REVIEW: Bruno

STARRING: Sacha Baron Cohen View Trailer RELEASE DATE: 07/10/09 DATE SCREENED: 07/07/09 The Verdict NOT GOOD - Wait for cable

“Borat was so 2006”. That’s the tagline for Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat follup-up Bruno. Sacha stars as the title character, a flamboyantly gay Austrian fashion talk show host. Bruno makes it his life’s goal to become famous in America. The film follows his attempts to reach his goal, by any means necessary.

Although I was not a big fan of Borat, I did like the idea behind it, which is also the idea behind this movie. The idea is to take an outrageous character and put him in real life situations to see how people react and to expose their prejudices. In the case of Bruno, the idea is to expose how people would react to such an outrageous gay character. The funniest example is when Bruno shows up on a talk show with his African son that he obtained in an exchange for an iPod. The all-black audience is hilariously outraged. Another funny moment is when Bruno shows up at a swingers party, attempting to hide his homosexuality. And prejudices are fully exposed when Bruno reveals his homosexuality inside the cage of a Mixed Martial Arts event.

The problem with Bruno is that the funny moments are few and far between, even though the film is only 80 minutes. The movie hits some disgusting low points when it veers off its mission in order to delve into Bruno’s sexual practices. I really don’t know how this film managed to obtain an ‘R’ rating. I had to look away from the screen at times. The film tries too hard to be outrageous and shocking, instead of simply letting the real life situations generate the laughs. With a movie like Bruno you can’t help but wonder how much was real and how much was staged, but ultimately the movie will be judged by how funny it is. The few high points don’t outweigh the disgusting lows. Wait for this one to come on cable. You will know in the first 10 minutes whether or not you can stomach this movie or simply want to change the channel.

REVIEW: Drag Me To Hell

STARRING: Alison Lohman, Justin Long View Trailer RELEASE DATE: 05/29/09 DATE SCREENED: 05/26/09 The Verdict GREAT - See it opening weekend

I generally don’t see horror movies, unless they involve vampires. Sam Raimi’s return to his horror film roots with Drag Me To Hell originally meant nothing to me. I haven’t seen any of his previous horror film efforts like The Evil Dead. Then something strange happened as I sat in the theater about a month ago and saw the trailer for Drag Me To Hell. The trailer made the entire audience almost jump from their seats. As it ended people were proclaiming they either had to see it, or would never see it. For the first time in a very long time the trailer for a horror movie actually made me want to see it. I’ve been singing the praises of the trailer for a month, so I was very excited to finally see Drag Me To Hell.

After the opening sequence there is no doubt as to the purpose of the film’s title. A young boy stole a necklace from a gypsy and had been cursed back in 1969. The scene ends with the boy literally being dragged to hell. It was surprising, as kids don’t usually get killed off in movies. The scene switches to the present day, where Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) is an L.A. loan officer vying for a promotion to an assistant manager position. Her boss tells her that she must show him that she is willing to make the tough decisions. A sick old woman named Mrs. Ganush happens to come into the bank on the wrong day. She needs an extension on her home loan, but Christine denies her the extension to prove that she is capable of making the tough decisions. This turns out to be a big mistake, as the old woman attacks Christine in the parking lot and puts a curse on her. Christine and her unbelieving boyfriend Clay (Justin Long) visit a psychic who tells Christine about the curse that has been put on her. Christine will be haunted by a demon for three days, after which time she will be dragged to hell. The clock is ticking as she attempts to fight back against the demon using the same Psychic who failed to save the boy back in 1969.

Drag Me To Hell isn’t the kind of intense horror film I was expecting. It’s much more fun than I could have imagined. The scene where Christine is attacked in the parking lot is tense, frightening, and hilarious at the same time. A séance sequence is another unforgettable combination of scares and laughs. Alison Lohman does a great job as Christine, going from a mild mannered loan officer to a “bad ass” willing to do whatever it takes to fight this demon. I’ve heard that some of Raimi’s previous horror films also have this blend of horror and comedy, but it was a completely new experience for me. This is the kind of movie that works best as a shared experience in a crowded theater. The film takes a simple plot and does a lot with it, forcing the audience to react countless times. I see so many movies that I forget a lot of what I see. There are scenes in Drag Me To Hell that I may never forget, and that’s the sign of a great movie. See this one opening weekend. Even if you are the type of person that doesn't generally like horror you should give this one a try.

REVIEW: Terminator Salvation

STARRING: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington View Trailer RELEASE DATE: 05/22/09 DATE SCREENED: 05/18/09 The Verdict OK - Wait for the DVD

The first two Terminator films are two of the best movies I’ve ever seen. The third film took a few steps back, but was still an entertaining time at the movies. I was even one of the few people who watched the Sarah Connor Chronicles TV show, and enjoyed it for the most part. I’m a big Terminator fan, making Terminator Salvation one of my most anticipated summer releases.

Terminator 3 left off with John Connor and his future wife Kate in a bomb shelter on Judgment Day. Judgment Day is the day the machines wiped out most of mankind in a nuclear holocaust. Terminator Salvation opens with John Connor (Christian Bale) leading his men on a mission to take out some kind of lab in this post-apocalyptic 2018, run by machines. He is not yet the leader of the resistance, but one of the lieutenants. His team is attacked and John is the only one to survive. Upon returning to command, he is briefed on a new weapon, a signal that can disable machines. He quickly volunteers to test it. The test is a success and an attack on Skynet is planned.

Although John is not the leader of the entire resistance, he has been building a following through a radio broadcast about the war and how to fight Terminators. Meanwhile, we are also introduced to a new character named Marcus (Sam Worthington). He was executed in 2003, but has somehow awakened in 2018. Marcus comes across John’s future father Kyle Reese, just before Kyle is taken hostage by the machines. Marcus manages to make his way to John’s base where he discovers that he is himself a Terminator, but one with some human body parts. This was given away in the trailer, although it would have worked better as a surprise. Marcus is horrified by this discovery, as he wants to be human. The movie picks up speed as it heads to its conclusion, with John & Marcus infiltrating a Skynet base in an attempt to rescue Kyle before a large resistance assault. If John or Kyle dies, the machines win. With Marcus being a machine, do we really know whose side he’s on?

Too much of Terminator Salvation seems stolen from other places. The whole idea of a machine that thinks it’s human may be cool to some, but to any fan of BattleStar Galactica we’ve seen this theme handled much better already. One fight scene against a large robot seems like it belongs in a Transformers movie. There is even a child character that is basically the exact same character as Newt from Aliens.

Terminator Salvation is a very dark film. The previous films had more of a sense of humor in spite of the serious subject matter. I missed that. Overall it felt more like a Mad Max film with robots than a Terminator film. Christian Bale is just going through the motions as John Conner, and Bryce Dallas Howard has almost nothing to do as his pregnant wife Kate. On the positive side, we do get a great fight sequence with a very familiar Terminator and we do see exactly how John ends up as the leader of the resistance. All the action sequences are good, but not great.

Wolverine & Star Trek got the summer movie season off to a great start. Things have taken a downward turn with Angels & Demons and now Terminator Salvation. Unfortunately, I have to say the film is just OK and you can wait for the DVD. Maybe someone who hasn’t watched Battlestar Galactica, or seen a Mad Max film, will find it more compelling than I did.

REVIEW: Star Trek

STARRING: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto View Trailer RELEASE DATE: 05/08/09 DATE SCREENED: 05/02/09 The Verdict GREAT - See it opening weekend

I fell in love with Star Trek when the Next Generation series hit the air. With no current Star Trek series on TV, I was looking forward to the next Star Trek movie in order to follow the further adventures of the Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, or Voyager cast. Imagine my disappointment when I read that the new Star Trek movie was going to be a prequel, dealing with how the original series characters met each other. WTF? Roddenbury created such an amazing universe with almost infinite possibilities and they are going to limit themselves by going backwards? I was very upset and disappointed. I walked into the screening with no expectations, thinking about what could have been…

Star Trek opens with an angry Romulan from the future named Nero going back in time and changing the Star Trek universe forever by attacking a Federation starship. On that ship was Kirk’s father, who does not survive. By the time this battle is done, I had already forgotten my disappointment and was completely drawn in to the movie. James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) grows up as an extremely smart, but angry and rebellious kid in Iowa. A chance encounter with a few Starfleet cadets, one of whom is the beautiful Uhura (Zoe Saldana), leads to a conversation with Captain Pike. Pike goads Kirk into enlisting into Starfleet to continue the legacy of his father.

Meanwhile, on Vulcan… Spock has been teased since he was a child about being half human. This makes it more difficult to control his emotions, but Spock chooses to live life as a Vulcan and prove that being half human is not a weakness. As a young adult, Spock becomes the first Vulcan to decline acceptance into Vulcan’s most prestigious institution to enlist in Starfleet.

Spock is already an officer on the USS Enterprise, when newly graduated cadets Dr. McCoy and Uhura are assigned to the Enterprise. Kirk is not assigned to any ship, thanks to his suspected cheating on the infamous Kobayashi Maru test that was programmed by Spock. McCoy sneaks Kirk onto the ship as it heads to face Nero. Once on board, Kirk can not be a silent bystander. He challenges Captain Pike and Spock at every turn as the Enterprise speeds towards a possble confrontation with Nero. Kirk is convinced that they are headed for an ambush, and he turns out to be right.

Nero is out for revenge for something Spock has done in the future. The planet Vulcan ends up being completely destroyed by a weapon Nero brought from the future, Captain Pike is captured, and Earth is the next target. Luckily, the future Spock (still played by Leonard Nimoy) has followed Nero from the future to help set things right. Kirk and Spock must learn to put aside their differences and work together in order to save Earth.

Star Trek has everything you could ask for from a Star Trek film. It has stellar special effects, memorable action scenes, humor, character development, and a great villain. The cast does an amazing job of reminding you of the original characters while at the same time making the characters their own. Nothing that you would want in a Star Trek prequel is left out. We finally get to see the Kobayshi test, we learn how Kirk’s and Spock’s childhoods affected their adult personalities, and we see how they met Uhura, McCoy, Sulu, Scotty and Chekov. We even learn how McCoy got the nickname “Bones”. Leonard Nimoy’s role is much more than a simple cameo. Everything comes together perfectly at the end. I went into the theater not wanting to learn anything more about the original cast of characters, and I left the theater eagerly awaiting the further adventures of these characters. If only every prequel could be this good. Wolverine did a good job of opening up the summer movie season, but Star Trek ups the ante. It’s a great film that surpassed all of my expectations. See this one opening weekend, even if you don’t consider yourself a Star Trek fan. There is not one dull moment in the film and anyone who enjoys summer action movies should enjoy Star Trek. This is now the best Star Trek film ever made. I'd still like to see the further adventures of the Next Generation characters some day as well.

REVIEW: 17 Again

STARRING: Zac Efron, Michelle Trachtenberg View Trailer RELEASE DATE: 04/17/09 DATE SCREENED: 04/14/09 The Verdict NOT GOOD - Wait for cable

Pretty boy teen sensation Zac Efron branches out from High School Musical as the star of 17 Again. The tagline of “who says you’re only young once”, had me thinking back to all the bad body switching movies like 18 Again, Freaky Friday, & Vice Versa. Those movies had an adult switching bodies with a child or teen and hilarity was supposed to ensue. But instead, we got silly forgettable movies. I expected more of the same with 17 Again.

17 Again doesn’t do the body switch, but instead tries to follow in the footsteps of Big. In Big, we had a child whose wish to be “big” was magically granted. In 17 Again, we have the adult Mike O’Donnel having his wish to relive his high school days magically granted by a mysterious janitor. Mike is going through a divorce, is turned down for a promotion, & can’t get along with his two kids. As a high school senior he was a basketball star on his way to college who gave it all up to marry his pregnant girlfriend. He thought that if only he left the girlfriend behind and went to college, his life would be perfect now. Mike's wish is granted by the janitor, and he is 17 once again but in the present day. He enrolls back in his old high school that his kids now attend. His geeky best friend Ned is the only one who knows what has happened and poses as his father. As a 17 year old, Mike attempts to befriend his kids and seduce his soon to be ex-wife. To break the spell and become an adult again Mike must accomplish something, but it’s up to him to figure out what.

The comedy mostly falls flat, as we get the predictable bits of Mike being a “fish out of water”, dressing wrong and trying to adjust to high school. We have the stereotypical bully, who torments the nerds, including Mike’s son, and is dating Mike’s daughter. The scenes of Mike seducing his wife struck me as more creepy than funny. The only parts that made me laugh involved a sub-plot of his friend Ned’s awkward attempts to date the school principal. She only agrees to go out with him when he donates laptops to the school, but they quickly find out they share an unhealthy passion for Lord of The Rings. On a side note, scenes of Ned’s house filled with Star Wars memorabilia were actually filmed at George Lucas’ Skywalker ranch.

17 Again is a very family friendly comedy, piling on messages about sexual abstinence and the importance of family. It gets way too sappy at the end. The movie wasn’t exactly the body switching film I expected but it was still more of the same forgettable silliness. A movie like Big is so good that you can completely suspend your disbelief throught the entire film. 17 Again is no Big. You can wait for cable to watch this one. At the screening, I was shocked that the audience applauded at the end. So maybe my opinion is in the minority, but I suspect they were just happy they didn’t have to pay money to see it.

REVIEW: Monsters vs. Aliens

STARRING: Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen View Trailer RELEASE DATE: 03/27/09 DATE SCREENED: 03/04/09 The Verdict GOOD - See it in the theater

These days we don’t have to wait long between 3D films. Monsters vs. Aliens is the latest animated feature to take advantage of the new advances in 3D technology. I’m certainly not complaining, as 3D has been a welcome addition to the movie theater experience. It’s something that has been able to get people away from their TV sets and into the theater.

From the opening scene, there is no doubt that Monsters vs. Aliens will have top notch 3D effects. It's like you are right there in space as a meteorite careens towards earth. The meteorite ends up landing right on top of Susan (voiced by Reese Witherspoon), as she prepares for her wedding. This doesn’t kill her, but once the ceremony begins, and before she can say “I do”, she begins to grow into a giant whose head bursts through the church ceiling. The government is right there investigating the meteor, so they tranquilize her and take her into custody. She awakens in a government facility, where she shares what is basically a large cell with other “monsters”. The monsters include a blue blob called BOB (Seth Rogen), an intelligent scientist roach called Dr. Cockroach (Hugh Laurie), a walking amphibious creature called The Missing Link (Will Arnett) and a giant caterpillar. Susan would have ended up spending her whole life in captivity renamed Ginormica if not for another alien ship landing on earth to retrieve the meteor. When the military is unable to disable the ship, the monsters are called upon by General Monger (Kiefer Sutherland) to do the deed. After accomplishing their task, the monsters are free to go, but quickly learn that they aren’t accepted in society. Most people scream at the sight of them. Ginormica’s finance is the biggest prick of them all. But they don’t have long to worry about that, as another larger alien invasion is on the way and only the monsters stand in the way of earth’s annihilation.

Monsters vs. Aliens is a movie the entire family can enjoy. The story is very basic, even pushing the typical message about how society needs to be more accepting of people who are “different”. Despite the forgettable basic plot, the movie is a lot of fun. There are jokes for the kids and the adults. Seth Rogen steals the show as BOB, as he delivers most of the funny lines that the kids will be repeating on the way home. Adults will appreciate the more subtle things, like a missile painted with an “E.T. go home” logo or the President playing music from Close Encounters. The 3D actually malfunctioned for 15 minutes at the screening I attended, so I can say without hesitation that the 3D adds to the fun of the movie. See this one in the theater and take the kids, but make sure it’s the 3D version.

REVIEW: I Love You, Man

STARRING: Paul Rudd, Jason Segel View Trailer RELEASE DATE: 03/20/09 DATE SCREENED: 02/05/09 The Verdict GOOD - See it in the theater

Realtor Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) is the kind of guy that’s very popular with the ladies. Not popular in the way most guys would want, but popular as a friend. He hangs with all the women at work, while the guys pretty much disgust him. Although Peter is perfectly happy, he discovers it’s a problem after he proposes to his finance Zooey. When planning the wedding he realizes that he doesn’t have a Best Man, or any male friends to fill out the wedding party. That’s the basic premise behind I Love You, Man, the latest comedy from Writer/Director John Hamburg (Along Came Polly, co-writer of Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers)

After a series of comically bad “man dates”, Peter meets Sydney (Jason Segel) at an Open House. Sydney is the kind of free sprit that has an opinion on everything and always says exactly what is on is mind, no matter how crude. They hit it off quickly, which eventually puts a strain on his relationship with Zooey. He spends more and more time with Sydney, and less with her. Peter may have found his Best Man, but will there be a wedding? Peter may have to choose between Zooey and Sydney.

I Love You, Man has laughs throughout. Not big belly laughs, but I think I was at least smiling throughout the entire running time. The “man dates” are funny, especially the one with a man who assumes Peter must be gay. Peter’s awkwardness with male bonding practices combined with Syndey’s crude humor make them a hilarious pairing. An even simple thing like Peter struggling to come up with a nickname becomes a good running joke. Both are very likeable characters, much like what you would see in a Judd Apatow comedy. A subplot in which Peter is trying to sell Lou Ferrigno’s mansion, while a co-worker tries to steal the listing, pays off big when Lou makes an appearance as himself. J.K. Simmons makes the best of his scenes as Peter’s father, who is surprisingly accepting of Peter’s gay younger brother. Paul Rudd starred in the funniest movie I saw last year, Role Models. Now that he has followed that up with a similarly funny movie in I Love You, Man I’d have to say that he is one of the best comedic actors working today. See this one in the theater.