Centurion

So I am definitely smitten with actor Michael Fassbender; and when I saw this movie in my que, I thought "what the heck" and decided to watch it for my blog.  It is truly an action only movie and reminded me of one of my husband's favorite movies, "Gladiator."  However, what was so very successful in "Gladiator" was the rich story behind Russell Crowe's character of Maximus.  In "Centurion," you do not get such a rich history or a true development of characters.


In part, the film surrounds the story of the Roman Empire's attempt to conquer the rough and cruel terrain of Britain, focusing on one man's experience Fassbender's character Quintus Dias.  The Roman's battle with the Picts (the native residents of Britain who will fight to the death to keep their land) and the downfall that surrounds it.  Quintus is the hero of the film and his main task is to ensure that the remaining soldiers return home after losing a battle with the Picts. 


Will they survive and make it back to Rome? Or will the Picts hunt them down and finish them off?


It was an entertaining movie, and if you happen to see it coming on television, then watch it.

I give it a 6 out of 10.

Next up is the movie "Bridesmaids." 

Game Change

This is movie is an HBO production starring Julianne Moore, Ed Harris and Woody Harrelson depicting events surrounding the selection of Sarah Palin as Republican Vice Presidential hopeful alongside Senator John McCain.  The performances are stellar and truly gives you an insider peek at politics on the national level.  The story picks up just as John McCain calls for  advice from Steve Schmidt and further requesting him to join the campaign to help him win the Presidency.  Schmidt becomes a part of the team and they have to face their biggest challenge of the campaign, how to deal with dynamo Barack Obama.


Schmidt believes the only way to truly outshine Obama and to gain bigger numbers is to bring in the right candidate to stand by McCain as the future Vice President.  Enter Sarah Palin.  It seems that the McCain campaign staffers go through a variety of scenarios of possible McCain running mates and decide that it should be a woman (to gain more votes from women voters).  McCain is somewhat hesitant because he truly wanted Joe Lieberman to really push his bipartisan beliefs, however his campaigners feel this would be a disaster. So they search for potential female counterparts and come across Governor Sarah Palin, her resume and popularity in her home state of Alaska impresses McCain and his team.  They do an interview and she is in.


Where problems pop up along the way is that the interview was not thorough enough and her true inexperience, particularly on the national and international stage.  The movie shows her in essence being tutored and groomed to showcase well on the national stage.  And as her popularity grows in the Republican party and throughout the nation, you slowly see the stars grow in her eyes and the desire to always be in the forefront of national politics. 


Julianne Moore's portrayal of Sarah Palin is dead on right down to the accent and appearance.  I was also impressed with Harrelson's, Harris', and Sarah Paulson's performances in the movie.


So if you have HBO, I would definitely suggest watching when you get the opportunity.

I give this movie a 7 out of 10.

Up next is the British Film "Centurion."

Friends With Benefits

I so liked this movie... it was truly entertaining and exceeded my expectations.  It is very rare that I really and truly like romantic comedies, rom-coms, or chick flicks as this genre is so often referred to.  But this one is pretty good.  There are only a handful out there that I can actually watch over and over again, one of them being "You've Got Mail," (I so adore that movie).  Anyhow, this one was a little fresh and original.  It is truly the tale that raises the questions can friends become intimate and remain friends, is that truly the best idea to move a a relationship out of the friend category and turn it into something else? This movie tackles this question.


Meet Dylan Harper (Justin Timberlake), a young creative, whom is pursued for a potential job at GQ by headhunter Jamie Rellis (Mila Kunis).  Her main goal is to convince him to move to New York from Los Angeles to take a Art Director position at the magazine.  She tries to seal the deal with showing him all there is to love about the city of New York.  She does her job and he is convinced to take the new position.  But Dylan is without a support system and friends and immediately Jamie fills the void.  She becomes his confidant and support system as he grows in his position and adjusts to the city of New York.


Here's when things get a little sticky, they both just ended relationships because they are both considered "damaged" and not necessarily looking to begin a new relationship with anyone else, but they both admit to missing sex.  They make a pact and decide to enter a purely physical and sexual relationship to fill their need and maintain their friendship so things do not get complicated.  But the question is this, it is already complicated, right?  So how do they make out? Well it is a romantic comedy which means there is some sort of predictability in this genre, so I will leave that to your imagination.


There are some laughs, some tender moments, and all highlighted with a great supporting cast including, Woody Harrelson, Patricia Clarkson, Richard Jenkins, Jenna Elfman, Andy Samberg, and Emma Stone.  


If you like romantic comedies, it is one of those must sees.

I give it an 8 out of 10.

Next up is HBO movie "Game Change."

The Social Network

I have been wanting to watch this film for a while, but just got around to seeing it.  Now that I have been blogging about various films, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to watch it.  Being that this movie is based on an actual person and moments in time, I can not say how accurate it is because I simply was not there.  So understanding that point, I began to watch.  My first hesitation watching the movie is that I felt it might drag and be just a little slow.  I was pleasantly surprised that due to the great acting of the cast, I was able to truly enjoy the movie for what it was, a movie.  I took out the notion that this movie was based on facts and events surrounding the creation of Facebook.  It was just great to see how a simple idea can truly turn into the next phenomenon.


The true lesson behind the movie, is that no matter what you have to always remember who your true friends are and that sometimes you should not enter a working relationship with your friends. I also learned what has become somewhat obvious about extremely driven, talented and smart people... they can be jerks (just look at the book written about the late Steve Jobs).  However, I think that it is a necessary trait to protect yourself.


The movie itself follows Mark Zuckerberg as he comes up with the idea of Facebook (this is not to say that he didn't have help with coming up with the idea) and the people who have contributed to it's success in some shape or form.  It also is based on the two lawsuits filed against Zuckerberg.  So in the midst of mediation you get the back story behind Facebook and learn about all the men involved in Facebook.


It is a great film and worth the two hours you spend watching it.

I give it a 9 out of 10.

Next up is "Friends With Benefits."

X-Men: First Class

This movie was awesome and exceeded all of my expectations.  I have seen all of the X-Men movies and truly felt that the first movie that was released in the series was the best.  It was the introduction of Hugh Jackman to American audiences, what I also liked about the X-Men series was that it was not full of Hollywood heavy hitters.  These are actors that are so popular that you don't see the character, you see the actor.  The same is true with this movie, the movie is heavy with great actors and actresses, some you do meet for the first time.  Their Hollywood persona does not interfere at all with the characters that they portray.  


This movie is a prequel and it shows a young Professor X and Magneto, along with Mystique (who we find out grew up with Professor X).  We also see the friendship between Professor X and Magneto that had been eluded to in the previous films.  You meet several other mutants, pretty cool characters, including Sebastian Shaw who is played by Kevin Bacon (I didn't even know that he was in the movie).  I truly enjoyed the film.  The plot is based around the cold war between the United States and Russia and climaxes with the Cuban Missile Crisis.  During this known and factual history, the world is first introduced to mutants.  Mutants have existed for some time and most have kept to themselves believing that they were the only "freaks" that could possibly be.  The biggest issue between them and a constant theme with all of the movies is to be accepted for who they are by the human race.  This is an actual life lesson that far out reaches in reality for today's world.


The movie is full of action and the story line is great.  I truly enjoyed this movie and recommend watching the movie... you could even have a popcorn night for this flick.  It is pretty good.

I give it an 8 out of 10.

Next up is "The Social Network."

Hanna

I was initially attracted to this movie because the previews drew me in and the movie starred Cate Blanchett, of whom I am a fan.  It is a thriller and the story is written around the title character of Hanna, innocently portrayed by Saoirse Ronan.  This young actress does capture the strength and naivete of Hanna.  She is raised in the artic forest by her father Erik (Eric Bana) and trained to be an elite fighting machine.  He teaches her the principle of adapt or die; and it becomes apparent that her main mission is to eliminate CIA agent Marissa (Blanchett).  It is up to Hanna to decide she is ready to take this on, because as Erik explains to her that Marissa will try to kill her no matter what.  Her decision comes in the form of activating a beacon.  Once Hanna hits the switch, the mystery and thrill begins.  


The plot is pretty simple, I enjoyed the movie because it was slightly different from other movies that share this genre because it utilized the young girl as a effective and determined killing machine.  You feel for her because she is naive and has not experience the world as most of us know it.  So I would recommend watching the movie if you happen to see it on.  The ending is predictable and that is the one thing that I despise about movies.... particularly in this genre.

I give it a 6 out of 10.

Next up is the action movie "X-Men: First Class."

Paul

I knew that the premise behind this movie was a comedy about a not so alien like alien; and I did not anticipate that the movie would actually be funny.  This is the creation from the minds that brought us "Shaun of the Dead" which I thought was absolutely hilarious.  The mind of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who both actually star in the movie as the leads.  They play two nerdy, British Sci-Fi fanatics attending Comic Con and travelling across America to see notorious alien hot spots. These two best pals, Graeme (Pegg) and Clive (Frost), actually meet a true alien named Paul (voice of Seth Rogen) who needs their help to get back home.  What do they do? They help him of course.  


It is a hilarious journey, simply because the character of Paul is not your stereotypical alien, he is crass, curses at the drop of a dime, and smokes a little weed from time to time.  Paul is definitely the most colorful character of the movie, but there are plenty more characters to go around and you will have fun meeting them all. This is not a movie for the kids, just the adults in the house.  When you have the chance to watch it, go ahead, you can even put it on the DVR if you'd like to watch it at your leisure.  


I also like to apologize for the long pause between my reviews, I caught the beloved flu.

I give this movie 7 out of 10.

Next up the thriller "Hanna."

30 Days of Night: Dark Days

One thing to know about me....  I am a big fan of the vampire genre... books, movies, TV shows.  There is just something about the genre that I have been drawn to, since watching Vincent Price movies on the Saturday afternoon matinees with Son of Svengoolie (if you are a Chicagoan you know what I am talking about).  I also love a good horror movie, which most vampire movies fall into.  I saw the original 30 Days of Night and I thought it was a good take on the genre as a whole.  I kept thinking to myself, yes... why didn't anyone think of the days without sun in the lovely state of Alaska.  It was a perfect scenario.


30 Days of Night: Dark Days follows where the first movie ends.  Stella says goodbye to her beloved husband Eben and begins traveling around the country trying to expose what truly happened in her town of Barrow, Alaska.  She is trying to expose the cover up that is  apparently going on. She gives lectures and in one particular lecture, she explains how it was an invasion of vampires that devastated her town, not anything else.  The audience laughs and being ever prepared, she announces that she is positive that there are vampires in the audience and she has set up strong UV lights (that are equivalent to the sun) within the auditorium.  She turns them on and several vampires burn and burst to a crisp.  


She is quickly met up with the authorities (the FBI) and after her release, comes into contact with three strangers whom say they were sent by Dane.  Dane has been Stella's contact with the apparent location of more vampires.  The threesome try to convince Stella to help them fight along with Dane this new haven of vampires.


Will Stella cooperate? Does she fight to defend the honor of her fallen husband, Eben and seek revenge for her beloved Alaskan town.  There is lots of blood and mayhem, mistrust and bad decisions, questions and no answers.  It was decent, but at the close of the movie  there is a scene that defies logic, just stupid.  I will leave it at that, especially if you are a fan of horror and vampire movies.  Watch and see if you agree.

I give it a 5 out of 10.

Next up is the sci-fi comedy "Paul."

Anamorph

So.... this was supposed to be a discussion about the movie "Copycat" from 1995, however, I was unable to finish watching the film because it had expired on my lovely app.  So I had to choose another movie.  I tried to find something with a similar theme and came across "Anamorph" starring Willem Dafoe and Scott Speedman that was released in 2007.


The premise behind the movie surrounds a cop, Stan Aubray (Dafoe) who solved a serial killing spree by shooting the main suspect.  A few years later, another murder occurs that is eerily similar to the previous murders.  It sends Aubray in somewhat of a tailspin as he begins to doubt if he was successful in ending the previous spree.  Or is this the work of a copycat? Aubray has changed himself, for the last murder of the serial killer, had a personal connection.  He has become more subdued and suffers from a serious case of OCD.  More murders occur drawing Aubray in closer to the killer and he now, reluctantly, works with a colleague Carl Uffner (Scott Speedman).  They are left very artistic clues as they begin to piece the murders together based on the painting technique of Anamorphosis.


The movie seems to move pretty slow, but I did enjoy it because I was constantly trying to guess who the killer was.... it was far from obvious.  The use of art within the murders was also pretty neat to me as well.  Dafoe is pretty effective portraying a cop on the brink of insanity and suffering from a lot of pain.  It is a movie that if you happen to catch that it is playing, then you'd sit and watch it.  The only thing that I did not enjoy, was that it ended with some loose ends.  There were also characters that you were introduced to that were not developed enough and there were other characters that had such a rich personality that you wanted to know more about them.

I give it a 6 out of 10.

Next up is my first horror flick "30 Days of Night: Dark Days" ... love my vampire movies and I liked the original.