Quick Shots 24 Part II

Title: Rock of Ages.

Starring: Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Russell Brand, Alec Baldwin, Bryan Cranston, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Paul Giamatti, Tom Cruise, Malin Akerman, Mary J. Blige.

Brief Synopsis: Sherrie (Hough) a girl from a small town heads to Hollywood to become a star and immediately gets robbed. But, she meets Drew (Boneta), an aspiring musician who works as a bartender at The Bourbon Room - and gets the owner, Dennis Dupree (Baldwin) to give her a job as a barback. Meanwhile, The Bourbon Room is in trouble in more ways than one - the wife of Mayor Mike Whitmore (Cranston), Patricia (Zeta-Jones) is trying to shut them down because she is trying to rid LA of sex, drugs and rock 'n roll. But, she may not have to worry as the bar is also struggling with money - but hopes a concert by Stacee Jaxx (Cruise), who got his start at The Bourbon Room, would get them back on the right track.

Opinion: A lot of people hated this - my wife being among them. But, honestly, I really enjoyed it. I really liked most, if not all, of the music that they performed - and all of the actors did a pretty darn good job at performing. As a fan of Glee I saw this as a pretty long version of that - tons of great music and actually a few storylines playing out along the way.

Grade:

Title: Green Hornet.

Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, Tom Wilkinson, Christoph Waltz, David Harbour, Edward James Olmos.

Brief Synopsis: Britt Reid (Rogen) is a spoiled rich kid, who pretty much had everything handed to him. He partied all the time and didn't have to work a day in his life as his father James (Wilkinson) was the owner of the newspaper The Daily Sentinel. After his father's death, Reid awakes and realizes everyone who had waited on him hand-and-foot was now gone. But, he brings back the guy who made his morning coffee, Kato (Chou), and befriends him. After a night of partying the two decide to 'make a difference' and become superheroes, with the help of temp, Lenore Case (Diaz) the two makeup the alter ego The Green Hornet, but soon get in the way of a drug kingpin, Chudnofsky (Waltz).

Opinion: This could have been worse, but it could have also been a lot better. Not to fault Rogen, who played the spoiled rich kid pretty well, but I just don't see him as a superhero. Though I am not too familiar with The Green Hornet, the absolute best thing in this movie was Kato - he was funny and was pretty much the real superhero (which I am guessing may be what actually happens in the comic). But as far as Green superheroes, I will take Lantern and Arrow over Hornet.

Grade:

Title: Next Day Air.

Starring: Donald Faison, Mike Epps, Wood Harris, Omari Hardwick, Darius McCrary, Cisco Reyes, Yasmin Deliz, Mos Def.

Brief Synopsis: Leo (Faison), works for Next Day Air - a package delivery company. He is a pretty big slacker that enjoys smoking weed, and one day that catches up to him. On a delivery meant for Jesus (Reyes) in apartment 302, he drops it off to apartment 303 where Guch (Harris) and Brody (Epps) live. Not a big deal, except the package held uncut cocaine meant to be dispersed on the streets by Jesus. Guch and Brody, though, get in touch with Brody's cousin Shavoo (Hardwick), who happens to be a drug dealer, to try and sell the cocaine. Jesus, meanwhile, is in trouble with his supplier and believes Leo stole the package for himself.

Opinion: The only reason I got this movie was because of Faison. My love for Scrubs has been shown on this blog site many, many times. So, I thought I would at least give it a try. The movie was ... decent. Nothing to write home about, but it was ok. Kind of cool to see McCrary in a film - best known from Family Matters.

Grade:

Title: Wild Target.

Starring: Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt, Rupert Grint, Rupert Everett, Eileen Atkins, Martin Freeman.

Brief Synopsis: Victory Maynard (Nighy) is an assassin, and he is good at his job. It was handed down to him by his father and his mother is always on his case to be better. But, Maynard feels he may be missing out on a relationship. Ferguson (Everett) is swindled by a thief, Rose (Blunt), in an art deal and hires Maynard to kill her. But, Rose catches Maynard's eye and soon he and Tony (Grint), a street kid in the wrong place at the wrong time, look to protect her from Ferguson and his back-up assassin Hector Dixon (Freeman).

Opinion: Wow, I absolutely loved this movie. I can take or leave English humor, but here it was at its best. I think I got this movie because of Blunt and Grint - and they were both fantastic. Also cool to see Bilbo Baggins as an assassin. I read somewhere that Grint may be the character from Harry Potter that can't branch out - but after seeing this, he has the chops to certainly continue doing well - perhaps not Emma Watson style, but certainly a decent career. 

Grade: