A Summer When the Bullets Flew

TOTAL RECALL

SCI-FI/ACTION 

                Actor Colin Farrell should be called   “The Remake Kid”,   last year he did Fright Night now this.  He is too talented  yet  he was good in this remake.  He plays a factory worker Douglas Quaid he has a beautiful wife Lori (Kate Beckinsale Underworld series) but he has bad dreams and when he goes to Total Recall his memory is jarred and finds out he is really an agent – not fantasy!!  People will debate which is better. 

This one has better special effects and it is very serious.  The best thing about the film is Beckinsale, she is one bad-ass chick!  Sharon Stone was the evil wife  in the 80’s  movie  but she is nothing compared to Beckinsale.!!!  She would go against her superior just to kill Quaid!!  She is Bond girl that NEVER was a Bond girl!!  If you are patient wait for video but if you didn’t like the 80’s flick –go!

THE EXPENDABLES 2

ACTION

                ACTION HOUNDS REJOICE!!!! This is the movie you have been waiting for!!!  The gang from the last film is back plus Norris and the evil Van Damme.  Plot and acting not important but bloodshed and funny one-liners are.  I liked the first film but this one is just AMAZING!! The review is quick so you can get out of your house and go!!!

BOURNE LEGACY

ACTION/THRILLER

                The Bourne series continues with Jeremy Renner as Aaron Cross who is in a special black ops unit Operation Outcome who uses enhancer drugs to complete missions..  Soon the government wants them ALL dead and you know who survives as the few people who know about Jason Bourne go to trial.  The film is quite good, acting very good and action sensational. There is a lot going on so if you can wait see it on video so you sort it all out.

The Dark Summer Cinema Rises

MAGIC MIKE

COMEDY/DRAMA

                When you think of strippers it is usually about women but not the case with this film.  If the movie was like the trailer it would have been great.  The story is about Mike (Channing Tatum, Dear John, GI Joe) an aging exotic male dancer who wants to do more than strip.  He takes an aimless young man under his wing Adam (Alex Pettyer I am Number Four, In Time) under his wing and his sister Brooke (Cody Horn) has a problem with her brother’s new life style. Mike likes her probably she sees him as a real human being, not a sex object. She wasn’t that good and neither was Olivia Munn as a woman who treated him as a booty call.

I usually want a lot of drama but because it is summer and the subject matter I wanted much man flesh, sleaziness a dash of romance and happy ending.  It happens but not the way I liked. Mostly white guys take off their clothes no black dancers and one Latino. Ex-wrestler Kevin Nash is one of the strippers but I don’t know why!! This is a chick flick because no straight man would see it.  It is a girl night out movie and will do even better on video so you can repeat!!

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

ACTION/DRAMA

                First, don’t let the tragedy in Aurora Colorado stop you from going to see the best superhero film of the year!! Eight years Batman (Christian Bale) stopped being the Dark Knight until the terrorist Bane (Tom Hardy) and Selina (Anne Hathaway) come to Gotham.  The plot is more complex than that but the movie is amazing!!  The writing, acting and directing is wonderful.

Anne Hathaway is surprisingly good as Selina, a cat burglar.  She has come a long way from Princess Diaries. The picture is played very seriously and so realistic it’s depressing!!  The film is two hours and forty-five minutes along with trailers so empty your bladder before going.  My only complaint is Bane didn’t sound like Sean Connery and Darth Vader and look like Tom Brady.  Bane is LATINO!!!  A Latino actor could have become an overnight sensation in this blockbuster!!

SAVAGES

CRIME DRAMA

                I don’t know why they placed this movie in the summer.  It is a very adult, very violent story about the best pot producers Chon (Taylor Kitsch John Carter, Battleship) and Aaron Johnson and they share Ophelia (Blake Lively).  Their world crumbles as a Mexican cartel led by Elena (Salma Hayek) kidnaps Ophelia for them to comply.  The film should have been called Anti-Heroes for no one really is the good guy or gal. 

The most complex character is Elena.  She deserves a prequel to find out about how she became the head of a cartel –not by choice.  Lado (Benicio Del Toro) Elena’s enforcer is crazed, corrupt and frightening fascinating.  All the actors did the movie to work with Oliver Stone, the guy who directed Scarface with Al Pacino.  It will do better on video.