Eagle Eye

Eagle Eye

Rated PG-13

Running time: 1 hr 58 mins

Cast:

Shia LaBeouf
Michelle Monaghan
Rosario Dawson
Billy Bob Thornton

Critical Consensus:

**1/2 out of *****
(25% Fresh Rating!)

Matt's Take:

C+

Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating:

*** out of *****

The premise:

Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) returns home after the mysterious death of his successful twin brother. He and a single mother, Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan), find out that they have been framed as terrorists, and they are threatened into becoming members of a cell tasked to assassinate a politician.

MY REVIEW

I love how we still live in movie world where people, namely critics, can put down a movie based soley off how implausible it is. Shut up already. Just stop going to movies all together then, it's a battle you will never win. Because guess what? People actually LOVE implausible movies. Especially big budget action flicks like this. Because your typical average movie goer doesn't over analyze things in movies that don't need to be analyzed. You know why an average movie goer goes to a movie, especially one like this? To be entertained! To enjoy themselves. To watch a lot of fast paced, really awesome action scenes with tons of explosions and gunfire! Oh gee, this movie seems to have all of that. So my advice to you critics out there who hated this movie, get your heads out of your self righteous butts, and learn how to enjoy a movie that was soley meant to entertain. Not every ACTION (!!!) movie you see has to be identical to real life you snobby critics! I could go on about how moronic some critics can be, but I don't have time for that, and this is about Eagle Eye. But this is why I don't dare call myself a "critic". I just review a movie, usually in a way normal people want to see a review. I just give my personal thoughts on the film without using big words (sorry critics, no one wants to read that crap) or throwing in my useless knowledge of films and actors (again, the average movie goer DOESN'T care how smart you are in movie terms!).

Eagle Eye is everything I expected it to be. Loud, fast, non-stop and fun. This movie was incredibly entertaining and even had some very tense moments. The story definitely takes a back seat to the explosivness, which is typically the case in a movie like this. This movie wasn't about incredible storytelling or smart dialogue. It was about taking an idea of the government using technology to monitor our lives, to the very very extreme. Could this movie have worked better with less action and more attention towards a good screenplay? Of course, and it probably would have been a much more sophisticated film. But this is what we got, and it wasn't all THAT bad. Like I said, the action was the primary focus here, and dang did it work!

Now I won't even go into the implausibilites of this movie. Because this entire movie, almost every single thing that happens, is UNBELIEVABLY impossible to occur in real life. But when you watch the previews, and assuming you are intelligent enough, you can see that. But that is what makes a movie fun sometimes. Why does every movie have to be plausible for people to enjoy it? Why does every movie have to be Oscar caliber for it to be good? This is why I love the fact that I watch every movie with new eyes. I give every movie a chance (even if I don't really want to see it), because you just never know. I'm rambling again. But yeah, this movie has rediculous car chase scenes, people shooting guns everywhere, a neat little chase scene in an airplane luggage conveyor belt thing, it has it all. It's just damn good fun!

Now here's my issue. While the action was tense and exciting, it did tend to be a little to much. Not the implausibilty of them, just the length of them. Some car chase scenes just kind of dragged on and after a while got a tad boring actually. Then the last act of the film had so much going on, just a little to much action even for a big budget action flick. The camera weeved around so fast during these scenes it actually hurt my eyes. The screen just became a temporary blur fest of colors. I think they could have dummed down the action a bit, and still had a great thriller.

Now the story itself, I really couldn't explain it to you. Which wasn't a major factor for me. I mean I was expecting the story to be weak, and I didn't really care. I think for me, I at least want to comprehend the screenplay. And I had a hard time doing that. Because just when explanations were being thrown around, it just got loud and explosive again. We barely get any breaks from the action enough to understand what the heck is actually going on with these characters. Again, for me not a big deal.

The performances were good, but what you would expect in this kind of movie. Shia LaBeouf (Holes, Transformers) is a very talented young actor, there is no denying that. He probably is the best young actor working today. It's hard to say "young' becuase I believe he's my age. But you know he has a very long future ahead of him. He can really carry any movie, and have big success off of it. He has to be the youngest box office king ever. Michelle Monaghan (Gone Baby, Gone) was a suprise here too. I thought her performance in Gone Baby, Gone was a fluke when I saw her in Made of Honor earlier in the year. But she came back, and really did well here. Never could see her in a movie like this, but I love when actors suprise me. Oscar winner Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade) was a nice addition to the cast. He's usually always pretty good, and this time is no different. Plus, he was funny!

Look, to sum it up, Eagle Eye is a fun escape from your personal lives. I just hope one day people can go to an action movie with open minds and turn off their critic brains for a movie. I mean really, just sit in your seat and have fun without analyzing a movie for once. Sheesh. But yeah, a lot of people will enjoy this movie. See it, I don't think most movie goers will be dissapointed. I really wasn't.

To view this film's theatrical trailer, click this link: Eagle Eye

*This is the 121st new film I've seen and reviewed this year.

The Signal

The Signal

Rated R

Running time: 1 hr 39 mins

Cast:

Anessa Ramsey

AJ Bowen

Justin Welborn

Critical Consensus:

*** out of *****

(54% Fresh Rating!)

Matt's Take:

Has Not Viewed

Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating:

**** out of *****

The premise:

A horror film told in three parts, from three perspectives, in which a mysterious transmission that turns people into killers invades every cell phone, radio, and television.

MY REVIEW

I may be being a tad over generous towards this film by giving it a full four star rating. But the fact of the matter is, to me, The Signal is an astonishingly suprising movie. I read the synopsis for the movie, before even seeing a preview for it, and I just judged it in a bad way. On paper, this movie sounds rediculous. But in reality, after watching it, this is one hell of an original and fresh horror movie. In a world FULL of zombie movies and zombie movies...and zombie movies, The Signal offers us something different. What if a we somehow intercepted a frequency that was sent through our televisions, and corrupted our minds through some form of subliminal message?

It's not even that far fetched of an idea really. Subliminal messages used to be a real thing. They have since been banned and made illegal, but it did happen. Now of course, it was never so extreme in this films case. But they flashed on TV screens and made people want to go out and buy Coca Cola, or some other product. The Signal takes that concept and glorifies it to a major extreme, and it works. By the end of this movie, we never find out where this signal comes from. We don't even know exactly what it is. What we know is what it does. It replaces your common thinking with those irrational thoughts that take place in your brain. It moves the bad thoughts higher up on the list. It makes us physically hallucinate false images of happiness. This signal makes us take our irrational thoughts and act on them in pursuit of what would make us and people we love, happy. Personally, I think that is a brilliant and different idea for a horror movie.

If you think about it, the movie is kind of a slap in the face. We as America are obsessed with television and music. Not to mention movies and magazines. Yet these outlets are constantly feeding us lies. We see these programs with attractive young people wearing the hip new clothes, so now we have to fit in to the mold to look cool. We will cut our hair to look like the hot young celebs of today. We throw out curse words a million times a minute because hey, people in music do it and that's cool right? Television and movies, and music constantly feed us lies for us to buy things and make ourselves someone we are not because we think that's what will make us happy. Because if these people on TV look that pretty and they are happy, why can't I? Maybe I'm overanalyzing the story of the movie, but it really isn't that far of a stretch from what I think they were getting at.

Sorry, back to the actual movie. Is this film gory? Yes, very much so. I do not recommend it for people who aren't big fans of the genre, or who just don't like gore and even vulgarity. But in all honesty, this is a very well made film. It is very sleek looking, especially for an independtly released horror movie. The film had three directors and writers. Each one wrote and directed a segment of the movie (The movie is told in three parts). And you can tell all of them collaborated so very well here. I mean this really is a fine piece of horror film. I'm so glad I saw it! Even the performances were really good! I mean I don't know any of these actors, but dang were they good in this movie. And I mean that on horror movie performance standards. If these guys were in Crash, no they wouldn't win Oscars, but for this genre, some of the best performances I've seen in a long time. A very long time!!

But if you have been searching for a new horror flick and are tired of that same old zombie garbage they've been chucking at us lately, the Signal is the movie you want to see. It is a darkly wonderful spin on a genre that has completely re-used itself over and over. Really original, really fresh, really really great. And I agree with the critics, this does have potential cult classic written all over it.

To view this film's theatrical trailer, click this link: Signal

*This is the 120th new film I've seen and reviewed this year.

*This film is now on DVD.

STRAIGHT-TO-DVD SPOTLIGHT: The Morgue

The Morgue

Rated R
Running time: 1 hr 24 mins
DVD Release Date: September 2nd

Cast:

Lisa Crilley

Chris Devlin

Brandon Quinn

Heather Donahue

Bill Cobbs

MY REVIEW

Funny thing about this straight to DVD flick, is that it has kind of a good story concept. The bad part about that is that it was a given a crappy budget and straight to DVD slap in the face. The other bad thing, is that this kind of story has been told a few times before in much better ways. The movie this film most resembles is the John Cusack thriller, Identity. The Morgue is about six strangers who find themselves trapped in a morgue over night with a psycotic killer on the loose. That's not the good story I was reffering to.

The last twenty or so mintutes features a "twist" that I won't lie, I didn't see coming. That doesn't mean it shocked me, it means that the first hour or so was so bland that when the twist came about it was just...eh. There was no real suspensful build up to the last act. First there was a story about a ex-employee who killed himself in the morgue and now haunts the ground killing people until he can be laid to rest. Turns out, that part of the story has NOTHING to do with the movie. Yes, a man who resembles this guy is stalking these people through the morgue, but you never really see his face. So we just believe it's this ghostly man. Whenever these living characters roam the halls and crazy guy comes about, theres no build up to it. Theres no tense music, he just is there. It's hard to explain without you actually seeing it.

They're just walking the hall and he just appears, casual as can be. And then when he attacks them, the filmakers neglected to insert a tense musical score. There was no music. Just close ups of these people having a scalpal waved in their face. Another thing, is that these characters are incredibly slow to react to anything. Something as simple as a question being asked, they take forever to answer. At the extreme end, if someone is being attacked, the other person just sits there and doesn't do anything for maybe two minutes. They don't scream, nothing. Then they run. Really bizzare. Just really slow people.

And then the big twist came, and like I said, it's a solid story idea. My problem with it, other than the lack of budget or big name actors, was that they felt they had to explain everything in detail. The last 8 or 9 minutes they litterally go back and show us what we missed. They explain the twist in every aspect. You don't really need to do that, it kills the effect of the twist when you carry it on to long. Yes, we have seen this type of twist a couple times before, but it's still fresh enough that you can occassionally shock audiences with it. If it the first part of the film is done right that is, and in this case, it's not done right at all.

I just want to point out real quick that Heather Donahue was in this film. Does anyone remember her? From a little film called The Blair Witch Project? It truly was bizzare seeing her outside of that world I've only ever known her for. Kinda feel bad for her. She stars in one of the biggest and most successful independent films ever made, and now she is in this mediocre at best garbage. Can't win them all I guess.

Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating: ** out of *****

To view this films trailer, click this link: Morgue

*This is the 119th new film I've seen and reviewed this year.

*This film is now on DVD.

*Straight-to-DVD films do not qualify for my awards.

Miracle at St. Anna

Miracle at St. Anna

Rated R

Running time: 2 hrs 40 mins

Cast:

Derek Luke

Michael Ealy

Laz Alonso

Omar Benson Miller

Critical Consensus:

**1/2 out of *****
(33% Fresh Rating!)

Matt's Take:

B-

Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating:

**1/2 out of *****

The Premise:

Set in 1944 Italy, the story of four black American soldiers who get trapped in a Tuscan village during WWII.

MY REVIEW

Miracle at St. Anna does so many things right, but at the same time does a lot of things wrong. The movie starts off very promising. A man shoots another in cold blood, he's arrested and it's discovered he possessed a rare artifact that's been missing for 40 years. He's interrogated than we cut away to a flashback to his life as a WWII Buffalo Soldier. The remaining two hours and twenty minutes tends to be all over the place.

Like I said, the movie starts promising. It's kind of intense, and you expect some big, profound story to follow. But what actually follows is a major let down after a major let down. It kinda falls flat a few minutes into the flashback and never really picks up steam. I mean the story is touching in a way, and it obviously means well but the pieces just aren't put together that successfully. By the end, I personally was very dissapointed. I understand the end signified salvation and redemption, but that was such a lose point in the actual movie that you don't feel a strong emotional bond with the story by the end of it all. The movie kind of just let's go of it's grasp on you about half way through.

It does have it's share of powerful moments. I mean this is a WWII drama after all. One of the most powerful scenes, and one I could barely manage to watch, was the scene at St. Anna. I don't want to ruin it, but it's a moment that was tough for me to personally stomach. It was incredibly tragic and sad. I understand that was a common thing in the war, especially with those danged Nazis! Sometimes I think movie makers go a tad to far when trying to be real. I just have to think there is a better more civilized way to display such tramautic events.

Another issue was the very random and completely uneeded characters played by John Leguizamo, Joseph Gordon Levitt, and John Turturro. You have to see the movie really, but these actors and their characters almost quite litterally had NO point in the movie. Especially Joseph Gordon Levitt. I was happy to see him in the movie because he truly is a great young actor, but then dissapointed by the fact he served NO importance. It's hard to explain. The other performances, the important ones, were all excellent in their own regards.

The film looks incredible. It definitely had that going for it. It was wonderfully shot. The battle scenes were done very respectively. There was gore, but never too much to make you nauseous. It was almost classy in a sense. There was beautfiul locations used, incredible set designs. A great musical score. Everything that was technical about the movie was near perfection. It was just in the story the movie really faltered for me. It just never seemed to have that climatic moment, it never had that truly powerful and moving scene. With a story like this you come to expect that. The movie just never rose to the occasion.

To view this film's theatrical trailer, click this link: Miracle at St. Anna

*This is the 118th new film I've seen and reviewed this year.

Doomsday

Doomsday

Rated R

Running time: 1 hr 53 mins

Cast:

Rhona Mitra

Bob Hoskins

David O'Hara

Critical Consensus:

**1/2 out of *****
(48% Fresh Rating!)

Matt's Take:

Has Not Viewed

Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating:

*1/2 out of *****

The premise:

A futuristic action thriller where a team of people work to prevent a disaster threatening the future of the human race.

MY REVIEW

Oh boy. How much can I really say about a movie like this? Doomsday is yet another apocalyptic, end of the world, mumbo jumbo type of movie. It's been done over and over again. Nothing really is unique or different about this particular take on the genre. We have the cast of rebels who are tattooed up, have paint all over their face, and have dawned a mohawk. They all brandish very large guns, battle axes, the works. They use these weapons to fight off people trying to invade their territory. They do it in a very bloody and gory sort of way. It's not even entertaining really.

The story is lame, but I'm not going to judge the story in a movie like this. That would be dumb of me. You have to expect stupid plots in a movie like this, because these center more around the action. Now I won't lie, there were some very entertaining and somewhat tense action scenes. But most of them went on way to long, and were just way to gory for me to care much about them. And for me, that's ALL this movie had going for it.

Because if I were to mention the performances, I would have to say, "yuck". Well mainly it was David O'Hara (Wanted) who completely ruined the movie performance wise. I honestly had no clue what this man was saying the entire movie. He has this THICK Scottish accent, and all it sounds like is jumbled words. It sounded like he was eating while trying to act. Man he was atrocious. Rhona Mitra (TV's Boston Legal, The Life of David Gale) was actually kind of OK. But she had some Cheesy McGee dialogue. I liked her on Boston Legal a lot, to bad she didn't stick to that.

I mean, I recommend this movie to those fanatics out there who love this crap. Because you will go nuts over it, and love it. It's just, when you see a ton of movies in one year, from EVERY type of possible genre, a film like this is a joke. Sorry, that's just my opinion.

To view this film's theatrical trailer, click this link: Doomsday

*This is the 117th new film I've seen and reviewed this year.

*This film is now on DVD.

Married Life

Married Life

Rated PG-13

Running time: 1 hr 30 mins

Cast:

Pierce Brosnan
Chris Cooper
Patricia Clarkson
Rachel McAdams

Critical Consensus:

*** out of *****
(58% Fresh Rating!)

Matt's Take:

Has Not Viewed

Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating:

**1/2 out of *****

The premise:

A 1940s-set drama where an adulterous man plots his wife's death instead of putting her through the humiliation of a divorce.

MY REVIEW

Married Life is a very well acted film, and for most of it, is a well written one too. For me, it faltered in the end. This man wanted to kill his wife to spare her the embarassment of a divorce because he was in love with another woman. He wanted true love, not just a sexual love that his wife craved. Turns out she too fell in love with another man. In the middle of it all, we have the man's best friend who falls for the girl his friend is having an affair with. That's all this movie is really: people cheating on eachother and having affairs and confusing all that mess with true love. What bothered me the most was that the married man got stiffed by the woman he was having an affair with, and this for some reason made it click in his head that he shouldn't kill his wife because he really does love her. What?!?

Married Life starts off good, a sinister yet nice little premise. But it really just caves in the end. Which ruined the movie for me personally. Because the rest of the film is beautiful. Really great costume designs that feel like the 40's era. Perfect set designs. A wonderful musical score. Above average directing. The cast was just suberb in my opinion. Namely Oscar winner Chris Cooper (Adaptation). But none of that could be saved by the huge downward spiral the movie takes in the last act. To much internal emotional battles going on in the characters heads in so little time. To bad. Not one I'd honestly recommend.

To view this film's theatrical trailer, click this link: Married Life

*This is the 116th new film I've seen and reviewed this year.

*This film is now on DVD.

MADE FOR TV SPOTLIGHT: Recount

Recount

Rated NR
Running time: 1 hr 55 mins

TV Release Date: May 25th on HBO

Cast:

Kevin Spacey

Bob Balaban

Ed Begley, Jr.

Laura Dern

John Hurt

Denis Leary

Tom Wilkinson

MY REVIEW

Personally, I know virtually nothing about the political world. I'm not even registered to vote. I know almost nothing about the current presidential candidates. I know, it's sad. I just feel I'm incapable of understanding all the crap is thrown out when it comes to this sort of thing. It just all goes way above my head. I just want to live my life. My own life. I don't want to invest all my time in politics. Some would say that these are the people who ultimately control my life, in a sense. But really I just don't care. Call me a jerk. Call me ignorant. I just don't care. Sorry.

Enough of that. Recount is the true story about the 2000 presidential elections or moreover, the big fiasco of the Florida recount. Now when this was going on, of course I heard about it, I knew exactly what the issue was, I just didn't pay that much attention to the details. This film has totally filled me in on what I need to know. What I liked about it was that it wasn't overly political. When it came down to it, this wasn't about the candidates attacking eachother; this was about the battle between both parties to win the state of Florida which leads to winning the presidency. The movie is riddled with courtroom scenes, mainly the supreme court and I love that sort of thing. This movie was very easy for me to understand, being an anti-politics kind of guy. The story, the writing, the directing, all of it was quite powerful. I never once got bored and felt like taking a break from it. It was engaging and I did learn a thing or two.

For me, speaking about this as a film, the best part about it was the incredible performances. The made for HBO movie received a total of 5 acting nominations and all deservedly so. These performances were so brilliant. Namely Oscar nominated and winning actors Kevin Spacy (Usual Suspects, American Beauty) Tom Wilkinson (In the Bedroom, Michael Clayton) and Laura Dern (Rambling Roses also from Jurrassic Park). These three actors brought some major punch to these roles. Wilkinson plays the "bad guy" or at least from the filmakers point of view he was, and he did it so very well. Spacy is always amazing, and almost never fails...almost. I was a bit suprised by Dern, never took her that seriously as an actress. But she really did herself up with this portrayl of Katherine Harris. She definitely immersed herself in that role.

Recount is a solid movie with wonderful performances and brilliant filmaking. Maybe it's not for everyone, because it can potentially be a "borefest" to some people. I thought it would be to me, who again is not in to politics whatsoever, but I found myself glued to the screen. Nice movie!

Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating: ***1/2 out of *****

To view this film's trailer, click this link: Recount

*This is the 115th new film I've seen and reviewed this year.

*This film is now on DVD.

Ghost Town

Ghost Town

Rated PG-13

Running time: 1 hr 42 mins

Cast:

Ricky Gervais

Tea Leoni

Greg Kinnear

Critical Consensus:

***1/2 out of *****
(87% Fresh Rating!)

Matt's Take:

B+

Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating:

****1/2 out of *****

The premise:

EXTRAS and THE OFFICE star Ricky Gervais brings his trademark wit to this comedy. The British actor stars as a man who dies for seven minutes, but his awakening brings more than just a newfound appreciation for life: he can now see ghost
s.MY REVIEW

If at this point in the year, I had to make a list of the five most suprising movies of the year (meaning I thought I'd hate them but found out I actually love them), this would be at the very top of that list. It wasn't that I thought I would hate it, just that I was thinking it would be riddled with cliches, and that all the funny parts were in the trailer. Wrong, wrong, wrong! Ghost Town for me personally, and I'm not over-exaggterating, is by far one of the ten best films of 2008 to date. I loved it, loved it, LOVED it!

First off, this movie is freaking hillarious! Hands down my favorite funny movie of the year. In a world full of raunchy sex comedies (Forgetting Sarah Marshall---which I actually liked), over the top slapstick comedies (Get Smart---again I liked) and of course random spoof movies (Meet the Spartans, Disaster Movie---*cue crickets chirping*) we finally have a comedy thats very fresh and original. Could you call it a romantic comedy? Maybe, but probably not really. It's main focus is basically a shallow jerk of a man played by Ricky Gervais (British TV's The Office) finds himself in a predicament where he can see and talk to ghosts and through a little journey, discovers that people can be loved. Really, it's actually a very sweet and charming little story. The fact that ghosts are involved just makes it hillarious!

But basically yeah, this movie is genuinely funny and it's very consistent. Yes the dramatic and sappy elements of the story are sewn in, but they are needed. But the comedic moments that embody the movie are so clever and smart. I underestimated Ricky Gervais. I watched the british Office and just didn't get it, or him. But here...man is he great! This movie is his all the way, and his witty comments and his freaking facial expressions are classic. His moments of awkardness in the movie provide some of the best laughs of the year. He was great, he was really great.

Also the rest of the cast had their wonderfully funny moments. Tea Leoni (Spanglish, Deep Impact) was her usual cooky little self that makes her so good in my eyes. I've always thought she was a talented actress who for the most part goes unnoticed. Oscar nominee Greg Kinnear (As Good as it Gets) was actually at some of the best I've ever seen him. He was absolutely perfect to play this a**hole of a cheating husband turned ghost. I was suprised at how funny he really can be. I also have to mention the wildly entertaining cameo by SNL star Kristin Wiig (also in Knocked Up). She had people cracking up in Knocked Up and she does the same old thing here. Her few scenes were hillarious! I guess I have to watch SNL more eh?

I recommend this movie to everyone, because I really think everyone could find it entertaining. Maybe not for your young kids (13 and younger) because there is a few "F" bombs, and a couple other bad words thrown around and also a mention or two of mummified male genitalia but other than that it's clean fun! Really, go see it, I think most people would love it. I may sound crazy here, but the movie nearly crosses the line into pure brilliance. No joke.

To view this film's theatrical trailer, click this link: Ghost Town

*This is the 114th new film I've seen and reviewed this year.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: Monster Camp

Monster Camp

Rated NR
Running time: 1 hr 22 mins

Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating: **** out of *****

Subject matter:

A deep and engaging look into an emerging subculture of those immersed in a realm of fantasy.

MY REVIEW

Have you ever been curious to know what those "nerdy" young adults or older adults who play World of Warcraft (WOW) and Dungeon's & Dragons (D & D) do on their "spare" time? Well Monster Camp provides that answer. The documentary focuses on a large group of gamers who divulge in a real life version of their favorite role playing games in a weekend event called NEURO. They dress up like dwarves, knights, plant creatures, the works. They participate in scripted battles and have to deal with real life "hit points" and magic potions and whatever else is involved in games like WOW and D & D.

Quite frankly, after watching this movie I am ashamed of myself. Ashamed that I ever judged one of these people for being "weird" or "nerds". These types of people, in my opinion have more self respect that people like you or I. This group of people do not swallow their pride, they love letting the world know what they are all about. Yes usually you can pick one out of a crowd just by their appearance, and thats they type of person featured here. This movie just reiterated the point, "Never Judge a Book by it's Cover". Some of the characters shown prominently in the film are very good people who are constantly put down because they love games.

I learned a few things about life while watching this movie, it actually opened my eyes. We are all the same, we are all humans co-existing on this Earth. Why do we judge eachother based off one anothers personal interests? One scene towards the end almost made me cry. One of the guys was saying how he has no friends outside of this weekend event, and that NEURO has brought all these same people together and they have learned about true friendship. These guys and gals are very intelligent people with a lot to offer. But just because they wear glasses and have long hair and play role playing games, means we have to make fun of them?? How sad. I admit, I used to, but that's going to change.

Monster Camp is an excellent documentary thats not just about a group of gamers coming together, its about a group of people who are socially rejected and come together every few months to feel what its really like to be looked at like you are worth something. And that to me, is awesome.

To view this films trailer, click this link: Monster Camp

*This is the 109th new film I've seen and reviewed this year.

*This film is now on DVD.

REVIEW RE-VISIT: Snow Angels

Snow Angels

Rated R

Running time: 1 hr 46 minutes

Cast:

Sam Rockwell
Kate Beckinsale
Michael Angarano
Olivia Thirlby

Critical Consensus:

***1/2 out of *****
(67% Fresh Rating!)

Matt's Take:

A

Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating:

***** out of *****

The premise:

A drama that interweaves the life of a teenager, with his old baby sitter, her estranged husband, and their daughter.

MY REVIEW

I saw Snow Angels much earlier in the year at an independent theater in Scottsdale. It never played in any mainstream theaters, mainly becuase it did not perform well enough, money wise at the Indi theater. Snow Angels was just recently released on DVD, therefore prompting me to revist this film review in hopes to give it some very much needed promotion. At almost nine months into this year, Snow Angels at this point for me, is 2008's finest film.

The film is based off a best selling novel of the same name, written by Stewart O'Nan and the movie was written and directed by David Gordon Green. Green came out with another film later in the year called Pineapple Express. A far gap in greatness and storyline seperates the two movies. This movie tells the story of six people who live unfulfilling and for some, depressed lives in a little town. Their stories all have some greater connection to eachother, but the movie mainly focuses on four of these characters. At the start of the film, we see a normal day in this town, a high school band practices on the football field, when all that is distrupted by a distant gun shot. And then another shot. The rest of the movie shows us the events that lead up to those shots.

I've never seen such a movie that spends so much time and so much effort on it's characters. Even with character study films like Magnolia or Crash (both phenomenal films!), theres just to many individul characters to look at, we never get a true and deep insight into each one. Snow Angels is able to do that.

First we have the character of Arthur, played by young actor Michael Angarano (TV's Will & Grace, The Forbidden Kingdom). He is a quiet high school student, he is part of the high school band, and is friends with one of those outcast kids who still thinks they are the coolest thing on Earth. He smokes pot, watches porn, secretly drinks in his room; an almost typical high school kid. He lives with his mother, played by Jeanetta Arnette (Pineapple Express) who recently seperated from her husband played by Griffin Dunne. This family struggles together, and Arthur tries to cope but acts like he doesn't care. He meets an outcast, kind of nerdy girl at school played by Olivia Thirlby (Juno).

The two of them meet up several times at school, and eventually some romantic sparks fly between them. The story of Arthur and Lilly may very well be one of the most sincere and touching "love" stories in recent film. The film does an excellent job at not throwing it in our faces right off the bat that these two like eachother. This romantic story is so subtle but you just know whats blossoming, even if they don't realize it. It's realistic and beautiful in a way. So many romantic comedies and dramas out there, but none touch on the subject as well as this film does with these two teenage characters. Angarano and Thirlby, for being such young and inexperienced actors, deliver some of the best supporting performances of 2008. So much realism and heart in their acting here, such a great job.
Arthur's path connects him to Annie, a waitress he works with and also used to be his babysitter he had the hots for, played by Kate Beckinsale (Vacancy, Click). She's a single mother, recently seperated from her husband Glenn played by Sam Rockwell (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Galaxy Quest). She finds herself in an adulturous situation, sleeping with a married man in a hotel room from time to time. She has problems raising her daughter, struggles with her mother, and is battling her ex in a emotional war.

Glenn's story is the films finest piece. His wife left him, and he struggled with it. He went to drinking, and eventually tried killing himself by driving off a bridge. He miracuously survived, and his outlook on life was forever changed. He found Jesus, he found God and became a devout Christian. He tries so hard to change his life by making it better. He wants to prove to Annie that he can be a good husband and father (they have a little girl together). Glenn's story is so incredibly moving that at many times in the film, it nearly brought me to tears. There is a breathtaking and wonderfully moving scene where he gives a speech to the man his wife is sleeping with. It's about how he found Jesus and how he realized his life wasn't just about him. I won't lie, that scene get's me every time, and makes me all teary eyed.

Rockwells shares scenes with his daughter character. His character is trying to prove himself that he is good father, and he completely displays that in the movie. The scenes between these two are some of the most real feeling and sweetest moments I've seen in a film. It's heartbraking to watch because you feel so bad for Rockwells character, and you really want him to live well. Very touching scenes.

The rest of the film follows these characters and their struggle and their hardships and even their high moments. An event happens around the halfway mark of this movie, that for me was extremely difficult to watch. Even watching it again on DVD, I had to struggle not to cry. It's by far one of the most emotional and saddest moments in a film I've had to bare witness to. It hits you right in the heart and resonates throughouth the rest of the movie. We have seen scenes like this in movies all the time, but never has it been done so realistically. When you have a bunch of characters who are very true to life people, and are written as if it was a documentary, scenes like this will affect you in so many ways.


The movie is wonderfully directed by Green. Such a simple, but raw style that focuses on people and not artsy shots and big budget scenes. It was perfectly edited, great camera work, a beautiful musical score, just a solidly well made film.

The performances are top notch and at this point, are some of the best of the year. I never have given any credit to Kate Beckinsale as an actress, but man did she prove me wrong here. Just a superb job this time around. You never really like this character as a person, but you ultimately feel bad for her, and Beckinsale does a stand up job at bringing this character to life. Really great! The star of the film, performance wise was definitley Sam Rockwell. I never would have imagined he'd be capable of this. His performance has stuck in my mind since I first saw it, and I really don't see anyone overtaking him. Such a heartbraking and moving performance that just get's to me everytime. This is by far his greatest achievment. Awesome, awesome job!!

This is one of the best, if not THE best screenplay of this year. It is beautifully written. The movie shows us people who struggle with internal battles as well as battles with relationships, romantic or friendly. I've never seen a movie that demonstrates human character and human flaw as well as Snow Angels does. Such a true, and realistic look into what we are all capable of doing. These flaws that these characters possess, we all do too. The actions some of these people take, sadly we are all capable of doing to ourselves and one another. We have all emotionally damaged ourselves or someone else at one point in our lives, or we will at some point later on. We have all been dissapointed in ourselves or been dissapointed by a friend or family member. What this movie does, is perfectly captures the essence of human nature and the highs and lows of human bonding. We can all watch this movie and take something away from it. We could learn a thing or two about our own inner selves.

Please, rent this movie. Don't be put off by the fact it's an independent drama with a cast you may not be all that familiar with. Sometimes, those are the greatest movies, the ones you never knew about. Well now you know about it. There is more to movie life out there than films like The Dark Knight (On the other side of the spectrum, that is probably the second best film of 2008) or movies like Rambo or Kung Fu Panda or Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Some of those, good movies, but I'm telling you there is so much more out there in movies like Snow Angels. Please go rent it if you can. This is one of the BEST and most realistic dramatic films I've ever seen! I don't think you will be dissapointed. You have my word!


To view this film's theatrical trailer, click this link: Snow Angels

*This was the 30th new film I saw and reviewed this year.

*This film is now on DVD.

STRAIGHT-TO-DVD SPOTLIGHT: I Could Never Be Your Woman

I Could Never Be Your Woman

Rated PG-13
Running time: 1 hr 37 mins
DVD Release Date: February 26th

Cast:

Michelle Pfeiffer

Paul Rudd

Saoirse Ronan

MY REVIEW

I feel like I've seen a slew of romantic comedies in the past few weeks, and that is so very much unlike me. I don't need to tell you anymore how much these moves irritate me for not being fresh or original. Just when I thought I was about to jump off the chick flick cliff, I see this movie. Now don't get me wrong, this film is not great or all that original. It plays out kind of like an unnofficial story of Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher. This movie is about an older woman played by Pfeiffer, whos a TV producer who falls for a younger actor played by Rudd. Yes we have seen it before in movies and real life. But at least this movie had some charm to it, it had some genuine funny moments.

I feel like this movie told a pretty realistic story and I appreciate that. While I don't ever care about realism in a film, it's nice to every once in a while watch a movie that at least attempts it. But like I said, it's not really all that good of a movie, but it is good enough for me to recommend it to those girls out there who like a good chick flick. I personally would never watch it again, but still, its decent. Pfeiffer is good for the most part, as she basically plays herself. She had a few moments in the movie where she was a little to over the top for her own good. Otherwise, she was good. Rudd has always been a reliable funny guy when he chooses the right role. This role fit him perfectly, and he was once again charming and hillarious.

So yeah ladies, if you want to cuddle up on the couch and eat a pint of ice cream or whatever it is you girls do these days, and watch a movie, I would suggest this one.

Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating: **1/2 out of *****

To view this film's trailer, click this link: Never Be Your Woman

*This is the 112th new film I've seen and reviewed this year.

*This film is now on DVD.

*Straight-To-DVD films do not qualify for my awards.

Then She Found Me

Then She Found Me

Rated R

Running time: 1 hr 40 mins

Cast:

Helen Hunt

Matthew Broderick

Colin Firth

Bette Midler

Critical Consensus:

**1/2 out of *****
(55% Fresh Rating!)

Matt's Take:

Has Not Viewed

Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating:

***1/2 out of *****

The premise:

A New York schoolteacher hits a midlife crisis when, in quick succession, her husband leaves, her adoptive mother dies and her biological mother comes into her life.

MY REVIEW

Then She Found Me is a suprising little film, with a directorial debut by Oscar winning actress Helen Hunt (As Good as it Gets). And by suprising, I mean suprisingly good. I was very thrown off by the preview when I fist saw it many months ago, and this isn't a movie I wanted to see as much as it was a movie I thought would be just another tick on the tally this year. I was very wrong. Then She Found Me isn't a movie that would appeal to a lot of people, but it was personally good enough for me. This was a very strong directorial debut for Hunt, and I applaud her.

The movie could be catergorized as a romantic drama, but really it's just a realistic drama about the struggles a woman may have in during a mid-life crisis. Hunts character is 39, and is afraid she me never have a baby of her own, which she so desperately wants. But at this time, her husband played by Matthew Broderick decides he isn't ready for any of it, and leaves her. The next day, her adoptive mother dies and the next day she meets a charming british man played by Colin Firth. It doesn't take long for them to fall for eachother. In the midst of this, her biological mother played by Bette Midler, surfaces. At first she lies about who the father is, and why she gave her up making her untrustworthy. At one point in the movie, Hunt finds out shes pregnat with Brodericks baby and some minor chaos ensues with a mini love triangle.

That may have been a lot I just said, and a lot of it may sound cliched in a movie like this. And it is, and it's not all that fresh, but it was done so well in my eyes that I was able to put all that behind me. It wasn't JUST about this romantic love triangle, it was about so many other things mainly just about...life and what we may all be destined to become. It was a well written screenplay, and Hunt did a good job bringing it to life. This character learns a lot about herself, and a lot about finding trust in people she never thought she could. It's also realistic in the sense that the film doesn't paint a pretty picture of happily ever after. In one scene Hunt explains to Firth that he has to know she will hurt him in small ways, and he will hurt her and either one of them could leave eachother at any point. That to to me is a refreshing take on this kind of story. Where the characters know that not all relationships, in fact most relationships aren't as perfect as they typically are in movies. Romantic and friendly relationships. There will be hardships, there will be struggles. But as along as you have love for eachother....

Helen Hunt may not have deserved her Oscar for As Good as it Gets, I mean she was good but I don't know about that good. But again, she proves me wrong. I thought she was excellent in this film. It was as very down to earth, real and moving performance. I never would have expected that kind of thing from her, I always still see her as that lady from Mad About You. It's also kind of hard to think that this is the woman from Twister! I also really loved Better Midler. Never really been a fan of hers acting or music wise, but she was just great here. Really funny, really charasmatic, she brought a lot to this character. Broderick and Firth were also both very well performed.

This isn't a "happy" movie by any means, and it may not lift your spirits very high, but I honestly recommend it, I found it to be quite good and a lot better than I was expecting.

To view this film's theatrical trailer, click this link: Then She Found Me

*This is the 113th new film I've seen and reviewed this year.

*This film is now on DVD.

My Blueberry Nights

My Blueberry Nights

Rated PG-13

Running time: 1 hr 30 mins

Cast:

Norah Jones

Jude Law

Rachel Weisz

David Strathairn

Natalie Portman

Critical Consensus:

**1/2 out of *****
(47% Fresh Rating!)

Matt's Take:

Has Not Viewed

Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating:

*1/2 out of *****

The premise:

A young woman takes a soul-searching journey across America to resolve her questions about love while encountering a series of offbeat characters along the way.

MY REVIEW

My Blueberry Nights is virtually a film with no end in sight, storywise. There doesn't appear to be a specific purpose for the film, there's almost no point to it's existence. At least that's what I gathered from watching the movie. Blueberry Nights may be one of the most boring and most incredibly slow paced films of 2008. It's not one of the ten worsts movies of the year (despite my one star rating), but it's just a movie that leaves you feeling like you really accomplished nothing while watching it. Theres no overall moral to the story that you can take away from it all and try applying to your life. This is just a filler movie. Fills up empty spaces of time in your day.

The movie follows a young woman, played very dully and ameteurly by musician Norah Jones. This is her first acting gig, so I can't judge her performance too much. The story follows her after she has her heart broken by a cheating boyfriend, accross the country as she apparently tries to discover her true self. Sound a bit corny and cliche? Well, that's exactly what it is. On her travels she meets a diner owner played by Oscar nominee Jude Law (The Talented Mr. Ripley, Cold Mountain), a depressed drunkard cop played by Oscar nominee David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck) the younger and senile ex-wife of said drunk, played by Oscar winner Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardner) and a tricky and deceitful woman poker player played by Oscar nominee Natalie Portman (Closer). I just threw a lot of talent into the mix. The main cast has a total of five acting Oscar nominations, and none of them showed that deserving talent in this film.

Strathairn, who only has about eight minutes of actual screentime, is probably the best of the cast. But even he strays a little to far away from being good. Weisz tries to pull off a southern accent, and she really just sounds foolish. Portman, also doing a southern accent, is just terrible in this movie. Her performance is almost childish and I really couldn't take her seriously as an actress this time around. Law was pretty good, but he really doesn't have that much actual screentime during the bulk of the movie. He appears throughout the movie, namely in one or two minute scenes, and he does end up being the guy the main girl falls for, but he is reduced to a very limited role. Norah Jones shows why she is better at being a singer than an actress, and that's all I'll say about that.

I'd love to give this movie props for artistic reasons, but I can't. The direction, while I think trying to be fresh and original, just ends up being nothing more than slowed down, shaky camera effects that just don't look appealing. You'd have to see it to understand, but I don't reccomend seeing it. My Blueberry Nights never showed much promise in it's preview, so in that regard, it definitely did not dissapoint!

To view this film's theatrical trailer, click this link: Blueberry Nights

*This is the 111th new film I've seen and reviewed this year.

*This film is now on DVD.

Made of Honor

Made of Honor

Rated PG-13

Running Time: 1 hr 41 mins

Cast:

Patrick Dempsey
Michelle Monaghan
Kevin McKidd

Critical Consensus:

** out of *****
(12% Fresh Rating!)

Matt's Take:

Has Not Viewed

Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating:

*1/2 out of *****

The premise:

A guy in love with an engaged woman tries to win her over after she asks him to be her maid of honor.

MY REVIEW

It is becoming increasingly difficult for me to review this genre of film. Man they just cannot come up with a unique or original idea for these romantic comedies. They are all the same because girls love to watch the same fantasy tale of love that ends in total happiness. This movie follows this formula: Girl and Boy become best friends + Boy falls in love with girl, but doesn not tell her + Girl never realizes and doesn't feel the same way + Girl falls in love with another man who's perfect in every way + Boy tries to sabatoge Girl and new boys relationship + Girl tries to marry new boy + Boy proffesses his love for girl at the last possible moment and she ditches new boy to be with old boy forever = same cliched romatic comedy storyline.

The final act is always predicatable in the sense you know what's going to happen, you just never really know how it's going to happen. Well, really you do, but if you are like me you like to pretend you don't just have some element of suprise. This movie is not funny in the least. This movie has no charm. This movie is pretty poorly written. The characters aren't that likeable. You have to love how easy it is to find love when you are a movie character. You see, these movies are just as unrealistic and unbelievable as fantasy movies or over the top action movies, but people don't realize that because these movies tell a story that girls just go ga-ga over. Then it fails to register in their minds how stories like this don't happen in real life all that often.

Made of Honor is a no go in the Mikey @ The Movies 2008 film book.

To view this films theatrical trailer, click this link: Made of Honor

*This is the 110th new film I've seen and reviewed this year.

*This film is now on DVD.

STRAIGHT-TO-DVD SPOTLIGHT: Automaton Transfusion

Automaton Transfusion

Rated R
Running time: 1 hr 15 mins
DVD Release Date: March 4th

Cast:

Garrett Jones

Juliet Reeves

William Howard Bowman

Rowan Bousaid

MY REVIEW

Here we have yet another straight-to-dvd zombie movie. Yay. For you America, for you. This one just sucks on so many levels. This is clearly a very ameteur made film. You know what it looks like? It looks like a way to long, way to poorly made Youtube video. It appears they used some kind of digital video camera for the entire movie. A really bad one too. There were scenes that were moving really fast, and it looked like the camera couldn't catch up with the movement, so it looked like it was skipping and buffering at times. Corny! Really awful, high school-esque performances. Boo to this film all the way.

Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating: 0 out of *****

To view this film's trailer, click this link: Automaton Transfusion

*This is the 108th new film I've seen and reviewed this year.

*This film is now on DVD.

*Straight-to-DVD films do not qualify for my awards.

The Forbidden Kingdom

The Forbidden Kingdom

Rated PG-13

Running time: 1 hr 53 mins

Cast:

Jet Li
Jackie Chan
Michael Angarano
Yifei Liu

Critical Consensus:

*** out of *****
(64% Fresh Rating!)

Matt's Take:

Has Not Viewed

Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating:

*** out of *****

The premise:

A discovery made by a kung fu obsessed American teen sends him on an adventure to China, where he joins up with a band of martial arts warriors in order to free the imprisoned Monkey King.

MY REVIEW

This is a fun, entertaining flick. Pretty much thats all it has going for it, which is OK. This may be a PG-13 film, but I think its still geared towards that family film range. As a teenage/family movie, it works. The plot is way out there, but it looks good and is great fun. It has laughs, clean fight sequences (very minimal blood), and a quirky and unbelievable storyline. What more do you want from a family oriented fantasy movie?

The best parts of the movie were the fight scenes. They were very well choreographed, and looked darn fancy! Jet Li and Jackie Chan are in their element, and finally Jackie Chan isn't forced to do much American slang acting.

I don't know, I just don't have a whole lot to say about it other than it was entertaining. I would suggest it if you have a couple older kids and have nothing to do on a weekend night.


To view this film's theatrical trailer, click this link: Forbidden Kingdom

*This is the 107th new film I've seen and reviewed this year.

*This film is now on DVD.

What Happens in Vegas

What Happens in Vegas

Rated PG-13

Running time: 1 hr 39 mins

Cast:

Ashton Kutcher
Cameron Diaz

Critical Consensus:

** out of *****
(27% Fresh Rating!)

Matt's Take:

D+

Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating:

*1/2 out of *****

The premise:

Set in Sin City, story revolves around two people who discover they've gotten married following a night of debauchery...

MY REVIEW

What Happens in Vegas is just the same old same old romantic comedy that we've seen a hundred times before. The only thing that seperates these movies from one another is the setting and the physical storyline, but they all follow the same predictable formula. I tried watching this movie to see if anything would stand out from the rest, but really I couldn't discover anything unique. You know how this movie is going end, and this exactly the way it ends. I would love to appreciate one of these romantic comedies above all the rest, but I just can't because theres never anything different between them. That's probably why this type of movie, no matter who you cast in them, don't make any money anymore. Even girls are flocking to see them. This breed of film is a dying one.

Ashton Kutcher (TV's That 70's Show) is getting old and growing tiresome for me. He isn't funny, and most of the time he just tries way to hard to get a laugh. Cameron Diaz (Being John Malkovich, The Mask) has been nominated for two SAG awards in her day, so she has proven she can act. But here sadly, she just falls back to her roots of cheap and gimmicky romantic garbage. The only part of the movie I found relatively funny, was Lake Bell (TV's Boston Legal, Over Her Dead Body) which was unexpected. The only time I really laughed in this movie was when she uttered a few genuine funny lines.

Don't take my complete word for it though, I've always been against these types of movies. I still watch them, for your sake, but usually I won't like them. Nothing different here.

To view this films theatrical trailer, click this link: What Happens in Vegas

*This is the 106th new film I've seen and reviewed this year.

*This film is now on DVD.