The Other Man

    

Quick Summary: A man suspects his wife is cheating on him and sets out to confront the other man.    

Full Summary (Warning: Spoilers)    
     We start at a fashion show where we meet the family we'll be following for 88 minutes of this film. Peter(Liam Neeson) a software engineer, Lisa (Laura Linney) a shoe designer, and Abigail (Romola Garai) the daughter. After the show Abigail wanders off with her boyfriend George (Craig Parkinson) while Peter and Lisa head off to dinner. The conversation at the table this husband and wife of 25 years have,will set in motion the events to come. Lisa brings up the open ended and hypothetical question to her husband on what would be his thoughts and comments, if one of them had slept with someone else.
     That night in bed and the next morning, she keeps hinting at him that she has something she needs to say, but, just walks out the door like a normal day. We won't see her again, now we are taken along as Peter starts clearing out all his wife's belongings, including her cell phone. Seeing a voicemail on her phone he can't help listen to it and finds another man leaving a love message for his wife. Now, curiosity has the better of him and has started digging through her laptop files, stumbling upon a passworded file labeled Love. Hitting the roadblock with the password he can't decipher and moving onto the email folder where a message is discovered from a Ralph confessing his love for Lisa and about them being together. Peter is now dead set on finding and confronting this man she's had an affair with.
     Great thing about working at a software company, he has a security person that can trace the email address to it's IP address. While he waits for the address, an endless night of typing in passwords finally meets success as the folder is now unlocked. What's found will take the rage boiling inside to a new level, risque pictures of Lisa and Ralph at a lake in Spain. Only one thing to do now and that's for him to hop to the next flight to the address of the emailer...Milan, Italy. Milan a place Lisa is no stranger to due to her work in the fashion world. We now get to watch as Peter, having found Ralph, plays a daily game of chess at a local cafe with him, learning about the history of the two of them and how Ralph and Lisa met 12 years ago. Abigail has also come to Italy in search of her dad who has also gone missing and left clues to where he has wandered off to, she won't stay long seeing how much rage and hate her dad is carrying for this man. Eventually Peter needs to confront Ralph and does so by setting up a meeting in a hotel Ralph and his wife used to frequent.
     When Ralph gets to the hotel it's not Lisa waiting for him, but, Peter and he has now realized who this man he has been playing chess with actually is. We also are made aware how this whole time Lisa has actually been dead, having died of cancer, explaining why he cleared out her belongings and we never saw her again.  The two then exchange their views on Lisa and won't talk to each other again till the end of the movie when they meet at a party in London, thrown by Ralph in Lisa's honor, which will mark the closure that Peter needs.

My thoughts:   
      If this movie sounds dull, your wrong, it's a snooze fest. A very slow moving drama that goes nowhere really fast. With characters you really never get to know and could careless as to what happens to them in the end. Much of the dialogue is so uninteresting it will just help to loosen your eyes from the screen and attempting a plot twist that doesn't work, just to bring up more questions and head scratching. It's a movie about the length one man will go to find out the truth he already knows. At the end of the movie you'll just be left wondering why you sat through this drab movie and what was the director (Richard Eyre) trying to achieve.

Legion

         Welcome to Paradise Falls, no... it's not the mystical land from 'Up'. It is the name of the rundown gas station / diner in the middle of the Nevada desert where the film plays out. Paradise Falls has been hit with Route 66 syndrome and has fallen off the map and is now a spot for those lost travelers that missed the turn for the interstate.

     The diner is owned by Bob Hanson (Dennis Quaid) who works with his son who's the mechanic, Jeep Hanson (Lucas Black). We are first led to the diner by Kyle Williams (Tyrese Gibson) who is lost on the desert road, we are also introduced to the Anderson's who are stranded because of a broken down BMW that is too technical for the antiquated shop to fix. Also joining into this quaint diner gang is Charlie (Adrianne Palicki) a girl 8-months pregnant and Percy Walker (Charles S. Dutton) the short order cook. Everything is as you would expect in this middle-of-nowhere hideaway, until Gladys Foster, a small old lady with her walker will mark the beginning of a long night for these desert castaways. For this little old lady goes from sweet to crazy and biting people in an instant, leading way for more crazies to come down the old road.

      Along comes Michael, who arms and helps fortify the diner against these crazy people, who are out for blood. It appears that outside of the desert an apocalypse of biblical proportions is taking place, Michael informs us that god has lost all faith with man and is set to exterminate them. These people coming to the diner are possessed by angels sent by god, whose mission is to kill the baby Charlie is carrying. Michael of course is the arch-angel who defies gods order and has vowed to help save the baby's life, the Messiah and stop the apocalypse. Not only do they have to battle zombie-like humans, but swarms of insects and ultimately a showdown with Gabriel the angel who is sent to do the deed that Michael was suppose to do.

     As for my point of view it was an OK supernatural thriller. What I liked was these possessed people still could walk and talk and think, unlike most zombies you usually find. Unfortunately, there isn't much else that really makes this film stand out, the acting wasn't outstanding, besides maybe a couple cool creature effects this movie doesn't have much going for it. The bad about it is... surprise, it's at a gas station in the middle of nowhere and it went a little to biblical for me. Also about half way through it really slowed down as the characters start bickering with each other and confessing the bad in their lives. Also not that original of a plot and nothing to really make this movie stand out in the genre. I can't help comparing certain parts of dialog at the beginning and end to Sarah Connor in the Terminator movies (Which also featured an apocalyptic event). I'm sorry its a short posting but there's only so much you can go on about with 90% of the movie taking place in the confines of a small diner (Flashback to 'Maximum Overdrive').

The Rocketeer

     Based on the graphic novel by Dave Stephens. Setting 1930's, pilot and air racer, Cliff Secord (Bill Campbell) has just accidentally stumbled upon an object of value to the federal government and the Nazi's. A rocket-pack, designed by Howard Hughes (Terry O'Quinn) and sought after as a game changer in the war. Cliff doesn't know exactly what has fallen into his hands until a Nazi spy disguised as a Hollywood actor (Timothy Dalton) kidnaps Cliff's girl Jenny (Jennifer Connolley). To save the day and the country, Cliff must learn to harness the use of the rocket with his mechanic friend Peevy (Alan Arkin) and become to many, a superhero... The Rocketeer.
     I have always loved this film, it has a great story and a really good production design. Director Joe Johnston and Cinematographer Hiro Narita, are able to capture the feel of a comic book movie while keeping the 1930's alive and bringing some aerial filming that was state of the art in 1991. Unfortunately, the nail in the coffin for this movie was another movie released the same weekend 'Terminator 2' which clobbered 'The Rocketeer' in the box office. Disney's plans for a sequel and theme park ride were now lost to a machine. For being almost two decades old it can still hold up today, and is great seeing many now A-list actors back in their beginnings.

A rocket pack and helmet can be found at Disney's Hollywood Studios at Peevy's Polar Pipeline

Movie Count: 6

Clash of the Titans (2010)

      It's been a while since I've fully watched the original movie, therefore I will keep my comments strictly to the new movie and not compare it to the original film it is based on.
      What a piece of CGI waste is all I can say, I know I'll probably catch flak for that comment, to me this was another one of those lets see how many fancy CGI battles we can do on screen and in-between toss in some story and dialogue. To sum up the story and all its mythological background is a little easier said than done, Perseus (Sam Worthington) must go on a journey to save the fabled city of Argos from the underworld. See, way back three brothers fought out against their parents the Titans and afterwords each was given a region to rule: Zeus (Lian Neeson) the heavens, Poseidon (Danny Huston) the seas, and Hades (Ralph Fiennes) the underworld. Zeus and Poseidon create man and with their mortal prayers are able to maintain their power as gods, Hades sees another way of power and that's making the mortals fear the gods. Thus starting an epic war between mortals and the gods.

Unfortunately what could of been a great epic story, is lost, when much of the mythology and story gets over powered with the CGI monsters and creatures. All I can say is I'm glad I didn't rush out to see it in 3-D like I wanted to, because I didn't see anything where the fast 2-D to 3-D conversion would of helped it. I can't not totally hate it though, as I am a huge fan of the Greek mythology stories. This is one of those movies that is a great example of how when directing, there needs to be a balance of action and story. I think much of it is with Louis Leterrier having not had a ton of directing under his belt, mainly the first 'Transporter' films and the reboot of 'The Incredible Hulk'. I think taking on a film of this size was a little over his head, after being handed the reins from Stephen Norrington (Who stepped down after not seeing the original and feeling he couldn't make a faithful remake without watching the first extensively). I have a feeling though that this is one of those that in a few years time will probably be remade once again. There is a great story there, its just it needs the right person in modern Hollywood to tell it. If your a fan of CGI and big action sequences you'll enjoy it, everyone else will probably go back to watching the original.

Unstoppable

  

     The movie is inspired by the true events that took place on March 15, 2001 in Toledo, Ohio. In which a locomotive left a railyard without an engineer and ran through three counties and sixty-six miles before it was stopped. 'Unstoppable' takes place in modern day Pennsylvania, where one morning during what should have been a routine track switch in a railyard. A bumbling and lazy mechanic decides to leave the cab and manually switch a track that wasn't thrown, before he can get back in to the cab, the train accidentally drops into drive and is unable to catch up to the train on foot. Now with a runaway train on her hands dispatcher Connie (Rosario Dawson) must find someway to get runway train 777 stopped before a major incident. Way down on the opposite end of the main-line, Frank Barnes (Denzel Washington) and Will Colson (Chris Pine) have started the day with picking up their load of cars. What they are unaware of, is that in the end after all other measures have failed, it will be up to these two (the old railroader of 28 years and the newbie hotshot) to bring their knowledge together and put their lives and their locomotive on the line to stop the runaway 777, before it reaches an elevated 'S' turn and derails into a heavily populated town.
     This is why I still go to the movies, to see this kind of action movie on the big screen. The best thing, it was a train movie not involving a terrorist plot and the cargo not a full train of nuclear chemicals, but, a few cars of a highly combustable materal used in glue production. So, it was a believable bomb on rails at least.  It also was not in 3D! It kept paced and never really dragged at any point. Of course there are some diviations from the original true story, such as placing fuel holding tanks under the elevated 'S' curve and changing the chemical to a more hazardous one. However the unmanned train, the efforts to stop it and the final use of a train in reverse to hunt down another train remain true to the original true story. Here's a piece on the actual event (http://kohlin.com/CSX8888/z-final-report.htm). So of course it was made more dramatic and climatic for the movie, but, if it was all real it would be a documentary not an action movie. Movies aren't there to educate or re-tell history but to provide a couple hours entertainment and if they want to use a real story as a basis for a film, rather than re-make another or use a tired plot thats fine by me. Since it's still in theaters and not many may of heard of it, I figured I'd throw the trailer on t the end of this posting. As usual Tony Scott does some really nice directing and choice of shots in creating a different feel on chase scenes. Instead of using choppy editing and blurring the frames to give the sense of speed, he utlizes the camera in different angles to give that sense of speed.

Old Dogs

     I just finished up watching Disney's 'Old Dogs', one of their family films from last year. The movie follows Disney's family comedy format of such movies like 'Wild Hogs' and 'College Road Trip'.  'Old Dogs' follows two sports marketing executives, Charlie (John Travolta) and Dan (Robin Williams) through a series of events occurring during one of their biggest business events in their company. Through back stories, we learn these two have a long thirty year history together and watching each others back.

     The main story point in this movie centers around Dan finding out that due to a crazy weekend in South Beach a few years ago, he has two kids that have suddenly entered into his life. Dan has a past history of being a klutz and with letting people walk all over him. Charlie is the complete opposite, he's very outspoken and very take charge. Thus allowing one to balance out the other, or at least try to, when they are given a situation. When Dan is asked to watch the kids, who just came into his life for two weeks, they will change his world forever. Constantly interfering with his work and causing chaos around the house, Dan and Charlie, are at wits end on how to deal with the children and make this business deal at the same time. Ultimately, it comes down to the big question, what matters more in life, work or family?
     Review wise, the movie is your cookie cutter Disney family comedy. Unfortunately, it does not deliver as their other ones have recently. Most of the movie feels as though they are trying to hard to make the jokes and story work. There was great potential for something really good and truly funny, but, I think this was a swing it and miss. When I dug into this movies past, it seems there is a reason for this. Originally, Touchstone was to release this movie with a 'R' rating. Due to poor test screenings, the decision was made to drastically alter the film, which required re-editing and cutting it down from 107 min. to its 88min. With the new edit came a 'PG' rating and a change in distributor to 'Walt Disney Pictures' with the aim at a kid-friendly audience. Also coming with this movie was some more bad news for it, three delays, which created a nearly year long delay in releasing. Bernie Mac, who has a small part in this movie had passed away. Then Jett Travolta, son of John Travolta and Kelly Preston (who also has a role in this movie) also had passed away. Then there was one other delay, when Robin Williams, encountered a medical problem requiring surgery.
     Unfortunately, I think Disney has realized, not everything works being made kid-friendly. But, just cause an adult may find this movie a little unfunny or forced funny. Kids will surely be amused by the physical comedy (oh yes, the glorious golf ball to the crotch moment) and the zaniness of Travolta and Williams. This was just a movie that seemed plagued with problems from beginning to end and it shows, but, don't let it stop you if your a fan of Disney family films or of the stars.

Armored

     Just finished watching 'Armored', which is a by-the-numbers heist movie. A group of armored car carriers, set to make a big cash delivery, decide to stage a hold up and make off with the money. From the start it is almost a textbook heist movie from the setup to the execution. A group consisting of Matt Dillion, Laurence Fishburne, Jean Reno and  few others, are teams aboard two armored cars that are to make a Federal Reserve shipment of 24 million each. The goal stash the money and fake a robbery. The plan seems to be going according as planned until the typical issue a rises where a witness, sees them unloading the money, next thing they have a dead witness and the plan starts going down the drain little by little. The next thing they know one of their buddies (Columbus Short) turns on them and is willing to wait it out inside one of the transports and give them hell until the calvary shows up. Like I said a standard heist movie, inside men try to steal the goods and plans get fouled up. Can't say too bad about it though kept me up at 1 in the morning without putting me to sleep.

Super Mario Bros.

The movie that was a first of its kind and an original idea, a movie based on a video game franchise. It was considered a bomb and forgotten by many and watched by even fewer now-a-days. Except for a select few and a cult following of video game enthusiasts.
The movie centers around two main characters like in the game series, Mario (Bob Hoskins) and Luigi) John Leguizamo, a pair of plumbers from New York. Our story here is focused around Princess Daisy (Samantha Mathis) who is a paleontologist that was born in a parallel dimension, created when a meteor hit the earth millions of years ago. In this dimension dinosaurs have evolved into human based life forms, led by the dictating ruler Koopa (Dennis Hopper). Koopa has sent two goons into New York to kidnap and return the Princess to the other dimension through the dig site she just happens to be working at. What he does not count on is two unlikely plumbers following her through the portal. Ultimate goal of King Koopa, to merge the two dimensions together and take over the human side, which is far cleaner and better than the one he is stuck in. All of which will go according to plan unless two plumbers can save the day.
     What's great about this movie, over some of the other recent video game movies, are how many nods there are to the actual game. They may not be out right and obvious, but, when you go back and listen to the dialog and watch background objects you'll start seeing more. For those from the 90's it even feature the SNES Super Scope as Koopa's ultimate weapon. It may not be the best convert from a game into a movie, but, they had to make a movie that would appeal to movie goers and game players. They also had to do it with out the use of the heavy laden CGI that video game movies, today, rely on so much. At the end the ultimate point I want to make, its not designed to be an Oscar winner and be a famous classic, its there as pure fun and geared towards those that grew up around the original Mario games.

Back to the movies

When this blog originally started it was geared around me doing a movie watching challenge. Believe it or not I've had a couple readers disappointed that, that purpose had been given up and lost. So...Starting 1-1-11 I'll be implementing and starting a new version of that challenge with a more achievable goal and guidelines. It will also give me something to write about again, being that I don't really do much else to write about except once in a blue moon when I go somewhere new. The new challenge will center around counting and seeing how many movies I can see in one years time January 1st, 2011 - January 1st, 2012. Instead of a fixed number goal, the simple goal will be to see just how many I can do and maybe in 2012 strive to reach and pass that goal again. With a baby on the way and work it will take many early mornings and late nights to squeeze those movies in. But, for those of you that know me there's nothing I enjoy more than watching movies.

Cowboys and Aliens

I've never heard of the comics or the story...but...this movie is now on my must see in theaters list. Harrison Ford back in the action/sci-fi genre again where he belongs.