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.

Grade: 

Theater Review: The Dark Knight Rises

I had heard a few times that Christopher Nolan was apprehensive about doing a third Batman film and I couldn't understand why. But, after seeing the film I can sort of see why he was - no matter what he put out it was always going to be compared to The Dark Knight.

The Dark Knight Rises also had another superhero film to contend with this summer that I am sure it was expecting to contend with when it was first announced - The Avengers. It's sort of odd to compare them as they are on two totally different spectrums - but you sort of have to.

Although I feel The Dark Knight Rises is the superior film, I would have to say I will probably watch The Avengers far more. It is just a more fun film - sort of like how Saving Private Ryan is a hell of a film, but I cannot watch it all of the time.

What The Dark Knight Rises was also up against was the amazing performance given by Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight. No matter how great a villain that Nolan could cook up for the third film - no way was it going to live up to Ledger's performance.

Anyway, the final film picks up about eight years after Batman (Christian Bale) took the blame for killing Harvey 'Two-Face' Dent. All of the years as Batman has also taken a bit of a toll on Bruce Wayne - and as he stays hidden in his mansion he limps around from room-to-room.

As the guilt begins to tear at Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), he is captured and brought to the new villain that has risen under the streets of Gotham, Bane (Tom Hardy). Gordon is shot, but manages to escape  despite losing a letter he had written with the truth about Dent.

Police officer John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) finds Gordon at the end of a tunnel and gets him to the hospital for treatment. Because of his detective work, Gordon promotes Blake and tells him to answer directly to him.

Blake was also once an orphan who looked up to Wayne because of all the donations the Wayne family gave to the orphanage - but he also somehow knows Wayne's true identity and tells him the city needs him to resurface.

Batman finds a local cat burglar, Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), to help lead him to Bane. Kyle uses the opportunity to get a program that can help erase her identity from all databases on the planet - and free her from her thieving ways.

Kyle, however, turns on Batman and turns him over to Bane in order stay alive - and Bane breaks Batman's back and leaves him in a prison in the middle of nowhere - the only way out is to climb out.

As Bane holds the city hostage with a nuclear weapon, he promises to finish what Ra's al Ghul started and destroy Gotham. With Batman out of commission, Gordon and Blake are all that is left to help save the city.

First off, my description above doesn't give the film justice. There was so much going on and all of it was so interesting and fit the story so well - just amazing story telling.

The film returns Bale, Michael Cane, Morgan Freeman, Oldman and another special guest that have been in all three movies and they continue to shine here. Newcomers Hardy, Hathaway and Gordon-Levitt were the main stars in this film and they were amazing.

Hardy was a great villain, and won't get the acclaims that Ledger did, but he held up this movie just fine as the villain. Sure, he wasn't the Joker, but Bane was ruthless and a great equal to Batman. Hathaway was simply amazing as Catwoman - I was a bit skeptical when I first heard she had signed on, but she played both sides of the fence to perfection - and wow did she look good. Finally, Gordon-Levitt - I can't really say much else about him, he has really become one of the best actors working today and here it was no different. So talented and he really shined in this film - even if he was just a cop.

Go see this movie - I am sure you already have. It is a great finale to Nolan's trilogy. I look forward to seeing it again.

Grade:

39/50x2: Million Dollar Baby

I am beginning to get the Clint Eastwood treatment. There weren't many films of his I have seen, whether it be acting or directing. And, as I said before, despite my lack of love for the sport of boxing, films about them are always pretty darn interesting.

So, here we have a mixture of both. Eastwood both directed and starred in Million Dollar Baby. He takes on the role of Frankie Dunn, a boxing trainer who is very talented at what he does, but lacks the champions that a successful trainer should have.

Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) is a waitress who has aspirations of making it as a boxer. But, Dunn tosses her aside because he doesn't train girls. She is persistent, though, and Dunn's co-trainer Eddie Dupris (Morgan Freeman) allows her to train in the gym and gives her an old speed bag to work with until she can afford her own.

Eventually, she begins to show some promise and, despite her age, Dunn finally agrees to take her on and train her. As things progress, she is actually a very talented boxer - or just really good at the initial charge and is able to knock out her opponent rather quickly.

There is also the fact that Maggie's family is a bunch of hillbilly freeloaders. As Maggie gets better she begins to make more money and buys a house for her mother - but instead of being thankful, she complains that now she won't get enough welfare.

I can't really talk about the film much more because it would spoil a rather large plot point, but that was also one of the least convincing things I have seen in film.

Despite that, the film was still pretty entertaining. I still don't really enjoy Eastwood as an actor, I think it's mostly his voice and delivery. And despite how annoying I usually find her, I enjoyed Swank here. And of course, Freeman was excellent as always.

Grade:

HOT: Bonfire of the Vanities

Well, color me red. I have been dreading watching this film because for some reason I was getting it mixed up with War of the Roses, that Danny DeVito/Michael Douglas film that I have heard some horrible things about. Lucky for me, it wasn't.

Still not spectacular, but I got through it.

Tom Hanks stars as Stephan McCoy, a hot shot Wall Street investor who is married to Judy (Kim Cattrall) and has a daughter in Bonfire of the Vanities. He also happens to have a girl on the side, Maria (Melanie Griffith).

One night while taking his dog for a walk, McCoy makes a huge mistake that pretty much sends his life into a downward spiral. McCoy heads to a payphone to call his mistress, and by mistake calls his wife. Some innocent mistake that was the start of a very bad period for him.

Judy of course, is pissed that he is cheating, but doesn't leave him just sort of ignores him. This doesn't stop McCoy from seeing Maria though. He finds out that she is coming into town to visit and picks her up at the airport.

While 'fooling around' in the car they miss their exit and are forced to take the next one and turn around. They end up in the South Bronx and while trying to get back on the freeway, McCoy is forced to get out of the car to to move a spare tire out of the way. Two men approach him and as he tries to get away, Maria jumps into the driver's seat and McCoy jumps into the car.

After arriving at Maria's apartment, McCoy wants to call the cops to explain what happened, just in case one of the men was injured by the car during the escape, but Maria stops him.

This all just so happens to be happening about the same time as Abe Weiss (F. Murray Abraham) is seeking reelection for District Attorney and the African American community is up in arms due to the constant amount of African Americans getting locked away. So, they were searching for a white man to make an example (and a show) of.

This is where McCoy's life begins to fall apart. A writer, Peter Fallow (Bruce Willis) writes a piece on the accident, playing up the kid in a coma as an honor student. McCoy reads this while speaking an important client, and freaks out, losing a $6 million deal in the process.

Finally, McCoy is arrested and put on trial in front of Judge Leonard White (Morgan Freeman) for the hit-and-run accident. The courtroom is a circus as everyone is trying to make an example of McCoy.

And, that is where I will leave you. I won't let you know how the trial ends or what happens next. Watch it to see for yourself.

Was this a good movie? Maybe. But, it wasn't spectacular. Honestly, I really didn't like Hanks' character in the film, so that threw me off a bit. And, I have never really enjoyed Griffith - I can't think of a single role of hers I have enjoyed.

I just wasn't that interested in the film. I found it rather boring. I didn't hate it, it just was well nothing really.

Grade:

31/50: Red

This movie sort of got lost in the wind. I found myself counting the rest of the films I had left on my 50 list and I was coming up one short. I had to go back through and figure out what was missing - and sure enough I had forgotten to put down this film.

So, here is the missing film that I watched a good while ago.

Red is a film that follows a quartet of retired CIA agents that are brought back together to after Frank (Bruce Willis) is attacked in his house.

After realizing that the assailants have tapped his phone, he heads to Kansas City to find the only person he has been talking to, Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker) in fear that they would go after her to find him.

To help him along the way, he joins up with his former CIA team of Joe (Morgan Freeman), Marvin (John Malkovich) and Victoria (Helen Mirren) to help him track down who is after him and why.

This film had a lot of great action and plenty of small jokes. Malkovich was way over the top which is the way I like my Malkovich. Freeman wasn't in the film as much as I would have liked - and he was outstanding as well.

I won't go into the entire story as it might ruin what the film was about. I had heard that this film was outstanding, but I was a bit underwhelmed - however, it was a decent watch, just not outstanding.

Grade:

Top Ten: Movie Presidents

Well, seeing as how we are swearing in the 44th president of the United States today, I thought I would pull out the old Top Ten list for the occasion.

It has been quite a long time since I have made a Top Ten list, but again, this is (hopefully) a very special day in United States history - and (hopefully) the first day towards a better America.

So, here are my Top Ten Movie Presidents. These are, again, just my opinions - and of course I have not see every movie out there with a president.

Here they are (in reverse order as always):

10) Monroe Cole (Gene Hackman)/Welcome to Mooseport

9) President Camacho (Terry Crews)/Idiocracy

8) Thomas Benson (Lloyd Bridges)/Hot Shots! Part Deux

7) President Harris (Leslie Nielson)/Scary Movie 3 & 4

6) Robert Fowler (James Cromwell)/The Sum of All Fears

5) Richard M. Nixon (Dan Hedaya)/Dick

4) Tom Beck (Morgan Freeman)/Deep Impact

3) Dave Kovic/Bill Mitchell (Kevin Kline)/Dave

2) Thomas Whitmore (Bill Pullman)/Independence Day

1) James Marshall (Harrison Ford)/Air Force One

Wanted

I have taken a small hiatus from my 25 Days of Christmas due to the fact that I am on the final push for my first semester back to school. I will be wrapping everything up tomorrow with two finals - so I should be back on it after that. Plus, I will make up for the films I have missed during the past few days during the weekends - so I will definitely have at least 25 films when I am completed.

That being said, I received Wanted in my Netflix mail box this week and I have been wanting to check it out since I saw the previews last spring.

I am not the biggest Angelina Jolie fan. She is hot and cold for me with her acting, and I am also not one of those people who thinks she is the most gorgeous woman in the world. That being said, I thought this role was perfect for her - but I am ahead of myself.

The film stars James McAvoy as Wesley Gibson, a drone who works in an office (much like Office Space) and takes medication to control his weird impulses. His boss is a bitch, his best friend is banging his girlfriend - yeah his life pretty much sucks.

Anyway, along comes Fox (Jolie) to recruit Gibson to a secret assassin group to hunt down the man who has killed his father (another assassin).

The first half of the film is basically Gibson getting trained to be the perfect assassin - learning how to take a punch, fight with knives, and even bend a bullet. Then he is finally sent out to start killing people.

The secret group is headed by Sloan (Morgan Freeman) who receives his targets from a loom through binary code. Very odd, but also very interesting.

I don't want to give anything away, but this movie was very action packed and the plot actually made sense - even though a few things were tossed in that you have to scratch your head about actually happening.

The final few scenes were amazingly well done and I was on the edge of my seat there was so much action.

I was surprised with McAvoy as I have only really seen him in Chronicles of Narnia and heard he was in Atonement. But he proved here that he has the range to play an action star - and even had a few one liners as well.

Grade:

The Dark Knight

I went into this movie expecting greatness. I had read the early reviews. I had read the reviews of some of my fellow bloggers who were lucky enough to see the movie right away. Each and every one of them had nothing but good things to say about this movie.

Well, I am here to tell you something.

They were absolutely right.

My lone negative of the film is I was left wondering, but those questions could be answered in the absolutely has to happen sequel, or in another one down the line.

I found myself looking at my watch, not because I was bored and the movie was too long - but because I was hoping the film would last longer.

Right from the start, the introduction of The Joker, I was immediately into the movie. Heath Ledger does have another film on his resume that will be released after The Dark Knight, but this is a movie that if you have to go out - you want to go out with a performance like this.

I didn't even know he had it in him. Sure, he was an amazing actor - but this shot him into the likes of Tom Hanks in my book. Amazing performance, he truly made The Joker his own - and it was spectacular.


I wasn't sure how they were going to handle the villain aspect of the movie - I had heard rumors about the inclusion of Harvey 'Two-Face' Dent, but was under the impression that it would be a quick cameo in order to setup the next film (sort of like the joker card at the end of Batman Begins). The older Batman films got a little out of hand with so many different villains on the scene at once, much like Spiderman 3 sort of got a little too jumbled.

*SPOILER* Director Christopher Nolan did a tremendous job including two villains in the same movie, without really going over the top. This movie, as it should be, was devoted mostly to The Joker, but the introduction of Two-Face was done very well, and it worked with the film's overall premise.*SPOILER OVER*

Before heading to the theater, I re-watched Batman Begins and I have to say the flack that Katie Holmes received for portraying Rachel Dawes was a little unjustified. I felt she gave a pretty good performance, but nevertheless, she wasn't totally missed in the sequel as Maggie Gyllenhaall did a marvelous job picking up where Holmes had left off.

Morgan Freeman's Lucius Fox wasn't a central piece in this film, but his performance was, as almost always, very top notch. Michael Caine's Alfred was very well done - and I enjoyed the little back-and-forth that his character shared with Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne.

Finally, I have always been a Michael Keaton as Batman guy. I was not too happy when he was replaced by Val Kilmer, then again by George Clooney. But, Bale has done a stellar job portraying the Dark Knight. As others have pointed out, I am not a huge fan of the deep, throat-like voice that he uses when in the Batman suit - but that is not that big of an issue for me.

This film was easily the best superhero movie I have ever seen. I do hope they continue to make Batman films, but I hope they continue at this current depth - the original films sort of lost their place after the second film, I would hate for history to repeat itself.

Grade:

The Bucket List

The third movie that my wife and I were able to watch this weekend was The Bucket List.

The film stars Jack Nicholson as Edward Cole, a billionaire who owns a ton of hospitals. During a hearing where he is trying to take over another hospital, Cole coughs up some blood and is sent to one of his own hospitals. There, he finds out that he has brain cancer.

His roommate, Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman), has also been diagnosed with cancer - his of the lung variety. During their stay, the two form a rare bond - which is only strengthened as they are each given a diagnosis of six months to a year to live.

Chambers' before the news, had started jotting down a 'Bucket List' - a list of things in which you would like to accomplish "...before you kick the bucket".

When the news came, Chambers tossed the paper on the floor. Cole, however, takes a glance at it the next morning, and is given the idea to add a few things to this bucket list - and convinces Chambers to join him in completing these items.

The movie was marketed as a comedy, which I think actually hurt it. Yes, it does have it's comedic moments, Nicholson and Freeman are a pretty good pairing, and play off each other well. But, the movie is a little more dramatic than comedic. And, it works.

Again, I am not giving away the ending, but there is a great moral to the film, and it sort of gets you thinking.

I really enjoyed the movie. It's funny though, even before I watched it - the trailer inspired me to think about things I would like to accomplish in my lifetime. I, along with my wife, have started jotting down 10 things that we (each) would like to do over a lifetime. As of now, I only have five or six items, but I do hope that I will be able to accomplish them over time.

Grade: