Quantum of Solace (PG-13-2008)

Daniel Craig returns as the best Bond since Sean Connery in this latest installment of the franchise. After "Casino Royale" re-booted the series with a new Bond on his first mission, "Quantum of Solace" takes place exactly where "Casino Royale" left off. It looks like Craig's Bond films will pay some attention to continuity and be connected, which is another great decision by the film-makers. After a great opening car chase, Bond is bent on revenge for the death of his girlfriend and finds himself matched up against "Quantum", an organization so secret that the various international intelligence agencies don't even know it exists. Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric) is at the forefront of this organization, which is fronted by an international ecological charity. In his quest to avenge his girl, Bond goes rogue, being completely cut-off from MI-6, and relies on his own talents to go after this organization. The movie has incredible action sequences, including a boat chase, a battle while hanging on ropes and quite a few other chase scenes and twists. Daniel Craig does a nice job again as a ruthless Bond who is cool when he needs to be, but emotional at the same time. This reinvention of the franchise keeps many of the classic elements, but does not feel compelled to include them all in each film (no gadgets, "Bond, James Bond", direct reference to martinis). At times, you miss them, but it helps make these movies more gritty and more realistic. As far as gadget goes, this film does include some cool technology in the office with touch-screen desktops and wall screens similar to what we've seen in "Minority Report". Having followed James Bond through the years, I love this direction they've taken. Bond is bad-ass and definitely comes off as someone you would not want to end up on the wrong side of.

Grade: B+

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Pineapple Express (R-2008)

"Pineapple Express" was a very pleasant surprise. Sure, I like the Apatow/Rogen films like "Superbad" and "Knocked Up", but when you watch a few of them, they are funny, but somewhat similar. "Pineapple Express" starts with some of the same themes, but ends up going in an entirely different direction. Seth Rogen plays Dale Denton, a process server who spends a good part of his time getting high. During his travels, he is pulled over on the side of the road and happens to witness a murder. Before long, he finds himself, with his dealer Saul Silver (James Franco), in the middle of a war between rival drug mobs. It is at this point that the film morphs from a stoner comedy into a buddy action film and the transition works perfectly. They are able to manage the action and comedy simultaneously without getting overly silly. I have to also admit that anything with Gary Cole (the boss from "Office Space" and broadcaster from "Dodgeball") gets my vote. He is one of the most under-rated character actors out there. Cole is the drug lord who is determined to find and kill Dale Denton. There is a good car chase about mid-way through the film and a great showdown near the end which finds our stoner heroes right in the middle of an all-out gun battle between the warring factions. Danny McBride, from "The Foot Fist Way", has a great role as Saul's drug-dealer buddy, who professes his loyalty while consistently selling out the duo to save his own skin. The only negative on this one is the final scene in a diner, which just takes entirely too long. At this point, the story has pretty much been told and just should have ended. Being a fan of both comedies and action movies, it is always great when someone can blend them together successfully and this one hits its marks.

Grade: B-

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Saw V (R-2008)

How many "Saw" movies does it take to ruin a franchise? Apparently, that number is 5. "Saw V" marks the moment the series has "nuked the fridge" (the movie equivalent to "jump the shark"-a reference to Indiana Jones surviving a nuclear blast by hiding in a refrigerator). "Saw V" follows the back-story of Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor), who has been investigating the Jigsaw murders from the beginning. While this story is told in flashbacks (a way to keep Jigsaw himself (Tobin Bell) in the series), we are also following the story of 5 people trying to survive one of Jigsaw's games. The problem is we have no idea who these people are for a while and by the time they explain, we no longer care. The back-story itself showing Hoffman's relationship with Jigsaw and the murders only serves to remind you somewhat how good the earlier films in the series are. There is a pivotal scene where Jigsaw's ex-wife (Betsy Russell) is given a box, which contains her inheritance from him, but they never go back to that box and never explain what is in it. It is probably meant to be pursued in "Saw VI", but will anybody even care by then. This is one of those sequels that is bad enough that you start to question whether you really liked the earlier films in the series. "Saw" followers will see this any way (I did!), but it was really a waste of time.

Grade: D

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The Incredible Hulk (PG-13-2008)

"The Incredible Hulk" had the dubious distinction of being released in the same summer that "The Dark Knight" and "Iron Man" were released. If it did not have to stand up to that hype, people may have found that this was actually a very good comic book movie. Edward Norton takes over the role of Bruce Banner, who becomes the Hulk when he gets angry. As this movie opens, Bruce is on the run, in Mexico, trying to research and develop a cure for his duality. Gen. Ross (William Hurt) is determined to track him down to study his mutation to help develop a "Super Soldier" serum for the US Army. Ross has brought in a Russian Special Forces operative, Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), to assist him. When Blonsky gets a look at the Hulk in action, he wants to find a way to duplicate this mutation. The movie works on many levels as Banner is being pursued by Ross and Blonsky while trying to remain calm and find a way to be normal again. As the second half kicks in, there is plenty of action with great effects work, building up to an epic battle in the streets of New York between the Hulk and Blonsky. There are a few great cameos related to past versions of the Hulk, sometimes very quick ones. "The Incredbile Hulk" is action-packed with some great writing and acting and I actually think it gives "Knight" and "Iron Man" a run for the money.

Grade: B

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Get Smart (PG-13-2008)

I'm on the fence with big-screen remakes of classic TV shows and films. If something is done right the first time, why try to recapture that magic? If they do feel they need to do so, they have to get it right. Don Adams in the original "Get Smart" was perfect in that role. I would never think anyone could duplicate his success. I was right, but Steve Carell is the perfect modern-day choice to play Agent 86, Maxwell Smart, and does a very nice job in this film. The movie is very respectful of the original series with plenty of elements of the classic show sprinkled throughout the script, including almost all of Smart's catchphrases. Anne Hathaway does an admirable job as Agent 99, who thinks Max is a moron when she first meets him, but grows to love him. The plotline is not really important, but it basically follows the format of the series: Max is matched up against an evil plot by the group KAOS and must stop them, bumbling his way through the mission, while still managing to foil the plot. Carell plays it straight and the script does not go too over the top. It has plenty of physical comedy and sight gags and it certainly has its share of laughs. Being a fan of the original, I was very pleased not to find this an insulting cash grab that missed the point of the series. It hits its marks perfectly. I found this to be a pleasant 90 minutes of laughs. It will not go down as one of the great comedies, but it works.

Grade: C+

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The Invasion (R-2006)

It seems every generation gets its own version of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", the classic film which at the time was a metaphor for communism. After the original, you got the very good remake with Donald Sutherland. This latest version stars Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig and is the lesser of the three versions. The leads are good, the story is exactly what you might expect it to be, but it just isn't as good overall as its predecessors. The message in this one is sort of a rejection of the whole ideal of Utopia and the concept of "one united world". When the virus at the center of this one, which takes over its host and makes everybody "one", takes root, you have world peace, nations getting along and everything is "just great". The problem is that individuality and your own identity are gone. You are basically part of the global "hive". In that respect, I think it raises an interesting question: Every one thinks they want world peace and a "brotherhood of man", but at what price? Part of being human is the fact that we are flawed and take great pride in our individuality. What if that had to be sacrificed? While thinking that the original was a metaphor for communism, seeing Nicole Kidman front and center in this film made me wonder: Is this one a metaphor for Scientology?? To be fair, no one has implied any such thing, but it did cross my mind. Perhaps that made the film just that much more interesting for me.

Grade: C-

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Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (R-2008)

You had to figure a movie based on a popular series of dolls couldn't possibly be any good. Does anybody actually watch any of the "Barbie" animated DVDs? I didn't think so. However, instead of going for the quick buck, the makers of "Kit Kittredge" put together a good cast and actually seemed to pay some attention to the script. This is hardly a rave, however, as this was basically a "vanilla" movie: the story of a young girl (Abigail Breslin) growing up as the Depression hits and her family struggles to make ends meet. Kit is an aspiring reporter, so she strikes up some friendships with young "hobos" and wants to report on their plight. Meanwhile, there are a series of thefts in the region, all attributed to "hobos" and the evidence is starting to point to her new friends. Of course, she is determined to get to the bottom of this, turning it into sort of a "Nancy Drew" plotline. It is an "OK" family movie, entertaining enough that the parents aren't pulling their hair out and it is very straightforward. It is not the worst way to spend family movie night, but I can't recommend it beyond that.

Grade: C

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