I can honestly say that this movie is really unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.  It is a remarkable movie.  I can tell you, it completely earns it’s 94% fresh rating on Rottentomatoes.com.  I am the first to admit that I am woefully ignorant about life in India beyond what I have seen in Gandhi and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.  The first of those was probably a little more accurate, but I digress.  The basic premise of this movie is the story of a young man who goes onto the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire.  The movie begins with him being “gently” interrogated.  We the audience are unaware as to what is going on.  Turns out, they are trying to figure out how he answered all the questions correctly.  The rest of the movie is spent as he tells the detective his story and how he learned the answer to each of the questions.  I know it sounds a little strange, but it is a very effective way of telling a story.  Again, not like anything I’ve seen.

The first thing you notice is the cinematography.  The camera really seems to love the vistas of India.  And I’m not talking natural beauty.  The story is that of an orphan who grew up in the worst slums of Mumbai.  The visuals are outstanding.  You get to see the underbelly of a society where there is some serious disparity between the “haves” and “have nots”.  These kids are most certainly “have nots”.  After their mother is killed, it is up to them to find a way to survive.  The film really has a tough edge which is absolutely necessary to describe just how difficult a childhood on the streets could be.   The movie does not pull punches.  There is shocking violence.  These boys had to grow up quickly, especially after they are “befriended” by a man who uses them to beg on the streets.

I don’t really want to get into all of the plot points.  Even with the spoiler warning, I don’t want to give the whole thing away.  Instead, I would like to discuss the characters.

Jamal, the protagonist and Millionaire contestant.  I was simply amazed at how this character grew from a child to a man in those conditions yet was able to maintain his dignity.  It was quite interesting to follow his story.  We basically see 3 stages of his life.  Orphaned at age 7, surviving at age 14, and age 20 on the game show.  This kid is very likable.  You are absolutely rooting for him the entire time.   I really like how the movie dealt with this character in regards to the game show.  He is not a genius.  He is just a regular guy who’s knowledge happened to match the questions asked.  My only critique of the actor is that there are a few to many times where he played it with this vacant look on his face.  I realize that a lot of times he was thinking about these horrible events in his life, but he was much more engaging when he was at least showing some emotion.  My $0.02.

His older brother Salim was the tough one.  He was the enforcer.  The protector.  He was also the one that fell in with the criminal element when they got older.  There are times when he does some despicable things.  However, there are times when he is forced to do the wrong thing in order to protect his brother.   Salim has a coldness to him, yet ultimately redeems himself.  Seeing Salim go down the road he does really highlights what Jamal makes of his life.

The host of the show is an exceptionally slimy character, especially at the start of the movie.  The hair, the suit, the earring and frankly just his overall act is just so creepy.

I think one of the more interesting characters is that of the detective.  At the beginning of the movie, you think that he might be one of the evilest men around… his leading of the brutal interrogation being our first introduction to him.  But as the movie progresses, we see him soften.  Just slightly.  He is listening to Jamal’s story and perhaps feels for the kid.  We never see any outward shows of his transformation… instead we can feel it.  Just a very subtle change in the mannerisms of the actor playing the part.  Very well done.

Finally, the young woman who plays Latika, the love interest of Jamal is absolutely beautiful.  Her adult character isn’t on screen for that long during the movie, but she completely lights up the screen.

This movie really is too deep and complex to sum up in such a small space.  You really have to experience it for yourself.  See something you probably have never seen before.  It really benefits from being seen on the big screen as well.  Do yourself a favor and make every effort to see this outstanding movie in the theater.  Do it.  Go tonight.  You’ll be rewarded.

I’m struggling to come up with positives from this game… Since it is Christmas and I’m depressed.  If I don’t get in the spirit a bit more Jess will kick my ass.

The Positives:

1. The cliche’ “it’s something to build on”. This seems to be a team of hyper competitive guys and a loss will only help propel them through the winter conditioning and spring practices.
2. It was supposed to be a rebuilding year. 12-1 is a heckuva rebuild.
3. We are very young.  That only bodes well for the future, right?
4. Moore is not Zabransky despite doing his best Z impression at the end of the game.  However, I am pretty sick of ending bowl games with an interception.  We know he will watch that tape about 567 times before next season.
5. Despite the loss, we will most likely start next season ranked.
6. I didn’t purchase any of that dumbass “Perfect Season” merch the BSU bookstore was hawking for the past month.
7. My DVR is not going to be clogged with 4 hours of HD football programming that I can’t delete.  I deleted the recording about .002 seconds after the game ended.

As a postscript, I have to say something about watching the game last night.  That #$&*$% “Interactive Tuesday” crawl at the top of the screen filled me with a searing white-hot hate that has yet to be extinguished.   Hey ESPN, there is a reason I choose not to visit friggin message boards.  The rage I feel reading what “fans” have to say (even the pro-Boise State ones) make me homicidal.  For the safety of myself, and everyone around me, I do not frequent message boards.  Nor do I frequent any place where the unwashed masses discuss college football (IdahoStatesman.com comment sections, I’m looking at you…).   Now you’re going to force that same infuriating crap down my throat DURING the game?   There is a special ring of hell reserved for the programing nerd who thought that one up.

In case you’re not aware of what I’m talking about, there was a bar across the screen, above the score that ESPN invited fans to submit comments online which would then scroll across the screen.  Basically what we ended up with was 3 and a half hours of pithy comments like, “Boise sux.  TCU is gonna roll!” or “Boize wont never get a BCS game until they toughen there schedule!!”.  URGE TO KILL RISING……

Ok, that’s enough.

Merry Christmas everyone!

PS. When I’m off next week, keep your eyes on the blog as I’m thinking I’m going to make some sweeping upgrades to the blog.  I’m unsure what exactly I will do, but it will be something new.  That’s exciting, huh?

Quantum of Solace (yes, I think it is a ridiculous title as well) begins exactly where Casino Royale leaves off.  I really enjoyed Casino Royale.  Far more than any of the previous 5 or 6 Bond flicks before it.  It was real, and gritty and visceral.  QoS was obviously in the same vein.

The plot revolves around an evil organization that has so far remained unknown to the worlds major intelligence agencies.   But, apparently they have “people everywhere” including M’s personal body guard.  *insert action sequence*  This evil org is obviously very well financed and even better at staying hidden.  However, that doesn’t stop them from sewing the seeds of revolution and instability around the globe for financial gain.  Bond, in is bulldog-like tenacity is on to something.   In seeking information and/or retribution for the death of Vesper (his love in the first flick) he his on the trail of these folks.  Unfortunately, he has a bad habit of killing everyone he comes across instead of actually pumping them for information, much to the chagrin of his bosses back in London.  Oops.

I suppose the fact that Bond and MI6 don’t know much of what is actually going on plays into the fact that we, as an audience really have no clue what is going on either.  It is the same syndrome that Indiana Jones had.   I’m all for letting go and trusting the movie to take me where I need to be, but at the same time, when it feels like we are being kept in the dark for no good reason, I start to get a little frustrated.  For example, the entire scene of Bond in Haiti, where he runs into the main chick, as well as the main bad guy.  However, since he killed the guy he went to Haiti to find in the first place, he, and by extension we have no friggin idea what the hell is going on.  We don’t know who these people are.  The whole thing is very confusing.  The woman tries to kill Bond in the car, but he escapes and she goes to the creepy French guy who is the main bad guy (we learn later).  They have an exceptionally obtuse conversation about who is betraying who so on and so forth.  If you put a gun to my head and told me I had to accurately explain what the hell happened there, I couldn’t do it.  I’m a fairly astute guy, and when a movie does that it makes me angry.

Anyway, this evil guy (who’s front is being CEO of an environmental company) is sponsoring a coup in Bolivia to install a new presidente in exchange for a “worthless” chunk of land in the middle of the country.  Ostensibly, there is oil there, (which is what the US and Britain believe) but the new presidente knows there isn’t.  “So you must be getting a good deal” evil Frenchy tells him.

When we finally find out what the hell the evil plan was, it is seriously a bit of a let down.  Turns out, that by getting that land in the deal, Evil Org ™ now owns 60% of the water resources in Bolivia and will use that fact to double the price to deliver that water to the government.  Really? This whole movie was essentially about water rights?  Um, that isn’t exactly sexy.  And, I’m sorry, maybe I’m just a cold-hearted bastard, but if they were threatening to cut off the water to Las Vegas, that might be something.  But cutting off water in the middle of a Bolivian desert just doesn’t move the needle for me.

I will say, there are some cool action sequences in here.  Bond does seem to have no regard for his body and spend a lot of time jumping from ledges to other ledges… through windows and doors and off roofs.  Don’t forget the driving chases and even boat chases.  My problem with a lot of these sequences is what I call “Bourne Syndrome”.   In that everything is filmed with the “shaky” cam and really close up.  Mix in frenetic editing (all designed to add urgency) but it just ends up making everything confusing.  You can’t ever tell exactly what is going on.  It’s just blurs of action.  That sort of thing can be ok when used in small bits, but when you use it exclusively it is a bit of an overload.

My other problem had to do with the big final scene.  It is set at a luxury hotel out in the middle of the desert.   Ok, I can buy that.  The joint runs on hydrogen fuel cells, since there is no electricity out there.  Unfortunately, the engineers who designed that place were grossly incompetent.  See, a run-away Range Rover ran into a wall in the parking garage ruptured and ignited a hydrogen container.  Whoops. Of course, this sets the scene for the final battle in an exploding and burning luxury hotel.  So, instead of having the hydrogen, oh, I don’t know, buried in the ground or something, they have canisters throughout the hotel.  Mounted on the walls. Including in the rooms.  Silver canisters labeled “hydrogen”.  Of course, they are rupturing and burning and destroying the hotel in pieces while we fight.  Now, I’m no engineer, but I gotta think that if one little car accident can bring down the entire hotel, that is probably not good design.  I’m just sayin.

Also, the final battle with wormy little evil Frenchman and Bond was a little ridiculous.   I mean, this guy is a full head shorter than Bond.  He is basically a CEO, who has others do his dirty work.  Yet, when confronted by Bond in the exploding hotel, he can suddenly whip ass.  He and Bond precede to kick each other’s asses for a good 5 minute fight.  This is the same Bond who in the scene before disabled and escaped from 3 MI6 agents while in an elevator.  While his hands were cuffed behind his back.  Um… yeah.  It would have been more realistic if the guy had gotten his one shot in on Bond by surprise, and then Bond taking this guy apart in about 0.4 seconds.

Anyway, I’d say I enjoyed the movie.  Despite what this review looks like, I thought it was worth the price of admission.  It wasn’t as good as Casino Royale, but it certainly wasn’t “bad”.  Apart from the confusion, I thought it was a worthy entry to the Bond canon.  They are obviously setting this evil organization to be Bond’s nemisis for the next movies.  I just hope they come up with something a little more intersting that water rights.

Don LaFontaine has died.

Its possible that name doesn’t mean a whole lot to you, but I 1000% guarantee you will recognize his voice.  He has been the voice of over 5,000 movie trailers and over 350,000 television commercials and network promos.  It wasn’t a real trailer or promo unless you heard his voice.

He was the one who introduced us to the line, “In a world…”.

Really, it kinda feels like an old uncle has died.  You know, the one you never saw very often but got to talk to on the phone regularly?  Don’s voice has been so ubiquitous that you couldn’t escape it if you tried.

I think I’m legitimately a bit sad about this.  Seriously.  I’ve always loved this guy’s voice.

Rest in Peace, Don.  I’ll miss you.

If you’ve been living under a rock, you might have missed that the latest Batman movie has been released.  For the rest of us, it has ben Batmanmania since last weekend when the movie took in a record $155.3 million over the opening weekend.  That is absolutley crazy.  However, not unjustified.  “The Dark Knight” might well be the best movie I’ve seen all year.

Standard disclaimer, there will probably be spoilers here.  Read at your own peril.

We pick up the story where Batman Begins leaves off.  Bruce Wayne is still batman, but there are copycats donning their own masks and capes in order to foil crime… I think.  I was never too clear exactly what was going on with these things.  Twas a bit confusing.  But, no matter.  The mob is still seriously pissed at Batman for crimping their enterprises.  Along with the new fair-haired district attorney Harvey Dent, they have shut down all of the money launderers but one .  So, the mob, being enterprising types, bring in a chinese businessman to handle all their cash and… ya know what?  It doesn’t matter.  Other than a pretty sweet snatch and grab by Batman in Hong Kong, all this really does is launch us into “Joker” territory.

The Joker.  Where to begin?  Let me say, this ain’t your father’s or even your older brother’s Joker.  Heath Ledger’s final performance is so amazing it defies description.  He doesn’t just portray the Joker.  He IS the Joker.  He disappears so fully and so creepily into the role, it is absolutely incredible.  Anyone can don a costume and some makeup.  It takes serious acting chops become someone else.  Especially when that someone else is so disturbed and riveting.

That is the thing about this Joker.  All he wants is chaos.  He doesn’t want money or power or revenge.  The quote above fits him well.  He just wants to watch the world burn, and create as much panic and chaos as he can in the process.  When you stop to think about that, you realize that everyone plays by rules.  Cops, criminals, and civilians.  People are basically predictable beings.  The Joker is not.  He blows things up and kills people for the sheer glee of it.  But he isn’t a serial killer type by any stretch.  Just  the pure embodiment of id.

At the end of one scene, we see the Joker leaving a hospital in a nurse’s uniform.  He has a terrific disjointed yet happy gait that absolutely defines the character.  He couldn’t be more happy to be causing such mayhem and destruction.  There was no dialog at all, but that little scene tells us everything we need to know about this dangerous force of nature.

I fully admit, I have an exceptionally rudimentary knowledge of comic books.  AKA, I’ve never actually read any of them.  So, I don’t have anything to compare these movies too.  I can’t tell you who comes from where and why.  No clue.  I only know if the flick works. Well, this one WORKS.

For example, when they introduced the new D.A. Harvey Dent, somewhere in the back of my brain rang a bell.  “Harvey Dent… isn’t that Two Face?”  That nagged at the back of my head for awhile until I was sure that I wasn’t imagining things.  Of course, I didn’t know this from the books… I only knew this from here.  As such, I spent the rest of the movie dreading the horrible turn of events which will complete his transformation.  Even no I knew it was going to happen, there was still a payoff.  The part was played well by Aaron Eckhart, who is a little like a poor man’s Brad Pitt.

Also, I’d like to say that I was glad to see Maggie Gyllenhaall take over the Rachel character from Katie Holmes.  She isn’t as cute, but is a 10 times better actress.  (Don’t get me started on the sad downfall of Katie Holmes.  I’m just pretending that she no longer exists and I can just amuse myself with the movie Go and that old episode of Saturday Night Live.)

Gotham was cast in this movie with Chicago.  I think that choice added some more realism to the movie.  It wasn’t so fake looking as Gotham has looked in the past.  Not to mention that Chicago really is a beautiful city.  Side note, it wouldn’t be a “Chicago” set movie without this guy playing a cop.  Nice touch.

This movie is long, but well written.  There were multiple spots where you’re thinking, “Ok, this is the end” but it twists again and keeps going.  This is definitely not a movie you can predict.  You just have to let the movie take you where it wants to take you.

There was one really good scene near the end which involves 2 ferries loaded with people, one with commuters and one with criminals.  The Joker set up an interesting little “experiement” and we get to watch.  As it progresses, it doesn’t quite play out like you might think.  I won’t spoil it, but I would say I liked to see Tiny Zeus Lister again.

This is definitely a dark movie.  Hell, it’s got “dark” in the title. But, it really is.  There is a pretty high body count.  The tension is ratcheted up.  It is exceptionally sad that this was Heath Ledger’s final movie.  I would watch him play The Joker forever.

I cannot recommend this movie highly enough.  It’s themes of cops and crime, politics and terrorism are very now.  It feels very present.  Where Batman Begins was more far fetched (a secret society who wants to destroy Gotham) this movie feels real.  It feels now.  Well, as real and now as a comic book movie can.  Do yourself a favor this summer.  Hit the theater, enjoy the AC, grab some corn, and watch possibly the best movie, and undoubtedly the best performance of the year.

Again, spoilers are sure to follow, proceed at your own risk.

The basic premise of this installment of one of the great series of all time is that another friend of Indy is in trouble and he is enlisted as the only one who can help. Basically, this is the impetus of every Indy movie (except 2, which might as well have never happened). This time around, we’re set in 1957 and instead of battling the Nazis, we’ve upgraded to a new villain, the Soviets. When I first heard that there wouldn’t be any Nazis this time around I was a little disappointed, but it makes perfect sense that the communists would take over in the bad guy department.

The flick starts off with Indy being in the custody of a rather large group of Soviet soldiers somehow operating free and clear in the US. Not quite sure how that would work, but I digress. They brought him to a hidden US Army warehouse where “all of your secrets are hidden.” We have seen this place before, and fans of the movies will instantly recognize it. Why the army would have an important facility so lightly guarded is another question. The Soviets are looking for something that Indy had found and handed over to the government some 10 years earlier. Long story short, they find it and kick off a big action sequence. I liked the touch of showing us a shot of the Ark. Enough to make me smile.

I don’t want to get too deep into the actual plot, because frankly, it didn’t make a lot of sense. In the previous movies, Indy and by extension, we the audience knew what his mission was. He was looking for the ark of the covenant or he was trying to find the holy grail. Here, it is something to do with ancient Mayans, crystal skulls, and aliens. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense, but I guess that’s not the point. You go to a flick like this for the action. There was plenty of action. Although, this movie makes the mistake of turning everyone into indestructible supermen. I mean, there is a scene where 4 people go over not 1, not 2 but 3 waterfalls in an open top “duck”. Nobody gets as much as a scratch. Nobody drowns. Nobody even loses any personal effects. Not quite sure how that works. Prior to that there was a nice chase scene along a cliff rim that was a little hair raising and fun. Oh yeah, the gigantic South American ants were a creepy touch.

The end of the flick shifts into full on alien crap that really just kinda lame. Oh well. This movie followed the formula and did it well.

I will say, there was a throw away line that should have been the plot for this movie… or 10 movies and I would have watched every one. When Indy is being interviewed by the FBI about his dealings with the Soviets, they question his loyalty (it was set in the 50’s afterall). But it was mentioned that Indy did 40 missions with the OSS (precursor to the CIA) during World War II all over the globe. WHAT!? Are you kidding me? We could have had movie(s) about Indy operating during WWII and you don’t show us that? I feel cheated! THAT is the movie I want to see, not this crap about aliens. Dang. It never occurred to me what Indy might have done during the war. I figured that he would remain a professor while the world was in flames, but it obviously makes more sense that he would be recruited to perform missions suited to his skill set. The more I think about it, the more I want to see more of that time period.

All in all, I enjoyed Indy this time around. I would have to say that this movie stayed true to the formula and was fun to see. The hat, the whip, the music. It was all there and great to see again. If I had to rank them, Raiders is still first, and Last Crusade is still second. I would place this one 3rd and Temple of Doom is 4th. I will undoubtedly watch it again on video.

As we were heading out of the theater, we saw the sign for Hancock starting in 5 minutes. We kinda looked at each other and thought, why not? I used to love doing double features, but usually Jess can barely stay awake for one movie, two in a row is no chance. Since Geo and I both wanted to see it we figured what the hell and headed in.

Hancock is not your typical super hero movie. Will Smith plays a depressed, drunken indestructible “hero” who has stopped caring long ago. Whenever he helps the police, he ends up creating a vast wake of property destruction. Now, this is nothing new in super hero movies. I’ve long time wondered when you watch these flicks about what happens in the aftermath. They are blowing up bridges and knocking down buildings, generally causing billions of dollars in damage to public infrastructure. But, we never see the aftermath. That’s why this movie’s angle was so enjoyable. Hancock gets some very negative reactions for his destructive ways. Basically, the public no longer appreciates his helping the police out.

After Hancock saves a PR guy’s (Jason Bateman) life, he takes it upon himself to rehabilitate Hancock’s image. I loved this first 2/3 of the movie. It was something totally different. Unfortunately, the last 1/3 of the movie, it downshifts into a more standard super hero movie. I think if they would have kept along the path they were following it would have been an outstanding movie. Instead, it had the feel that they didn’t ultimately trust the film they had and maybe they had to appease the “geeks” who turn out in droves for super hero movies. I don’t know. I really think they should have kept along the personal growth plot line, but maybe that’s just me.

Will Smith is again great in this movie. I really liked that they portrayed him as seriously rough. He’s drinking whiskey from the bottle and actually swears. They didn’t try to sugar coat it and come off fake. You really feel for the guy in that he doesn’t know who he is, and is acting out to push people away. It’s just really well written and acted. And until it goes sideways with 45 minutes left, it was really really good.

I did enjoy Hancock and do think it is worth seeing. I’m glad we caught it.

Jess asked me which movie was better. That is a tough question, and despite my thinking about it, I don’t think I have an answer. They are both very close. Neither was perfect but neither was horrible either. I would call them “solid”. If I had to lean, I might give a slight slight edge to Hancock, if only for the reason that Charlize Theron is in it.

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Disney/Pixar’s latest masterpiece was released this past weekend to huge critical lauding.  Since, it was triple digits outside, Jess and I decided to spend a few hours in a nice air conditioned theater and see what all the fuss was about.

Bottom line?  They hit another home run.  I don’t know how they keep doing it, but every film they make is amazing.  Not a flop among them.  When you stop and think about it, it really is incredible.  Name me another studio that EVERY movie they make is a guaranteed winner?  Doesn’t happen. I can tell you one thing… I would hate to be they guy responsible for the first movie they make that kinda sucks.  You know its going to happen eventually.  But not this time.

Anyway, the story is as follows (note, as always, there might be spoilers in here, so read on at your own risk)… the earth has become so polluted that the humans have all left aboard a huge spaceship called the Axiom.  They left behind an army of robots to clean up the planet, however, as the movie begins, it doesn’t look so good.  Turns out, only one of the robots left behind is still operational.  Wall-E.  He lives in his own little world, spending the days making solid blocks of garbage and his evenings watching an old VHS of “Hello Dolly”.  He’s a funny little robot, who collects interesting pieces of garbage to decorate his little docking station and his only friend is his pet cockroach.

That is, until one day a huge frightening spaceship lands and drops off a state of the art robot on a secret mission.  Eve, or “Eve-a” as Wall-E calls her, is slick and modern.  If Wall-E looks like he was made by Caterpillar, she looks like she was made by Apple. Wall-E is immediately smitten and after a few shaky encounters, he slowly ingratiates himself with her.  Eventually, it turns out her mission is to try to find living plant life on earth.  It just so happens that Wall-E just found some and unknowingly presents it to her.  In typical woman fashion, once she gets what she wants she completely shuts down just flashing a leaf symbol on her front.

This first half of the movie has a real Cast Away feel to it.  Not much dialog at all.  Lone character, going about his business with no one to talk to.  I find it interesting when writers can find a way to tell a story without relying on dialog.

Once Eve’ ride returns, Wall-E doesn’t want to her to leave, so he stows away on the space ship heading back to the Axiom.

On the Axiom, robots do everything.  People just ride around on hover chairs and get fat.  Even the captain of the ship is at the mercy of the auto pilot computer Otto, which looks (and ends up acting) quite a bit like HAL from 2001 a Space Odyssey. Nice touch there.

I won’t give away the rest of the plot, but it was well done and fun to watch.

Pixar is very good at anthropomorphizing their characters and making you care about them.  This movie is no exception. Even if Wall-E tends to look a little too much like Johnny 5 from that 80’s classic Short Circuit.

We saw it in a digital theater, and dear lord the picture was out of this world (har har). The animation is very well done, but in a different way than Ratatouille.  The shots of outter space and all that it contains are just mindblowing.  The visuals alone are worth the price of admission.

As with all Pixar movies, there are messages hidden just under the surface.  Wall-E is no different.  In this day and age, it was quite current with the themes of being green, protecting our habitat, and over consumption.   The only corporation in this was called “Buy N Large” which definitely had WalMart overtones to me.  It was all of their name brand crap that trashed the planet in the first place, and they were in charge of cleaning it all up, and failing miserably.

All in all, it was an excellent movie.  Plenty of content for both kids and adults.  And, like most Pixar movies, this is one which will probably require multiple viewings to pick up on all the stuff that is going on in the background.  I highly recommend seeing this flick this summer.  You won’t be disappointed.

To be perfectly honest, I can’t seem to generate much to complain about this movie. Could be the fact that I just can’t muster the energy to analyze this thing at the moment. Perhaps it’s just that the movie was good and it’s always easier to write negative reviews. Actually, I’m sure its due my current lack of writing mojo.

But, since I’m trying to write something about every movie I see in a theater this year, I gotta get at least a little something down. As always, there may be a few spoilers involved here, so be aware. If you wanna go into the movie “clean” don’t read further. (Maybe that’s just something I do, I’m not sure).

Pros:

• Robert Downey Jr. is a terrific actor. I always enjoy his work and especially enjoy the character he played here. It’s that arrogant, smarter-than-you, sarcastic, guy I like to watch.
• There was some good comic relief in this flick. It didn’t take itself too seriously
• Special effects were well done… not too over the top like say Transformers

Cons:

• Jeff Bridges, a.k.a “The Dude” as the bad guy. I’m sorry, he’ll be “The Dude” forever to me. Also, isn’t it always easy to spot the bad guy who has the beard and shaved head?
• I hate Gweneth Paltrow. I just do. Can’t stand her.
• There were some parts of this movie that were anything but believable, but it was a comic book flick, so I guess that goes with the territory. Maybe why I don’t read comic books.  For example, he builds his new fancy-schmancy suit in a few weeks, along with all the ’support robots’ and what not, alone, in his shop in a couple weeks.  Granted, the guy is a genius, but come on…
• When Stark builds his first Iron Man suit in Afghanistan, I really really wish they would have used Black Sabbath’s song “Iron Man”. As it was, they only used it for the end credits, and that seemed like a waste.
• Speaking of his first suit, it was just regular old iron… with big eyeholes cut in the helmet. The 30 odd terrorists firing at him with automatic rifles when he escapes them and you mean to tell me that not a single bullet found its way through those big holes? Really?

All in all, it was a good movie. I’d give it 7 of 10.

Next up is gotta be Indiana Jones. Hope it’s good!

The movie centers around sad-sack Peter who in the first scene gets dumped by his TV star girlfriend of 5 years while in the buff. That’s right. We’re treated to a little full frontal male nudity not 5 minutes into the flick. Not that there is anything wrong with that… Did it feel a little gratuitous? Yes. Was it necessary to tell the story? That is questionable.

After being dumped we see him quickly bed a string of women trying to get Sarah out of his mind. Of course it doesn’t work. So, mired in depression, his step-brother convinces him to take a trip. He picks Hawaii (since Sarah always told him it was nice). He ends up at the Turtle Bay Resort to try to get away. Since you’ve seen the previews, you already know that his ex and her new lothario boyfriend are at the same resort. Having seen “this” movie more than once, you can predict what is going to happen. Boy is sad and crying. Girl is happy with her new fling. Boy meets new person. Girl’s new fling falls apart. Boy gets serious with new girl. Old girl gets jealous. Old girl breaks up with new boyfriend and wants Boy back. Boy thinks about it but ultimately refuses and stays together with new girl. The end.

This movie was no exception to that rule.

There were positives to this movie. There were some scenes that were legitimately funny. Frankly, anything with Paul Rudd is a winner in my book, and he stole every scene he was in. Also, Jack McBrayer from my favorite TV show 30 Rock played the bit part of an overly religious newlywed who is sexually inexperienced but whose new bride was raring to go. Very funny stuff.

I mentioned that this flick was set at Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore of O’ahu. Well, interestingly enough, I’ve been there! Granted, it was in a previous life and all but it was totally fun to see places that I recognized in the background. The bar I drank at. The pool we swam in. The beach we chilled on. Of course, they have totally remodeled a bunch of stuff since I was there in December of ‘04. It was, and is, a beautiful place though, even if my memories of it are a bit tainted now.

There were problems with this movie, unfortunately. First, the lead actor (who also wrote the movie) Jason Segal simply isn’t that good of an actor. I mean, he is pretty wooden and one dimensional on the screen. I don’t know if it is because he is sorta the straight man in the flick, but he just didn’t seem to bring a lot to the table. Maybe it’s just me.

The bigger problem I had with this movie was with the director/editor. I don’t know who’s fault it is, but there were some major problems with the assembly of this movie. The scenes themselves really felt just tacked together. There was a complete lack of establishing shots (ie. setting up the scene) for the entire movie. We would just magically pop into a location and they’re going. Same with the end of scenes. They would just cut off. There didn’t seem to be any wrap-ups for the scene. Nothing to lead us into the next scene. Every scene kinda had that feel of a Saturday Night Live skit that went on too long because they had no idea how to end it. Only for 2 hours.

That’s another thing. It was too long. I’ve always said, I don’t mind long movies at all. If you need that time to tell the story, then take it. I’ve watched the combined Godfather I and II consecutively more than once. I do, however, have a problem with movies that just dawdle. That’s what this movie does. It seems like they went back and hit the same jokes over and over. Yes, we get it… the waiter has a man-crush (maybe more) on the lotario. Move on already! Maybe it was because of the lack of establishing shots made it feel longer, but it really felt, to me, they could have cut an easy 2o to 30 minutes out of it. Tighten up the whole thing.

I think that the lack of continuity in this thing really lead to a bunch of problems, now that I think about it. The next thing I was going to comment on was that there didn’t feel like there was much of a dramatic arc to the story. Again, since nothing was tied together, it just felt flat.

I’m wondering if this is all just me. I mean, this movie has gotten 85% Fresh on rottentomatoes.com. I guess, I would give this movie maybe a 60%. I mean, I have to admit I enjoyed some parts. I did laugh more than once. But, as a whole, this movie was not well done. I don’t think the fault lies with the writer, or the actors themselves, but with the first time director and whoever it was that edited the thing.

I am interested to hear your thoughts, if any of you have seen it.

When a movie has boobs during the opening credits, you know you’re in for a good flick. Actually, one of my movie pet peeves are the ones that have a long drawn-out opening credits sequence where there is nothing on the screen but the names of the people and companies who created it. They are basically forcing me to read the credits because there is nothing else to look at… and that makes me angry.

Anyway, The Bank Job starts with some folks frolicking in the ocean topless, then retiring to a bedroom where some illicit photos are taken surreptitiously. We later learn that these photos contain scandalous images of Princess Margaret getting funky with swarthy types. These photos are in the hands of a Black Panther leader /pimp /all around criminal named Michael X (real original there, Chief) who uses them as leverage to stay out of jail. See, the authorities can’t touch him or he releases the photos to the press.  Apparently, this is all based on a true story.

Obviously, this sticks in the craw of the government, so some hoity-toity chaps with impeccable accents in a richly appointed office decide they need to get these photos any way possible. Since they can’t be connected to any attempt, they blackmail an ex-model who was busted for drug smuggling to get some of her proper villian friends to break into the bank safe-deposit vault where the pics are kept.

The blokes she rounds up are small time hustlers who have never taken on such a large job, but they agree and we’re underway. Long story short, they dig a tunnel under the vault, break in, and proceed to crack into about 400 boxes stealing what was inside.

Unfortunately, these not-quite master criminals got more than they bargained for when they steal the property of other nefarious types who kept all sorts of incriminating evidence in those very same boxes.  I made the comment to George, safety-deposit boxes hold innumerable sins.  They ain’t just for passports and birth certificates.

All in all, I really enjoyed this movie. First off, I’m a big Jason Statham fan. I love to hear him talk. Seriously, I would listen to him read the damn phonebook. He was terrific in this movie as the leader of this band of thieves. The rest of the cast, while very good, were mostly unknown to me. I find it refreshing sometimes to watch a flick where I’m not familiar with all of the actors… sometimes it helps me get a bit more into the story, since you’re not thinking of everything else that person has ever been in.

The setting for this movie was 1971 London. I gotta say, between the costumes they wore and the cars they were driving, it was a treat for the eyes. Not to mention the hair styles. It was almost worth the price of admission just to see the art direction.

When trying to find flaws in this movie, George and I were unable to make a case for any real flaws. I mean, it was a tad slow in a couple places, but not even close to enough to complain about. Acting was solid. No plot lines were left dangling. There were none of those annoying dead-ends that happen in movies where you ask to yourself, “Wait, what happened with XYZ?” In the beginning, there are many different characters and it is difficult to discern what each of their motivations are, but by the end everything is explained, yet not in a Bond-villian-explains-the-whole-plot-to-you sorta way.

My only complaint about the movie really has nothing to do with the movie at all. Being a still rather young 21st century American male, I simply don’t get the whole royalty thing. That’s not to say I don’t understand it, I do… I just mean I don’t get why it is such a big deal. I mean, the lengths the government went and the chain reaction of lives they destroyed just to save a little embarrassment was extreme. Not to mention, this wasn’t even like an elected leader who was standing to lose. It was a princess. Royalty by birth. She ain’t getting fired like Eliot Spitzer or anything. I guess I’m much more of a lassiez-faire type guy when it comes to people’s personal lives. Do what you do. It’s worse to me if you lie about it (Ahem… Senator Craig…). If you are open, I could care less about what you do. Not my business. Don’t get me wrong, I listen to the gossip as much as the next guy, but at the same time, it never upsets me or anything.

I’ve always kind of admired those people who do what they want to do and don’t worry about what other people think. My least favorite kinds of people are those who are uptight and force their views on everyone else. The whole, “We know what’s good for you” mentality. Ugh.

Not that it has anything really to do with this movie.

The Bank Job was a solid, entertaining flick. I do have an affinity for heist movies, and this one certainly delivered.

As a side note, prior to the movie George and I were at the Ram Restaurant & Brewery playing the Buzztime Trivia game they have there.  Our best round, we ended up 29th in the nation… out of over 10000 people playing.  We were pretty pleased with that.  Would have been higher, but we missed one we should have gotten.  I love trivia…