The Terminator: A Quick Review

Well I finally got around to seeing "The Terminator," after seeing "Terminator Salvation" first.  Well first of all feel free to skip "Terminator Salvation." It was merely an attempt to make more money off "The Terminator" franchise, just without Arnold Schwarzenegger.  "The Terminator" on the other hand is a classic science fiction movie that was directed and co-written by the man behind "Titanic" and "Avatar," James Cameron.  It was released in 1984 and stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator and Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor.  The movie takes place in the year 2029.  Apparently in the future there will be an awful lot of cyborgs.  One of these cyborgs, the Terminator goes back in time to the year 1984.  His sole purpose is to find Sarah Connor and kill her.  Kyle Reese also goes back in time and his sole purpose is to protect her.  The Terminator looks an awful lot like a human so at first people just think he's just a really muscular man...until they get shot to death that is.  Yeah, that's the main plot point, I assume you all have see this movie already, or most of it, so it really doesn't matter how I explain it.  Well anyway the movie is extremely entertaining.  The pacing is perfect and the essentially the action never lets up.  There is plenty of gunfire to be had as well as numerous car chases.  James Cameron is an extremely capable director and is able to capture such scenes very well.  Also of note is the special effects.  For 1984 these were fantastic effects.  Of course 26 years later they look a little on the fake side, but at the time it's the best they could do.  I happen to despise CGI that is literally everywhere you look at the movies now.  It looks incredibly fake and annoying to me and I much prefer the old way of doing things, where the special effects people physically built things with their very own hands to use in movies like this.  I can't talk about "The Terminator" without mentioning Arnold Schwarzenegger at least once.  He was just perfectly cast as the Terminator.  His build, his voice, his screen presence, everything just comes together so well and it's impossible to imagine anyone else saying, "I'll be back."  The negative parts of the movie...there's actually not many...at least none that really stuck out...except for the sex scene between Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese.  That was just too long and too unnecessary and really added nothing to the movie.  We all know that John Connor was conceived, but we don't need to see it.  The other negative part would be the score.  Most of the time it's fine. And then other times it doesn't fit at all. I know the movie was made in the 1980s.  I don't need the score to constantly remind me of this fact. So yeah, very well made movie, a classic.  If you haven't seen it yet, see it at least once.  And if you have, there was really no reason to read this review, but by all means watch it again.  I'm looking forward to seeing the sequel...the first one...the one people like...

-Joseph Sbrilli

Toy Story 3

Well, I guess I don't have to tell you guys this, but I will anyway...Pixar has done it again, for the 11th time.  Everyone working for Pixar Animation Studios should be extremely proud of "Toy Story 3," because it means they still have a perfect track record as far as everyone is concerned. "Toy Story 3" was directed by Lee Unkrich.  It was written  by Michael Ardnt, who also wrote "Little Miss Sunshine," so that's another reason you know you are in for a good time watching "Toy Story 3". It stars the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, John Ratzenberger, Wallace Shawn, Don Rickles, Estelle Harris, Laurie Metcalf, Jodi Benson, Ned Beatty, Michael Keaton, Timothy Dalton, Richard Kind, Bonnie Hunt, Jeff Garlin and Whoopi Goldberg.

In 1995 Pixar introduced the world to talking toys in "Toy Story." In has been 15 years since then and 11 years since "Toy Story 2" was released.  The toys are back again for a whole new set of adventures and several new characters.  Now Andy is about to head off to college. Some of his toys have been sold since the first sequel.  Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and many of the original characters are wondering what will become of them, now that Andy has grown up.  They accidentally end up being donated to Sunnyside Daycare...which they will later find out is actually a quite ironic name for the place.  At first they think this is a great idea, because they will never be outgrown there, since new kids are always coming in.  However, they are completely wrong.  As it turns out one of the new characters, and one of the veterans at the daycare, Lots'-O-Huggin' Bear, was abandoned and forgotten by his kid.  This of course made him corrupt, since that apparently is possible with talking toys.  He leads the group of other toys at the daycare in making sure that Andy's toy's are abused by the younger children apparently incapable of handling toys in a civil fashion.  Lotso also won't let Woody, Buzz, et al, leave.  So once again they need to think of an elaborate escape plan.  At this point they are completely used to perilous situations.

Take this time to reread the first section where I listed the cast.  That is proof that for "Toy Story 3," Pixar assembled the greatest voice cast in the history of the human race.  The cast is full of veterans of movies, television or both.  Each voice is so distinct and fits their respective characters so well.  All of these talented actors succeeded exceptionally well in bring these toys to life, by merely using their voices.  It must have been an incredible group of recording sessions during the production of this movie.  Of course Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are always wonderful and Don Rickles and Estelle Harris as the Potato Heads are one of the best casting choices ever in an animated movie...fact, and not merely my opinion.  This time around we get a great new batch of memorable characters including Lotso, played very well by Ned Beatty as the main villain in this film.  Other characters of mention include Michael Keaton as Barbie's counterpart, Ken and Timothy Dalton as a toy porcupine named Mr. Pricklepants.  I at least was highly amused by those two being cast.  I would love to comment more on this incredible cast, but I will spare you my rambling, even though that ship has probably sailed.

Since this is not only a sequel, but a second sequel, "Toy Story 3" is not a great example of originality, this is in no way a negative comment, merely a fact of life.  In each of the installments some of the same topics are dealt with including Andy eventually growing up and what that means for his toys and the toys being involved in some dire circumstance leading to an escape plan being an order.  Each sequel to "Toy Story" was able to add new characters/cast members, think of more adventures for these characters to experience, and ultimately tell one big 15 year story.  "Toy Story 3" is the final chapter for these characters that we have known for over a decade and a darn good one at that.  It feels familiar, it being a sequel, but never feels stale.  Pixar manages to keep the plots fresh and many of the jokes successful, of course with a cast that includes people like Don Rickles, could we really expect anything less? "Toy Story 3" also has some great deja vu from the previous movies...years later those aliens are still obsessed with "the claw" and this time that fares pretty well for them.

"Toy Story 3" may be the most beautiful thing I have seen on the big screen or anywhere...ever...in my entire 19 years on this earth...or it may come second to "Wall-E."  "Toy Story," in 1995, and even now is considered a landmark film as far as animated movies are concerned and has the fantastic visuals to prove it.  Now it's 2010 and Pixar shows what 15 years of technical advancements can do.  We get a film that has characters and setting that are so brilliantly colored, perfectly textured, and just generally perfectly refined and natural looking.  I didn't know a dump could look so beautiful until the Pixar team animated the toys accidentally getting taken there and trying to escape an incinerator.  That's just one of numerous examples in this film that shows the visual brilliance that is Pixar.  If it's not Pixar, I almost always avoid it like the plague.  Absolutely no one but them can combine brilliant animation with brilliant storytelling, generally speaking.

The magic that is Pixar is that they appeal to absolutely every age group, ever.  If you are a breathing human being you will find something to love about these films and "Toy Story 3" just follows suit.  So many emotions are explored in this film including laughter, sadness (although not quite as moving as the beginning and end of "Up" which was just incredible, by any movie standards).  If you don't like these movies at least a little, you may have no soul...from what I know about people...which is actually surprisingly little, but that is completely beside the point.  

Well I've talked about the story, the animation, the actors, and what I like to call "the magic that is Pixar," so I guess it's time to talk about Randy Newman.  I love him.  His voice is unique and he has scored all three "Toy Story" movies.  Whether there's a scene full of adventure, humor, or just sentimentality, his score always comes through for these movies.  And plus, "You've Got a Friend in Me" is just a wonderful song in general, and has got to be worth something.

One final thing, Andy seems to be a little too attached to his toys...possibly a lot...or maybe he's just wicked sentimental.  And Mrs. Potato Head, who was missing an eye for the majority of the movie apparently could see what Andy was doing at his house while she and the toys were at the daycare.  That seemed to go beyond the realm of belief, I mean as far as talking toys go that is...That was a little weird.

Each "Toy Story" film, as far as I am concerned is pretty close as far as quality goes...very consistent.  I like each sequel a little more than the last one and the new characters usually make it for me.  However, "Toy Story" will always be the one that started it all, the original, and a modern classic, but I think I liked "Toy Story 3" the most out of the three.  Between the new story and characters and the usual brilliant animation and storytelling it is just incredibly hard for me to resist.  I highly recommend it to everyone.  This is a weak summer for movies, and "Toy Story 3" is well worth you're money and time.  It is just so incredibly well made and great fun to watch.  I would also suggest seeing it in 2-D.  Although Pixar movies do look very good in 3-D it is still more expensive and slightly dulls the brilliant colors, because of the black tinted glasses.  And sorry I lied before, I definitely had more than one final thing to say. 4 stars!...Just see it...as long as you've got your wallet out.

-Joseph Sbrilli

The A-Team

I never had the pleasure of growing up watching the original A-Team. Although if I did, I'm sure I would have tuned in every week with a bag of chips and a redbull (or the 80's equivalent).

The A-Team is the latest in the many recently announced Hollywood remakes. Its sole purpose is to entertain and make the production company oodles of money to roll around in while they listen to a recording of themselves laughing. (The life sounds good huh?)

If you weren't aware of the backstory of the A-Team you literally might live in Antarctica. The amount of references in movies and tv shows is astounding, but just in case here it is. The A-Team is a group of four specialized badasses who, after completing several thousand high profile missions for the United States, are framed for a crime they didnt commit. They quickly bust of of jail and serve as guns for hire, but only if you can find them, and after that only if you can afford them. Which makes the government pretty stupid since lots of citizens did find them and paid for their services, but the United States could never track them down and re-arrest them, idiots.

Anyways, the remake follows that basic premise except that before they become guns for hire, they have to figure out a way to clear their names. The original TV show was about Vietnam vets, but the remake places them in the latest Desert Storm, framed for killing General Morrison. Which they quite obviously didn't, and the guys who did do it very obviously ran from the scene. Again, the US government and military makes themselves look like fools and blame the A-Team. Plot structure is not this films strong points.

What it lacks in a story it makes up with plenty of action and some great actors. Liam Neeson takes on the role of Hannibal, the boss of the outfit and the guy with the plan. Bradley Cooper plays Faceman, the sweet talker, lady wooer. Sharlto Copley plays the crazed pilot Murdock, the kind of guy who grabs onto a helicopter blade and sings "you spin my head right round right round." And, Quinton Jackson plays the role of B.A. Baracus filling the very large shoes left behind by Mr. T.

Quinton Jackson is a UFC fighter and has acted in exactly zero movies before this, jumping into a role that is most recognized abover all the others. He looks and feels like an action vet. I honestly thought I would be tired of the words "pity" and "fool" but no matter how many times he said it, I never grew tired of it. Sharlto Copley is equally amazing considering his one and only other film was the lead in District 9. His career is coming along quite nicely.

The A-Team is covered in so much testosterone and manliness that its hard to handle. Flips in a helicopter, more explosions than a fireworks show, and bullets ripping across every surface possible. Plus, they fly a tank, A TANK for god's sake. If my action figures had ever been as cool as this, I might have died of exhaustion.

The A-Team adds nothing in terms of social commentary or plot, but it is an exploding barrel of fun that is amusing and enjoyable.

2 and a half out of 4 stars

-Christopher O'Connell

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

You can always tell its summer when the big budget blockbusters start rolling out. Prince of Persia is Disney's latest attempt at trying to pull off another runaway pirates of the Caribbean hit. We reinvented the pirate genre so why don't we try the sword and sandals one?

For two very good reasons: one, you don't have Johnny Depp to brilliantly steal the first film or to be the shining star in the next two pieces of crap, and two, and this is very important, you based it off of a video game. Video game movies are historically bad, I cannot think of one game that has evolved into a great movie. There have been decent attempts but nothing great. Prince of Persia falls into this category.

Prince of Persia  is the story of Dastan, an orphan boy who was picked off the streets of the Persian capitol because the king liked how white he was compared to the rest of the people. Seriously, this movie is so whitewashed they should just call it Prince of Europe. Anyway Dastan grows up as a prince with his two legitimate brothers, who all have a slight British accent (further accentuating the whole whitewashed thing). After the Persian army takes the holy city of Alamud, Dastan finds a mysterious dagger. Soon after he is framed for the death of his father and barely escapes the city walls. Somehow, the princess of Alamud hops on for the ride. Dastan has to set out to clear his name and discover the mystery of the dagger.

The whole gimmick of the Prince of Persia video game is that Dastan has a dagger that can turn back time every time he presses its super secret button. Thus whenever he is about to die he can turn back time and do it all over again, only without dieing. Dastan discovers the power of the dagger by accident in the movie and of course there is going to be a big plot about time travel and what people will do for that power.

First off, what kind of a name is Dastan? The entire film I was convinced his name was Dustin (being white and all) and that everyone was pronouncing it wrong. Only recently did I discover that it really is Dastan, but everyone in the film pronounces it like they want to say Dustin, but instead just spew out some syllables that sound like neither name. Halfway through saying Dustin they change it making it Duh-Stan or Dah-Stun. It is more annoying than a South African vevuzela.

The bright spot for Prince of Persia is Sir Ben Kingsley. I last saw him in Shutter Island and it really always is a delight and he can play a pretty good bad guy. Jake Gyllenhall doesn't do to bad as the hero either. He is appropriately hunky and amusing, trying to counter his female colleague (Gemma Atherton) who is appropriately annoying. The heroine always spends 70% of the film hurting the main character and 30% helping.

Prince of Persia doesn't use the time travel gimmick nearly enough, but it does contain some sweet parkour moves, coupled with some interesting assassins makes it at least slightly watchable. It's everything I expected, nothing more and nothing less.

2 out of 4 stars

-Christopher O'Connell

Get Him To The Greek

I am not sure how many people actually expected Get Him to the Greek to be good, I know I wasn't really expecting anything. The trailer just made this film feel like the next Apatow-induced flick that gets vomited out by Hollywood every year and every drunk college kid thinks it's the best thing since Christmas. It's as if every movie studio imagines that if they throw the word "Apatow" on the poster their movie will sell millions. Well, it's true, because it does, and whereas I haven't been satisfied by many of the Apatow era, Get Him to the Greek has a few sparks behind it that keep it fresh.

Get Him to the Greek is technically a sequel, or a sidequel if you will. Both main characters, Aaron Green (Jonah Hill), and Aldous Snow (Russel Brand), both appeared in Forgetting Sarah Marshall (my favorite Apatow movie). So even though they were just supporting cast, they got a pretty good spinoff.

Aldous Snow is the lead singer for a band called Infant Sorrow, who runs off on his solo career and creates an album titled African Child, that is so bad that it is declared the worst thing for Africa since apartheid. Aaron Green somehow made his way off of Hawaii and now has a job as a music industry peon. As Aldous disintegrates into drugs, scandals, falling music sales, and divorce, Aaron wonders what is happening to his favorite rock icon while looking for his once chance to make it big in the music industry. He gets that chance when he announces the idea for a comeback concert at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles for Aldous Snow. His boss, Sergio (Sean Combs), likes it and sends Aaron to London to grab Aldous and get him to Los Angeles in time for the sold-out show. Hilarious hijinks ensue.

The strong points for this film are by far the actors. Comedy veteran (not really) Jonah Hill is surprisingly not annoying, which is my usual complaint. He keeps it fresh he keeps it real and tries his best to counteract Aldous' violent behavior, by drinking all of his alcohol and smoking all of his drugs.

Russel Brand is my new favorite comedian. The things he says with the expressions on his face had me chuckling. Dancing around the various stages like a combination of Christina Aguilera and Elvis, singing songs like "We All Have the Clap" and "My Beans and Mash." Although honestly, there is only so much of his British accent you can take before you start yelling at the screen, "ITS WITH NOT "WIF" YOU INVENTED THE LANGUAGE PRONOUNCE IT RIGHT. It's a bit heavy at times.

The absolute best part of Get Him to the Greek by far is Sean Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Diddy Combs. If you had told me he was going to be this funny I would have made fun of your shoes. But he wins at every corner, outclassing both Brand and Hill. "You cannot outrun me, I am black!" You cannot outact me either. Throw in a hilarious Carlton reference and impression and you have won me over.

Well, P. Diddy won me over. Greek goes the way of Funny People by trying to push in some melodrama in the lives of the characters, and it really just makes the movie about a half hour too long. It starts when Aldous decides he misses his wife and it just gets more downhill and depressing from there. The best word for it is borrrrrinngggg. After quick paced parties and one-liners it's just all wrong and sadly bumped this movie down half a star.

2 and a half stars out of 4

-Christopher O'Connell