Batman Begins: A Quick Review

Let's be honest here, Batman Begins blew your mind when it came out. It was like holy crap, a series that was handled so horribly in the 90's has risen to the very top of superhero movies.

Everyone knows the story of Batman. His Parents died, but he's super rich so he devotes his life to defending the defenseless from evil and inspiring terror inside those who cause terror. And that's the best part about it. He has absolutely no super powers. He defintely trains and is buffer than Brad Pitt in Troy, but besides that the only thing that sets him apart from regular people is his gadgets and Batman Begins shows them in a completely believeable fashion.

My one gripe with the movie is that the action gets very slurred at points. The camera flashes back and forth between the puncher and the punchee and it gets fairly dizzying. But the fantastic origin story, visuals, general awesomeness, and incredible sequel make Batman Begins worth every penny. In my opinion, this is the very best Batman movie ever made. Yes, better than The Dark Knight and the original Tim Burton directed Batman. If you argue with me I will prove you wrong.


-Christopher O'Connell

Red

Ways to make a movie financially and critically successful: put Morgan Freeman into the movie, put Helen Mirren in the movie, put John Malkovich in a crazy character role in the movie, put Bruce Willis with a gun in the movie. Wait a minute; doesn’t “Red” have all of these? And doesn’t it also boast a very well written script matched with a well paced plot? The answer is a resounding yes.

Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) is one of the CIA’s most valuable operatives in the field, successfully executing countless missions with speed, finesse, and discreetness. Well, he used to be. Frank Moses is now retired, and retired life after the CIA is boring. His only escape is calling his social security benefits advisor Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker). Except one day a CIA sanctioned hit squad tries to take out Frank at his house. Now he’s on the run with Sarah tracking down his old teammates and trying to figure out why the CIA is after him.

“Red” is the definition of a “B” movie. It is not going to win any Oscars. There will be no best actor, best actress, or even best editing nominations. There will be countless numbers of people who will recommend this movie though, because it is perfect in its entertainment value. If every film was like this (besides the Oscar contenders) Americans as a whole would be happier.

The actors here are the real weight behind this film. Morgan Freeman is obviously amazing as usual, and Bruce Willis has always been good at playing the tough guy. Seeing Helen Mirren as a gun-toting ex-hit woman was an absolute riot. John Malkovich has always been good at playing the psycho character and “Red” is no exception. Constantly paranoid about circling helicopters, he lives in an underground bunker disguised as a car. His character was given LSD daily for 17 years and may be the funniest man in the film making quips like, “I remember the secret service being tougher!” Mary-Louise Parker, the star of “Weeds,” really stands out among all of these big name actors. As Sarah Ross she is genuinely funny and has some great interactions with Bruce Willis.

Needless to say, this is a fantastic popcorn flick with some well done action and fantastic acting. This is entertainment in its purest form, enjoy it while it lasts.



3 out of 4 stars

-Christopher O'Connell

Jackass 3-D

The boys are back in town, which probably isn’t the greatest idea if any of them want to live past the age of 50. This is the long-awaited and hopefully final installment of the Jackass series, and it has a few tricks up its sleeve to keep it fresh.
  
Jackass 3-D picks up where Jackass 2 left off, as in the boys are still doing the stupidest things you can imagine, like dressing up as prisoners and running a gauntlet of tasers and cattle prods. The trailer shows some very funny moments, but the movie has more that weren’t spoiled by the two-minute spot: Ehren McGhehey gets a crooked tooth pulled out by a very fast Lamborghini. Chris Pontius flies around a remote control helicopter attached to his genitalia. And one of the final, craziest stunts has Steve-O in the Poo Cocktail Supreme, in which he is launched into the air inside a fully loaded porta-potty. If I had time to list all those that were enjoyable I would, but almost every one of them is a gem of bodily injury.
  
For some reason, and I assume it was to make bucket loads of money, the creators of Jackass decided to make this third installment in 3-D. The 3-D does not add much, in fact it adds very little and the movie would be just as good in 2-D, if not better because you paid less. What the boys have capitalized on is a very good slow motion camera system. Every detail and every hit is slowed down so that the audience can truly appreciate what just happened. Watching Johnny Knoxville get tackled by a pro football player is absolutely beautiful, and watching Bam give the cast the “Rocky” treatment, a cup of water and then a boxing glove to the face, is amazing. Let it be known that they kept the old man and woman scenes that were so prevalent (and disgusting) in Jackass 2 to a bare minimum and I only found myself gagging in one scene.

Unfortunately Jackass 3-D, while full of great moments and scenes that had the audience screaming, feels less inspired than the first two films. It’s the same stuff, but for the third time. We loved it the first two times and that’s why we see the third one, but the boys are getting old and they need to pack it up for the sake of their sanity.

Jackass 3-D is like hanging out with the guys one last time. One last hurrah for the show that jumpstarted MTV and shocked the world. But please, don’t try this at home.

3 out of 4 stars

-Christopher O’Connell

Dirty Harry: A Quick Review

I am a terrible American. It has taken me 19 years to see "Dirty Harry". What is wrong with me? Multiple disorders probably but don't let that skew your judgment after I spout my love for Clint Eastwood.

In the city of San Francisco, the baddest cop around is detective Harry Callahan. A man who not only carries the most powerful handgun on the planet, but can shoot it with just one hand. He has to take on his toughest case yet when a lunatic sniper starts killing targets across the city, threatening to do more unless he is paid. Of course it's up to Callahan to track him down and deliver some hot-lead justice.

This movie is fantastic, there is no way around it. Cop movies do not get better than this for a few reasons. One, Clint Eastwood is in it, can you think of anyone more badass than Clint Eastwood? Didn't think so. Two, "Dirty Harry" isn't afraid to get dirty. This isn't a pg-13 buddy cop comedy, this is stuff that actually happens. Suicide, rape, gunshot wounds, and ransom notes. Three, the ethical and moral dilemmas raised are very thought provoking. What is the line between cop and criminal? What does it really take to stop a madman?

Beautifully done and skillfully executed, "Dirty Harry" is a timeless classic that every single person in the United States should watch at least once.

-Christopher O'Connell

The 6th Day: A Quick Review

Schwarzenegger may not be the most talented actor out there, but he certainly is an iconic one. Those huge muscles and distinctive accent really make him stand out. That is probably why I grabbed "The 6th Day" when I was bored one night. Sometime in the future, the world discovered cloning and then banned it under the 6th day law. The 6th day refers to the day God created man on Earth. Anyway it's illegal and cloning has been banned. After a little mishap that I don't want to spoil, Arnold finds that he has been cloned and the company that mistakenly did it is out to kill him before his other half sees him. Arnold has to figure out what is going on and save his family. It's a pretty run-of-the-mill sci-fi action flick even if it creates a few interesting ethical concerns about cloning. Bruce Willis' recent "Surrogates" draws quite a few parallels. Anyways, it isn't a bad film. The action is decent and it is super funny to see some Arnold on Arnold action (Don't tell me you didn't want to see that). Plus, it has one of the best action one-liners of all time, when you hear it, you'll know what I'm talking about. If you're bored and have netflix, check it out, if you don't, do whatever you want.

-Christopher O'Connell

Chicago: A Quick Review

Musicals are one of my personal favorite film genres.  And "Chicago" is one of the best, especially in the last decade.  If you for whatever reason do not like musicals, then still give "Chicago" a try because I occasionally watch science fiction movies.  Anyways, this film came out 8 years ago, was directed by Rob Marshall and walked away with 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture.  It's Chicago in the 1920s.  Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is a successful nightclub performer who kills her husband and her sister.  She end up in a women's prison on Murderer's Row with Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger).  Roxie Hart killed her lover and is an aspiring performer.  Matron Mama Morton (Queen Latifah) is the warden of the prison and Billy Flynn (Richard Gere) is the lawyer who is trying to get Velma and Roxie out of jail, since they kind of might get executed.  Everything about this film is incredible.  The four main cast members are phenomenal and can all act, sing, and dance, which is a truly beautiful thing.  We learn from this that Renee Zellweger can sing very well when she puts her mind to it.  The choreography is also beautiful and you can definitely picture this being on the stage.  This makes perfect sense since it originated on Broadway.  The transition from stage to screen was pretty darn seamless.  Also, this may be one of the best soundtracks that I have heard in a musical, with such memorable numbers as "All that Jazz," "Roxie," and "Cell Block Tango" (my personal favorite scene in the entire film).  One of my favorite aspects of the entire movie, besides the things I just raved about is the fact that most of the musical numbers occur in Roxie's head.  I thought this was an extremely creative way of integrated songs into the plot.  They flowed so well and never once felt awkward.  My least favorite part is definitely John C. Reilly's solo song, but only because I get extremely bored during it.  The direction and editing in this film was also phenomenal and Rob Marshall really went all out.  Each frame is just stunningly lit, composed, everything.  So in case you didn't know I love this movie and highly recommend it.  Everything that makes a good movie, or musical is present here, and much more.  Also, calling these things quick reviews are still some of the biggest lies I try to pull.

-Joseph Sbrilli

First Blood: A Quick Review

I finally saw the very first Rambo film. This is a big deal for me because I watched the fourth one first, kind of what I did with the "Die Hard" series, and the fourth Rambo is just terrible. It has fantastic action and such but it is a terrible movie whereas First Blood is a surprisingly good movie. Stallone plays John Rambo, a medal of honor winning green beret, who after finding that his last remaining army friend died from cancer, wanders through a small Northwestern town. He is harassed by a local sherrif who arrests him for vagrancy. Rambo has flashbacks to his days in Vietnam when he was tortured by the enemy while being mistreated in the police station. He has a panic attack, punches many police officers in the face and flees into the woods. The overzealous sherrif takes it into his hands to hunt down Rambo, but he really has no idea what he is in for because Sylvester Stallone will stab you multiple times with a knife if you mess with him. For the first time in my movie viewing life, I can actually say that Stallone's acting was actually fairly good in this movie, probably because he is silent for most of it. The movie itself is well paced and Rambo is a very sympathetic character. "First Blood" is also a good commentary on how conflicts can quickly escalate over misunderstandings if no one is willing to compromise, and shows how the horrors of war affect the men who lived through them. I highly recommend seeing this film at least once in your life.

-Christopher O'Connell