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Olympus Has Fallen (2013)
Olympus Has Fallen (2013)
Olympus Has Fallen fell short slightly of my expectations. A few events that took place in the film were so unrealistic that is took away from my suspension of disbelief. Parts of the movie were pretty predictable and other parts were almost laughably over the top. With all of that being said, it was an action movie and most action movies have at least a couple of scenes that are a bit much and a little hard to believe. It is all meant to entertain and this movie is filled with enough action that it does just that.
Antoine Fuqua is known for directing very raw and darkly intense films with good casts and Olympus Has Fallen falls in that category.
After the White House is overrun by terrorists and the President (Aaron Eckhart) is taken hostage, an ex-secret service agent (Gerard Butler) does all that he can to try to get the President back alive and help to retake the White House.
This is Gerard Butler’s best movie since Law Abiding Citizen (2009).
Aaron Eckhart gives a pretty decent performance as per usual.
Besides The Campaign (2012), I have not seen Dylan McDermott in anything good for a very long time, so his role in this film was pretty refreshing.
I have also not seen Ashley Judd in anything for a long time, so it was nice to see her in this movie.
Morgan Freeman has looked very old for a long time, but in this film he really looks ancient. He seems so old that his character is almost unrealistic. I have noticed that he is popping up in everything lately. It’s almost like he is trying to go out with a bang.
Rounding out the rest of the solid cast is Rick Yune, Angela Bassett, Melissa Leo, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, and Robert Forster.
Overall, the movie is enjoyable and worth seeing. If you want to see something that is action-packed throughout, then Olympus Has Fallen will fill the bill.
I rate this movie a 7.5 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Rent.
If you liked Olympus Has Fallen (2013), then you will most likely enjoy White House Down (2013).
Trailer for 2 Guns (2013)
2 Guns (2013)
Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg teamed up together and against each other in an action/drama. This movie sounds good and looks even better. Great title. Great cast that also, most notably, includes James Marsden, Paula Patton, Bill Paxton, Edward James Olmos, Robert John Burke, Patrick Fischler, and Fred Ward. It is directed by Baltasar Kormakur.
I think that it is basically guaranteed to be a big hit. I will definitely check it out in the theatre.
The film is set to release on 8/2/13.
Trailer for World War Z (2013)
World War Z (2013) (click on the title for my full review)
A Brad Pitt zombie movie to the extreme. This movie looks like it will be loaded with insanely spectacular special effects. The question that I have is: is it all a little too much? Just look at the poster. Could that ever happen even if there was a zombie outbreak that threatened mankind as we know it?
I’m sure that I will see it. Pitt in a zombie movie in an interesting concept in itself. But, I’m thinking it’s all going to be way over the top. Not that zombies aren’t over the top already…
Other cast includes: Matthew Fox, Mireille Enos, David Morse, James Badge Dale, Michiel Huisman, David Andrews, and Daniel Newman.
It is directed by Marc Forster.
World War Z is set to release on 6/21/13.
Due Date (2010)
Due Date (2010)
Due Date engulfed me in laughter. It was one hysterical moment after another. Just when I thought I could not laugh any longer, I giggled and then laughed harder and longer than before.
The film is a sort of new-age Planes, Trains, & Automobiles (1987). Peter (Robert Downey Jr.) is leaving Atlanta and trying to return to his nearly birthing wife (Michelle Monaghan) in Los Angeles. Everything is going smoothly until Peter bumps into Ethan (Zach Galifianakis). Peter ends up stuck traveling across the country with Ethan desperately trying to be in the delivery room when his baby arrives.
The chemistry and timing between Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis is hysterical. The way that their personalities play off of each other is brilliant. Robert Downey Jr. brings a slick, suave, seriousness to his character and Galifianakis is everything but. The duo was a perfect casting match. I think that this movie is easily my favorite Robert Downey Jr. movie and could be the best movie that Zach Galifianakis is in.
Jamie Foxx, Juliette Lewis, Danny McBride, RZA, Matt Walsh, and Todd Phillips all have small cameo-like appearances.
The humor is clever and raunchy and about everything else in between. But, it is all mostly just well-crafted. The writers: Alan R. Cohen, Alan Freedman, Adam Sztykiel, and Todd Phillips, took a very basic idea for a story and screenplay and let their imaginations run wild.
Due Date is directed by Todd Phillips. He continues his trend of directing and being a part of hilarious movies. I didn’t realize that he also directed The Hangover (2009), The Hangover Part II (2011), The Hangover Part III (2013), School for Scoundrels (2006), Starsky and Hutch (2004), Old School (2003), and Road Trip (2000) among others. That is a heck of a comedy resume! If you liked any of those movies, than you will definitely like Due Date.
If you have not seen this movie, I implore you to do so. It is available to rent on Netflix, or just go out and buy it. It is not currently available at the Redbox. I have probably seen it 5 times now and it was highly amusing every time. You will not be disappointed.
I rate this movie a 9.5 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? BUY!
If you liked Due Date (2010), then you might enjoy Identity Thief (2013).
Note: I did you a favor by only posting the teaser trailer for this movie. The full-length preview shows way too much.
Leave (2011)
Leave (2011)
Leave is a psychological thriller done in a similar style to that of The Machinist (2004). The movie is an enjoyable enigma for you to figure out.
Henry (Rick Gomez) is a very successful author who becomes haunted by the same nightmare every night. The nightmares started after he endured a shocking experience. He begins to write a new book, but his writing all reverts back to his nightmare. Paranoia ensues as he tries to figure out what the nightmare means.
I did not have very high expectations for this movie. I figured it would be a hit or miss. It was not outstanding by any means, but it was a nice change from the norm and it held my attention throughout. The film will transport you into a world of uncertainty. What is truth and what is fiction? It will keep you guessing all the way to the end.
I did expect Bryan Cranston to have a much larger part. The cover of the movie is very deceiving because he is on it. His role was a cameo at best. He was in the movie for maybe a minute and a half. The cast is a bunch of well known character-actors. I think that Cranston is all over the advertising because he is the most well-known actor in the whole movie. I think that it was a waste that he was not in more of the film. I guess the advertising technique was successful because having not seen the trailer for the movie; I only had the cover to go by. Thinking that it was a Bryan Cranston movie is what got me to watch it. It is not a Bryan Cranston movie, but I’m glad that I watched it.
Rick Gomez and Frank John Hughes do a lovely job of carrying the majority of the film with very minor supporting characters played by Vinessa Shaw, Ron Livingston, and M.C. Gainey.
If you enjoy puzzles and mindbenders, then this movie is for you. There are many twists and turns and all sorts of clues in this mystery. Can you figure it out?
I rate this movie a 7.5 out of 10.
Buy, rent, or run? Rent.
If you liked Leave, then you will most likely enjoy the following films:
The Raid: Redemption (2011)
The Raid: Redemption (2011)
The Raid: Redemption is an absolute explosion. The movie kicks like an energy drink.
I had heard that the movie was really good, but I did not know what it was about before watching it. The only thing that I did know was that Mike Shinoda of LinkinPark and Joseph Trapanese developed the soundtrack for the movie. They collaborated with Chino Moreno the lead singer of Deftones (one of my favorite singers and one of my favorite bands) and he contributes his awesome vocals to the first song in the ending credits called “Razors.Out”. Being the big Chino Moreno fan that I am, I had downloaded the song off of iTunes before I had even heard of The Raid: Redemption. The song meshes the sound of Linkin Park with Deftones. I was bummed that they didn’t make a whole album together because it was pretty sweet.
The movie was filmed in Indonesia and the entire thing is subtitled, or you can choose to watch it dubbed over in English. There is not much to the story, but with this type of action movie that makes no difference at all. If you are the type of person that does not enjoy watching foreign films because of subtitles or for any other reason, I strongly suggest that you give this film a chance. You will quickly forget that you are reading subtitles or that the words you hear don’t match the lips on screen. I cannot think of a movie that has more action throughout than this one. I was very pleasantly surprised when I watched this movie. So much so, that I actually watched it twice in the last couple of months. This film came out of nowhere. It snuck up on me and punched my mind in the face.
The film is about a squad of 20 heavily armed cops who raid a 30 floor apartment building that is home to a drug kingpin and his ruthless gang. The apartment building has security surveillance cameras and the tenants have plenty of firepower of their own. When the bullets start running out, that is when the real action begins.
There are many similarities between this movie and Dredd (2012). To read my review of Dredd (2012) click on this link. The biggest difference between the two films is that The Raid: Redemption is a far superior film.
The fighting sequences and action in the film were nothing less than amazing. There is a little overuse of swearing, but the stress that these people are facing justifies it all. There are martial arts like I have never seen. There is blood, guts, violence, guns, weapons, fighting, fighting, and more fighting. The story is not as solid as it otherwise could be. They took out all of the stops and made this a full-fledged action movie, so really the story does not matter too much. On the other hand, if the writing had been a little bit better the movie could have easily been a 10.
Being that it is a foreign film, the cast and filmmakers will be a bunch of people that you probably have never heard of, but I’m going to list them anyway.
It was written and directed by Gareth Evans. The main stars of the film are Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Donny Alamsyah, Yayan Ruhian, Pierre Gruno, Ray Sahetapy, Tegar Satrya, Iang Darmawan, Eka ‘Piranha’ Rahmadia, and Verdi Solaiman.
I rate this movie a 9 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Buy.
Click on the link below to check out the teaser trailer to the sequel to The Raid: Redemption, it’s called The Raid 2: Berandal (2014).
If you liked The Raid: Redemption, then you will probably enjoy:
Trailer for After Earth (2013)
After Earth (2013)
Will Smith and his son Jaden Smith crash land onto planet earth about a thousand years after humans left the planet. It has had a thousand years to evolve.
M. Night Shyamalan directs. He is known for his shocking endings in his movies. I wonder if he will continue that trend.
This looks like an exciting movie filled with crazy special effects.
Will Smith is definitely keeping the money in the family and teaming up with his son for a summer blockbuster. I wonder how much money they will make for this movie combined.
The film also stars Zoe Kravits, another person who would not be famous if it weren’t for her father, Lenny Kravits.
Isabelle Fuhrman, Sophie Okonedo, and Glenn Morshower also star.
Set to release on 6/7/13.
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011)
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011)
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is a tender, heartfelt drama about a boy (Thomas Horn) who tries to keep the memory of his father (Tom Hanks) alive for as long as possible. The boy is completely devastated after his father dies inside of the World Trade Center during the attacks on September 11th, 2001. He finds a key to an unknown lock that belonged to his father and he is prepared to search all of New York City to find out exactly what the key will unlock.
The pace of the film was pretty slow and it allowed for the development of the main characters. It did not have to rely on special effects or action, just actors acting and telling a story.
Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock both give charming performances in the film, as they usually do. But, their roles were miniscule in comparison to the breakout performance of 14-year-old Thomas Horn. Horn came out of nowhere. He did an excellent job of acting in his first movie ever. The young man was able to carry the majority of the film on his back. Thomas Horn reminded me a little bit of Haley Joel Osment. It will be interesting to see what Horn does next.
Max Von Sydow did a great job with his supporting character.
Jeffrey Wright and John Goodman both had minor supporting roles.
My only complaints about the movie are that it was maybe a little too slow during some parts and it was a little bit predictable. It would have been more beneficial to the film if Hanks and Bullock had a little bit more face time.
It is hard to get excited to watch a movie that has anything to do with the attacks on the WorldTradeCenter on 9/11/2001. That is the reason why I did not rush out and catch this movie in the theatre when it was out in 2011. I’m glad that I did take the time to finally watch it because it did turn out to be a pretty touching story.
I rate this movie a 7.5 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Rent.
Trailer for The Hangover Part III (2013)
The Hangover Part III (2013) (click on the title for my full review)
Here is the first look at the teaser trailer for The Hangover Part III. It supposedly all ends with this third piece of the trilogy.
Hollywood loves sequels. They want to see how much money they can squeeze out of basically one story. Honestly I am pretty fed up with sequels, but a movie like this is guaranteed to have moments of uncontrollable laughter. The Hangover (2009) was hilarious. The Hangover Part II (2011) was really funny, but not as good as the original. I have a feeling that The Hangover Part III will probably be about as good as Part II. Maybe we will be pleasantly surprised and it will be better than the original, but for the most part with few exceptions, the original is always the best and the sequels never add up.
Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, and Justin Bartha are all back again for another go round. Ken Jeong, Heather Graham, Sasha Barrese, Jeffrey Tambor, Mike Tyson, and many more from the first two parts are back again along with the addition of John Goodman.
Hollywood is sure to rake in a lot of cash once again, and I’m sure there will be some laughs along the way.
The movie is set to release on Memorial Day, 5/27/13.
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