The Crazies

3 Stars out of 5




Ogden Marsh is a small farming community in the middle of Iowa. Than one day the townspeople begin to go crazy and kill everyone they know, pretty much turning them into a more sophisticated form of zombies. Pretty soon government ops show up to quarantine to the town and the sheriff is on the run with his wife for their life.

The Crazies is a film that isn't quite what it was advertised to be. It isn't quite a full fledged horror film but rather a film that is partially horror, partially drama, and very much seems to be political. It's perhaps also the film with the year's worst title. What makes it a horror is that the townspeople start to kill everyone and also perhaps the fact that the government comes in to fix to the town in their own way. The script is at least written decently so we only primarily follow one or two characters who by the end of the film we have been able to feel for.

The Crazies is a film that will startle the general audience for at least half the film but will most likely wear off soon after that. The same antics are used enough that pretty soon we understand that hand out of the darkness to the sudden soundtrack hit is really just our main characters helping each other out of a tough situation. But the tension is built well. Unfortunately what this film ultimately feels like it is supposed to be is what throws things off a bit. Really it seems to be a political statement against the government messing things up.

It's really a scenario that has been seen before. The government loses something important, a weapon of some kind, and someone else's lives are destroyed because of it but the government really has no remorse for their actions and instead tries to cover it all up. That is really the horror of this film. A government unwilling to take action for destroying people's lives. This film is the cautionary tale of what the government can truly become as well as the threat of nuclear weapons with a dose of zombie on the top.

Cop Out

1 1/2 Stars out of 5




Jimmy Monroe and Paul Hodges are an odd-ball cop duo that have been working together for nine years. After Jimmy has his rare baseball card stolen, which he was going to use to pay for his daughter's wedding, these two cops head out on an investigation to get the card back only to get caught up in the middle of a gang fued.

Cop Out is the newest film by Keven Smith, most notably acclaimed for Clerks. This is one comedy that seems to follow in those footsteps with crude humor and lots of foul mouthed jokes that work on less of an occasion than we would expect. The plot is simple, nothing special, and feels contrived at time, which wouldn't be a problem if the film made us laugh more. I've enjoyed a crude or raunchy comedy here and there, but this film has little to offer. The laugh moments are too few and the rest of the film is a shoot em' up action film. It's a buddy cop movie that succeeds to fail.

This is a film that feels like it is wasting the talent of great actors. Tracy Morgan is an up and coming actor but he seems to have a knack for comedy he just doesn't seem to have been handed the right material and Bruce Willis is just one of those legendary actors. The acting is good but with better material it could be better. It's also evident that the film is written by a lover of at least dramatic cop and gangster films, which cause perhaps some of the only truly comedic scenes in the film.
To truly appreciate this film you'll need to turn off your brain and return to junior high for this crude buddy romp comedy.

To Save A Life

2 1/2 Stars out of 5




Jake Taylor is the mvp basketball player for his school with a great scholarship waiting for him at his dream school. Than one day Roger, the kid he grew up with and who used to be his best friend but now ignores comes to school and kills himself. Jake soon begins to question his entire life and his actions, leading him to wonder if he could have prevented this.

This film was trying to do something very important but yet had too many shortcomings. The script alone needed work. The story branched out in too many directions from it's main plotline. The film evidently about trying to prevent suicide but we soon find ourselves immersed in a story that is also suddenly about unwanted teen pregnancy, divorce, the most shallow of high school drama, and figuring out what Christianity is really all about. There are just too many plotlines for one film and pretty soon we wonder if the film is actually going to end with the same topic as what it started with.

The other major flaw is the characters. All the characters feel shallow, lacking the depth that is really necessary for us to fully care what they are going through, most of the time only relating if we've experience that event in our lives as well. There is really only one side to the majority of these characters, so we either hate them or like them, and even the lead seems to have a sudden turn of heart that just doesn't transition well. But for being the realm of the "Christian" film the acting was better than most; less sappy, but still not phenomenal.

I will give the film this, it was trying to do something crucial and important in a young society. It is a film that praises acceptance of all people, no matter who they are. The messages and themes of this film are important and with that I think it's an important film. I praise it for it's purpose and attempt to make a better film for this genre. Unfortunately it is also the type of film that will mainly resonate well with some families and the Christian audience, even though it is less preachy than most. But what I applaud most for this film is it's praise for the importance of all human life.

Shutter Island

4 out of 5 Stars




From award winning director Martin Scorsese come Shutter Island, a story of two U.S. Marshals, Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), who are summoned to a mental institution to investigate the disappearance of a murderess who drowned her own children. As the investigation continues Teddy soon discovers he may never be able to leave this island and begins to learn what is really happening on Shutter Island.

This is a film that I'm sure many won't enjoy and may find at times too slow. I found it a pleasant surprise from the non-stop movement of modern day pictures. It was a film that worked and had the pacing of many older films. For that reason it may not fit quite as well into our current society but the story is intriguing and continues to ask questions, causing us to want answers.

DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo hold in their roles joined by Ben Kingsley as the head of the institution. Scorsese not only knows how to cast well but how to bring out great performances in that cast. DiCaprio does such a wonderful job in his role we're never completely certain whether he's spiraling into insanity or not. It's a blur between the surreal and reality.

The cinematography is great and the soundtrack adds a certain unease to seemingly normal occurrences. The film doesn't always flow quickly but it works in a way that isn't expected. It isn't a quick paced thriller where people jump from the shadows. This is a sophisticated and thought provoking thriller that plays with the mind. At moments it is predictable but at other times lines are blurred and questioned continue to be raised, leading up to the films grand climax.

Shutter Island is an intriguing film of substance and thought.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

3 out of 5 Stars




Once in a while the gods come down to earth and mate with the Gods. Kids are then born of those gods and those kids are called demigods. Percy Jackson is one of those kids, the son of Poseidon, only problem is that he has no clue. Now he is being hunted because someone has set him up as the one who stole Zues' lightning bolt. Now those who were protecting him in secret have brought him to the "half blood camp" to train. With his mother now missing he is joined by his guardian Satire, Grover, and daughter of Atena, Annabeth, on a quest to rescue his mother and return the lightning bolt to Zues before the gods start a war to destroy each other. The film is based off the best selling book.

This film adds to the plethora of fantasy films based off of books that have intriguing ideas but fail to translate to the screen in a fully successful manner. Parts of this film worked and other parts didn't, mainly the dynamics of the characters. There is not much to expect from this film other than a fun ride with some fun moments and characters. The characters seem to be modern day dim witted high school students who have failed to learn anything in life. Each character seems to have a single purpose and that single purpose alone, which causes them to feel somewhat one dimensional. These leads everything to feel contrived so we know everything that will happen.

The biggest blunder of this film seems to be it's use of popular Greek mythology and how no one seems to know anything about it. The story takes place in a modern day world where these stories are somewhat common knowledge. Everyone knows about Hercules and who Perseus is not to mention Zues, Aphrodite, and Hades. Yet somehow these kids don't know the truth about a Hydra or the ferryman of the underworld. What I want to know is how such common knowledge becomes nonexistent. The answer, a ploy for unsuccessful humor.

Where is the thunder in this film? The fun action scenes littered throughout, which are only so many. There is also the underlying social commentary where the kids must travel to Hollywood where the entrance to hell awaits and when upon entering a seemingly burning rendition of Los Angeles can be seen in the background. Talk about Hollywood dissing itself. When it came to the Harry Potter films Christopher Columbus created a world that was fun but not a great film. He continues his streak here. The film is a fun ride but nothing to be marveled over.

It will go into the archives of fun but yet unfortunately forgettable fantasy flicks.

Avatar

3 out of 5 Stars




Avatar, the best selling movie of 2009, follows the story of Jake Sully, an ex-marine who has lost the use of his legs and takes the place of his brother in the avatar program on the planet Pandora. They are there for one reason alone, to obtain unobtainium, an incredibly rare material and Pandora is full of it. The only problem is the Na'vi, a race of large blue aliens who inhabit the planet. Na'vi bodies have been acquired and Jake Sully is sent in to learn about their race and report back but he soon falls in love with their people and becomes one of them.

Avatar is without a doubt one of the most gorgeous films of the year. I'll give it that. The special effects are quite astounding but they wear off quickly. They are so astonishing that pretty soon we don't know there are special effects. What makes this film work is exactly that, the effects. The story is basically Pocahontas or Dances With Wolves (take your pick) mixed with Fern Gully. I enjoyed Pocahontas and Fern Gully and I'm sure that Dances With Wolves was good, but Avatar was a waste of great special effects on a poor story.

I went into Avatar knowing all the hype. I told myself I would enjoy it despite the fact that I didn't want to see it. In fact, I refused to see it unless I didn't have to pay. But yet, I wanted to enjoy it. But I couldn't. Less than halfway into the film I was checking to see what time it was. I was impressed that they could bring such a vivid world to life but I was less impressed with the overly preachy nature of the film. I got the message in Fern Gully. I didn't need the message in large blue naked native Americans, because that's basically what they were. At least in Fern Gully Robin Williams voiced a bat that added some humor.

I do think that Sam Worthington will be the next great action celebrity of our time and Sigourney Weaver is a good actor but that doesn't save a mediocre script with a lot of film cliches. You know what is going to happen and you pretty much know almost how it will happen you just don't know exactly in what stunning visual way it will happen.

Avatar may have been the most expensive movie to make of all time and the highest grossing movie of 2009, but that doesn't make it a great film. Story is what makes films great. It's never changed. The best films have great stories. Avatar is a great technical achievement. It is a reverse in story achievement. James Cameron has found a way to sink ships and make them work. People loved Titanic, now they love Avatar. Come fifteen years from now, like Titanic, people will see that it was just alright. It was a fun ride (at least for everyone else) but that was about it.

Paranormal Activity was the highest grossing movie with the lowest budget of the year and I thought that was near. Now there's Avatar, the highest grossing movie of the year with the biggest budget and I didn't like that. There is something about hype that somehow makes films great. Avatar is basically one long beautiful painting with very little underneath.

Dear John

1 1/2 out of 5 Stars




Dear John follows the story of John Tyree, an army soldier who while on leave meets Savannah Curtis and falls in love within two weeks. He is then called back overseas and continues to write letters as they work out their overseas relationship. The film is based off the book by Nicholas Sparks.

This film is a romance mixed with drama that leaves us feeling for no one. The on screen chemistry between Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried isn't terrible but it also isn't convincing. They are getting better at acting but still have a ways to go. The material could help as well. The entire film we are left wondering if it ever ends and we don't care whether they stay in love or not.

To add to the story there is John's autistic father. This makes his life a little more difficult. To be more convenient, Savannah wants to someday start a horse camp for autistic kids, a dream she has had because of her friend Allen's autistic son. We feel for the father but by the time anything really happens there are no emotions left to feel.

In the end, Dear John is a two hour bore. There is nothing to catch us. Everything in the trailer takes place within less than 45 minutes of the film and most of that was what might have been interesting. Dear John is a romance film waiting to be romantic.

The Book of Eli

4 out of 5 Stars



In The Book of Eli the world has been reduced to a post apocalyptic wasteland where water is scarce. Books are also scarce and all the Bibles in the world have been burned, all except one. Eli carries this Bible and he is on a mission from God to travel across the country to the coast to deliver it.

Despite it's plot, The Book of Eli isn't overly preachy. The ideas contained within the film may seem like they could be so but the film is handled in a way in which this apocalyptic western work. It's an intense and gritty action and drama film.

Denzel Washington is perfect in his role as Eli. He is intriguing on multiple levels. He is a man of God and an assassin. Mila Kunis joins the cast as Solara, a slave to Carnegie played by Gary Oldman who believes that by using the words of "The Book" that he can gain more control. Solara escapes from Carnegie and continues with Eli on his journey to deliver the Bible.

Although The Book of Eli may have some heads turning from it's questionable plot twist, it may have others wishing to go back and watch the film again with a closer eye. It is a fun ride and a story that works well in it's setting. It is a western with a different feel. The violence may be too intense for some but this is one film that I would have gone to see more than once.

The Blind Side

4 out of 5 Stars




The Blind Side is about the story of Michael Oher, a homeless and underprivileged young African American who is taken in by the Tuohys, a high class white family, who help him live up to his full potential. He gets an education, begins to play football, and ultimately becomes a successful tackler. The film is based off a book by Michael Lewis.

This is another film in a similar line to Remember the Titans and Facing the Giants. There is an evident theme of race and power and overcoming those odds as well as evident Christian themes. The Tuohys are Christian family who take in Michael Oher and make him part of their family, despite the criticism of their judgmental friends. In this setting Michael finds a home for the first time.

I'm not much of a fan of sports films in general but The Blind Side is more than just a sports film. It is a film about family, racism, and finding your place in the world. Sandra Bullock does a wonderful job in her role as Leigh Anne Tuohy. It's easy to love Quinton Aaron in his role as silent Michael Oher. The chemistry is wonderful on screen which makes it easy to get lost in the story. Nothing feels preachy and we still feel for the characters, even those who don't really like sports. It's a triumph as a film and what a "sports" movie should be.

Legion

1 1/2 out of 5 Stars



In this supernatural thriller, God has forsaken humanity, rather completely turned on them, and is now sending angels to destroy our race. There is one child who is mankind's hope and that child is still unborn in the womb of a young mother living by a diner with her father and another young man. Come to save them from the rest is the archangel Michael, who has rebelled against God to come to earth.

The premise of this film alone is enough to take a dive. The idea that angels would come to destroy humanity and take vessels in humans in a demonic state is grasping on the edge. Paul Bettany is convincing as an overly serious angel bent on saving humanity, but even his performance can't save this film. The story carries a cast of characters so one dimensional and stereotypical we have no grounds to care. They carry out their duties and some die and others don't. It's the apocalypse centered on a small diner.

The story of Legion is similar to that of Children of Men. Humanity is lost and only one child can save them. The exception is that Children of Men worked. There is nothing in Legion that causes us to care if the child lives or dies, or anyone else for that matter. The film downplays God to that of a human child who can't decide what he wants. As Michael says at one point to another archangel, "You gave God what he wanted. I gave him what he needed." And to give a storybook ending, the film is narrated by the girl in which she speaks of her mother telling her at bedtime that at one time God got tired of all the people. When she asked her mother why, the answer came, "I guess he just got tired of all the bullsh*t."

That's also what I got tired of during this film.

Up In the Air

4 1/2 out of 5 Stars




George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a company man who travels the country to fire people from their jobs in this adult oriented comedy directed by Jason Reitman. Ryan has spent the majority of his adult life away from family traveling from place to place. This is his life and he enjoys it. Than a young woman, Natalie Keener(Anna Kendrick) is hired at his company and incorporates the idea of setting up electronic means to do the companies job. Of course Ryan is against this change and soon we are following him on his journey of showing the Natalie the ropes of the job as he continues on the lonely structure of his life.

Up In the Air is a film that succeeds on so many levels. It encompasses what film is and has been since the beginning in many aspects. It brings story and character to the screen. We are brought into the world of someone we would normally hate and we feel where he is coming from. George Clooney grabs our hearts as the company man who has no real path in life. He is alone but doesn't see it. On his journey he meets a woman who he begins to have an intimate fling with, what he calls a casual relationship. Soon enough Natalie Keener enters his life on the road and a story of love, life, and loneliness encompasses their conversations. As his sister is about to get married, and his company undergo major changes that could leave him at home, Ryan begins to question his life ethics.

The story and characters of the film are surrounded by a soundtrack that fits the mood of the film. Although the cast is big, the film has the film of a smaller independent film. It brings home one of the greatest human themes of all; living and dying alone. As Ryan tells his sister's fiance, "Wasn't it lonely in that honeymoon suite all alone?" Nobody truly wants to be alone.

The ending may be predictable but the characters are so genuine that it doesn't matter. What matters is what is happening with those characters and what has been brought forth on the screen. It is a story we can all relate to. For the most part we can all understand unemployment, many of us being fired, and we can all understand feeling alone. This is a story about feeling alone in a crowd, even when we think we're not. The characters are set up perfectly in this story.

This is for certain one of the best heartfelt films I have seen in the past year.

Sherlock Holmes

3 1/2 out of 5 Stars




In this latest adaptation of the class characters created by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes is pitted up against Lord Blackwood, who is known to be a sorcerer and has escaped authorities on multiple occasions. After finally being captured and hanged, Lord Blackwood mysteriously rises from the dead and Sherlock is soon on the case with Watson by his side.

Although this newer version of Sherlock Holmes is more intense and modern than before, the story holds true to the heart of Sherlock Holmes. What seems on the outside a flashy film turns out to be a sophisticated, well thought out, plot driven mystery film. The action is more on par with modern day standards but it doesn't distract from the importance of the story at hand and the characters and plunged into a plot that rounds out well.

The characters also seem to have changed a bit, just as more humor seems to have been added to their all about natures, a sort of sarcastic bit that works well in the film as a feel of dark comedy. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law play well along each other with a fun banter that goes back and forth. Rachel McAdams balances out well among the ensemble as well.

Sherlock Holmes takes the ideas in a whole new direction while staying true to the heart. This is an action movie and a mystery movie all wrapped in one. It's a Sherlock Holmes for a new age that still works and doesn't feel like it's dishonoring the original stories.

The Lovely Bones

3 out of 5 stars




The Lovely Bones follows the story of Susie Salmon, a young teenage girl who is raped and murdered by a neighbor. Instead of fully passing on to the afterlife, she finds herself in an in between heavenly realm where she watches over her loved ones as they cope with her murder in various ways. The film is based upon the popular novel by Alice Sebold.

When I saw The Lovely Bones I hadn't read the novel. I've heard that the novel has a lot of heart and there is life to the characters. This is not quite the case with the film. Peter Jackson did a wonderful job of casting Saoirse Ronan as Susie Salmon who did a wonderful job in her given role. At times, though, the other characters feel shallow and distant without as much heart as they require. Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weiss are parents who care but we as the audience don't feel it as much as we should. The subplots don't feel quite right and the world sometimes feels too disjointed to relate completely to either.

However, where some of the performances fail the visual style and soundtrack succeed. The Lovely Bones is a masterfully shot work of art, often reminiscent of segments from "What Dreams May Come." Peter Jackson creates a vivid afterlife that is magnificent to look upon while still keeping the contrast of the living world. The soundtrack is surreal and sentimental and works well for its story. Although at times disappointing, The Lovely Bones is an intriguing film. Unfortunately it is perhaps a story that does not work so well for the big screen and continues to help us realize that literature is still a highly critical storytelling medium.