50/50

50/50
(2011) [Trailer]
Director: Jonathan Levine (IMDB)

This is another movie that I really wanted to check out last year but never got around to it. I think cancer is pretty hilarious so I knew it'd be a good time. Just kidding, I hate cancer and I'm paranoid about getting it, so I did have some reservations about watching this and getting bummed out.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has the cancer and Seth Rogan is trying to be a good friend and help him through the tough times. It's pretty high concept and that's the movie in a nut shell.

I thought 50/50 was a pretty decent flick. Nothing ground breaking but I was entertained. I did find it extremely predictable and I had some believability issues with both the doctor and the therapist. It made my wife cry a lot, so it's got that going for it. I'll close with this, I believe Seth Rogan saved this movie for me, had it been any other actor, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed this as much.

Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice
(1988) [Trailer]
Director: Tim Burton (IMDB)

I have seen this movie too many times to count. I've owned it on every format... blu-ray, DVD, and VHS (sorry, I never had a laser disc player.) I have a good deal of it memorized, so as I'm sure you can tell, my review will be favorable.

Betelegeuse is a star in the Orion constellation and is considered a Red Supergiant. It shines bright in the night sky... Beetlejuice is a movie starring Michael Keaton, and directed by Tim Burton. Beetlejuice involves a couple of recently diseased ghosts... I mean recently deceased ghosts who are trying to rid their house of new tenants after their passing. The new tenants are yuppies from NYC and aren't falling for their ghost bullshit. So the ghosts call upon Beetlejuice, a bio-exorist, to help move out the new house guests.

Tim Burton's masterpiece encompasses everything I love about movies. The art direction, set pieces, and practical effects are amazing. The story is weird and interesting. Keaton's performance as Beetlejuice is awesome, dare I say the best thing he's ever done. Let's not forget, Danny Elfman's score is so rad, I couldn't imagine any other music accompanying this film. Beetlejuice is a real good time and still holds up just as much as my first viewing.

Extract

Extract

(2009) [Trailer]
Director: Mike Judge (IMDB)

Mike Judge is a pretty cool guy and he's made some fun movies. I really enjoyed Idiocracy and I thought Office Space was hilarious. So I figured I'd be in good shape when it came to my recent viewing of Extract... boy was I wrong.

Extract centers around a factory that bottles extract for baking and cooking. Exciting right? Jason Bateman plays a sexually frustrated boss who's very unhappy with his marriage. His friend (Ben Afflick) talks him into hiring a gigolo to try and set his wife up to cheat on him. Their theory is that if she takes the bait and bangs the male whore, it'll give Bateman carte blanche to hook up with Mila Kunis, who was recently hired to work at the factory. There's a few other sub plots, but really, it's not that important.

This movie was boring. It did hold my attention and there were a few funny moments, but overall, it was pretty forgetful. The way Bateman reacts to things isn't very realistic, but I guess it's a movie so it gets a pass? Who knows. Whatever. I would take a pass on this... there's definitely better movies out there.

Hard Boiled

Hard Boiled
(1992) [Trailer]
Director: John Woo (IMDB)

A lot of fucking people die in this movie. A LOT! So many, that half way through it, I had to pause it and look up the official body count. It's 307. How's that for a good time?

Hard Boiled is about a cop named Tequila... already you should be saying to yourself "I want to see this movie." Anyways, Tequila goes off the rails when his partner is murder by some gangsters. Tequila starts to hunt down the gangsters and soon finds out one of them isn't who him seems. Hong Kong Police planted a mole in the gang and he soon teams up with Tequila to kick some major ass.

This is the third John Woo film I've seen and definitely the best. The action scenes in this movie are unreal. It's insane to watch all these guys getting blown to shit and not think they were somehow getting hurt in real life. I wonder in China if they're more laxed about safety laws, because a lot of what I saw seems extremely dangerous... and awesome. The story can get a little weak at times and there were a few moments where it seemed to drag it's tail a bit, but I guess you could compare that to how a junkie feels in between his fixes. Maybe all of that is really awesome and I'm just too high off the action to notice, or maybe not. Find out for yourself.

The Remains of the Day

The Remains of the Day
(1993) [Trailer]
Director: James Ivory (IMDB)

We're all rats stuck on a exercise wheel, continually running around and around. Day in, day out, working ourselves to the bone. The working man is a sucker and a slave to the grind. Some of us are locked into this cycle more than others, as is the case of Mr. Stevens.

Mr. Stevens (Sir Anthony Hopkins) is a butler to a very wealthy Englishman in post WWI Britain. He keeps himself completely occupied by running the Lord's mansion and ridiculously large staff of servants. The Lord is also a Nazi sympathizer and he's helping the Germans ease their way back into the world stage after getting their asses handed to them in the first war. Sir Anthony hires on a head maid (Emma Thompson) and over time starts to develop feelings for her. I won't get too into the story as it is involved but trust me, you should watch it.

This movie is a great example of missed opportunity. It's an interesting character study on a man who puts work so highly above all that he loses out on everything else in life. He barely has a moment to himself and when love comes knocking at his door, he doesn't even take the chance to make it happen. What's even worse is the Lord that Mr. Stevens served ended up being a tool and his allegiance to him, cost his life (not literally but figuratively.) The whole movie you want Mr. Stevens to bust a move and change, but in the end he remains what he is, a slave to the man.

This movie was nominated for 8 academy awards and it's easy to see why. The cinematography is beautiful. There's one scene where Mr. Steven's car is dying on the road in the middle of the country during sunset, it's one of the most amazing shots I've seen in cinema in awhile. The score is phenomenal, it's very classic with hints of darkness spread throughout it. Lastly, the performances are great. Sir Anthony is so awesome and extremely believable as a butler, as well as Emma Thompson, who serves up a stellar performance which will linger with you... Superman was decent too.

Definitely recommended.

The Toy Story Trilogy

The Toy Story franchise is really genius. It's up there with Star Wars when it comes to merchandising and overall profit. Does that mean they're any good? Of course, cash rules everything around me. When I first saw Toy Story in the 90's I was blown away by the animation. It was the first Pixar full length, it was all CG, and opened the door for the onslaught of CG films to follow.

Toy Story
(1995) [Trailer]
Director: John Lasseter (IMDB)

Toy Story is about what really happens when you're not home. Toys come to life and do crazy shit. All in toy world is awesome until a new toy, Buzz Light Year, shows up. The leader and most played with toy, Woody, gets mad when Buzz starts stealing his playtime away from Andy (the child.) Woody tries to get Buzz out of the picture but his plan back fire, which sends the two toys on a wild ride.

As I said before, the animation blew my mind back in the 90's, and it still does. This looks sooooo good on Disney blu-ray and makes me feel like I'm seeing it for the first time again. There's honestly nothing I would change about this movie.




Toy Story 2
(1999) [Trailer]
Director: John Lasseter (IMDB)

This time around all the toys are buddy buddy, and all seems well. Andy's mother decide to have a yard sale and Woody accidentally finds himself for sale. Just so happens a toy collector shows up and steals Woody....Newman! Turns out Woody is rare and worth a ton of Japanese yen. The rest of the toys head out to save Woody.

This movie is pretty much just as good as the first. It looses just a little bit because I feel the story isn't as good as the first. The animation is still mind blowing, especially the intro scene on Zorg's planet. I love all the little references to Star Wars, and even Jurassic Park. Definitely a lot of fun and well deserved in any collection.




Toy Story 3
(2010) [Trailer]
Director: Lee Unkrich (IMDB)

The final chapter finds Andy ready to rage and tear shit up at college. Baby's all grown up and done with his toy playing days. Through a series of events the toys find themselves as hand me downs to the local daycare. At first everything seems amazing and the toys think they've hit the jackpot, but the daycare isn't all that it seems.

Part 3 is the best of the trilogy in my book. It's definitely the funniest. It looks the best, especially the humans. Andy isn't as weird looking as he was in the first movie. The plot is awesome, this is basically an animated prison break flick, and it rules.

All three installments are great and a real fun time. Disney, thank you. Keep the hits coming.

The Edge

The Edge
(1997) [Trailer]
Director: Lee Tamahori (IMDB)

I had never heard of this film and really knew nothing about it before watching it last night. My friend Michael insisted I check it out and I respect his opinion on a lot of stuff (but definitely not his opinion on foreign films, sorry Mike.) It's available on Netflix instant (God bless you Netflix) so I went ahead with the viewing.

The Edge stars Sir Anthony Hopkins, Alec Baldwin, Michael from LOST and some washed up supermodel. It's set in an extremely remote location in Canada (like you have to fly in on a sea plane remote.) Sir Anthony, who is a billionaire, brings his model wife and a photography crew in for a little R&R at a Cabin on a lake. They set up a little photo shoot, you know, to take advantage of the beautiful surroundings. Things go wrong when they are out scouting for a native model (an Indian) for the shoot and their sea plane hits the deck. Sir Anthony, Alec and Michael from LOST have to survive in the wilderness after the crash... but... they have company. That company... a blood thirsty grizzly bear. Fuck.

I love a survival flick and this is a good one. This movie doesn't take long to get going and when it does it's pretty suspenseful. Alec and Sir Anthony do a good job on camera and also develop some pretty sweet beards. The cinematography is insane and I don't know if it has much to do with the cinematographer. If you just turned on the camera, the location itself would do the rest of the work. Regardless, the film looks incredible. I do have a few issues with the ending but I don't want to spoil anything. If you have Netflix instant go ahead and give this a spin, good stuff.