Posts tagged Movie
Movie Review: Dianna Agron of ‘Glee’ fame stars in ‘I Am Number Four’
Feb 19th
“I Am Number Four” –– is it a biopic of the Boston Bruins’ great Bobby Orr? Is it another sequel to “I Am Number Two,” a thriller about a man with irritable bowel syndrome? Or is it a lame sci-fi flick about an alien teen whose extraordinary powers include extraordinary dullness?
Sadly, the answer is the latter. The film follows the color-by-numbers formula for teen movies: Cast a hunk in the lead, cast a star from a popular television show as the love interest, cast a nerd, cast a jock, cast a babe as a butt-kicker, include syrupy pop songs for moody transition scenes and pile on the angst. Director D.J. Caruso (“Disturbia”) makes sure he doesn’t paint outside the lines.
For most of the film, the girls get to gawk at the hunk, the guys get to gawk at the babe (in brief snippets) and, to break up the tedium, both sexes get to watch violence and explosions with most of the mayhem reserved for the final scene. So if you wake up at the 100-minute mark of this 104-minute fiasco, you won’t miss much action.
The movie is produced by Mr. Bombast himself, Michael Bay, so the pyrotechnics do have that certain cool factor going for them. Note that most of the fights take place at night in order to better mask the computerized effects. The battle between two beasts serves as the film’s highlight. That’s because they have more personality than the humans.
The aforementioned hunk is John Smith (British actor Alex Pettyfer), a teenage alien on Earth –– he’s a Lorien –– who is trying to blend in among humans and hide from other aliens –– they’re Mogadorians –– who want to kill him. They’ve already killed three other Loriens and John is ‘number four.’
The teen is now, apparently, the only person who has the power to defeat the Mogadorians. So if he is killed, the Mogadorians can then turn their attention to destroying earthlings. I say “apparently” because, oh, let’s just say the film has an issue with numbers. If John is not the only one, who cares if he’s killed? Other than John.
Henri (Timothy Olyphant), a Lorien warrior, is assigned to protect John and moves him from place to place to keep him from being detected. John eventually discovers that he has special gifts, including glow-in-the-dark hands. Will he be able to harness his powers in time to defeat the Mogadorians? The suspense will snap your spine.
After settling in Paradise, Ohio, John develops a crush on Sarah (Dianna Agron of “Glee” fame), a camera bug who previously dated the aforementioned jock, Mark (Jake Abel). Think Mark might object to John’s growing fondness of Sarah? Then there’s the aforementioned nerd, Sam (Callan McAuliffe), whom Mark and his buddies bully every chance they get.
But Sam’s not just around as a punching bag. His father, who has mysteriously disappeared, may know a thing or two about all this alien stuff. And don’t forget the babe played by Australian actress Teresa Palmer. She blows up a house and then disappears for most of the film.
You following all this? Now I suppose this hokum could be tolerable if anyone could act or if the writing by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Marti Noxon strayed from banalities. “Number Four” reaches its height of stupidity when a character who had been acting like a jerk throughout the entire movie suddenly acts like a nice guy at the end. Huh?
The film also could have spent more time on the Mogadorians and less time on the romance so that we can learn to hate them more and thus derive more pleasure when they’re, well, punished. They’re more fun than the Loriens, anyway.
These shortcomings aren’t likely to matter at the box office, however, because the film has the benefit of a pre-existing fan base, since it’s based on a popular novel by Pittacus Lore (the pseudonym of Jobie Hughes and James Frey).
Sci-fi fans deserve better, but considering this time period exists as the dumping ground for mediocre movies, it does rate above such crud as “The Dilemma.” And if you really liked this movie, you may get more; the filmmakers have set the stage for a sequel. I wonder what it will be called.
How about “Numb and Number”?
I AM NUMBER FOUR(PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action and some naughty language.) Cast includes Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Dianna Agron and Teresa Palmer. 2 stars out of 4.
From www.wickedlocal.com
Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger make ‘Unknown’ movie premieres an international event
Feb 19th
After Liam Neeson led the pack at the “Unknown” movie premiere in Hollywood on Wednesday, Diane Kruger and Sebastian Koch picked up the torch for the thriller’s screening at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival on Friday in Germany.
German-born Kruger was on the scene in Westwood as well, along with cast members January Jones and Aidan Quinn. Exec producer Susan Downey brought hubby Robert Downey Jr., while Kim Kardashian showed up in a big, white swing coat that in theory could hide any number of pregnancies (see photo No. 7 in this picture gallery, which includes more shots from thge red carpet in L.A.).
Director Jaume Collet-Serra also showed for both events, joined Friday by cast members Karl Markovics, Eva Loebau and Petra Schmidt-Schaller. “Unknown” is being shown out of competition in Berlin.
Neeson found himself back in an action role after his thriller “Taken,” set primarily in Paris, did big box office after its January 2009 release. “Once that happened,” critic Kenneth Turan said in The Times’ “Unknown” movie review, “every Hollywood studio must have scoured the Earth in search of a similar story that would allow Neeson to once again lose his temper and take on the world.”
“Unknown,” which opened Friday in the U.S., is also screening Saturday at the festival in Berlin, the city where the story takes place.
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– Christie D’Zurilla
Photos: Liam Neeson, left, at the “Unknown” movie premiere in Westwood on Feb. 16, 2011, and Diane Kruger, right, launching the film at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival on Feb. 18, 2011. Credits: Jason Merritt / Getty Images, left; Andreas Rentz / Getty Images, right.
From latimesblogs.latimes.com
NBA superstar Kobe Bryant makes movie acting debut
Feb 19th
LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Lakers basketball star Kobe Bryant is making his big-screen acting debut in a short film directed by Robert Rodriguez.
Bryant plays the title character in a six-minute film called “The Black Mamba” that will screen at Los Angeles area movie theaters for six days starting Saturday.
In a partnership between shoemaker Nike and cinema advertising firm Screenvision, the film will be shown ahead of PG13- and R-rated movies at the Chinese, Bruin, Westlake Village and a dozen other theaters.
An insider describes the film as “basically a pitch session between Kobe and director Robert Rodriguez for a collaborative project that’s seemingly an action movie.”
Hip-hop artist Kanye West plays “The Boss” in the movie.
Bryant has appeared as himself in dozens of TV shows and commercials and he played a character named Terry Hightower in the show “Moesha” in 1996, the year he was drafted as an NBA rookie.
From www.calgaryherald.com
I Am Number Four Movie Review
Feb 18th
Sorry, Wrong “Number”
“I Am Number Four” is the latest in a long line of young adult sci-fi/fantasy novels to make it to the big screen. Disguised as a human teen named “John Smith,” the main character is actually one of nine alien refugees who escaped to Earth after the destruction of their home planet. He and the others are scattered throughout the planet in an effort to keep clear of the Mogadorians – a tattooed, pirahna-faced alien race who destroyed their planet.
For reasons that aren’t exactly clear, the “Mogs” are systematically hunting down the teen refugees in order. John, aka “Number Four” (Alex Pettyfer), is next on the hit list. John, like the other aliens, has a guardian to protect and mentor him. John’s guardian, Henri (Timothy Olyphant), poses as John’s father so they can blend in as they move from town to town. But as John begins to exhibit some strange, new powers, it becomes harder and harder to hide.
Relocating to rural Ohio, John’s efforts to keep low profile quickly go awry. He immediately runs afoul of the school QB/bully when he stands up for Sam, the school punching bag (Callan MacAuliffe), drawing the admiration of the bully’s comely ex, Sarah (Dianna Agron of “Glee”). With that, plus his powers emerging in awkward new ways, he’s not exactly blending in. And the Mogs are zeroing in on his location.
Sound a little familiar? The entire film seems third-rate, from the script down to the actors themselves. The screenplay, written in part by “Smallville” scribes Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (with “Buffy” writer Marti Noxon), could easily have been lifted from that show’s reject pile. The dialogue seems cobbled together from soap operas and 80s teen flicks. Should we be surprised that noted plagiarist James Frey is one of the writers going by “Pitticus Lore” – the author of the book?
The actors seem like impersonators of better, more famous actors. Pettyfer is a dead ringer for Ryan Philippe, and though he has mastered the “hard blinking” and “jaw clenching” chapters from Philippe’s playbook, he has none of his charisma or intelligence. Agron’s Mena Suvari looks and pertly-cocked beret can’t detract from the coy mumbling that makes her seem like she’s been playing with Mommy’s Botox needle. Australian actress Teresa Palmer – as the hell-for-leather “Number Six” – is the Naomi Watts clone that rounds out the wax figure triumvirate. Only Timothy Olyphant and Kevin Durand (as the leather-clad leader of the Mogs) ever approach anything that may be called “interesting.”
“I Am Number Four” reads like “Twilight” for the Ed Hardy set: tribal tattoos and popped collars, frosted blondes, hot babes, Ducatis, and plenty of giant slo-mo explosions. It’s hardly surprising – especially considering the pyrotechnics and babe quotient – that Michael Bay serves as the film’s executive producer. But even his influence seems third-hand. Director DJ Caruso can’t really figure out what film he’s making. It’s a hodgepodge of tired cliches and bland, pretty people set to a generically angsty soundtrack. All I can say is, “Hey Mogs, he’s over here!”
From www.bigpicturebigsound.com
Movie Review: Dianna Agron of ‘Glee’ fame stars in ‘I Am Number Four’
Feb 18th
“I Am Number Four” –– is it a biopic of the Boston Bruins’ great Bobby Orr? Is it another sequel to “I Am Number Two,” a thriller about a man with irritable bowel syndrome? Or is it a lame sci-fi flick about an alien teen whose extraordinary powers include extraordinary dullness?
Sadly, the answer is the latter. The film follows the color-by-numbers formula for teen movies: Cast a hunk in the lead, cast a star from a popular television show as the love interest, cast a nerd, cast a jock, cast a babe as a butt-kicker, include syrupy pop songs for moody transition scenes and pile on the angst. Director D.J. Caruso (“Disturbia”) makes sure he doesn’t paint outside the lines.
For most of the film, the girls get to gawk at the hunk, the guys get to gawk at the babe (in brief snippets) and, to break up the tedium, both sexes get to watch violence and explosions with most of the mayhem reserved for the final scene. So if you wake up at the 100-minute mark of this 104-minute fiasco, you won’t miss much action.
The movie is produced by Mr. Bombast himself, Michael Bay, so the pyrotechnics do have that certain cool factor going for them. Note that most of the fights take place at night in order to better mask the computerized effects. The battle between two beasts serves as the film’s highlight. That’s because they have more personality than the humans.
The aforementioned hunk is John Smith (British actor Alex Pettyfer), a teenage alien on Earth –– he’s a Lorien –– who is trying to blend in among humans and hide from other aliens –– they’re Mogadorians –– who want to kill him. They’ve already killed three other Loriens and John is ‘number four.’
The teen is now, apparently, the only person who has the power to defeat the Mogadorians. So if he is killed, the Mogadorians can then turn their attention to destroying earthlings. I say “apparently” because, oh, let’s just say the film has an issue with numbers. If John is not the only one, who cares if he’s killed? Other than John.
Henri (Timothy Olyphant), a Lorien warrior, is assigned to protect John and moves him from place to place to keep him from being detected. John eventually discovers that he has special gifts, including glow-in-the-dark hands. Will he be able to harness his powers in time to defeat the Mogadorians? The suspense will snap your spine.
After settling in Paradise, Ohio, John develops a crush on Sarah (Dianna Agron of “Glee” fame), a camera bug who previously dated the aforementioned jock, Mark (Jake Abel). Think Mark might object to John’s growing fondness of Sarah? Then there’s the aforementioned nerd, Sam (Callan McAuliffe), whom Mark and his buddies bully every chance they get.
But Sam’s not just around as a punching bag. His father, who has mysteriously disappeared, may know a thing or two about all this alien stuff. And don’t forget the babe played by Australian actress Teresa Palmer. She blows up a house and then disappears for most of the film.
You following all this? Now I suppose this hokum could be tolerable if anyone could act or if the writing by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Marti Noxon strayed from banalities. “Number Four” reaches its height of stupidity when a character who had been acting like a jerk throughout the entire movie suddenly acts like a nice guy at the end. Huh?
The film also could have spent more time on the Mogadorians and less time on the romance so that we can learn to hate them more and thus derive more pleasure when they’re, well, punished. They’re more fun than the Loriens, anyway.
These shortcomings aren’t likely to matter at the box office, however, because the film has the benefit of a pre-existing fan base, since it’s based on a popular novel by Pittacus Lore (the pseudonym of Jobie Hughes and James Frey).
Sci-fi fans deserve better, but considering this time period exists as the dumping ground for mediocre movies, it does rate above such crud as “The Dilemma.” And if you really liked this movie, you may get more; the filmmakers have set the stage for a sequel. I wonder what it will be called.
How about “Numb and Number”?
I AM NUMBER FOUR(PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action and some naughty language.) Cast includes Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Dianna Agron and Teresa Palmer. 2 stars out of 4.
From www.wellsvilledaily.com
Liam Neeson plays an action hero in ‘Unknown’: movie review
Feb 18th
Liam Neeson spends just about the entire running time of “Unknown” looking grievously harried. He never cracks a smile, although many bones, his and other people’s, are cracked.
He plays Dr. Martin Harris, a biotech scientist newly arrived in Berlin for an international conference with his shiny blond wife, Elizabeth (January Jones). About to check into their swank hotel, he realizes he’s left his valuable briefcase back at the airport, hails a cab, is almost killed in a car accident, and spends the next four days hospitalized in a coma. When he comes to, he discovers that his wife doesn’t recognize him and another man (Aidan Quinn) has assumed his identity. So who’s the crazy one here?
For a movie like this to work, you have to be prepared to overlook a plethora of implausibilities. The more enjoyable the ride, the more forgiving we can be. Hitchcock thrillers were far from airtight, but we were having too much fun to care. With “Unknown,” the cat-and-mouse game that the filmmakers are playing with us is only partially successful because this thriller is only intermittently thrilling. Instead of being captivated by the twist and turns, we’re more likely to be rankled.
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and written by Oliver Butcher and Stephen Cornwall, the film also suffers in comparison to the “Bourne” films, which also had an amnesiac as its hero. I’m not a big fan of the “Bourne” movies but at least they hung together better than “Unknown” (which, by the way, was originally titled “Unknown White Male” before wiser heads prevailed).
For all the film’s reality games, the best sequences are decidedly unfancy. Collet-Serra stages a couple of above-average car chase scenes – he’s particularly good with skidding U-turns – and there’s a cloak-and-dagger sequence in a high-end photo gallery that, although it could have been defter, carries a Hitchcock vibe.
A few supporting players liven things up. As the cabdriver, a Serbian illegal immigrant who was speeding Martin to the airport, Diane Kruger is a one-woman rescue squad. She manages to be both winning and winsome, although never enough to bring a smile to Mr. Grumpypuss. Bruno Ganz shows up for a terrific cameo as a former STASI agent and steals whatever there is to steal in this movie. Frank Langella, upping the bad guy quotient with his smooth menace, puts in a welcome appearance near the end.
“Unknown” is framed as a cautionary thriller about the perils of high-stakes terrorism, but I took away a different message from it: Don’t forget your briefcase at the airport. Grade: C+ (Rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of violence and action, and brief sexual content.)
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From www.csmonitor.com
‘Unknown’ ideas float in dull movie soup
Feb 18th
Suspension of disbelief is often a necessary part of enjoying a good thriller.
Suspension of good sense is not. Or at least it shouldn’t be. But that’s what’s required of anyone hoping to get any satisfaction out of “Unknown,” Liam Neeson’s latest foray on the action-adventure front. There are a couple of intriguing ideas floating around here and there, but that’s all they do – float around, unmoored by any sense of reality and, thus, suspense. Sure, director Jaume Collet-Serra knows how to ratchet up a little tension, but it leads to little except whatever ridiculous situation the plot calls for next.
Dr. Martin Harris (Neeson) and his wife Elizabeth (January Jones) arrive in snowy Berlin to attend a biotechnology conference. As they arrive at their hotel, Harris realizes he left his briefcase at the airport, so he hops in the nearest cab and leaves Elizabeth standing at the check-in counter. A sudden accident leaves him in a coma for four days. When he awakens, he gradually remembers why he’s in Berlin, but when he rushes to the hotel where he’s supposed to be staying, Elizabeth insists she has no idea who he is. What’s more, she is accompanied by another man calling himself Martin Harris (Aidan Quinn) who they both claim is her husband. His passport would seem to prove this (the original Harris, of course, no longer has his).
Kind of intriguing, but from there, Harris sets out on a quest to regain his identity – or his sanity, if that’s what it takes – that becomes increasingly far-fetched. He’s aided by Gina (Diane Kruger) the reluctant – with reason, it turns out – cab driver who helped save him, as well as Ernst (Bruno Ganz), a former member of the Stasi (“proudly”), the notorious East German secret police. As details are pieced together, it becomes evident that a nasty blow to the head can play tricks with your memory, that someone is after Harris, that almost no one is who they seem and that, for a botanist, Harris sure does excel at defensive-driving maneuvers.
Frank Langella shows up late in the game as Rodney, Harris’ oldest friend, raising hope for some sparks but providing few. Jones, of TV’s “Mad Men,” is a bland presence, either miscast or just bad; Kruger, the theater owner in “Inglourious Basterds,” is much more interesting. As for Neeson, you know that the task at hand will be tackled with grim determination. That’s the weapon he employs for most of the movie, and it serves him (if not the story) well. Unfortunately, it’s the one Collet-Serra employs also, with less successful results.
Rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of violence and action, and brief sexual content.
From www.coshoctontribune.com
MOVIE REVIEW: Actors give superb performances in ‘Barney’s Version’
Feb 18th
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Barney’s Version (R)
3 1/2 stars out of 4
At least once a year, some studio — usually of the art-house variety, totally botches the marketing of one of its better releases. The most glaring example was the 2003 “Monster” for which Charlize Theron won an Oscar.
Most interested viewers were unable to see it in theaters and the majority of critic’s groups couldn’t consider Theron for their year-end best-of lists. In the great scheme of things, this matters little but critical notice is crucial to low-visibility prestige productions and the often riveting performances that can make them soar.
This season the victim is “Barney’s Version.” It is an engrossing drama with loads of acid-drenched, bittersweet comedy, a terrific murder mystery subplot and four sublime performances — all of them Oscar worthy.
Paul Giamatti stars as the title character, the producer of bad Canadian TV shows and a guy with an uncanny ability to charm beautiful women. Like Giamatti’s character in “Sideways,” Barney is socially inept, easily upset, and sometimes cruel. Nonetheless he is able carve out for himself what most of us would consider to be a charmed life.
Barney meets his first wife Clara (Rachelle Lefevre) in Italy in the early ’70s. She’s a gifted if somewhat disturbed painter and he’s busy trying to find himself. They pal around with other artsy, bohemian types; a racially eclectic group that includes would-be novelist Boogie (Scott Speedman) who is everything Barney is not.
Handsome, affable and talented but lacking drive, Boogie becomes both Barney’s closest confidant and the devil on his shoulder. His freeloading ways eventually become a bother to Barney and even moreso to Barney’s second wife (Minnie Driver, referred to only as Mrs. P), a spoiled Jewish heiress in possession of irrational rationalizations and a plethora of double-standards.
It is at his second wedding that Barney meets Miriam (Rosamund Pike), a radio talk show host he will doggedly pursue immediately and for years — and for good reason. Bordering on perfect, Miriam is beautiful, brainy, witty and talented with the patience of a saint and is the only adult character in the movie with an unwavering moral and ethical code.
This is the third film in a row for former Bond girl Pike (“An Education,” “Made in Dagenham”) where she delivers an absolutely flawless performance. Technically the female lead here, the show (as it should) belongs to Giamatti, but it is Pike who gives the movie most of its heart and soul. Pike is so deserving of her own starring vehicle and any filmmaker who has the chance to hire her and doesn’t is a bloody fool.
After a long string of duds, misfires and bombs, Dustin Hoffman as Barney’s father Izzy gives his best performance since “Wag the Dog.” Profane and crass yet wise and eminently approachable, Izzy projects a “do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do” air and acts as Barney’s anti-moral compass/reverse barometer. Hoffman seriously needs to avoid dreck like the “Fockers” franchise and go the route of supporting character actor playing guys like Izzy for the remainder of his career.
Well-deserving of his recent Golden Globe award, the non-Oscar nominated Giamatti once again shows you don’t need traditional leading man looks or a warm and fuzzy character to get people to root for your cause. Practically everything the abrasive Barney does or says is ill-advised and repellent. He fails in everything he attempts except his career but hates what he does for a living.
This is not the kind of character we see in movies very often and anyone looking for something different that will move them should put “Barney’s Version” at the top of their must-see list. (Sony Classics)
From www.gwinnettdailypost.com
Really Funny! Watch Just Go with It Online Movie Streaming Free
Feb 18th
By markojos
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Plot: Danny, a rich plastic surgeon persuades his assistant ‘Katherine’, who acted as his false wife, to expose the lie that the new interest, Palmer. When the facade slips up and children Katherine also agrees to pretend danny as his father, who controls the match in the whirlwinds of collective improvisation in lie to the gaiety of a fake family trip to Hawaii with chaotic and funny.
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Starring Adam Sandler as Danny, Jennifer Aniston as Katherine, Brooklyn Decker as Palmer, Nicole Kidman as Devlin Adams and Nick Swardson as Eddie, Bailee Madison as Maggie, Griffin Gluck as Michael.
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From my.granitebaypt.com
