Tuesday Movie Reviews

How To Train Your Dragon
Starring: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Kristen Wiig, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Directed by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders

I was supposed to review this movie Friday, wasn't I? Ooops. I'll make it short and sweet then...GET IT! It's fantastic! A wonderful, funny, touching movie for both kids and adults. (Young kids may be a little frightened at times, but that's good for them...puts hair on their chests!). Dreamworks is definitely keeping up with Disney/Pixar and this film proves it. Loved it, loved it, loved it.

GRADE: A+

Predators
Starring: Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Laurence Fishburne, Danny Trejo
Directed by Nimrod Antal

The opening scene is exhilarating. Brody is falling through the sky at an incredible speed. He has no idea how he got there or where he's falling to. Slam, he hits the ground! Unfortunately nothing else in the next 90 minutes lives up to that first 2 minutes. Sure it's fun watching these renegades killing and blowing up stuff. It's neat seeing the traps laid out before them. The Predator make-up is even cool to look at. But there is nothing going on here, folks. Even though the action sequences are loud and bloody, I totally fell asleep from sheer boredom. If you've even seen a movie called "Cube" then you've seen this one, too. It's basically the same premise of people randomly selected for a survival test, only Predators is much more bloody, and did I mention LOUD?!? Meh, it was directed by a guy named Nimrod...

GRADE: D

Night Of The Demons
Starring: Edward Furlong, Shannon Elizabeth, Monica Keena, Bobbi Sue Luther, John F. Beach, Michael Copon
Directed by Adam Gierasch

My co-worker told me yesterday that this was a remake of a movie by the same name that was made over 20 years ago. I wonder if the original was as bad as this new version. The back story revolves around a mansion owned by a lonely lady who resorts to black magic to get the man she loves. Everybody mysteriously disappears. Flash forward about 90 years and a Halloween party takes a terrible left turn when the bodies of those at the seance are found in the cellar. Now everybody is a flesh eating demon! All except for those that have to escape the flesh eating demons. Anyway, bad! I was only curious to see what Edward Furlong was doing these days. He looks old and bloated. Too bad, he was actually a pretty promising actor in the days of The Terminator 2 and American History X. Now he has to resort to straight to DVD horror movies. Bleh!

GRADE: F

Into The Wind
Documentary
Directed by Ezra Holland and Steve Nash

It is every Canadian's duty to watch this hour long documentary from ESPN's 30 years of 30 films series. This one focuses on Terry Fox, his remarkable history and the lives that he touched during those days in the summer of 1980. There are interviews with all the central players, including the friend that drove the van and his parents, rarely seen on film or TV. How can you not shed a tear of joy, sadness, absolute pride while watching what Terry Fox did. It's a truly inspirational story told with grace. Highly recommended.

GRADE: A

Tuesday Movie Reviews

Splice
Starring: Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, Delphine Chaneac
Directed by Vincenzo Natali

I so wanted to like this movie, but, alas, I felt slighted. Brody and Polley are a couple of scientists that are trying to create new creatures that will eventually be used to cure major diseases. (The movie explains it, I won't go into it.). When they get the idea to add a human element into their creatures, the company they're working for balks, too many moral complexities. But our brainiacs decide to try it anyway. What they come up with is this part monkey, part bird, part human thing they decide to call Dren (Nerd backwards...crafty!). The thing starts to grow at an exponential rate and Polley starts to have maternal feelings. Dilemmas arise and fall by the wayside, until Dren becomes too much to handle. This could have been a pretty good horror/sci-fi film, but it gets bogged down in melodrama and nonsense. The creature that grows to the age of 20 or so in a matter of months all of a sudden stops? Makes no sense. And why don't these geniuses of science realize that playing God and splicing together different species may be a bad idea??? Brody and Polley play through their roles admirably, but the "star" of the show is supposed to be this mute Dren-thing. I was bored with her after 5 minutes. What a shame.

GRADE: D

I Am Comic
Starring: Tim Allen, Tom Arnold, Dave Attell, Margaret Cho, Tommy Davidson, Phyllis Diller, Tom Dreesen, Jeff Foxworthy, Jim Gaffigan, Janeane Garofalo, Bobcat Goldthwait, Kathy Griffin, Larry Miller, Rosanne, Sarah Silverman, Ritch Shydner
Directed by Jordan Brady

If you can't tell by the cast, this is a documentary about stand-up comics. Some of the best are there to try and give insight to a very difficult profession. Director Brady was on the scene for a while, and he thought it would be neat to give the viewer an inside look at what it means to be funny day in and day out. He does a pretty good job, but what really gets interesting is how he starts to follow Ritch Shydner. Shydner used to be a very popular comedian in the 1980's, even appearing on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (he didn't get the invite to the couch). He'd been out of the game for a number of years, writing mostly, but a chance open-mic night gets him feeling the urges again. And he's awful! Just stinks up the joint! But, as explained in the movie, it's a hard racket to leave behind. I liked the film, not only for the little bit of insight into the lifestyle, but because some of it was damn funny. You won't find the meaning of life or comedy in the message, but you will be entertained for about 90 minutes.

GRADE: B

...Special Friday release of How To Train Your Dragon...review to follow shortly.

Tuesday Movie Reviews...and more....

The Karate Kid
Starring: Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, Taraji P. Henson
Directed by Harald Zwart

So I was 12 when the original Karate Kid hit the theatres (Ralph Macchio was somewhere in his 30's I think!). I remember feeling happy, sad, angry, euphoric. It's one of those movies that has stuck with me all these years later. The new Karate Kid has been forgotten already, not 15 minutes after watching it. Why, you ask? Jaden Smith! Here's a kid that comes from the loins of one of the most engaging actors of our time. Whether you think he's a good actor or not, there is little argument that Will Smith commands the screen. This trait did not get passed down to his son. He simply looked bored with everything he was doing. He surely can't act, and continued to bore the crap out of me every scene he was in. The story is largely the same as the original, transplanted to Japan and with younger kids. By the way, making the kids younger takes the whole romantic element out of the film. Jackie Chan was Jackie Chan...I could understand about every third word he said, but he does cry, which kinda shocked me. I have a feeling kids around 10 to 14 may enjoy this film, but anybody who has seen the original should stay far away from this remake. Oh, I almost forgot the worst part of the movie...Taraji P. Henson's performance. She was like a cartoon character all screechy and animated. She should be ashamed!!

GRADE: D-

The Trotsky
Starring: Jay Baruchel, Emily Hampshire, Genevieve Bujold, Colm Feore, Saul Rubinek, Michael Murphy
Directed by Jacob Tierney

I knocked Jay Baruchel a while ago for his performance in She's Out Of My League. Well, I stick by what I said about that film, but he has totally redeemed himself with his near perfect portrayal of Leon in this movie. It's all about a teen rabble-rouser that truly feels he is the reincarnation of Leon Trotsky. When he's forced to go to a public school after pissing off his rich father (played amazingly well by Rubinek), he starts to plan a student union, one in which he will not back down from. Along the way he meets his Alexandra in Emily Hampshire, 9 years his senior, but fate has brought them together. Through all of his speeches and strong beliefs, he starts to have a real effect on all the people around him. The movie kind of reminded me of Rushmore, a young man more gifted than he should be, but living on the outskirts of society. I loved Rushmore when I first saw it. I loved The Trotsky even more!! Baruchel never wavered in his portrayal. I have a new found respect for his abilities. The supporting cast was top notch, from Michael Murphy as the ex-hippie retired lawyer to Colm Feore as the perfect nemesis for our hero. Hilariously funny and often sweet, I'm proud to say that this is a Canadian feature that I can highly recommend!

GRADE: A+


...and now, the "more"....

On March 5th of this year, I made a few predictions about the 2010 Major League Baseball campaign. Now that the regular season has come to an end, I just wanted to review how I did.

1) "The World Series will be won by the St. Louis Cardinals over the New York Yankees"
- The World Series has yet to be decided, as the playoffs start tomorrow, but the St. Louis Cardinals are not in the playoffs...so I'm pretty sure I was wrong about this one. Go Phillies!!

2) "The Chicago Cubs will NOT win the World Series for the 114th consecutive year!"
- This was an easy one...the Cubbies ended up in 5th place out of 6 teams in their division.

3) "Albert Pujols will have a career year (which is saying a lot with the career he's had so far) and will win the Triple Crown for the first time since 1967!!"
- Well, Mr. Pujols had an average year for the likes of him. He did not win the Triple Crown, but he led the league in Home Runs and RBI's. He came 5th in Batting Average...so I wasn't far off on this one.

4) "Roy Halladay will win the Cy Young award as best pitcher in the National League."
- The awards won't be handed out until the end of the World Series, but it's looking like ol' Roy has a good chance at winning this one. He led his league in Wins with 21, Complete Games with 9, Shutouts with 4, Innings Pitched with 250, 5th in ERA and 5th in Strikeouts. My money is still on him to win.

5) "Ichiro Suzuki will not get 200 hits for the first time in his career"
- Oops. Never count out Ichiro! For the record 10th straight season Ichiro Suzuki has top 200 hits in a season. Unbelievable! He finished with 214.

6) "Derek Jeter will win the American League MVP award"
- Again, has yet to be decided, but I have a feeling Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers will actually win this one. He had a phenomenal year!

I have to say it was an exciting year for the Jays. I'm ecstatic they ended up with a winning record (85-77), only 4 games behind mighty Boston. Jose Bautista had a career year, leading all the majors with 54 Home Runs. I'm looking forward to next year already....