J. Edgar

J. Edgar Hoover ran the FBI for almost fifty years.  He was one of the most powerful men in Washington and was able to keep his job and country safe by being both ingenious and ruthless.

This was interesting.  It is a historical account of not only Hoover but of the entire functionality and development of the FBI.  Directed by Clint Eastwood it is a slow moving and methodical piece of work.  In fact as it is constantly jumping between flashbacks and flash-forwards, one wonders if it had been told as a linear story would it have held the audience's attention?  I doubt it, as despite the amazing casting, brilliant acting, delightful production design, and again creative editing, I still found myself getting a tad bored and looking at the clock.

Sure to get Oscar buzz, it is an intriguing story but not overwhelmingly engaging.

** 1/2 Rentable


Rated R (for language)

Puss In Boots

Puss is mistakenly accused of a bank robbery and lives his life as an outlaw.

So this is technically a prequel to the Shrek movies.  Yeah I wasn't so impressed.  First of all, this in no way follows the actual story of Puss in Boots.  This is in fact a convoluted creation using, Jack and Jill, Humpty Dumpty, and Jack and the Bean Stalk.  Which leads to my second point that it completely missed the mark in terms of being clever and creativity.  Had they stuck to the original story it is quite possible that they could have brought in multiple other fairy tales and/or nursery rhymes and still brought it all back to it's Shrek origins.  Third it is way too long, or at least it felt that way.  The movie is actually only 90 minutes but drags so, that it seemed as though it was well over two hours.  And finally, it just isn't funny.

* 1/2 Rentable (if you have children perhaps)


Rated PG (for violence and mild crude humor)

Tower Heist

Josh, the general manager of, The Tower, a posh New York condo high rise finds himself at odds with the buildings most wealthy tenant, Mr. Arthur Shaw.  Shaw is under house arrest for embezzling over two billion dollars from his investors, including the staff at the Tower.

This was pretty entertaining.  It's not quite as much fun as say, Ocean's 11 (2001),  but totally comparable to Trading Places (1983).  Speaking of Eddie Murphy, he does a decent job in this.  In fact he and Matthew Broderick totally steal the show.  Ben Stiller is OK as is Alan Alda.  Tea Leoni is a tad annoying, but still manages to pull it off as the FBI agent.

This is a fun heist movie but does have awkward moments of crude dialogue that don't really fit the rest of the film.  Overall it was funny and good for a laugh.


** 1/2 Rentable


Rated PG-13 (for language and sexual content)

50/50

A young radio producer discovers that he has a rare form of cancer and that his odds of survival are 50/50.

I went into this expecting a dark comedy and was somewhat disappointed that it wasn't really that funny.  I liked the idea of taking something that was extremely serious and laughing at it.  Making light of awkward situations that might come up, or shamelessly using ones illness to get what you want. But for whatever reason it didn't happen.  There were odd holes and major inconsistencies that not only made this somewhat trite, but also annoying and boring.  The movie is only and hour and forty minutes but it felt much longer.  The love interest is so unbelievable and the characters seem way to cliche.

I really wanted to like this, but... no.


** Rentable


Rated R (for sexual content and language) 

The Ides of March

A young idealistic press secretary believes in the democratic process.  He is zealously committed to his candidate, his candidates integrity, and knows they can win.  As his ego in his own campaign grows he makes a couple of mistakes that may cost him the election.

I absolutely enjoyed this and am somewhat hesitant to give too many details away.  First of all, George Clooney and Ryan Gosling?  Already I like it.  Second, they are all so perfectly cast.  They do such a great job, you forget that Clooney isn't really running for President.  The best part of this though, is that it shows the politics behind the politics and does it in an almost graceful way that neither glorifies it nor belittles the game but the players.

Really well written, well played, well cast, well done.


*** Must See


Rated R (for language) 

The Three Musketeers

Athos, Aramis, and Porthos... you all know the story, right?

OK so I went into this with, I don't know, gusto perhaps?  I was excited, though not overly expectant.  Wow!  Disappointing to say the least.

Let me break down the flaws for you.... so first of all, they tried to "Sherlock Holmes" it up.  You know what I mean by that, don't you?  Lots of slow motion, clever wood-worked gadgets, and a touch of the matrix.  Yes, well that didn't really work here.  You see, The Three Musketeers, though fiction, is a classical story about the art and skill of swordsmen.  When you attempt to turn them into a seventeenth century mission impossible crew, the story suffers.

Speaking of story.... correct me if I am wrong, but were there flying hot air balloon pirate ships in Alexandre Dumas' novel?  I mean, I know that wasn't in my book.  And OK, it's understood that this is fiction and that one might add their own twist or flair to it, but this so did not work.  It was ridiculous and completely leveled the authenticity and fun of a classic action adventure story.  Along the lines of the writing, the dialogue.... way too modern. Uncomfortably so.  The hodgepodge mix of accents, be they French, English, American, or what have you was annoying too.  Now we come to the cast.  This is where they actually did a semi-decent job.  They were believable, the looked the part, and had they had a cohesive script might have made a fun movie.  Funny thing is, that the 1993 Disney version of this, though somewhat comically and cartoonishly cast, did a MUCH better job.  They followed the story, they all spoke in a classical cadence while still able to be humorous, simple yet consistent accents, and it was believable -- not to mention satisfying. This one gets so off track the ending is crushingly dumb. Don't do it.


* 1/2 Rentable


Rated PG-13 (for violence)

Abduction

A troubled teen begins to question the identity of his parents, thus doubting who he is himself.

This was dreadful. Absolutely ridiculously horrible.  I don't know who wrote this, but it was like finger nails on a chalk board.  There are multiple sections of spoon fed dialogue thrown at the audience as the writer obviously couldn't be bothered with story development.

Also how were they able to pull this cast together?  I mean did they read the script? Or just owed someone a favor?  I am guessing the latter as Sigourney Weaver was just phoning it in, and Alfred Molina seemed put out the entire time.

I actually gave up on this movie.  No I really did, I told myself it was OK to fall asleep.  I was traveling and out of the state at the time, I figured I would use the time to take a nap.... It didn't work.  Not only could I not fall asleep, but I discovered that a bad movie is even worse with your eyes closed.

* Not-A-Chance


Rated PG-13 (for language and violence)

Moneyball

Billy Beane is the General Manager for the Oakland A's.  Faced with having lost his best players and having no money to buy new ones, he sets out to change the game.  With the help of a young economics graduate he tries to put together a championship team by buying runs, not players.

This was based on a true story and it's about Sports so already it has everything going for it.  What I wasn't expecting was the fact that this movie is truly character driven, it is not a comedy.  Keep that in mind if you find it running a tad long.

I absolutely loved this.  The cast was perfect.  Brad Pitt, the Robert Redford clone, was incredible.  Jonah Hill, is able to reign in his over the top awkwardness just enough, that you truly believe he is a bean counter.  Not to mention Phillip Seymour Hoffman, so impressive, even more so that he took such a small role and really ran with it.

Rocky, Rudy, Miracle, The Natural, Hoosiers, A League of their Own,  all some of my all time favorites. This could be up there. I don't want to reveal too much, but I will say this,  the ending, which baseball fans are all too familiar with, makes this story all the more great.

*** 1/2 Oscar Buzz


Rated PG-13 (for language)

I Don't Know How She Does It

Kate is a successful financial analyst, happily married, and the mother of two.  She seems to have it all but when she is offered a high profile account at her firm, her job takes center stage and she struggles to keep all the pieces together.

I have to admit that I actually liked this.  Granted, I went in with extremely low expectations.  I was prepared for Sex and The City 3, which, who are we kidding,  it kind of was... however truth be told it is by far the best episode in that trilogy.

You all know that Sarah Jessica Parker is capable of playing only one role, that of herself, well it actually worked here.  The dialogue is witty and smart.  The characters are funny and engaging.  The plot was predictable and a tad trite,  but hey, two out of three isn't too bad.  OK that is a blatant lie, but I laughed enough that I am willing to overlook the mundane storyline.

This is not something that anyone needs to rush out and see, but if one does see it you will be pleasantly surprised and delightfully entertained.

** 1/2 Rentable


Rated PG-13 (for sexual references and language)

The Debt

Three young spies cross into East Germany in the 60's to track down a Nazi war criminal.  Their heroic deeds are published in a book in the late 90's.  As the book gains notoriety the three spies must relive as well as come to terms with their past.

I liked this.  It was a fun espionage thriller, albeit a tad predictable.  It is also a smidgen confused in its use of language and subtitles as the characters randomly slip in and out of different languages.

The casting is great, particularly the group in the 60's.  They were much more engaging than their older counterparts. The ending,  I found to be slightly disjointed and unfulfilling.  Nevertheless,  it was still entertaining.

** 1/2  Not a Must See -- but theatre worthy


Rated R (for violence and language)