Where “The Rite” went wrong

The Rite

I was sitting at home trying to decide whether to see “The Rite” or “The Mechanic”, and I finally came to the conclusion that I was in the mood for something scary. From psycho cannibal to half man, half wolf, I have always thought Anthony Hopkins makes a good villain. So when I saw the trailer for “The Rite”, I was restless with anticipation of seeing him as another creepy character. I was hoping to be scared out of my seat like those trailers for the movie “Paranormal Activity”. It’s been a while since that’s happened and I thought that maybe this would be the movie. The choice of Colin O’Donoghue to play Michael Kovak, a man struggling with his belief in God, was a little puzzling. He is not a well known actor and

Golden Globe Awards - Why The Social Network was the winner?

And the Winner is...

So the big winner of the night was “The Social Network”, and although it was good, it definitely didn’t deserve the overwhelming recognition it received. In my opinion, the best movie of 2010 was Inception. But because of the complexity of the plot, a lot of people disagree with me. They just couldn’t follow the twists and turns the movie takes. So many more people could follow the how I made a billion dollar plot line of “The Social Network” that it was sure to be the favorite of most of my friends, not to mention the 500,000,000 fans of Facebook.

True Grit

The Praise
If you’re a fan of Spaghetti Westerns, then you won’t be disappointed. This is one of the best Westerns I’ve seen since Clint Eastwood’s “Unforgiven”. Jeff Bridges playing Rooster Cogburn brings the same drunken redneck charm as he did in “Crazy Heart” with a bit more humor thrown in for good measure. You would thing I would go on and on about Jeff Bridges roll in this film, or even Matt Damon’s portrayal of a over the top Texas Ranger La Boeuf, but you’d be wrong, because

Ben Affleck - Not Just a Pretty Boy Actor

The Town

Jon Hamm, from the hit series “Mad Men”, does a brilliant job as hard hitting FBI S.A. Adam Frawley. Adam Frawley is relentless in his pursuit of Bank Robber Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) and his crew. Leaving no stone unturned, Frawley tracks the crew to Charlestown, a small Irish Catholic neighborhood in Boston, Mass, the so called “Bank Robber Capital”. Doug MacRay ends up falling in love with a witness, Claire Keesey(Rebecca Hall), to the crews last robbery.

Free Movies of the Week

Each week I will be adding new movies that you can watch for free. This weeks movies are:

Happy New Year, Charlie Brown!

Saints and Soldiers

Super Size Me

Black Sheep

Idiot with a Tripod or Man in a Blizzard

"Man in a Blizzard," by Jamie Stuart

Roger Ebert says “This film deserves to win the Academy Award”. After watching it, I have to say, I don’t see the appeal. I mean, it could be a winter car commercial. I know, I know, it was done with precision, and it was done in a day, and it looks great, but come on, an Academy Award. Please. Ok, watch it and tell me what you think. It’s only 3:34 long, so I gave the Idiot with a Tripod the same length of review.

The Tourist, avoid beautiful women on trains

The Tourist

I remember traveling on a train with my Grandfather from Paris to Venice. The beautiful countryside flying by as we ate cheese on pieces of a long baguette. I remember sitting in front of a youth hostel drinking wine with a beautiful girl from New York. As we watched the gondolas go by, I remember thinking that this was the happiest I’ve ever been. All of these memories came flooding in as I sat and watched the elegant dance of words between Frank Tupelo (Johnny Depp) and Elise Clifton-Ward (Angelina Jolie). The wonderful Musical Score creates a perfect balance of ambiance and suspense. It felt as if I was actually there having dinner by the Tronchetto – Lido di Venezia or being chased be foreign mobsters.

Waiting for Superman, the up hill battle

Waiting for Superman

When I first watched this documentary, my wife and I were deciding on a Pre-School for my oldest son, Travis. I was on the fence about which school he would like to go to. I really wasn’t thinking that the school we choose today would really affect how he did High School, or even whether he would go to College. We live in Long Beach, Ca and had a wide range of schools to choose from. We finally chose Parkcrest Early Childhood School, a Catholic School in northern Long Beach. When it’s time for K-12 we have decided to send both of our sons to private Catholic School. Like so many others, we realized that the public school system is broken. According to the movie, some of the elementary schools in our area are dropout factories. This means that 58% of kids entering those schools drop out of high school. Why would I risk sending my child to a failing school, knowing what I know now? 

Tron Legacy, 3-D effects gone wild

 

Nostalgia

We all grow up remembering the movies that stuck with us. Movies like Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Godfather, and so on. Well, for me, one of those movies was Tron. When we finally got our first VHS, I recorded it when it played on HBO. I must have watched Tron 100 times before I finally put it in a box in the attic, were it stayed.

 I would sit in Computer Science class and day dream of a world that existed only in cyberspace, a world of programs communicating with and attacking each other. The idea that programs were alive was always so fascinating to me. Every day after school I would go to the Video Game Arcade and play Tron. I must have put $400 into that game.

Inception nominated for four Golden Globe® Awards

 

Inception, my pick for Best Movie of 2010, just received Golden Globe ® nominations for Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Director – Motion Picture “Christopher Nolan”, and Best Screenplay - Motion Picture “Christopher Nolan”. If this doesn’t get you to the theater to see this movie, I don’t know what will. The amazing cinematography and incredible depth of the plot was unmatched by any other movie in 2010. I have seen it 5 times now and every time, get something new out of it. If you haven’t had a chance to catch this flick, here is an overview of the plot.

The Warrior's Way st of Time

The Warrior's Way

Synopsis:  The world’s greatest swordsman abandons his warrior clan to start a new life in the American Badlands. Korean superstar Jang Dong Gun, Kate Bosworth, Danny Huston and Academy Award® winner Geoffrey Rush star in this epic story of revenge and redemption.
After a lifetime of training in martial arts and swordsmanship, Yang (Jang Dong Gun) has eliminated all but one of his clan’s enemies—an infant whose smile instantly melts his heart. Unwilling to kill her and unable protect her from his own deadly tribe, Yang takes the baby girl and flees, planning to seek refuge with an old friend living in Lode, a frontier town in the American West.

Faster, the Rock we Love

Faster

After 10 years in prison, Driver (Dwayne Johnson) has a singular focus - to avenge the murder of his brother during the botched bank robbery that led to his imprisonment. Now a free man with a deadly to-do list in hand, he’s finally on his mission… but with two men on his trail - veteran cop (Billy Bob Thornton) just days from retirement, and a young egocentric hitman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) with a flair for the art of killing and a newfound worthy opponent.

Harry Potter, the Beginning of the End

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:

Part 1  

J.K. Rowling's epic

Catch Up:   If you’ve been living on Mars for the last ten years, here is an overview of what has happened so far. Harry Potter survives an attack as a child; his mother and father, who were a witch and a wizard, were not so lucky. He is then raised by muggles (Non-wizards) until one day he finds out the truth about his parents and decides to follow in their footsteps and join Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry Potter becomes friends with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger and start searching for the truth about what happened to Harry’s parents.

Hereafter Four Stars

 

Hereafter

Open October 22, 2010  -  Runtime: 2 hr 06 min  -  PG-13

Clint Eastwood directs this look into three individuals from different parts of the world struggling with the hardships of life and death, and the inevitable destiny of their lives. Clint Eastwood does a masterful job portraying the overwhelming feelings of life and the struggle with what comes after.

After a near death experience as a child, George (Matt Damon) develops the ability to communicate with loved ones that have pass on.

Disappointment of the Year

Skyline

Open November 12, 2010  -  Runtime: 1 hr 40 min  -  PG-13

Movie Synopsis: Strange lights descend on the city of Los Angeles, drawing people outside like moths to a flame where an extraterrestrial force threatens to swallow the entire human population off the face of the Earth.
Review: I am such a fan of doomsday movies, but there is nothing worse than a well filmed movie with no plot or character development.