Theater Review: Now You See Me

I put up a small poll on my Facebook page to see what film I was seeing when I was able to get out of work early one night. The choices were Now You See Me and This is the End.

With an overwhelming, and somewhat surprising, difference in the outcome - Now You See Me won pretty easily.

So, off I went. And by the time I was seeing it, I was one of the few people in the theater - which I love.

Now You See Me is pretty much right up my alley, so I was happy to see it. I am a huge fan of films like Ocean's Eleven that have heists committed, and then give you how its done and the reason behind the heist itself. In this film, though, instead of costumes and disguises - magic is used and everyone know who is committing the crimes, but just can't seem to prove that they are.

The film stars an unlikely quartet as the Four Horsemen. Jesse Eisenberg plays J. Daniel Atlas, and is probably the most talented magician of the bunch - and he plays a little different than his usual quirky roles he has played in the past in say Social Network. He is actually sort of playing a stud - which was nice to see him play something different, and I came away liking him a little bit more.

Isla Fisher plays Henley Reeves, Atlas' former assistant who has now branched out on her own and is now more of an escape artist, ala Harry Houdini. She is also very talented, and I think we need more of her in films. Woody Harrelson plays Merritt McKinney, who is more of a mentalist than a magician. Harrelson has become one of my favorite actors over the years, he always seems to do an amazing job.

The surprise of the movie - Dave Franco. Franco plays Jack Wilder, a street magician who uses slight of hand to pretty much rob those around him. Franco sort of sticks out as not really belonging in this group of actors - sure maybe his brother James would fit in, but Dave? But, honestly, he was a standout to me. He was probably my favorite person in the movie.

So, the Four Horsemae are brought together by a bunch of Tarot cards and an unknown benefactor. They join forces to put on a handful of shows, which are sponsored by an insurance tycoon Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine).

Their show, though, doesn't just entertain the audience - it makes them wealthy. By robbing from a bank and showering the money out into the audience. But, how did they do it?

With more shows in the future, the authorities believe this will continue and FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) and Interpol agent Alma Dray (Melanie Laurent) are put on the case to figure out how it was done so they can pin it on the Four Horsemen.

They also bring in Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman), a former magician who now makes money revealing the secrets of other magicians' tricks. It's Bradley that Rhodes and Dray are hoping can figure out how the robberies are taking place.

I cam away really loving this movie. It had a lot of what I love, a great heist, great execution, action and a lot of comedy. Though, some forced love occurred as well - something that always seems to happen in these films. There was no real reason for it, but it didn't take away from anything.

The acting was top-notch, Caine, Freeman and Ruffalo are all outstanding actors. The lowest tiered actor was Franco, and as I said before, he stoodout to me in this film.

There are some twists and turns as well, some of which I figured out during, but it didn't take away from the overall movie. Looking forward to seeing it again.

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Theater Review: Rise of the Guardians

Every once in a while a new film comes out that moves into the Christmas rotation of films that must be watched each Christmas. Does this one make the cut?

After years of waiting in the shadows Pitch Black, aka the Boogie Man (Jude Law), has finally figured out a way to get past the guardians and take over the children of the world - through their dreams - in Rise of the Guardians.

The guardians are magical creatures that not only look after us - but they also bring us things every so often. The guardians - they are people we have known for ever, the Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman), the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher), Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin) and the Sandman.

Years ago, the Man in the Moon created another guardian who may have been created just for this reason - to keep Pitch from taking over the children of the world. Of course, Jack Frost (Chris Pine) doesn't know this yet and for years he is left in solitude.

For the guardians, the only way to be seen and interacted with is to be believed in. The main four guardians remain strong as children in the world continue to believe in them. For Jack Frost, though, he is talked about, but mostly is not truly believed in. So, for hundreds of years before being called upon by the guardians - he is alone.

But, during this time he is also following and listening to children - which, despite being the only guardian not really believed in - he understands children even more than the others.

As Pitch begins to take over and ruin the children's belief in the guardians, Frost must grasp what he can do and figure out who he used to be and why he is chosen as a new guardian.

The film looked decent in its trailers, but I have to admit it was even better than I expected it to be. We get a new look at our beloved mythical creatures - and the voice talent is amazing. It was also nice to see the Tooth Fairy and the Sandman get just as much action as the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus.

This is definitely the perfect edition of yearly Christmas viewings. Great story, with surprising action and humor, and great heart at the center.

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Hot Rod

I wasn't expecting too much when I tossed in this film, but it sort of surprised me.

I always felt that Hot Rod would have a few laugh out loud moments from the pure stupidity - which it did, actually a little more than I expected - but the true heart of the movie was actually pretty sweet when you get down to it.

Rod Kimble (Andy Samberg) longs to be a stuntman. He believes that his father worked for Evel Knievel and set up the stunts before Knievel would try them. After his father died, his mother remarried Frank (Ian McShane) and they had a child, Kevin (Jorma Taccone). Throughout the first part of the film, Rod constantly fights with his father, literally. Frank believes that once Rod can beat him in a fight then he is a man - Rod actually loves Frank and longs for his respect.

Despite constantly trying to perform stunts, and with a crew of his brother Kevin, and friends Dave (Bill Hader) and Rico (Danny McBride), Rod was never a very succesful stuntman.

One afternoon Rod learns that Frank has a weak heart and doesn't have much time to live - despite obviously caring for Frank, Rod vows to raise $50,000 for the surgery so that he can once again fight Frank to gain his respect.

He sets out to perform one huge stunt that would be able to raise the money to save his step-father's life. Joining the crew is an old friend, and current crush of Rod's Denise (Isla Fisher) who motivates Rod - especially during the time that he gives up on himself.

Will Arnett plays Denise's prickish boyfriend Jonathan, which to me was basically a throwaway role for him.

Like I said, the movie had its moments for comedy - including, quite possibly, the longest fall down a hillside in movie history - which kept the film funny, but it was also the heartfelt moments that made the movie even better. Even though Rod masks his love for his stepfather - he risked his own life to save his, even if it was just to kick his ass.

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