Reviews - by Sharon - April 24, 2008 - 20:55 America/Montreal - 19 Comments
Thanks for checking out the Baby Mama Review. If you’d like, you can check out the video version of the Baby Mama review at the bottom of this post.
This movie was written and directed by veteran Saturday Night Live writer Michael McCullers . It stars Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and also has Greg Kinnear, Sigourney Weaver and last but certainly not least Steve Martin.
The General Idea
Basically a successful vice president (Fey) of an organic supermarket chain wants to have a baby but has a million to one chance of ever getting pregnant. So she goes to a surrogacy center (run by Weaver ) and hires a less than responsible girl named Angie (Poehler) to carry her fertilized egg in her white trash womb. Add a little romance in the way of good old Greg Kinnear and a touch of Martin as Fey’s hippy corporate boss and you’ve got yourself Baby Mama.
The Good
Going in to see this movie I was expecting a few laughs, some yawns and a lot of placenta jokes. I was pleasantly surprised to find that, while there was one placenta joke Baby Mama is a very entertaining movie. In fact it’s REALLY FUNNY (and I was sitting near men who were also dying with laughter so it’s not just for us folks with fallopian tubes).
This flick had a fantastic and properly directed cast. Goddamn is Steven Martin hilarious, I haven’t enjoyed him in a movie to this degree in a long time. He was well used in this movie, him and Fey worked great off each other and it is obvious in all of their scenes together that they are having a ball. Poehler’s physical comedy totally killed me in this, it’s not just the way she pisses in a sink, it’s everything. Dax Shepard who plays Poehler’s common law husband fully embodies the essence of idiocy for his role. Weaver and Kinnear also performed well but they had less to work with.
The dialog was great and it is shared with all of the characters (although I think Shepard wins with the highest ratio of laughs per line) . By far the best thing about Baby Mama is how perfectly the cast worked together, it really looked like the kind of movie that people couldn’t wait to go to set for.
There was so much great stuff going on, tons of strong improvisation, diggs taken at the organic food trade, there’s even a shower scene with Fey and Poehler in which McCuller pay homage to the 80’s Meryl Streep film Silkwood (I don’t think many caught the reference but regardless it was a very funny scene). It looked like everyone is having a lot of fun acting and directing and I certainly enjoyed watching.
The Bad
As much as I liked Baby Mama it was pretty predictable, especially in the 3rd act. This movie wasn’t about the story, it was about the characters and that’s fine but I knew exactly what was going to happen at the end of the movie as soon as the last act arrived which disappointed me. Also although the characters were very funny they felt a little shallow (especially Kinnear’s character). At times the movie did feel like just one hilarious sketch after another. Super funny, but a little surfacey.
Overall
I was entertained by Baby Mama, it’s humorous and it have a great cast, and it’s the kind of movie that I could bring my mom and my brother to and know that both of them would leave smiling.
More than that though for me what I really liked was this was a movie about women making choices that were right for them. One woman chose to wait to have a child, to work hard at her career and then decided to have a baby when it was right for her, through the only way that was possible; surrogacy. The other woman made the tough choice of providing someone else with the gift of new life in order to provide herself with the means to have a chance at a better life.
It’s a topical movie, it’s a funny movie and it also has a really great placenta joke, what more can one ask for out of a comedy? Overall I give this movie a 7 out of 10.
BABY MAMA REVIEW VIDEO VERSION
News Chat - by Sharon - April 17, 2008 - 10:23 America/Montreal - 1 Comment
The annoying and cruel teenage illness mononucleosis claims another victim in Dennis Hopper’s son Henry Lee Hopper who is having to step down from his feature film debut in the Wes Craven horror/thriller 26/8. The good people over at yahoo.com give us more on the story:
There were no creative differences between Craven and Dennis Hopper’s son, who was set to make his screen debut as one of seven teens haunted by a killer who supposedly died when they were born. The 17-year-old actor contracted an illness common to fellow teens: mononucleosis.
“Wes said he was thinking about pushing the film back but couldn’t because of the possible actors strike,” said Hopper.
Hopper went on the say that his replacement, Max Thierot (Jumper)(in photo) is a talented actor who will fill all of the needs of the film. According to imdb.com the movie is about A serial killer returns to his hometown to stalk seven children who share the same birthday as the date he was allegedly put to rest. Also staring in 28/5 are Nick Lashaway, John Magaro, Paulina Olszynski, Shareeka Epps and Emily Meade.
Mono is a nasty ruiner of many a teenage dreams, proms dreams have been destroyed, kissing outlawed between puppy lovers, and weight lost by already twig like nerds. I slept through most of my second semester of 7th grade with mono. Some people may be thinking that maybe Hopper is backing out for different reasons, perhaps his manager has decided that a horror/thriller is not the best flick for his debut? But mono is highly contagious and that is probably a liability for the studios.
News Chat - by Sharon - April 17, 2008 - 10:22 America/Montreal - 3 Comments
Universal studios is switching to Blu-ray technology, and the last nail in HD DVD ’s coffin echoes throughout the industry. More on the story from yahoo.com:
The studio is set to announce Thursday that the program will kick off in the summer with the recent box office flop “Doomsday.”Universal’s Blu-ray strategy includes plans to release about 40 titles in the second half of the year.
Universal had been HD DVD’s biggest studio backer ever since the next-generation optical disc format came to market in April 2006. But when Toshiba pulled the plug on the format in February, the studio wasted no time switching its allegiance to Sony’s Blu-ray.
Tons of movies are scheduled to come out on Blue-ray by Universal, The Mummy, Knocked Up, Miami Vice ect. as well as all of this summer’s blockbusters. Can’t say I’m surprised by this, Blu-ray has won the war and HD-DVD is gone. It’s not like Universal was going to continue putting out High Def films on a dead technology.
News Chat - by Sharon - April 17, 2008 - 10:20 America/Montreal - 3 Comments
Uma Thurman will be joining Minnie Driver and Anthony Edwards in the low budget comedy Motherhood. The folks over at variety.com give us the film’s plot:
The day-in-the-life feature has Thurman as a harried mother of two prepping for her daughter’s sixth birthday party as myriad urban challenges confront her.
Driver will be playing Thurman’s best friend, Edwards her husband. The filming will take place over 25 days and the budget is around 10 million dollars (low budget is a relative term).
I’m not impressed with this movie’s premise, it seems Thurman is always playing a harried person on screen. Do I want to watch Thurman rush around being a “normal” mom getting ready for a birthday party? No, I don’t really want to see a real mom do that.
Nothing against the mothers of the world but I am simply not interested in being any more informed about how frustrating motherhood is, walking around a mall is enough.
News Chat - by Sharon - April 16, 2008 - 09:39 America/Montreal - 1 Comment
Danielle Panabaker (Mr. Brooks) has joined Amanda Righetti in playing the female leads in the new version of Friday the 13th. Here’s more from craveonline.com:
Panabaker is playing the adventurous, athletic girlfriend of van Winkle, who plays a rich alpha male type that gathers everyone together. Also joining the cast are Jonathan Sadowski, Travis van Winkle and Aaron Yoo. The project already features Jared Padalecki in the cast.
I’m still not sure how I feel about another Friday the 13th movie but I loved Panabaker in Mr. Brooks last year, she did a great job in her role and is quite good at playing the tone of a film. While I will not see this movie just because Panabaker is in it, she does give the film a touch higher appeal.
Lets hope some good reviews on the script come soon or else I’ll probably be passing on this one.
News Chat - by Sharon - April 16, 2008 - 09:38 America/Montreal - 5 Comments
The beautiful ginger star of Jessica Chastain is now on a rapid rise with the landing of prime role in the new film Tree of Life, opposite Brad Pitt. The good people over at variety.com give us more on the story:
Jessica Chastain has been cast opposite Brad Pitt in the drama “Tree of Life,” written and directed by Terrence Malick.
The movie also has the likes of Sean Penn in it. Here is the general plot outline for the film:
In a mystical world of folklore, several individuals embrace in a race to find the Tree of Life, said to give immortality, fertility, and other supernatural powers.
Chastain also just finished shooting the new Al Pacino movie called Salomaybe and although I’ve never heard of her before this she must be doing something right to be working with this kind of talent. Tree of Life sounds interesting enough, mystical, if slightly biblical, I’d be interested to see who gets to the tree first.
My bet is always on the redhead, but I may be a little bias about that.
News Chat - by Sharon - April 16, 2008 - 09:38 America/Montreal - 1 Comment
It appears that there are some big fat paychecks that are missing for the producers of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and Tom Hanks and along with his wife Rita Wilson and Nia Vardalos (the star of the film) are going to court over it. Here’s more on the story from imdb.com:
the trio co-produced the 2002 movie and maintain their co-financiers at Gold Circle Films still owe them a share of the profits. The ongoing lawsuit was referred to mediation on Monday and Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Yvette Palazuelos set a court date for January 20 just in case the trio’s mediation battle fails.
I have high hopes for this lawsuit, My Big Fat Greek Wedding made a pile of cash and if money is being unfairly withheld then I think the odds are with the producers of this film.
I believe this not only because the justice system still has the ability to work in the United States but because these are three of the most cute and innocent looking grown ups in the world. If they say someone stole their money, who isn’t going to believe them?
News Chat - by Sharon - April 15, 2008 - 10:26 America/Montreal - 1 Comment
After an invitation from SAG to join in negotiations with studio execs, AFTRA is choosing not to actively participate in the talks. Yahoo.com gives us more on the story:
Two staff members from the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists will only be observers as the Screen Actors Guild begins negotiating a new contract.
In a letter Monday to SAG, AFTRA said it would not revisit its decision to sever the guilds’ longtime unified negotiations.
The SAG’s board decided on Sunday to let AFTRA participate in talks with producers on new contracts for prime-time and feature films. AFTRA was given until Wednesday to respond. AFTRA will be negotiating with producers on April 28. Here’s more on what was in the letter:
AFTRA said it didn’t appear there has been resolution of the “underlying problems” that prompted its national board to suspend the 27-year-old agreement under which the unions have bargained in tandem.The AFTRA letter also called the 72-hour deadline set by SAG for a response a “pragmatically impossible timeline.”
However, two AFTRA staffers will act as observers at the SAG talks, the letter said, in keeping with the guilds’ mutual invitations.
“We extend our best wishes to the members of the Screen Actors Guild negotiating committee in their efforts to negotiate an excellent contract for performers,” the letter concluded.
So basically what was said was “screw you jerk face! But no, really..I want to know how it’s going, OK?” Honestly this doesn’t seem to be a bad solution to an awkward invitation. AFTRA will sit in, get information for their own negotiation and SAG will probably see this as a step towards reuniting the two estranged unions.
I’m wondering if an invitation will be sent out to SAG to sit in on the AFTRA negotiations, it would make sense that this might be the hope of SAG. However since AFTRA was the one wanting to split I don’t see that happening.
At the end of the day though I’m sure union members from both parties will be happy with whatever happens as long as the word “strike” isn’t uttered by either leader.
News Chat - by Sharon - April 15, 2008 - 10:25 America/Montreal - 5 Comments
In a classy move by the Academy Award organizers next year’s Oscar nominations will be moved from Tuesday to Thursday in order to not compete with the Presidential Inauguration. The people over at yahoo.com gave us this on the story.
“It didn’t make any sense for us to try to compete with [the inauguration] from a news point of view,” Academy Executive Administrator Ric Robertson told the Associated Press.
And so next year the inauguration, ordered by no less than the U.S. Constitution to be held on Jan. 20, will command the spotlight on Jan. 20, a Tuesday, while the Oscars will issues its wakeup calls on Jan. 22, a Thursday
No other dates will be moved for the Oscars.
The change in the dates means very little to me, and I’m not sure it will bother many others. After all both Tuesday and Thursday are work days. If anything people are more likely to have a Oscar nomination party on a Thursday than a Tuesday (although I’ve never heard of a party for the nominations). If the Academy Awards themselves were being moved maybe I could see it being more of a nuisance but really that’s all it would be.
Funny that the Oscars don’t want to compete with the next President, because I know that I will for sure be watching the Oscars nominations. As for the inauguration, I haven’t watched one yet and I guess it depends on who wins this election.
News Chat - by Sharon - April 3, 2008 - 12:36 America/Montreal - 2 Comments
Billy Crudup is joining the stellar cast of Public Enemies. Our friends over at cinematical.com give us more on the story.
Variety has announced the latest addition to Public Enemies and it is the brilliant Billy Crudup, who will be playing legendary FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.
This movie really gets me excited in my girl places. It has an insane line of of actors including Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Giovanni Ribisi, Stephen Dorff and now Billy Crudup. Add to that a script that has gotten rave reviews and I just can’t see this film missing.
It’s been too long since there has been a really smart movie made about old school organized crime and I welcome this one with open arms. A true crime story about the feds trying to take down John Dillinger and his posse sounds fantastic. If Hoover takes a large place in this film (an since the film is already weeks into shooting that is a big if) Crudup has his work cut out for him. J. Edgar Hoover was quite the extreme man, he was the head of FBI through eight presidencies, was known to completely abuse his power, and it is said that he fired agents sometimes just because of the way they looked.
This is just the kind of character that could do wonders to an actor’s career. Will Crudup be able to rise to the challenge? I’ll certainly be showing up to see.
News Chat - by Sharon - April 3, 2008 - 12:35 America/Montreal - 8 Comments
Matthew McConaughey has been offered the the bristly mustached lead role of Thomas Magnum in the upcoming feature film version of the eighties television show Magnum P.I. Our friends over at The Hollywood Insider have more on the story.
McConaughey, we’re told, is reading the script from writer/director Rawson Thurber (Dodgeball) and will decide shortly.
I used to watch Magnum P.I. when I was young, it was the only show that me an my mother could agree on, it had guns fights, funny dialog and of course the charming Tom Selleck. Although I am pretty sure that there is no one who can truly grow whiskers like Selleck if there is someone who can come close it’s going to be Matthew McConaughey.
McConaughey has a similar charisma and casual hotness as Selleck, simply updated for our times (the new and improved Magnum, now with more abs!). I’m a little nervous about the script but with a film like this no one is looking for Oscar quality, it just better be entertaining. As long as the writers don’t make Magnum P.I. a spoof like Starsky & Hutch I’ll be happy.
That, and the mustache is non negotiable. McConaughey if you take this role you’d better stop shaving today.
News Chat - by Sharon - March 27, 2008 - 11:51 America/Montreal - 3 Comments
Jessica Lucas (Cloverfield) will be making new friends on the set of Sam Raimi’s upcoming horror film Drag Me to Hell also starring Alison Lohman and Justin Long. Yahoo.com gives us more on Jessica’s part.
Lucas will play the roommate and best friend of Lohman’s character, the unwitting recipient of a supernatural curse.
Lucas is doing well for herself these days. She has been slowly building a career and has been paying her dues on television for the last several years with reoccurring guest spots on CSI and the Canadian series Edgemont. She’s also captured a few supporting roles in film including the horror thriller The Covenant and comedy She’s the Man.
True the gigs have been smaller but she has done well with what’s she’s been given and now with her lead in Cloverfield and a new part in Drag Me to Hell I think Lucas will be showing up on screen a lot more.
I personally believe that Sam Raimi’s expected move of having her covered in blood and screaming for her life in Drag Me to Hell will make her even more attractive to casting directors near and far.
News Chat - by Sharon - March 27, 2008 - 11:50 America/Montreal - 3 Comments
Tobey Maguire is joining up with producer (I am Legend, Evan Almighty) Neal H Moritz to finance the new comic book movie Afterburn. The comic hit stands in January of this year and is published by Red 5 Comics. Comingsoon.net tells us what Afterburn is about:
A sci-fi adventure set against the backdrop of a postapocalyptic Earth, whose Eastern Hemisphere was destroyed by a massive solar flare, leaving what life remains mutated from radiation and fallout. The story revolves around a group of treasure hunters who for the right price extract such objects as the Mona Lisa, the Rosetta Stone and the Crown Jewels while facing rival hunters, mutants and pirates along the way.
At this point there is no one signed to adapt Afterburn.
Maguire producing a comic book flick makes a lot of sense after making so much loot in the Spiderman series, and I’m glad he’s chosen this one. The comic is written by two former web guys, Paul Ens (past director of starwars.com and long time friend of Movie Blog Editor John Campea) and Scott Chitwood (contributer of superherohype.com and comingsoon.net) and is published by Calgary based Red 5 Comics. Tobey could have tossed his bankroll at a tried and tested marvel comic or some reliable remake but instead he’s taking a chance on a very new comic movie created by a couple of Canadian web folks.
And why not? The story is interesting and adventurous, the creators aren’t famous or freakish (yet) and with veteran Neal Moritz also stepping up to the table with a fistful of cash this film is off to a very good start even before the screenplay has been written. If some solid actors and a decent script join the producers on this film I think the forecast for Afterburn could be very hot.
News Chat - by Sharon - March 27, 2008 - 11:49 America/Montreal - 37 Comments
Another National Treasure may be hitting theaters in a few years, or at least that’s what director Jon Turtletaub mentioned this week to a few online interviewers. The good people over at moviehole.net gave us the scoop on Turtletaub’s time line musings for the next National Treasure flick
“I’m guessing that we’re a few years away”, the filmmaker said of a third film. “By the time we come up with a decent idea and develop it into a complicated and intelligent puzzle it’s going to be at least 2009. Then to prep it and cast it… it should be three years away.”
He went on to give many examples of where the film could take place, mentioning everything from The Golden Gate bridge to the Taj Mahal.
As much as I am not personally interested in seeing a National Treasure 3 now or in the next few years there is no denying the box office numbers for the US alone ($217,216,391 according to imdb.com).
It makes sense for the powers that be to continue making these harmless popcorn flick adventure films until people stop going out to see them. My guess of when that will be? Right around the time that Nicolas Cage’s next facelift.
Reviews - by Sharon - June 22, 2007 - 02:07 America/Montreal - 10 Comments
Sheep, sweet, warm animals that children have sang about for generations and have lulled us to sleep when no dreams were in sight. But what if a flock of sheep went baaaad? Well this is the premise for the new hilarious comedy horror Black Sheep. It was directed and written by Jonathan King, and stars Nathan Meister as Henry, Danielle Mason as Experience, Tammy Davis as Tucker, Peter Feeny as Angus, Oliver Driver and Glenis Levestam as Mrs. Mac.
Here’s the story:
On a vast New Zealand sheep farm, a reckless genetic engineering experiment goes horribly wrong, turning sheep into blood thirsty killers.
Yes this is ridiculous, but does the story work? Hell yeah! This movie is frigging hilarious and a total gorefest. By his own admittance King was greatly influenced by The Evil Dead and this flick has the same irreverent thrills and chills as that horror classic only instead of zombies there are sheep (and the cinematography and acting are a thousand times better). In fact the film is so cinematically beautiful, with the gorgeous New Zealand hillside and stunning sun splashed shots that when sheep aren’t mauling, tearing and dragging human entrails along the country side this movie could be mistaken for a lovely period piece.
Black Sheep puts most of the focus on two characters, one is the wide eyed sheep-phobic city boy farmer’s son and the other is the charka seeing hippy gal Experience. They are both on Henry’s family farm with the hopes of freedom; Henry is coming back to the farm one last time to sell his half to his creepy brother and Experience is entering the farm with dreams of freeing the genetically tested on animals. Bizarre mayhem ensues.
The acting in this movie is strong, there are no weak links, everyone is cast well and should these quirky Kiwi actors want to work in more films they will have no problem finding jobs. The stand out performance in my eyes is that of the handsome Tucker, Davis plays the devil may care farm manager beautifully and shows his love of the land and life with great ease.
So what’s wrong with this movie?
Well it’s funny, the story is good and the acting is strong, the gore is there as are the beautiful shots, however…it’s not really all that scary. I am a screamer in theaters, even though I review movies, I act in them and will take them apart in my mind I can still very easily suspend my belief and scream my guts out if the movie is scary. I didn’t do that even one in Black Sheep. I jumped once or twice but for the most part the scary stuff I saw coming. Did this affect my viewing pleasure? A little, would the movie be better if it was scarier? Yes.
Do I still think this flick is worth watching?
Definitely. The directing is great in this movie, what they lack in fright they make up for in tone, characters and gore ahh the gore. This movie is very entertaining and endearing in a strange sort of way. So on a sale of one to ten I give this a solid 8. For a no go or routh, it’s a go.
Black Sheep come out in limited release this Friday June 22.
Reviews - by Sharon - June 21, 2007 - 22:55 America/Montreal - 7 Comments
For those of you who don’t know A Mighty Heart is based upon one of the first of an unfortunate stream of violent kidnappings of American journalists and civilians that have begun happening since 9/11. It focuses on kidnapped Journalists Daniel Pearl and his wife and her support system during this time, it also shows how the authorities work with this growing problem in the world.
It is directed by Michael Winterbotom, and written by John Orlof and Mariane Pearl. It stars Angelina Joilie as Mariane Pearl, Dan Futterman as Daniel Pearl, Archie Panjabi, Irfan Khan, and Jillian Armenante.
A Mighty Heart delves into an area of terrorism that the media had so over publicized that I wasn’t sure I would learn anything new in this film, this was not the case, it was quite interesting and made me consider the spider web network of people who are involved with kidnappings. The movie also put a lot of focus on what a family goes through when a kidnapping occurs.
What Mariane Pearl, as a journalist did when her husband went missing was try to connect the dots, to try and find the father of their soon to born child. And while that part of the story is interesting intellectually it is a bit lacking emotionally. This is not from lack of effort but more I think from Winterbottom’s style of directing, for me things are just a little too removed.
Jolie is so quiet in this role. From some I have heard glowing reviews on her performance and I can see the effort coming through her to honor the real Mariane Pearl with her work. It obviously meant a lot to her to portray Pearl correctly and it shows; her voice is changed, the French accent is there, she moves softly and with the quiet dignity of a mother in waiting, it is all there… except Jolie.
What is missing from this performance is what makes Jolie famous after so many flops, that Angelina Jolie “je ne sais quoi” is missing. I’m not saying that she should have been a wild woman or anything but an actor should bring a little of themselves to every role, and in this performance Angelina has left the building.
Luckily this film does no lack a good supporting cast. By far my favorite character are the two Pakistan detectives on the case. Their story is fascinating, two bright men trying to make Americans see that Pakistan is a better place than it was, that they takes care of their tourists and journalists. The pride and ferocity these two charismatic detectives take in this task is impressive. As is the performance of Irfan Khan, the more senior detective. He simultaneously shows compassion, kindness, brilliance and brutality in just the few short scenes he is in, this film could have used a lot more of him.
Also impressive was Mariane Pearl’s friend Asra Nomani played by Archie Panjabi. She exudes warmth and intelligence with a strong desire to remain respected as a progressive Muslim woman, she succeeds beautifully. The passion in her eyes when she is convincing people to help Mariane is truly engaging, she is totally real in this role.
Overall this movie is interesting and informative, but a little dry, the acting is for the most part is strong but the movie drags a lot in the beginning and when it does finally start to pick up the pace in the final act I was a little tired. One a scale of one to ten I give it a 6.5, for a no, go or routh, I’d say go, but to rent it, or on a day when you are awake and feeling up to a heavy subject.
Reviews - by Sharon - June 17, 2007 - 00:59 America/Montreal - 114 Comments
Transformers: talking alien robots that transform into cars and other human driven machines who want to destry/save mankind. Seems like a weird premise for a movie, or television show for that matter. But just as the TV show entertained millions in the eighties so, I am certain this movie will make millions of fans and new comers alike weep with delight this summer. This is a real action movie folks, the action is throughout and in great abundance, ithis is one three hour movie that will keep your attention
First off I must say that having Michael Bay come out before the movie and let everyone know that he was going to make sure that they keep the sound up “really fucking loud” was a plus, always nice to see the director sharing his joy and excitement by making our listening experience just a little better. Glad he did because the sound is INCREADIBLE in this flick. They get the Transformers language perfectly. Everything has this super cool robotic voice feel to it.
Here is the plot description:
Dueling alien races, the Autobots and the Decepticons, bring their battle to Earth, leaving the future of humankind hanging in the balance.
There is so much more than this to the movie of course but I want to stay far away from any spoilers so I’m not going to go into too much plot details here.
Since Transformers is a kick butt, amusement park on acid, weep for joy kind of movie I will make my complaints brief and then get onto the good stuff. In my opinion the one area that has room for improvement is the soldier story line. One of the first scenes in the movie has a bunch of soldier shooting the breeze in the desert talking about their loved ones. This scene frightened me for a moment or two into thinking that this movie might be a sappy lemon, of course then some amazing, freaky action started up so I relaxed. The movie continues on in fine form but these soldiers pop up every now and then and each time they do I am slightly bothered. They are one of three human stories in the movie and while the other two are well thought through and properly written the soldiers lack proper ammunition. The dialogue is pretty lame and the story predictable, even the quirky funny soldier leaves me wanting. Luckily for us they have the smallest amount of screen time and the other two human plotlines more than make up for it.
Now onto the good. Where do I start? Ok for the special effects nuts this movie is IT. Total perfection. I am not a big fan of special effects, because, just as with a facelift something always looks a bit off to me, the smile isn’t supposed to meet the ears. But if Michael Bay was arrested next week for harboring illegal Autobots I would no be surprised. I kept forgetting that these giant, kick ass robots in disguise aren’t real, my mind would try and guess how expensive these shape shifting robots must have been to build. The effects are really that fantastic .
Next are the characters. I’ll do humans first; Looks wise the romantic lead Megan Fox is hard to ignore, I am very curious if there was any CGI on that girl’s eyelashes because they are crazily perfect in length, Rachel Taylor impressed me as the young up and coming linguistic code breaker, without too much back story she was able to portray an intelligent woman with some very interesting friends. Shia LaBouf (playing Sam, the kid who gets Bumblebee as his car) is a great comedic actor, I noticed him last year in the wonderful film Bobby and just as with that movie he is able to be awkwardly funny without being uncomfortable to watch and although he may not be instantly likable he soon becomes a beloved character. John Turturro is hysterical as an anally retentive special agent Simmons. Sam’s parents are hilarious, and hit a home run with both of their performances. If everything else about Transformers had been crap these two odd and nosy parents would have made this movie bearable.
As for the Autobots and the Decepticons…well…they may be robots but they still manage to steal the spotlight from any human who is on screen with them, and it isn’t just their impressive size that does it. They get almost as many laughs as the humans for their behavior (my favorite is when one of the Autobots urinates on a special government agent) and their dialogue is written and delivered perfectly. Bumblebee rocks in this movie, he is simply the most lovable character, human or robot, and the marketing works. The Camero looks great, I want one (or at least park with someone who owns one).In the Decepticons corner the stand out robots are a bunch of weird little Decepticons assistants that complain under their breath, very funny passive aggressive little things and you can’t help but laugh at them.
All in all this movie is great. Michael Bay has made his best film to date. There is the perfect helping of humor, sprinkle of romance and blasting of action to make everyone completely entertained and satisfied. As an added bonus they have left the door slightly open for more Transformer movies. On a scale of one to ten I give this a nine out of ten. For a no, go or routh I say routh, this is the full package my friends
Little helpful hint to those who are not familiar with Transformers, apparently there can be some confusion over who is an Autobot and who is a Decepticon. So, very simply, just like with rabbits, red eyes robots are the bad guys, blue eyes robots are the good guys.
Reviews - by Sharon - May 8, 2007 - 19:16 America/Montreal - 5 Comments
Waitress is a romantic, slightly dark comedy that, like any good waitress makes you want to stay for seconds . It stars Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Cheryl Hines, Jeremy Sisto,and Andy Griffith. It was written, directed and also starred the late Adrienne Shelly. It has been in limited release since May 2nd.
Here’s the premise:
It’s about Jenna, a pregnant, unhappily married waitress in the Deep South. She meets a newcomer to her town and falls into an unlikely relationship as a last attempt at happiness
Although this sounds a little depressing this movie is as easy to take as a warm slice of apple pie a la mode. The characters are hilarious, the acting is as varied in colors as the many pies that Jenna bakes (her pies make my mouth water, Marshmallow Mermaid pie was my favorite).
I wasn’t sure what to expect with Waitress, looked a bit boring from the trailers but within fifteen minutes I was hooked. The dialogue is great; very sharp and sarcastic. Kerri Russell is definitely showing her chops, she has never really caught my interest, she wasn’t bad on Felicity, but she never really wowed me, this changes things. She does dark, subtle comedy brilliantly and the chemistry between her and Fillion is fantastic. Russell also hold her own with Andy Griffith. Now I was worried hearing he was in this movie, because he is DAMNED old. But the guy is frigging hysterical and if anything has gotten better as he’s aged. Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm) also does a bang up job as the straight talking slutty waitress.
My favorite character though would have to be the one played by the late Adrienne Shelly, it is absolutely tragic that she died before this was released because (with the exception of Griffith) she is the funniest character in this film, very lovable and awkward.
With all the good stuff going for it Waitress is not perfect, it is slightly predictable at times, things can come off as a bit hokey as well. I would recommend this to a slightly older crowd, don’t think 17 year old girls or guys are going to enjoy it as much as people who have had a small slice of this life. Overall this is a very watchable flick and with all of the quality humor folded into the romance and drama there is a good chance that men will enjoy Waitress too. For a no go or routh it’s a go. On a scale of 1-10 it’s a solid 8.5.
News Chat - by Sharon - March 3, 2007 - 01:19 America/Montreal - 15 Comments
You may remember a little New York Times article hitting the news stands a few years ago that basically said that the Bush administration had lied about there being WMD.
What happened afterwards to the person who wrote that story and his wife is slightly lesser known; Joseph Wilson’s CIA agent wife Valerie Plame was outed to the media by angry anonimous White House officials in a frantic attempt to discredit Wilson.
Now their story will be told by Warner Brothers. The good people over at monstersandcritics.com give us more:
The studio, reports Variety, is developing a feature film drama on the lives of Valerie Plame and Ambassador Joseph Wilson, the married couple whose lives were turned upside down by administration insiders and key journalists…The film will be a co-production between Weed Road’s Akiva Goldsman and Jerry and Janet Zucker of Zucker Productions. Jez and John Butterworth are writing the screenplay, reports Variety. The studio also will use Plame’s memoir, “Fair Game,” if the CIA permits her to publish it.
IF the CIA permits her to publish. That must be hard to swallow for Plame, she and her husband are presently suing Dick Cheney, and the CIA and going to be going over her memoir to make sure there isn’t anything that could threaten national security, like that isn’t a conflict of interest.
I am very interested in this story, it needs to be told. It is insane what has happened to this couple. The director talked a bit about the respect that Plame still gives to her country, even though she has gotten little back.
Jerry Zucker said to Variety. “Valerie has been incredibly careful with what she tells us, it’s almost like she is still working for the CIA. The biggest element of the movie to us is the story of two people who spent their lives in service of their government, and were then betrayed by that government.”
I want to see this movie, but more importantly, I want this movie to be seen. The sooner this comes out the better in my opinion. The M&C article also said that the writers are going to be gathering a lot of the information for the script through news articles so even if Plame’s own memoir is white washed by the CIA there is a lot of public knowledge that should keep this film from being soft. I hope it hits hard.
It would be great it the film had a The Insider or Goodnight and Good Luck feel to it. This movie should show grit. I have no idea who they will cast for Plame and Wilson. Looks wise Naomi Watts could certainly play her (of course her new pregnancy may deter casting), for her husband (who is a lot older than her) we could get Alec Baldwin.
Whoever they cast though I will be seeing this film, the story is far to important to ignore
News Chat - by Sharon - March 3, 2007 - 00:15 America/Montreal - 3 Comments
Hally Berry has made a good chouce finally with a film, she will be playing a lawyer in the new true story film Tulia. The good people over at cinemablend.com give us this:
Halle Berry has signed on to portray an attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund in the 1999 case of 46 people (of which 40 were African American) who were arrested despite the fact that no money, drugs or illegal weapons were found on any of the subjects
Tulia will be based on the nonfiction book “Tulia: Race, Cocaine and Corruption in a Small Texas Town.” Carl Franklin (Out of Time and High Crimes) may be directing although things are still being negotiating.
I know that Berry has been looked down on in recent years, she kind of went from being this really cute and well liked actress to being seen as a crazy woman. Funny how that should happen after she wins an Oscar. This could be the movie that puts her back on the right track. She’s playing a strong female character and the story sounds quite compelling.
The plot has the potential to be quite a good look at the American justice system and the areas that need attending to. Obviously this film is also going to be about racism, but I am hoping that it also deals with the fact that 46 people were arrested for a very serious crime without any proof.
I don’t mind Franklin as the director, although of all of his movies I liked the warm hearted One True Thing best (although that one had nothing to do with courtrooms or law). He seems to be able to get decent performances out of his actors and with Berry a good director definitely helps.
Of course it could be a disaster. Berry may not be able to pull off the lawyer vibe, the director might make everything too specific instead of hitting on the different aspects of the story. They could do something stupid that would cheapen the entire plot, like putting a back story of Berry falling in love with one of the inmates. Possible problems aside I am still very open to this film. The plot is good, and I really think this could add some gold to Halle Berry’s star.
