Limitless

            Have you ever imagined what you could do with your life if you were smarter? Probably, right. I know I have. Have you ever thought that you weren't using your brain to it's fullest extent. Maybe, at times, but that's not necessarily something I tend to think about. Regardless though, when you go see the new movie Limitless questions like that tend to rise into your thought process.
             Limitless, based on the book The Dark Fields, stars Bradley Cooper as Eddie Morra, a down on his luck writer who is having trouble writing. Eddie's life is already down in the dumps when his girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish), breaks up with him. Depressed, Eddie is uncertain what to do next when he runs into his old brother-in-law Vernon. Vernon seeing Eddie in such a situation offers him this new drug that he's representing called NZT. Vernon promises Eddie only good things from the drug and though skeptical at first Eddie decides, what the hell.
             What NZT does is allow the user to access the entire functionality of their brain; not just up to 20% were told we're able to access. This does wonders for Eddie as he starts performing on levels he's never even dreamed off. However, a wonderful drug doesn't come out of the blue and create better lives with no complications. From this point on Eddie must navigate himself through all of the very high positives and very low negatives that comes with such a powerful drug.
               I loved the premise of this movie as it was something fresh and new and it made you think. However, the movie did have its holes. There were a few times I found myself questioning different things happening in the movie if they were realistic or needed or just plain odd. Don't get me wrong though I was thoroughly entertained. Most of the stuff I'm talking about is ticky-tack stuff that doesn't really need to be worried about and some of you might not even notice.
               The acting in the movie was nothing Oscar worthy, but wasn't bad either; it did the trick. Bradley Cooper did a fine job going between a hot shot and nothing. I was disappointed in Robert De Niro's part as it wasn't as large as I thought it was going to be and almost seemed pointless and unneeded as well.
               All in all, I enjoyed the movie as it's fresh plot was passable enough to cover for its holes and somewhat weak ending. If anything it was enjoyable to imagine what one could accomplish not only if they can put their mind to it, but their "entire" mind to it. I give this movie a thumbs up and a solid 2 out of 4 stars.
                If you don't feel like spending the money to see it in theaters, that's fine, but I recommend seeing it once it's available on DVD and all other devices. It's something I believe both men and women would enjoy seeing as well.

Look out for my next review which will be on the movie Takers starring Matt Dillon, Paul Walker, T.I., and many others.

Surrogates

             What do you think the world would be like if you never had to leave your house? Better? Worse? Safer? Could you learn to adjust to a life like that? These are all thoughts that are provoked by the movie Surrogates. Surrogates is a sci-fi, action, thriller based off of a comic book series. It stars Bruce Willis as FBI Agent Tom Greer.
              In this world, almost everyone lives through a surrogate. A surrogate is a robot made to look like however you want and you control it with your own mind so that you can see, hear, taste, feel, and sense everything the robot does. This allows people to never leave their homes and worry about getting into car accidents or being hurt. This is because even if your surrogate gets destroyed while out in the world, nothing bad happens to you.
               Of course this all changes when two users are found dead after their surrogates are destroyed. These are the first murders in 14 years since surrogates were invented by James Cromwell's (Babe) character, Dr. Lionel Carter. This is where Agent Greer comes in and tries to figure out not only how this happened, but who is behind it and why. Through all of this, the film ties in messages of how hooked people can become to technology and it can't help but make you think about people and their phones today, for example.
                Now with anything that gets many people wrapped up into it, there are others who are against it. And in this movie it's no different. In the film there's groups of people all over the country against surrogates and living your life as a lie. So they live normally together in camps. They are all lead however by Ving Rhames' (Pulp Ficton), the Prophet. His intentions don't seem to be exactly what they seem which is to live a peaceful life. So Agent Greer must go between these two similar and separate worlds to find the truth behind these murders and why they're happening.
               Overall, I thought this movie was better than I expected and heard. Sure it had its holes here and there, but it kept me entertained and just when I thought I had the ending figured out it went a different direction. I figure most guys could enjoy this film quite easily, yet it'll probably be a bit more difficult to please the female crowd, but that can happen with this type of movie. However, if it looks interesting to you then by all means see it, you'll probably be entertained.
                I give the movie 2 1/2 stars out of 4 and a thumbs up. This movie is streaming now instantly on Netflix and may also be available through Redbox. Enjoy.

My next review will be on the Bradley Cooper's new movie in theaters right now, Limitless.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Poster Revealed

Here is the first poster released for the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Pretty exciting stuff.

Chloe

            Chloe is normally just an innocent girls name. Not in this review however. Today I am reviewing the movie Chloe. This is an independently made, R rated, erotic thriller that stars Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, and Amanda Seyfried in the title role.  The movie was released almost a year ago to date.
             The film's plot revolves around Julianne Moore's character Catherine. Catherine suspects her husband David (Liam Neeson) is cheating on her after he suspiciously misses his flight home and thus misses the surprise birthday party she had planned and spent thousands of dollars on for him. In turn she hires Chloe, an escort, to attempt to seduce her husband to try and see if her suspicions have validity to them. Sounds like just a bullet proof plan right? Obviously not, and of course the plan isn't as straight forward as it seems.
             Catherine and David's relationship hasn't been the best of late and her relationship with her son is almost completely non-existent unlike that of David's with him. As she puts Chloe out there as bait for David she gets consistent updates of the "progress" that is happening. The more news she receives from Chloe the more unstable Catherine seems to become, as well as becoming more attracted to Chloe as well. This all leads up to an unexpected passionate love scene between the two. Once here Catherine is done with Chloe services and wants to move on with her life, but of course that's not so easy as this is where the most suspense and thrill happens.
              The movie was good in the sense it lived up to its genre. It was suspenseful and a bit thrilling, but what disappointed me most was the plot didn't keep me from figuring it out before the end. Which once it all came together was very anticlimactic for me. Julianne Moore does a good job being completely all over the place in this movie, and Amanda Seyfried does very well at portraying the unbalanced seductive character that Chloe is. It's a bit of a shame Liam Neeson wasn't in the movie a bit more or had more of a challenging role.
              Overall, I have to give the movie a thumb in the middle and two stars. Don't let this discourage you from seeing it however. If you're unable to figure out the plot twist then this will be much more entertaining then I'm giving it credit for. I would recommend streaming it through Netflix or using Redbox for it though and not paying more expensive onDemand fees. On a final little side note the Canadian indie rock band Raised by Swans is featured heavily in this movie and I enjoyed their music. So keep an ear out for that.

I don't have my next review planned at the moment so feel free to leave a comment with some suggestions.

Hereafter

            Hereafter is the latest film directed by the great Clint Eastwood. This movie follows along the same lines of his other films he has directed as it is a drama that is a little depressing at times and deals with a heavy subject. In this case the entire film revolves around death and what lies ahead for us all in life after death.
             The movie tells the story of three separate people around the world who have all been touched by death in someway. First of all, there's Matt Damon who plays George Lonegan, a factory worker who used to make a living by being able to talk to the dead and doing readings for people. Yet, this looks into his life and his ability as a curse and not a gift. Then there's famous French journalist Marie Lelay (Cecile de France) who barely survived a devastating tsunami and had a near death experience. Finally, a young english boy named Marcus who experiences a death of someone close to him.
              The film's story travels back and forth between these three people's lives and how they deal and cope with their experiences and try to move on with their lives. Of course these three people's lives don't stay separate for long as by film's end all of their lives intersect in some way.
               With a running time of 2 hours and 10 minutes it isn't terribly long, but I feel like the story is a bit slow in getting to its climax and could have been edited down to under two hours and the film would have been better. As for the acting it is quite good and I give credit to the boys who played Marcus as he did a good job for being so young. There are some notable bit characters as Jay Mohr (Jerry MaGuire) plays George's self centered brother and Bryce Dallas Howard (The Village, Lady in the Water) plays a love interest of George.
              In the end I was a bit disappointed with this movie as I have come to expect more from Clint Eastwood films. Like I already said it is a bit slow and the plot wasn't has enthralling as I thought it was going to be. Now don't get me wrong it was not a bad film but it wasn't great either. Eastwood's previous two films, Invictus and Gran Torino, were each more above par.
               Overall, I have to give this movie two out of four stars and a thumb in the middle. I would recommend using Redbox to see this movie if you're interested in it as that way it costs you no more than two dollars. If you're interested in this movie I say see it, it's not bad and you may disagree with me and my projections of it and think its much better than I say. If you were already hesitant about this movie then I would say you should probably stick with your instincts and not see it.

Look for my next review which will be on the thriller Chloe starring Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, and Amanda Seyfried

The King's Speech

            I-I-I-I-I r-r-r-e-eally enjoyed this movie. Now all stammering and poor (and perhaps tasteless) attempts of humor aside, there is a reason that this movie led this year's Academy Awards with 12 nominations. It's a great freaking movie from beginning to the end. It's funny how sometimes the best movies put out there are the ones that get by all of the big shots in Hollywood and were made on relatively small budgets and are independently produced. Just look at Slumdog Milionaire a couple of years ago and Black Swan this year as well. Both were produced by 20th Century Fox's offspring for independent films, Fox Searchlight, and The King's Speech went down a similar road of independent producing.
            But sometimes I believe the best things need to be those diamonds in the rough as it gives them that extra little appeal. The King's Speech centers around the true story of King George VI (played by Colin Firth) as he goes from being the Duke of York, and second in line to the throne, to being tossed into being King despite his reservations against it, at the outbreak of WWII. Oh and did I mention that during all of this he has a terrible stammer, which is really unfortunate to have when you're a part of the English monarchy and must constantly make public speeches.
            Now the movie spans over a good decade before WWII, as King George VI tries to deal with his speech problem. The King decides, with the pushing of his wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), to see speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) about his problem. The film follows brilliantly the ups and downs over the years of Logue and the King's work together, thanks in part to the great script written by David Seidler, who used his own experiences of having a stammer and actual journals from Logue to make the film as real and historically accurate as possible.
             As with a lot of British films the cast was stellar even down to the bit players. Michael Gambon (Dumbledore in Harry Potter) did a great job as King George V and Guy Pearce (LA Confidential) did a stand up job as King Edward VIII who forced the throne on his brother after resigning. Colin Firth is absolutely excellent in his portrayal as I can't imagine how hard it must be to act as if you have a stammer, and he won the Oscar for Best Actor quite deservingly so. Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter each deserved the Oscar noms for supporting actors as well. David Seidler won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and it was deserved, but I don't believe director Tom Hooper should've won the Best Director Oscar, though he definitely deserved the nomination. That's a debate for another time however.
             All in all I'm glad this movie won the Best Picture Oscar as it had my vote for it, if I had one that counted anyway. But in the end if you enjoy good acting and a good story then you should enjoy this movie. I give it a thumbs up and 4 stars out of 4! Go see this movie if you haven't already!

If you have any suggestions for my next review feel free to comment

Despicable Me

            Alright I know I said this would be out a few days ago, but it has been kind of a hectic week. But whatever, so here it goes. Today, I am reviewing the highly successful, family oriented, animated feature Despicable Me. I had heard many good things about this movie going in, from other reviews from actual critics as well as from friends. Thankfully, the movie was not over hyped as I enjoyed it a lot as it was smart, clever, funny, and very entertaining.
             The movie is about Gru (voiced by Steve Carell), an evil super villain, who might just be past his prime, as new rival super villain Vector (voiced by Jason Segel), seems to be out doing him at every opportunity. In order to out do Vector once and for all and prove he is the world's greatest super villain Gru must steal something from Vector's hideout. In order to do this he adopts three orphan girls to help him infiltrate the place.
              Of course, a super villain with three orphan girls is an odd match up and quite a struggle for Gru to deal with at first. Over time however, the girls and Gru settle down as Gru gets into the groove of being a father and becomes quite attached to the girls. In the end he has to come to a decision of what he cares about more in his life; being a father or the world's best super villain?
               Through all of this plenty of hilarity ensues through Gru's high jinks. There are also of plenty of other celebrity voice appearances throughout the movie. Julie Andrews lends her voice to Gru's mother, Russel Brand plays Dr. Nefario, Gru's friend and helper, and then there's Kristen Wiig, Will Arnett, Miranda Cosgrove and others. Probably the best bit players in the movie though has got to be all of the minions. These are the little yellow guys with the high pitched voices that are Gru's helpers. They are all over the place during the movie and might just be the funniest part through out.
                Overall, if you are like me and somehow haven't seen this movie yet, then I completely recommend you see it very soon. It is a real good time and I think does something better than most other animated movies of this nature do. And that is appeal to the adult audience with more humor aimed at them. There's plenty of humor for the kids, but I believe this movie did a good job of consistently throwing in some adult related humor that the younger people viewing won't even notice.
                It's time for the grades now and I definitely give this movie a thumbs up and three stars out of four. It's a well written story and I see how it made the amount of money it did at the box office. Go see this whether it be for the first time or a repeat viewing.

How Do You Know ---Know what? When to turn it off?

            My review today falls on the romantic comedy "How Do You Know" from James L. Brooks (The Simpsons, As Good as it Gets). This movie came out just a few months ago in December and I hope that none of you out there went to the theaters and paid for a ticket to this garbage. I had high hopes for this movie going into it as it is a James L. Brooks film and seemed like it could be funny. Instead, I was greeted by a complete mess of a movie that I forced myself to stick with until the end just hoping it would get better.
             The movie is about Lisa (Reese Witherspoon), a softball player for the USA national team who gets cut and is stuck suddenly having to reevaluate her entire life. Of course during this life crisis she gets herself into a love triangle with Matty (Owen Wilson), an immature playboy and pitcher for the Washington Nationals, and George (Paul Rudd), a business man about to be indicted by the federal government. The plot though a bit far fetched isn't what ruined this movie. It's how little structure there was too it as the story just bounced around back and forth. George's life is just as bad a mess as Lisa's as his father (Jack Nicholson) is his boss and part player in the legal troubles. Therefore, the story bounces between George's and Lisa's lives and their similarities, but the problem with that was the crappy dialogue and lack of comedy put into it.
              The funniest person in the movie is probably Matty, but even he wears on you and his bright spots are too and far between to keep anyone from being upset with what they're watching. Jack Nicholson's character Charles wasn't too bad either, but he's not important enough in the story to show up a lot. All in all the dialogue and story arc make the movie and viewer feel awkward. That's the best to describe it. The ending doesn't help as it not only lacked feeling, but also the humor they tried to produce out of it.
               As for the acting, I don't think anyone really did a terrible job. I'm more inclined to go along the lines they did the best they could with a crappy script. Jack Nicholson and Owen Wilson were the bright spots along with George's assistant Annie played by Kathryn Hahn (Step Brothers). Paul Rudd and Reese Witherspoon just got annoying pretty quickly.
               In the end, if you can't tell by now, do not, I repeat, DO NOT see this movie! You'll just be upset after wards that you spent that dollar at Redbox for that awful thing called a movie and feel you should somehow be refunded that whole meezly dollar.
               So, my grade is a big thumbs down and one whole star out of four and it's kind of lucky to get that. Very disappointing film.

Look for my next review which will be of the family friendly animated feature "Despicable Me"

A Single Man

           Today's review is coming in a bit late, but it's here so that's all that matters. I had the pleasure of viewing "A Single Man" the other night. I had heard plenty of good review going in, but didn't really know what it was about. Well first off, the reviews were correct because the movie is quite good. The movie stars Colin Firth (The King's Speech) as George, an English professor who is still trying to cope with the sudden death of his partner one year after it happened. Julianne Moore (The Kids Are Alright) costars as his longtime friend and neighbor, Charley, from England.
            Like I said I wasn't sure what to expect going into this movie at all and was quite surprised what the plot ended up being, but in a good way. The plot not only circled with a man losing the love of his life and him trying to deal with it, but with a situation that you rarely see addressed in those times. That is of course homosexuality. Now granted I was no where near alive in the 60s, but it's quite common knowledge that being openly gay back then was not very common or as openly accepted as it is today. Many people I believe either denied it or led secret lives. The movie deals with this aspect of the story very well as it gives the viewers, what I believe to be, a very honest look into how lives for homosexual couples back then must have been and felt like.
             The story guides you through a couple days of George's life and in doing so flashes back to various stages of George's relationship with his partner Jim, a much younger man, played by Matthew Goode (The Watchmen). The couple are in a sense are quite open about their relationship as they live in the LA suburbs in a house together. As George tries to deal with the agony of his loss, he finds himself questioning why things happen the way they do, and along the way ends up making an unlikely connection with one of his students named Kenny, played by Nicholas Hoult (About A Boy). This connection helps guide George through the troubles in his life and hopefully, in time, back to a place where he can find happiness once again.
             All around the acting in this film is quite good. Colin Firth does a superb job portraying his character George and rightfully earned himself an Oscar nomination last year for Best Actor.  I thought Julianne Moore did a good job at making herself a believable English woman, as well as a woman who is just as lost as George, in the limited screen time that she does have. Matthew Goode is excellent portraying the younger partner that seems to be more open and loose about their relationship. And Nicholas Hoult plays his character well as the somewhat odd student trying to find some of his own guidance.
             Overall, this movie was in my opinion excellent. The plot was unique, original, and very honest and real. I definitely give it a thumbs up and three and a half stars out of four. It was snubbed for a Best Picture nomination in my opinion. So go see it!

Love and Other Drugs

             Today's review is for the end of the year 2010 flick Love and Other Drugs starring Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal. The movie is a romantic comedy and takes place in the mid to late 90s. Gyllenhaal plays Jamie Randall, a guy from a well off family that gets an in into the pharmaceutical sales industry with Pfizer thanks to his brother Josh (played by Josh Gad, also seen in 21). Through the job Jamie meets Maggie (Anne Hathaway) a free spirited girl with stage 1 Parkinson's Disease and the courtship ensues from there.
             Now to begin with, I liked this movie. To me it wasn't you're typical romantic comedy. The plot was much more intricate and sophisticated than your typical rom coms, though it does have some of the typical cliches. What really puts this movie above other rom coms is its plot. It doesn't fall victim to the typical boy and girl don't realize they like each other or they hate each other crap. Now they do use the boy and girl fall for each other, but can't be together for whatever reason method but in a smart new way.
              The plot revolves around the drug sale industry that you never really see ever in movies and it dives into the launch of Viagra which gives it an interesting entertainment boost. The hardships for Hathaway's character Maggie with her disease is what drives the relationship through its ups and downs throughout the movie. It's the sense of reality and actual possibility of these situations that puts this movie above others in its genre.
               As for the acting in the film you don't think Josh Gad will be around much, but thankfully they bring him back into the mix and he provides some very nice comic relief throughout the entire film. Oliver Platt plays a nice side character with comic relief as well as Jamie's boss Bruce. Overall, the acting was good as both Gyllenhaal and Hathaway deserved their Golden Globe nominations, but it was fair for them not to receive Oscar nominations.
              All in all the movie was quite enjoyable. I believe most women would enjoy this film and its a romantic comedy that even guys can like. I would definitely recommend it for a date night as a movie both parties can like or at least something guys won't want to rip their eyes out while watching.
               So in conclusion I'd have to give this movie a thumbs up and 3 out of 4 stars.

Next up for review: A Single Man starring Colin Firth

Miracle at St. Anna - More like a miracle it was made

                 My first review is going to be for the 2008 Spike Lee Joint, Miracle at St. Anna. This movie is based off of a book by James McBride of the same name. I won't give away too many details, but try to give you a rough outline of the story and how things went wrong. It is a WWII movie set in Tuscany in 1944 with a group of four Buffalo Soldiers. The story centers around one of the four soldiers telling his story to a reporter, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, in the present day.
                 Now first off, the movie is 2 hours and 40 minutes long, which is long in general for movies, and this one makes you suffer to last through the entire thing. The movie starts off with a bang, literally, and hooks you into the story and all of the mysterious elements that you realize will take the entire movie to uncover. Yet, at this moment in time you're okay with it. The first hour of the movie goes by pretty smoothly with Spike transitioning the viewer nicely from the present to past and demonstrating some of the terrible blatant racism that Buffalo Soldiers had to go through during WWII. However, it's around the time the 4 soldiers get separated from the rest of their company do things start to go downhill.
                  From this point on there are many flat points in the dialogue as well as plot. It makes the viewer wonder why this part of the story is taking so long and/or couldn't they have skipped this part all together. Through and the through the last hour and forty minutes drags along and when you finally hit the end you're excited to get all of the mysteries brought forth earlier solved. Yet, all that comes of it is disappointment from some lame cheesy ending that also is told with lack of detail, which makes it seem very implausible.
                   Some good things however about this movie I would say was the acting. Derek Luke, known as Boobie Miles from Friday Night Lights and Sean Combs in Notorious, did quite a good job of playing the officer in charge in an unknown situation thrust upon him. Laz Alonzo, also seen in season 4 of Californication, does a very good job of playing the arrogant horny asshole soldier.
                    In the end, this is obviously not a movie I would recommend as the length and plot really take any enjoyment out of this movie. So watch at your own risk. Who knows you could think I'm completely wrong and love it. You won't though.