Shoot 'Em Up Review

I saw Shoot 'Em Up this past weekend because a few friends recommended I check it out. I will not be listening to their recommendations any more. Shoot 'Em Up Sucks! I knew going into it that they intentionally had unrealistic fight sequences, but seriously no one can use a carrot as a knife (multiple times even). It is not sharp enough to break skin. Setting aside the really lame fight sequences and cheesy lines the real disappointment was that they tried to give the movie a plot. If you want to make a movie that has extremely unrealistic shooting scenes that is fine, but don't try to pretend it is based around a story. I'm not going into a lot more detail about all the other reasons why Shoot 'Em Up was bad. It still makes me cringe thinking about how bad it was. Just let this server as a warning for you. Don't bother seeing Shoot 'Em Up.

Live Free or Die Hard Impressions

I watched Live Free or Die Hard this past weekend and I was pleasantly surprised by it. I was a little hesitant about it before seeing it because I was worried it would not be as good as the first two. Not that the third one was bad or anything, but the first two are classic action movies. Live Free or Die Hard goes a little more along the lines of the third movie where John McClane (Bruce Willis) has someone helping them. In this movie it is a college age kid named Matthew Farrell (Justin Long). I'm going to try and stay spoiler free and skip a plot synopsis, but I liked the way McClane and Farrell played off each other. It was a nice mixture of action and those two trying to understand each other. I also liked the little hints at the previous three movies that McClane would make in his comments when he would say things like he had not done anything like this for a very long time. Live Free or Die Hard follows the Die Hard formula pretty well. Lots of action and Bruce Willis kicking butt with whatever weapons and vehicles are available followed by some cheesy one liner. I'm not really picky about my action movies, but I do think classic movies like Die Hard generally should not have sequels this long after they are released (Alien: Resurrection I'm looking at you). However, in this case it worked well and I really enjoyed it. I'd recommend Live Free or Die Hard to anyone who is a fan of action movies. or Bruce Willis.

The Fountain Review

*** Spoiler Alert ***

I watch The Fountain this weekend. Has anyone else seen it? I don't think any of my close friends have because if they had I think they would have warned me about it. It was not a bad movie, but it was a very weird movie. The movie is about Tommy (Hugh Jackman) and Izzi (Rachel Weisz). Tommy is a doctor researching new drugs to cure cancer. Izzi, his wife, is dying of brain cancer. In the process of looking for a cure for cancer Tommy finds the Tree of Life/Fountain of Youth. Unfortunately, he does not find it soon enough to save Izzi's life. The plot is actually pretty complex because it cuts be current time where Izzi is dying and he is looking for the cure for cancer, the future where Izzi is dead and he is presumable 100s of years old sill mourning her loss. The movie is about learning to deal with death, both your own and the ones you love. To further make the plot more complex there is also a third part of the story line which is a book that Izzi was writing when she was dying. She wrote all of it but the last chapter and asked Tommy to finish it. This book is about a Spanish Conquistador looking for the Fountain of Youth for the Queen of Spain. I actually would not have minded the entire movie being about this Conquistador as it was a pretty cool story line. Despite have a complex and weird plot I really like how the three plot lines from the past, present, and future all tie together. I don't want to spoil to much if you've not seen the movie, but in the end all three plot lines work together beautifully with Tommy learning to accept death as a part of life.

Right after the movie was finished I would have told you that I did not like it because it was so weird, but now that I've had some time to reflect on it I recognize it is a good movie. I really like how all the three sub-plots tie together in the end. If you've not seen The Fountain and you're looking for something different than the average action of comedy movie then I'd recommend checking it out.

The Bourne Ultimatum Review

*** Spoiler Alert ***

I saw The Bourne Ultimatum last weekend and I have to say right off I really enjoyed it. The whole movie is pretty much non-stop action with just enough dialog to keep things moving along nicely. I'm not going to bother with a long plot recap so here is the quick version. Jason Bourne was a Black-Ops CIA Agent who can't remember who he was and is trying to find out. The thing I like about this movie is that they expect the audience to be smart. There are a ton of little things that tie in the first two Bourne movies with this one. Obviously the story line continues where it left of, but there are other cool things like Bourne quoting people from the first movie that tie it all together. Even if you don't remember the tie-ins specifically the movie is still good, but if you remember all the little things from the first two movies then it makes this one even better. Because of this I'd recommend watching the first two Bourne movies before seeing the third to refresh your memory. One of my favorite scenes in the movie, that was not an action sequence, was when Nicki dyes and cuts her hair to disguise herself and she does it almost exactly like the girl in the first movie does. I liked how the movie wraps everything up pretty well and how not everyone in the CIA turns out to be against Bourne. Also, the ending was great with the News announcing Bourne's body was not found after 3 days of searching, and Nicki breaks her solemn face to smile. The only thing in the entire movie that bugged me was when Nicki, Julia Styles, said she had such a hard time after Berlin. Can someone fill me in because that was the only thing I did not get in the movie. Everything else tied into the first two so beautifully and I suspect that this did too, but I just don't remember it. If you watched The Bourne Ultimatum let me know what you thought of it.

Shooter Review

*** Spoiler Alert ***

I saw Shooter over the weekend. Shooter is set in the USA in the present day. The main character, Bob Lee Swagger, is played by Mark Wahlberg. He was a sniper in the army until he was left for dead. He is able to escape, but now doesn't trust anyone and he lives out in the mountains alone with his dog. Three years after being left for dead Government agents come and ask him to help protect the president. They need him to help them stop a sniper who is going to shoot the president from over a mile away. Since he is one of the 3 or 4 people in the world who can make the shot they need his help to stop the would be assassin. He reluctantly agrees to help them and proceeds to survey the potential target areas and find the most likely one. On the day of the potential attack he agrees to go along and help watch since he knows what to look for. However, instead of stopping the attack the government officials shot the man standing next to the president. He was the Prime Minister of Ethiopia. They then frame Swagger for the shooting and say he was trying to shoot the president and missed. The next half of the movie is spent with Swagger recovering from a gun shot he sustained while trying to escape after the assassination attempt, and then trying to find who framed him. Once he figures it all out he arranges a meeting with the guys that framed him because he gets some dirt on them. He then turns himself over to the FBI and proves that he did not make the assassination attempt. However, he can't prove that they framed him so the FBI lets him go and no one is charged with the assassination. Swagger then takes matters in his own hands and kills everyone involved in framing him including a US Senator.

The end of the movie caught me off guard because there was a lot of cold blooded killing by the "hero". I'm not use to action movies where the Justice system doesn't work out for the good guy in the end. It was a unique ending that I'm not use to seeing. Up to that final killing spree the movie was great. There were some great shooting and explosion scenes that were really cool. There is one scene where Swagger shoots down a helicopter that was really sweet. Also, there are a couple scenes with the token hot girl that were really funny.

I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending of the movie. If I was in Swagger's shoes I would want revenge for everything that I was put through, but I don't think I would just go and kill everyone involved. I liked the movie over all, but the ending just left a bad taste in my mouth.

Curse of the Golden Flower Review

*** Spoiler Alert ***

So I'm out of town this week and next week and I don't have my 360 with me. So, there will be not be a lot of gaming review the next two weeks. However, I do have a big stack of movies with me so expect to see some movie reviews. I watched Curse of the Golden Flower yesterday. It was not what I was expecting. I was thinking it was along the lines of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with lots of great fight scenes. In reality it is a tragedy with a slow build up to the fights at the end of the movie. Even then, the fights were not one on one but large scale battles with whole armies getting slaughtered.

I was going to describe the plot, but since others have already done it so well I'm going to quote the plot synopsis from Amazon.com: China, Later Tang Dynasty, 10th Century. On the eve of the Chong Yang Festival, golden flowers fill the Imperial Palace. The Emperor (Chow Yun Fat) returns unexpectedly with his second son, Prince Jai (Jay Chou). His pretext is to celebrate the holiday with his family, but given the chilled relations between the Emperor and the ailing Empress (Gong Li), this seems disingenuous. For many years, the Empress and Crown Prince Wan (Liu Ye), her stepson, have had an illicit liaison. Feeling trapped, Prince Wan dreams of escaping the palace with his secret love Chan (Li Man), the Imperial Doctor's daughter. Meanwhile, Prince Jai, the faithful son, grows worried over the Empress's health and her obsession with golden chrysanthemums. The Emperor harbors equally clandestine plans; the Imperial Doctor (Ni Dahong) is the only one privy to his machinations. When the Emperor senses a looming threat, he relocates the doctor's family from the Palace to a remote area. While they are en route, mysterious assassins attack them. Chan and her mother, Jiang Shi (Chen Jin) are forced back to the palace. Their return sets off a tumultuous sequence of dark surprises. Amid the glamour and grandeur of the festival, ugly secrets are revealed. As the Imperial Family continues its elaborate charade in a palatial setting, thousands of golden armored warriors charge the palace. Against a moonlit night, thousands of chrysanthemum blossoms are trampled as blood spills across the Imperial Palace.

Visually the movie was beautiful with lots of color and art. The first hour of the movie is a slow build up explaining little by little how the main characters got into the situation they are in and how they are interconnected. As the movie progressed I started piecing together different parts of the story only to find out that I was only partly right later on. The beauty of this movie's plot is that you don't see the Emperor's plans being made, but you get to see them carried out as he defends his kingdom and palace from his sons and wife.

Even though I was looking for an action movie and got a tragedy I really enjoyed this Curse of the Golden Flower. It was great to see the plot slowly unravel for the first two thirds of the the movie and then have the last act of the movie take everything you just learned and give it a twist.

Eragon Review

*** Spoiler Alert ***

I watched Eragon Saturday night. I did not have much to do and my wife wanted to watch something that she could watch while doing other stuff. So, I went with Eragon.

Eragon fills just about every fantasy movie cliche they could find, but the whole thing felt rushed. In each of these following plot segments it seemed like they could have spent a little longer on developing what was going on:

Boy finds dragon egg and it hatches next day.
Boy finds mentor and they become friends.
Boy does reckless feat to help mentor and hurts dragon.
Boy does more reckless feat to save girl and mentor dies.
Boy finds friends who helps him get to allies.
Boy joins allies and leads them in battle.
Boy fights evil sorcerer and kills him.

Just like that the movie is over and when you stop to think about it you realize the whole movie was one plot point and then the next with no explanation of why Eragon would make the choices he does.

Overall, I'm disappointed in this movie. I was not expecting much more than a made for Sci-Fi Channel movie, but at least their movies don't rush everything along. Not only was the whole movie rushed, but the end of the movie clearly points to a sequel and leaves about 1/2 the story hanging. I don't mind movies that point to a sequel, but the main story plot of the movie should still be wrapped up. In Eragon the main plot starts off with how an evil king rules the land and how a group of "rebels" need a dragon rider to lead them in the fight against him. However, at the end of the movie the king is still alive and the lands are still under his control. The dragon rider, Eragon, does lead the rebels but they have only succeeded in destroying most of their own mountain hideout and defending themselves from the kings army. There were some cool fight scenes, but nothing truly spectacular.

The movie is not terrible. Just not good. At least he did not kiss the girl, that he just met, at the end. They must have saved that for the sequel.

A Scanner Darkly Review

*** Spoiler Alert ***

I saw A Scanner Darkly Friday and thought I'd see if anyone else had seen it and if so what you thought of it. I rented it because I remembered the trailed looking cool with the whole thing done in an animated style. If I understood correctly they taped the whole movie normally and then converted it to look like an animated style. Personally, I thought the visual style was pretty cool. After about 20 or 30 minutes I got use to it and did not even notice it for the most part.

The movie itself is one of the more confusing movies I've seen in a while. It is about an undercover narcotics agent, Bob Arctor, who gets addicted to the drugs he is trying to fight. For about half an hour in the middle of the movie the plot is a little blurry, but in the end you find out that his fellow police officers get him addicted so that they can make him go through rehab. They believe that the rehab centers are the ones creating and supplying the drugs. This turns out to be true, but Bob is not in on the plan and as a result he ends up a total burnout. The "moral" of the movie comes down to "Is it worth sacrificing a police officer's life to fight the war on drugs for everyone else?" Going into the movie I had no idea that was what it was about, but I did not think this was how it was going to be. There are some really funny parts throughout the movie as Bob is hanging out with a group of drug addicts trying to find out who their supplier is. Since they are all high most of the time it makes for some crazy conversations and plans. Like making a homemade silencer that does not work. My only complaint besides the confusing section in the middle was that they threw in a sex scene for no apparent reason. Maybe I missed how it fit into the story since I was confused for a while, but I did not see how it tied into the story and it seemed like they put it in there just to have a naked girl in the movie.

Overall, I thought the movie was ok. I'd give it one thumb up, but not two. The graphics style was interesting, but the plot was a bit confusing.

Smoking Aces Review

*** Spoiler Alert ***

I watched Smoking Aces over a week ago, but I've been holding off on writing a review because I just can't decide if I liked it or not. It is not that I specifically did not like the movie, but it is more that the movie's plot seemed like an excuse to throw a bunch of actors together and then kill them off. Generally I'm fine with action movies that are just a group of action sequences put together, but in Smoking Aces the fights and action sequence just are not good enough to pull it off. There were some specific scenes I thought were cool, but as a whole this movie was not that great.

Here is a basic rundown of the poor excuse for a plot. A Las Vegas magician, Buddy "Aces" Israel, gets in with the mafia and then agrees to to turn on them to the FBI. As a result a 1 million dollar bounty is offered for whoever kills him and brings the mob leader his heart. The majority of the movie is focused around different contract killers trying to get to Ace's pent house suite to kill him. During this period Buddy "Aces" is in his hotel room high as a kite while his manager tries to get a deal worked out with the FBI. All of the contract killers get to the hotel at the same time as the FBI and a huge gun fight ensues. Most of the contract killers die and at least a dozen FBI agents get killed including one of the two primary investigators on the case. After this huge fight we find that the contract was not to kill Buddy but to bring him in alive so that the mob boss, who turns out to be his father, can use his heart as a heart transplant. Then, the FBI finds out that the mob boss is actually an undercover FBI agent. The head of the FBI helps him get everything ready for the transplant so that he can keep his undercover agent stays alive and they can get info on the rest of the mob's organization. When the other FBI agent who was originally on the Buddy Israel case finds this out, and finds out that his partner died for nothing, he locks himself in the room with Aces and the mob boss and unplugs both of their ventilators. The movie ends with him sitting there as they die and all of the doctors and FBI agents trying to get into the room.

I did find it amusing at the end when the one cop who spent all movie trying to protect "Aces" was the one who ended up "Smoking" him. Other than that the movie ends with little fanfare and left me confused with the whole plot. Why didn't the FBI agents know sooner that the mob boss was an undercover FBI agent? Also, how did they not know that Buddy "Aces" was his son? They just happened to find the information right in time to help him get the heart transplant? How continent.

I can't really recommend this movie. There were some funny dialog portions in the beginning. Additionally, Ben Afflack's mustache/goatee was a riot, but he's only in the first part of the movie before he gets killed. So, don't bother with this one. There are plenty of other better movies you could be watching.

Children of Men Review

*** Spoiler Alert ***

This past weekend I watched Children of Men on DVD. I had seen the trailer and a 30 minute show about the making of the movie on the SciFi channel so I knew it was a movie I wanted to watch. I liked Children of Men a lot, but not for the reasons I thought I would. I'll get to why I like the movie shortly.

For those of you not familiar, Children of Men is set in 2027. The entire world has pretty much fallen into anarchy. Only Britain, which is where the movie is set, is able to continue on with any sort of civility. Terrorism is rampant, but the government combats it by deporting illegal immigrants and working in a military state with road checkpoints and internment camps. The main thing they point out is that no babies have been born since 2009. As the movie progresses we find out that no one knows why women stopped having children, but that at the time it happened pregnant women all over the world were having miscarriages and those that were not pregnant were not able to get pregnant. The movie starts with the youngest person alive being stabbed in a fight. He was 18 years old. The main character, Theo, starts the movie by just missing being killed by a bomb in a coffee shop. We learn that he works in the Department of Energy in some nameless desk job. He gets pulled into a plan to help get a girl, Kee, to the coast by his ex-wife Julian. After agreeing to help because of an offer to pay him $5000 he soon finds out this is not an ordinary girl. She is pregnant and he is to help get her to a group of scientist who have a medical ship disguised as a fishing boat.

I thought I was going to like Children of Men because it was an action/sci-fi movie. In reality, the only thing sci-fi I saw in the whole movie was a brief glimpse at Theo's cubical showing a futuristic looking computer monitor. There were action elements in the movie (car chases, gun battles, explosions, etc) but where an action movie would highlight these points Children of Men shows how they effect Theo and Kee. The movie is not shot like a normal action movie either. Instead of showing a whole scene where a fight is occurring the camera follows Theo around. It reminded me a lot of how the camera work is done in Battlestar Gallactica. It sort of seems like a documentary being filmed about Theo. The camera was always there following him. When their car was being chased the camera was in the car with them showing the chase from within the car. When Theo is running to escape a gun fight the camera follows instead of focusing on the battle. It was different than most movies I see, but I really enjoyed it.

Towards the end of the movie it becomes evident that Kee is going to have the baby before they get where they are going. My only complaint about the whole movie was the scene where Kee gives birth. The whole thing takes place in under a minute. A couple quick pushes and out came the baby. I'm not sure extending the scene would have added to the movie at all, but it would have added to the realism a little. After the child is born there is a very moving scene where Theo is trying to get Kee and her baby out of a building that is filled with rebels and is being attacked by the army. As they begin to head out of the building the baby starts crying. All of the civilians in the building line the halls to see the baby, the first in 18 years, as they walk through. No one stops them as the walk. A few people reach out to touch the child's feet, but mostly they just look in awe. As they approach the exit the army storms in and the first soldier sees the baby and calls for a cease fire. They walk out through the soldiers who stop fighting to look at the baby. As they get further away from the building a rocket is fired from the building the the silence of the cease fire is broken as the soldiers turn from watching the baby and return fire.

Theo and Kee run from the building to a rowboat they had arranged to use previously. Theo rows out them out and shows Kee how to burp he daughter since Kee has never been around a baby before. Kee sees blood in the bottom of the boat and thinks she is bleeding, but Theo calms her and says that it was he that had been shot. As Theo fades out of consciousness, presumably dying, the movie ends with Kee spotting the scientists' boat.

Even though the plot of the movie was about Theo helping Kee get to the coast the movie was really about hope. How something as small as a baby can bring hope to an entire country and possibly to the world. My review can't do justice to how good this movie is. It was the best movie I'd seen in a very long time.

The Prestige vs The Illusionist

*** Spoiler Alert ***

I watched both The Illusionist and The Prestige in the last week, finally. Yes, I know I'm a few months late. For two movies set both set in the early 1900s, in Europe, about magicians they are very different movies. Despite the similar settings I was surprised how different the movies really were. The Illusionist is, at its heart, a love story while The Prestige is a drama/thriller. Due to the characters being magicians both have a lot of mystery in them. Both have that moment where you find out how the magician's signature trick is done, but the effect of this in each movie is extremely different.

When the big reveal occurs in The Illusionist arrives you're ending the movie happily ever after. The story takes some unique twists and turns as you get to this point, but in the end the hero gets the girl and the bed guy dies. You do spend a good portion of the movie thinking that the main character's love interest is dead, but when you get to the end and find out she is alive all of the illusions are revealed to see how a couple in love have beat the odds to live their lives together.

In The Prestige the big reveal at the end shows you how far a man will go to be the best in the world at his trade. Unlike the love story in The Illusionist, the love interest in The Prestige are there to help show the effects of two men battling each other to be the best magician in the world. The battle these two men take cost them dearly and in the end you see the true cost of their obsession. There is no "happily ever after" in The Prestige for the main character. He becomes the best magician in the world but it cost him everything. His adversary never can top his opponents best trick, but he gets to keep a small portion of the things he life and family. Yet, for both characters the cost is high and the rewards few.

I like both movies but for very different reasons. I like The Illusionist because of the final portion of the movie where all of the questions get answered and the tricks revealed. I liked The Prestige because of how the characters interact with each other as the plot progresses. I'd recommend both movies to anyone looking for a good drama/mystery.

Amazon Unbox on TiVo Review

Amazon Unbox has been renting and selling Movies and TV shows for download on a computer for a while. They recently partnered with TiVo and added the option to download directly to your TiVo. This interests me a lot more than downloading to a computer. The only time I ever watch movies on a computer is when I travel. Then, I'll watch movies on my laptop during plane flights. However, I watch movies on my TV pretty frequently and the option to have them put strait on my TiVo saves the time of going to Blockbuster.

The sign up and setup were easy. I just specified my TiVo info and it found my TiVo box automatically. Very simple and painless. If I had not already had an account on TiVo.com I'm not sure how it would have worked, but I did so it was not an issue. The best part was that by signing up before April 30th I got a $15 credit so my first few rentals will be free (offer details).

The Unbox site is a pain to use when looking for a movie. This is partially because not all of the movies can be downloaded to a TiVo. You have to search for TiVo and it will list only those movies that can be downloaded to a TiVo, but it would be easier if they just made a separate section for titles available for the TiVo. The other issue I have with the site is that there is no easy way to browse new release movies. They really could use a New Release section that has the movies that were just released onDVD the last couple weeks. Instead, you have to go to the Movies section and search for TiVo. Then, try and sort them in a way that works for you. It could be laid out much better. The selection of available movies is limited but not really too bad. I found a couple movies I'd not seen that I wanted to watch.

After picking a movie the download started within a few minutes. I'm not sure how long it took exactly. I started it in the afternoon and then went out to dinner. By the time I got home it was downloaded. The prices are about average. $4 for a movie rental that lasts 24 hours once you start watching it. Pretty similar to On Demand movies from a cable provider. Nothing really ground breaking in the pricing, but it was not any more than going over to Blockbuster. The benefit is that you have 30 days to watch it to once it is downloaded whereas with Blockbuster you have a week to return it.

The movie I rented first was The Illusionist. It looked fine. I have a 32 inch standard definition TV and it looked as good as anything else I watch. My only annoyance with the actual movie experience was the lack of surround sound. I did not really notice in this movie, but in an action movie it would have been annoying not to have the full surround sound.

So, to recap, the prices are about average. The movie selection is not a good as Blockbuster, but there were still a decent amount of movies. I'm sure they will continue to add more as the service grows. It is nice to have a month to watch the movie instead of just a week. The movie itself looked fine on a Standard Def TV, but it would be nice if they had a option to rent them in High Def. My only real complaint about the whole thing is with the Amazon Unbox website. It can be a hassle to browse through movies, but if you have a specific movie in mind it is easy enough to search for.

300 Review

*** Spoiler Alert ***

I saw 300 today and I have to say that I really liked it. I'm not a movie critique by any means. As long as there is decent action and effects I probably like it, but 300 goes beyond having just a list of fights stringed together. The movie has a unique graphical style that just works. It is by no means realistic, but at the same time it is not over the top with blatant effects and graphics. The graphics are well balanced. The scenes between the fighting are probably there to move the plot along enough to get to the next fight, but I did not really mind them. Without a few breaks in the fighting this movie could have been very intense. As it is, the fights are intense because they make it clear early on that not everyone is going to live through the movie. In most movies you know the heroes are going to win in the end, but with that idea gone it adds volumes to the suspense. A lot of times movies with large battles jump from person to person very quickly to try and convey the speed of battle. 300 instead focus on one or two people through each battle. I love this about 300. The fights actually show people fighting for more than just a half second as they kill their opponent. Sure, some people still die very quickly, but you see the warriors fluid motions as they fight.

My only complaint is the couple of nude scenes that seem to be added just for the sake of putting a few naked women on the screen.

300 will not be for everyone. It is what my wife would call a "guy movie." It is bloody. It is not really gory. You don't have people’s guts spilling out, but you do have a lot of blood flying around. Also, it does not have the usual happy ending with the main characters walking off the battle field hurt but able to live the rest of their lives.

I definitely give this film two thumbs up, and I’m glad I saw it in the theater so I could get the full experience. A lot of movies don't warrant the extra cost to watch in the theater, but movies like 300, with great action and cinematography, are worth the extra few dollars to see in the theater instead of renting it.