Actors: David Duchovny, Timothy Hutton, Angelina Jolie,
Peter Stormare, Michael Massee, John Hawkes
Rating: 5 out of 10, I’m not sure what possessed me
to keep watching this – incredibly bad movie.
I’m pretty sure it was partly due to the extremely high unintentional comedy
level. Duchovny plays a drug addled
former doctor who’s called upon to perform emergency surgery in bars and hotel
rooms. Duchovny is okay, as is a
pre-body sculpted Jolie but Hutton is a complete and utter disaster as a
supposedly ruthless crime lord. I’ve
seen girl scouts that were more convincing villains. Don’t waste your time with this.
MVP: Duchovny as Dr Eugene Sands
Actors: Rooney Mara, Jude Law, Channing Tatum, Catherine
Zeta-Jones, Vinessa Shaw
Rating: 8 out of 10, Wow, unbelievable – a really
smart movie – huge surprise, although Channing Tatum as a Wall Street banker
was a bit of a stretch. A movie that
grants the audience a modicum of intelligence and then runs with it. I love movies that leave small early clues to
the major late plot shift, basically giving you the tools the figure out the
big surprise but not being obvious about it.
Mara is back in chameleon form seemingly a new character in each new
scene. However this movie belongs to Jude Law in arguably his strongest role
ever. He plays the victimized psychiatrist
who steadfastly pursues the truth. He’s
definitely moved beyond his pretty boy roles.
A great watch.
MVP: Law as Dr Banks tortured but triumphant
Actors: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Dylan
McDermott, Rick Yune, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett
Rating: 8 out of 10, Gerard Butler in full Leonidas
mode saving the day when terrorists seize the White House (again!). It pissed me off a
little bit to see the White House taken down (again!) but the action was relentless
and Butler can
really do this kind of thing. It was like seeing a return of Jack Bauer, but
with a sneaky Scottish accent. It was totally unbelievable and some of the plot
holes taken to keep the story moving were laughably farfetched but I still
loved the flick. The female actresses were a bit wasted but this was Butler's flick and he
delivered.
MVP: Butler
as the Mike Banning the ultimate Secret Service agent
Actors: John Cusack, Malin Akerman, Liam Cunningham
Rating: 6 out of 10, An interesting, if
flawed, spy thriller with Cusack once again playing a wrung out has-been (carving
out a real niche there). I liked this
because it was different; shot mostly in an underground bunker where a disgraced
CIA killer is under siege while protecting Akerman with both sides urging him
to kill her. I know the director was
aiming at some lofty comment on the insidious spy agencies but he accidently
made a fairly good movie, thanks mostly to Cusack and Akerman.
MVP: Cusack as Emerson the reluctant hero, a
killer discovering his conscience
Actors: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison,
Ringo Starr, Leo McKern, Eleanor Bron, Victor Spinetti, John Bluthal, Roy
Kinnear
Rating:
8 out of 10, Since I hear Beatles music all the time I had forgotten
just how charismatic the boys were at the height of their fame when this was
shot. The movie itself is a huge mess –
as if a highly stoned member of the Monty Python tried to make a Bond picture. It is still so much fun though, a real guilty
pleasure. The Beatles look impossibly
young and the iconic music still stands by itself.
MVP: Ringo
could actually act – a very little bit
Actors: Al Pacino, Alan Arkin, Christopher Walken, Julainna Margulies, Lucy Punch, Addison Timlin
Rating:
8 out of 10, Sometimes you just sit back and realize you’re watching
genius at work. The scenes between
Walken and Pacino represent two master craftsmen at work. There’s so much going on beyond the dialogue,
which is a good thing since Walken is at his monosyllabic best. You then throw in Alan Arkin and it ascends to
another level. Maybe I’m getting old
myself but this story of some aged hoods grabbing one more night of their youth
really struck a cord with me. So good.
MVP: Pacino
as Val is luminous
Actors: Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Tom
Wilkinson
Rating: 7 out of 10, I’d forgotten how downright
funny this movie is. Once I adjusted to
the accents (about fifteen minutes in) there are so many just drop your beer and
laugh out loud lines. The story of
semi-lovable losers contending with bleak employment opportunities and
resorting to stripping only to find themselves is too funny. One of the best scenes in cinema history has
the lads waiting in line at the unemployment office and starting to subtly
dance to the elevator music playing – classic.
The last scene before he heads out to drop trou between Mark Addy and
his wife is incredibly touching. While
the concept is totally absurd it works because we can all see a town reacting
this way to some of their own – too funny.
MVP: Wilkinson as Gerald the unlikely
choreographer of the boys
