Law Abiding Citizen (Review)

What I knew going in:
Jamie Fox and Gerard Butler in a taught thriller about a man whose wife and child are murdered and the murderer serves three years only to be paroled for good behavior...

Hype:
Meh+ As you might have figured from the trailer, this "ordinary law abiding citizen" is anything but, and as such the film might stray from tense thriller into action. . . Both Actors are good, the script was penned by Kurt Wimmer of Equibrium fame, but the director's lead credit is a Video of the Year on the MTV Music Awards? Uh oh....

Opening Thoughts:
You know, right up there on the top of the list of "people I never want to be" is the main character's motivation for revenge. Yikes. The good news is that since this is trying to be mainstream all of the moments that looked like they belonged in SAW cut away just before the savagery started. That's a good thing for this film.

Bottom Line:
What started out as a damn fine movie with great pacing, intrigue, and plot turns into one of the most disappointing and missed opportunity endings of the decade. In the last 20 minutes Butler's plan is revealed - and its just flat DUMB. I'm not going to go into it here as I really try not to spoil movies for people but I walked away shaking my head in disgust. If this was Kurt Wimmer's original ending he has completely lost touch with reality or the ability to craft anything more cunning than a chew toy. It looks like the movie got to a few focus groups who didn't like the ending and wham, Hollywood has to come up with some hack second string writer at the last minute to pull someone else's last minute banana peel from the trash. This is one of those movies that people will be talking about for a few weeks, and I will be watching what the sheep think. I'm going to shut up now as I have a feeling that when said sheep mention this movie it will just stoke the fires of the bitter, bitter anger fuel that burn inside this law abiding citizen.

WTF Trailer Watching Update

So, I just got done with a marathon gaming weekend and was showing a buddy of mine a trailer for Avatar. Abouce once a month or so I like to hit the trailer sites and see what's coming that I need to watch out for. The last time that I went trailer watching the only movie to catch my eye was Daybreakers. Fast forward three months and I go looking.... and this time I see.... NO New Sci Fi Trailers. Horror - check. Drama - Double Check. Romantic Dramedy - Too Many to count. Chic Flix by the dozens. In fact, going back on comingsoon.net, the last NEW trailer for a Sci Fi movie I haven't heard of dated back to..... and August 24th posting of Christopher (Dark Knight) Nolan's "Inception" which is merely a teaser.

Looks like I will be staying home a lot in the coming months....

Zombieland (Review)

What I knew going in:
Woody Harrelson in a Zombie Comedy.

Hype:
Meh+ If you don't know by now that this is right up my alley you're new to my blog.

Opening Thoughts:
Funny. Funny. More Funny. Me as a hero. It even has all the gore and blood and guts a zombie movie should have.

Bottom Line:
Rule #57: Go see good movies in the theater. Its the American version of Shaun of the Dead. Only better. I'm not feeling real witty or verbose tonight.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1156398/

The Fast Track

Pandorum: Space Zombies and a surprise ending. See it.
9: A poorly formed story and 75 minutes of Meh. Pass.
District 9: Best film of the summer. Go Now.
Gamer: A nice musical number non withstanding a complete pile of Blech.
Whiteout: A by the numbers murder mystery. Not bad but slow.
Taking of Pelham 1-2-3: Travola plus Densel equals decent acting that tries to cover up the plot.
Battle for Terra: Good animated kids storytelling. Even my niece liked it.
Angels and Demons: Good Book. Decent Movie.
Night at the Museum 2: Typical Sequel Crapola.

I watched Star Trek like 5 more times and can't wait for the MMO.

Surrogates (Review)

What I knew going in:
Bruce Willis in Sci Fi Action Flick based on the graphic novel of the same name.

Hype:
Meh+ I thought the movie had potential but you can never tell from a trailer.

Opening Thoughts:
Nice effects in the opening few sequences. The surrogates are appropriately plastic and the whole world has kind of an unreal feel to it. But the plot seems to have the same sort of plasticly granular flavor thats making it not go down so well. I wonder if the director had anything to do with I, Robot because the movies have a real similar feel.

Bottom Line:
Well checking up on it in fact the director, Johnathan Mostow, of U571 and Terminator 3 - Rise of the Machines fame had... absolutely nothing to do with I, Robot. So score one for the mysteries of the universe. Anyway, Surrogates is above average overall, say worth a matinee but that's as far as it goes. The plot has no real surprises to it that you won't see coming, the acting isn't special, and the pacing needs work. So you either like dystopian Hard Sci-Fi or not. Next up: The Express Lane version of the last 6 weeks worth of movies in 10 lines or less.... followed by a review of Zombieland.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0986263/