Movie Reviews on good movies that are compulsory viewing

This is a well made comedy drama, starring Ray McKinnon in two roles as Randy Pearson, a good natured happy go lucky “big shot” who owns a number of businesses, but is currently in a financial mess, and Cecil his twin brother.

Randy happens to borrow money from a loan shark, which unbeknown to him is connected with the Mob. Soon afterwards he starts getting phone calls from a Mob guy, Franco played by Paul Ben-Victor (Tombstone) as to when and how he is going to settle his debt, Randy tries to explain that as hard as he has tried he cannot come up with the money for the debt as well as his increasing debt with the IRS (Internal Revenue Service).

After asking around and finding out that he could be in some serious trouble with the Mafia, Randy contemplates selling one of his businesses to Elmore Culpepper where Burt Reynolds (Boogie Nights) does a short cameo.

Surprisingly Franco has a solution to his financial troubles, and that involves sending Tino Armani played surprisingly well by Walton Goggins (unrecognisable from his character in The Shield), to sort out his financial troubles, even so much as to pay off the IRS. On their first meeting Randy is amazed to find out that Tino has the same country dialect as he does, to which Tino responds he never judges people by the pigment in their skin or their dialect. After a while Randy is even more impressed by how seemingly good natured Tino is, and soon all in the small community are besotted by Tino. He even manages to improve the menu on one of Randy’s restaurant businesses that had so many people queueing to get in when Randy arrived he automatically assumed there was an incident and that the police had been called. At this stage it should be mentioned Randy has an on-going problem with one of the local law enforcement officers Griff Postell, played by Brent Briscoe (Mulholland Drive) who seems to have it in for him at every opportunity, since Griff blames him for a “whooping” he gave him in the third grade, which many witnessed, but Griff subsequently gave Randy a “whooping” in the sixth grade, but unfortunately no one witnessed it.

As well as trying to solve his financial troubles, Randy has to cope with his wife Charlotte, played by the lovely Lisa Blount (The Accountant) newly acquired Carpal Tunnel Syndrome from dancing lessons she has been giving, which has left her a little depressed, and trying to patch the relationship with his gay twin brother and his partner Bill played by Tim DeKay (The Russell Girl). A relationship Randy has never accepted, much to the annoyance of his twin and his partner.

This is a surprisingly genial comedy drama, and it contains some classic scenes, especially where Randy is on the phone to Franco while at a rubbish tip.

Ray McKinnon is effortlessly adept between the two roles, and it is an entertaining movie many will enjoy.

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Posted By Blogger to Movie reviews on 11/28/2009 07:17:00 AM

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This is a very touching drama about the relationship between an estranged father and his attempts to reconcile with his son.

It stars Sal Landi (24, Ugly Betty) as Skip, and his son Danny played by Matt Dallas (Kyle XY).

We meet Skip in a limousine, having a drink, but after a few moments, we see him stay still in apparent discomfort, while two of his companions wonder what is wrong. He is next at the doctor’s being told that his liver is failing after years of substance and drug abuse, and at this stage he needs a partial liver transplant from an immediate family member, the doctor asks if he has any children, Skip doesn’t answer, but later on Skip looks at a faded picture of Danny, and we realise he does have a son.

We meet Danny who is being cared for by Skip’s sister, Carrie played by Jane Higginson (she has incredibly fascinating eyes), since his mother died when he was two. He calls her mum, and treats her as his own mother, however Danny lacks any direction and as Carrie’s friend Mona played by Angela Lanza; is constantly telling her, he needs some direction in his life from a father figure. It turns out that Danny had been to a party a few days earlier where he was thrown out as he was not invited, and was simply crashing the party, although to be fair he was minding his own business, but the host realised she didn’t know who he was, and so he was subsequently thrown out. In his anger and frustration, he vandalises a nearby shop, but left a vital clue, for the police to track him down.

Prior to this Skip makes an attempt to see his sister and Danny, but his attempts were dismissed by the both of them, as being too little too late. When Danny gets arrested for the vandalism, his bail is set at $50,000. Carrie as a nurse simply cannot afford the bail, and she calls on Skip to provide the bail, as a last gasp opportunity to save Danny from jail, in exchange he gets to spend some time with him as he wants while Carrie relocates to another nursing vacancy. Danny makes a promise to Carrie as a condition of being bailed to agree to go along with whoever is in the house while Carrie relocates for her new nursing vacancy, but the relationship between Skip and Danny is no better than at the beginning of the movie when they met after a long hiatus, with Danny eager to avoid him at every opportunity and Skip desperately trying to find a way into his son’s heart. He happens to see in the garage, parts of an old worn out Indian bike, and knowing that at least Danny likes bikes, he decides to to use this as a way into his son’s heart by enlisting the help of a father and daughter team, to help him get the parts and fix the bike. The father and daughter team of Ted and Shelby played by Corbin Timbrook and the gorgeous Alison Haislip respectively, have their own issues, with Ted’s wife having walked out on him and Shelby. She spends most of the time fixing the parts of the Indian, and inevitably takes a liking to Danny, all the while being watched by Skip.

It is a poignant tale of a father’s desperate attempt to save himself which may at the same time be able to repair the fragile relationship with his son and sister.

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Posted By Blogger to Movie reviews on 11/27/2009 02:02:00 AM

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This is an interesting dark comedy starring the legendary Robin Williams (RV) as Lance Clayton, a school teacher at a high school his son Kyle played by Daryl Sabara (Spy Kids), also goes to.

From the onset we see the relationship between father and son is not optimum at the best of times, as Lance walks in unexpectedly on Kyle to find him in an embarrassing position with a belt around his neck, Lance panics thinking he is dead, only for Kyle to critique his father for catching him at an anxious moment. Lance is long suffering towards his son, while Kyle on the other hand is rude and obnoxious at every opportunity, case in point when caught with his trousers down he ridicules his father by calling him a homosexual, but Lance fires an equally quick retort saying that he fathered him so he is not a homosexual.

Later on we join Kyle at school, where he continues his behaviour, by making an off-hand rude remark to a girl and is summoned to Principal Anderson’s office, played by Geoffrey Pierson (24), along with Lance. It seems Kyle has been getting into trouble at school for quite sometime and is given one last chance.

It becomes obvious that Kyle has no intention of changing, despite Lance trying to participate more in his son’s life by trying to involve him in his day to day activities, even though Kyle typically finds a way to resist. On this particular occasion he comes along with his dad on a date with another teacher at the school, Claire played by the lovely Alexie Gilmore (something about her smile just lights up the entire room).

The date didn’t go as well as Lance hoped for, because although Lance assumed everything went OK, Kyle on the other hand was busy taking pictures of Claire under the table with his mobile phone. As well as trying to win the affections of Claire from another teacher and basketball coach Mike Lane, played by Henry Simmons (Shark), we find out that Lance is also trying to get established as an author, but all attempts so far have failed, and his frustration is even more apparent as Mike’s first time publication to the New York Times is published amidst congratulations from fellow teachers. Lance’s frustration is about to come to an end, because something happens that opens up his literature to the world, and the much needed respect, recognition, and romance from Claire are soon at his fingertips.

At times this is sad and poignant. Some of the crude humor fits in well with the scenes, and as usual Robin Williams does a superb job capturing the lonely single parent, desperate to bring his son into line.

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Posted By Blogger to Movie reviews on 11/26/2009 05:25:00 AM

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This is a fantastic science fiction movie that served as a template to launch a new action star in Vin Diesel (Saving Private Ryan, something about his voice reminds me of an engine).

He stars as Richard B. Riddick, a no-nonsense convict, who is being transported by an equally rugged bounty hunter William J. Johns played by Cole Hauser (Too Fast Too Furious). The rest of the crew headed by the captain Carolyn Fry, played by the lovely Radha Mitchell (Phone Booth), are all told to steer clear of Riddick as he is considered extremely dangerous, hence the very large bounty on his head, and are told Riddick would sooner take the ship and leave every one stranded if he could, in order to save his skin.

They crash land on an apparently desert planet, with supplies running low, and the crew of the ship made up of an Imam, Abu Al Walid played by Keith David (Crash) and his disciples searching for New Mecca. In a desperate search for water, they happen to come across what looks like trees from a distance but on closer inspection it seems it is the skull of a dead animal almost like a dinosaur. It soon becomes obvious to the rest of crew that there is life on this planet, and eerily, this particular night, an eclipse will occur which would mean the nightlife will come out in search of food, seeking out fresh victims in the crew.

The captain makes a decision that they must all work together if they are to successfully get out of this planet, and that involves freeing Riddick, while Riddick’s bounty hunter William keeps a close guard, weapon at the ready in case Riddick tries anything.

Riddick seems to have gotten a fan in the midst of the crew, which could end up ominously for all involved.

In the midst of all this Riddick does have a little advantage over all the other members of the crew, his eyesight is superb in the dark, however he is extremely sensitive to light not unlike the creatures on the planet, and he has to wear some made to order goggles to protect his eyesight. Since Riddick is the only one able to navigate at night when the creatures on the planet are hunting, he is the only one best equipped to gather the equipment needed to fix the ship, so they can all fly out of this dangerous planet, but Riddick seems to only look out for himself, unless Fry can convince him to show some humanity, which is not one of his strong traits.

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Posted By Blogger to Movie reviews on 11/25/2009 06:49:00 AM

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This is a modern day re-telling of the age-old tale of the youth rebelling against established authority, in this case a street dancer getting into a prestigious school, Maryland School of the Arts (MSA) that doesn’t recognise or appreciate her street dancing techniques, and at the same time competing in the much respected street dance tournament known as The Streets.

It stars the gorgeous Briana Evigan (a brilliant classically trained dancer) as Andie, a member of the notorious 410 dance crew, who is staying with her mother’s best friend Sarah played by Sonja Sohn (the pregnant doctor in Brothers and Sisters), but having some problems as inevitably teenagers go through, especially since her mother is no longer around.

She is given an ultimatum to either start working hard at school and avoid trouble, or move in with her aunt. Channing Tatum (Fighting, as well as in the prequel Step Up) does a cameo as Tyler Gage, he helps her get a dance audition at the prestigious MSA which is the only way her guardian would allow her to stay if she is at such a prestigious school.

It turns out the 410 crew have been winning the Street Dancing tournaments consecutively for a few years now, and Andie has missed a few practice sessions on account of her enrolment at the prestigious MSA, which she has kept a secret to the rest of the 410 crew, apart from her close friend Felica played by Telisha Shaw.

She faces being thrown out of the 410 crew if the leader Tuck played by Black Thomas finds out that she is putting anything over the 410 crew. She regards the 410 crew as the only family she has ever known, but she also would like to succeed at the prestigious MSA, one of the star pupils Chase Collins played by Robert Hoffman, the brother of the principal Blake Collins (played stoically by another classically trained actor Will Kemp), takes a liking to Andie, and although she resists at first romance is on the cards, that puts her at odds with the 410 crew.

She finds a whole new group of exceptional dancers at the school, but are they all good enough to compete at The Streets?

The dancing is what makes this movie special, everyone is a phenomenal dancer, and the audience can just sit back and enjoy the fantastic art form of street dancing, some of the scenes are already ingrained in popular culture such as the dancing in the rain and Chase placing his hand just over Andie’s chest, moving it up and down simulating a pulsating heartbeat. You can tell from the out takes at the end credits, that it was a great deal of fun making such a movie.

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Posted By Blogger to Movie reviews on 11/23/2009 04:34:00 AM

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This is a charming-magical movie about the age-old topic of believing in Santa Claus and the magic of Christmas.

It stars the lovely Nicole De Boer (Cube, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) as Liz McCann a Real Estate agent who doesn’t believe in Christmas but sees it just as any other holiday, and would rather be working.

However she is a single mother to a young Mason played by Gig Morton who is eagerly in the festive spirit. While at work Liz gets a phone call from her father played by Gary Chalk (Stargate SG-1), inviting her and Mason to come along and pay him a visit at Hollyville and celebrate Christmas with him, she initially declines as she remembers her dad never celebrated Christmas.

It so happens that her dad phones again while they are at home, and asks her a second time, Mason happens to be around, and not wanting to dash his hopes she agrees.

On their trip they are unable to find Hollyville, until the car breaks down and Mason spots a reindeer in the woods, Liz doesn’t see the reindeer and dismisses it, while she runs after Mason they both see Hollyville lighted up in the midst of all the trees.

On arriving at the town Liz is extremely surprised to find her father working at the local restaurant where everyone seems so happy, she has never seen her father so happy and friendly, and at one point she asks him “Who are you and what have you done to my dad“?

It so happens her father would like to make up for all the years he was never any good at making her happy especially during Christmas, and he would like to make this Christmas special not just for his grandson but for his daughter too.

Mason on the other hand has found some surprising discoveries, the quiet town is home to N.P. Enterprises short for North Pole Enterprises, whose business seems to be transport all over the globe.

There is also the case of a mysterious sleigh the local mechanic is fixing that is considered top secret, and characters that could easily be ascribed to those of elves. Of course Liz finds all this hard to believe, but Mason is eager to prove his mother wrong and make her a believer, while there is potential for some romance for Liz from Kevin (played by Paul Muldoon [Star Ship Troopers], his mannerisms are a lot similar to Rob Lowe), the boss of the diner her father works at.

It is a lovely magical movie the entire family will enjoy.

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Posted By Blogger to Movie reviews on 11/22/2009 05:47:00 AM

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This is a very entertaining futuristic science fiction movie, that has one of the best trailers out there purely for its suspense.

It stars Bruce Willis (Die Hard) as James Cole who has been placed in a psychiatric ward, lead by Kathryn Railly played by the lovely Madeleine Stowe (We were soldiers), in the same ward is Jeffrey Goines played charismatically by Brad Pitt, he simply steals the show in every scene he is in.

Cole tells an unbelieving Kathryn that he is from the future where there are no animals, and a plague has wiped out most of humanity, and his mission is to prevent the first occurrence of the virus that lead to the plague.

However he is constantly taken back to the future for a progress report, which disorientates his thoughts and mindset. It turns out he is a prisoner in the future, and doing this mission will guarantee a pardon.

It seems there are problems sending him back to the correct time line to continue his mission; after being debriefed on how progress on the mission is going. When sent back, in some cases he is several years out of sync with the proposed date he is supposed to be in, with one occurrence landing him in the trenches of the First World War where he is unfortunately shot in the leg.

Of course Kathryn doesn’t believe a word he says, and sees him as an advanced delusional schizophrenic, until she happens to look through an archive book of the First World War, and sees a clear picture of James in it, she also happens to have the bullet from World War One in his leg removed and analysed, and she confronts him as to how he came to have a bullet from World War One in his leg.

At this point she begins to believe him, and although James wishes for it not to be true, and that he is still a psychiatric patient (since he prefers this timeline) in a world without a plague, realises he must continue his mission of preventing the plague that has wiped out most of humanity. It becomes a desperate race against time for James and Kathryn to find who is responsible for the plague, the only clue they have to go on is a sect called the Twelve Monkeys that may or may not be responsible for setting off the first instance of the plague.

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Posted By Blogger to Movie reviews on 11/21/2009 02:30:00 PM

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This is a very strange, often hilarious, alternate scenario of the Second World War. Focusing on the events surrounding a few individuals who aim to bring down the Third Reich, it is directed by Quentin Tarantino of Pulp Fiction notoriety, so don’t be surprised if our protagonists are a little sadistic.

It stars Brad Pitt as Lieutenant Aldo Raine, who leads a team of Jewish-Americans, in occupied France launching hit and run missions, that have managed to make them all legendary with the Nazis as the Inglourious Basterds. Their antics have reached the ears of Hitler himself played by Martin Wuttke. He particularly wants to meet one hapless soldier who was let go as an example when his squad was unfortunate enough to encounter them.

We meet the main antagonist Colonel Hans Landa played superbly by Christopher Waltz (Goldeneye) as a Nazi detective nicknamed “the Jew hunter” for his ability to find stowaways.

He and his soldiers approach a farm run by Perrier LaPadite (played by Denis Menochet) and his three daughters, as typical with Quentin Tarantino films, the suspense builds up during the conversations, with a seemingly ordinary and pleasant conversation that after a short while makes the audience realise the stage is being set, and something ominous is about to happen; possibly to Perrier or his family.

During his conversation Perrier eventually gives in and reveals to Hans that there are Jews hidden under the basement, whereby he orders his men to shoot into the basement, however one of the girls hidden in the basement, Shosanna Dreyfus played by the lovely Melanie Laurent, escapes.

We meet her four years later, as she runs a cinema under an assumed name of course, where much to her frustration she is being chased romantically by a German officer Private Frederick Zoller played by Daniel Bruhl, who is instantly recognised wherever he goes for killing several hundred Allied soldiers as a sniper, the audience will no doubt feel a little sorry for the romantic soldier as since we are privy to the secrets Shohannah carries, we can understand immediately that he has a mountain to climb to stand a chance of any romance. He has gotten so much praise that Hitler’s number one in command Goebbels, played by Sylvester Groth has made a film about him, starring Private Zoller as himself, and Goebbels after meeting Shosannah wants the venue for their premiere of this movie in her cinema, but not after she bumps into Colonel Hans, responsible for executing her family some four years earlier, fortunately for her he doesn’t seem to recognise her, but she and the audience are in two minds if this is a ploy, as when she ran away from the farm she assumed he didn’t see her face.

The Inglourious Basterds hear about the cinema event, as well as a British agent Lieutenant Archie Hicox played magnificently by Michael Fassbander (300, Hex), along with a double agent Bridget Von Hammersmark played by the gorgeous Diane Kruger (National Treasure) intend on causing a large amount of casualties during the premiere, that could possibly end the war.

The versatility of the actors in moving from German to English to French and Italian is impressive.

It is a typical Quentin Tarantino movie, lots of blood, and gore that is amusing but thoroughly enjoyable at the same time.

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Posted By Blogger to Movie reviews on 11/20/2009 05:50:00 AM

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This is a charming movie about a street smart con-man and the relationship with his son.

It stars Christopher Walken (his performance in the Deer Hunter still remains legendary) as Nat Parker, who is using the system for his benefit, trying to patch his relationship with his son Ritchie played by Alessandro Nivola (Jurassic Park III).

We meet Ritchie at his place of work and soon we find out he is let go after the manager finds out he has a criminal past, he gets home only to find out his girlfriend Maggie played by the lovely Amanda Peet (The Whole Nine Yards) is leaving him, he happens to find a letter from his father that he had previously put in the trash. We find out that the two are estranged as Ritchie went to jail, taking the fall for a scam his father pulled, where he buys an automobile, replaces the part with junk takes it back to the salesman and gets a replacement saying the car he bought was nothing but junk. It turns out that one time the institution caught on, but his son’s name was what was used on the paperwork, so Ritchie spends a considerable amount of time in jail for a crime his father committed, and he is none too pleased with his father about this.

Nat would like to make it up to him, and added the incentive that he is dying of a brain tumor, so Ritchie should come up and see him in an all expenses paid trip to Mexico where there is a new age treatment, that may or may not work, but after a while you realise, Nat simply wants to spend some time with his son.

The relationship between father and son is close, and you can tell immediately whatever bad feelings Ritchie had with his father, you know he can forgive him for anything, even when Ritchie finds out, it was his father who reported him to his place of work, that he had a criminal record, so he can be fired, as an impetus to get him to pay him a visit, as Nat puts it, the job was closing Ritchie in; he was too good for it.

On their road trip, Nat is in his element, with his social awareness able to get him into parties, and get many things for free, as he puts it you can survive on 5 dollars a day, hence the title. There is a brief cameo by Sharon Stone (Basic Instinct) as Dolores Jones, who is eternally grateful to Nat for helping her get her Rotary license. It turns out Dolores used to babysit for Ritchie, and Ritchie remembers her fondly as she was his first infatuation, but it seems she only has eyes for his father.

This is a very nice warm feeling of a movie, and Christopher Walken is his usual quirky self.

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Posted By Blogger to Movie reviews on 11/14/2009 06:29:00 AM

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This is a very enjoyable road trip movie starring the superb Jeff Bridges (Starman) as Kyle Garrett, a baseball legend, who has chosen to live his life away from his wife Katherine played by the lovely Mary Steenburgen (Back to the future part 3) and son Carlton played by Justin Timberlake (Black snake moan).

Matters come to a head, when Katherine is diagnosed with a heart condition that needs surgery, but she will not have the surgery unless her husband comes to pay her a visit. It falls to Carlton to find his father and somehow convince him to turn up so his mother can have the surgery.

He takes along his friend Lucy, played by the lovely Kate Mara (Transsiberian), and together they find Kyle signing autographs, and being charming to all who recognise him as the legendary baseball player he was.

It turns out Carlton has been trying to follow in his father’s footsteps, but things are not going so well with him at his team, his coach played by Ted Danson (Friends) does a short cameo, and tells him if he doesn’t sort his mind out, someone else will take his place.

Along with trying to convince his absent father, to come along with him; so his wife, and his mother can have the live saving surgery she needs, he also has regrets over breaking off with Lucy, and inevitably Kyle notices the friction between the two of them.

On meeting Kyle again after an approximate four year span, we get a little insight into the relationship between father and son. Kyle is signing autographs and introduces Carlton to a colleague as a fan, but the colleague does a confused look when Carlton purposefully introduces himself as “Carlton… Garrett“.

On explaining to Kyle that his wife is sick, and has requested him at her bedside, surprisingly for Carlton his father agrees, and he phones his mother at the airport, telling her he is looking right at him, and that they are coming to see her, much to her joy.

However it turns out things are not so straightforward as Kyle has apparently lost his wallet, and he will not be allowed to board the flight without suitable identification. Lucy suggests they drive instead, and hence the title.

It tells of the broken relationship between a father and a son, and their journey together to fix this in more ways than one, during this road trip.

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Posted By Blogger to Movie reviews on 11/12/2009 05:14:00 AM

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