The Descendants: A Quick Review

George Clooney had another movie out this year, since he is still one of Hollywood's most bankable stars and his films are often great Oscar bait.  He stars in "The Descendants" with the girl from the popular ABC  Family series, "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" and Jeff Bridges' brother, Beau.

Clooney's character, Matt King and his family have to deal with his wife being in a coma after she is involved in a boating accident.  He also is involved in selling a large sum of large in Hawaii that his family owns.

The film is often times depressing, but luckily Clooney is wonderful and convincing in his role.  He has to deal with his two daughters, who really can't relate to and cope with unfortunate events surrounding his wife's personally life.  All of this seemed genuine, at least to me, which is nice because this man gets paid a ton so movie goers all over the world can be convinced by the characters he plays.

In case anyone was wondering, the island of Hawaii is beautiful, and there are probably hundreds of separate shots proving this point.

A negative note: the older daughter is a little too sassy for my liking, but I still prefer her to the younger daughter, who is just awkward, annoying, and says dumb, embarrassing things that she should be ashamed of.

Also, the musical score added to the film as a whole, since it was full of ukuleles, and other Hawaiian instruments. After a while it got to be a bit much, or that may just be me being too judgmental.

Overall I enjoyed the movie.  I like when movies are not full of mirth and happiness, because unfortunately life is not always like this.  Movies should attempt to reflect reality, if the genre calls for it.  In this case it added to the emotional tone of the film and was another way to showcase Clooney.  Finally, as Clooney movies go I prefer "Up in the Air" from a couple years ago, but "The Descendants" was good too.

3 out of 4 stars

-Joseph Sbrilli

The Ides of March

Believe it or not I am still part of this blog.  I just have been far too tired to contribute the past couple of months, and have only been to the theaters a couple.  One of these such times was "The Ides of March," which was at the end of October, so I apologize for the questionable review that is about to follow.

The film was directed by two time winner of the People Magazine's coveted "Sexiest Man Alive" award, George Clooney.  He stars with some of the most talented people currently working in Hollywood, including the likes of Ryan Gosling, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, and Marisa Tomei.  Rachel Evan Wood and Jeffrey Wright also has a decent sized roles, I just don't like them as much as the others.  

This movie is extremely political so if you don't like that sort of stuff, then by all means stop reading this review and do something else with you time and brian cells.  I personally usually enjoy political movies, which is off because politics confuse me and in real life I don't concern myself with such things.  In this movie Clooney plays Governor Mike Morris, who is campaigning for the United States' presidency.  If he wins in Ohio then it's essentially a done deal that he will be the Democratic candidate in the election.  Gosling plays Stephen Meyers, Morris' Junior Campaign manager.  All sorts of scandals come up including affairs with interns (which is stupid idea and people should never do it!) and secretive meetings with members of the competition including Giamatti's role as Wright's character's campaign manager, who is also vying for the Democratic nomination.  People's loyalty is put into the question all lots of unexpected things occurr...or at least a couple do.  

While watching the trailer, the moment I saw Marisa Tomei on screen I instantly decided I was going to see this movie.  That makes me a bit biased I suppose, but I can't help it.  She is talented, looks great, and I've enjoyed seeing her in three movies in theaters this year.  The rest of the cast is great as well, including Giamatti who has probably the funniest line in the movie, which I won't spoil, because most people might not even find it as amusing as I did.  Clooney proven yet again why he is one of the most respected actors currently in Hollywood.  He is talented on screen, as well as behind it, and like Cary Grant before will mostly like be acting well into his 60s, and having women half his age fall for him.  If your George Clooney you don't even have to pursue women, they do that for you. Ryan Gosling and Philip Seymour Hoffman are also incredibly talented, and worked well with Clooney as other cast members.  I just can't comment on every single person in this movie.

If we are being honest with ourselves, I am going to have to watch this movie again.  Like with most movies I just confused and forgetful my first time watching it.  However, I will say that the last half of the movie was more interesting to me. The beginning is a tad slow, but eventually picks up speed and becomes more engaging.  Also, don't be surprised if the movie ends abruptly.  I like that in movies.  It's very European, but I understand that this may anger some people, so just wanted to give a heads up about that.

If political movies or any member of the talented cast interests you, then give the movie a try.  I'm sure you can rent it for a dollar somewhere.  At the vary least the above poster is one of the greatest, most creative posters my eyes have ever seen.

3 out of 4 stars.

-Joseph Sbrilli 

Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol

Tom Cruise is the guy who didn't get invited to the party. Somehow he heard about it and showed up anyways. He tried to be funny and charming but no one was buying it so he resorted to hurting himself to entertain the audience, eventually winning them over. And when I mean hurting himself, I mean going all-out with life endangering moves that no one could be unimpressed by. And that's why you keep slipping him notes telling him that a party may be coming up soon because you wouldn't want to miss what he might try next.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is continuing the new tradition of reviving a series long after it's designated trilogy time has ended. And while some series needed to stay dead (Indiana Jones) other ones have actually become better with the 4th or even 5th films (Fast Five). Ghost Protocol falls into this category and the fourth installment is by far the most realized and entertaining in the entire series. I would rate number 3 as the next best.

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is back as everyone's favorite secret agent. The only real returner to the series is Benji (Simon Pegg) who had a brief role in the third one but was entertaining enough that they kept him on. Some regulars show up later on but two newbies take the coveted extra spots on the team: the token hot girl Jane (Paula Patton) and mysterious Brandt (Jeremy Renner). I believe Renner is being bred to be the new star of the Mission Impossible series because hey, he's already going to be the next Bourne, why not play every spy Hollywood has to offer?

Hunt is on the trail of Cobalt, a nationalist Russian who believes that the path to peace is total nuclear war. Cobalt is one step ahead of Hunt, having already acquired a nuclear device and the ability to shoot it. He also bombs the Kremlin and sticks the blame squarely on the IMF, Hunt's CIA-ish overlords. The United States disavows the entire IMF, branding Ethan and the team terrorists. So without backup and government funding (besides the considerable stash they already have) the crew must figure out a way to stop Cobalt.

James Bond called, he wants his gadgets back. Mission Impossible called back, they said maybe you shouldn't have gone off the deep end and made two crappy movies where the only gadget is a smartphone and a defibrillator. Ghost Protocol wins. I've never been more pleased with the gadgets used: an amplifier that distracts guards, a tarp that copies an image completely hiding a hallway from prying eyes, and superglue gloves allowing Tom Cruise to Spiderman the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

This is the part where I would soil my pants

And even better, the face making machine from the third film, which made it way too easy to impersonate someone, breaks down and they're forced to go in without it. I was awed, impressed and kind of turned on. Testosterone flows through this film like a roid-raged deadweight lifter. I lost count of how many scenes have Tom Cruise running like a full-grown mountain lion was chasing him. Except he would be chasing the mountain lion because Tom Cruise doesn't play by the rules.

This fourth entry is fantastic, Simon Pegg is hilarious, Renner is a great addition, Patton looks great in a dress and Cruise is out there, brutalizing his body, to give us the very best in action sequences. The stylish directing of Brad Bird (Ratatouille, The Incredibles) is evident throughout the film and the beautiful camera work doesn't waste any scene.

Except for one. The very last one, where they have to nicely wrap everything up. But they didn't need to. And it just kept going. My friend next to me quietly pleaded, "Please stop talking." But Cruise and company just kept on chatting. It was awful.

But that is the only bad part in a film that is doing its very best to impress you. Luckily it succeeds and if this is the future of the series, I can't wait to see what they do next.

3.5 out of 4 stars

-Christopher O'Connell

Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game of Shadows

Enjoying Robert Downey Jr. should be my job. Every movie I've seen him in, whether it be good or bad, I am inclined to like just because of his smiling face. I need him to play a bad guy or something, but I'd probably just love it even more because of his range.

Downey Jr. is again bringing his insatiable charm to the age-old Sherlock Holmes character. As a self professed Sherlock Holmes expert (I read the books....once) I can quite confidently say that this film is nothing like the books. Except it very much is. This new adaptation of Holmes is unique enough in itself that it could have easily just been called "steam punk detective" but familiar enough that Holmes fans, Downey Jr. fans, and action movie fans should all be satisfied.

Sherlock Holmes (Downey Jr.) is onto the trail of Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris). Moriarty, in the books, was Holmes' greatest adversary, able to outwit him and the criminal mastermind behind almost every major crime in Europe. In the movie, it's pretty much the same thing. Moriarty is effectively trying to bring about World War I a couple decades earlier for his own benefit. Due to Sherlock's meddling, Dr. Watson (Jude Law) is forced away from his honeymoon with his new wife to help Holmes stop Moriarty. They also pick up a gypsie (Noomi Rapace) whose brother is pivotal in Moriarty's plan.

The first Sherlock Holmes came out in 2009 and was pretty well-received. It had a few fantastical elements in it, but the quick style, clever camera work and a rousing performance by Downey Jr. made it a hit. Sherlock Holmes knew it was clever and that cleverness has carried itself into the new film. But they didn't add more intelligence to the film. What they added was so much balls-out action that the line between thriller and action is crossed.

There are a lot more weapons in Game of Shadows, a lot more shooting and even more scenes of Holmes using his keen powers of awareness to quickly beat the crap out of opponents. Besides fully-automatic machine guns (which I don't think they had quite perfected past the Gatling stage at that point) full-fledged artillery pieces make an appearance and they go boom. Oh, and the movie 300 stopped by and dropped off some slo-mo. Fortunately, it's only really utilized in one scene. It looks really impressive and it added a lot to the scene but then it just dragged on and got boring.

But I was never actually bored during the film. That may have been Guy Ritchie's goal. Keep the audience entertained. If a classic Holmes approach has to be sacrificed for the steampunk superhero that is Robert Downey Jr. so be it. If Holmes has to solve everything before the audience can even grasp what he is thinking, so be it too. We will love it all the same.

I blame Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law for putting Game of Shadows on the same level as the first Sherlock. Because it shouldn't be. They are very entertaining leads and I love watching their friendship on screen. It's hilarious, popcorn busting action at its finest.

It is almost an entirely different film but I would never be able to bring myself to call it a bad one. I would just as easily watch it again. Holmes fans will love the allusions to the books it draws from (they finally included Mycroft, thank god) and movie fans will love the artistic licenses the director has taken. But pray, that they do something a little different in the third film which will surely be made, or else this series might grow stale. We don't need another X-Men The Last Stand on our hands.

3 out of 4 stars

-Christopher O'Connell

P.S. Robert Downey Jr. riding a pony may be the funniest thing I will see all year.

The Untouchables: A Quick Review

It's been a while since I absolutely ripped on a movie. Mostly because I don't like to go see movies that are bad. If I think it's going to be bad why see it? I only see movies I'm on the fence about when I hear rave reviews about its execution and style. Sometimes they are god awful (Drive) and sometimes they are just considered to be really good when they're only an okay movie. The Untouchables is in this latter category.

Everyone knows that Al Capone was basically the biggest most powerful mobster in American history. He ruled Chicago with an iron fist. And it was all because of prohibition. The U.S. outlawed booze, everyone still wanted booze, and Capone was one of those enterprising individuals who decided to capitalize on this development. He was raking in the millions and no one could get to him. The Treasury Department (they used to have power) sent in Eliot Ness who surrounded himself with men who were untouchable, in that they couldn't be bought or bribed. They never could pin anything on Al Capone except that the man had never filed income taxes for several years. Of all the murders and racketeering they could only bring him up on income tax evasion charges, go figure. Capone went to jail and Ness became a hero with Capone eventually succumbing to syphilis in Alcatraz.

That's real life, The Untouchables is like Eliot Ness' boyhood wet dream about taking down a gangster. There's gunfights, there's dramatic take downs, there's a courtroom scene and best of all a revenge killing. All of which, NEVER HAPPENED. Even me, with very little understanding of courtrooms gleefully called out bull crap every time a ridiculous situation came about. The jury is obviously bribed? Get a new jury. Nope the judge doesn't want to do that because he's bribed too. They switch juries with the courtroom next door so they aren't bribed? Pretty sure that's illegal. Capone's lawyer pleads guilty even thought Capone says not guilty? The lawyer said he's guilty it must be true. There's no laws protecting against erratic lawyers huh?

The people who died, didn't die in real life. Kevin Costner straight up revenge kills a dude who in real life died about 7 years later of a suicide. Two of the "untouchables" get brutally murdered in the film. Real life, spoiler, they lived. And probably never got shot at.

It's not that the movie is bad, it's just silly. And horribly inaccurate. There's decent acting, but there's also incredibly cheesy moments in some gunfights. And don't get me started on that stupid end shootout at the train station. A baby? Really? I couldn't believe what I was seeing. If this is on anyone's top 10 gangster films I want you to slap them right across the face and tell them films 1-10 should be Goodfellas. There's a quality mob film right there.

2 out of 4 stars

-Christopher O'Connell

Live Free or Die Hard: A Quick Review

Arguably the most ridiculous entry into the series. And by ridiculous, I mean ridiculously awesome. First of all, I thought this movie was going to be so stupid I might actually have a brain anuerism. And even sadder, it was the very first entry into the Die Hard series that I had the privilege of viewing. Fortunately I waited until the unrated version came out on DVD (Note to Hollywood, don't tone down Die Hard with a pg-13 rating. That is just stupid). What Live Free loses in plot and character it makes up for in the craziest action possible.

For the fourth entry, McClane is back in D.C. trying to keep a whiny Justin Long from getting killed by hackers who have figured out how to systematically shutdown the entire infrastructure of the United States. They're only mistake? You can't shut down John McClane with a computer. So they try to do it with his daughter, but that just made him angrier.

Live Free or Die Hard is probably the weakest in the series. Developers seemed to understand this so they made up for it by upping the action to 11. Not only does John McClane kill a helicopter with a car, he also explodes a fighter jet. And since this is the 2000's he also dispatches several parkour-ninja masters with good old fashioned American scrap fighting. Turn off your brain and enjoy the getting old jokes because I heard they're going to be making number 5 pretty soon. And if it is as good as all the others I won't care how ridiculously old Bruce Willis is at this point. Just give him a gun and an ideology to protect and I will be happy.

P.S. love the New Hampshire reference. What a ridiculous state motto. REPRESENT.

3 out of 4 stars

-Christopher O'Connell

Die Hard With a Vengeance: A Quick Review

Picture this: several Hollywood executives are talking about making another sequel in the Die Hard franchise. But they don't want it to get stale. How can we make Die Hard even awesomer without doing the same thing for the third time? It's impossible several of them say. But one pipes up, "What if we put Samuel L. Jackson in the movie?" The executives look at each other and collectively go to the bathroom to change their pants.

And lo and behold they put in a racial tension gimmick to keep the series fresh without making it stale. I love it when a plan comes together.

This time, finally, McClane is in New York. A mysterious man starts phoning the police making McClane and his new black sidekick run around the city trying to keep bombs from going off, while meanwhile they try to pull off the biggest bank heist in history. It's a little more believable than the second one but it's still a little bit out there.

But god it is just as funny and awesome. I would say there is significantly less action/shooting in this third one but the tension and the pacing is just right throughout the film; giving the audience that edge of seat feeling throughout. I'm starting to think that the makers of Die Hard really hate Germans though. Or Aryan looking people in general. Because they are always the bad guys, and they get killed. A lot.

Die Hard 3 is just as good as the other Die Hard's with the added bonus of Mr. Jackson smack talking Bruce Willis. I laughed and clapped the whole way through.

3.5 out of 4 stars

-Christopher O'Connell

Die Hard 2: Die Harder: A Quick Review

Just in time for Christmas, I finally saw every single Die Hard film. And oh man is it hard to rank them. Obviously, number one is the best but the other 3 are so gleefully violent and fun that it's hard not to say they're all the best.

Anyways, Die Hard 2 brings back everyone's ass-kicking, one line spewing, grizzled detective John McClane. Not content to stumble into one terrorist plot in the first film, McClane decides to discover another one just in time for the holidays, again. Last time it was in L.A. For some reason this time it's in D.C. No one really knows why, especially since McClane is a New York cop. I'm pretty sure it is because his wife is super annoying and makes him travel all around.

So McClane is again at the wrong place at the wrong time (FOR THE BAD GUYS) waiting in Dulles international airport for his wife's plane to land. And again, Christmas is fast approaching. What the airport doesn't know is that a group of former U.S. soldiers (who are very Aryan looking and sounding) are planning on shutting down the airport in order to smuggle out some famous dictator/drug dealer in exchange for living on a beach for the rest of their lives. They plan to do this by killing all electronics at the airport in a snowstorm forcing all incoming plans to circle until they will eventually crash land. John McClane declares this to be bullshit and runs off gun in hand to shoot everyone in the face.

Now Die Hard was kind of believable. As in the plot could totally happen. The punishment that McClane goes through would kill any lesser man but the overall story is sound. Die Hard 2 tries to make the audience think that if Dulles doesn't have lights than every plane coming in there is doomed. Even thought Ronald Reagan Int. Airport is right down the road. And so is Baltimore. And Philadelphia. And technically New York. Plot believability is effectively suspended at that point.

But it doesn't matter because you came to see some action! And there is action. So much action. It is fantastic, with lots of cheesy one liners and of course Bruce Willis saying Yippykayay mother ------. Another solid entry into probably the best action series ever.

3.5 out of 4 stars

-Christopher O'Connell

The Muppets

   It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights, it’s time to get re-introduced to the Muppets. That’s not quite how the theme song goes but for longtime fans of Kermit and pals, getting back with the gang is as easy as singing along. But for those who didn’t grow up with the Muppets, this shouldn’t be the first movie you see.

   

  Walter is a Muppet growing up in SmallTown, U.S.A. All his life he watched The Muppet Show with his human brother Gary (Jason Segel). Finally, Walter, Gary and Gary’s girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams) take a trip to Los Angeles to sightsee and visit the old Muppet’s studio. But when they get there, the old Muppet’s studio is a rundown poorly managed mess. Exploring by himself, Walter accidentally stumbles upon a secret meeting run by oil baron Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) who has plans to tear down the Muppet studio to drill for the oil underneath.

   

Horrified, Walter, Gary and Mary find Kermit the Frog and convince him to get the whole gang back together. After finding the old crew the Muppets put on one last show/telethon to raise the 10 million dollars needed to save the studio.

  

  Boy is it good to see the Muppets again. “Muppet Treasure Island” was basically on repeat my entire childhood. “A Muppet’s Christmas Carol” gets even more air time than “Elf” around Christmas time. So when multiple, incredibly creative Muppet trailers started to hit the airwaves early this year, no one was more excited than me.

    

Except for maybe Hollywood in general. Celebrity cameos abound in “The Muppets”: Alan Arkin, Whoopi Goldberg, Jack Black, and Zach Galifianakis to name just a few. Everyone is excited for the return of the Muppets.

    

Right from the beginning there are self-aware, fourth wall breaking jokes that make the Muppets more than just talking puppets. “That sounds like an important plot point; I hope the audience was listening.” For kids and parents alike the jokes are a clean return to form.

  

  And like every Muppets movie, the music is a stellar example of songwriting and love of the source material. Musical group Feist and Bret Mackenzie of Flight of the Concords helped Jason Segel write and perfect the music.

  

  But for everything “The Muppets” does right, it does an equal amount wrong. First would be the introduction of the newest Muppet, Walter. I never knew a Muppet to be annoying but somehow they found a way. Instead of more screen time to classic characters, most of it is pushed onto Walter’s poorly designed shoulders. Characters that needed more jokes get pushed to the side after their reintroduction to never make much of an impact later. Not to mention that a certain Rizzo the rat gets absolutely no screen time at all while Walter gets his own solo number.

   

The biggest problem of all about “The Muppets” is the lack of space for new fans. The old ones are all here, crowding the movie theater. But potential new fans will sit outside wondering what in the world they just saw. References to Muppet Show classics will go right over their heads and the same self-aware jokes that old fans appreciate can come off as lazy joke-writing when it happens several times.

   

Otherwise, “The Muppets” is still an insanely clever, enjoyably giddy trip down memory lane. Just make sure you’ve already been down the lane.

2 and a half out of 4 stars

-Christopher O'Connell