Movie Review: Devil

First, five people are riding in an elevator together and it gets stuck. Then, they find out one of them is the devil. Great. No one on the building crew can figure out why the elevator is stuck in the first place – the mechanics seem fine. Then, {cue dramatic music} horrible things start happening. Of course, the people begin accusing each other of being the culprit. Each of the five has issues that we slowly learn about as the story progresses. The five are:

• A temporary security guard (Bokeem Woodbine) who works in the building and who has a police record.
• An irritating mattress salesman (Geoffrey Arend) who immediately begins getting on everyone’s nerves.
• A young woman named Sarah (Bojana Novakovic) who is caught in some lies.
• An older woman (Bojana Novakovic) who is a thief.
• A nervous young guy named Tony (Logan Marshall-Green) – no one is sure why he is even in the building.

Periodically, the lights in the elevator go out and every time they do, something bad happens. It’s done in classic Shyamalan fashion: the lights go out and you see quick flashes of what’s going on, and you hear shuffling sounds and lots of bumping around, but you can’t tell what it is or who’s doing it. These scenes are actually well done. Very thrilling.

Detective Bowden (Chris Messina) is brought in to try and solve a different mystery but soon ends up working on the elevator situation. Ramirez (Jacob Vargas) is a security guard who thinks something demonic is happening, although no one believes him initially.

Devil is more of a thriller than a horror movie, and it is very psychological. It is really not as bad as I feared it might be. The story unfolds in such a way that you are left guessing all the way to the end of the movie, although the ending does leave something to be desired. I give this movie two and a half Slurpees out of five.

* Devil * Director: John Erick Dowdle * Starring: Chris Messina, Bokeem Woodbine, Geoffrey Arend, Jenny O’Hara, Bojana Novakovic, Logan Marshall-Green * Writers: Brian Nelson (screenplay), M. Night Shyamalan (story) *  Time: 80 minutes * Rated PG-13 * Horror/Mystery/Thriller * Trailer *

Movie Review: The Social Network

Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) is sharp, a genius who can apparently write programming code easier (and quicker) than I can write this post, but he hasn’t learned to soften his language when speaking to someone he cares about. When Mark’s girlfriend Erica Albright (Rooney Mara) breaks up with him, in part because of the way he speaks to her, he heads to his dorm and writes a scathing blog post about her. He also writes the code to develop a site that allows students to rate/compare the hotness of college co-eds; the hits to the site eventually crash Harvard’s server. This catches the attention of twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss (Armie Hammer) and Divya Narendra (Max Minghella), who have an idea for a Harvard social networking site and who want Mark to work with them.

Mark instead decides to start his own site but he feels he is not infringing on their idea because, “They had an idea, I had a better one. I didn’t use any of their code.” With help from friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), the journey to Facebook begins. The basic code is developed fairly quickly.  They add Relationship and Interested in statuses and it’s ready to launch. Facebook was popular from the beginning, but really took off when the guys decided to expand to other universities and states.

They become rock stars of sorts and like many popular music groups, problems begin when one member stands out from the others. Jealously and arguments ensue. Other issues arise when new members start joining the group. Enter Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), the fast-talking founder of Napster. Sean and Eduardo bump heads from the start, and Mark voices his concern that Eduardo might be “left behind.”  I have no idea how accurate the story is. What’s the real truth? Only those involved know for sure. Needless to say, the “Winklevi” with Narendra and Eduardo Saverin decide to sue Mark.

I have seen the real Mark Zuckerberg in interviews, and Eisenberg does a great job of portraying the quirky Zuckerberg with his rapid-fire, robot way of speaking. Eisenberg does not display a lot of emotion on his face, but adequately portrays the inner emotion the character is feeling. He seems to be in a constant state of bewilderment throughout the movie, as if he does not fully understand the negative effect of something he has said or done. He genuinely seems to believe that most of what he has done is right and seems to be sorry for the things he did that he knows were not right – especially when it comes to his relationship with Erica. All of the actors were good in their roles. The movie is a drama but does have several comedic moments, many of the lines delivered by Eisenberg, in his deadpan manner.

Obviously, the Facebook story continues and we don’t know what will happen next. But Facebook, Mark reminds us, is like fashion – it’s never finished. This movie is not just about how Facebook was started. It’s also about the desire to belong to something great. I liked The Social Network and I give it 3.5 Slurpees out of 5. I give it that because it would be a strong, interesting story even if it were not based on a factual situation.

And just so you know, Jesse Eisenberg is not Michael Cera.

* The Social Network * Director: David Fincher * Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Rooney Mara, Bryan Barter, Dustin Fitzsimons, Armie Hammer, Max Minghella * Writers: Ben Mezrich (book), Aaron Sorkin (screenplay) *  Time: 120 minutes * Rated PG-13 * Drama/History * Soundtrack * Trailers *

Movie Review: The Kids are All Right

Nic (Annette Bening) and Jules (Julianne Moore) are a lesbian couple who had two children through artificial insemination, Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and Laser (Josh Hutcherson). Nic is an uptight, controlling doctor while Jules is a laid back free spirit, still searching for just the right career.

After Joni turns 18, her younger brother Laser convinces her to contact the insemination clinic who, in turn, contacts their biological father, Paul (Mark Ruffalo). Paul is an organic gardener and restaurant owner who is extremely laid back and immediately interested in meeting the kids. Joni and Jules like Paul right away, while Laser and Nic are not so sure about him. Nic is particularly threatened by Paul, concerned how his involvement in their lives will affect the family unit already in place.

Not that that unit is perfect. On the surface they appear to be happy, and they mostly are, but they’re not the perfect little family that Nic appears to want to have. Always steaming just below the surface lies the stress between the two moms, which comes out later in the story in the form of snarky little comments, brought on in part by Nic’s controlling ways and over drinking and Jules’ inability to pick one career and stick with it.

One thing I found questionable about the movie was how quick Paul was willing to meet with the kids. Although he was surprised to hear from Joni, he didn’t even hesitate to want to meet. I would think a man who was a sperm donor “a long time ago” for “sixty bucks a pop” would be more hesitant to meet the children that were produced. However, one could justify his willingness to meet on the fact that he was so very laid back and didn’t stress over too many things. Paul was also very quick to want to break up with a girlfriend when he realized that he was at a point in his life where he wanted to settle down. He made no attempt to take their relationship to a more serious level.

Besides the obvious main differences, this family is really not much different from any other family out there and Nic and Jules not much different from any other couple who has been together for a long time.  Ultimately, this movie is about relationships – the relationship between the moms and the kids, the kids and their dad, the moms and the dad, the moms with each other… The characterization in this movie was great, as was the dialogue.

I would say the standout is Mia Wasikowska, who is the most believable character and who was able to convey an emotion simply through a facial expression, without uttering a word. I found it interesting that this movie is billed as a comedy because to me it is way more of a drama with comedic moments rather than a comedy with dramatic moments. The Kids are All Right is a good movie and I give it three Slurpees out of five.

* The Kids are All Right * Director: Lisa Cholodenko * Starring: Julianne Moore, Annette Bening, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska, Josh Hutcherson * Writers: Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg * Time: 106 minutes * Rated R * Comedy/Drama * Trailers *

Movie Review: Salt

CIA agent Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) just wants to get home and hang out with her husband, when a Russian defector shows up at CIA headquarters. He accuses Salt of not only being a spy but also informs the agents that Salt has plans to assassinate the Russian president. His story is believable enough that Agent Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is immediately suspicious of Salt and wants to question her, while Salt’s colleague, Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber) defends Salt’s innocence.  Salt, realizing things don’t look good for her, seizes an opportunity to escape and goes on the run, determined to prove her innocence.

Thus begins 90 minutes of action: cars chases, gun battles, hand-to-hand skirmishes, and lots of jumping off of things onto to other things. Salt is very creative in finding ways to stay ahead of the other agents while she struggles to clear her name. There are more than one MacGyver moments. But… who is Salt?  Is she really a Russian spy?  Is she dedicated to the U.S.?  There are enough plot twists to keep you guessing until the very end.

One aspect I found amusing was how Salt would pick up items along the way that she needed, clothing or whatever, without drawing any attention to herself and without breaking stride.

Now, in order to buy Salt, you have to believe that a woman as small as Angelina Jolie could beat every man she comes across in hand-to-hand combat. Yes, she is well trained, but so are the male agents.  But, at least they didn’t make it look easy; she has to grit her teeth and jump off of walls for leverage.  You also have to believe that all these well-trained agents are really bad shots when they’re trying to take down someone on the run. However, I guess you can say that about any of these type movies – because if the main character is shot, it’s pretty much over.

Once things get going, Salt is action until the end, but the storyline is not quite as strong as the action (rent one of the Bourne movies if you want that); however, it certainly was entertaining and held my attention throughout.  I give Salt three out of five Slurpees.

* Salt * Director: Phillip Noyce * Starring: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor * Writer: Kurt Wimmer * Time: 100 minutes * Rated PG-13 * Action/Thriller * Trailers *

Explanation of the Levels of Inception

Yes, it’s another posting about Inception.  What can I say?  I loved the movie.  But let’s face it: it’s pretty complicated.  Again, this is a **SPOILER** for those of you who haven’t seen Inception, so go see it first. Do not click the link.

If you have seen it, here’s a great explanation of The 5 Levels of Inception by Matt Sinopoli and Josh Tyler. Check it out.

If you liked this post, here’s a couple other related posts you might also like these:

• How the Inception Corridor Scenes were Filmed
• The magic of the spinning corridor and 9 other Inception resources

Inception Interpreted

Have you seen Inception yet?  If you haven’t, drop whatever you’re doing and go see it now.  Yeah, it’s that good.  Here’s my review of Inception.

**SPOILER ALERT**

Do not click the following link if you do not want to know what happens in the movie.

Peter Hall has done an excellent job of examining the movie and providing his opinion of what really happened as well as some plot holes he feels exist in the story.  I’m inclined to agree with interpretation #5, but Hall makes some good points in all the interpretations.

First, go see Inception then read Hall’s examination of it: Dissecting Inception: Six Interpretations and Five Plot Holes.

Movie Review: Inception

Odd, mind blowing, thought provoking.  Those were the words my friends used to describe Inception immediately after we saw it.  I will add “complicated.” Inception. Hmm, how in the world can I describe it? Imagine if The Matrix and Vanilla Sky could somehow magically have a child together.  Now imagine if Minority Report came by once in awhile to babysit.

I’m not saying that the plot of Inception is similar to those movies; it’s like them in that they all get you to thinking about whether what the characters are experiencing right now is actually the real world or the alternate/dream world.  Dreams within dreams, several layers deep, with snippets of the subconscience creeping in, all cleverly woven together. What’s real, what’s the dream? Whose dream are we experiencing? Which world are we in right now? Like I said: complicated.  It’s very hard to explain, but interesting.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays Cobb, a thief who has the ability to steal ideas by entering a lucid dream state and then entering other people’s dreams.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Arthur, Cobb’s partner in crime.  One day they are met with an interesting proposition: If you can steal people’s ideas by entering their dreams (extraction), why couldn’t you also do the opposite and implant an idea into someone’s head through his dreams (inception)?  Saito (Ken Watanabe) wants Cobb to find out if it is possible to implant a suggestion into Robert Fischer, Jr’s (Cillian Murphy) mind in a move that would greatly benefit businessman Saito. Cobb has the opportunity to try this scheme in exchange for something he has been wanting for a long time. Ellen Page plays Ariadne, a sharp architect who is brought in to help with the plan. Tom Hardy and Dileep Rao round out the team.

The result is a very complex and elaborate story featuring plenty of topsy turvy, gravity-defying movement and buildings toppling over.  Oh yeah, and the requisite car chases, explosions, and lots of guys shooting at the main characters. I expected even more special effects than there actually was, judging by the trailers, but there was still quite a bit and it was spectacular.

My friends and I spent quite a bit of time talking about Inception afterward, comparing ideas about what was really happening at various scenes and what the ending really meant.  I suggest that if you do go see it, plan to go have dinner or coffee or something afterward so you can discuss it with your movie date(s).  Yes, it’s that kind of movie.

Inception was difficult to follow at times because of the level of complexity, but I liked it. I give Inception four out of five Slurpees.  Go see it and tell me what you think.

* Inception * Director/Writer: Christopher Nolan * Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe * Time: 148 minutes * Rated PG-13 * Action/SciFi * Trailer * Soundtrack *

Movie Review: The Last Airbender

If you felt a disturbance in the Force this week, it was The Last Airbender being unleashed onto an unsuspecting, hopeful world.  Somewhere, the ladies of Sex and the City 2 are pointing at M. Night Shyamalan and the cast of Airbender and laughing their Manolo Blahnik- wearin’ asses off. Airbender has managed to outdo SATC2 and win my vote for worst movie of the year (so far).

M. Night Shyamalan better be thankful The Last Airbender, which he wrote and directed, was released the same week as Twilight Eclipse, because now he can blame the poor box office showing on the fact that no movie can compete with Eclipse. Actually, Airbender will probably do well this first week, but once word-of-mouth starts spreading, it’s going to sink like an airbended rock. Imagine if you gave a $150M budget to a bunch of 12-year-olds and told them to make the movie. Let’s assume those kids could work the cameras and run the special effects software and everything; however, when they wrote the script, they used language that 12-year olds would use. The dialogue in this movie was astonishingly bad, simplistic and hokey, actually laughable at many (too many) points. I can’t believe this movie was released as-is.  How in the world did it get past the producers?  I digress…

I’ve never seen Avatar: The Last Airbender on Nickelodeon, so I can’t tell you if the storyline of the movie stays true to the TV show. Apparently, this movie is based on the first season of the show. Aang (Noah Ringer) is the young Avatar who is the only master of all four elements.  He has been called upon to help restore harmony between the Four Nations: Earth Kingdom, Air Nomads, Fire Nation, and Water Tribe. That’s a lot of responsibility for a 12-year-old and Aang can’t take the pressure, so he runs away.  He gets caught in a massive storm and is frozen for 100 years inside a giant ice ball with his flying bison, Appa.

Certain members of each of the tribes have the power to “bend” their element and use it in various ways, including as weapons, but Aang is the only one capable of bending air.  Katara (Nicola Peltz) is the last waterbender left in the Southern Water Tribe (don’t worry: there are plenty of waterbenders in other tribes). Katara and her brother Sokka (Jackson Rathbone) stumble upon the giant ice ball holding Aang and free him. Being frozen and all, he is still only 12 years old, and he doesn’t have one drop of water or ice on him even though a giant ice ball just exploded around him. There I go digressing again…

Anyway, the Fire Nation is not playing nice and has already wiped out or enslaved many of the other tribes in its quest to rule the world. Prince Zuko (Dev Patel) has been exiled from the Fire Nation for dishonoring himself and his family. Aang is Zuko’s ticket back into the family – all the prince has to do is capture Aang alive and take him back to the Fire Nation so they can, you know, kill him.  Then they will truly rule the world. Mwahaahaaha!

The martial arts moves are good in some spots, particularly one scene about midway through featuring Aang and a mysterious blue character. I saw the regular version and I know the visuals would have been much better in 3-D. The battles are sort of rock-paper-scissors games featuring the elements: earth walls blocking fire balls, floating water splashing fire out, air pushing water back. There is the classic showdown between good and evil at the end, but do not expect an amazing Lord of the Rings type battle. It ain’t happening.

I had to keep reminding myself who the target audience is. It’s billed as an Action/Adventure/Family/Fantasy. Key word: Family.  At the end of the movie, younger kids were doing karate moves in the theatre aisles, but the group of teenaged boys sitting behind us must have spewed out the word “stupid” about five times in three seconds. Ultimately, I think kids under twelve might enjoy it, but their parents would be ready to purposely hurl themselves in front of a fireball just to make this ridiculousness end.

It was so bad, it became very entertaining after awhile, but not in the way Shyamalan meant. I’m feeling a cult following coming. Or a drinking game of some kind: take a sip every time someone onscreen says something stupid, or says something not-so-stupid but says it in a stupid way.  You would be toasted by the end of the second scene.

I give this movie one Slurpee out of five, just to leave room in case a group of eight-year-olds are given a $150M budget and a camera and I need to give their movie half a Slurpee.

*BEGIN SPOILER ALERT {insert alarm sounds here}* The movie ended in such a way that makes it clear that there will be a second movie, so The Last Airbender is apparently not going to be the last. In fact, there is a $250M budget for a planned trilogy of movies. A trilogy! I wonder if they’ll still make the other two movies if this first one does as horribly as I think it will. Is it possible to release the second and third movies of a trilogy directly to DVD? Can we start a petition to block them from ever happening? *END SPOILER ALERT*

* The Last Airbender * Director: M. Night Shyamalan * Starring: Noah Ringer, Dev Patel, Nicola Peltz * Time: 102 minutes * Rated PG-13 * Trailers* Soundtrack *

Movie Review: Grown Ups

“Seriously, I need to become a screenwriter.”  That’s what I was thinking about 15 minutes into Grown Ups. I assume you’ve seen the previews, yes?  Then you’ve seen about a third of the good gags from the movie.  The movie does get better later in the story, but early on, most of the laughter I heard in the theatre was done by the stars of the movie, laughing at their own jokes.

Briefly, here are the main characters:

• Adam Sandler plays Lenny Feder, a Hollywood agent with a fashion designer wife, Roxanne Chase-Feder (Salma Hayek). They have spoiled brat kids who text their needs to the nanny. Feder seems embarrassed by his success and is teased by the other guys for being wealthy and for having gone “Hollywood.”
• Eric Lamonsoff (Kevin James) is a lawn furniture salesman who is married with kids and a dog, and is not as successful as he is trying to appear. He is the butt of a constant stream of jokes about his weight. (By the way, I really like James’ website.)
• Kurt McKenzie (Chris Rock) is an unemployed, stay-at-home dad who spends his days trying new recipes and being insulted by his wife and live-in mother-in-law.
• David Spade plays Marcus Higgins, the single, girl crazy party animal who truly hasn’t grown up yet.
• Rob Hilliard (Rob Schneider) is a sensitive, metaphysical vegan who is teased relentlessly by the other guys because he is married to a much older woman.

The group reunites when they attend their childhood basketball coach’s funeral. They then decide to spend a weekend together at a lake house with all of their families. Being in close quarters and reminiscing about their coach forces the friends to examine their own lives and relationships with their families. Feder is particularly upset with the realization of how his children are so out of touch from normal childhood experiences. In the end, there are many admissions, confessions, and vows to be better – from the guys and even some of their wives.

There were some funny bits and laugh-out-loud moments, but with this many comedians, I expected way more laughs. The concept was good, but the script just wasn’t strong enough. I suspect there was a lot of ad-libbing going on by all the actor/comedians. I almost gave this movie a two, but because it did get better as it went along, and because they at least tried to convey some positive messages about relationships and families, and because it was slightly better than Sex and the City 2 (but what wasn’t), I give it two and a half out of five Slurpees.

Grown Ups Soundtrack: Those of you who were around in the 80’s will recognize many, if not most, of the songs played throughout the movie, including “Goodnight Tonight” by Paul McCartney, “The Party’s Over” by Journey, and “Two Tickets to Paradise” by Eddie Money

* Grown Ups * Director: Dennis Dugan * Starring: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock * Time: 102 minutes * Rated PG-13 * Trailer * Soundtrack *

Movie Review: Knight and Day

Tom Cruise plays the extremely charming Roy Miller, an agent whose colleagues (led by Viola Davis and Peter Sarsgaard) believe has gone rogue. Roy has the device, codename Zephyr, that the federal agents and arms dealers are looking for, the thing that will change the world.  We’re never really sure *how* exactly, but just go along – it will.  Roy also knows where the quirky genius (Paul Dano) who developed the technology is hiding, and if you can’t find the Zephyr, the young scientist is the next best thing.

Cameron Diaz plays the car restoring June Havens, a carefree lady who’s just trying to get home but unwittingly gets caught up in Roy’s world.  Cruise and Diaz are at least believable together – the chemistry between them is palpable.

It’s an around-the-world chase with stops in Austria, Spain, and Jamaica. As expected, there is plenty of action: hand-to-hand battles, gunfire galore, explosions, bulls, planes, trains, and automobiles.  Whew!  Apparently, more time was taken with producing the great action scenes than with developing a strong storyline, and the movie has quite a few holes in it and many unrealistic bits.  For example, June “hasn’t been anywhere and doesn’t even have a passport,” but Roy is able to move her freely about from country to country at will.  Also, there are many shoot-out scenes with bullets flying everywhere, from the weapons of professionals who apparently know how to shoot, but our hero and heroine are never harmed, except for one “scratch”.  I know, I know – it’s Hollywood…

Besides the action, another saving grace is all the comedy in the movie, with many of the laughs delivered by Cruise in an over-the-top, yet controlled psychotic manner.  Really well done.  And did I mention charming?  In the middle of one gun battle, he still finds the time to compliment Diaz on her dress.

This movie will not win any best picture awards, but if you’re a fan of Cruise and/or Diaz, if you like action flicks, and if you’re OK with the holes in the story and can just enjoy it for pure entertainment’s sake, I think you will like this movie.  I did enjoy it and I give it three out of five Slurpees.

Soundtrack – I can’t remember most of it, but the nice, drum-heavy “Someday” by the Black Eyed Peas plays during the closing credits.

* Knight and Day * Director: James Mangold * Starring: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz * Peter Sarsgaard * Time: 110 minutes * Rated PG-13 * Action/Comedy/Thriller * Trailer * Game *