Source Code

"Promise me you'll help him. And when you do, do me a favor: tell him everything is gonna be okay."


I have been a fan of Jake Gyllenhal since my friend sat me down to watch Donnie Darko. He has always been good at playing the one note character. In the past while he has taken on roles that showed his depth as an actor. That's right I'm talking about Bubble Boy.

On a more serious note this was a fantastic film. I had heard good things about the movie. When critics like it most people will not which left me a bit hesitant. The movie was less than two hours which is a treat in and of it's self. It was also nice that there was little to no down time in the action of this film. The opening scene starts with explosions and you get then throughout the whole movie. No I'm not talking about the Michael Bay slow motion Transformers explosions, but good ones.

Source code is about Captain Colter Stevens who is placed in the body of a stranger named Sean who was on a Chicago bound train that explodes. He is sent back to the same 8 minute time frame to find where the bomb is and who it was that placed it there. if he fails he starts over. It was a lot of the same scenario with very different outcomes. It did not get old at all like Vantage Point does, but rather you look forward to each trip to see what he will find out. This movie was over quick, but did not lack anything. There was not much fluff in the story just him taking care of business and trying to find out who he really is and why he is not flying a helicopter in Afghanistan.

He is helped/hindered on the train by a lady friend played by Michelle Monaghan (Eagle Eye/Maid of Honor.)She plays a friend, Christine, who rides the train with Sean each day. Vera Farmiga plays Goodwin, a military officer who is guiding our here on his lofty quest. She plays her part very well. You can she her emotion for this project through here eyes. It is amazing how much Jake's and Vera's characters can say just by the look in their eyes and lack of expression.

I think the director, Duncan Jones, has a thing for the lead character learning that they are not what/who they think they are (see 2009's Moon.) This was probably the best movie I've seen thus far this year. The message is a great one. The question placed by Captain Stevens to Christine sums up the message they were trying to get across:

"What would you do if you knew you only had one minute to live?"
"I would make every second count."

8.75 out of 10

Get Low

"I wonder if she would have white hair?"

Let me just start out by putting it out there. Robert Duvall is amazing. I was excited to hear about this movie based on the true story of a man, Felix Bush, who in 1938 decided to have his funeral party while he was still alive. He wanted all to come who had a story to tell about him. He hires a local Funeral Director, Frank Quinn, played by Bill Murray, to help with this undertaking (pun not intended, but well placed.)The story is told and kind of guided in a way by Buddy played by Lucas Black of Fast and Furious:Tokyo Drift fame. He is not that great in the beginning, but get batter throughout. Bill Murray does great in this movie, I would not classify this as a dark movie they way some say it is, but maybe a shadowed comedy/drama.

The story begins when Felix learns that someone he knows passes away and he realizes he could be next. There are different motives for everyone that come out through the film. Sissy Spacek play and ex-love who helps Felix with his real motives and issues. The film is set in 1938 and was filmed in the hills of Georgia giving it a Midwest feel. I don't know what it is about films that are filmed in areas like this with barren trees and vacant land, films like this Blair Witch Project, True Grit, Winter's Bone and other backwoods films, but I love the filming locations.

The story takes some turns and does not get to the real purpose of the desired funeral party until the end. I never felt like this movie was slow. There was enough humor to keep me interested in each scene. Robert Duvall's character was a bitter crotchety old man so his comments are funny, and Bill Murray is, well, Bill Murray. He could just stare at the camera and make people laugh.

This film was a gem. A good find. There was not too much publicity about this film, but I liked it a lot. It was also nice that it was just over an hour and a half long. Maybe that's why it was not nominated for any awards it was not over two hours or rated R. It is worth checking it out of you need a good film that won't take up your whole night. You will still have time to make your own bucket list after the credits.

7.35 out of 10

Gnomeo and Juliet

"I'm not illiterate! My parents were married!"


The story you about to see has been told before. A lot. This was the opening line by a Red Good Gnome. After the movie I had to explain to my oldest son about Romeo and Juliet. I had to give him the cliff notes version of the play. His response: "Oh, this movie was way better than that one."

I had to watch this one in 3D, unfortunately, since it was the earliest showing. It was not to impressive in 3d. There were a few surprises in this film that I was not expecting. I knew that Sir Elton John did the music, but was thrilled to see that many of his songs were in the film. I was also surprised to hear the voice of Ozzy as a lawn reindeer.

The story was very close to the original play. **Spoiler Alert** It was obvious that they could not have to two kill themselves at the end so they make it close.**

My favorite part had to be the advertisement of the lawnmower called the "Terrafirminator" a 400hp lawnmower/tractor/wrecking machine. I laughed so hard thing about that. A lawnmower with the same power as a suped-up Mustang GT with a supercharger. I was laughing so hard though I think I was the only one in the theatre laughing.

I liked the idea that they were able to bring the story to the younger audiences, but as the opening line said, this story has been told many, many times before. There was something for the adults with the good music, innuendos and humor; but I think it did fall short. It just did not have that "it" factor that other animated films, like How to Train Your Dragon and any Pixar film, has.
This was a pretty good film. It is good for kids to be able to get a bit of Shakespere knowledge. This was a pretty good way to do it.

True Grit

"You must pay for everything in this world, one way and another. There is nothing free except the grace of God."

There is a reason this film was up for so many awards. It is fantastic for starters.
I had never seen the original True Grit starring John Wayne, but after some coaxing from a friend , and the release of this I felt it was time. The original was good. I don't think I have really ever sat through a full Wayne film. It took a while to watch this one, what with two loud boys and all. I must admit I was kind of annoyed with the original Mattie character, but the new Mattie, played by Hailee Steinfeld, was just the right balance. I thought that Matt Damon, and Josh Brolin did great in their roles. Josh brolin was great as Tom Cheney. His voice was great. I was excited to see the part of Lucky Ned Pepper played by Barry Pepper. He was also Jackson the Sharp-shooter from Saving Private Ryan.

Some people say that the original scenery was better, but I like the plain scenery of the new one. I laughed a lot in this film. The dialogue was witty. I was not surprised at the violent scenes in the new film it is a Coen Bros. film after all.
The Coen brothers said they followed the book more than the original movie, but I felt they were both very close to each other. I never thought that Jeff Bridges was playing the role of John Wayne. Jeff Bridges was playing Jeff Bridges. He is one of those actors that can play himself and the role will fit to him. I can't wait to see this film again.

9 out of 10

Eclipse

"Let's face it I'm hotter than you."

I will be the first to tell you that Twilight was pretty much one of the worst movies ever made. I thought the book was terrible too. I finally watched the second movie in the saga, New Moon, last week. It was better than the first, but still not that good. My wife kept telling me that the third was the best of all. I was sure of that. How could it have been any worse? Well she was right it was much better. I'm not sure if it was the great fight scenes or the character development of the rest of the crew, but it was much more endurable.

I enjoyed the scenery of this film as I did the other two. I like the Seattle outskirts. Even though this (like almost every other film)was filmed in BC Canada. I really like the fight scene between the new borns and the Cullens and wolves. I am confused about then shattering though. Maybe they explain that in the book. I really enjoyed how they finally explained the character of the cullen family. Now I can hate them less now that I know why they are the way they are. The story of Jasper being a civil war Colonel was very interesting.

Over all this was a much more entertaining movie and I would even venture watching it a second time.

Oh, and for the females keeping score I was team Jacob, just for name sake, but after the fighting scenes, sorry, I'm switching teams.

6.85 out of 10

My Favorites of 2010

Nice work 2010! Way to step up to the plate.

It is time for me to rank the movies of 2010....well at least the ones I've seen thus far. My ranking of the bottom five are not in set order, so my number six could be my number 10 on any given day. but my top five should be able to whip the last five.


#10 Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Tade and I watch this movie a lot this year. It was much funnier than we expected and we really liked it. Now my youngest boy runs around saying "Tade. You've got the cheese touch." This was a fun family film and had a good message about being a good person and not caring about what others think.





#9 Charlie St. Cloud
I was expecting this movie to be pretty bad considering how much it was panned by critics. I did not doubt that Zack Efron could pull it off though. It was much better than expected. The story was good, a bit predictable, but still good.





#8 Ramona and Beezus
The little girl who played Ramona is probably the cutest thing ever. My wife really like this movie as did I. It was a great family movie about overcoming difficulties and the importance of each member of the family, and she says "Guts" really loud.





#7 The Karate Kid
Being a product of the 80's, and a boy, I grew up loving Ralph Machio in the original Karate Kid. I was a bid timid about the remake, but was excited to Jackie Chan in the Mr. Miagi role. I took Tade to this and we both loved it. There were many parts that connected to the original and a few new parts that made this film really stand on it's own.





#6 Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage
My number six favorite of this year was the documentary about the rock band Rush. I have been playing drums since middle school and have followed, in awe, the career of Neil Peart, the drummer for Rush. I saw this documentary on TV and had to get a copy on Blu Ray. It was a great doc. about the formation of the band up to where they are today.





#5 Inception
I think this is on everybody's best of 2010 list. I unfortunately saw this over a 6 hour period split up here and there so I think some of it might have been lost in translation. I still did really like this film. The dream building scenes were great. It made me thing of Hayao Miyazaki's movies. Not the movie itself , but the way you watch them. Some movies are like a dream. They only make sense in that setting; like a Miyazaki film. I really need to watch it gain and I might find that it moves up higher on my list.





#4 Letters to Juliet
I love this movie. I don't know if it is the fact that I had three sister growing up or that Amanda Seyfried is gorgeous, but I really did like this movie. I saw it on vacation and told my wife that she needed to go get it for me. She agreed. I loved the scenery in this movie. I have always like movies from Italy. The best part is the comic relief between the the grandmother and her grandson. Highly recommended.





#3 Toy Story 3
What else do I need to say besides it's Pixar. All of their movies will be making a top ten list of some sort. This final instalment of the trilogy put a great ending on it and sealed it's spot as one of the greatest trilogies of all time. How many other trilogies have had all three movies be equally great. Andy summed it up best at the end of the film, "Thanks guys."




#2 The Sorcerer's Apprentice
I'm not the biggest fan of Nicholas Cage, but I don't hate him as much as others do.
I don't think he is to credit or blame for this film. I would say the credit goes to Jay Bruchel. His scenes were so much fun. I was really torn between my #2. It could have easily been Toy Story 3, but Jay's humor tilted the scales for me. You might as well keep him in mind because he is also a part of my #1 film...




#1 How to Train Your Dragon

If you have seen this movie, then I don't need to say any more. This was my favorite film of 2010. The humour, the characters, the ideas and the final product. This was a great family film. It teaches us not to take people, or anything, at face value, but rather that we should take time to really understand something. We get so caught up in what is pre-labeled for us by media that we may miss a real opportunity. It killed me that I had to wait for aver half a year to get my own copy of this movie. he second that the movie was over my oldest son turned to me and said "Dad, when this comes on DVD can we get it?" I said Absolutely!


Well, I guess that's about it. There are a few films that I did not get a chance to see this year that I am positive would have made my top five. (The Social Network, True Grit.) Unfortunately rules are rules and I did not see them in 2010. So look for them to be reviewed soon.

Charlie St. Cloud

"Nobody ever gets to see what could have been."

My wife has been waiting for Charlie St. Cloud to come on dvd. When she said she wanted to see the new Zach Efron movie, I tuned her out. Later, when I saw a trailer for it and realized it was about a guy who plays catch with his dead brother every night I was a bit intrigued.

The location for this film was Vancouver, BC. The scenery was beautiful. I though most of it was a painting or CGI. The scenes with the sailboats where great. The landscape shot were great.

Charlie St. Cloud, played by Zach Efron, loses his younger brother in a car accident and gets a second chance at life. His dead brother keep the promise made in life to show up each night at sunset to practice baseball. He later meets (re meets) a girl named Tess, and Charlie is faced with the decision to continue to live in the past or to move on.

This movie was much better than imagined. Probably because it got panned by every critic, which usually means it was not that bad. I like the storyline. It is a very short and probably very obvious story, but it was good. I liked that fact that it was only 90 mins. long. I found the roles enjoyable. I liked the small role of the British friend. The younger brother was pretty good. He had his good moments. I found the love interest, Tess played by Amanda Crew, was very easy to watch. Very easy on the eyes. The acting by here was okay. A little forced, but I will overlook that.


You can tell this was adapted from a book because some of the lines were a bit too good. There would be a normal conversation then some great line would pop up. The best line was said by charlie's brother at the end of the film.
"I'm okay Charlie. I'd give anything for you to see me. What I've become, but no one could forget what it could have been."

7 out of 10