Hair, Race & Revenge: Late Fall Film Wrap-up

TANGLED
ANIMATED

Disney has done it again!!! It is a fun, entertaining spin on the fairy tale, Rapunzel. Mandy Moore (pop singer) is great as the spunky princess who is trapped in a castle and wants to see the real world. Zachary Levi (TV show Chuck) is good as the prince Flynn Rider, and Donna Murphy as the vain, creepy witch who kidnaps Rapunzel. The movie will make a fantastic Broadway musical. Should you see it? Young girls will love it!!!

NIGHT CATCHES US
DRAMA

This movie has so much going for it, but it has so much going against it as well. The film has the most talented, upcoming black actor and actress in Hollywood Anthony Mackie (Hurt Locker), and Kerry Washington (Fantastic Four, For Color Girls). The director is a black woman, Tanya Hamilton, who took ten years to make it. The rest of the cast is equally good and it is not about drug addicts, pimps or crime---it's REAL, and they are treated like real people.

What it’s got against it, it is not a big budget Hollywood movie, not a comedy, and not a subject average movie fans talks about. The story is about Marcus, who comes back to his home town in 1976. He once belonged to The Black Panthers, and the remaining people left from the group think he snitched on a fellow Panther and was killed by police. Patricia also was a member and her feelings for him complicate things. Should you see it? It is not playing at too many theaters but it is a very good drama. You can also see it on MOVIES ON DEMAND.

FASTER
CRIME DRAMA

ACTION HOUNDS REJOICE!!! Dwayne Johnson is back and bad-ass as ever in this film!!! It is a predictable revenge movie, but Johnson is no wise-cracking guy---he's just angry and ready to kill all the men who killed the brother that he loved. The rest of the cast is good but Johnson shows he can get back in the action genre with no problem. He takes no prisoners. When he gets out of prison he becomes a killing machine!!! I don’t know why this flick is not making money. Last year at Thanksgiving Hollywood gave us ‘Ninja Assassin,’ which was a good action movie but didn’t make any money. I don’t know why Hollywood puts the bloodiest stuff out around the holidays. Should you see it? If you like the Dwayne Johnson and action, yeah, but if not, wait for Blu-ray and DVD.

Sorcerers, Aliens & Villians

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS-PART 1
FANTASY/ACTION ADVENTURE

Movie franchises fade with each installment, but not this series. It seems to improve!!! Not a fan of the Harry Potter franchise, but this one is the darkest yet and best one. It is like a big budget gothic horror movie!! The wizard world and Hogwarts school is ruled by the evil witches now headed by Voldemort (played with seething creepiness by Ralph Fiennes), and Harry (cute Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione(smart Emma Watson) and his great sidekick Ron (Rupert Grint) are in peril. Ron is not so funny in this movie as in the others, but there are some laughs. Professor Minerva McGonagall (great actress Maggie Smith is missing from this movie.) I hope she is in the last one.

The lead trio are on the run, fleeing for their lives to escape Voldemort and the Deatheaters. If you are a fan of the book you know what will happen, and cannot wait but I am watching the movie having not reading any of the novels by J.K .Rowling. You should read any book before the movie so you can see what they kept in, what they left out. So, I am breaking my own law again!! The movie starts out with action, it slows down then picks back up. Action fans may be disappointed, but I hear in Part 2 there will be LOTS of action. Should you see it? If you are a fan, YES!!! If you like the other movies you should see it but be warned it is intense, sad and morbid. TEASE SPOILER: A beloved character in the movie is killed.

SKYLINE
SCI-FI ACTION THRILLER

I read the reviews for this movie and I was reluctant to watch it, but I am so glad that I still went to see it!! It is good!! It is not a great movie and to me it is waaay above a Saturday Syfy movie. It is mix of Cloverfield, War of the Worlds and Independence Day. The cast is a group of people that are unknowns, but you know a few of them Eric Balfour, ( 24, Haven) Donald Faison (Scrubs). The plot is simply a group of friends wake up from a friend’s birthday party and find out there is an alien invasion!! They run, scream and try to survive!!

I heard they are making a sequel and if you see the movie you'll know there MUST be a continuation of the movie!!! Acting is not good but it's not important, and the story, the same way. Special effects, very good. Should you see it in the movie? NO. See it on Blu Ray or DVD. It is a great thriller filler.

MEGAMIND
ANIMATED

This feature animated movie is very good but it is different. Megamind (Will Ferrell) is an inept villain who is constantly kidnapping Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey) for Metro Man (Brad Pitt) the hero to save the day. One day he actually takes down the superhero then he gets bored for no one can stop him so he creates a hero, Tighten (Jonah Hill) who really isn’t that good. The 3D is just great and the voices they pick for the movie are just great!!!

Will Ferrell movies I otherwise don’t like too much, but he is perfect here for he is over the top like some villains are. His partner Minion (David Cross) is good as his smarter but neglected servant. I can see why it is making so much money. It is not the typical good vs. bad superhero but it is a wonderful, funny flick.

Colored Girls, Social Nets and the Paranormal

FOR COLORED GIRLS
DRAMA

The movie is based on a play by Ntozake Shang, and the full title is For Colored Girls Who Have Committed Suicide When the Rainbow is Enough. Before you see this movie please be WARNED: There is a vicious rape scene and the black actresses speak though poems--it will sound strange, but stay with it. The story is about black women struggling with jobs, men and their lives.

The actresses include Janet Jackson, (the singer) Loretta Devine(Dreamgirls, play and the movie), Thandie Newton (Mission Impossible 2, Crash), Anika Noni Rose (Dreamgirls, The Frog Prince, Lottery Ticket), Kerry Washington,(Fantastic Four, Mr.& Mrs. Smith, The Last King of Scotland) Phylicia Rashad ( The Cosby Show, Just Wright), Whoopi Goldberg (Ghost, host The View), Kimberly Elise (Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Manchurian Candidate).

ALL of these actresses a reincredible!!!! It is a touching, tragic triumph movie. Director Tyler Perry should be proud of this great work. One bad thing I didn’t like--showing black men at their worst!!! Every man is a dog in this movie, except one!!! If you can deal with that please go--it is rare to see a slew of talented black actress in a movie.

THE SOCIAL NETWORK
DRAMA

Ever wonder how Facebook got started? If so, this is the movie for you. It wasn’t started by that one guy, Harvard junior Mark Zuckerberg, played by Jessie Eisenberg (Zombieland), but by many, yet he took the credit. It began when he loses his girlfriend Erica (Rooney Mara, soon to be in the highly anticipated The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and he is angry and vents out to others online. His only friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield, who will be in Spider-Man Reboot) helps him become a billionaire.

The ‘many’ also include Armie Hammer who plays rich twins and Justin Timberlake as co-founder of Napster Sean Parker. The wheeling and and dealing and betrayal make this interesting, but I don’t know how factual the movie really is. The screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (TV series West Wing) is a good writer and even though the cast are young they are not drop outs, so dialogue should be intelligent and witty. Should you see this movie? Only if you are curious about the subject-–if not wait until video.

PARANOMAL ACTIVITY 2
THRILLER

If you liked the first Paranormal Activity movie you will like this one. If you didn’t see the first one you can still follow the story. It tells about how Katie (Katie Featherston) from the first PA and how evil forces surrounded her. It is a pre-quel and sequel. Her sister moves in several months before with her family and her newborn, Hunter in 2006. They think they are a victim of a break-in and they put cameras in the house. The movie is slow like the first but it has scary moments. Gore hounds this movie is not for you. People die, but not in a bloody way. The cast is very good for they are not stars yet, which gives that feeling that they are real people. Should you see it? Not if you like slasher movies, which this is not. It is scarier because you don’t see much--not a body count film.

Early Fall 2010 Wrap-up

WALLSTREET 2: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS
DRAMA

The best villain in the 80’s was businessman Gordon Gekko, played Michael Douglas who won an Oscar. He is back playing Gordon, only broke. He writes a book titled “Is Greed Good?” and finds out that his only daughter Winnie (Carey Mulligan) is dating a trader Jake (Shia LaBeouf--NOT my favorite actor). There is also another villain named Bretton Jones (Josh Brolin), a fund manager. There is a lot of double dealing, love and revenge in this movie, yet I couldn’t get into it like the first one. The two bad guys Douglas and Brolin are great being ruthless, cunning and charming. The trailer was better than the movie to me. Wait until Blu-Ray and DVD.

THE TOWN
CRIME DRAMA

Bank job movies can be very typical, but this movie is NOT. It stars Ben Affleck as Doug MacRay, who was once a good hockey player, but when you are raised by robbers you eventually turn for the worst. He robs banks for a living and doesn’t want to do that last bank job, but villain Fergus (Pete Postlethwaite of Clash of The Titans) forces him to do it. In one of the robberies Claire (played by Rebecca Hall) may have seen the tattoo of friend Jem played great by Jeremy Renner (Hurt Locker) and can ID them. He romances her and then wants to leave with her.

Jon Hamm (Mad Men) is very good as Adam Frawley, a FBI agent determined to bring the criminals down!!! All the performances are good including Blake Lively (Gossip Girl) as Krista. It did great box office and if you watch you can see why. Action and acting--very rare. If you enjoy good acting go to the movies (while it's still there)--if not, video.

RED
ACTION/COMEDY

First of all, you have to believe A LOT in this movie, but that's because it is a summer movie placed in the fall. RED means Retired Extremely Dangerous, and Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) is receiving Social Security but not fulfillment. He meets a girl Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds) who works at Social Security and is bored as hell, and wants Frank’s exciting life. The group, which included Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich (who is just fantastic as the 'Mad Murdock' of the group), and Helen Mirren. The action is very good and so is the dry humor. The cast seems to enjoy themselves in the craziest situations. It is much fun. You have to see it for the cast, who are over forty and fabulous.

The Afterlife Goes 3D

RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE
ACTION/HORROR/SCI-FI

I am only basing my review on the film--not the video game, since MoviePhat doesn’t do video games. I really enjoyed Resident Evil 2: Apocalypse, but the latest addition I didn't like too much. The action sequences are fantastic!!! Milla Jovovich as Alice is a take charge, kick-butt babe. She is the best thing about the series. The villain who can’t die Shawn Roberts (Edge of Darkness) as Albert Wesker is excellent, and Boris Kodjoe, the handsome black guy in the upcoming TV show Undercovers is good as former basketball player, now leader of the survivors in Los Angeles.

The RE4 plot is simply, Alice is searching for survivors and trying to find the ‘promised land’ called Arcadia in Alaska. I just couldn’t get into it, and that is surprising. The 3D doesn’t help or hurt the franchise. If you love the movie series--watch it, but if you don’t want to pay extra for 3D, wait for Blu-ray or DVD. I hear there will be a Resident Evil 5!!!