October 12, 2006

THE DEPARTED











Is Martin Scorsese a filmmaking Genius? Has Martin Scorsese won an Oscar for Directing? Most people would agree that Scorsese knows how to put art on the moving screen with the most gifted actors on the planet, but one must ask the question, “Why has he not won an Academy Award for Best Director?” It was only a few years ago when Scorsese was thought to have guaranteed himself an Oscar, but Dirty Harry (i.e. Clint Eastwood) took home the gold with Million Dollar Baby – which I think is a film masterpiece. Guess What?! Scoresese and Eastwood will likely square off again with THE DEPARTED vs. FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS! This is going to get good ...

I know … I know … How was THE DEPARTED? Let me just say that it shouldn’t win the Oscar for Best Picture, but it has some of the best acting I have seen in recent memory. Jack Nicholson is back to what he does best … “Here’s Johnny!” WOW! Let me run down the rest of the cast:

Leonardo DiCaprio
Matt Damon
Mark Walhberg
Martin Sheen
Alec Baldwin

THE DEPARTED is a well acted, well scripted, ugly truth. Let me warn you, it is not for everyone. F-Bombs, Gruesome Violence, did I mention the F-Bomb.
If you want a clean taste of THE DEPARTED, watch the trailer in beautiful Quicktime HERE. Please pay special attention to the soundtrack during the second half of the Trailer … Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb. Best soundtrack to a Trailer in Years!

SCORE: 7/10 PLANETS

SUMMER MOVIE REVIEW

Even though MY RED CAPE has been empty for the last few months, I have still been watching all that Hollywood has to offer so you don’t have to …

Featured below are my ONE (MAYBE 2) SENTENCE REVIEW of all the movies I caught this summer, but didn’t have time to review. I am going to start with the most recent and work my way back. I didn’t see them in this order, but you won’t know the difference. HA! Enjoy.

THE BLACK DAHLIA

Detectives in 1940s Los Angeles looking for a Murderer is BORING! Hillary Swank turns in another excellent performance – I hate Scarlett Johansson.

SCORE: 5/10 PLANETS

HOLLYWOODLAND

I love movies that are “Based on a True Story,” especially when they revolve around the World’s Greatest Superhero. 1950s Los Angeles is BORING! Ben Affleck turns in a decent performance, but Oscar winner Adrien Brody does not.

SOCRE: 5/10 PLANETS

THE ILLUSIONIST

The best movie you won’t see … Powerful Story about one man’s passion for Magic and his Love for the beautiful Jessica Biel in turn-of-the-century Vienna. Paul Giamatti can do it all.

SCORE: 10/10 PLANETS

INVINCIBLE

Football Movie for both the guys and girls … Hard Work and Dedication do pay off. Another great movie from Disney.

SCORE: 8/10 PLANETS

STEP UP

Not my choice for a Friday evening at the local Cinemark, but after having sit on the front row and watching young people dance on a 15 foot screen … I still didn’t like it. HA!

SCORE: 6/10 PLANETS

TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY

Major Disappointment! As many of you know, I am a huge fan of NASCAR, but this was just not that funny. Will Ferrell can do much better … Go make fun of World Cup Soccer!

SCORE: 4/10 PLANETS

MIAMI VICE

What happened to the pastel suits? Michael Mann does a great job with the look and feel of “dirty” Miami, but I expected more from the director of great films like HEAT and COLLATERAL. They didn’t even use the 80s theme song …

SCORE: 7/10 PLANTES

LADY IN THE WATER

Wonderful Story that I would never tell my kids … You might get lost in the shuffle of dialogue, but be patient because this movie has a silver lining. Again, Paul Giamatti is Awesome!

SCORE: 8/10 PLANETS

YOU, ME, & DUPREE

Piece of Trash! You knew the famous phrase was coming at some point … Don’ waste your money. Not Funny, Not Funny!

SCORE: 2/10 PLANETS

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST

Did you like the Cliffhanger Ending? I guess that is what over $1 Billion Worldwide will get you – a 3rd Sequel. I personally like the original better because it was fresh and new. Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley are perfect as always. Did I mention that Keira Knightley was perfect? I thought so …

SCORE: 8/10 PLANETS

CLICK

Out on DVD this Week. I didn’t get to see this until late in the Summer, but it was Awesome! Sandler at his Best! Go out and Rent Today.

SCORE: 9/10 PLANETS

NACHO LIBRE

It has been fun saying, “Lucha Libre!” all summer! That’s all …

SCORE: 5/10 PLANETS

THE BREAK-UP

Is this Comedy or Drama? I wanted Comedy and got Drama. I love Vince Vaughn .. Support Vaughn.

SCORE: 6/10 PLANETS

X-MEN: THE LAST STAND

Not the best in the series, but still worthy of my Purchase. Out on DVD now …

SCORE: 8/10 PLANETS
POSEIDON

If you haven’t rented POSEIDON by now … Good. Special Effects were filmed in a bath tub with a 4 year old.

SCORE: 4/10 PLANETS

July 10, 2006

Delayed Review - SUPERMAN RETURNS

"Where do I begin?" This is the question that has blocked my ability to review SUPERMAN RETURNS! Until I finish the definitive review of SR, I will tease you with this:



Exceeded my Expectations!
Brandon Routh is my New Hero.
Kevin Spacey made Lex Luthor evil again.
Needed more Action!
Can't Wait for the Sequel ...

Start the TalkBack Now! Your comments are always Welcome ...

SCORE: 9/10 PLANETS

May 21, 2006

THE DA VINCI CODE

My reivew of THE DA VINCI CODE will be summed up in 5 short sentences. They are as follows:

Worse than the Book!
Wait until DVD (if you have to see it for yourself)!
No Oscar for Ron Howard or Tom Hanks!
Slow, Slow, Slow!
Please have Action Movie Director make "ANGELS & DEMONS"! Can you say J.J. Abrams?

Honestly, THE DA VINCI CODE was B-O-R-I-N-G! The screenwriters took what they wanted from Dan Brown's original work and pasted it together with rubber cement. The final 1/3 of the movie moved so far from the novel, I thought I might have fallen asleep only to awake in the wrong theater. This could have been a SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, but instead we got a "made-for TV-movie".

What was Ron Howard thinking? Is this the same director who brought us A BEAUTIFUL MIND and APOLLO 13!? Once you get past Tom Hanks "great" hair, you really start to appreciate his lack of creativity for our protaganist - Robert Langdon. All performances were dreadful and I wish I still had my $15.00 to waste on Comic Books.

Stay away ... Forget all the Controversy ... Stay Away because THE DA VINCE CODE just doesn't add up!

SCORE: 4/10 PLANETS

May 17, 2006

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III

Finally ... an Action Movie for the Action Movie FanBoys! I know there are those of you who think Tom Cruise has lost his mind, but if you love out-of-this-world stunts and non-stop action you can look no further than M:I3.

Tom Crusie is at his Best and J.J. Abrams is my newest Hero!

Sorry, but all that comes to mind is AWESOME! I can only hope X-MEN: THE LAST STAND and SUPERMAN RETURNS can live up to the hype because Tom Cruise brought the Thunder. BOOM!

SCORE: 9/10 PLANETS

May 02, 2006

SUPERMAN RETURNS TRAILER!

After watching this Trailer over 10 times in the last half hour, I want to put on my "Sheilded S" T-Shirt and run off the roof and attempt to fly. AWESOME! Is it a little early to start the ticket line?

You can view the trailer HERE in beautiful QuickTime!

Let me know what you think ...

April 30, 2006

UNITED 93

September 11, 2001. Four planes were hijacked (by Muslim extremists). Three of them reached their target (killing thousand of innocent people). This is the story of the fourth (they were the first to fight back).

Everyone should see this movie as soon as possible. How soon we all forget what really happened on that dark day in September. UNITED 93 is a real-time account of the courage shown by the passengers on United Airlines Flight 93. It is not a human-interest story and he does not try to build characters or even a plot. What it does do is allow us to relive the emotion and fear that came from watching the towers fall – from this fear we regain a sense of hope and courage to know that people, in the face of death, were willing to stand up against evil even at the risk of their own lives. I asked myself the same question over and over again after leaving the theater … “What would you do?” I ask the same question of you, “What would you do?” I can only pray that I would be strong enough to stand up and fight.

In separate post below, you will find an article from The National Review Online that deals with the politics surrounding UNITED 93. No matter whatever side of the political spectrum you fall … please see this movie so you can be reminded of the evil that lives in this world and the good that can overcome.

SCORE: 9/10 Planets

9/11 Unvarnished - Rich Lowry

9/11 Unvarnished
United 93.
By Rich Lowry, National Review Online

Into a culture that has difficulty acknowledging the frank evil of our enemies and creating heroes whom we all can admire comes the extraordinary film United 93. It is the unvarnished story of the morning of Sept. 11 and the struggle that ultimately drove hijacked Flight 93 into the ground in Shanksville, Pa., at 580 mph.

United 93 adds no feel-good touches to its narrative, and within the bounds of taste (we see no bodies falling from the towers, for instance) is unsparing in relaying the awful reality of that day. That any controversy at all has adhered to the film — its promotional trailer was pulled from one Manhattan theater and prompted complaints at others — is as "disturbing" as some squeamish moviegoers have said the United 93 preview was.

"Disturbing" is an odd complaint to make against such a movie. On Sept. 11, a group of young fanatical men caught us collectively napping; turned our high technology against us by hijacking our jetliners; stabbed crew and passengers aboard those planes; and plowed them into prominent symbols of our commerce and power in the most spectacularly savage terrorist attack the world has ever seen.

By any definition, that is disturbing. A movie about those events that doesn't create a pit of fear, anger and grief in your stomach is either poorly executed or detached from reality. United 93 is neither. Some people will naturally prefer lighter fare at the multiplex, but the resistance in our culture to grappling frontally with that day — news outlets have an informal ban on showing the plane striking the World Trade Center's south tower — has a whiff of escapism. To paraphrase the slogan from the horror movie The Fly, the message of Sept. 11 is, "Be disturbed, be very disturbed." We turn from it at our peril.

A related complaint against United 93 is that it is "too soon" for the movie. But we are headed toward the fifth anniversary of the attacks. We could be losing a major battle in the War on Terror in Iraq and seeing a flagging of resolve in the war generally, yet some people think we can't yet be reminded what started the whole thing: It's never too early to be defeated, but always too soon to recall the brutality of our attackers.

Memory is a key element of national identity, and flinching from a full and true memory of 9/11 risks distorting ours. Of course, we remember the victims. But it is just as important to remember the perpetrators and their nature. In the wake of Sept. 11, the makers of the movie The Sum of All Fears famously changed the film's terrorists from Muslims to white supremacists. There is obviously no such airbrushing in United 93. The film opens with the sound of the Muslim prayers of the hijackers in Arabic, as the camera pans over the streets of Manhattan. It's hard to get more stark, or chilling, than that.

It's also essential that we remember ourselves not just as victims on that day — remember not just what was sad, but what was inspiring. The passengers of Flight 93 were the first Americans to fight back. United 93 wisely avoids focusing too exclusively on any of the individual passengers. Instead, they are presented as an ensemble exemplifying many of the virtues of the American character: a great improvisational intelligence, as they quickly understand and cope with the radically new, horrifying circumstances they are presented with; an extraordinary civic facility, demonstrated by their ability to formulate rapidly a plan of action among themselves; and a fierceness when provoked. In preparation for the assault on the terrorists, one passenger tells a flight attendant: "Get every weapon you can find. We need weapons."

The heroism of those passengers is now forever part of our story as a nation. It's not too soon for a major Hollywood film that portrays it brilliantly. It's about time.

Rich Lowry is author of Legacy: Paying the Price for the Clinton Years.

THE SENTINEL

“In 141 years, there's never been a traitor in the Secret Service.... Until Now.” This is the tagline from the official movie poster and it is right on target. Michael Douglas is picture perfect as a Secret Service agent who is being framed for an assassination plot against the President. Kiefer Sutherland brings the energy that has made 24 one of the best shows on television to the big screen with brilliance. THE SENTINEL is an action thriller that keeps you locked and loaded until the final scene.

For all you ladies in the audience, if you husband/boyfriend asks you to go see THE SENTINEL – GO! There is honestly something for everyone. You will not be disappointed.

I must make one disclaimer … Kim Basinger has a small role as the First Lady, but that is overshadowed by Eva Longoria’s performance as a rookie Secret Service agent. Like I said, something for everyone!

SCORE: 8/10 PLANETS

April 29, 2006

AMERICAN DREAMZ

Do not even think about wasting your Time!
Do not spend any of your hard-earned Cash!

AMERICAN DREAMZ is a total piece of Trash! It is an absurd parody of TV’s #1 Reality Show American Idol and the Bush Administration. If is sound like a stretch … It normally is.

Hugh Grant is miserable as the “Simon Cowell” character. What ever happened to the NOTTING HILL Hugh?

Mandy Moore should either record another album or return to her roles in romantic comedies if she ever wants to break into the “young Hollywood” crowd. Can you say “Candy?”

Dennis Quaid is a disgrace to the Presidency. Why any agent would let their talent take this role is beyond me.

It seems that Chris Klein either never left the set of AMERICAN PIE or is still in love with Katie (excuse me, Kate) Holmes. Someone slap that smirk off his face … Please!

I will say it again: Do not waste your Time or Cash!

SCORE: 1/10 Planet