21 Review

21 movie reviewThis movie has great potential, and I think for the movie watcher who hasn’t been corrupted by the necessity to scrutinize everything from sound to accent accuracy, it would be enjoyable.

It’s fairly predictable, which isn’t always a bad thing, however in this case, you pretty much see where it’s going in the first 10 minutes, or if you’ve seen the previews, you could likely pen the ending.

I enjoyed Jim Sturgess as the lead character, Ben Campbell. Sturgess was very fresh and likable, a virtual unknown to me, though I see he has a decent pedigree.

Kevin Spacey’s performance was a bit disappointing though. I am quite a Spacey fan in general, but I just couldn’t buy him in this role, and I like to think that he is very versatile. If you saw this film, didn’t you feel like everything he said was just a bit forced?

I give this movie 5.5 ‘winner, winner, chicken dinner’s out of 10.

August 28, 2008 | Filed Under Movie reviews | 1 Comment 
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Pineapple Express Movie Review

Pineapple Express Movie ReviewPineapple Express is the latest addition to the stoner-buddy movie hall of fame, making its way to the top of the pile for putting on a fresh satirical spin to the otherwise overplayed genre.

Seth Rogen brings on the sweet and goofy goodness to yet another Judd Apatow-produced movie as Dale Denton, the process server whose pot habits lead him down a winding path of hilarious disaster and destruction. James Franco, another Apatow vet from the Freaks and Geeks days, sheds his usual brooding heartthrob persona to play the part of flaky drug dealer Saul Silver, who is looking to make friends and enough cash to support his Bubbie’s nursing home bill.

Dale is under the firm impression that you can’t be friends with your drug dealer, but when the going gets tough, Dale runs straight to Saul for help. After purchasing a rare and potent strand of weed from Saul, Dale leaves to deliver a subpoena to one of the main drug lords in town, Ted Jones (Gary Cole). Incidentally, Jones is embroiled in a drug war with “the Asians.” While smoking a pre-work joint outside the drug lord’s home, Dale witnesses the murder of one of the Asian spies by Jones and his paid dirty cop (Rosie Perez). He flees the scene to run to Saul’s, but not before throwing out his roach full of Pineapple Express out the window. Dale accurately deduces that the bad guys will be able to trace the wasted rare doobie back to Saul, so they must go on the run.

Dale and Saul are then on the lam from Jones’s hit men, a bickering semi-unprofessional duo played by Kevin Corrigan and Craig Robinson. They try and get help from Saul’s quirky supplier Red (Danny McBride), who easily flips on them but redeems himself later on. Also, while juggling trying to survive being hunted down by dirty cops and drug lords, Dale also has to deal with meeting his girlfriend Angie’s parents for the first time. By the way, his girlfriend, played by Amber Heard, is a senior… in high school. Throw in one of the funniest car chase scenes ever produced, plenty of gunfire, big explosions, and a smattering of dead bodies, and you have a good time on your hands.

There are enough juvenile jokes, homosexual undertones, and ad-libbed dialogue to choke on, but it seems fitting considering the subject matter. Also in the movie are dozens of cameos pulled from Apatow’s cast goodie bag. And, of course, there are half-naked men carrying their BFFFs (best “effing” friends forever) out of harm’s way to save the day. Combined with the non-condescending satirical outlook on pot, and Rogen’s and Franco’s incomparable comedic partnership, Pineapple Express is elevated to a higher level of comedy; one that, instead of focusing entirely on the obvious for humour, concentrates on the connections and friendships to draw on for material.

It’s not quite just a stoner movie, and it’s not entirely an action-packed cops-and-bad-guys flick, but it is funny and, above all else, another signature “bromance” movie brought to us by Apatow’s creative team. Take a deep breath and inhale the funny.

You can visit JB’s personal blog here!

August 12, 2008 | Filed Under Movie reviews | 3 Comments 
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Step Brothers Movie Review - JB strikes again

Step Brothers Movie ReviewThey’re not the most intelligent movies made, but sometimes you’re in the right kind of mood for a boys-will-be-boys gross-out movie full of slapstick humour and crude one-liners. When that mood strikes, go see Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly’s latest collaboration, Step Brothers. Otherwise, it’s a juvenile family union worth considering making up an excuse to miss. Something like a very important fishing trip, perhaps.

One’s mother (Mary Steenburgen) marries the other’s father (Richard Jenkins), and now Dale (Reilly) and Brennan (Ferrell) suddenly find themselves being stepbrothers. This wouldn’t be an issue at all, or a movie, if it weren’t for the fact that both forty-something year old men were still unemployed, immature, and living with their respective parents. After their parents have enabled the arrested development of their grown children for so long, both men must now share everything, including a room, and try and get along like grown ups.

As with most new stepsiblings, there are a lot of reservations and trepidation with accepting a new family member that often manifest in the form of name calling, fist fighting, and attempts to make the other one cry—some of it more funny that the rest—except in this case, throw in some chest hair and wrinkles to the teenaged angst mix and you have the relationship Dale and Brennan share.

That is, until Dale quickly develops the same distaste for Brennan’s younger, successful, bullying and confusingly musical-loving brother Derek (Adam Scott). Then, both men become fast friends and do everything they can to fight their parents attempts to get them to grow up and get out and find success. It winds up costing them their parents marriage, their home, their dependence, and even their brotherhood, and inadvertently forces them to become grown ups.

As with any Ferrell, or even Apatow-related, movie the end goal is achieved after a series of clumsy mishaps, gross-out fight sequences, an attempt at a heartfelt montage, awkward relationships, and a dragged-on ending. But, whether you’re mature enough to admit it, it does bring on some of the funny.

You can visit JB’s blog here.

August 6, 2008 | Filed Under Movie reviews | 2 Comments 
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X-Files: I want to believe - Review by JB!

X-Files I want to Believe Movie Review Gillian AndersonThe X-Files: I Want to Believe is the latest installment in the Mulder and Scully paranormal adventure. The X-Files began as a television show built around the outcast FBI agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and his skeptical partner Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) as each week they investigate a new unexplained phenomena. Mulder is a man desperate to prove the possibility of the impossible to satisfy his personal demons, and his near-paranoia is balanced by Scully’s caution as she applies science and faith when attempting to solve each case. The show aired for nine years, and also produced its first full-feature, The X-Files: .

I Want to Believe is more of a self-contained episode that focuses its paranormal struggle of the week on the influence of religion, rather than on the significance of a plethora of unexplained phenomena as a whole. Mulder and Scully are no longer working for the agency, no longer looking in the dark for answers. We find that Scully is focusing her faith and talents as a doctor at a Catholic hospital, and Mulder is in exile leading his own paranormal investigation through newspaper clippings. Because of their past expertise with the unexplained, the Bureau sucks them back into the darkness to help in a new case where a pedophilic Catholic priest is seemingly psychically aiding the FBI on a manhunt for a missing agent. It leads both now ex-agents back to questioning their beliefs, which was always at the core of the series. Mulder, as always, wants to believe that this could be the one true case that validates him and his work, while Scully is still hesitant to take that leap of faith because of her beliefs in God.

While director Chris Carter tips his hat to the hardcore X-Filers several times throughout the movie and retains many of the familiar elements that made The X-Files what it was, I Want to Believe is not so completely out there that it cannot be enjoyed by the casual moviegoer who doesn’t know much of the duo’s history. That is, if the casual moviegoer likes government conspiracies, the idea of psychic connections, questioning the importance of Christianity, and accepting that there some things that just cannot be explained conventionally. It may not be the satisfying thrill-ride most X-Filers have been craving for, but the movie is enjoyable enough to whet their appetite, and even appease the casual fan.

However, if you’re really looking for those engaging conspiracy theories that keep you up at night, you’re better off renting the first few seasons on DVD and watching them while you craft tin-foil hats.

You can visit JB’s website here

August 5, 2008 | Filed Under Movie reviews | 2 Comments 
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I Was Saved By Hancock!

Hancock Movie ReviewSometimes, when you least expect it, a miracle happens. No, I don’t mean turning water into wine, or walking on water. I’m referring to those times in our lives when we are forced to do something (when we would rather eat rusty nails), and then from within the darkened clouds a ray of light emits. Hancock was my ray of light, sparing me from my preconceived notion that I would hate Mamma Mia. My dear friend perked up when she realized there was a new Will Smith movie out (we’re both moms to wee ones and therefore get excited over little to nothing when it’s from the adult world).

Scratch out another one of my nine lives, I must be down to about 3 or 4 left now, but who’s counting.

Hancock.

What a pleasant surprise it was to watch this movie unfold. While I was tickled that it wasn’t Mamma Mia, I did peg it for another superhero movie with just the slant that he was a lazy-ass. Although far fetched, even I was willing to buy into Superman being from Krypton, it’s a decent story, with great acting by Will Smith and Charlize Theron. Jason Bateman, though I love him from his tv personas, always seems to play the same character, with very little difference.

SPOILER:SPOILER:SPOILER:

This movie comes complete with a love story, and nothing at all like that dribble from Spiderman. It’s sweet, honest and catches you completely off guard. Hats of to the writers on this little twist as it really did it’s part in making the movie enjoyable, rounding out the special effects and action sequences.

While I don’t see this puppy lapping up much Oscar attention, I do think that it’s a fun flick, worth taking in on the big screen.

I give this movie, 7 “meatballs” out of 10.

–RNW

August 1, 2008 | Filed Under Movie reviews | 1 Comment 
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