New on DVD reviews

The Social Network Review

2011-01-10T16:16:00.000-06:00

DVD Release Date: January 11, 2011

In The Social Network Jesse Eisenberg stars as Mark Zuckerberg, the world’s youngest billionaire. Based loosely on actual events, The Social Network recounts the creation of the largest social networking site on the internet. Take a look:

When I heard that they were making a movie about facebook I rolled my eyes. When I learned that Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher were linked to the project I was Perplexed, although cautiously optimistic. David Fincher has become one of the great modern directors, with both Se7en and Fight Club reaching cult classic status. But, both of those films are dark and gritty, how would he fare directing a comedy/drama about facebook?

It turns out not only was he successful in creating the right tone for the film, he was also able to seamlessly transition between scenes of humor to scenes with intense drama. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross composed the score, and throughout the movie the music helped to create a mood of sadness, which really worked to highlight Mark’s underlying jealousy and depression.

The film is topped off by one of the greatest performances of the year by Jesse Eisenberg. Do yourself a favor, if you didn’t see The Social Network in theaters, go out and rent it.

Final Grade: A

Top 5 Rentals This Week (With Ratings)

2011-01-03T17:14:00.002-06:00

1 (C-) Disney's A Christmas Carol

2 (C-) Shrek Forever After (Shrek 4)

3 (A) Toy Story 3

4 (A) Inception

5 (D-) The Last Airbender

Dinner For Schmucks Review

2011-01-03T17:05:00.001-06:00

DVD Release Date: January 4, 2011

Dinner for Schmucks is about a businessman named Tim (Paul Rudd) who is working his way up the corporate ladder. Unfortunately, in order to get the promotion of his dreams he needs to find an idiot to bring to a special dinner for schmucks. Initially Tim is skeptical with the idea, until of course he runs into Barry (Steve Carell), and decides to go ahead with the dinner with Barry as his guest of honor.

The film runs for about two hours and I have to say the middle hour or so is extremely painful to watch. The start is pretty funny, a hilarious appearance from Jemaine Clement gets things rolling. But, once Barry is introduced it goes from funny to annoying. For a good thirty minutes it seems joke after joke falls flat, and the movie feels awkward and forgets to be funny.

The director is Jay Roach, who directed the Austin Powers movies, as well as the Meet the Parents movies. This is, by far, my least favorite of any of his films. The slapstick is awful, and Paul Rudd is playing the same bland character he seems to be playing in every movie. When the film finally gets to the dinner at the end, even though it’s funny, I found myself so bored and irritated that I just didn’t care anymore.

The only saving grace of this film is the quality of the comedic actors. Steve Carell, Jemaine Clement and Zack Galifianakis are all great, but there’s nothing they can do to save this slow, tedious comedy.

Final Grade: D+

The Last Exorcism Review

2011-01-03T16:56:00.001-06:00

DVD Release Date: January 4, 2011

Eli Roth is back as a producer for the first time since Hostel. He brings us a faux documentary horror film about a man who performs exorcisms:

Although The Last Exorcism seems to draw from past handheld horror films (Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project), it really comes out as its own unique film. The documentary style of filming really helps to make the audience believe the premise, making it very frightening when things start to go wrong.

Everyone involved in the film did a great job of acting. The standout performance was definitely Caleb Landry Jones, who plays the creepy son in the film. Whenever he’s on the screen I found myself feeling unusually uneasy, not knowing what he’s going to do or say next.

The Last Exorcism was going strong and the ending was looking to be quite refreshing… However, the final twist destroyed the momentum of the film. Not so much because it was a bad twist, on the contrary, it was a really cool idea. But, it was handled so poorly, and happened so fast that it will leave you confused rather then scared.

Even though it was a disappointing ending, it wasn’t bad enough to stop me from enjoying the overall picture.

Final Grade: B-

Top 5 Rentals This Week (With Ratings)

2010-12-27T17:07:00.000-06:00

1 (C-) Disney's A Christmas Carol

2 (C-) Shrek Forever After (Shrek 4)

3 (A) Toy Story 3

4 (A) Inception

5 (D-) The Last Airbender

The American Review

2010-12-27T16:56:00.002-06:00

DVD Release Date: December 28, 2010

George Clooney stars in The American, an interesting look into life of an aging assassin:

One of the most underrated films of 2010 has to be The American. I think the biggest problem with the film is that it’s marketed as if it was an action movie, which it’s not. The film is an interesting character study of what happen when a spy grows old. It almost reminds me of a cross between a Kubrick film, The Wrestler and a classic thriller. There is very little dialog throughout the film, and you learn so much about George Clooney by really studying his subtle mannerisms.

The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous, and will make anyone want to visit Italy. The score and the direction really help to slowly build tension and uncertainty throughout the movie, although sometimes it seems slightly manipulative. The pacing of the movie is very deliberate, so I can understand a few people finding the film a little slow. The screenplay is also a little weak, and the ending feels a little shallow as a result.

The American is a beautiful and interesting take on very common subject matter.

Final Grade: B+

Resident Evil: Afterlife Review

2010-12-27T16:49:00.001-06:00

DVD Realease Date: December 28, 2010

Alice (Milla Jovovich) is back in the third installment of the Resident Evil saga. Based on the iconic video game series, Resident Evil somehow keeps audiences coming back for more and more.

The first two films were your typical zombie movies. They consist of: survive, kill a lot of zombies and escape. Those films knew what they were, and how to deliver to an audience. As the series progresses the filmmaker seem to lose the plot, clawing to try to make sense of the most recent twist. As a result, the first half of this movie is spent trying to make up for the ridiculous premise set up in the last film.

Zombie movies don’t need a plot; zombie movies don’t need good characters; Zombie movies need zombies. It takes half the film before the first zombie is killed. When you rely heavily on a fan base wanting action it’s a good idea to give them action!

Once the film finally gets going there’s enough blood and violence to go around, and the action is definitely shot very well. If you’re a fan of the first three films, go out and rent it; otherwise, stay clear.

Final Grade: D

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Review

2010-12-20T17:18:00.003-06:00

DVD Release Date: December 21, 2010

After 23 years, the king of Wall Street returns in “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”. In the 2010 version of Wall Street, Gordon Gekko is a shell of his former self. He essentially has no money left, and takes on a protégé… who happens to be his daughter’s fiancé. Take a look:

The sequel to the original “Wall Street” definitely doesn’t live up to the first. The main flaw being that the screenplay isn’t nearly as clever as the subject matter. There is a point in the film where you’re happy to go along for the ride, where the twists and turns keep the film interesting. But, by the end, the amount of flip flopping done by the characters will make anyone watching roll their eyes.

Michael Douglas and Josh Brolin were definitely the stars of the movie, as I’m still not convinced that Shia LaBeouf is a legitimate A-list actor. However, I never found myself thinking he was noticeably out staged by anyone else in the film. Oliver Stone directed the film, and I found him to be a little hit and miss with some of his cuts and effects. Some effects seemed effective, while others felt like they were beating you over the head with the symbolism. It seems to be a recurrent flaw in some of his more recent films.

All in all, “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” is a pretty mediocre movie. If you’re a fan of Oliver Stone films I would recommend giving it a look.

Final Grade: C-

Easy A Review

2010-12-20T17:15:00.002-06:00

DVD Release Date: December 21, 2010

‘Easy A’ is about a regular high school girl named Olive (Emma Stone). She is essentially unnoticed in her high school until she lies to her friend about losing her virginity. She suddenly becomes known among the students, and begins to relish her alter ego of Easy A.

The films starts with a few jokes that fall flat, but picks up steam as soon as Olive’s parents are introduced (Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson). Emma Stone has just been nominated for a golden globe, and while I’m not so sure she deserves it, she definitely fills the role of Olive quite admirably.

The real star of the film is the screenplay, which is excellent. The sharp banter at certain parts was refreshing, and helped me forget that I was watching a pretty stereotypical teen comedy. The plot is really standard, and has been done so many times before. However, you feel as if everyone in the film understands that, and pokes fun of that fact constantly.

Because ‘Easy A’ has such a standard plot it’s hard to give it a very high grade. But, the film is thoroughly enjoyable and I highly recommend it.

Final Grade: B

Devil Review

2010-12-20T17:12:00.002-06:00

DVD Release Date: December 21, 2010

The newly created “Night Chronicles” starts with the film ‘Devil’. What happens when the world is flipped upside down (not literally) and five people are trapped in an elevator? Take a look:

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. It wasn’t too long ago people were saying M. Night Shyamalan was the next big thing out of Hollywood. Now, it’s gotten to the point where people will groan in theaters when his name is attached to an upcoming film. He didn’t direct or write the screenplay for this film, but there seems to be signs of his contributions from the first scenes.

It’s hard to have any sort of connection to anyone in this film. The characters are all flat, cartoonish and completely unlikeable. The plot feels contrived and predictable. The only major twists in the whole film are so predictable that I feel guilty even referring to them as plot twists. John Erick Dowdle does a decent job directing, making the audience feel claustrophobic throughout the movie. Though, the flickering lights and the extended periods of darkness become old pretty fast.

I didn’t hate this movie, but I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s only about an hour and fifteen minutes long, and feels better suited as a short TV movie.

Final Grade: D+

Salt Review

2010-12-20T17:09:00.002-06:00

DVD Release Date: December 21, 2010

The female version of Jason Bourne is upon us, and her name is Evelyn Salt… Or is it? ‘Salt’ is about a CIA agent who is accused of being a Russian spy. We get to watch as she jumps, parkours and MacGyvers her way to clearing her name. Take a look at the trailer:

Angelina Jolie has picked up where she left off in ‘Wanted’ and ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ to bring us another larger then life action hero. The problem is that the film attempts to frame the story within the confines of “reality”. If you’re going to have someone jumping from truck to truck on a highway, you should probably be in the matrix.

That being said, I’m always up for a good ol’ one man (in this case woman) versus the world movie. Phillip Noyce does a good job shooting the action scenes, and the film has excellent pacing. Liev Schreiber and Chiwetel Ejiofor do a solid job in their supporting roles (as always), and Angelina Jolie is good at adding star power to the film.

The ending may be a bit disappointing to some, but the film is an hour and a half that flies by. If all you’re looking for is a fast paced action flick, ‘Salt’ won’t disappoint you.

Final Grade: C

Top Ten Rentals of the Week (with Ratings)

2010-12-19T22:34:00.000-06:00

1 Disney's A Christmas Carol
C-

2 Shrek Forever After (Shrek 4)
C-

3 Toy Story 3
A

4 Inception
A

5 The Last Airbender
D-

6 Sex and the City 2
NA

7 The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
NA

8 Grown Ups
D

9 Despicable Me
C

10 The A-Team
C+

*NA denotes a movie I haven’t seen

The Town Review

2010-12-15T21:05:00.001-06:00

DVD Release Date: December 17, 2010

Ben Affleck takes to the director’s chair for the second time with the action-drama ‘The Town’. It’s about a group of bank robbers who end up kidnapping a female bank manager (Rebecca Hall). After releasing her, Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) goes to find out if she saw anything that could be used against them, but ends up getting more of a relationship with her then he bargained for... Take a look:

Ben Affleck and Jeremy Renner are both coming off major success for their latest films. With Ben Affleck proving to everyone that he’s a bona fide writer/director with ‘Gone Baby Gone’ and Jeremy Renner’s Oscar nominated performance in ‘The Hurt Locker’. I think they both proved that those films were no fluke. Jeremy Renner gives an amazing performance playing one of the bank robbers. His character is definitely very unstable and violent, but he doesn’t ham it up too much, which makes the character very believable.

The only major flaw in this movie is that Ben Affleck stars in it. He is meant to be this character that’s torn emotionally throughout the film, but he seems to be pretty emotionless. I really believe that he has found his calling as a director and a writer, and this movie is shot brilliantly. The action and the car chases are shot better then any movie I can remember seeing recently.

This movie is definitely worth going out and getting. If it wasn’t for the performance by Affleck, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see this getting some Oscar love.

Final Grade: B+

Top New Releases

2010-12-13T11:12:00.000-06:00

1 The Town
2 Despicable Me
3 The Other Guys
4 Cyrus
5 The A-Team

Unfortunately I won't be doing reviews this week. Check in next monday for my first set of reviews.

Top Ten Rentals Of This Week

2010-12-13T11:04:00.000-06:00

1		Disney's A Christmas Carol
2		Shrek Forever After (Shrek 4)
3		Toy Story 3
4		Inception
5		The Last Airbender
6		Sex and the City 2
7		The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
8		How to Train Your Dragon
9		Grown Ups
10		The Expendables

My Favorite Films Of All Time

2010-12-12T21:58:00.001-06:00

For my first blog I've decided to let you know my favorite films of all time. Mind you, this isn't a ‘best’ films of all time list. Therefore, absentees will include Citizen Cane, Casablanca and The Godfather. These films are personal favorites, movies that I can go back to again and again.

Without further adieu, my favorite films of all time:

10. LA Confidential
I’ve always loved a good detective story, and this is a GREAT one. Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Danny DeVito and Guy Pearce make up an amazing cast. This movie is definitely a must see.

9. The Truman Show
Peter Weir is probably one of the most underrated directors of all time. The Truman show, Witness and Master and Commander all could have made this list. But, time after time, I find myself watching The Truman Show.

8. American Psycho
I love watching movies that keep you thinking long after the movie is over. I watched this movie for the first time about 10 years ago, and I’m still thinking about it.

7. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Guy Ritchie has gangster films down to a science. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels has dark humor, violence and tension that will keep you on the edge of your seat every time.

6. Dr Strangelove
This is, without a doubt, my favorite comedy of all time. Somehow Stanley Kubrick makes the nuclear holocaust funny… can you hear me Dmitry?

5. Fight Club
It’s definitely David Fincher’s masterpiece. This movie caused such division amongst critics when it came out, that it almost had to become a cult classic. Much like A Clockwork Orange, this film had people worried that the next day we’d see people fighting in the streets. Finally, Fincher’s going to get the respect he deserves this year when The Social Network wins best picture (you heard it here first).

4. Pulp Fiction
This is another cult classic. Scaring kids away from cocaine since 1994.

3. Taxi Driver
When this movie gets going it’s hard to even fathom how it could possibly have a happy ending. All you know is that Robert De Niro is going to shoot someone. Who is he going to shoot? That is anyone's guess.

2. 2001 - A Space Odyssey
I just had to put two Kubrick Films on my list. I would say something interesting about this movie… but instead I’ll just leave it up to you.

1. Memento
This is probably the only movie I can recite. If you like Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, The Prestige, Inception), then do yourself a favor and see this movie. Memento is, by far, my favorite movie.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my list. If you liked the movies on here check out my reviews on new releases as they come out. I’ll probably be starting on the 21st.