Jigsaw and his apprentice Amanda are dead. Now, upon the news of Detective Kerry's murder, two seasoned FBI profilers, Agent Strahm and Agent Perez, arrive in the terrified community to assist the veteran Detective Hoffman in sifting through Jigsaw's latest grizzly remains and piecing together the puzzle. However, when SWAT Commander Rigg is abducted and thrust into a game, the last officer untouched by Jigsaw has but ninety minutes to overcome a series of demented traps and save an old friend or face the deadly consequences.
In general I'm not a big fan of these torture porn movies. They seem almost criminal to be made and the FBI should seriously be following the writers of these movies because one has to wonder what in the blue hell they are up to in their free time that is making them come up with this stuff. Its also beyond disturbing that these movies push the grotesque gore envelope so far that they end up desensitizing you to it. Whenever you get to a point where the guy falling on the chainsaw and wiggling all over the place is making you yawn because its not as bad as the blowtorch to the eye scene - there is a problem! That being said - I do like the actual story portion of the Saw franchise. While I found myself looking mostly at the design on the sides of the theaters or ceiling during many scenes in this movie, the story of how Jigsaw became Jigsaw and the detectives chasing after him was actually really good. I would actually say that this movie was the second best one after the original and it is pretty impressive that at the end of the movie you forget the massive, and I mean MASSIVE, gore and are replaying the movie in your head to figure out the switcheroo ending.
If you are a fan of these types of movies - this is a great one and you'll love it. Others who aren't in to these types of movies should stay far, far away.
Dan In Real Life
Advice columnist Dan Burns (Steve Carell) is an expert on relationships, but somehow struggles to succeed as a brother, a son and a single parent in this heartfelt comedy.
I went in to this movie with some pretty moderate expectations. It seemed like the type of movie that had some funny things in the commercial but would inevitably spiral in to a drama that you totally weren't looking for by going to check this out. However, I was dead wrong. This movie was great. As for the comedy part of it - there were four or five scenes in this that had me laughing so hard I was crying. The family dynamics portrayed in this movie were great and even though you didn't get the chance to see them all develop individually, their interaction with the Steve Carell character was priceless. Steve Carell was spot on as always. He really is evolving in to a phenomenal all around actor. I truly enjoyed this movie.
I strongly recommend everyone checking this movie out. Its a great family movie and has some huge laughs.
I went in to this movie with some pretty moderate expectations. It seemed like the type of movie that had some funny things in the commercial but would inevitably spiral in to a drama that you totally weren't looking for by going to check this out. However, I was dead wrong. This movie was great. As for the comedy part of it - there were four or five scenes in this that had me laughing so hard I was crying. The family dynamics portrayed in this movie were great and even though you didn't get the chance to see them all develop individually, their interaction with the Steve Carell character was priceless. Steve Carell was spot on as always. He really is evolving in to a phenomenal all around actor. I truly enjoyed this movie.
I strongly recommend everyone checking this movie out. Its a great family movie and has some huge laughs.
Rendition
Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Meryl Streep, Peter Sarsgaard and Alan Arkin star in Rendition, a thriller from director Gavin Hood ("Tsotsi"). Witherspoon stars as the American wife of an Egyptian-born chemical engineer who disappears on a flight from South Africa to Washington. The woman desperately tries to track her husband down, while a CIA analyst (Gyllenhaal) at a secret detention facility outside the U.S. is forced to question his assignment as he becomes party to the man's unorthodox interrogation.
This movie was an awesome political drama. I thought that it captured the government perfectly with how some lady sitting behind a desk can decide in the blink of an eye to have someone extradited to a different country because they think he might have some kind of information. The only thing that held this movie back from being a four star movie was the . . . . . . . SPOILER ALERT . . . . . . . fluffy happy ending. The husband ends up getting reunited with his family. Now, let's be serious for a moment. The guy gets an accidental cell phone call from a terrorist that the government is monitoring. The government picks the guy up from the airport and transports him to some prison in North Africa. They torture him endlessly for god knows how long. A CIA agent witnessing the interrogation feels its too much, frees him, and sends him home. COME ON NOW!!! You are telling me that the government would ever let this guy go!?! They would let someone exist with the knowledge of what they did!?! That's just plain silly. As cruel as it sounds to say - this movie would have been so much more legit if the guy would have gotten killed to cover it up or something. The sappy ending took away a lot for me and this movie would have been phenomenal without it.
Even with the sappy ending, the movie is still very enjoyable. The validity of it is kind of questionable, but it was a good political drama anywho. I would recommend people checking this out. It's worth the price of admission.
This movie was an awesome political drama. I thought that it captured the government perfectly with how some lady sitting behind a desk can decide in the blink of an eye to have someone extradited to a different country because they think he might have some kind of information. The only thing that held this movie back from being a four star movie was the . . . . . . . SPOILER ALERT . . . . . . . fluffy happy ending. The husband ends up getting reunited with his family. Now, let's be serious for a moment. The guy gets an accidental cell phone call from a terrorist that the government is monitoring. The government picks the guy up from the airport and transports him to some prison in North Africa. They torture him endlessly for god knows how long. A CIA agent witnessing the interrogation feels its too much, frees him, and sends him home. COME ON NOW!!! You are telling me that the government would ever let this guy go!?! They would let someone exist with the knowledge of what they did!?! That's just plain silly. As cruel as it sounds to say - this movie would have been so much more legit if the guy would have gotten killed to cover it up or something. The sappy ending took away a lot for me and this movie would have been phenomenal without it.
Even with the sappy ending, the movie is still very enjoyable. The validity of it is kind of questionable, but it was a good political drama anywho. I would recommend people checking this out. It's worth the price of admission.
30 Days Of Night
For 30 days every winter, the isolated town of Barrow, Alaska is plunged into a state of complete darkness. It's a bitter time when most of the inhabitants head south. This winter, a mysterious group of strangers appear: bloodthirsty vampires, ready to take advantage of the uninterrupted darkness to feed on the residents remaining in town. Barrow's Sheriff Eben (Josh Hartnett), his estranged wife Stella (Melissa George), and an ever-shrinking group of survivors must do anything they can to last until daylight.
Horror movies by design are usually ludicrous. Very rarely will you ever catch one with a legit story and what not so you kind of expect any sort of reality to be thrown out the window. However, you can't throw it so far out the window that it is millions of miles away. That was all I kept thinking with this movie. They are in Alaska . . . . . . for 30 days of night . . . . . with no electricity . . . . . . which would mean no heat . . . . . . for 30 days of night . . . . . in Alaska . . . . . and they need to worry about attacking vampires? I'm pretty sure that the mind numbing cold would have them done in about half way through night one, people! These people were running around outside for supplies and what not with nothing on their faces, no gloves, just all out hustle. Last time I checked, if I was to run down the block here in New York during the coldest day in winter, I would come close to passing out because of the weather making it impossible to breath. There was one point where one of the characters hid underneath a car . . . . . FOR FOUR DAYS! Again . . . . 30 days of night . . . . . in Alaska . . . . outdoors . . . . . with no food. The vampires are not the problem! You would be a human popsicle. To make things even sillier, these were some sort of ancient Roman vampires that spoke in all sorts of overdramatic, gladiator like terminology, did the most annoying screams when they weren't communicating all goth like, and looked like they were trying to constantly squeeze out a deuce. As if all of this wasn't silly enough - the movie completely spiraled out of control at the end with Josh Hartnett injecting himself with vampire tainted blood so that he could turn in to one of them and have this retardly delusional cage fight with the leader of the vampires. Spoiler Alert! . . . . he wins . . . but then he loses because he's now one of them and the 30 days of night is over. He flakes away to cigarette ashes in the arms of his estranged wife . . . . . . The end. No, I'm not kidding.
Stay away from this movie forever. It is truly horrendous and should never be viewed. It has to be one of the worst movies of this year.
Horror movies by design are usually ludicrous. Very rarely will you ever catch one with a legit story and what not so you kind of expect any sort of reality to be thrown out the window. However, you can't throw it so far out the window that it is millions of miles away. That was all I kept thinking with this movie. They are in Alaska . . . . . . for 30 days of night . . . . . with no electricity . . . . . . which would mean no heat . . . . . . for 30 days of night . . . . . in Alaska . . . . . and they need to worry about attacking vampires? I'm pretty sure that the mind numbing cold would have them done in about half way through night one, people! These people were running around outside for supplies and what not with nothing on their faces, no gloves, just all out hustle. Last time I checked, if I was to run down the block here in New York during the coldest day in winter, I would come close to passing out because of the weather making it impossible to breath. There was one point where one of the characters hid underneath a car . . . . . FOR FOUR DAYS! Again . . . . 30 days of night . . . . . in Alaska . . . . outdoors . . . . . with no food. The vampires are not the problem! You would be a human popsicle. To make things even sillier, these were some sort of ancient Roman vampires that spoke in all sorts of overdramatic, gladiator like terminology, did the most annoying screams when they weren't communicating all goth like, and looked like they were trying to constantly squeeze out a deuce. As if all of this wasn't silly enough - the movie completely spiraled out of control at the end with Josh Hartnett injecting himself with vampire tainted blood so that he could turn in to one of them and have this retardly delusional cage fight with the leader of the vampires. Spoiler Alert! . . . . he wins . . . but then he loses because he's now one of them and the 30 days of night is over. He flakes away to cigarette ashes in the arms of his estranged wife . . . . . . The end. No, I'm not kidding.
Stay away from this movie forever. It is truly horrendous and should never be viewed. It has to be one of the worst movies of this year.
Michael Clayton
Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is an in-house "fixer" at one of the largest corporate law firms in New York. A former criminal prosecutor, Clayton takes care of Kenner, Bach & Ledeen's dirtiest work at the behest of the firm's co-founder Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack). Though burned out and hardly content with his job as a fixer, his divorce, a failed business venture and mounting debt have left Clayton inextricably tied to the firm. At U/North, meanwhile, the career of litigator Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton) rests on the multi-million dollar settlement of a class action suit that Clayton's firm is leading to a seemingly successful conclusion. But when Kenner Bach's brilliant and guilt-ridden attorney Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson) sabotages the U/North case, Clayton faces the biggest challenge of his career and his life.
The first movie of this hour was brutal. I had no clue what was going on, was bored out of my mind because I truly find few things less mind numbing than corporate law stuff, and was ready to pull the plug on the movie based on this being one of those movies that you know is "good" but its just not your cup of tea. However, WW wanted to hold on and see how it turned out and I'm glad that she did because the second hour of the movie and especially the ending were great. George Clooney performed the internally conflicted role very well and the rising tension during the last hour was also very well done.
I would recommend people checking this one out, but please be warned that the first hour feels like a very choppy nap session. The wrap up of the movie makes it worth the trip to the theater though.
The first movie of this hour was brutal. I had no clue what was going on, was bored out of my mind because I truly find few things less mind numbing than corporate law stuff, and was ready to pull the plug on the movie based on this being one of those movies that you know is "good" but its just not your cup of tea. However, WW wanted to hold on and see how it turned out and I'm glad that she did because the second hour of the movie and especially the ending were great. George Clooney performed the internally conflicted role very well and the rising tension during the last hour was also very well done.
I would recommend people checking this one out, but please be warned that the first hour feels like a very choppy nap session. The wrap up of the movie makes it worth the trip to the theater though.
We Own The Night
Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix) has turned his back on the family business. The popular manager of El Caribe, the legendary Russian-owned nightclub in Brooklyn's Brighton Beach, he has changed his last name and concealed his connection to a long line of distinguished New York cops. For Bobby, every night is a party, as he greets friends and customers or dances with his beautiful Puerto Rican girlfriend, Amada (Eva Mendes), in a haze of cigarette smoke and disco music. But it's 1988, and New York City's drug trade is escalating. Bobby tries to keep a friendly distance from the Russian gangster who is operating out of the nightclub – a gangster who is being targeted by his brother, Joseph (Mark Wahlberg), an up-and-coming NYPD officer, and his father, Burt (Robert Duvall), the legendary deputy chief of police.
I was so psyched to see this movie from the first time I saw the preview for it. It looked so much like last year's The Departed (the best movie of last year, people!). Unfortunately, I think I broke my most important of movie going roles and let my expectations get too high. I wasn't disappointed by this movie. I still really liked it a lot. Unfortunately, I definitely think that I could have seen this as one of the best movies of the year hands down if I didn't go in expecting it to be just that. Regardless of my expectations ramblings, this was a great film. The acting was top notch. Mark Wahlberg continues to get better with every role even though I still hum Good Vibrations a la Marky Mark every time I see him in a movie. Joaquin Phoenix continues to be phenomenal in everything that he does. The sibling rivalry between the two of them in the movie is excellently crafted along with the non-stop tension feeling.
I fully recommend that everyone checks this bad boy out. Even though I expected to see the best picture of the year and was disappointed, this movie was still totally worth the trip to check it out.
I was so psyched to see this movie from the first time I saw the preview for it. It looked so much like last year's The Departed (the best movie of last year, people!). Unfortunately, I think I broke my most important of movie going roles and let my expectations get too high. I wasn't disappointed by this movie. I still really liked it a lot. Unfortunately, I definitely think that I could have seen this as one of the best movies of the year hands down if I didn't go in expecting it to be just that. Regardless of my expectations ramblings, this was a great film. The acting was top notch. Mark Wahlberg continues to get better with every role even though I still hum Good Vibrations a la Marky Mark every time I see him in a movie. Joaquin Phoenix continues to be phenomenal in everything that he does. The sibling rivalry between the two of them in the movie is excellently crafted along with the non-stop tension feeling.
I fully recommend that everyone checks this bad boy out. Even though I expected to see the best picture of the year and was disappointed, this movie was still totally worth the trip to check it out.
Eastern Promises
The mysterious and charismatic Russian-born Nikolai Luzhin (Mortensen) is a driver for one of London's most notorious organized crime families of Eastern European origin. The family itself is part of the Vory V Zakone criminal brotherhood. Headed by Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl), whose courtly charm as the welcoming proprietor of the plush Trans-Siberian restaurant impeccably masks a cold and brutal core, the family's fortunes are tested by Semyon's volatile son and enforcer, Kirill (Vincent Cassel), who is more tightly bound to Nikolai than to his own father. But Nikolai's carefully maintained existence is jarred once he crosses paths at Christmastime with Anna Khitrova (Naomi Watts), a midwife at a North London hospital. Anna is deeply affected by the desperate situation of a young teenager who dies while giving birth to a baby. Anna resolves to try to trace the baby's lineage and relatives. The girl's personal diary also survives her; it is written in Russian, and Anna seeks answers in it. Anna's mother Helen (Sinead Cusack) does not discourage her, but Anna's irascible Russian-born uncle Stepan (Jerzy Skolimowski) urges caution. He is right to do so; by delving into the diary, Anna has accidentally unleashed the full fury of the Vory.
Let's just get out of the way that you should know before going in to this that there is a crazy knife fight in which Viggo Mortensen is butt naked. I mean like the fight scene from Borat with knives, people! I just thought I'd warn my peeps about this before discussing the movie. That being out of the way now, the movie was actually very well done. It's not really a mainstream movie though. Its an artsy drama about the mob with good performances by all included. There are a couple of really violent scenes (including the aforementioned naked fight scene), but its mostly a character drama besides that. This is one of those movies that has a lot of tension built in throughout the movie, but no big end point where its all released. The tension is simply properly directed to keep your attention throughout the movie. There was one thing that I just couldn't get out of my head during this movie. Does every son of a mob boss have to be such a out of control dumbass? In every mob movie or television show - the son is always the stupidest guy in the world. What's that about?
I'd recommend people checking this one out if they were interested by the commercial for it. Just be warned that its a artsy type movie and this may disappoint a lot of people who are looking forward to some big wham bam type ending that doesn't happen.
Let's just get out of the way that you should know before going in to this that there is a crazy knife fight in which Viggo Mortensen is butt naked. I mean like the fight scene from Borat with knives, people! I just thought I'd warn my peeps about this before discussing the movie. That being out of the way now, the movie was actually very well done. It's not really a mainstream movie though. Its an artsy drama about the mob with good performances by all included. There are a couple of really violent scenes (including the aforementioned naked fight scene), but its mostly a character drama besides that. This is one of those movies that has a lot of tension built in throughout the movie, but no big end point where its all released. The tension is simply properly directed to keep your attention throughout the movie. There was one thing that I just couldn't get out of my head during this movie. Does every son of a mob boss have to be such a out of control dumbass? In every mob movie or television show - the son is always the stupidest guy in the world. What's that about?
I'd recommend people checking this one out if they were interested by the commercial for it. Just be warned that its a artsy type movie and this may disappoint a lot of people who are looking forward to some big wham bam type ending that doesn't happen.
The Heartbreak Kid
Single and indecisive, Eddie (Ben Stiller) begins dating the incredibly sexy and seemingly fabulous Lila. Upon the urging of his father and best friend, Eddie proposes to her after only a week, fearing this may be his last chance at love, marriage, and happiness. However, while on their honeymoon in sunny Mexico, Lila reveals her true beyond-awful nature and Eddie meets Miranda, the woman he realizes to be his actual soul mate. Eddie must keep his new, increasingly horrid wife at bay as he attempts to woo the girl of his dreams.
There were some really big laughs in this movie. However, the absolute funniest part of the movie was the guy sitting two rows in front of me. You know how sometimes you laugh harder at things because of how much someone else is enjoying it? This guy had me crying because of how hard he was laughing at the movie. He definitely made it more enjoyable than it was. That's not to say that the movie wasn't funny on its own. It definitely was. I love watching Ben Stiller's facial reactions. They truly are priceless. This being a Farrely Brothers movie though, there are a few mind blowing sight gags that push the envelope big time. There is one that rivals the caught in the zipper scene from There's Something About Mary that makes you cringe beyond belief and laugh only because of how totally uncomfortable you've become. Be sure to never let kids anywhere near this movie! Besides that and the couple of over the top sex scenes, the movie is pretty funny. They didn't need to push the sex envelope so much, but that seems to unfortunately be the new Hollywood trend. The movie was plenty funny without it and I think that stuff like that held the movie back somewhat.
I'd recommend people checking this out if they want a good laugh. Just take heed about some of the over the top stuff and keep kids as far away from this as possible.
There were some really big laughs in this movie. However, the absolute funniest part of the movie was the guy sitting two rows in front of me. You know how sometimes you laugh harder at things because of how much someone else is enjoying it? This guy had me crying because of how hard he was laughing at the movie. He definitely made it more enjoyable than it was. That's not to say that the movie wasn't funny on its own. It definitely was. I love watching Ben Stiller's facial reactions. They truly are priceless. This being a Farrely Brothers movie though, there are a few mind blowing sight gags that push the envelope big time. There is one that rivals the caught in the zipper scene from There's Something About Mary that makes you cringe beyond belief and laugh only because of how totally uncomfortable you've become. Be sure to never let kids anywhere near this movie! Besides that and the couple of over the top sex scenes, the movie is pretty funny. They didn't need to push the sex envelope so much, but that seems to unfortunately be the new Hollywood trend. The movie was plenty funny without it and I think that stuff like that held the movie back somewhat.
I'd recommend people checking this out if they want a good laugh. Just take heed about some of the over the top stuff and keep kids as far away from this as possible.
The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising
Based on the acclaimed novel, The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising tells the story of Will Stanton, a young man who learns he is the last of a group of warriors who have dedicated their lives to fighting the forces of the Dark. Traveling back and forth through time, Will hunts for a series of mysterious clues and encounters forces of unimaginable evil. With the Dark once again rising, the future of the world rests in Will's hands.
This movie is another one of the rush to adapt any best selling children's book series. Every studio is looking for the next Harry Potter or Chronicles Of Narnia. Its become one of the most recent hollywood fads. There are the better than average ones like Charlotte's Web, Eragon and Lemony Snicket and then there are the ones that are just kind of thrown out there. The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising is unfortunately one of the latter. Its not that the movie was horrible. It just seemed like the proper amount of effort that it deserved wasn't given and that the studio just rushed it, both in story and effects, and threw it out there. The movie is somewhat watchable but nowhere near as good as it could have been. To make it a little bit tougher to swallow, the story is pretty much over the head of the youngsters who are supposed to make up the core audience.
I wouldn't really recommend anyone checking this bad boy out in theaters. You're better off just waiting for it to hit the video store.
This movie is another one of the rush to adapt any best selling children's book series. Every studio is looking for the next Harry Potter or Chronicles Of Narnia. Its become one of the most recent hollywood fads. There are the better than average ones like Charlotte's Web, Eragon and Lemony Snicket and then there are the ones that are just kind of thrown out there. The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising is unfortunately one of the latter. Its not that the movie was horrible. It just seemed like the proper amount of effort that it deserved wasn't given and that the studio just rushed it, both in story and effects, and threw it out there. The movie is somewhat watchable but nowhere near as good as it could have been. To make it a little bit tougher to swallow, the story is pretty much over the head of the youngsters who are supposed to make up the core audience.
I wouldn't really recommend anyone checking this bad boy out in theaters. You're better off just waiting for it to hit the video store.
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