If you are considering picking up this horror movie, take my advice: pick up "A Nightmare on Elm Street" instead. What? You say you saw that one already? Watch it again. "Asylum" is basically a pale imitation of Wes Craven's classic. On a University campus, there is a former mental asylum which has been converted into dorm space. As the story goes, the asylum used to be run by Dr. Burke (Mark Rolston). Dr. Burke was around in the 1930s and specialized in treating troubled children. Of course, his methods are barbaric and somewhat sadistic. It involves selective lobotomy using large pins pushed through the eye socket. The patients eventually revolt and kill him. Fast forward to modern times when a group of college kids learn of this legend and decide to explore the "unfinished" portion of the asylum/dorm. They soon find out that Dr. Burke is "still around" and can get into your thoughts, eventually killing you. (Gee, doesn't sound too much like Freddy Krueger, does it??). Dr. Burke even gets his own awful catchphrase: "Give me your suffering.". So, take my advice: Skip this and pop in "A Nightmare on Elm Street" instead. Grade: D
This may be the worst advertised movie ever. When it first came out, the ads and posters all boasted of a film about the most notorious serial killer of all time. Pictures of piles of bones adorned the posters. Only after it came out, did they come clean with the fact that this "serial killer" they referred to was a crocodile. Based on an actual crocodile in Africa, the movie is actually not bad. It follows the story of an American television crew sent to look for an file a report on this legendary crocodile, called "Gustave" by the locals. "Prison Break"'s Dominic Purcell heads the cast with Orlando Jones as the comic relief. The film actually follows two plotlines simultaneously. In the region where the crocodile is hunting, a civil war is going on, headed by a ruthless warlord, who calls himself "Little Gustave" (also based on a real person). Both stories are equally interesting and mesh together well. The crocodile itself is a little over the top: too big, too smart, etc. The movie mixes elements of "King Kong", "Jurassic Park" and, of course, "Jaws". While Orlando Jones' performance is fine, his character has way too many "funny lines" throughout the script. This is very similar to how Jeff Goldblum was used in "Jurassic Park 2". In the first one, Goldblum was the quirky guy who did not take himself too seriously. In the second, they decided he needed to have a funny line in EVERY scene. This is exactly what Orlando Jones does in this movie. Overall, it turned out to be a much better movie than I expected, although some of the silliness and obvious imitation of the films mentioned earlier keeps it from being a very good movie. Grade: C
Let's face it. Do I really have to review this movie? If you are a "High School Musical" fan, you are going to see this movie. If you're not, you're not. Basically, this third chapter completes the high school careers of Troy (ZacEfron), Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens), Chad (Corbin Bleu), Taylor (Monique Coleman), Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale) and Ryan (Lucas Grabeel). Once again, Troy is being pulled in different directions as he tries to decide his future, Gabriella finds herself being pulled away from Troy and Sharpay plots to make sure she is the star of the senior year's big musical production. As much as this fits the same formula as the previous chapters in the series, everything is done on a much bigger scale on the big screen. The soundtrack gives the fans a whole new set of songs to enjoy, some hit the mark, some not so much. ZacEfron's performance has begun to stand out as he carries the most emotional baggage in the series and, in this one, you can see his acting has improved, possibly elevating him from being pigeon-holed as a teen heartthrob. Fans will love the movie, non-fans won't even bother, so this film exists completely in its own universe and is a successful completion of the trilogy. A couple of new characters are introduced, possibly to keep the franchise going. While I do not envision another movie, I could certainly imagine these new characters heading an "East High" series on the Disney Channel.
Forest Whitaker is simply brilliant as Ugandan President Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland". Whitaker captures both the charisma and the psychosis of the former Ugandan leader perfectly. The film uses the storytelling device of a fictional character, in the person of Dr. Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy). Garrigan has recently completed his education and is starting his career as a doctor. He shuns joining his father's practice and moves to Uganda, where he can make a difference. Around this time, Uganda undergoes a coup where General Idi Amin places himself in the presidency. At first glance, he is a "man of the people" who will use his power to improve the conditions for all of Uganda. Dr. Garrigan is instantly captivated with him and finds himself offered the position of Amin's personal physician. As the film develops, we see Amin become more and more paranoid and there are whispers of mass executions by his regime. Garrigan still believes in him and believes these stories are lies designed to undermine Amin. He slowly becomes aware that they are all too true, but it is too late as he learns he is no longer a free man. This is a very interesting study of a populist leader slipping deeper into madness, proving that "absolute power corrupts absolutely". Whitaker definitely deserved his Oscar for this performance.
"Street Kings" is a bit of a throwback film. It could easily have been released in the '70s with its theme of gritty crime and corruption in the police department. Keanu Reeves heads the cast as Tom Ludlow, a member of an elite group of cops headed by Captain Jack Wander (Forest Whitaker). This team of cops shirks the rules when needed to take down the bad guys. When one of Ludlow's former partners (Terry Crew) starts to talk to Internal Affairs, it sets off a chain of events that has Ludlow looking like a dirty cop who would do anything to protect his career. He also finds himself in a tug-of-war between Wander and Internal Affairs Captain James Biggs (Hugh Laurie), who are both striving for a Commander slot. Ludlow slowly finds himself getting deeper and deeper and more alone as he tries to get to the bottom of what is going on. This is a good old-school cop drama with lots of twists and turns. There were only two minor issues with the movie. First, I figured out exactly who the main culprit was going to be very early. While the film was still very entertaining, it took away from it just a little. The second was the usually amazing Forest Whitaker, who, while good, seemed to have a little trouble pulling off the "street cop" accent he was trying to get through. I have seen Whitaker pull off many accents before (most notably in "The Crying Game"), but in this one, it just missed the mark a little bit. The rest of the cast was solid down the line, including Reeves, who sometimes is accused of being too wooden. There is also a very good performance by the under-rated Jay Mohr.
"Charlie Wilson's War" tells the story of Congressman Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks), who became obsessed with helping Afghanistan when the Russians invaded in the 80s. With the assistance of a wealthy socialite (Julia Roberts) and a CIA operative (Philip Seymour Hoffman), Wilson is able to convince Congress to fund covert ops to arm the mujaheddin, who were in the front lines in Afghanistan. Hindsight being 20/20, this film easily could have condemned Wilson and his cronies for supporting what has now become one of our greatest enemies, but the film actually plays it very straight and keeps it in the context of its time. Wilson, who starts out as a scotch-swilling, womanizing good-old boy from Texas morphs into a man who truly cares about the people being displaced in Afghanistan and also realizes that their plight is a huge front in the Cold War. The film portrays him as a heroic figure, which fits the times he was operating in. Only at the very end does the movie hint at what the future may bring as Wilson wants to continue funding for rebuilding of schools and public buildings and is rebuffed because the job there is done. Hoffman's character tells him a great Zen master story to explain to him that you never quite know whether the results of your actions can be considered positive or negative when viewed against the prism of time. The movie takes what could have been a stale review of back-room politics and tells a very entertaining story. Hanks and Hoffman deliver their usual great performances. Roberts is fine, also, but in a much smaller part. Ned Beatty does a nice job as a Christian Senator who holds the keys to getting the funding and needs some convincing that this is a noble cause to back. This is an entertaining, very fair portrayal of what has turned out to be a crucial time in this country's history.
"The Comebacks" does for inspirational sports movies what "Scary Movie" did for, well, scary movies. David Koechner plays Coach Lambeau Fields, a lifetime coach of various sports who has the distinction of never coaching a winning team. He has given up on coaching and is working at a horse track when his old friend, Freddie Wiseman (Carl Weathers) approaches him with an opportunity to pick up his clipboard one more time as the coach of "The Comebacks", a lowly ranked college football team. Coach Fields takes the job and just about every inspirational sports movie is lampooned over the course of the next hour or so. Although most of the spoofs/references are played out through the story of "The Comebacks", they add the device of using a Sportscenter type show to squeeze a few more in. For once, this type of shoe-horning in movie references actually makes some sense and works. Overall, the movie is pretty funny. There is plenty of crude sexual humor, usually in the form of obvious double entendres. There is also a subplot set up early in the film about the coach's daughter (Brooke Nevins) being a world-class gymnast that is quicky abandoned. For a movie that did very poorly at the box office (and even worse with critics), I was pleasantly surprised. It is stupid, crude comedy, but it had enough laughs to keep me watching.
I have to admit it: Adam Sandler movies are a guilty pleasure of mine. Clearly, I am not alone as his movies generally tend to do well. "You Don't Mess With the Zohan" is the story of "The Zohan" (Sandler), an Israeli Special Forces legend who secretly yearns to be a hairdresser. After faking his death during a battle with his arch-nemesis, "The Phantom" (John Turturro), he takes off to New York to pursue his dream. This sets up lots of fish-out-of-water comedy as his unusual hairstyles and styling methods make him a sensation. Of course, this kind of attention can not be good for a man who does not want to fight any more. Inevitably, his enemies will find him out. Rob Schneider does his usual turn as one of Sandler's quirky supporting characters, playing a Palestinian cab driver who thinks he may have discovered that "The Zohan" is really alive. Schneider does a great job in these over the top roles and is very funny once again. Say what you want about Sandler, but he is funny and his movies tend to be entertaining. This one is very funny and is one of Sandler's funnier movies overall. Yes, it is stupid funny and low-brow humor, but it works. In fact, this almost seemed like Adam Sandler doing a Mike Myers type movie.
Here's the background on this movie: Jody Hill, the director, made this film on a very low budget, a la Kevin Smith and "Clerks". Somehow, a copy of the movie got to Will Ferrell, who loved it so much he bought the rights and got a distribution deal. Fred Simmons (Danny McBride) is a TaeKwon Do instructor who has some trouble applying the eastern philosophies of the martial arts to his own life. He is a crude guy in a bad marriage, who idolizes Hollywood martial artist Chuck "The Truck" Wallace (Ben Best). The movie certainly makes the case that you should never meet your heroes as "The Truck" turns out to be quite the Hollywood mess: women and drugs are what he lives for and he is not exactly the best human being. The movie takes you on a journey with Simmons as his life gets more and more messy until he can figure a way to turn it around. McBride is pretty funny as Simmons and Best as "The Truck" is definitely someone you love to hate, but the movie itself doesn't completely work. Unlike "Clerks", the low budget actually becomes a bit of a distraction as some of the acting doesn't quite cut it and the production value looks sort of like a porn movie. There are a few really funny sequences, in particular the hotel room party with Chuck "The Truck", but it is not funny enough most of the time. Perhaps the appeal to Will Ferrell is that the character of Simmons is just the type of cocky jackass that Ferrell has made a career out of playing, so he must have related to it. Grade: C-
"Forgetting Sarah Marshall" is billed as being "from the guys who brought you "The 40-year Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up". You can certainly see a lot of the same elements here with the raunchy humor, but this one sort of misses the mark. Although there is some raunchy humor, much of it seems to be put in just to say this is a "raunchy sex comedy" (OK, I just used the word "raunchy" 3 times..oh, that's 4). Most of these scenes barely have any humor to them at all. Overall, the movie does have some funny scenes and is not a bad comedy, but something is off. The premise is that Peter (Jason Segel) is dating Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), a TV star who decides she would much rather be with rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) and dumps him. Peter is devastated and goes to Hawaii to escape his sorrow. Unfortunately, Sarah and her new beau are also there and he can not avoid them. Some of the situations set up in Hawaii were just stupid. When Peter finds the hotel with no rooms available, the beautiful desk clerk, Rachel (Mila Kunis), decides she will let him stay in the most exclusive suite in the place, free of charge, of course. We all know a desk clerk has that kind of authority and no one will ask questions! As he is immediately smitten by her, you also have no doubt the two of them will end up together at some point. Most of the funny material comes from the supporting cast. Snow's attitude toward commitment and monogamy make for some funny lines. The maitre'd (Jonah Hill), the surf instructor (Paul Rudd) and some of the other hotel staff are much funnier than the main cast. There is also the break-up scene which starts with Peter in a towel and quickly moves to him totally nude, which is really more male nudity than I needed to see! Be warned, we are talking frontal nudity here. So, this is basically an OK movie with some funny moments but not enough for a recommendation. It is not awful, just not great.
"Iron Man" kicked off the summer movie season with a bang and generated a lot of hype. As the superhero genre goes, this was an excellent movie. One of the best qualities is a top-flight cast. I don't just mean big names, of which there are a few, but the quality of the acting here is extremely good. Robert Downey Jr. takes the reins as billionaire Tony Stark, who will become the Iron Man of the title. Downey hits all of the notes, playing Stark as the care-free millionaire playboy as the movie opens and then getting much deeper into the other sides of him as the movie progresses. The "billionaire who creates his own persona" element is very similar to "Batman", but still different enough. Stark does not have all of the emotional baggage that Bruce Wayne does, so he is a more "fun" character. After being captured by terrorists in Afghanistan, he is told he must make them a missile. While pretending to do so, he actually fashions the first, somewhat primitive Iron Man to use in his escape. His experience being captured changes him and he announces he is changing the direction of his weapons manufacturing company, much to the chagrin of his president, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges). This conflict sets up the rest of the movie. As this is the first "Iron Man" film, the origin of the superhero needs to be set up, so considerable time is spent doing just that. This is the disadvantage of an origin movie. If it is done right, the origin is not rushed, but is developed early enough to give you the action and adventure a superhero movie is supposed to provide. "Iron Man" spends just a little too much time developing the suit. They do give you some early action and the rudimentary suit to keep you interested, though. Overall, this is a great film with a great cast and it is definitely recommended. It did fall just short of all the hype that came before it. I'm sure there will be more "Iron Man" movies and this can rival the "Batman" series for the superhero movie crown. The PG-13 is earned, so parents of younger kids should be aware that there is some harsh violence in this movie, which may not be appropriate for that crowd.
This is the second movie in a row I watched that did not do well critically or at the box office. It is also the second movie in a row where I liked it more than I thought I might. That is not to say this is a good one, however. Much of the negativity about the movie is well-deserved. I think only my love of Al Pacino kept me from joining the negative fray. Pacino plays Jack Gramm, a forensic psychiatrist who testified in a high-profile serial killer case. His testimony was considered to be instrumental in getting a conviction. Fast forward years later and the killer, Jon Forster (Neal McDonough), is slated to be executed. Gramm receives a phone call telling him he has 88 minutes to live and the game is afoot. It sounds like an interesting concept, similar to the film "D.O.A" with Dennis Quaid, but the execution falls short. For such a simple synopsis, the script is very convoluted, going all over the place, while still remaining predictable. It is so predictable that when you see the "culprit" for the first time, you immediately know that they are going to turn out to be the villain, despite the next hour and a half of trying to throw you off the trail. There is one sequence where Pacino breaks his cell phone, but then immediately gets another one without the broken cell phone ever being a factor in the plot. Why bother with the whole breaking of the cell phone in the first place? Even with all of that, though, I enjoyed watching Pacino and did not hate the film. With a great concept and a great actor, however, the movie should definitely have been much more riveting and certainly less silly. If you're a Pacino fan, give it a chance, but, otherwise, you will probably think I am nuts for even liking this at all.
Mike Myers movies are not like a box of chocolates: You pretty much know what you are going to get. His movies are purposefully silly with some low-brow, almost childish, humor and over-the-top characters. "The Love Guru" is no departure from the mold. Myers plays Guru Pitka, an American raised in India who has become a renowned guru. When the Toronto Maple Leafs find their star player, Darren Roanoke (Romany Malco), slumping because of marital troubles, they bring in Guru Pitka to get his head back on straight. Another Mike Myers staple is his uncanny ability to get huge stars to take roles you can never imagine them in. In this case, it is Ben Kingsley, playing his mentor, Guru Tugginmypudha, a cross-eyed guru who is basically a cartoon character. Although this movie completely bombed at the box office, it is not nearly as bad as it may seem. Myers, for all his goofiness, knows how to keep it funny and he succeeds most of the time here. While I admit this is probably his weakest film, I think fans of the "Austin Powers" series will not be turned off by this one. Justin Timberlake has a hilarious turn as rival goalie, Jacques "Le Coq" Grande. Myers also brings his favorite foil, Verne Troyer, back as Toronto's head coach, Punch Cherkov, with the requisite height gags. Overall, you have a silly movie that will actually have you laughing at times. It's not a rave review, and some may rightfully hate it, but I found I laughed more than I thought I might.
"The Bank Job" of the title is only half the story. "The Bank Job" follows the true story of a bank heist which uncovers a world of deceit and corruption in the power circles of 1971 London. After Martine Love (Saffron Burrows) is caught transpoting drugs in the airport, Tim Everett (Richard Lintern) offers her a way out. He tips her off to a bank job that he wants her to arrange in order to get the contents of a safe deposit box. She turns to her old flame, Terry Leather (Jason Statham), a small-time criminal, for help and he begins to put a team together. The first half of the film involves the creation of the team and the planning of the heist and is a very straight-forward heist movie. Once the heist is in play, though, the criminals find they have opened a pandora's box that reaches into the very heart of law enforcement, organized crime and even into a "black power" group. The movie opens sort of disjointedly, with characters weaving in and out that have no relatonship to each other. As the heist approaches, the story becomes a litte more linear, focusing mostly on Terry and his gang. Once the heist goes down, the film ties all of the loose ends introduced earlier in a frenzy of double-crossing and violence as these disparate groups try to protect the secrets this gang of thieves may or may not have uncovered. Once this gets going, it becomes a riveting story of sex and corruption that shakes the power circles of London for years to come. While much of the interplay between the characters is probably fictionalized, much of the ramifications are documented. Jason Statham does a great job carrying the bulk of this movie, which is a departure from a lot of the senseless action movies he is accustomed to.
If you are considering picking up this horror movie, take my advice: pick up "A Nightmare on Elm Street" instead. What? You say you saw that one already? Watch it again. "Asylum" is basically a pale imitation of Wes Craven's classic. On a University campus, there is a former mental asylum which has been converted into dorm space. As the story goes, the asylum used to be run by Dr. Burke (Mark Rolston). Dr. Burke was around in the 1930s and specialized in treating troubled children. Of course, his methods are barbaric and somewhat sadistic. It involves selective lobotomy using large pins pushed through the eye socket. The patients eventually revolt and kill him. Fast forward to modern times when a group of college kids learn of this legend and decide to explore the "unfinished" portion of the asylum/dorm. They soon find out that Dr. Burke is "still around" and can get into your thoughts, eventually killing you. (Gee, doesn't sound too much like Freddy Krueger, does it??). Dr. Burke even gets his own awful catchphrase: "Give me your suffering.". So, take my advice: Skip this and pop in "A Nightmare on Elm Street" instead.
