Hit and Run

Rated: R

Run time: 1 hr 35 min

Starring: Dax Shepard, Kristen Bell, Bradley Cooper, Tom Arnold, Kristin Chenowith, Beau Bridges

This was a good way to spend 1 ½ hours, it really was. I can’t completely explain it, but I enjoyed this movie. It isn’t going to win any awards but it is worth watching. It will probably enjoy a bigger following when it’s released to DVD and cable.

I read somewhere that this movie took 10 weeks from concept to finish, don’t know if that’s true or not but it sounds interesting. Dax Shepard (Crosby of Parenthood) wrote, directed and stars in this movie, and it’s rumored that he used his own cars while making it. It is also rumored that the other stars deferred their respective salaries as a favor to Dax. I don’t know how much is true and how much is hype, but this is a fun movie. You’re not going to roll on the floor laughing but you will probably chuckle out loud a few times. The film is fast paced and doesn’t drag down anywhere, in other words, use the bathroom before the movie starts or you may miss something if you leave the theater.

One word (or several actually) of warning, if you don’t want to see full frontal nudity of several 70-somethings, then you need to avert your eyes anytime you see a character go to room 119 when they are at the motel. I don’t usually give spoilers but that scene happens not once but twice. The characters reactions are kind of funny but the image is forever burned in my brain. On the other hand, it did make me want to start spending more time at the gym.

All of the actors do a good job, Bell and Shepard (as Annie and Yul aka Charlie Bronson) have chemistry together (but they should since they’re together in real life too). It’s weird seeing Bradley Cooper in dreads, but it’s Tom Arnold who steals most of the laughs as the bumbling US Marshall overseeing Charlie’s witness protection detail. And if it’s not him stealing the scenes it’s Kristen Chenowith as Annie’s boss.

Bottom line is this, if you need a way to waste a couple of hours, I don’t think you can go wrong seeing this one.

Hope Springs

Rated: PG-13

Run time: 1 hour 40 minutes

Starring: Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carell

This movie is NOT a comedy. Will you chuckle at some places? You bet you will, but again this movie is NOT a comedy. I’m not sure if anyone other than me thought it was going to be one based on the initial previews, but I have to throw it out there, just in case.

This is the second movie in a row now that I have seen with Steve Carell showing his dramatic chops, and you know what he’s pretty dang good. He plays the quiet speaking marriage counselor, Dr. Feld in a very, laid back way. You just get the picture that nothing would ever get a rise out of this guy. But this movie really isn’t about the good doctor, it’s about a very real seeming couple that has been married for 31 years and is experiencing some problems. At least, Kay (Streep) feels there are problems, but if you ask Arnold (Jones), he will disagree. And he does disagree, very vociferously. But Kay convinces him to go to a week long intensive marriage counseling session, with Feld. More shouting follows, there are uncomfortable moments and there are touching moments. Meryl Streep plays her part as well as she always does. For me though, Tommy Lee Jones makes this movie, with his wrinkled up face (that reminds me of a Shar-Pei) and his grumpy old man character pulls the whole thing together. Overall, I think all the actors play their parts well, even Elizabeth Shue who plays Karen the bartender, and is only in the movie for maybe 5 minutes

This movie probably won’t hold much interest for those audiences under the age of thirty. However, for everyone else, especially couples that have been married for any length of time, I think there will be some part of the film that will strike a nerve somewhere (even if it’s only a little one).

Bottom line is go see this movie, I think you’ll like it.

The Expendables 2

Rated: R

Running time: 1 hour 43 minutes

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Liam Hemsworth, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger

This movie was fun. The action was almost non-stop, the dialogue was campy and the humor was an inside joke for everyone who ever went to an 80’s action flick.

Plot? I guess you could say there was a plot, but it wasn’t important or even necessary to the movie. JCVD is the bad guy, he’s played one before and he did a good job on this one too. Jet Li was only in the first few minutes of the movie and Liam Hemsworth (Thor for all of you super-hero movie watchers) is the new kid on the block, but he is obviously to clean cut and young to hang around this group for long. For the most part the old dudes handle the guns and the younger generation gets to do most of the hand-to-hand combat.

Most of the humor revolves around Chuck Norris and his appearances. There is of course the requisite snappy banter between cohorts that gets a few laughs out of the audience. But this movie is mainly about action and it has that by plane load. But even in the action sequences, the movie doesn’t take itself too seriously. The good guys are the only ones that can shoot straight, of course. At least they do run out of bullets, but only when it creates an opportunity to be saved by some type of miracle, or Chuck Norris.

Bottom line is this, if you liked the 1^st movie, you’ll like this one even better. If you didn’t see the first one, don’t worry about it, go see this one anyway.

The Bourne Legacy

Rated: PG-13

Run time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Starring: Jeremy Renner, Edward Norton, Rachel Weisz

When I first started seeing previews for this movie, I assumed they used “Bourne” in the title strictly for marketing purposes because it looked like it had absolutely nada to do with the previous released “Bourne Trilogy”. Well, you know what they say about assuming anything. The old adage is proved true again, because as my nephew so aptly described, “the whole plot of the movie isn't so much another "Bourne" but what happened behind the curtain when Bourne messed everything up for the company.” This is accomplished through a series of flashes, references and TV newscasts. And, it’s not just fluff, I thinks it adds to the plot of the movie.

Apparently the CIA has numerous programs to brainwash, enhance, etc. operatives to turn them into super spies/assassins. And during the course of the “Bourne” fiasco, they decided to cut bait on their other programs. Of course this doesn’t sit well with Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), but he doesn’t go for revenge (at least not in this installment). So the movie is a little bit different in that aspect and also he appears to have no memory issues. He just wants to quit being dependent on the pills they’ve been feeding him. This connects Dr. Marta Shearing (Weisz) is to Cross. I was wondering earlier in the movie how the doc was going to figure into this drama, as she so obviously had to. I’m not going to give anything away on how they come together, but Cross needs her help to get off of the pills and he has to help her out of a jam first.

I felt like the movie got off to a little bit of a slow start, I had to fight to keep my eyes open for the first twenty minutes or so. But once it took off, it kept going until the end. Renner and Weisz both turned in fine performances but for me Edward Norton is the one to watch. He’s the bad guy and you get the sense that he’s not necessarily a bad person, but he’ll do anything or have anyone erased if they get in the way of doing his job. And he appears to be scarily efficient at doing this.

I think they ended this movie with the possibility of a fifth installment, probably just using Renner. Matt Damon has said he doesn’t want to do another one, but the way this movie was done, I could see a sequel with both characters in it.

Bottom line is if you liked the previous movies, you’ll probably like this one too. Just don’t give up on it during the first few minutes and you’ll be rewarded with one of the better chase sequences I’ve seen in recent years.

Total Recall

Rated : PG-13

Running time: 1 hour 49 minutes

Starring: Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel

Colin Ferrell is no Arnold Schwarzenegger, but in this version of the movie he doesn’t have to be. I was doubtful of this movie when I first heard it was being remade. Then I became even more doubtful when I heard Colin Farrell was going to be playing the main part, Arnold’s part. But when it was announced that Kate Beckinsale would be playing Sharon Stone’s part, I knew I’d be seeing this movie. Well, in all honesty I would have seen it anyway. I’m a sucker for an action movie, even if it is a remake. But 2012’s Total Recall isn’t so much a remake as it is a re-imagining.

The story doesn’t take place on Mars, as a matter of fact it has nothing to do with Mars at all. While the basic premise is the same and a few character’s names are the same, this is a different movie. It’s the air on Earth that is poisonous. There are only two nations left, the United Federation of Britain and the Colony. Basically the UFB is where the power is and the Colony is where the worker bees live. People travel back and forth between the two using a contraption called "The Fall" and it allows travel to pass through the center of the Earth between the two nations. 

The action is fast and the dialogue is well, hokey, but the action is fast so all is well in the action movie universe. I do have some minor complaints about a couple of the scenes where the camera is hand-held and so herky-jerky, it’s hard to tell what in the hell is going on.

All of the actors did a good job. Colin Farrell’s Hauser is a leaner, faster version compared to Arnold’s. Maybe a little more vulnerable but he didn’t sell the bewilderment, as well as Schwarzenegger, that his character had to have been feeling as the story unfolds. It was billed that Beckinsale was playing Sharon Stone’s part, I think it is more a combination of Michael Ironside and Stone (since Ironside's character isn't even in this movie). Beckinsale is the fake wife assigned to keep an eye on Hauser/Quaid and then tries to kill him the rest of the movie. Jessica Biel plays Melina the woman of Hauser’s dream, but her character plays more like a sidekick than a romantic partner. I really wanted to see the two women square off against each other and really duke it out, but it just wasn't meant to be.

There is one scene that I’m not sure if everyone will catch, but I thought it was great. It doesn’t really give anything away, so I’ll spill the beans. When Quaid tries to go through the security check for the UFB, he is wearing a holographic disguise. But what is awesome, at least to me, is there is a woman wearing a yellow coat that passes through before him. The woman is the disguise that was used in the original movie, when Quaid was going through security on Mars.

Overall, if you go see this movie don’t compare it to the original (I’ve already done that for you). The people that will probably like this movie the most are those that were either too young to know it is a remake, or those who refused to see it for whatever reason. Bottom line is go see this movie and enjoy it for what it is, a fun way to spend almost two hours.

The Dark Knight Rises

Rated PG-13

Run time – 2 hours 45 minutes

Starring: Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Directed by Christopher Nolan

First, let me say that if you plan on seeing this movie, make sure it’s in a theater with comfortable seats. Because with a run time of 2 hours 45 minutes, you don’t want your ass to fall asleep.

Second, I read that Christopher Nolan shot most of this movie using 70mm IMAX cameras. So, if you want to get the full experience, find the nearest IMAX theater, pay the extra money and enjoy the hell out of yourself.

Third, if you haven’t seen the first two Nolan directed movies in this trilogy, go watch them before seeing this movie. If you don’t, you won’t know what is happening. You may still enjoy it, but you’ll be a little clueless on some aspects of the story.

This is the final installment of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, he has said he will not do another one. And I don’t think he should, not because this movie wasn’t good but because I feel he left us in a good place with the franchise. I’ve heard and read that some people didn’t like how the movie ended, but I did. I felt like everything was tied up nicely with just enough left to your imagination, so you could kind of write your own ending.

There were several new characters introduced for this installment and several brought back in small parts or in flashbacks. This movie is one that you definitely need to pay attention to, or you may find yourself asking wtf?

Bale does another good job as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Anne Hathaway makes for a good Selina Kyle/Catwoman, although they could have given her a bigger part in her catsuit. I read somewhere that it took three people to help her into the suit everyday and after seeing her in it, not only do I believe it but I now know the real reason that Christopher Nolan filmed this movie in IMAX. I was kind of ambivalent about Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s role in this movie when it started, but as the movie progressed I found myself liking his character and he indeed has an impact on things. Tom Hardy is practically unrecognizable in his role as Bane. He wears a mask that affects his voice making him sound, at least to me, like an amplified Sean Connery. There is one part of the movie when he talks through a microphone and I could only understand every other word he was saying.

When the movie starts, it has been 8 years since “The Dark Knight” ended and Batman hasn’t been seen since. He is a wanted felon for the murder of Harvey Dent (aka Two-Face) and he is feeling the effects of his previous injuries. There is some building up and when Bane hits Gotham, you-know-what hits the fan. Batman and Bruce Wayne both come out of a self-induced retirement to find things not as easy as before. There is a twist or two in the writing that I liked but won’t mention here. I don’t like spoilers when I read others reviews, so I’m not going to put them in mine.

I have to say this, as I was exiting the theater someone complained that the movie wasn’t very realistic. I wanted to turn around and shout, DUH! Hello, people the movie is about a grown man that dresses in a bat suit and fights crime. Maybe you should suspend reality when you buy a ticket for any superhero movie and enjoy it for what it is, entertainment and an escape from reality.

This movie is darker than recent superhero fare, but it fits the character of the series. Batman was always one of my favorite characters when I was a kid (I still like to use the phrase “deductive reasoning” that I learned from reading a Batman comic when I was young). I feel like Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan did the franchise more justice than any previous incarnation of the Caped Crusader.

Bottom line, go see this movie. But be careful on what size drink you get going in, because as previously mentioned, it’s a long movie and I can’t think of a single time where you could make a bathroom run without missing something important to the story.

The Amazing Spider-Man

Rated: PG-13

Running time 2 hours 16 minutes

Starring: Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone

This is another super hero movie reboot and like Christopher Nolan’s Batman, this movie is good. I am a fan of the other Spidey movies starring Tobey Maguire and was a little skeptical of seeing this new Spider-Man movie. I know there are others out there with similar thoughts and let me put your collective minds at ease, this movie is, well, amazing. This movie follows the origin storyline a little better than the previous movies, although it takes liberties with which villain is Spidey’s first.

Andrew Garfield does a good job of playing Peter Parker. Gwen Stacy is played by Emma Stone and does a good job, but the way she played the character I think almost anyone could have played this part. Peter’s uncle Ben is played by Martin Sheen and his aunt May is played by Sally Field. And rounding out the cast is Denis Leary as Gwen’s father, Captain Stacy and Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard.

Garfield’s Peter Parker is a little scruffy and full of teen angst as a science geek picked on in high school. He also has some anger issues after being abandoned by his parents when he was a little tyke. To me this version of Parker seems more in line with what I think he would be like. The moment when he discovers his powers is both momentous and comical. And, if something like that could really happen, it was fairly believable.

The special effects are way better than previous versions. Whether it is “green screen”, cgi effects or whatever you want to call it, it is good. The action is easy to follow (which is a welcome thing in an action movie these days) and fun to watch. The story is good and at a shade over two hours, feels to be about the right length. At no point during the movie did I want the pace to pick up.  I think “The Lizard” makeup was incredible and some of the best I’ve seen in recent years.

I watched this movie in I-Max 3D format and it was good but I’m not sure it’s worth the extra money for 3D. There were a few effects that were kind of cool, but overall the movie would have been just as good in non-3D.

Bottom line is this movie is good. Unless you’re really into 3D, save your money and watch it in regular format. So, crawl into to your favorite movie theater and watch your friendly neighborhood web slinger in this newest adventure, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Rated R

Run time 1 hour 45 minutes

Starring: Benjamin Walker and Dominic Cooper

This movie is based on the novel by Seth Grahame-Smith. The screenplay was written by Seth Grahame-Smith. Apparently when Grahame-Smith was hired to write the screenplay based on his own novel, he became confused and thought he was supposed to write a different movie with the same title.

The title and the names of the main characters are about all the movie has in common with the book. I know, I know this is supposed to be a review of the movie itself not a bitch session comparing it to the novel. But come on, I would expect something like this if a different person had written the screenplay not the same dude that wrote the story in the first place. Again, maybe he was confused, or drunk, or turned into a vampire and decided to write a different version. Whatever, now I guess it’s time to go on to the movie review.

This film was made using, what appears to be, sepia style tones. This was kind of artsy and didn’t really do much for the movie. I’m sure there was a pretty significant reason for doing this, but it totally escaped me. There is a lot of slow motion action and I mean slow motion, almost as if someone kept hitting the pause button every time an action sequence happened. It made it easier to see all of the black blood spilled with every swing of Abe’s mighty silver tipped axe, and there is a lot of it during the course of the movie.

Somewhere in between slow motion action scenes, they tried to add some background and substance. I usually like movies like this and I had high hopes for this one. I was sadly disappointed.  It was okay, but just okay.

Bottom line is this, if you haven’t read the book, you may enjoy the movie as long as you don’t go in with real high expectations. If, like me, you read the book and liked it, avoid this movie because the stories don’t have anything in common except for Abe and vampires. If you read the book and didn’t like it, why would I even be talking to you about a movie you obviously have no intention of seeing?