Friday, May 11, 2012
Avengers assemble for a fantastic superhero romp.
We've been building to this for some time. The first, nascent hint of an Avengers movie appeared in 2008's Iron Man. Since then, we've been introduced to the principals, and given tantalizing glimpses of what might come, in Thor, Captain America and the Iron Man sequel. The Avengers easily lives up to (and even exceeds) the expectations set in those films. With such an ensemble piece, my principle concern going in was that the film would be unfocused and wandering. There was a substantial risk that some heroes would be completely ignored or that their subplots would congeal into an incomprehensible mess. The film, though, turns its potential fatal flaw into its biggest success. The interplay between Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), the Hulk (…
Friday, April 20, 2012
Should you go see the "Three Stooges?" Why, soitenly!
The "Three Stooges" hit theatres this past weekend, and it had itself a mighty impressive showing. Moe, Larry and Curly raked in some 17 million dollars, which was good enough for second place, losing out to the juggernaut known as "The Hunger Games." Not too bad for three ding-a-lings hitting themselves over the head with hammers for an hour and a half. But I'm a professional movie reviewer, and I need to let you know if this film was good. I've got to tell you if this film is family-friendly. And you've got to know if this film is anything like the old TV show from way back when. Let's get to it, I'm ready. First off, I want to let you know that I was never a huge fan of the television show. I was one of those people who would click …
Friday, March 23, 2012
Do TV shows that are made into movies work? This one does.
What do "The Brady Bunch," "Mission: Impossible," "The A-Team," "The Dukes of Hazzard," and "The Incredible Hulk" all have in common? They are all TV shows that were made into feature films. This is nothing new in the film industry. If it works on television, why not try it out on the big screen? They've been doing this for years. It was a long time ago when "The Addam's Family" and "The Beverly Hillbillies" were on television, but that didn't stop some movie company from scooping up the rights to those shows and making feature films out of them. Hell, "Beavis and Butthead" and "Jackass" were just little TV shows, but they blew up into big feature films when someone said, "Hey, let's make a movie out of these idiots." And I'm glad they did…
Thursday, March 15, 2012
The sci-fi spectacle, "John Carter" is lucky it even kept me in the theater!
Science fiction... this is right in my wheelhouse. Hell, my nearest and dearest friends call me the "Sci-Fi Guy!" So when I heard about a movie being made by Disney, about a man who travels to Mars to save the planet from a global civil war, well let me tell you, I was as giddy as a school girl. Everybody has different tastes in movies. We all have a genre of film that we are drawn to. My brother, the X-Man, (he's a minor league movie reviewer) well, he's always loved horror films. So we nicknamed him "Horror Guy." And Billy D.? Well, he's called "Comedy Guy." You know why? Because his favorite movies are comedies. And I also have one more friend who loves the movies. We go together all the time. His name is Paul Fortey. He just LOVES …
Friday, March 9, 2012
Party hardy, rock-n-roll! You know the rest.
It's movie review time, so let's get right to it. "Project X." There are many movies out there in the celluloid stratosphere that suck. There are also many movies out there that are ground breaking originals. You have your masterpieces. You have your F/X littered extravaganzas. There are beautiful period pieces, and timeless fairy tales. You have something for everyone, and everyone loves something. So where do I put "Project X?" I don't know. I put it in limbo. A movie Purgatory, if you will. It should belong somewhere... but I just don't know where. As I walked out of the theatre some 72 hours ago, I was saying to myself, "Man, that was a good flick!" But three days have passed and I still have no real idea on how to write a review on …
Friday, March 2, 2012
I'm not a man. I'm not a man at all... These men are men.
The Oscars are over, and what a great night it was. I was pretty darn close on my predictions, and I looked absolutely stunning in my 'off the shoulder' Vera Wang rip-away tuxedo and my Jimmy Choo shoes. OK, you caught me in a lie, I wore pajamas. They were very nice though, they had "Transformers" prints all over them. Now, this is what Matty W. Kelley, a boy, talks about. Childish stuff. Movies and robots are the immature thoughts that flow through my tiny, little, pea-sized brain. This is because I like to think that life is simple. But life isn't simple. Not for everyone. There are men and women out there risking their lives for our country. They are risking their lives for our families and friends. They are risking their lives so I …
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
This movie could've just as easily been called "This Means: Score!"
Reese Witherspoon has a new movie out this weekend. Which usually means "romantic comedy." Which also usually means "chick flick." Which also means this movie could be terrible. Lately, whenever I think of romantic comedies, the first movie that pops into my head is "New Years Eve." And that movie was so bad, it almost turned me off from movies altogether. I mean, it's been two months, one week, and one day since it was released, and I can still taste the vomit in my mouth. I'm not lying, that movie almost killed me. But, fortunately for me (and for you) I am not reviewing "New Years Eve" today (I've reviewed it once already, and it took an eight hour acid bath to wash the stink off of me. It...just...kept...lingering!!!). Today, I'll be …
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Leave this one for the wolves.
Liam Neeson is an actor. Maybe one of the better actors of our generation. With film credits in "Gangs of New York," "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace," "Batman Begins," and "Schindler's List," it may seem that this man knows how to pick his roles. I'll give you a few more of his movies: "Taken," "Unknown," "Clash of the Titans," "Chloe," and "The A-Team." Personally, I think all these movies are very good films too. Now let's look at what's coming up for him. "The Dark Knight Rises," "Wrath of the Titans," the sequel to "Taken," and (the sci-fi guy's fave) "Battleship." All coming out in 2012 (except maybe the "Taken" sequel). Ok, after rattling off all those wonderful movies Mr. Neeson has been in, one would assume that his new film (in …
Friday, January 27, 2012
Haywire, Steven Soderbergh's latest film, is fatally underdeveloped.
Director Steven Soderbergh's latest effort, Haywire, is a superspy-gone-rogue thriller that tries to be slick but ends up underdeveloped and a little too paint-by-numbers. MMA fighter Gina Carano stars as Mallory, a "private contractor" brought in by the government to resolve sticky situations. She's (now, pretend to be shocked here) betrayed by her employer (Ewan McGregor), and is now out for revenge. The problem is, we've seen this movie before, and Soderbergh doesn't really shake things up enough to make this film different. You'd think that spy agencies would take the hint and stop trying to kill their best agents by this point. Indeed, this movie is more of the same, but less. All of the characters seem under-characterized and lack …
Friday, January 20, 2012
This spy film requires patience, but is rewarding nonetheless.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is quiet, and moves at a pace that could be described as "glacial," but is a smart and entertaining movie that rewards the patience of its audience. The film, based on the novel of the same name by John le Carre, takes place at the height of the Cold War, and follows a mole hunt at the top of the British secret service. Gary Oldman plays George Smiley, a "retired" (read: forced out) intelligence analyst brought back to suss out a double agent. Smiley must determine who among the upper echelon of the "circus" (the film's nickname for British intelligence) is betraying his country to Russia, or if the whole idea of a "mole" was simply part of the paranoia of former spymaster "Control." Oldman gives a great, if …
Riley
3:51 pm on Monday, August 27, 2012
The Three Stooges would always make me laugh whenever my dad would turn on the shows. Like you said, the older shows apply best to the older generation. Not surprisingly, some of my Dish coworkers who saw the movie say that it wasn’t as good as the old shows. I haven’t seen the Three Stooges yet, but I would like to form my own opinion on the movie, so I added it to the top of my Blockbuster @… more ›