imdb Photos
Plot: Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) gets a bag of pills from a friend that unlocks his inner potential, and he become widely successful instantly. He gets a job with tycoon Carl Van Loon (Robert De Niro), and gets back his old girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish.) Sadly the pill has some side effects, and other pill-using people are desperate to get more for themselves.
Review: I like the premise of Limitless, and I'm surprised mental performance drugs arn't more popular. This drug isn't very realistic, but maybe a drug like this will day be available.
I like how the down-and-out Eddie became successful, and then how the implications of his success worked their way through his life.
Bradley Cooper gave a good subtle performance, and the dialog was strong too. The directing was creative. I liked the use of duplicate characters and telescoping camera views to tell the story. The opening telescoping camera sequence is one of the best opening credits I've seen in years. The directing and quick pace made the movie more fun.
I like De Niro, but his character did not make much sense. He does give some good speeches though. Gennady the thug does not make sense either. The bad guys seem just too powerful.
This movie was fun to watch, and although Limitless is just for fun with no deep meaning -- that is OK.
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro and Abbie Cornish
Directed by: Neil Burger, based on the novel Alan Glynn
Rating: 3.0 stars
More: The story is very much like Flowers for Algernon.
.
imdb Photos
Plot: Evil space aliens have come to earth with their army, and they are taking over Los Angeles, and other cities, but this movie focuses on one LA-based platoon of Marines and their struggle against the alien invader. Sargent Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart) with his platoon rescues some civilians, and then takes them to safety, which turns out to be hard because of the advancing aliens. Once the civilians are safe, Nantz turns his attention to defeating the aliens -- rather like Independence Day, the movie from 1996.
Review: First the good parts, the special effects were pretty good -- way better than Independence Day. Second, the individual soldiers had names and back stories which I liked, but once the battle started the soldiers blurred together -- except for Lieutenant Martenez (Ramon Rodriguez) who is a stereotyped green, wimpy officier that manly Sargent Nantz had to inspire. Third, it is nice to see American soldiers defending America, and finally there is a nice feel-good ending.
The bad parts include the dull middle which seemed like endless rifle battles with nearly indestructible alien soldiers. There was an unendurable scene where Sargent Nantz proved his devotion to his men by reciting their serial numbers from memory while standing nose-to-nose with some poor Marine -- it just went on forever. I actually closed my eyes to get some rest while I waited for it to end. Aaron Eckhart looks like a soldier, but his performance was not good enough to carry the movie. His part was written for classical 'John Wayne' tough guy, and is not a contemporary hero. Finally and most importantly this movie was not fun-to-watch; I can forgive a lot if a film is enjoyable. This movie was dreary.
The real message of Battle: LA is how tough Americans can be when challenged.
Cast: Aaron Eckhart
Directed by: Jonathan Liebesman
Rating: 2.0 stars (maybe less) My wife liked it alot; she even clapped at the end.
More: The invasion occurs in April, but the announcer says Pacific Standard Time -- actually it would be daylight time.
.
Plot: Congressman David Norris (Matt Damon) is running for Senate, but he loses. Before he gives his concession speech he meets Elise (Emily Blunt) and they have an immediate cosmic connection -- then he gives a memorable and inspirational speech that canupults him into office the next time. Soon David sees his associates having their memories erased by mysterious men like from Men in Black. Next David mets Harry (Anthony Mackie) and the rest of the Adjustment Bureau, and they tell him to follow the preordained plan -- forget Elise, and stick to politics. David and Elise can't do that, and they fight to save their love against the considerable supernatural powers of the Adjustment Bureau.
Review: This is a clever story about lovers fighting against fate to stay together, and the hand of fate is wielded by guys in suits and hats. Matt Damon is wonderfully likeable, and the 1:1 scenes between Damon and Emily Blunt are emotional and interesting. There was not much dialog between them, and much was about Action Movie dialog about staying ahead of the bad guys. The bad guys are mysterious and powerful, especially as we learn more about the yet more mysterious Chairman.
There are dozens of cameos by newspeople and politicians, which was fun and added realism, but was also distracting. There were great images of New York City throughout -- enough that the producers should be getting paid by the NYC tourist bureau.
The sound track is strong -- I bought three songs when I got home.
The film takes on the big issue of predestination and freewill. Clearly the world of the movie has very limited freewill, and supernatural beings push the world back into plan when it strays. This is interesting in itself, but I am not sure that is being presented as a serious model of how the world really works -- just as the basis for a story. The movie really is about following your heart and doing the right thing.
Cast: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt
Written (screen play) and directed by: George Nolfi; Based on the short story by the great Phillip K Dick.
Rating: 3.0 stars; strong performances, good story, enjoyable, but not super fun-to-watch. Good engagement of serious issues.
More: At the end Harry tells us to fight for the sake of free will, and that sounds like good advice -- but I am not sure what that means. I think he means follow your heart.
.
imdb Photos
Plot: John (Alex Pettyfer,) an alien boy, is hiding on earth from enemies, who are searching for him, and father-like guardian Henry (Timothy Olyphant) is there to help. John, who is 17 years old, decides to blend in at a high school where he meets jock bully Sam (Callan McAuliffe), and cutie Sarah (Dianna Agron.) Soon the evil aliens arrive -- leading to climatic action.
Review: Surprisingly good. #4 starts out with high school bully and nerd action, and it looks an episode of Power Rangers, but the school scenes are just setting up the characters for a snappy conclusion.
The best part is the notion of a young person growing up, and finding out that he is special, and can do things that matter -- in this case flinging aliens like Iron Man does.
The performances were good including the two leads Pettyfer and Agron. Timothy Olyphant had some good lines too. The special effects were low-end, and the aliens looked like they came from Face Off. At times it was hard to get past the make-up, and the strangely normal voice of the evil alien.
The closing fight scenes were very good with simple special effects used well, and the fight scenes were not too long.
Cast: Alex Pettyfer, Dianna Agron, Timothy Olyphant
Directed by: DJ Curuso; based on the book by Pitticus Lore (a clever pseudonym for Jobie Hughes and James Frey)
Rating: 2.5 stars; It gets points for funness, but loses points for mindlessness. At first I wanted to give it a 3.0, but the more I think about the less I liked it. This is a move to be enjoyed with popcorn, and is perhaps a guilty pleasure. It has a 2.5 since I'd be embarrassed to have it my 2011 top ten.
More: I want to see Teresa Palmer and Alex Pettyfer kick ass in the sequel.
Even more: Everyone wants a beagle like Benny Kocar.
.
imdb Photos
Plot: Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) is in a taxi accident and when he leaves the hospital, another man has assumed his identity, and his wife (January Jones) has forgotten him. He finds the taxi driver Gina (Diane Kruger) to help retrace his steps, and soon killers are after both of them.
Review: Unknown starts like a high concept movie with a man whose identity was assumed by someone else, and no one can tell. Just when I decided that maybe this was a Bertolt Brecht story with surrealist idea of identity, the films reveals its true identity as a mindless action movie, and omniscient thugs arrive to start killing people.
There are chase scenes and explosions. Lots of Liam Neeson being outraged.
The plot twists into a pretzel, and the movie ends in a stupid and unsatisfying way. If the ending had been better I might have liked this movie.
Most of the movie fun enough to watch until the end at least. I was not very fond of Liam Neeson, but I liked January Jones.
Cast: Liam Neeson, Duane Kruger, January Jones
Directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra
Rating: 2.0 stars, edging closer to 1.5
More: The German in the movie was pretty easy, and the accent was easy to understand.
.
imdb Photos
Plot: Hired assassin Arthur Bishop (Jason Stathum) is hired to kill one of his friends, and after doing so undertakes to teach the friend's son, Steve (Ben Foster), how to be an assassin because he feels obligated. The two assassinate some guys, and blow up some stuff. Someone double crosses Arthur, then Arthur and Steve hunt that guy down.
Review: This movie was fun to watch while I was watching it. In the theater I was thinking that the violence was stronger than average, and followed the story easily. The killing was bloodless, but the killers were cold-blooded -- killing without morality.
After I left the movie, I started thinking about how little of the movie made sense. All Action movies are like this, but The Mechanic is worse. It glosses over a million details. Some action movies have a who-dun-it element, and it is interesting to follow the twists of the story and guess what will happen -- we don't get that here.
Arthur is far more interested in Steve than any woman. Arthur does not have a girl friend, just a regular prostitute who does not even know his name.
I liked the Jason Statham character, and he is the only likeable character even though he kills people for money. The fact that he was likeable is a tribute to the acting and direction.
There were good quality special effects and good art direction. Bland soundtrack.
There is a homosexual element in the Arthur and Steve relationship and it is made more obvious by the Steve's homosexual bait assassination plot line. [VAGUE SPOILER] That assassin is just like Arthur, and Steve kills him. It foreshadows the end of the movie.
Cast: Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Donald Sutherland
Directed by: Simon West; based on the story by Lewis John Carlino (originally filmed in 1972)
Rating: 2.0 stars; Fun to watch; Just accept that most of the action scenes make no sense. Probably deserves to be 1.5 stars based on merit, but it was enjoyable anyway.
More: I like the cool looking tube amplifier. It looks cool even though anyone who prefers tubes to transistors must be an idiot. It is like a Steam-Punk Music system.
No way would I want to lovingly clean dust off vinyl records before I played music.
Yes, I know tubes are different because they distort more, why would want distortion to listen to classical? Maybe for distortion guitar rock or electrified Pop, but I don't get tubes for classical. .
imdb Photos
Plot: Emma (Natalie Portman) and Adam (Ashton Kuscher) were childhood friends, and then meet as adults. Soon they are regularly hooking up for sex, and agree to just be friends. They even break-up, and see other people to create some distance. But one thing leads to another, and soon No Strings Attached is off to romantic comedy utopia.
Review: The premise of No Strings Attached is two busy adults having sex regularly with no strings attached -- or no other commitments. This weak premise is not enough to build a movie around, but three things save it , supporting characters, sex-talk dialog, and Natalie Portman's acting.
The minor characters included alternate love interests for both Emma and Adam, the best of which is Lucy played by Lake Bell - she was so funny as the nerdy, artsy assistant and Adams 2nd love interest. Kevin Kline as Adam's father has some interesting sitcom scenes.
There are a lot of jokes that are only funny because of their vulgarity and the frank way that the characters deliver them. Some were pretty funny, and none were actually offensive to me. The movie affects coolness by how frank and open it is about sex.
I liked Natalie Portman a lot in Black Swan, and she is good here in a much different role. We occasionally see the great facial acting we saw in Black Swan.
The film is actually a romantic comedy, but it takes a while to realize that. This makes the movie more likable since for a while we don't know where it is going.
Cast: Natalie Portman, Ashton Kuscher, Kevin Kline, Lake Bell
Directed by: Ivan Reitman, who has a cameo as the director of the Glee-like TV show within the movie
Rating: 2.5 stars; Probably would be 2.0 if I were more objective. It was surprisingly good based on the low expectations that I had going in.
More: I was sure that No Strings Attached was written by a man, and that Emma -- the female sex fiend hottie -- was just a male writer trying to projecting the girl he would be if he were a girl -- that is actually a guy in a girl's body. It turns out that the real writers are two people, a woman and a man, Elizabeth Merriweather and co-author Mike Samonek. Of course, the character Adam is a writer, so he is clearly channelling one or both of them.
.
