Michael Jackson’s This Is It Review

So, I’ll start out by saying I have never been the biggest MJ fan. There are a good bit of his songs that I like, and some I don’t. I’ve always been more of a “Thriller”, “Smooth Criminal” person and never went beyond that. I also thought this movie was just a cheap way to make money off the recent passing of MJ. I thought, who would want to see concert rehersial footage! I could not have been more wrong! Seeing this made me realize the entertainer for what he was, The Greatest Single Entertainer to ever live!

Now, the movie “is” just rehersals for the upcoming tour that was to be his last, hence the title. His passion for music shines brighter than anything in this film. The way he coaches all of the people around him puts you in a kind of stare. He knows his music up and down and can start from any line of any song and does so several times thoughtout the picture. To be as old as he was, and to still have the energy of a 20 years old is amazing! He still had every move down pat, and shows why he was the inventer of so many of these dance moves. One scene when he is going over “Billie Jean” he goes off into a few min dance scene, and it’s just amazing to watch!  

The movie is Directed by Kenny Ortega(Hocus Pocus, High School Musical), and he does a good job of pasting together all of the hours of footage. Some songs do not skip a beat and goes from different days and different sets of clothes without you even noticing. They aslo show the new videos they shot for background, and intos/outros for songs and are pretty cool, my favorite was Smooth Criminal. A standout of the movie is a young Australian guitar player names Orianthi(pictured above). It shows her have a few solos, and I’m a MetalHead and I was very impressed by her playing. MJ definetly made sure he had the talant around him for this show.

Well, it’s pretty simple. If you love/like Michael Jackson go see this movie! I’m a lite Mj fan and I loved this movie! You really get to see the meaning of most of his music, and his passion for it and mankind as well. He was one of the best, and it’s a shame that this concert will never happen because it would have put him out the right way. “This Is It” is the best musical documentary i’ve ever seen, and i’ve seen a good bit of them!

5/5

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Review

 

The first Transformers came out in 2007 and was an instant hit/classic summer film with it’s visuals and bringing beloved childrens toys to life on the big screen. Director Michael Bay returns to direct the sequal Revenge of the Fallen.  Now, I waited on reviewing this one because I have personally only read a handful of decent reviews for this film. Ok look, if you want to see a deep movie, this is not it, but it’s not meant to be!! It’s 150 mins of robots beating the shit out of each other and that’s what it’s goal was! Michael Bay is the king of action, not storytelling. Transformers came from TOYS!!!! What do you expect, it’s and action movie, not a drama.  So with that out of the way, the movie is not as good as the first one, but it’s a Damn good summer action movie!

The plot is not much. The Fallen is a Transformer who is the hidden leader of the Decepticons and can only be defeated by a Prime, so Megatron is brought back to kill Optimus so the Fallen can destroy the human race. Pretty basic take over the whorld plot, but it works fine. The acting in the movie is the weakest part of this film. Shia LaBeouf returns and holds his own, as the lead character in a comic relief sort of way, pretty much just like in the first one. Now, Megan Fox is just eye candy in this movie. It’s really bad acting on her part. I actually thought she did a decent job in the first, but this one she just kind of floats though the entire movie, and never acts like she really cares about what’s goin on. 

 

 

The action in the movie is top notch! Michael Bay actually out did himself with this one. It really has about 3 time the action of the first one, and that’s what I wanted( along with A LOT of other people). The explosion at the end used 100 gallons of gasoline and is the largest explosion while using the real actors in a film, so I thought that was pretty cool.  The visuals look very good as well, just as in the first one. I did notice they transformed a good bit more in this one, and showed more close ups of them thought out too. The classic Bay camera angles makes everything just look cool as well. If you’ve never seen a Bay film before(where have you been the last 10 years), he has a unique way of shooting to give pan away shots look fast and just plain cool.

One of the few complaints of the Movie is that they introduce a few new Transformers and they really don’t get the screen time I thought they needed, but oh well. The movie also had a bit too much comedy in it for my taste, but it does not take away anything from the overall movie. Starscream actually has a part in this movie very much like his role in the cartoon, so props to Bay there. The Fallen was a little dissappointing because he only has a few scenes and doesn’t really do anything until the end, he does look cool though. Skids and Mudflap did get screen time thought out the entire movie, and that was cool. I’m also already sick of hearing about them being racist in the film. If you think that, you must have not seen a black stand up comic in the past 20 years!! I liked them in the film and did not think for a second they were racist, but i’m also not a dildo that tries to find some contraversy in everything that comes out!  The movie also had a bit too much comedy in it for my taste, but it does not take away anything from the overall movie.

It’s pretty simple, if you liked the first one you’ll like this one. It’s the first one with more action.

4/5

The Taking of Pelham 123

 

So this movie has Denzel Washington, John Travolta in it, and is Directed by Tony Scott, so you’d think this is the formula for a great movie….and you’d be right!  The movie is a remake of the 1974 classic, which i’ve never seen so I can’t really compare. Everything seems to be in order in this film, but that’s just my opinion. I really don’t think Tony Scott(Man on Fire, Spy Game) can make a bad movie. Him and his brother Ridley have been two of my favorite directors for years now. If it has the Scott Free logo on it, you can go ahead and bet it’s a great film.

The story is Denzel’s character, Walter Garber, is over a section of the subway in NYC and is having a normal day until Travolta’s character, Ryder, decides to take over the sub car Pelham 123 and hold the passangers hostage for a large sum of money. The story does get more interesting, but I won’t ruin anything. With these 2 strong actors you get 2 great performances. I really liked Travolta’s evil side come out in this movie. He’s all tattood up, and just looks cool. He really hasn’t had a character like this since Pupl Fiction, and it’s been long overdue! Of course Denzel brings his skills to the table as well. The man does not know how to be a bad actor! He delivers in this movie, as he always does. John Turturro, and James Gandolfini round out the rest of the cast with equally strong acting.

  

 

The movie is directed by Tony Scott and is filled with his usually good camera angles and editing. The movie starts with Jay-Z’s 99 Problems song playing and has cutting from the sub car, Travoltra and his crew and Denzel’s character all in one 3 or 4 min intro, and it’s the way it’s done with a panic, fast vibe to it that’s impressive. If you’ve ever seen a Tony Scott film you can imagine what i’m talking about, and he does this through the movie and it’s just good execution my him and his editing crew. One of my only complains is that the movie could have been a little longer, and told more background on the characters, but whatever. Maybe i’m just spoild with Martin Scorsese movies.

So if you want to see a good solid movie this summer, go see this movie. If you like Tony Scott, or Denzel, or Travolta you should like this film. Good Movie!

4/5

The Hangover Review

When I first saw the commercials to this movie I thought it would be funny. I like Todd Phillips work (Old School, Road Trip), and had hopes of it producing. Well it did so much more!! This is the funniest movie i’ve seen in years! I’m normally not giddy about comedy movie, but I saw this movie 2 times this past weekend and would watch it again right now. This is not your normal comedy movie, the writing and deliverance of the humor is spot on. I would rank it up there with Anchorman, and Wedding Crashers as the surprise hit comedy of the year.

The story is 4 friends go to Vegas to celebrate Justin Bartha’s character getting married, and they loose him during the night and spend the next 2 days looking for him. It sounds too simple, I know, but belive me it works. Bradley Cooper, and Ed Helms do a good job at what they are ment to do, but Zach Gilifianakis owns the movie with his dry humor. He says the most simple things and make you laugh out loud. Having Heather Graham and Mike Epps cameo is a nice touch as well. Mike Tyson actually played a much bigger role in this movie than I thought he would. He has a few scenes with a decent amount of dialouge, and does well with them.

Bottom line, if you want to have a good time at the theaters this summer get all of your friends together and go support this masterpiece of comedy. This is definetly Todd Phillips most impressive outing as a director yet.  If you enjoy comedy movies you really have no reason to not love this movie, I know I did!

4.5/5

Drag Me to Hell Review

 

 

This movie is Sam Rami’s first attempt at Horror since Army of Darkness in 1992. Rami hits it out of the park with this one!! I am a Huge fan of the Evil Dead movies and this movie reminded me so much of them with the way he mixes horror and comedy together. I wish more movies were made like this. I thought the pg-13 rating was a lillte odd for a movie called Drag Me to Hell, and after seeing it am still kind of shocked it recived a pg-13. Just the material alone should earn an R rating, but oh well it didn’t.

The movie starts in 1969 with a spanish boy who is having problems and claiming to have visions and seeing things. His parents bring him to a gypsy to fix him and the demon inside him pulls him away from his parents and opens up the ground exposing Hell and hands come out and drag him down below, hence the name of the film!  It picks up in present day with Christine Brown(Alison Lohman), a loans officer, denying an elder woman Mrs. Ganush(Lorna Raver) and extension on her house loan, and the woman puts a curse on her. The curse results in a demon called Lomia stalking her for 3 days, and if she can’t get rid of it she dies and goes to Hell. I won’t ruin the end, but I was Overly satisfied with it.

The acting in the movie is solid, I mean it’s a horror/comdey movie. Justin Long rounds out the cast as Christine’s boyfriend. You will jump in this movie. Sam Rami is the king of jump horror. The first Evil Dead is the same way. The visuals are done well, even though most of the visuals are makeup, they look good. Now this movie is about Demons and Hell, so if you get offended by these kind of things you might not care for this movie. 

 

 

Sam Rami blends the Horror and Comedy so well in this movie I wanted to see it again right after I watched it. The camera angles are great as well. One scene Christine is digging up a grave in the rain and the up from the ground looking at a cross in the rain shot is just spectaular, and is classic Sam Rami stuff. These kind of movies really show off why he is such a respected Director in this age of unoriginal ideas.

Drag Me to Hell left me the most satisfied of any movie i’ve seen in some time. Go see this movie and support it so more like it can be made!

5/5

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Review

 

 

 

So Ben Stiller and everyone from the original film is back with Battle of the Smithsonian. If you liked the first movie, this is just as good. I’m kind of a history nut, so I really enjoy movies like this. It mixes history with humor, and it’s got Ben Stiller in it, and he just doesn’t make bad movies.  Amy Adams comes alomg board as Amelia Earhart and does a great performance. Amy Adams is one of my favorite rising actresses in Hollywood. I’m putting my stamp on it that she’ll win a few Oscars before she’s done. Hank Azaria of Simpsons fame comes as well as Kahmunrah, and Hank is just a funny person. Anyone that comes from the Simpsons is going to do well in comedy though, just look at Conan O’ Brien. The story of the film is that the tablet and most things from the Natural History Museum from the first movie are taken to D.C. to make room for the future of museum tech, and Ben Stiller’s friendship with Owen Wislon’s character drags him to save them. It’s a simple plot, but the comedy and historical context saves this movie. If you are not up on history you might get confused on who some people are and why they are who they are because the film kind of expects you to know.  The visuals are very well done actually. The animals and statues that move look well, and believable to be in a movie like this.

I liked this movie, but I do love Ben Stiller. If you like history like I do then do yourself a favor and see this movie and also see the first if you haven’t.

4/5

Terminator Salvation Review

 

So if your unfamiliar with the Terminator series, I really don’t know where you’ve been for the past 20 something odd years, but this is the 4th installment of the series and it takes place during the war that fans have only gotten clips of in the past. Now me being a huge fan of the Terminator franchise, I loved this movie! It gave me exactly what I wanted, 2 hours of pure action, as well as a good tie-in story to boot. I was very sceptical at first with this being the 1st movie of the series to recieve a pg-13 rating, but it was handled very well.  The recently cancelled tv series more than likely helped the makers realize the movie didn’t have to have an R rating to work. Director McG really gave his reputation as a film director a giant push in the right direction with this film.

The movie starts with Sam Worthington in prision and signs his body over to science as an experiment just before Judgement day happens. He wakes up to believe he is human, until he runs across John Connor(Christian Bale), and Blair Williams(Moon Bloodgood) of the Ressistance against the Machines. His purpose is reveled at the films end and I thought it was clever, a bit predictable, but fitting in right along with the tone of the film.  the acting in the movie is spot on. I was actually very impressed of how serious, and well done the acting and story was handled. Christian is the strongest actor in the film, but that’s to be expected. I can see how one may be confused about what is going on if they’ve never seen a Terminator film, but that’s why there is 3 other movies and a tv series.

 

 

The visuals in this movie are spectacular! They rank right up with any blockbuster, you name it it matches it.  The models used transition very well from model to visual effect very smooth. Director McG has never handled visuals like this before, but does fine with them. The amout of Terminators in this film is more than any other buy a mile, but should since it’s a war happening.  Danny Elfman aslo writes a more than welcome score for the movie. Someone of his calibur can really change a good scene to a great one.

 

 

Now I know some are wondering, if you haven’t seen the movie yet, if the star of the other 3 films makes an apperance. Well, let me just say, you won’t be dissappointed. This movie was a long time coming, and in my opinion it is the 2nd best film in the series right behind the mighty T2, which will never be beaten!  If your a fan you’ll love this movie, but give it a chance even if your just an action film fan. Ranks right up with Trek as best of the summer and year so far!

4.5/5

Angels and Demons Review

Angels and Demons takes place after the events of the Da Vinci Code, and follows Robert Langdon( Tom Hanks) on his solving of another mystery/cover up. The thing I love about this movie, and the Da Vinci Code, is that Director Ron Howard, and the author of the books Dan Brown, is not afraid to cross the line to tell a great story. The religious ties in this film are upfront, and spoken about in a questioning manner. An example: Tom Hanks character is asked if he believes in God by Ewan McGregor’s character and he says he is a man of science. So if you get offended on the questioning of religion, or science tie ins you might get offended before the film is over. The story is about a secret group of people angry with what the Catholic Church has become and kidnaps the running candidates to become the next Pope. The storytelling of Ron Howard really comes out in this movie, shows one of his most bold attempts as a director yet. I just find these types of stories very interesting, and compelling to watch. There is a surprisingly good bit of action in the movie, but it works. It doesn’t feel out of place, its actually quite fitting to the plot.

 

Tom Hanks returns as Robert Langdon, and just takes command of the screen the moment his character is introduced. The way he solves the puzzles, and puts the pieces together keeps your attention quite well. Some things he figures out right on the spot with no thought put into it, and takes some realism out of it, but you have to remember this is a work of fiction and is meant to entertain. Ewan McGregor, of Star Wars fame, comes aboard this time playing Camerlengo Patrick McKenna, and does a very believable man of God. Ayelet Zurer, and Stellon Skarsgard finish out the cast who all do a fantastic job in this film.

 

The music, in my opinion, is the co-star to this film. Hans Zimmer is in top form with the score he wrote. Most movies he does has fantastic music, and this one falls as one of his best. The different range of emotion he brings with it shows his talent. It will grab you the second the opening credits are on screen. Great job! Do yourself a favor and buy this soundtrack if your into musical scores.

 

If you don’t mind a little controversy, and liked the Da Vinci Code go see this movie. I know some of you are die hard Christians and are probably not interested in these type of movies, but just give it a shot. Good movie!

 

4/5

Star Trek Review

So it’s been 18 years since we’ve seen the Original crew from the Enterprise take flight, and this summer Director J.J. Abrams is taking on the task of rebooting the insanely popular franchise. This is only Abrams’s second movie to direct, believe it or not, (with Mission Impossible III being the other) but is know for his creation of Lost, Fringe, and 2008’s Cloverfield.  Abrams nails this movie, and gives us the best Trek movie since First Contact! 

When I first heard of this movie, I was skeptical as to who would be able to replace the characters that William Shatner, and Leonard Nimoy had created so many years ago. The young group of actors delivers great performances of their counterparts. Chris Pine plays the infamous James T. Kirk, and does the acting job of his career. He acts a little more adventurous than Kirk from 1966, but that’s reasonable seeing it’s 2009! The performance of the movie however goes to Heroes star Zachary Quinto playing Spock. As most of you know by now, Leonard Nimoy makes an appearance in the movie as Spock from the future. Seeing them both in this film really gives an appreciation of Zach’s portal. No doubt Leonard helped him during filming, and it really shows off. The rest of the cast fits just as well as the previous with Zoe Saldana as Uhura, John Cho as Sulu, Anton Yelchin as Chekov, Simon Pegg as Scotty, and Karl Urban as Bones. Karl is the standout of the supporting cast. He really captures the personality of the late DeForest Kelly.  Eric Bana plays the villain in the film as Nero, a Romulan from the future looking for Spock. I would have liked to have seen more of his character, and learn more of his background. They tried to cram that into a short scene that didn’t work well for me, but what you get is satisfied through Bana’s excellent acting skills.  

 The action in the movie…..there’s A LOT of action in this movie! More action than one is accustomed to in a Trek movie. The movie starts with A Romulan mining ship destroying the U.S.S. Kelvin(pictured above). The last Trek movie was made in 2002, so the visuals have come along a good bit since then. Also what Bana has aboard his ship, and what it does to planets……Very nice!! The visuals in this movie are really the star. Their some of the smoothest effects I’ve seen since The Lord of the Rings. Seeing the ships in fire-fights are just a joy to the eyes. They remind me of the “Good” space scenes from the recent Star Wars movies. I would be surprised if this movie does not get an Oscar nod for visuals next year. There really that good!!

The little things in this movie should not go unmentioned. Seeing a phaser gun flip from stun to kill, hearing Bones say ALL of his famous lines, seeing Spok do the Vulcan Neck Pinch, just add to the fun of the film. The only thing I would have changed would be to tone down the comedy bits. It by no means taints this film in any way, there’s just a little too many for me. You are definitely looking at the summer movie to beat with Star Trek. Go see it!! See it twice!  Live long and Prosper!

 

4.5/5

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Review

So here we are! Summer 2009! Which means that the Summer movies are in full swing starting out with X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Last year started off with Iron Man which, in my opinion, was the best movie of the summer besides The Dark Knight. Let me start off by saying Wolverine is a good movie, not a great one like I thought it had the potential of being.  The story takes place during the Weapons X project in which Wolverine and Sabertooth were part of William Stryker’s team of mutants, Wolverine gets the Adamantium injected into his bones, and so on. Stryker is played by Danny Huston, who is replacing Brian Cox who played him in X2. He does a good job, but Brian Cox is a hard actor to fill. Sabertooth(aka Victor Creed) is played by Liev Schreiber and does a great job playing the mutant, much better than who played him in the original. Kevin Durand plays The Blob, Will i Am plays John Wraith, Lynn Collins plays Sliverfox, and Ryan Reynolds plays Deadpool, and all do a good job of playing who the characters are, exept for Deadpool, but we’ll get to that later. Of course Hugh Jackman returns as Logan/ Wolverine, and is the best actor in the movie. Could not ask for a better actor to potray the Marvel superstar. The fan favorite Gambit makes his appearance in this movie and is played by Taylor Kitsch. He does a decent job at the card thrower. He’s not in the movie much, but I guess just the fact he is it it will make fanboys happy. Gambit and Wolverine have one action scene, and it really doesn’t dissappoint.

On to the action! Sabertooth and Wolverine fight A LOT in this movie! The scenes are well executed, and the visual effects look really solid. The scene were Wolverine is running from Stryker’s men in the country is one of the best action scenes in the franchise. Really true to how Wolverine would handle the situation out of the comics. The end scene is pretty caotic as well, but I was distracted while it was going on.

Ok…..Deadpool. The makers of this movie messed up the character about as much as they possibly could! I’ve never really understood why companies spend millions of dollars on comic movies and still get things wrong. Ryan only appears as Deadpool at the start of the film, that’s it!!! They signed him up for a hand full of senes. Now don’t get me wrong, the scene were he busts in on the thugs and clears the room out is pretty cool, but that’s all the Deadpool you get. What they do to him at the end, they should have not even called this character by the name Deadpool. It’s like they never picked up a comic to do research!! All they had to do was watch the recently released Hulk vs Wolverine on the Hulk vs DVD to get a good Deadpool!!

The pic above is what Deadpool is suppossed to look like. For those who haven’t seen the movie I won’t ruin the end, but stil!

So, the movie is not bad. It’s really a judgement call, if you can get past the VERY dissappointing Deadpool, it’s a pretty solid action movie. The movie gets pretty much everything right besides Deadpool. A solid start to the Summer movies.

4/5