In The Name Of The King

What do you get when you have a cast filled with numerous celebrities from Burt Reynolds, Jason Statham, Leelee Sobieski, Ron Perlman, Claire Forlani and Ray Liotta?  A bunch of folks who needed a job.  This film is a typical medieval fantasy film based on the classic tale of good versus evil with a little magic thrown in.  Burt Reynolds is horribly unbelievable as a king, but Ray Liotta still shines as a nutty bad guy, this time a nutty warlock Maji. I have nothing left to say about it....

I give it a 2 out of 10.

Next up is "Fright Night."

The Guard

This is a delicious comedy starring Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle.  I have been a fan of Brendan Gleeson since his performance in "Lake Placid" as the dry witted and overly sarcastic Sheriff.  In "The Guard" he also plays a law enforcement officer.  This time however, he is a crass, bitter, funny, tired, in your face and often offensive.  He plays Sergeant Gerry Boyle in the Irish Garda (police force) and comes across a transferred employee and a dead body.  Unaware of what the crime is truly indicative of, he heads off to Dublin to get apprised of a rather large drug shipment arriving somewhere in the area.  To try and capture these international criminals, the United States FBI have become involved and agent Wendell Everett is in charge.  After a rather bumpy interaction between Boyle and Everett, them team up once the connection is made to the death in Boyle's jurisdiction.  Boyle struggles with loneliness, a dying mother, a taste for prostitutes and his duties as an officer.  All in all, he is truly good guy or as Everett tells him "you are either incredibly stupid or incredibly smart."


Phenomenal performances across the board, it was a true delight to watch and I strongly encourage if you have a chance, sit down and enjoy it.

I give it a 9 out of 10.

Next up is "In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale."

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted

Such a cute little movie.... pretty funny too, especially according to my children.  Here we see the quartet on a mission to head back home to their beloved New York City.  They are still in Africa awaiting the penguins and monkeys return.  Unbeknownst to them, the penguins and the monkeys are gambling themselves rich in the South of France.  Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman decide to go to the South of France and get them moving on heading back to New York City.  Of course, King Julien, Maurice and Mort are in tow as well.  Being chased by France's Animal Control lead by a vicious and overzealous Captain Chantel DuBois, whose one mission is to have the head of a lion on her wall; all of the animals hitch a ride with a failing European circus.  Then the real adventures begin.  You meet a whole new gang of characters in this rip-roaring third installment in the Madagascar series.

I give it an 8 out of 10.

Next up is "The Guard."

My Future Boyfriend

A made for TV movie, thought since I was in the mood for romance, I'd give this one a whirl.  Wish I didn't.  Anyway, this movie begins with Pax played by Barry Watson (I won't even elaborate on his true name) making a discovery a thousand years into the future.  A romance novel and a wad of cash.  After reading bits of the novel he becomes curious as to what "love" is and "passion."  He uses a time machine to travel back to the meet the author of the book that he is now enthralled with.  


Traveling back he meets the author Elizabeth Barrett (Sara Rue) and of course, they fall for each other.  Although his naivete is cute sometimes, it did not help the movie at all.  Guess I was truly looking for more of that passion that was referred to in the book to shine in the movie.  

I give it a 3 out of 10.

Next up is "Madagascar 3."

Sexting a.k.a. Textuality

So it looks as if this movie has two names, according to my movie que with Comcast it is listed as "Sexting," and according to IMDb it is called "Textuality."  Anyhoo... this movie is based on how communicating with the opposite sex has changed in the modern age.  Long ago from actually coming to visit or placing a phone call to someone you are interested in, you are bombarded with smartphones and Facebook statuses.  Jason Lewis plays Breslin, a financial advisor who recently was left standing at the alter alone and now a major player juggling the affections of three women.  Meet Simone played by Carly Pope, a free spirit, blogger and artist who is also juggling three men and a fourth that she sees as her soul mate.  Breslin and Simone crash into each other, literally, and sparks fly.  Both deciding to eliminate all the extras in their lives.  But how can love truly play out in this modern world?


The fact that the movie has two names, should give you a hint of the "watchability" of this film.  

I give it a 3 out of 10.

Next up is "My Future Ex-Boyfriend."

Texas Killing Fields

This mystery is based loosely on true facts surrounding a murder spree in Texas.  The story opens with two detectives called to the site of a murder in Texas City, Texas.  Detective Brian Heigh (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Detective Mike Souder (Sam Worthington) discover that the body of this young girl is somehow connected the disappearance of another young woman whose car lies on the outskirts of the Texas fields, an area that happens to lie outside Heigh's and Souder's jurisdiction but also happens to be the area that Souder's ex-wife Detective Pam Stall works.  She calls to Brian for additional help, but meets resistance from Souder because he truly believes that their case has no correlation to the other. 


Throw into the mix a troubled young girl played by Chloe Grace Moretz and you have a interesting scenario.  The movie was pretty good, but they did drop the ball on one scenario.  When you have multiple story lines running in a film, you have to make certain that you finish them out.  In this film they leave you hanging with one scenario.

I give it a 7 out of 10.

Next up is "Sexting."

TiMER

This quirky romantic comedy is about a new found way to find love in the modern world.  Just imagine if there was a device that could pinpoint the exact moment and person that you would spend the rest of your life with.  Would you buy it?  Meet the TiMER, an electronic device that is literally impaled into your wrist and counts down the days, hours, and minutes until you meet "the one."  When you make eye contact with your destined love one, the device chirps.


Meet Oona (Emma Caufield) and her step-sister Steph (Michelle Borth).  They each had the device put on their wrist at the age of consent, 14 (just when puberty begins to peak).  Oona's Timer reads blank because her "one' has yet to purchase a timer and Steph's Timer reads 14 years into the future.  So for them, they personally feel screwed by the entire process.  So much so that Oona becomes obsessed with finding the one and making sure that each person she dates, she subsequently takes to the TiMER store to have one implanted.  Steph is the opposite.  She knows that she will meet the "one" in her future, but chooses to fill the void of the 14 years she is facing by sleeping with random men.


It is a cute and funny movie that really drums the message that love is the only deciding factor when it comes to meeting your soul mate.

I give it a 7 out of 10.

Next up is "Texas Killing Fields."

Last Night

"Last Night" is an intimate look into a young marriage over the course of a day.  You get some background information from a party that the lovely couple (portrayed by Keira Knightly and Sam Worthington) attends the night before.  Joanna is a writer, currently working the freelance market, but truly hoping to produce book worthy material.  Michael is a young business man who has to travel over the next couple of days for work.  At the party they attended together it becomes obvious to Joanna that Michael is attracted to fellow and new coworker Laura (Eva Mendes).  Joanna confronts Michael with her intuition and an argument ensues.  He admits that his coworker is attracted to him, but nothing has ever happened as a result.  Joanna humbly acknowledges that she truly does not have anything to worry about when it comes to her husband.  Or does she?


During their time apart, Joanna runs into a previous love, Alex (Guillaume Canet).  Alex is a French writer that she met during her time spent in France.  She has never told her husband about this relationship and questions why has she kept him a secret?  Is it because she holds out some sort of hope for a future with Alex?  And a simple train ride away, can Michael truly avoid his growing desire for the beautiful Laura?  It is an interesting and dramatic look at the complexities of relationships.

I give it a 7 out of 10.

Next up is "TiMER."

Taking Lives

This thriller stars Angelina Jolie, Ethan Hawke, Kiefer Sutherland and Oliver Martinez.  FBI profiler Illeana (Jolie) is called in to help Canadian authorities solve a mysterious murder.  A body has been found with the head smashed in and hands chopped off.  While consulting with fellow officers Paquette (Martinez), Duval (Jean-Hugues Anglade) and Leclair (Tcheky Karyo) another homicide victim surfaces, this time with a witness. Costa (Hawke) has witnessed a horrible crime.  He is an unwilling participant in a series of events that has allowed Illeana to profile this killer as one who takes on the lives of his victims.  Living their life, paying their taxes, their rent and other daily activities until he is bored and ready to move on to the next life.


Illeana has assessed most of this information based on a brief meeting with the mother of the potential suspect. After meeting Costa during the initial police interview, she grows fond of her one and only witness.  Will this fondness cloud her judgment as she tries to capture the suspected murderer?

I give it a 7 out of 10.

Next up is "Last Night."

Perfect Creature

As a true fan of vampire lore, I try to find different movies covering the topic.  I believe the last one I blogged about was the second "30 Days of Night" and this film also offered a different perspective.  The preset behind the movie was a world were vampires are given a religious priest-like role in the world.  The have lived peacefully alongside humans for 300 years when they first started to appear in the world due to a genetic abnormality.  They created "The Brotherhood" because they are genetically superior and served (as previously mentioned) as some sort of priests.  They did not kill humans and humans have a high regard for this "Brotherhood." 


Then one goes rogue, he has a master plan for the human race and begins to kill humans by draining them of their blood.  Teaming up with the police, one of the Brothers is determined to bring him in before any more bloodshed occurs.  It was a pretty interesting perspective.

I give it a 6 out of 10.

Next up is "Taking Lives."

Hemingway and Gellhorn

This HBO film takes a glimpse at the love affair turned into marriage between Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn.  It was more of a focus on Gellhorn's point of view and the events that had taken place during their time together.  The film is her recollection of events during a television interview.  It was obvious that their relationship was rocky and remained tumultuous.  They truly fell in love with one another during the Spanish Civil War, which she became the inspiration behind his novel "For Whom The Bell Tolls."


The most impressive character of this movie, was not actually a true character.  It is the backdrop of the film, the war footage and the creative style of how they shot the film.  The characters would appear from an old photo or film clip.  They used choppy and scratchy techniques to give the movie age and some authenticity.  


Overall, I did find it to be a "blah" film and if you are a Hemingway fan, you might enjoy this glimpse into his life.

I give it a 5 out of 10.

Next up is "Perfect Creature."

Anonymous

Though I am a true believer that Shakespeare is the true author of all his writings, this movie does pose an interesting perspective to an ongoing debate in the the literary world.  Did William Shakespeare truly write all of the classics that we know and love him for? And if he did not author them, who did write them?  The movie tells you that the responsible author is Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford who put pen to ink and produced Macbeth, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet and so on.


The Earl of Oxford was taken with poetry and acting at a young age, first performing for Queen Elizabeth and charming her.  As a young man, he bedded the Queen impregnating her and producing a son, the Earl of South Hampton.  However, his irresponsible behavior was frowned upon by his guardian William Cecil, a Puritan and adviser to the Queen.  He convinces Edward to marry his daughter to secure his place and to discontinue this writing of his. What you eventually find out is that he has ceased to write and found a way to introduce his plays to the public.  He convinces playwright Ben Johnson to submit his works, but Johnson has a conscious of the heart and can not take on the task.  Seeing the success of these plays William Shakespeare introduces himself to the public as the author and becomes an instant success.


The subplot to the movie is the apparent rivalry between William Cecil's son, Robert and Edward.  Both trying to use their connection to the throne to ensure the proper succession after Elizabeth.


It is an intriguing perspective and there are some twists and unique piecing of history to weave the story as a plausible one.

I give it a 7 out of 10.

Next up is "Hemingway and Gellhorn."

The Ghost Writer

In this thriller, Ewan McGregor portrays "the Ghost" hired to finish a novel detailing the life story of the former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan).  The previous ghost writer died under mysterious circumstances and the publishing company needs to fill his shoes quickly in order to meet their deadline.  The Ghost Writer (McGregor) is hesitant about taking on the task because he does not truly delve into politics, but those who have hired him feel that it is because of this that makes him ideal for the job.


Overwhelmed by the security and secrecy surrounding Prime Minister Lang, he begins his job trying to patch a wonderful story and produce a best selling piece of work.  Two days into the job, Lang is hit with a scandal that will undoubtedly end his political career.  The ghost writer gets reluctantly gets involved drafting statements to the press.  He is also intrigued by the details regarding his predecessor's death.  What he finds and begins to uncover will truly challenge his loyalty to his client.  I can't give away any more... but the end will truly surprise you and I recommend watching the movie.  A true thriller.

I give it an 8 out of 10.

Next up is "Anonymous."