Jun 20, 2011
(rated R)
In a remake of the British cult classic “Get Carter” Sylvester Stallone plays Jack Carter, a Vegas mobster who comes home to Seattle to bury his brother, after an apparent car accident. Once home he begins to believe that it may not have been “accidental.” His two-day journey through the underbelly of the city, leads Jack through revenge, reconnection with a family he left behind many years earlier, and ultimately, redemption. Miranda Richardson “Sleepy Hollow” as Carter’s widowed sister-in-law, with Michael Caine as Cliff Brumby, owner of the club that Carter’s brother managed. Mickey Rourke does an excellent job in a role carved for him, as Cyrus Paice, a mobster with ties to Carter and his family. While the acting is all well cast and delivered, it is Stallone who fails as a white lazy-voiced Shaft-type, attempting to revamp his career a la “Pulp Fiction.” The stories flavor is reminiscent of last year’s Boston based “Southie” starring Donnie Wahlberg, as a young inner city punk returning home to a family funeral. But, this one is pretty bad. Translation: producer Elie Samaha drove Travolta’s “Battlefield Earth” into the ground too.
Jun 20, 2011
(rated R, 102 mins.)
If the story’s ongoing slow and quiet opening of two men cruising in a car through the middle of a dessert during our watch-glancing minutes-on-end, is any indication of how the movie will play out, then they’ve done a good job. Two close friends both go by the nickname “Gerry” (Matt Damon and Casey Affleck) drive through a wilderness trail for an afternoon hike that turns into a lost nightmare of dessert mirages, Mother Nature nightmares and buddy bonding desperation. But don’t get too excited, it’s a lame, slow, almost speechless version of this premise that kills it. Director Gus Van Sant re-teams with Matt Damon post “Good Will Hunting” to his independent directing roots. This movie is so bad, J Lo finally did something right by keeping Ben home. But did Ben Affleck phone baby brother Casey and say “hey, wanna ruin your career?”
Jun 20, 2011
From the land of fruits and nuts (California) comes seventeen year old Rachel, sent to visit her Grandma (Jane Fonda) in the land of the potato (Idaho). Her mother Lilly (Felicity Huffman) hopes Grandma can straighten an uncontrollable Rachel with some of “Georgia’s rules.” The moment Rachel arrives, all hell breaks lose from seducing the innocent Mormon hunk Harlan (Garrett Hedlund) to hitting on the cute local Veterinarian (Dermot Mulroney) who happens to be her mother’s ex beau. But something else happens to. A devastating secret is revealed that could destroy them all and at the same time, save them. Undoubtedly a chick-flick, this movie goes way beyond pushing limits than just a few tissue-wiped teary eyes. From director Garry “Pretty Woman” Marshall, this movie has some serious side notes. And while Lohan’s character mirrors her real life persona – she was put into rehab because of her behavior off the set – it is her best performance to date, showing her wide range of youthful innocence to young woman. Two and a half tiaras.
Jun 20, 2011
Ira (Seth Rogen) is trying to be a professional comic. But until that day, Ira does local stand-up, works in a deli and lives with his roommates Leo (Jonah Hill) and Mark (Jason Schwartzman). Schwarzman is the successful one starring in a sitcom that feels very “Welcome Back Kotter.” He also always gets the girls. But when famous comedian George Simmons (Adam Sandler) discovers he has a rare and cancerous blood disease, he decides to test out some dark, new, stand-up material on his old crowd. It’s there that he meets and bonds with Ira and asks him to become his assistant. The job, of course, turns out to be an emotional roller coaster ride that was a little more than Ira had bargained for. The movie focuses on facing your own mortality and making the best of every day of your life – kind of a bucket list of regrets. Sandler’s biggest regret…the girl who got away named Laura (Leslie Mann) who’s now married to Clarke (Eric Bana.) Unlike Judd Apatow’s past written/directed efforts like “Knocked Up,” this time Rogen takes a backseat to his lead to Sandler. One of the funnier scenes involves a cameo/shouting match between Eminem and Ray Romano where Rogen says to Ray, “I thought everybody loved you?” Twenty minutes into the film one thinks “this movie is close to perfect” as Apatow navigates through a fine line of toilet humor and cancer. But then like most Sandler flicks, this one derails about twenty minutes too long in the third act bringing the movie into over two hours, and leaving it one tiara short of perfection. Three tiaras
Jun 20, 2011
rated PG-13, See Dick (Jim Carrey) have a good corporate job. See his wife, Jane (Tea Leoni) work as a travel agent. See their dog bark. See Dick and Jane run when Corporate boss (Alec Baldwin) screws Dick over at the company. See Dick in a pickle. See Dick and Jane rob banks to pay the bills. And so the plot goes. Yet everytime one thinks it might fail, or has reached it’s last ‘high concept’ idea, Carrey manages to carry the movie with his Carrey-esque comedy, body language and silliness. We also believe in good people gone bad, as the writers have managed to paint a picture of “we’ve tried everything else. Time to be bad.” Yet one burning questions crossed my mind as Carrey and Leoni stretch their limits of financial sanity…why not just ask old Uncle Ed or some in-law for a few hundred bucks to get by? Three tiaras
