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

The story surrounds Jason Tripitikas played by Michael Angarano(24, Will and Grace) being bullied by a gang, and his love of Kung fu movies, which he rents from an elderly Old Hop(Jackie Chang), during one particular night, Old Hop is robbed, and in the event of trying to protect Old Hop, he gets hold of an old staff, which transports him into the realm of the magical Forbidden Kingdom, where an evil Jade Warlord played by well known Kung fu Star Collin Chou. The Jade Warlord has taken over the Forbidden Kingdom while the King of Heaven is away.

This magical kingdom has a select number of Immortals, who cannot be killed except by a jade poison dart. It turns out that there was an immortal a Monkey King(also played by Jet Li), who had been challenged to a duel by the evil Jade Warlord, who was growing increasingly bitter over the favouritism shown to the Monkey King by the King of Heaven, as the King of Heaven left the Forbidden Kingdom into the hands of the Jade Warlord until his return, the Jade Warlord saw the opportunity to end the Monkey King once and for all, by attempting to kill him during the duel, just in time before he is killed the Monkey King freezes into stone, and sends out his magical staff out of the Forbidden Kingdom, and a prophecy was born that one will come that will return the Monkey King’s staff to the rightful owner.

Our young protagonist suddenly finds himself in the Forbidden Kingdom, where he, Lu Yan, his associate Golden Sparrow played by the lovely Yifei Liu and a monk known as The Silent Monk (also played by Jet Li) have to get the staff to the Monkey King, however he is still immortalised in stone, in the lair of the Jade King.

The cinematography gives the impression of being in a fantasy world, where everything is possible.

It has some classic funny moments, especially where Lu Yan is trying to summon rain while the stern faced Silent Monk makes a mockery of his attempt.

This is a great action movie with fantastic comedy moments, and the fans are no doubt clamouring for a sequel.

Isla Fisher plays Rebecca Bloomwood of the title, whose childhood desires has given want to spending more than she really should in adulthood to the desperation of her flatmate and best friend Suze, played by the lovely Krysten Ritter(What happens in Vegas) .

Matters come a pivotal moment for Rebecca when she applies for her dream job at a fashion magazine headed by Alette Naylor played by the brilliant Kristin Scott Thomas(The English Patient) unrecognisable with her French accent, but in the process ends up working as a financial journalist headed by Edgar West played by John Lithgow(3rd Rock from the sun) and run by Luke Brandon played by Hugh Dancy(Blood and Chocolate), the initial first bad impressions aside, Luke gives her a chance, and she proves a hit with her column “The Girl with the green scarf” giving tidbits and common sense approach to spending for all who can’t help but use their plastic.

Her column becomes so popular that it is featured on television, and in the midst of all this, a debt collection man has been after Rebecca for some time for obviously some unpaid credit card debt, he happens to turn up at her work place, where Rebecca tells her boss that he is a stalker, he promptly has him thrown out, but the more popular she becomes the closer her gets to confronting her about the unpaid debt, which Suze, and her parents Jane and Graham played by Joan Cusack(Arlington Road, something about her smile just brightens up any scene) and John Goodman(Roseanne, Evan Almighty) have been advising her to do.

Realising that she has to do something about her escalating debts, cheered on by her best friend and flatmate who is soon to be hitched, she joins the equivalent of Alcoholic Anonymous for Shopaholics, but will it be too late before the debt collector exposes her in front of her boss and the media?

It stars Adam Sadler(Don’t mess with the Zohan) as Skeeter Bronson a hotel handyman whose father previously ran the hotel but has been swallowed up by a conglomerate headed by Richard Nottingham played by Barry Griffiths(Venus, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) Skeeter although promised a long time ago by Barry Nottingham that he would manage the hotel on account of his father by Marty played by Jonathan Pryce(Pirates of the Caribbean),, unfortunately that promise has not come to fruition, as well as his manual duties he is looked down upon by the antagonist Kendall played by the dependant Guy Pearce(Death defying acts).

The good news for Skeeter is he gets to babysit his adorable nephew and niece Bobbi and Patrick respectively, played by Laura Ann Kesling and played by Jonathan Morgan Heit who have made a wish, and the wish is whatever story he reads to them somehow some of that story comes to pass, in Skeeter’s life.

This is where the uniqueness of this movie comes into play, as you keep wondering what could happen, as does Skeeter when he realises whatever story they make him read come to pass. Things are complicated when the regular baby sitter Jill played by the lovely Keri Russell with very warm eyes(Mission Impossible: III), as inevitably Skeeter starts to fall for her, and she for him albeit his first impressions didn’t go down so well, Skeeter hopes to manipulate the bedtime stories to his benefit, but as usual in this realm things never quite go to plan.

It is a great family movie, all will find bits to enjoy.

Embarrassingly for her Camille even sends him a letter to take her to the prom, which he lets her down gently that he has the eyes for someone else.

Matters come to a head when the local geek(complete with the big double rimmed glasses) not only has a date for the prom but a room hence the title, much to the shock and amazement of his entire family, his mother played by the lovely Cheryl Hines(Robin William’s wife in RV) and his divorced dad complete with a nice looking perm played by the dependable William H. Macy(Boogie Nights), his dad is trying to find a date for himself, and there is a funny sequence where he takes his date to a restaurant along with Danny still asking for advice on if the girl of his dreams should be asked to the prom, based on his father’s good natured meaning but awkward in the current circumstances, his date makes an excuse that her toddler needs the bathroom, and notably speeds off in her car, while the two are discussing the issue of Danny’s potential prom date.

Mixed with his desire to have his parents reconciled, amidst the new man in his mother’s life who is nice enough but his dad although not as rich as him will not have his son’s affections taken by another guy.

It is a nice sweet family movie, and you could tell there are aspects of it if not the whole thing biographical.

It stars Ashton Kutcher(Punk’d, Bobby) as Jack Fuller and Cameron Diaz(Charlie’s Angels) as Joy McNally, two mis-matched individuals heading off to Las Vegas to forget their troublesome home life, Joy fresh from a break-up from her ex-fiance and Jack just been sacked from his job by none other than his dad Jack Williams Sr. played Treat Williams(The Devil’s own)(there is a hilarious sequence where Jack challenges his father to a basketball match in order to keep his job, of course he lot pretty easily too).

Jack and his hilarious sidekick Hater played by the infectious Rob Corddry and Joy and her best friend Tipper played by the lovely Lake Bell find out that they have been mistakenly booked in the same suite. Determined to make the most of it, even though none of them get along at first, they decide to go out for a night to drown their sorrows, but somehow end up getting married in a drunken stupor.

The next day realising the mistake they are eager to call the whole thing off, until Jack’s spin at the wheel lands him a fortune, and as you know man and wife are legally obliged to share everything, much to their initial disappointment they are made to live as man and wife for several months by a judge, who doesn’t believe in quickie divorces, and beliefs the matrimonial vows should be kept to.

The longer they stay together under the same roof, the inevitable attraction begins, and it turns out to be a very warm romantic comedy.

The camaraderie and sparks between Tipper and Hater steal every scene, and the highlights are the end, is even more hilarious then the whole movie.

The plot is of a tired sales man Carl Allen(Jim Carrey), who happens to wander into a feel good seminar where everybody says “Yes” and accepts whatever life throws at them, any questions, any requirements from anyone for anything just say “Yes” to it. The guru of this new age feel good ground is Terence Bundley played by the superb Terence Stamp(General Zod in Superman returns).

Despite Carl’s objections he agrees to Terence’s advice to just say yes to absolutely everything for a whole year, no matter how ridiculous it may sound, or strange the request, but as cosmic logic goes(especially in the movies), once he has said yes he can’t back out. There is a hilariously funny segment that sums Jim Carrey at his most funniest, having to entertain an elderly lady Tillie played by Fionnula Flanagan, who is surprisingly adept, as I am much more familiar with her as the sullen elder Eloise Hawkings in Lost.

Love interest for Carl is provided by Allison played by the lovely Zooey Deschanel(Live Free or Die, something about her seems very familiar, she has that look of familiarity that you have seen her somewhere but can’t quite pin it), the meet in a hilarious segment as Allison’s rock group are bumbling around making songs as they go along as Carl somehow becomes a fan as opposed to the other solitary fan in the bar. Allison sees Carl’s willingness to say yes to everything as a true rebel, and someone to look up to, and the inevitable romance begins.

It has some absolute classic moments especially the scenes with Carl and Tillie which will go down as one of the scenes of the year for rib tickling laughter.

It stars Channing Tatum(Step up to the streets) as a former college wrestler Shawn McArthur struggling hard to make ends meet in New York after having an altercation with his father/coach of the wrestling team. We meet him as he is struggling to offload a series of books he has no idea are counterfeit, one of the hapless buyers happens to be the gorgeous Zulay Valez (Zulay Henao, S. Darko something about her just reminds me of a cat), from the altercation that occurs with Harvey Boarden(Terrence Howard, Iron man) and some of his associates, Harvey gets the impression Shawn may indeed be just what he is looking for, for an underground fighting campaign, the rates of pay of course are several times more than either of them could make struggling to survive on the unforgiving metropolis that is New York.

Although billed as Rocky for the next generation, there are some testing questions the original Rocky would not have crossed his mind to contemplate, and of course there is the familiar territory of the arch nemesis of a protagonist, the talented wrestler Evan Hailey(Brian J. White The Shield) who happens to have been the catalyst for the original fallout with Shawn’s father, as equally Harvey as Shawn’s unofficial manager has to face some of the taunts from his comrades who are rolling in the money, notably Martinez(Luiz Guzman, Traffic) Jack Dancing(Roger Guenver Smith, He got game).

You are left wondering if Shawn is going to make it as a underground fighter, and if there is any romantic hope for him and the lovely Zulay equally struggling herself to raise a child on her own, and her troubling grandmother.

It is a enjoyable movie, and I for one hope there is a sequel.

We join our protagonist as he is in a bar chatting with a stunning seductress played by Paz Vega who strangely enough is called Michael.

Soon afterwards he happens to bump into Michael again as she heads off to watch Frankenstein at a graveyard. The inevitable affair begins, and although Julian is about to initiate a divorce with his wife, you wonder what on earth happened as they still seem pretty close. Julian’s desire for Michael soon begins to get the better of him, from the alpha male fighting for her, to wanting her all for himself, in the midst of well founded worries from his work colleagues, while she turns contemporary views on relationships on it’s head, what she regards as some kind of “Human contract” she chooses not to live by.

We never know quite what is going to happen, but as Julian goes from one problem to another notably keeping his sister Rita(played by Jada-Pinkett Smith[The Matrix reloaded]) away from an abusive spouse, you get the feeling this 5 billion dollar merger is at risk of not happening anytime soon.

Something about Michael reminds me of Penelope Cruz, there is that Spanish exotic quality about her, and of course like Cruz she is utterly delectable, and any red blooded male would not resist her charms for long.

It is directed by Jada-Pinkett Smith wife of one of the executive producers, I am sure you have seen one if not several of his movies, whose movies are the highest grossing of all time, the one and only Will Smith, and I must say I find her style of directing captivating to watch.

It stars Colin Hanks(The House Bunny) as Troy Gable a law undergraduate who is uninterested in his current vocation, and is looking for that spark in life, much to the dismay of his well meaning father. When you first see Colin Hanks there is something strangely familiar about him, and viola in comes Tom hanks and it clicks that they are real life father and son, playing father and son in this movie.

Coincidences places Troy as a personal assistant to Buck Howard, who has a series of peculiarities that has driven his previous assistant Alan Berkman (Adam Scott, Knocked Up) eager to leave in a rage, leaving only Troy, Buck’s effervescent manager Gil Bellamy played amicably by Ricky Jay(Redbelt) and the brother and sister team in charge of his venue Kenny played by the hilarious Steve Zahn(Bandidas) and Doreen played by the affectionate Debra Monk(Mrs O’Malley in Grey’s Aanatomy) . The audience as well as Troy are left rooting for Buck regardless of his peculiarities and when things don’t go as planned you feel it as much as his personal assistant.

It is a lovely movie most will enjoy, and of course the customary love interest is provided by Valeria Brennan played by the superb Emily Blunt(The Devil wears Prada, Something about her eyes reminds me of Bambi).

The character of Buck Howard was based on The Amazing Kesring, who’s fantastic mentalist trick the great Buck Howard recreates was never duplicated or revealed.

One of the classic lines in the movie revealing the humor of the Buck Howard, he asks an attendant to get him a glass of water, the attendant points to water already in the room to which Buck replies “That there is distilled water, I am not an iron get me spring water.”