Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

First of all, I have never seen the original "Wall Street," released in 1987 and also directed by Oliver Stone.  Therefore, I do not know all of the background information and can only judge "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" as a movie in itself and not as a sequel.  Seeing the original first probably would have been helpful.

"Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" is directed by Oliver Stone.  It stars Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf, Carey Mulligan, Josh Brolin, Susan Sarandon, and Frank Langella.  Charlie Sheen, and a couple others from the original have cameo appearances.

This movie starts off in 2001.  Gordon Gekko, who had been in jail for 8 years for insider trading, is finally released from prison.  The remainder of the movie takes place in 2008.  He tries to warn people that there's going to be some major economic problems, but they don't believe him.  Also, he is trying to mend his relationship with his estranged daughter, Winnie (Carey Mulligan), who is engaged to Jake Moore (Shia LaBeouf), who now is working on Wall Street.

The best thing that I can say about this movie is that the cast is fantastic.  Everyone is so incredibly talented, starting with Michael Douglas.  I have never seen him in a movie before, yeah I know, some American I turned out to be, but he proves himself to be quite the leading man.  I've heard that this time around he is a lot more watered down than in the original. I guess jail time will do that to you.  He won an Oscar for his portrayal 23 years ago, but he definitely won't win another one for the same role.  Shia LaBeouf, who I am kind of indifferent to, since he has stereotyped himself pretty badly in action movies in recent years, like "Transformers" and "Indiana Jones" was actually quite good in this.  He had some good chemistry with all of the main characters, as he was the only one who really interacted with everyone.  Hopefully this will lead to some better, different roles for him.  Ever since I saw Frank Langella as Richard Nixon, in "Frost/Nixon," I have loved the man.  His role as Jake's mentor is too brief, but enjoyable to watch.  Just take a look at the remainder of the cast that I haven't commented on, and take my word for it...they're fantastic.

The movie itself is a slowed paced.  I suppose a movie about Wall Street can only be so fast paced and engaging.  Actually Oliver Stone, and whoever actually did the filming tried to make it fast paced.  It didn't really work though and it just felt like there was way too much camera movement, that it got dizzying after a while.  So much camera rotating around people and generally going back and forth rapidly.  Also, someone decided it would be a good idea to do a split screen when they had phone conversations.  That was a dumb idea.  Screen spits are fine on television comedies, but people shouldn't try to pull that nonsense in big screen films.  One more complaint...too many extreme close-ups.  Yes, this may seem like a weird complaint but I swear if Michael Douglas' face was any closer to the camera it would have most definitely smudged the lenses.

There were some good aerial shots of various New York City sights however, which are always visually appealing.  Also, there were some interesting shots, where different parts of the scene were out of focus and such.

I have only seen one other Oliver Stone movie, and not one of his most well known/well regarded.  So I can only assume that his earlier work was much better.  And this one probably could have stood a little editing to make things more concise and tighter put together.

So basically, see the original first.  And if you have seen the original, see the sequel.  It's probably not as good.  However, I assume it is about as good as a sequel made 23 years later could be.  At the very least the cast is phenomenal.  2 1/2 out of 4 stars.

-Joseph Sbrilli



Alternate Review:

“It was never about the money, it’s about the game.” 23 years ago Oliver Stone released “Wall Street” to the public, a scathing, punch-in-the-face look at greed and it’s effects on people and the economy. Today, Oliver Stone has released something that falls a little short of its characters massive paychecks.

Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas), besides having the most awesome name in the universe, has finally been released from prison after being put away in the first film for insider trading.  Jake Moore (Shia LaBeouf) is a young, ambitious Wall Street man with the stones to handle amounts of money in the hundreds of millions of dollars, an amount that would have me curled up in a ball weeping on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Jake is dating Winnie Gekko (Carey Mulligan) who, besides having the absolute worst name in the universe, is Gordon Gekko’s daughter. Unfortunately, Carrie wants nothing to do with her criminal father, whereas Jake needs him to help avenge the death of his mentor and the collapse of his company at the hands of Bretton James (Josh Brolin). The entire storyline is wrapped around the financial collapse America experienced a few years ago.

If you are confused, trust me you are not alone. A father spent the entire movie trying to explain it to his son, who being 12, didn’t understand anything. Let me to try to explain it: massive banks that should be too big to fail like to trade money they don’t actually have from people who are defaulting on their credit and *snore. Whoops, it seems I fell asleep talking about it. Let me try again: Hedge funds through offshore accounts have *snoreeeeeee. If anyone could explain all of the terms and trends going on in this film, I would politely tell them to jump in front of the nearest bus while I file restraining orders on all of their remaining relatives.

No matter how boring the subject matter, or how incredibly long the movie feels, the acting is above and beyond what is normally expected. Michael Douglas, reprising a role that won him an Oscar, is exceedingly fun to watch. Is he bad? Is he good? Is he just a lonely man who lost all that was dear to him? Brolin and Mulligan are also very good at what they do but I’d like to say that Shia LaBeouf is really coming into his own. His earlier films are fairly wishy-washy, but I do honestly think this kid can act and will continue to make great films (not including Transformers 3). Every actor brings out raw emotion that was personal and relatable. Its not often I see a film that genuinely tears my heart during emotional scenes, but “Wall Street 2” did it multiple times.

“Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” may actually put you to sleep, but the performances inside will make it a pleasant sleep.

2 and a half out of 4 stars

-Christopher O'Connell

Manhattan Murder Mystery: A Quick Review

“Manhattan Murder Mystery” came out in 1993.  Woody Allen directed, co-wrote, and starred in it.  Larry and Carol Lipton (Woody Allen and Diane Keaton) are a married couple in New York City.  Their life has become boring and humdrum.  Larry is alright with that, but Carol needs some excitement.  She gets just that when she believes that her next door neighbor may have murdered his wife.  Larry at first doesn’t believe her so she enlists the help of their friend (Alan Alda).  A writer (Anjelica Huston) who works for Larry also gets involved.  The end result is the perfect mix of mystery and comedy.  I really love Woody Allen movies, the few that I have seen anyway, excluding "Whatever Works".  This one was a little different than the others that I have seen because of the murder mystery component.  I am either easily amused and horrible at predicting movies or “Manhattan Murder Mystery” had a great script.  The movie had some great lines and had twists throughout.  During the entire movie there is great interactions between the cast.  Some of the best scenes are between Woody Allen and Diane Keaton.  They have believable chemistry with each other, having worked together on many other Woody Allen films, such as “Annie Hall.”  Their two characters perfectly balance each other out.  He is awkward and neurotic, like a Woody Allen character should be and she is much more out going and not afraid to sneak around the alleged murderers apartment, among other things.  Another reason why I love Woody Allen movies so much is that they usually have great cinematography.  I was not disappointed at all in that area.  There are a lot of panning shots, during the film, that quickly go back and forth between the different characters and well as some quick zooms in, among other things.  This all added to suspense of the murder and gave it more of a mystery feel.  Another thing I would like to comment on, this movie, being filmed in New York City made for some beautiful shots during the movie, which could only help it.  If you like comedies or mysteries, which I assume is most of the American population, then I would highly suggest this movie.  The cast and script is great and the blend of mystery and comedy just makes it extremely fun to watch.  

-Joseph Sbrilli

High Anxiety: A Quick Review

Mel Brooks, being the talented man that he is, wrote, directed, produced, and starred in "High Anxiety."  It was released in 1977 and co-starred Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman, and Cloris Leachman.  The film is a spoof of Alfred Hitchcock films.  Mel Brooks plays the new head of The Psycho-Neurotic Institute For the Very, Very Nervous, Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke.  Harvey Korman plays Dr. Montague and Cloris Leachman is Nurse Diesel.  They have a fun little screwed up romantic thing going on.  Madeline Kahn plays Victoria Brisbane, the daughter  of one of the guys in the asylum.  Montague and Diesel are planning to kill her father.  Thorndyke is accused of murder and suffers from "high anxiety," (aka veritigo, yes like the Hitchcock movie of the same name).  The cast is hilarious and wonderful.  The aforementioned four are/were some of the funniest comedians and are frequent stars of Mel Brooks movies.  Madeline Kahn has some of the funniest lines of the entire movie and Cloris Leachman as Nurse Diesel is just perfect casting.  Obviously the majority of the best scenes are spoofs of classic scenes from Hitchcock films.  This includes parodies of classic scenes from "Psycho", "Vertigo," "The Birds," and mentions of several others.  I wish, however that they would have spoofed some more classic scenes, such as the crop dusting scene from "North by Northwest."  I guess it really wouldn't have fit in anywhere in the movie. The score, also is similar to that used in Hitchcock movies, in case you ever forget what kind of movie you are watching.  It's a combination of funny and suspenseful.  Another amusing part of the movie is when the camera occasionally zooms into a window or something, and then gets so close that it shatters it.  So, this movie was pretty funny.  Not nearly as good as "Young Frankenstein" or "Blazing Saddles" and since I watched it alone I actually didn't really laugh out loud, but I did indeed smile.  It is however, way better than Mel Brooks' last two movies, "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" and "Dracula: Dead and Loving It."  Those were just two bad, completely unfunny ideas and proof that Mel Brooks movies were no longer as funny as they were two decades prior.  If you like Mel Brooks and/or Alfred Hitchcock movies you should enjoy it.  I happen to love both these directors, for drastically different reasons.  Oh, and Mel Brooks wrote and sang the title song, "High Anxiety."  And was actually quite good.

-Joseph Sbrilli

The Town

If you are anything like me, Ben Affleck is not your favorite actor. He doesn't even crack the top 20; but regardless of whatever you think about him, the man can direct. His debut with Gone Baby Gone was powerful, inspired, and could have easily been a fluke. Now that The Town has hit theaters, the truth is out: it wasn't a fluke and we are looking at a career that will result in many great movies in the future.

The Town is about a town (go figure) that has produced an inordinate amount of criminals who specialize in bank or armored car robberies. They are all from Charlestown, a neighborhood of Boston and apparently pretty dangerous if you are employed at a place that stores money for people. Doug Macray (Ben Affleck) and James Coughlin (Jeremy Renner) are professional bank robbers who have very successfully stolen lots of money with their two nameless cohorts. The movie starts with a very well executed heist but after James takes a hostage (Rebecca Hall), the heat in the form of FBI agent Adam Fawley (Jon Hamm) begins to close in on them. As the heists get more dangerous, and Doug slowly falls in love with the hostage, the town becomes a place to leave behind.

Think Oceans 11 with less finesse and more guns. The bank robberies don't have much style, but they have the skill and the firepower to back up any mistakes they might make. It has been a while since I've seen a good heist film and Ben Affleck has done a great job making it very visually appealing. The guns are loud and the editing superb. I hate it when films shake the camera in an attempt to make the audience feel like the scene is intense. It just makes the scene confusing and no one appreciates it. I applaud Affleck for a well paced car chase and a splendid end shootout.

Unfortunately for Affleck and most of the rest of the cast, only two actors really shine. Jeremy Renner, fresh off The Hurt Locker, plays a hardcore Irish criminal with a penchant for overreacting and outacting everyone around him. His downfall is that he loves Doug. They are basically brothers and while Doug wants to get out of the game, James guilt trips him back in. He may be a sick, twisted criminal but he was raised in brotherhood created by the town around him. Which brings us to Jon Hamm. He may technically be the good guy in the film, but the entire audience is rooting against him. His methods are brutal and you really adopt the Charlestown attitude to law enforcement (basically, don't snitch) because of him. I saw an interview with Jon Hamm where he explained that after the movie, Bostonites would come up and tell him that they don't like him strictly because of his character.

The film suffers when the action slows down. Affleck and Hall's relationship feels a little forced. Every time they open up to each other about their pasts; it wasn't really heartfelt and dragged the mood down. The thick boston accents started to get annoying by the second scene and a lot of dialogue was lost because of it. I don't like to watch movies with subtitles on (unless they're British because then I have to) and I shouldn't need to.

The Town is still a very good movie, despite its shortcomings. It is no Gone Baby Gone but it is a Boston classic and you should go see it.

3 out of 4 stars

-Christopher O'Connell

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

"Sweeney Todd" is in my humble opinion one of best films to be released in 2007, and one of my favorite film adaptations of a Broadway musical (the original Broadway show opened in 1979 in case anyone wanted to know).  "Sweeney Todd" was nominated for 3 Academy Awards, Best Actor (Johnny Depp lost to Daniel Day-Lewis for "There Will Be Blood), Best Costume Design, and Best Art Direction (this was it's only award won...completely deserved; just take a look at those sets.)

The film was directed by Tim Burton in his sixth collaboration with Johnny Depp.  "Sweeney Todd also marked the fifth collaboration with Helena Bonham Carter.  I'm really glad these three love each other.  They work so well together.  Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, and Sacha Baron Cohen finish of the main cast.

First of all I prefer to think of this film as a beautiful work of art.  Which may be strange, given all the blood that sprays everywhere, but bear with me.  Johnny Depp plays Sweeney Todd (originally Benjamin Barker), a barber.  He used to be normal.  Then Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) took everything from him.  He raped Barker's wife, took his daughter, and has him exiled for 15 years for a crime he was innocent of.  The years go by and Barker, now Sweeney Todd is getting his revenge.  This revenge comes in the form of setting up his barber shop above "Mrs. Lovett's (Helena Bonham Carter) Meat Pies," and slitting the throats of whoever decides to come through, for a shave and what not.  Together they turn Sweeney Todd's victims into nice little meat pies.  This all culminates to probably the most depressing ending to a movie, which completely fits with the tone it establishes throughout.

I am convinced that Tim Burton is the only director who could do justice to the story and the mood of "Sweeney Todd."  It's his first and most likely last musical and that is perfectly fine, because he succeeded tremendously.  Over the years "Sweeney Todd' went through tons of potential directors and actors.  I'm so glad they waited though.  The cast and crew they finally went with served the source material unbelievably well.

Overall, the movie has an incredibly dark tone.  This is a Tim Burton movie we are talking about here.  Dark and gothic is his specialty.  Except for I think 2 scenes in "Sweeney Todd" everything is very darkly lit, people's skin is pale, and everything else is basiclly some shade of black or a dark color.  Then we have the geysers of blood, spraying/cascading down people's throats to perfectly contrast with the dark colored scenes.  The sets also are a important part of making the movie as good as it is and adding to the aforementioned tone. It looks just like Victorian London (since apparently now I'm an expert or something) and the camera at time quickly moves, rapidly throughout the entire city, making it visually stunning.

The cast is incredible.  Many of them are used more than once in a Tim Burton film.  Johnny Depp is brilliant as dark, psychotic characters, and Sweeney Todd is probably my favorite of his.  Helena Bonham Carter, likewise is equally convincing.  And both proved that they are good singers.  The rest of the cast, like most movies I consider to be worth my time are also great.  No need to comment further.

Now its time to talk about the music.  First of all, who cares that people don't break into song in real life.  Movies and plays are not real life and this is one of the creative things people are able to do with such mediums.  And generally speaking the musical is my favorite movie genre.  The music here is by Stephen Sondheim and it's incredible.  It moves the plot along effortlessly and never feels out of place.  This film included such memorable songs from the play, like "Worst Pies in London," "Epiphany", "Pretty Women", and "Not While I'm Around."  The whole cast really come through when performing the challenging Sondheim music.

 If you like musicals, you'll love this, unless it's too bloody for you.  And even if you don't like musicals then you should give it a try, because it's also a horror/thriller movie.  I could go on because I love this movie.  I think my point was made, however.  Everything about this movie in just incredible, and in my opinion Tim Burton's best.

-Joseph Sbrilli

Going The Distance

Romantic comedies tend to be the movie genre I try to avoid the most, outside of indie horror flicks and anything involving Miley Cyrus. So, “Going The Distance” wasn’t very high on my must-watch list. In many ways, it really is just another chick flick meant to raid young men with significant others’ wallets, but in many others it delves a little deeper into the core of relationships and shows you want it truly means to be in love.

“Going The Distance” is the story of Garrett (Justin Long) and Erin (Drew Barrymore). Garrett is a moderately successful music producer while Erin is a lowly intern at the New York Sentinel, a failing newspaper. They awkwardly meet at a bar, and unlike most awkward bar meetings, hook up that very night. There’s a catch to their budding relationship though, Erin is moving back to San Francisco in six weeks. They both decide to not get into a relationship, but to no one’s surprise at all they get a little attached and decide to go the distance (Hey! That’s the name of the movie!). And anyone who has witnessed or been a part of a long distance relationship knows that trouble lies ahead.

What sets “Going The Distance” apart from its many counterparts is its lack of cheesiness and brutal honesty. Long distance relationships are hard and both Erin and Garrett do their best to keep it together; but things keep popping up. There is a potential suitor for each in their respective cities. Awkward phone sex just exasperates the situation. And don’t even mention the angry calls about dropping their comfortable lives to go and live in a different city.

The very best part about “Going The Distance” is the supporting cast, all of who are at a minimum ten times funnier then the main characters. You’ve got Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Christina Applegate, and Jim Gaffigan to name just a few recognizable faces. Charlie Day especially shines, dressing up like Charlie Chaplin, but coming out more like Hitler and constantly asking people why there are no baby pigeons in New York City (I wonder that myself now). Maybe one of the greatest scenes in the film has Erin and Garrett, who haven’t seen each other in months, get undressed in Erin’s sisters’ house and start to have sex on the kitchen table. When the lights flick on, they find Jim Gaffigan eating a sandwich at the same table telling them to go away because he was there first.

At the end of the day, Erin and Garrett’s relationship feels a bit forced, and I may never get over Justin Long being cast as the love interest. But it shows that personal sacrifice is the only way to make it work. I wouldn’t go the distance to see this movie, but I might take a leisurely stroll to it. Maybe a brisk jog for the supporting cast at least.

2 out of 4 stars

-Christopher O'Connell

Death At A Funeral: A Quick Review

Unfortunately I saw Death At a Funeral in the wrong order. I started with the black version (or American version) and then I saw the original British version. I know, I know I am a very bad person, let's move forward. Now I am assuming that the British version is completely original and that there is no ORIGINAL original. These next statements are completely based off this assumption. Frank Oz directed the original and that makes me extremely happy because he is also the voice of Yoda from Star Wars. Anyways Death At a Funeral follows the oldest son of a deceased patriarch attempting to hold a dignified sending off of his father. But things start to take a hilarious turn for the worse, mostly because of the greatest acid trip of all time and the appearance of the dead father's gay midget lover who is trying to blackmail the family. That plus other side stories draw every character together in some way. It's like a delicately connected Shakespeare play and boy it is done masterfully. Now again sadly I saw the black version first and I did enjoy it. After viewing the 

British version it becomes painfully clear that the black version has shamefully stolen every single scene and most of the dialogue with only a few added scenes. It really is the same film. What I can appreciate about the black version, is that is much more fantastically cast the British version. The only standout actor from the British version is Alan Tudyk, but even his role is done just as well by James Marsden. The rest of the cast shines above and beyond the British version and is definitely a funnier movie. Both films have their strengths and weaknesses and each deserve a viewing.

-Christopher O'Connell                                                     

Forrest Gump: A Quick Review

This movie is incredible. Ask anyone.  I'm assuming many people have already seen it, but I will write a little about it nonetheless.  "Forrest Gump," released in 1994, went on to win 6 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Tom Hanks, who was absolutely irreplaceable in the title role.  The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis (in what is surely the best movie he ever directed) and co-starred Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, and Sally Field.  The movie starts with Forrest Gump waiting at a bus stop...for a good 2 hours I might add.  He begins telling his life story to whoever is sitting near him at the time.  Although he had a low IQ he accomplishes a heck of a lot during his life.  As it turns out Forrest Gump had a major part in many events in American history during the 1960s-1980s.  He gets a Medal of Honor, becomes one of the best ping pong players ever, runs across the country, among many other things throughout the movie  All through his life he is in love with Jenny (Robin Wright).  Her life takes some unfortunate turns into the hippie and drug culture, etc.  Eventually she finds out she should have sticked with Forrest Gump long ago.  Sally Field plays Forrest Gump's mother and she does a great job.  She is one of my favorite actresses and there was very natural chemistry between her and Tom Hanks.  Gary Sinise plays Lt. Dan, who was with Forrest Gump in the war.  This goes without saying, but the entire cast is great.  However, this is Tom Hanks movie and he earned his Oscar like no one else has before.  It's impossible to think of anyone else in that role.  Tom Hanks plays the character so seamlessly, like it's simply flowing from his pores.  Yes, I love this man.  The film also, does an incredible job at blending different genres.  There are moments of comedy and drama throughout the entire film, as well as moments of war and romance.  So many emotions are tackled in just one film.  The editing is also fantastic and the movie doesn't drag on at all.  Each scene was carefully set up visually, and serves some purpose to the overall theme of the movie.  Since this is a Robert Zemeckis film, there are several instances of special effects.  And they are extremely well done and serve the film well.  This includes digitally adding Tom Hanks into archival footage of presidents and digitally removing Gary Sinise's legs, after Lt. Dan loses them in war.  I could really go on and on about how much I love this movie but I will just comment of one more thing: the soundtrack.  The movie has a great variety of songs, as the movies passes through the different decades in America's history and inludes Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Simon and Garfunkle, Bob Dylan, and many more talented performers that complimented "Forrest Gump" with the songs chosen.  AFI considers "Forrest Gump" one of the Top 100 Movies of All Time. They are not lying.  It really is that good and is on it's way to becoming an American classic.  If you haven't seen it yet. Do it. And if you have.  Watch it again.  And one more thing, "Life's like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you are going to get."  Truer words have never been spoken.

-Joseph Sbrilli

Moonstruck: A Quick Review

Firstly, any movie that starts off with Dean Martin singing "That's Amore" over the opening credits and featuring various shots around New York City is bound to be off to a great start.  "Moonstruck" is a romantic comedy, released in 1987 and directed by Norman Jewison ("Fiddler on the Roof").  It stars Cher, Nicolas Cage, Vincent Gardenia, Olympia Dukakis, and Danny Aiello.  The film went on to win three Academy Awards: Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress (Cher), and Best Supporting Actress (Olympia Dukakis).  Cher is Loretta Castorini.  She is in her late 30s, widowed, and engaged to marry again.  She believes that her first husband died so early because the whole relationship was full of bad luck.  She wants to make sure everything is perfect in her next marriage, to Johnny Cammareri (Danny Aiello).  Perfect, in this case involves Loretta getting into a relationship, and eventually falling in love with her fiance's younger brother, Ronny, while Johnny is in Italy seeing his dying mother.  This naturally puts the two of them in quite a predicament. Vincent Gardenia and Olympia Dukakis play Loretta's parents.  The cast is phenomenal.  Everyone had chemistry with everyone and each actor just brought so much to their roles.  Cher and Olympia Dukakis earned their awards that year, although I really can't judge, since I don't know who they were up against.  Their scenes together are among my favorites in the movie.  These two fine actresses (yes, believe it or not Cher is an actress, and a darn good one at that...she's just that multi-talented) played characters that each were dealing with infidelity in different ways among other things, which just made the characters very rich and textured...two very odd words to use to describe human beings.  I usually don't like Nicolas Cage all that much, but I did like his performance in "Moonstruck," despite the age difference between him and Cher and the fact that their on screen relationship happened rapid-fire, which I guess is to be expected from a romantic comedy.  I usually despise romantic comedies, especially nowadays, with the main exception being "The Proposal."  "Moonstruck," however is one of the very best of the genre.  And in my opinion second best only after "When Harry Met Sally..."  "Moonstruck" has a great cast who were given a incredibly well constructed, funny script.  The lines seem to flow naturally from the actors mouths and there are several genuinely funny lines, nothing feels forced or cheesy in any way.  So essentially what I am getting at: "Moonstruck" is a extremely solid, intelligent, highly entertaining/funny movie.  I completely recommend it.  Especially if you like the cast or romantic comedies in general.  Oh, and you get to hear one of the top 101 best movies lines of all time..."Snap out of it!"

-Joseph Sbrilli

Repo Men: A Quick Review

I really didn't want to see this movie, honestly not even a little bit. I hate gore, it grosses me out immensely and makes me incredibly squeamish. Not to mention that it recieved about a negative 25% on rottentomatoes.com. Not very high on my list of movies I'd like to view. But I was forced into it, and I have to say Repo Men wasn't what I expected it to be. Jude Law and Forest Whitaker live in a future where people are given artifical organs to replace their terrible natural ones, and it works like a bank would. If you can't make your payments on time the company sends repo men to reclaim their property. That is where Jude Law comes in. He hunts you down cuts you open and takes your liver, leaving you to bleed out. I thought I had this movie predicted, but it really threw me a couple of curveballs that pleased me immensely. I called them out at the last second but it still caught me by surprise. The movie is incredibly depressing but not a bad sci fi flick. If you hate gore definitely pass it up, but if you are a gore hound Repo Men is for you. But please be warned about the gore lovefest towards the end of the film. It is disgusting and I almost vomited all over myself.

-Christopher O'Connell

Harry Brown: A Quick Review

This is a British movie, therefore the entire cast have British accents, sometimes making it difficult to understand what they are saying.  Just a heads up.  The thriller, directed by Daniel Barber, in his first feature length film, was made last year, but got limited release this year.  In the title role is Michael Caine, one of the best actors to come out of England...fact.  And one of my personal favorite actors...opinion.  He was my main reason for wanting to see the movie to begin with and I wasn't disappointed.  Harry Brown is a former marine and widower.  He lives in a violent neighborhood, and doesn't really do much about that.  That all changes when one of his best friends is murdered by gang members, shortly after missing his wife's final moments of life.  He got to the hospital too late because he wanted to avoid going through an underpass that had a lot of violent activity.  Harry then makes the executive decision to become a vigilante for justice against gang violence and such. So naturally along the way, Harry kills various gang members through a variety of means including stabbing and gunshots.  Michael Caine, being who he is, a great actor, and the star of this movie steals every scene that he is in.  He is great as the lead character and shows great range of emotions.  This ranges from love and commitment to his wife, who is in a coma at the start of the movie to anger and the need for justice when it comes to gangs committing terrible acts of violence.  And on a more superficial note, seeing a 76 year old man shooting people is just incredibly entertaining.  The whole old man with a gun thing could remind some people of Clint Eastwood in "Gran Torino." "Harry Brown" was extremely low budget, which worked perfectly fine for the type of movie it was, a thriller with no fancy special effects.  The cinematography was nothing special, and including some tracking shots, zoom outs, or the every popular close-up of Michael Caine's face, full of emotion.  Although sometimes slow in parts (which is perfectly undertstandable giving the storyline), the movie was pretty well paced.  Overall, it was a pretty good movie (not bad for someone's directorial debut), with a great performance by Michael Caine.  If you like him, you may want to check the movie out.  It's worth a dollar to rent and is much better than a lot of what's being released these days.  One more thing to note, the beginning and end credits are so unbelievably small, it is impossible to read. That was incredibly annoying and I did not understand the point.

-Joseph Sbrilli