The Darjeeling Limited

In director Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited, three American brothers who have not spoken to each other in a year set off on a train voyage across India with a plan to find themselves and bond with each other -- to become brothers again like they used to be. Their "spiritual quest", however, veers rapidly off-course, and they eventually find themselves stranded alone in the middle of the desert with eleven suitcases, a printer, and a laminating machine. At this moment, a new, unplanned journey suddenly begins. Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and Jason Schwartzman star in this film about their adventure and their friendship.

I used to love Wes Anderson. Bottle Rocket and Rushmore were awesome! However, since then his movies get weirder and weirder. Royal Tennebaums was still pretty good. The Life Aquatic was just totally weird and The Darjeeling Limited is along the same lines of The Life Aquatic. I know that there are people who love this kind of straight faced, catching people in awkward true to life moments and if you are one of them - you will probably love this movie. It was a little bit past the weird line for me and I found myself not really attached to watching the movie even though I like all three of the main actors.

I would only recommend this movie to anyone who really enjoyed The Royal Tennenbaums and especially The Life Aquatic. Outside of that - I would suggest that people stay far, far away from this movie.

Beowulf

In a time of heroes, the mighty warrior Beowulf slays the demon Grendel and incurs the wrath of its monstrous yet seductive mother, in a conflict that transforms a king into a legend. Beowulf is done with motion capture animation (a la The Polar Express) and features the voices of Angelina Jolie as Grendel's mother, Anthony Hopkins as the corrupt King Hrothgar, and Ray Winstone as Beowulf.


We saw this movie in digital 3D and it made it more of an experience than a movie. The 3-D effects were phenomenal and there were numerous points where I actually leaned back to avoid what was flying at me. It felt like something you would see at Universal Studios or Disney World. Unfortunately, the movie itself was kind of lame. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have liked it at all if it wasn't for the 3D effects. Its one of those high profile movies that you find yourself wondering why they spent so much money making this. The voices were good, but I'm not really a big fan of this motion capture animation. Its makes the people (especially in this 500 A.D. time) look really creepy.


I would have totally recommended anyone checking this out in digital or IMAX 3D. The experience was really cool. Unfortunately, outside of that I wouldn't really recommend this movie. And for those of you who think kids can see this because its PG-13, they can't. Its way too violent and they push nudity to the limit as far as possible too.

30 Days Of Night

For 30 days every winter, the isolated town of Barrow, Alaska is plunged into a state of complete darkness. It's a bitter time when most of the inhabitants head south. This winter, a mysterious group of strangers appear: bloodthirsty vampires, ready to take advantage of the uninterrupted darkness to feed on the residents remaining in town. Barrow's Sheriff Eben (Josh Hartnett), his estranged wife Stella (Melissa George), and an ever-shrinking group of survivors must do anything they can to last until daylight.


Horror movies by design are usually ludicrous. Very rarely will you ever catch one with a legit story and what not so you kind of expect any sort of reality to be thrown out the window. However, you can't throw it so far out the window that it is millions of miles away. That was all I kept thinking with this movie. They are in Alaska . . . . . . for 30 days of night . . . . . with no electricity . . . . . . which would mean no heat . . . . . . for 30 days of night . . . . . in Alaska . . . . . and they need to worry about attacking vampires? I'm pretty sure that the mind numbing cold would have them done in about half way through night one, people! These people were running around outside for supplies and what not with nothing on their faces, no gloves, just all out hustle. Last time I checked, if I was to run down the block here in New York during the coldest day in winter, I would come close to passing out because of the weather making it impossible to breath. There was one point where one of the characters hid underneath a car . . . . . FOR FOUR DAYS! Again . . . . 30 days of night . . . . . in Alaska . . . . outdoors . . . . . with no food. The vampires are not the problem! You would be a human popsicle. To make things even sillier, these were some sort of ancient Roman vampires that spoke in all sorts of overdramatic, gladiator like terminology, did the most annoying screams when they weren't communicating all goth like, and looked like they were trying to constantly squeeze out a deuce. As if all of this wasn't silly enough - the movie completely spiraled out of control at the end with Josh Hartnett injecting himself with vampire tainted blood so that he could turn in to one of them and have this retardly delusional cage fight with the leader of the vampires. Spoiler Alert! . . . . he wins . . . but then he loses because he's now one of them and the 30 days of night is over. He flakes away to cigarette ashes in the arms of his estranged wife . . . . . . The end. No, I'm not kidding.


Stay away from this movie forever. It is truly horrendous and should never be viewed.

In The Valley Of Elah

In the Valley of Elah tells the story of a war veteran (Tommy Lee Jones), his wife (Susan Sarandon) and the search for their son, a soldier who recently returned from Iraq but has mysteriously gone missing, and the police detective (Charlize Theron) who helps in the investigation.

This was a really powerful character drama. It was very well written and acted. Tommy Lee Jones performance as the father looking in the questionable death of his son was worthy of the Best Actor nomination that he got. Susan Sarandon didn't really have a lot of screen time as the grieving mother, but was great with the time that she was alloted. Charlize Theron was surprisingly strong as the against all odds cop that is looking in to the murder. The army personnel trying to cover every thing up were all very believable. The fact that this movie was inspired by true events only made it that much more enjoyable.

I'd recommend anyone interested in seeing this renting it. Its definitely worth the rental price.

Rendition

Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Meryl Streep, Peter Sarsgaard and Alan Arkin star in Rendition, a thriller from director Gavin Hood ("Tsotsi"). Witherspoon stars as the American wife of an Egyptian-born chemical engineer who disappears on a flight from South Africa to Washington. The woman desperately tries to track her husband down, while a CIA analyst (Gyllenhaal) at a secret detention facility outside the U.S. is forced to question his assignment as he becomes party to the man's unorthodox interrogation.


This movie was an awesome political drama. I thought that it captured the government perfectly with how some lady sitting behind a desk can decide in the blink of an eye to have someone extradited to a different country because they think he might have some kind of information. The only thing that held this movie back from being a four star movie was the . . . . . . . SPOILER ALERT . . . . . . . fluffy happy ending. The husband ends up getting reunited with his family. Now, let's be serious for a moment. The guy gets an accidental cell phone call from a terrorist that the government is monitoring. The government picks the guy up from the airport and transports him to some prison in North Africa. They torture him endlessly for god knows how long. A CIA agent witnessing the interrogation feels its too much, frees him, and sends him home. COME ON NOW!!! You are telling me that the government would ever let this guy go!?! They would let someone exist with the knowledge of what they did!?! That's just plain silly. As cruel as it sounds to say - this movie would have been so much more legit if the guy would have gotten killed to cover it up or something. The sappy ending took away a lot for me and this movie would have been phenomenal without it.


Even with the sappy ending, the movie is still very enjoyable. The validity of it is kind of questionable, but it was a good political drama anywho. I would recommend people checking this out. It's worth the price of rental.

Michael Clayton

Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is an in-house "fixer" at one of the largest corporate law firms in New York. A former criminal prosecutor, Clayton takes care of Kenner, Bach & Ledeen's dirtiest work at the behest of the firm's co-founder Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack). Though burned out and hardly content with his job as a fixer, his divorce, a failed business venture and mounting debt have left Clayton inextricably tied to the firm. At U/North, meanwhile, the career of litigator Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton) rests on the multi-million dollar settlement of a class action suit that Clayton's firm is leading to a seemingly successful conclusion. But when Kenner Bach's brilliant and guilt-ridden attorney Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson) sabotages the U/North case, Clayton faces the biggest challenge of his career and his life.


The first hour of this movie was brutal. I had no clue what was going on, was bored out of my mind because I truly find few things less mind numbing than corporate law stuff, and was ready to pull the plug on the movie based on this being one of those movies that you know is "good" but its just not your cup of tea. However, WW wanted to hold on and see how it turned out and I'm glad that she did because the second hour of the movie and especially the ending were great. George Clooney performed the internally conflicted role very well and the rising tension during the last hour was also very well done.


I would recommend people checking this one out, but please be warned that the first hour feels like a very choppy nap session. The wrap up of the movie makes it worth the trip to the video store though.

American Gangster

Nobody used to notice Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington), the quiet driver to one of the inner city's leading black crime bosses. But when his boss suddenly dies, Frank exploits the opening in the power structure to build his own empire and create his own version of the American Dream. Through ingenuity and a strict business ethic, he comes to rule the inner-city drug trade, flooding the streets with a purer product at a better price. Lucas outplays all of the leading crime syndicates and becomes not only one of the city's mainline corrupters, but part of its circle of legit civic superstars. Richie Roberts (Russel Crowe) is an outcast cop close enough to the streets to feel a shift of control in the drug underworld. Roberts believes someone is climbing the rungs above the known Mafia families and starts to suspect that a black power player has come from nowhere to dominate the scene. Both Lucas and Roberts share a rigorous ethical code that sets them apart from their own colleagues, making them lone figures on opposite sides of the law. The destinies of these two men will become intertwined as they approach a confrontation where only one of them can come out on top.


I loved this movie. It was an awesome gangster/cops flick. Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe both put forth excellent performances. Ridley Scott did a great job of building up both main characters seperately for the first half of the movie, so that when the two sides did converge I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat. Going in to the movie, I was pretty turned off by how long the movie was (2 1/2 hours), but the movie didn't remotely feel that long. This movie wasn't as good as The Departed was last year, but I could see this winning best picture this year just like that did last year.


I very strongly recommend everyone checking out this bad boy. Its more than worth the price of rental and was one of the better movies to come out last year.

Why Did I Get Married?

Why Did I Get Married? is an intimate story about the difficulty of maintaining a solid love relationship in modern times written and directed by Tyler Perry. During a trip to the snowcapped mountains of Colorado, eight married college friends have gathered for their annual seven-day reunion. But the cozy mood is shattered when the group comes face-to-face with one pair's infidelity. As secrets are revealed, each couple begins questioning the validity of their own marriage. Over the course of the weekend, husbands and wives take a hard look at their lives, wrestling with issues of commitment, betrayal and forgiveness as they seek a way forward.

I love Tyler Perry. I think his writing style is great and that his way of portraying every kind of relationship is beyond on the money. Not to mention that the character of Madea is one of the top five movie characters of all time. Unfortunately, she was not in this movie, but it was still beyond enjoyable. The characters were all so well developed that you could go back and forth between hatred for them, compassion for them, and laughing at them. He even made Janet Jackson look like an actual actress. The man deserves an amazing amount of credit for that alone, people!

I would recommend everyone checking this movie out. Its a great look at all kinds of relationships/marriages.

We Own The Night

Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix) has turned his back on the family business. The popular manager of El Caribe, the legendary Russian-owned nightclub in Brooklyn's Brighton Beach, he has changed his last name and concealed his connection to a long line of distinguished New York cops. For Bobby, every night is a party, as he greets friends and customers or dances with his beautiful Puerto Rican girlfriend, Amada (Eva Mendes), in a haze of cigarette smoke and disco music. But it's 1988, and New York City's drug trade is escalating. Bobby tries to keep a friendly distance from the Russian gangster who is operating out of the nightclub – a gangster who is being targeted by his brother, Joseph (Mark Wahlberg), an up-and-coming NYPD officer, and his father, Burt (Robert Duvall), the legendary deputy chief of police.


I was so psyched to see this movie from the first time I saw the preview for it. It looked so much like last year's The Departed (the best movie of last year, people!). Unfortunately, I think I broke my most important of movie going roles and let my expectations get too high. I wasn't disappointed by this movie. I still really liked it a lot. Unfortunately, I definitely think that I could have seen this as one of the best movies of the year hands down if I didn't go in expecting it to be just that. Regardless of my expectations ramblings, this was a great film. The acting was top notch. Mark Wahlberg continues to get better with every role even though I still hum Good Vibrations a la Marky Mark every time I see him in a movie. Joaquin Phoenix continues to be phenomenal in everything that he does. The sibling rivalry between the two of them in the movie is excellently crafted along with the non-stop tension feeling.


I fully recommend that everyone checks this bad boy out. Even though I expected to see the best picture of the year and was disappointed, this movie was still totally worth the trip to check it out.

No Reservations

Master chef Kate Armstrong (Catherine Zeta-Jones) lives her life like she runs her kitchen at a trendy Manhattan eatery—with a no-nonsense intensity that both captivates and intimidates everyone around her. Kate's perfectionist nature is put to the test when she "inherits" her nine-year-old niece Zoe (Abigail Breslin), while contending with a brash new sous-chef who joins her staff. High-spirited and freewheeling, Nick Palmer (Aaron Eckhart) couldn't be more different from Kate, yet the chemistry between them is undeniable. Rivalry becomes romance, but Kate will have to learn to express herself beyond the realm of her kitchen if she wants to connect with Zoe and find true happiness with Nick.


This is one of those movies that is just kind of . . . . . . there. It wasn't bad. It wasn't awesome. It was watchable, but not a must see. This is one of those prototype date movies. Uptight cook inherits her niece after her sister dies and at the same time has to deal with outgoing new chef at her restaurant. You can probably predict the entire movie just from that one sentence. Regardless of how completely formula the movie is - it is enjoyable if you have the time to check it out. It's cute with some big laughs and some big heartstring pulls as well.
I'd recommend people seeing this if they were interested in the preview.


I wouldn't recommend anyone rushing out to see this, but it is by no means a horrible watch.

Martian Child

Martian Child stars John Cusack as a recently widowed science fiction writer who forms an unlikely family with a close friend (Amanda Peet) and a young boy he adopts that claims to be from Mars. The new couple ignores some sage parenting advice from the widower's sister (Joan Cusack) and gets more than they bargained for when a series of strange occurrences lead them to believe that the child's claim may be true.


This movie is a textbook formula movie. Its one of those where you basically saw the movie by watching the preview. Anyone who doesn't know how this bad boy is going to play out after seeing the commercial needs to be dragged out back and hit with the stupid stick, people! That being said, John Cusack happens to be my favorite actor and I have always found his delivery to be priceless and that alone made the movie worth the price of admission. The kid was actually pretty funny and had some great lines as well, and Joan Cusack and Amanda Peet both played off of John Cusack very well. I enjoyed the movie, but I could completely understand people thinking that the movie was so predictable and ultimately pointless.


I don't really know whether or not to recommend this movie. If you wanted to see, I think that you should. Just be warned that its just a long extension of the commercial.

Gone Baby Gone

Gone Baby Gone is Ben Affleck's directorial debut and is based on the novel from the acclaimed author of Mystic River. It is an intense look inside an ongoing investigation about the mysterious disappearance of a little girl. Two young private detectives (Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan) are hired to take a closer look at the case and soon discover that nothing is what it seems. Ultimately, they will have to risk everything -- their relationship, their sanity, and even their lives -- to find a little girl-lost.


I don't really know what to think of this movie. It was just kind of treading water at points and then it was really good at other points. It wasn't great. It wasn't bad. It was just kind of there. It felt kind of like an episode of Without A Trace I guess. Casey Affleck was actually pretty good in the lead role. Considering that this was big brother Ben's first attempt at directing - he definitely could have done much worse. I also liked the open ended final message that sometimes doing the "right" thing can be the wrong thing.


I would lukewarmly recommend people checking this movie out. Again, its not really anything to write home about but the movie is nowhere near horrid either.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Elizabeth: The Golden Age finds Queen Elizabeth I (Cate Blanchett) facing bloodlust for her throne and familial betrayal. Growing keenly aware of the changing religious and political tides of late 16th century Europe, Elizabeth finds her rule openly challenged by the Spanish King Philip II (Jordi Molla)--with his powerful army and sea-dominating armada--determined to restore England to Catholicism. Preparing to go to war to defend her empire, Elizabeth struggles to balance ancient royal duties with an unexpected vulnerability in her love for Raleigh (Clive Owen). But he remains forbidden for a queen who has sworn body and soul to her country. Unable and unwilling to pursue her love, Elizabeth encourages her favorite lady-in-waiting, Bess (Abbie Cornish), to befriend Raleigh to keep him near. But this strategy forces Elizabeth to observe their growing intimacy. As she charts her course abroad, her trusted advisor, Sir Francis Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush), continues his masterful puppetry of Elizabeth's court at home--and her campaign to solidify absolute power. Through an intricate spy network, Walsingham uncovers an assassination plot that could topple the throne. But as he unmasks traitors that may include Elizabeth's own cousin Mary Stuart (Samantha Morton), he unknowingly sets England up for destruction.

This movie is basically a sequel to Elizabeth with Cate Blanchett assuming the role that she performed phenomenally a few years back. Unfortunately, this movie was nowhere near the first one's league. Where the first one was an epic a la Braveheart or Gladiator, this movie played more like Shakespeare In Love. That's not to say that it wasn't a good movie. It just wasn't the movie that was advertised and that I wanted to see. This movie is a lot more about emotions than the trials of running England and what not. Unfortunately, this pretty much made all the performances outside of Cate Blanchett a lot flatter than they had to be.

I would lukewarmly recommend people checking this one out. It is by no means a must see, but is worth the rental fee if you are in to period pieces like this.

The Assasination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford delves into the private life and public exploits of America's most notorious outlaw. As the charismatic and unpredictable Jesse James (Brad Pitt) plans his next great robbery, he wages war on his enemies, who are trying to collect the reward money – and the glory – riding on his capture. But the greatest threat to his life may ultimately come from those he trusts the most.

Holy Cow - this movie was so freaking long! I felt like WW and I were watching it for seven years. I fell asleep 3 different times for twenty minutes each and was still able to totally follow the movie. Even with my current ranting though, the movie was not bad. It was simply waaaaaaay too long and they could have easily edited up to an hour off of this 2 hour and 45 minute bad boy. All of the performances were great and the scenes of actual tension were awesome. The dead space in between was beyond nap worthy though and I ended up taking full advantage of that.

I would recommend people checking this movie out . . . . as long as they have seven years of their life to spare while watching it.

Across The Universe

A love story set against the backdrop of the 1960s amid the turbulent years of anti-war protest and set to the music of The Beatles. The star-crossed lovers, Jude (Jim Sturgess) and Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood), along with a small group of friends and musicians, are swept up into the emerging anti-war and counterculture movements. Tumultuous forces outside their control ultimately tear the young lovers apart, forcing Jude and Lucy – against all odds – to find their own way back to each other.

I loved this movie. I am so mad that I didn't get to see this movie in theaters. Its rare that I rent a movie and watch it 100% attentively like I did this one. This probably was awesome in theaters. It moved through the 60s and 70s at a good pace and it was great how the Beatles songs were worked in. The movie didn't hit you like a musical because the lyrics actually pertained to what was happening at that particular point. It gave you a whole new level of enjoying the music of the Beatles seeing it in a full story like this. On top of that, the "covers" of the Beatles songs, which usually annoy the hell out of me, were so well done in this movie.

I strongly recommend everyone checking this one out. Its one of the better movies out on video shelves right now.

The Brave One

New York radio host Erica Bain (Jodie Foster) has a life that she loves and a fiancé she adores. All of it is taken from her when a brutal attack leaves Erica badly wounded and her fiancé dead. Unable to move past the tragedy, Erica begins prowling the city streets at night to track down the men she holds responsible. Her dark pursuit of justice catches the public's attention, and the city is riveted by her anonymous exploits. But with the NYPD desperate to find the culprit and a dogged police detective (Terrence Howard) hot on her trail, she must decide whether her quest for revenge is truly the right path, or if she is becoming the very thing she is trying to stop.

This movie was essentially The Punisher . . . . . . with a woman. They could have called it The Punisherette. Woman gets attacked, loses her fiance', gets mad at the world and the police for not making it safe, and takes matters in to her own hands. It was all totally formula and you knew the ending before the movie even started. That being said - the movie was still very watchable/enjoyable. Jodie Foster did a good job of portraying her downward spiral in to darkness. However, wouldn't it be nice to see Jodie Foster just be happy in an acting role? What is the deal with her always being under attack or victimized in some way in every role she chooses? It's like getting raped in The Accused or having to deal with Hannibal Lecter really messed her up or something. Anywho, getting back to the movie now - it was well done enough that you end up being okay with the totally formula storyline.

I would recommend people checking this out. It is not a must see by any means, but worth the trip to the video store if you were interested in seeing it.