Sunday, December 21, 2008

This weeks quickie movie reviews

Traitor
House Bunny
Death Race
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DEATH RACE

This is based on a movie from 1975 called
Death Race 2000.

The '08 version is similar in name only
The original is a cross-country race that gives you points for running down pedestrians.

The 1975 version starring Stallone is satire
2008 version is starring Jason Stathom is just loud,
obnoxious and takes place entirely in a future prison
run by the the stereo type evil prison warden, yawn.

skip it
1 star out of 5
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HOUSE BUNNY

Anna Faris who is mostly known for the Scary Movie series
stars in House bunny.

House Bunny is surprisingly funny.
Faris is very good at "dumb blonde"
as she is exactly that in this movie.

Faris is a Playboy bunny celebrating her 27 birthday at the Mansion.
The day after she gets a note from Hef telling her it's time
to move out.
Apparently 27 is like 50 something in Bunny years.

Not knowing how to function in the real world
she ends up as house mother at a sorority.

Of course all the girls
are ugly ducklings and become transformed into
beauties.

This won't remind anyone of Animal House but I laughed out loud
a bunch of times.

Worth a rental.

3 1/2 stars out of 5

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Traitor

Don Cheadle is Samir Horn.
As a boy he witnesses the death of his Muslim father by a car bomb.
years Later as an adult Samir is a bomb expert himself,
working with a terrorist group.

Samir is a traitor but you need to watch the entire film to know were his loyalties lie.
The clues are few but they are there.

The movie is worth watching for Don cheadle's performance.
Is Samir a double agent?
Supposedly these undercover people sometimes get confused about their
very own loyalties and that is what makes Traitor work so well.
As we also are confused about Samir's true intentions.

Traitor is a terrific spy thriller.

4 stars out of 5

Friday, December 12, 2008

A FEW EARLY REVIEWS

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THE MUMMY 3: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR



Hundreds of years ago an evil Emperor and his army were cursed by a sorceress and turned into stone.

Rick O'Connell and his wife Evelyn are brought in to take a relic,
The Eye of Shangri-La, to China.

The relic is a stone and has the power resurrect the Evil Emperor Han and reveals the secret way to legendary Shangri-la and allow Han to become immortal.
Han is inadvertently resurrected and must be kept from taking the stone to Shangri-la
Of course the O'connoll's son Alex and Evelyn's brother are along for the ride too.
However, they are betrayed by their friend Prof Roger Wilson,
who forces them to give the stone to Emperor Han.


They all make their way to the Himalayas and with the help of a few abominable snowmen (one of the yeti even does a fist pump after dispatching one of the bad guys.)
Fight off the Mummy emperor Han.

Despite the many action sequences this movie is a bit of a bore.
Evelyn was recast with Maria Bello and she is miscast and does a poor imitiation
of Rachel Weisz.

This review is of the Blu-Ray disc so
the special effects are stunning and the sound is thunderous
especially during the marching stone army sequence and the many explosions.

This really doesn't have the charm or the sense of humor the first Mummy or even
to some extant the second Mummy has.

2 1/2 out of 5 stars.

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BURN AFTER READING

Brad Pitt, John Malkovich and Frances McDormand
star in a confusing mess of a story.

A CIA agent gets demoted so he quits to write his memoir,
his wife is having an affair
with a man who meets woman on the internet.

CIA guy loses the cd of his memoir and it's found by a guy and a woman who work at
a local gym.
they decide to blackmail CIA guy because they think the cd is top secret documents.

He doesn't go for it.
Everything that happens next is pretty convoluted.
All of it depends on chance and coincidence and for the most part doesn't work.

Sure there are some funny moments
but most of it just falls flat.

The subplot of the CIA is pretty good and the punch line ending is funny.
Too bad the rest of the movie doesn't match it.

If this wasn't written and directed by
Joel and Ethan Cohen (No Country For Old Men, Fargo)
I wouldn't likely have given it much of a thought at all.

2 out of 5 stars

Some Quickie Movie Reviews

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STEP BROTHERS

This is a very funny movie.
Think the Brady Bunch, except each parent 
has only one kid and each kid is 40 years old and still lives at home.

Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly are the step brothers after
both their parents marry.

Yes they are both about 40 years old but you 
wouldn't know it by the way the act.
They are more like 12 year old kids.

Both these guys are enabled by their parents 
allowing them to stay home that long without jobs or 
just actually becoming adults.

All that changes after the wedding as they now have to
share a room and go out and get jobs.

Their antics during the job interviews and 
both brothers sleepwalking shenanigans are a laugh out loud riot.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars


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MAN ON WIRE (documentary)

This is the story of how a man and his friends
strung a wire form one tower to the other 
of the World Trade Center about 35 years ago.

Even though you know that he has survived 
this feat(he narrates the movie and is interviewed throughout)
You are still mesmerized and on the edge of your seat hoping he doesn't fall.

This movie will probably win for best Doc at the Oscars for this year.
Must See.
4 out of 5 stars.