Untraceable

Within the FBI, there exists a division dedicated to investigating and prosecuting criminals on the internet. Welcome to the front lines of the war on cybercrime, where Special Agent Jennifer Marsh (Diane Lane) has seen it all... until now. A tech-savvy internet predator is displaying his graphic murders on his own website – and the fate of each of his tormented captives is left in the hands of the public: the more hits his site gets, the faster his victims die. When this game of cat and mouse becomes personal, Marsh and her team must race against the clock to track down this technical mastermind.

This movie was essentially a two hour episode of Criminal Minds or CSI. If you find any of those procedural shows on tv, like myself and WW, then you will definitely enjoy this movie. The overall premise is pretty creepy and kind of freaks you out when you think about how stuff like this could either be really happening right now or surely will be soon. I must have turned to WW fifty times during this movie to tell her that I don't want the kids on the computer anymore. The only knocks that I could make against this movie is that it could have easily been 15 - 20 minutes shorter and it pushed the cop bravado thing a little too much. You'll see what I mean by the extremely corny last scene before the credits. Outside of that - it was a pretty good suspense movie.

I'd recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys procedural television shows and/or suspense movies. Outside of that - you might find it kind of boring.

Rambo

John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) has retreated to northern Thailand, where he's running a longboat on the Salween River. On the nearby Thai-Burma (Myanmar) border, the world's longest-running civil war rages on. Rambo has long given up fighting, even as medics, mercenaries, rebels and peace workers pass by on their way to the war-torn region. That all changes when a group of human rights missionaries search out the American river guide. When Sarah (Julie Benz) and Michael Bennett (Paul Schulze) approach him, they explain that since last year's trek to the refugee camps, the Burmese military has laid landmines along the road, making it too dangerous for overland travel. They ask Rambo to guide them up the Salween and drop them off, so they can deliver medical supplies and food to the Karen tribe. After initially refusing to cross into Burma, Rambo takes them, dropping off Sarah, Michael and the aid workers. Two weeks later, pastor Arthur Marsh (Ken Howard) finds Rambo and tells him the aid workers did not return and the embassies have not helped locate them. Rambo reluctantly leads a band of mercenaries to look for the missing volunteers.

Just like when Rocky Balboa came out last year, I thought that making another Rambo movie was such a horrible joke. And just like Rocky Balboa, I was pleasantly surprised. Its not that this movie is an well done movie. Its not a sequel/prequel or remake like a lot of the garbage that comes out nowadays. Its simply a look at where this character is twenty years later and how he still has people to kill. Its just great for what it is. The movie is a blatant 80s action movie with lots of horrible dialogue, over dramatic pauses, and mounds of violence/gore. These are the types of movies that used to be the biggest movie of the year simply because it was all out testosterone and nobody had to think while watching the massive shoot outs and what not. The whole crowd started clapping the first time that Rambo killed people with his bow and arrow.

I'd strongly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoyed these types of action movies from back in the day. You won't be disappointed. If that wasn't up your alley - I wouldn't remotely recommend you checking this movie out though.

Mad Money

Bridget Cardigan (Diane Keaton) is shocked to learn that she is on the verge of losing her home and comfortable upper middle class lifestyle when her husband Don (Ted Danson) is downsized from his job. Bridget is forced into the unfamiliar labor market with no job skills. Finally, she accepts the only position she can find—janitor at the Federal Reserve Bank.The one-time suburban mom soon discovers she has more in common with her new co-workers than she thought. Bridget forges an unexpected bond with Nina (Queen Latifah), a hard-working single mom with two kids to raise, and Jackie (Katie Holmes), an free spirit with nothing to lose. After a lifetime of playing by the rules, the three devise a plan to smuggle soon-to-be destroyed currency out of the supposedly airtight Reserve. As the unlikely crime syndicate amasses piles of cash, it looks like they have pulled off the perfect crime—until a minor misstep alerts the authorities. With more money than they know what to do with, the women are pushed to the limits of their ingenuity to stay one step ahead of the law!

This movie was just plain stupid. I kept thinking that it would get better, but it kept staying stupid. What is the deal with Queen Latifah? She's like the female version of Hugh Jackman last year in terms of overexposure. The woman seems to show up in every other movie. And as far as Katie Holmes goes - she must have gotten incredibly annoying via injection from Tom Cruise because I spent the whole movie wanting to punch her in the face for her horrible acting and her annoying quirky character. This is one of those movies that you are annoyed on the ride home that you just spent an hour and a half of your life that you can't get back.

I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone. Certainly not in the theaters for the love of God. I wouldn't even rent it. If you are stuck at home doing nothing when this comes on cable then I could suggest maybe watching it.

27 Dresses

Jane (Heigl) has always been good at taking care of others, but not so much in looking after herself. Her entire life has been about making people happy – and she has a closet full of 27 bridesmaid dresses to prove it. One memorable evening, Jane manages to shuttle between wedding receptions in Manhattan and Brooklyn, a feat witnessed by Kevin (James Marsden), a newspaper reporter who realizes that a story about this wedding junkie is his ticket off the newspaper's bridal beat. Jane finds Kevin's cynicism counter to everything she holds dear – namely weddings, and the two lock horns. Further complicating Jane's once perfectly-ordered life is the arrival of younger sister Tess (Malin Akerman). Tess immediately captures the heart of Jane's boss, George (Edward Burns) whom Jane has been in love with for years. Tess enlists her always-accommodating sister to plan yet another wedding – Tess and George's – but Jane's feelings for him lead to shocking revelations... and maybe the beginning of a new life.

This was a total chick flick. I was cracking up at how out of 300 people that go to see this movie, about ten of them would be guys. Well, I was one of them and I have to admit that I ended up not minding this movie at all. See, the deal breaker with chick flicks is always the supporting characters. James Marsden was great in this, but the real scene stealer was Heigl's best friend. She had perfect timing with her one liners and 9 times out of 10 would say the line that I was thinking in my head in response to the situation that was going on. The two of them combined to make this movie pretty enjoyable and helped to get by the atrocious acting of Heigl's sister. That lady could go ahead and never get an acting job again and I'd be thrilled to death.

I'd fully recommend this movie. Its a great date movie and not one of those painful ones for the guys that go.

Cloverfield

Five young New Yorkers throw their friend a going-away party the night that a monster the size of a skyscraper descends upon the city. Told from the point of view of their video camera, the film is a document of their attempt to survive the most surreal, horrifying event of their lives.

I'm not really sure what to think of this movie. Part of me wishes that it wasn't done on the personal video camera with all of the running and shakiness. But then I realize that this would be nothing more than a weak version of War Of The Worlds. Part of me realizes that what gives the movie its edge is the fact that its filmed Blair Witch style and it really was well done considering it had such a small budget. There were definite parts of the movie where I found myself tensed up and then there were times where I felt that the camera work totally took away from the movie. I can easily see how a lot of people are going to see this and think that it sucked because of there being waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much hype for it. I find myself thinking that the movie was good. It wasn't great. It wasn't bad. Its kind of locked in between.

I'd recommend people checking this out. Just try to keep your expectations in check. If you are the type of person that gets sick from watching home videos with all the motion though stay far far away from this movie.

The Bucket List

Corporate billionaire Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) and working class mechanic Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman) are worlds apart. At a crossroads in their lives, they share a hospital room and discover they have two things in common: a desire to spend the time they have left doing everything they ever wanted to do and an unrealized need to come to terms with who they are. Together they embark on the road trip of a lifetime, becoming friends along the way and learning to live life to the fullest, with insight and humor. Each adventure adds another check to their list.

This movie was a blatant heartstrings movie. They pulled no punches in trying to make you cry your eyes out. However, I absolutely loved it! I'm usually a sucker for movies like this and this movie was no different. I found myself genuinely caring for Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. Even though I knew Morgan Freeman leaving his wife and family for months and the things that these two guys did (skydiving and car racing) and the places they went (the top of an Egyptian pyramid? mountain climging?) while having 6 months to live from cancer were totally unrealistic and insanely far fetched, I didn't care. I really enjoyed watching their friendship grow and was crying like a little girl at the end of the movie. Granted, my emotional state had a lot to do with mine and WW's snarfing incident and some tears being from an insane giggle fit at the most gut wrenchingly sad moment of the movie, there were still genuine tears of sadness because of watching these well developed characters pass on at the end of the movie.

I'd recommend this movie to everyone . . . . . as long as you can handle the crazy sadness that you get hit with at the end of this movie.

Atonement

In 1935, 13-year-old fledgling writer Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan) and her family live a life of wealth and privilege in their enormous mansion. Robbie Turner (McAvoy), the educated son of the family's housekeeper, carries a torch for Briony’s headstrong older sister Cecilia (Ms. Knightley). Cecilia, he hopes, has comparable feelings; all it will take is one spark for this relationship to combust. When it does, Briony – who has a crush on Robbie – is compelled to interfere, going so far as accusing Robbie of a crime he did not commit. Cecilia and Robbie declare their love for each other, but he is arrested – and with Briony bearing false witness, the course of three lives is changed forever. Briony continues to seek forgiveness for her childhood misdeed. Through a terrible and courageous act of imagination, she finds the path to her uncertain atonement, and to an understanding of the power of enduring love.

This is one of those movies that was made with winning oscars in mind. Unfortunately, I'm usually not a big fan of movies like this. I find myself sitting there, knowing that the movie is very well done and sure to win all sorts of awards and critical praise, but honestly I find it pretty boring. Its like that English Patient movie years ago. You know its good, but its just not your type of movie. The only part of the movie that I found myself truly enjoying was the end when it all tied together. There were very many parts where I was wondering if there was some way that I could just fast forward the movie. Again - its not that its a bad movie at all. If you enjoy movies like this - then you would probably love this movie. I just wasn't very in to it at all.

I'd recommend this movie to anyone who either likes these powerful, "epic" dramas or anyone who likes to see movies that are nominated for awards. Other than that - I wouldn't really recommend this movie.

One Missed Call

In One Missed Call, a chain of people receive terrifying cell phone messages of their own final fatal moments. Though the messages can be deleted, their number is up. Beth Raymond (Shannyn Sossamon) is traumatized when she witnesses the gruesome deaths of two friends just days apart. Even more disturbing, she knows that both of them had received chilling cell phone messages—actual recordings of their own horrifying last moments. Impossibly, the calls were received days before they died, but each death occurred precisely when and how the messages foretold. The police think Beth is delusional—except for Detective Jack Andrews (Edward Burns) whose own sister was killed in a freak accident that bears a strange similarity to the deaths of Beth's friends. Together, Jack and Beth work feverishly to unravel the mystery behind the ominous calls. But even as they get closer to the truth, Beth's cell phone begins to ring with an eerie tune, and the readout says One Missed Call.

This movie is another one of those Japanese thriller remakes for American audiences a la The Ring or The Grudge. Ironically enough - it was kind of the same movie as The Ring with getting "one missed call" on your cell phone replacing the watching of the weird video. WW loves these kinds of movies so her opinion should be shared here. "It wasn't The Grudge, but I still liked it," says my loyal movie going companion. I concur with her assessment of the movie. It was definitely watchable, but nowhere near the level of creepiness of the other Japanese remade movies.

If you are in to movies like this - its worth the trip to theaters. If these bad boys are not your cup of tea - don't ever bother checking it out.

There Will Be Blood

There Will Be Blood is set on the frontier of California's turn-of-the-century petroleum boom. The story chronicles the life and times of one Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis), who transforms himself from a down-and-out silver miner raising a son on his own into a self-made oil tycoon. When Plainview gets a mysterious tip-off that there's a little town out West where an ocean of oil is oozing out of the ground, he heads with his son, H.W. (Dillon Freasier), to take their chances in dust-worn Little Boston. In this hardscrabble town, where the main excitement centers around the holy roller church of charismatic preacher Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), Plainview and H.W. make their lucky strike. But even as the well raises all of their fortunes, nothing will remain the same as conflicts escalate and every human value – love, hope, community, belief, ambition and even the bond between father and son – is imperiled by corruption, deception and the flow of oil.

First of all - let's just say that There Will Be Blood could have easily been called There Will Be Numb Asses. The movie is a little bit longer than 2 1/2 hours. Luckily, it doesn't feel it at all for the first hour and half but then it does kind of slow down a bit before turning really good again. Daniel Day-Lewis is phenomenal. Then again, when is that man not? Think about it. Have you ever see him in a less than stellar role? Anywho - he's awesome and his presence is so commanding that you find yourself not realizing that there isn't even any dialogue for the first 20 minutes of the movie. You're just watching him doing whatever he is doing. It was to the point that by the time he did speak I jumped a little out of shock. This cinematography of this movie is also great. The area where they are drilling is just as much of a character as the actors themselves and it was well caught. The weirdest thing about this movie was the non-stop over the top sound. It was like an orchestra was playing the whole time that they were filming. In any other movie - this would have probably driven me nuts. However, it was great in this movie and you end up liking it. This movie was awesome. I wouldn't go so far as to say the best movie of 2007 like many critics did, but it was definitely up there.

I would strongly recommend people checking this one out. It isn't necessarily mainstream fair, but for those of you in to the somewhat artsy movies - this is a must see.