Actors: Matt Damon, Jody Foster, Sharlto Copley,
Alicve Braga, Diego Luna, William Fichtner
Rating:
9 out of 10, A very smart science fiction flick that tries to expose the
growing rift in today’s world - the separation between the have and the
have-nots. It’s a startlingly cold look
at what could happen if technology is restricted to the rich. Matt Damon is special as a dying car thief
charged with saving the have-nots from a coolly immoral Jody Foster. Sharlto
Copley is fast becoming my favorite guy in cinema. He plays a very evil bad guy here but somehow
he’s somehow kind of sneakily likable as well despite his seeming complete lack
of redeeming values. There are some huge
plot holes but hey, this is science fiction and one of the best movies of the
year.
MVP: Copley
as the supremely evil bounty hunter, Kruger.
Actors: Rosario Dawson, James McAvoy, Vincent Cassel,
Tuppence Middleton
Rating:
6 out of 10, Danny Boyle’s latest effort is kind of a let down as he isn’t
given much to work with and tries all sorts of gimmicks to make it special, not
the least of which is Rosario’s full frontal and immensely impressive kibbles
and bits. McAvoy just didn’t seem
committed to the central role but biggest problem was the lack of anybody worth
rooting for. The story revolves around
an art heist and an amnesiac auctioneer (McAvoy) who is turned on his head by Dawson as a hypnotic
shrink trying to recover his memory.
That last sentence made more sense than the entire movie but it does
have that one scene. By putting layers
within layers with only some of them actually occurring in reality the final reveal
is kind of wasted.
MVP: Dawson
(who else) as the manipulative shrink showing a whole new side
 |
| Really? |
Actors: John Cusack, Jennifer Carpenter, Dallas
Roberts, Mae Whitman, Sonya Walger, Mageina Tovah
Rating:
6 out of 10, A kind of uneven thriller that has Lloyd Dobler teaming up with
Dexter’s sister to track down a serial killer who’s abducted George-Michael’s girlfriend
who’s also Lloyd’s daughter. Cusack kind
of sleep walks through this and doesn’t have his usual spark, sardonic or otherwise.
I think the movie was aiming to achieve fame for a stunning twist but it was
more creepy than anything else and ultimately unsatisfying. If nothing else this movie will prevent
anybody from ever visiting Buffalo,
N.Y.
MVP: Whitman as Abby the abducted and resourceful daughter
Actors: Chris Evans, Kim Bassinger, Jason Statham,
William H Macy, Noah Emmerich, Jessica Biel
Rating:
7 out of 10, I’m not a big fan of Kim B. so I avoided seeing this when
it came out a few years ago. It turns
out I missed a pretty good action/suspense flick. This movie belongs to a young Chris Evans
before he got all Capt America-ed on us.
He’s very good as a young surfer dude called upon to charge around L.A. trying to save a
family from a gang of rogue cops.
Surprising, now at least, to see Statham as a down in the wool bad guy
(my wife was upset at her hero’s descent to the dark side and the lack of
shirtless scenes). William H Macy steals all of his scenes (but of course he
did) as the one honest lawman in the movie.
MVP: Macy as SGT Mooney the dedicated if harried
veteran cop
Actors: Hugh Jackman, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima, Hiroyuki
Sanada, Svetlana Khodchenkova
Rating: 8 out of 10, The Wolverine which could be re-titled “Hugh Jackman
Without his Shirt On”. This was indeed a pleasure for my wife who spent the
entire movie sighing every of the multiple times Hugh was called upon to divest
himself of his shirt. There’s even a scene of Hugh in a bath tub where he
flashes his long admired (by my wife) posterior. I thought she would faint. All this being said, this was a pretty good
action flick. I’ve never been apprised of the X-Men mythology outside of my
kids’ failed attempts to educate me. I’m sure there were lots of hidden
meanings known only to the initiated but Jackman is an incredibly good actor.
He defines the role and even I have to admit that he got himself in scarily
good shape for the movie. (PED testing
coming to the cinema?) This movie was
very Japanese and the supporting actors were uniformly good except for the female
lead playing Mariko. She just couldn’t
hold her own, absolutely no screen presence.
MVP: Jackman and his abs as Logan
Actors: Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malcovich,
Mary Louise Parker, Anthony Hopkins, Byung-hun Lee, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Neal
McDonough, David Thewlis, Brian Cox
Rating:
8 out of 10, This was much better the second time seeing it and I liked
the first viewing as well. All the entertaining characters of the
original return and are thrown into another outlandish adventure. The chemistry
between Willis and Parker really works and Malcovich plays crazed assassin to
the hilt. It seemed like every secondary character was a major star as well.
Anthony Hopkins shows up and acts his ass off as usual. A great summer movie of
excess without any message other than some good kick ass fun.
MVP: Hopkins
is so funny as the supposedly crazed scientist
Actors: Jason Statham, Agata Buzek, Vicky McClure, Benedict
Wong, Ger Ryan
Rating: 6 out of 10, This should have been titled, Muddled. A kind of strange and at times
engaging Statham action flick that can’t seem to make up its mind. Statham is a flawed hero this time although
still capable of kicking ass and charming the ladies. Even skinny nuns will drop their drawers when
Statham comes a calling and that’s part of the problem. This purports to be the story of Joey, an
ex-military street person who emerges from the street for a summer to rescue people, exact
revenge, and serve as a mob enforcer. It’s
all over the place and ultimately totally unbelievable; even given that
believability is never one of a Statham movie’s abiding strengths.
MVP: Statham
as the damaged Joey, trying to act but still kicking ass
