So it happens from time to time....I'll go movie intensive and try and catch up on some of the films that I've seen recently....the other night I hit Blockbuster and rented 7 movies.
Wanna guess how I spent my weekend?? Here we go:
1) Rambo: This film series has always been a guilty pleasure for a lot of people, because, let's be honest, most of the movies that Sly Stallone make don't involve people having to do a great deal of thinking. Pretty much its "let's watch Sly blow stuff up".
And don't get me wrong....there's a lot of that here also. The 4th Rambo movie puts big Sly in Burma (??!!?), where apparently there's been a civil war for like 40 years and, oh yeah, they hate Americans and Christians to boot. The bad guys are really evil, and you really want to see them get what's coming to them. But I have to tell you something--the violence here is really, really graphic. People don't just get shot--they get blown apart.
Limbs are sliced off, with lots of detail. Children are gunned down in a village. Its all pretty unpleasant...and I'm not sure if Stallone is doing it because he thinks that "war is hell", and we need to understand that....or if he thinks that today's jaded movie goer just expects their violence to be extremely graphic. Another fun Rambo story almost ruined by some violence I really didn't need to see. ***, but I'll drop it a full star for violence. **
2) Untraceable: I love me some Diane Lane. Not only is she smoking hot, but she's a hell of an actress. This movie though, is sort of a nasty little film about a FBI search for a serial killer. Now, these films have been done before, and they've been good popcorn entertainment to boot (Silence of the Lambs anyone?). This one made me want to take a shower afterwards--as if it left you with some sort of grime that needed to be washed.
Lane plays an agent working in the Portland cyber crimes unit, and this time they've got a doozy of a case to work on. Someone is kidnapping locals and torturing them online for everyone to watch--sort of a Death by Youtube. But here's the catch. All the deaths are horrible and awful and elaborate...but the more people that log on to watch what's happening...the quicker the victims death will be. Truly a serial killer with a heart.
Here again, we see some people die in a really horrible and graphic way. Lane is hot on the person's trail via her laptop....and naturally she gets thrown in harm's way before the end of the film....if I didn't like Diane Lane so much, I probably wouldn't have thought it was that good. Hmm...how about, Diane Lane is worth 2 stars, the rest of the film is worth one star....***....but have the water warming up after the movie is over. And don't say I didn't warn ya.
3) Gone Baby Gone: Now, here, in keeping with my happy film watching...is a movie about the search for a kidnapped little girl and the seedy underbelly of Boston's white trash neighborhoods. Its got a terrific cast--Morgan Freeman, Amy Madigan, Ed Harris
among others--but the films star is Casey Affleck, younger brother of Ben (who directed the movie). He's not bad, but he's not up to the level of some of the film's other heavy hitters. Folks, these are not people you want to hang around with in your life. The search for the little girl brings out some secrets that some people would just soon not have you know....and at the end of the film, leaves you with an interesting moral dilemma. Amazingly....the best film I saw this weekend. ****
4) Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins: Martin Lawrence movies are a guilty pleasure of mine. I go in, understanding that they will be over the top ridiculous, accept that, and sit back and laugh. Here he shoots a little bit higher with his concept, and still manages to make a fun movie about family and the effect they have on our lives. He plays "R.J. Stevens", a t.v. host who is a combination of Jerry Springer & Dr. Phil. He's engaged to a woman who just won Survivor, and has become a genuine Hollywood celebrity.
And now he's heading home for his parents 50th wedding anniversary, where he's awaiting the chance to show everyone in Dry Springs, Georgia, that he's made it big.
His family features some of the usual stereotypes--the bully, the loudmouthed rival, the oft-married sister, the slick cousin who's never had a job but who always seems to have money, and the father who's respect he craves but can't seem to get. Everything about this movie should make it a total failure at first glance. But screw that. Its hilarious.
Lawrence is ably assisted by James Earl Jones (Dad), Michael Clarke Duncan (bully brother), Mike Epps (sleazy cousin) and Cedric the Entertainer (loudmouthed rival).
But to me, the movie is flat out stolen by Mo'Nique as Lawrence's sister, who doesn't understand why anyone would allow a dog in the kitchen--and she says so, right in the middle of scraping the corns off of her feet at the dinner table. I mean, dogs are not sanitary, right? **** go ahead, try not to laugh.
5) In Bruges: Weirdest title of the year. Colin Farrell & Brendan Gleeson, who by the way is one of those actors who's name you don't know but who is terrific in every performance he gives, are two hitmen from London who have recently finished a "job" and are told by their employer to stay "In Bruges" for the next two weeks. Bruges is a small city in Belgium. Farrell absolutely hates it---Gleeson loves it. Let me admit, the film takes awhile to get a moving. Its like a slow train moving up a hill....but finally it gets to the top and begins rolling and picking up speed. Its a slightly twisted tale but the acting is really good (Ralph Fiennes shows up near the end and is very funny).
***1/4
Later,
Jeff
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