Deception

An accountant (McGregor) is introduced to a mysterious sex club known as The List by his lawyer friend (Jackman). But in this new world, he soon becomes the prime suspect in a woman's disappearance and a multi-million dollar heist.

This movie was about as suspenseful as watching paint dry. It was pretty much a remake of that movie Derailed that came out a couple of years ago with Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston. I sat there for two hours thinking that I had seen this before. There wasn't a single moment where the audience was caught off guard. If it wasn't for McGregor and Jackman's acting abilities, this movie would have made it to the don't touch with a ten foot pole.

I wouldn't recommend anyone checking this one out. It was a pointless piece of film that was made simply to take your ten dollars.

Baby Mama

Successful and single businesswoman Kate Holbrook (Tina Fey) has long put her career ahead of a personal life. Now 37, she's finally determined to have a kid on her own. But her plan is thrown a curve ball after she discovers she has only a million-to-one chance of getting pregnant. Undaunted, the driven Kate allows South Philly working girl Angie Ostrowiski (Amy Poehler) to become her unlikely surrogate. Simple enough... After learning from the steely head (Sigourney Weaver) of their surrogacy center that Angie is pregnant, Kate goes into precision nesting mode: reading childcare books, baby-proofing the apartment and researching top pre-schools. But the executive's well-organized strategy is turned upside down when her Baby Mama shows up at her doorstep with no place to live. An unstoppable force meets an immovable object as structured Kate tries to turn vibrant Angie into the perfect expectant mom. In a comic battle of wills, they will struggle their way through preparation for the baby's arrival. And in the middle of this tug-of-war, they'll discover two kinds of family: the one you're born to and the one you make.

I've never watched 30 Rock. I don't know why. I just haven't. So, I wasn't expecting something similar to that show and just went in to this movie with moderate, at best, expectations of some good laughs and that's exactly what I got. The movie wasn't all out hilarious, most of the really funny scenes were in the commercials, and it definitely dragged a bit towards the end, but Tina Fey and Amy Poehler playing off each other produced more than enough laughs to make the movie worth watching. Amy Poehler definitely made the movie. The karaoke singing scenes were priceless.

I would recommend anyone who was interested in checking this out go ahead and do so. Its not a must see by any means, but its worth the trip to theaters.

The Bank Job

A car dealer with a dodgy past and new family, Terry (Statham) has always avoided major-league scams. But when Martine (Burrows), a beautiful model from his old neighborhood, offers him a lead on a foolproof bank hit on London's Baker Street, Terry recognizes the opportunity of a lifetime. Martine targets a roomful of safe deposit boxes worth millions in cash and jewelry. But Terry and his crew don't realize the boxes also contain a treasure trove of dirty secrets - secrets that will thrust them into a deadly web of corruption and illicit scandal that spans London's criminal underworld, the highest echelons of the British government, and the Royal Family itself. This movie is based on a true story.

I had heard nothing but great things about this movie for so long that I thought for sure this would be one of those disappointing movies becuase of high expectations. Happily, my thinking was wrong. This movie was great. It took a little while to get started and was very scattered at the beginning but really came together once the actual bank job was taking place and became an awesome crime thriller during the aftermath of it all. Jason Statham has a great presence throughout the film and the rest of the actors, while unknown, also did great jobs all around.

I would strongly recommend this movie to everyone. It was definitely one of the better movies to come out this year.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Struggling musician Peter Bretter (Jason Segel) has spent six years idolizing his girlfriend, television star Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell). But his world is rocked when she dumps him and Peter finds himself alone. After an unsuccessful bout of womanizing and an on-the-job nervous breakdown, he sees that not having Sarah may just ruin his life. To clear his head, Peter takes an impulsive trip to Oahu, where he is confronted by his worst nightmare: his ex and her tragically hip new British-rocker boyfriend, Aldous (Russell Brand), are sharing his hotel. But as he torments himself with the reality of Sarah's new life, he finds relief in a flirtation with Rachel (Mila Kunis), a resort employee whose laid-back approach tempts him to rejoin the world.

I'm somewhat on the fence about this movie. The funny scenes were absolutely hysterical. All of the characters were very well developed and played off of each other wonderfully. This applies especially to the rock star boyfriend. He was great. The movie also did an excellent job of portraying the break up emotions whether it be the victim, the supporting friends, or the dumper. It all seemed very genuine. Unfortunately, there were way too many dead spots that dragged. For every total belly laugh, there was blah stuff for a good 10 - 15 minutes. Everyone should also be forewarned about the full frontal male nudity of Jason Segel. I have been a huge fan of "How I Met Your Mother" (if you aren't watching it, people - you totally should be!) and am not sure how I'll be able to watch now fully knowing what his crotch looks like.

I would casually recommend people checking this out if they were interested. Its not a must see, nor an all out laugh fest, but it is a pretty decent watch.

The Forbidden Kingdom

In The Forbidden Kingdom, American teenager Jason (Michael Angarano), who is obsessed with Hong Kong cinema and kungfu classics, finds an antique Chinese staff in a pawn shop: the legendary stick weapon of the Chinese sage and warrior, the Monkey King (Jet Li). With the lost relic in hand, Jason unexpectedly finds himself transported back to ancient China. There, he meets the drunken kung fu master, Lu Yan (Jackie Chan), an enigmatic and skillful Silent Monk (Jet Li) and a vengeance-bent kung fu beauty, Golden Sparrow (Crystal Liu Yi Fei), who lead him on his quest to return the staff to its rightful owner, the Monkey King - imprisoned in stone by the evil Jade Warlord (Collin Chou) for five hundred years. Along the way, while attempting to outmaneuver scores of Jade Warriors, Cult Killers and the deadly White Hair Demoness, Ni Chang (Li Bing Bing), Jason learns about honor, loyalty and friendship, and the true meaning of kung fu, and thus frees himself.

I loved this movie! It made me feel like I was five years old again watching kung fu movies on Saturday mornings while my mother was doing laundry. I have always loved these kinds of movies and this one was essentially like a kung fu version of The Wizard Of Oz. Before freaking out at how potentially blasphemous that statement can be - let me explain. The kid gets transported to this crazy land. He then meets three distinct personalities at seperate times and the four of them work together to travel and accomplish their mission. The camaraderie between the four main characters, especially Jackie Chan and Jet Li was awesome. The action and fight scenes were phenomenal. As you can tell from the summary above that the overall story was silly and beyond far fetched and that this movie is not a "great" movie in terms of awards or excellence, but this movie is simple enjoyment at its finest. A truly great popcorn movie.

I fully recommend that everyone check this out. Its old school, simple fun at the movie theater that I really wish they would make more of.

Leatherheads

Clooney plays Dodge Connolly, a charming, brash football hero who is determined to guide his team from bar brawls to packed stadiums. But after the players lose their sponsor and the entire league faces certain collapse, Dodge convinces a college football star to join his ragtag ranks. The captain hopes his latest move will help the struggling sport finally capture the country's attention. Welcome to the team Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski), America's favorite son. A golden-boy war hero who single-handedly forced multiple German soldiers to surrender in WWI, Carter has dashing good looks and unparalleled speed on the field. This new champ is almost too good to be true, and Lexie Littleton (Zellweger) aims to prove that's the case. A cub journalist playing in the big leagues, Lexie is a spitfire newswoman who suspects there are holes in Carter's war story. But while she digs, the two teammates start to become serious off-field rivals for her fickle affections. As the new game of pro-football becomes less like the freewheeling sport he knew and loved, Dodge must both fight to keep his guys together and to get the girl of his dreams.

I still am not sure what kind of a movie George Clooney wanted this to be. A sports movie? Not really. There was some sports stuff at the beginning and then a big game at the end with an hour and half of character drama in between while they flashed newspaper clippings on how the games were going. A slapstick comedy? Not really. It seemed to mix in some kind of Benny Hill type moments every 25 minutes and to be honest these were my favorite parts of the movie, but then they would just go away. A romantic triangle movie? Mostly. But then any time that it would get to a boiling type point, they would work in the slapstick or make the movie about questioning patriotism. Seriously. This movie was so all over the place that it was almost impossible to enjoy it even though I wanted to so badly.

I wouldn't really recommend anyone checking this out. Its not horrible, but it is a major disappointment.

88 Minutes

In 88 Minutes, Al Pacino stars as Dr. Jack Gramm, a college professor who moonlights as a forensic psychiatrist for the FBI. When Gramm receives a death threat claiming he has only 88 minutes to live, he must use all his skills and training to narrow down the possible suspects, who include a disgruntled student, a jilted former lover, and a serial killer who is already on death row, before his time runs out.

I had no clue what was going on when this movie started. It felt like I had missed the first 10 minutes or something because it hit the ground running and played catch up with character development later. I was not a big fan of this. I was getting really annoyed at the fact that it felt like I should know all these people when they had just shown up on screen for the first time. Luckily, I am a huge fan of Al Pacino and stayed interested just because of him. As time went on, and they continued to develop the characters, the movie did get better. It was your basic forensic/crime thriller movie. It was like a really good episode of CSI or Criminal Minds . . . . . with Al Pacino. Although it was very jumpy/choppy for the first half hour or so, it did end up being a pretty decent watch.

I would recommend anyone who enjoys these types of movies check this one out. Just tell yourself that it does get better if you find it kind of blah at the start.

The Ruins

The Ruins centers on a group of friends whose leisurely Mexican holiday takes a turn for the worse when they accompany a fellow tourist on a remote archaeological dig in the jungle, where something evil lives among the ruins.

Granted, this movie was incredibly silly. That being said - it completely reaffirmed why I will never be looking to travel outside of this country. I got that same feeling I had watching Hostel where tourists can get in to some mind blowing situations in the blink of an eye and never be heard from again. I'll stick to vacationing at Disney thank you very much. Anywho, the movie was very silly like I said before, but that doesn't mean it still didn't manage to make you squirm A LOT. At the risk of ruining it for anyone - SPOILER ALERT - the "killer" in this movie is some kind of plant. This plant has overtaken this ruins site in Mexico. Once you come in contact with this plant, you are considered contaminated by the locals and they will not let you leave the area of the ruins. They will shoot you on sight. However, once you are stuck on the temple like structure, it is only a matter of time before the plant gets you. Again - the movie was totally silly, but the gore and freaking out the people go through is beyond creepy and ends up making the movie pretty watchable . . . . . . . . . and has inspired me to stay as far away from the garden as possible now.

I would recommend that anyone who had some vague interest in checking this out - go ahead and do so. Its not a good movie in terms of quality by any means, but is definitely watchable if you are in to these kinds of movies.

Prom Night

Donna's senior prom is supposed to be the best night of her life. After surviving a horrible tragedy, she has finally moved on and is enjoying her last year of high school. Surrounded by her best friends, she should be safe from the horrors of her past. But when the night turns deadly, there is only one person who could be responsible... a man she thought was gone forever. Now, Donna and her friends must find a way to escape the sadistic rampage of an obsessed killer, and survive a night "to die for."


This movie was absurd. I went in with bottom of the barrel expectations and this managed to go even lower than that. First of all - the movie starts with explaining how this girl saw her whole family get killed in front of her by some obsessed teacher three years ago and immediatly segways to her talking about her prom dress? What!?! I'm pretty sure that the kid would be rocking back and forth in the corner of a padded room somewhere after experiencing that, not talking trash about who's going to have a better dress. Then, there is the prom scene itself. I know its been a long time since my prom, but I'm pretty sure that it hasn't evolved in to something similar to showing up for the oscars. Seriously. These kids prom had red carpet entrances, paparazzi, and some sort of a dance floor out of a NYC club. It was ridiculous. And all of this took place in the first 30 - 40 minutes of the movie so that you are so annoyed by the time the actual scariness starts that you couldn't possibly care less. Even WW didn't enjoy this movie and she wanted to sooooooooooooooooooooo badly.

I wouldn't recommend anyone checking this movie out. It was beyond lame.

Nim's Island

Anything can happen on Nim's Island, a magical place ruled by a young girl's imagination. It is an existence that mirrors that of her favorite literary character, Alex Rover- the world's greatest adventurer. But Alexandra, the author of the Rover books, leads a reclusive life in the big city. When Nim's father goes missing from their island, a twist of fate brings her together with Alexandra. Now, they must draw courage from their fictional hero, Alex Rover, and find strength in one another to conquer Nim's Island.

This was a cutesy movie for kids. It had its moments for the parents that have to take them but not enough to make it truly enjoyable for the adults. Abigail Breslin, who plays Nim, is a great young actor and pretty much carries the movie. I don't really know how in the blue hell Jodie Foster ended up in this and Gerard Butler has gone from the dictionary definition of bad ass in 300 to a pretty big joke of a supporting character to a 11 year old. The one really good thing that this movie accomplished from a parenting standpoint was in the first half of the movie when they conveyed reading a book and seeing it all play out in your imagination. I loved watching Stinka and her friends take this in and hope that it will stick with them. Unfortunately, the movie went on to show that the adventurer that Nim loved and worshipped in the books turned out to be a scared to leave her house author. Hopefully, this didn't put out the fire in the kids' imaginations that the beginning did such a good job of starting.

I would lukewarmly recommend parents checking this out with the kids. Its not atrocious and you could probably stick it out for your kids, but its not the most enjoyable viewing either.