant hired by Carrie. Hudson does contribute a song to the soundtrack. (Stick to the singing Jen)

I’m not going to give away all the details. I’m sure you’ve seen the trailers, let me tell you there is a lot more than whats been shown on TV. A line that sums it up from the film is women come to New York for the two L’s ..Labels (designer) and Love. There is plenty of both in the film. If you like the TV show …this maybe your favorite film of the year. If your idea of romance is Clint Eastwood and a 44 Magnum..Ironman is still playing. If you have never seen the show ,”Sex and the City” is a very good stand alone film. Important note to all married guys and men in relationships that read this review: This summer is shaping up like this: Ironman, Indiana Jones, Zohan, Hulk, Hellboy 2 and the Dark Knight. This a good movie to “take one for the team” and go with her to this flick. (also the nudity factor is 10 to 1 girls vs. guy)

[rating:4/5]