Friday, December 30, 2011

Worst Movies of 2011

As the year comes to a close and we prepare to welcome in the new year, I thought I’d look back and reflect on this year’s disappointing and at times just plain bad and painful to watch. So here are what I consider to be the worst movies of 2011.

Honorable mentions: Green Lantern, The Hangover Part 2

5. Contagion

I don’t get why so many people and critics seem to like this movie. There has been awards talk since it came out. I personally found it to be the most boring movie I saw all year. I honestly don’t know why I didn’t walk out, I really should have. It’s supposed to be about a global plague killing most of the population but I feel they did a bad job portraying that. Watching this movie was like sitting in a hospital waiting room; you couldn’t be more bored, you’re watching sick people and just want to go home.

4. Something Borrowed

This movie is extremely clichéd and has one of the most frustrating endings I’ve ever seen to a romantic comedy. The characters are all very unlikeable and the movie is billed as a comedy but I don’t think I even smiled once. Never before have I seen a romantic comedy where none of the characters have anything in common and shouldn’t be friends much less “in love.”

3. Season of the Witch

This movie is just plain bad from start to finish. To start, it is not about a witch, but rather a demon. Yeah, this is an exorcism movie. Then we get into the bad effects, horrible writing and the actors who seem like they could care less to be in this movie. Nick Cage and Ron Perlman seem like they are just reading their lines off a piece of paper throughout. Everything about this movie is just plain bad.

2. Hall Pass

Not a single funny moment in this supposed comedy. The story is terrible, all of the characters are terrible, everything that happens in the movie is not funny. For an R rated comedy, all of the “humor” is for 7 year olds. It is uncomfortable to watch most of the time and disgusting the rest. I can’t find one redeemable moment in this movie. This is another movie that I should have just walked out of.

1. Twilight: Breaking Dawn

I didn’t even see this movie but if it’s anything like the other movies, it had to be terrible. These movies have some of the worst special effects I’ve ever seen. Vampires that sparkle… enough on that. Terrible writing, bad acting, some of the worst characters ever written, just everything about this movie is bad. Not to mention that in this movie I hear that Edward basically brutally rapes Bella, gives her a c-section with his TEETH then wolfboy falls in love with the BABY!!! So thank you, Stephanie Meyers, for writing a book/movie that hates women yet gets them swarming to read/see it.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Short Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Grade: A+

A man, with the help of a mysterious investigator, track down the killer of a powerful man's granddaughter.

Amazing. One of the best of the year. Better than the book. Hard to watch at times but worth it.

Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgård and more.

Attention span must last 2 hours 40 minutes to enjoy.

Podcast: Episode 34

Head over to sutmspod.wordpress.com to listen to the latest episode of Shut Up! The Movie's Starting, the official podcast of Cucu for Movies.

In this episode Michael and Russell discuss The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (In theaters now), In the Loop (on Netflix Streaming) and Toy Story. They also discuss The Artist, Scrooged, The Grinch, The Santa Clause, Jingle All the Way, Christmas episodes of TV shows, the trailers for Prometheus and The Hobbit and so much more!

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Short Review: The Artist

Grade: A+

An actor struggles to accept the changing times.

Pure genius. Amazing, funny, earnest. A brave move making a silent film in 2011 but it completely works.

Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell, Missi Pyle and more.

Attention span must last 1 hour 40 minutes to enjoy.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Anticipation of 2012

As the new year approaches, I thought I would share the 10 movies I am looking forward to most in the new year.

10. Wanderlust

This looks to be one of the most promising comedies of 2012. I am usually not a fan of Jennifer Aniston but she won me over in Horrible Bosses and she looks pretty funny in this. Paul Rudd is one of the most consistently funny actors out there.

9. Skyfall

I am always up for a new Bond movie. I loved Casino Royal but was disappointed by Quantum of Solace, either way I think Daniel Craig has quickly become my favorite Bond. Javier Bardem is going to be the villain and I hear that this movie will be a return to more classic Bond style themes and villains.

8. G.I. Joe: Retaliation

This sequel looks to be far better than the first. They are down playing Channing Tatum, Dwayne Johnson looks to be taking the lead, Cobra Commander is back with his normal helmet and that shot in the trailer of the COBRA flags hanging off the White House really makes me happy. Not to mention that Bruce Willis is in it.

7. John Carter

This movie looks great. It's about a civil war soldier who is taken by aliens to help them fight a menace threatening civilization on Mars. It sounds a bit cheesy but the trailer looks amazing and the fact that it's written and directed by the regulars at Pixar has me all the more excited.

6. Snow White and the Huntsman

This looks like a great twist on the classic tale. In this version the queen hires the huntsman to kill Snow White and bring back her heart so she can live forever. But when the Huntsman meets Snow White, he decides to train her instead to lead an army to fight the evil queen. Looks awesome.

5. Prometheus

This prequel but non-prequel to Alien has Ridley Scott back writing and directing this sci-fi epic. They just released the teaser trailer and it looks amazing. All I really have to say is Space Jockeys.

4. Brave

The Pixar I love is back with a new movie. They have written a fascinating looking movie about a young Scottish Warrior Princess. This movie looks like it will totally make up for making Cars 2 in 2011.

3. The Hunger Games

I just recently read these books and they have me very excited for this movie. I love the trailer and it looks like they are doing a great job with the material. Jennifer Lawrence is perfect casting for Katniss Everdeen and the rest of the cast, which includes Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland and more, are all amazing as well. The only thing that worries me is that a proper adaptation would be R and I know they are shooting for a PG-13 rating.

2. The Dark Knight Rises

Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight blew us all away in 2008 and we have all been waiting with anticipation for his final installment. It will finally be here in the summer of 2012 and even though I have only seen the trailer, it looks as though Nolan has created the Darth Vader for 21st century with his vision of Bane.

1. The Avengers

The movie I have been waiting for. Combining some of my favorite movies of the last 4 years, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, into one glorious epic. It will also have Jeremy Renner in it as Hawkeye and that trailer makes it look like it will be full of surprises. To top it all off it's written and directed by Joss Whedon.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Holiday Movie Guide

Looking for a movie to see over the holiday weekend? Let me make some suggestions:

1. Muppets for family good times
2. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol for the action fiends
3. Sherlock Holmes for conspiracy theorists
4. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for those looking for a mystery
5. Tin Tin for adventurists
6. Darkest Hour for sci-fi enthusiasts
7. Young Adult for... Well, young adults
8. We Bought a Zoo for family togetherness
9. Hugo for fans of film
10. War Horse for people who think horses are people

Monday, December 19, 2011

Short Review: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Grade: A+

After being framed then disavowed by his government, Ethan Hunt and his new team must complete one last mission to clear their names.

Great action. Many fun and funny moments scattered throughout. Scenes in IMAX are spectacular. An amazing addition to the franchise.

Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton and more.

Attention span must last 2 hours 13 minutes to enjoy.

Short Review: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Grade: A

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson face off against Professor James Moriarty.

Fun. Funny. Good action. Awesome visual style. Just as good as the first.

Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Jared Harris, Noomi Rapace and more.

Attention span must last 2 hours 9 minutes to enjoy.

Podcast: Episode 33

Head over to sutmspod.wordpress.com to hear the most recent episode of Shut Up! The Movie's Starting, the official podcast of Cucu for Movies.

In this episode Michael and Russell discuss the movies Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows (available in theaters now), Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (available on IMAX now) and Vanishing on 7th Street (available on Netflix Streaming). They also discuss Young Adult (See it in theaters now), Mission: Impossibles 2 and 3, Die Hard, Christmas Vacation, the trailers for The Dictator, Men In Black 3, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Rock of Ages and The Dark Knight Rises as well as a possible sequel to Top Gun and so much more!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Short Review: Young Adult

Grade: A

A woman returns to her small hometown to try to rekindle a romance with her ex boyfriend who is now married with a new daughter.

Great movie. Very funny. Amazing performances from the cast.

Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson and many more. Written by Diablo Cody (Juno) and directed by Jason Reitman (Up in the Air).

Attention span must last 1 hour 35 minutes to enjoy.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Short Review: The Sitter

Grade: C

A college student babysits three kids and they all go on an adventure.

A poorly executed R rated adaptation of Adventures in Babysitting. Funny at times.

Jonah Ray, Sam Rockwell and more.

Attention span must last 1 hour 25 minutes to enjoy.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Short Review: Hugo

Grade: A

A boy befriends the granddaughter of an old filmmaker.

Extremely well done. Great story. Director Martin Scorsese's best work. A film that loves film.

Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsley, Chloe Grace Moretz, Sacha Baron Cohen, Emily Mortimer, Christopher Lee, Jude Law and many more.

Attention span must last 2 hours 7 minutes to enjoy.

Podcast: Episode 31

Head to sutmspod.wordpress.com to hear the latest episode of Shut Up! The Movie's Starting, the official podcast of Cucu for Movies.

In this episode Michael and Russell discuss the movies Hugo (in theaters now) and Morning Glory (available on Netflix Streaming). They also discuss Robert Zemeckis’ A Christmas Carol, Batman Returns, Lars and the Real Girl, possible remakes for Starship Troopers and Scarface, American gangster movies vs British gangster movies, Romancing the Stone, Sacha Baron Cohen, Harrison Ford, movies that love movies and so much more!

Monday, November 28, 2011

Short Review: The Muppets

Grade: A+

The muppets need to get back together in order to save their old theater.

Hilarious beyond belief. Fun story, great cameos. Fantastic to see that the muppets are still great after all these years. The songs are very entertaining.

Jason Segel, Amy Adams, the Muppets and many more.

Attention span must last 1 hour 38 minutes to enjoy.

Podcast: Episode 30

Head over to sutmspod.wordpress.com for the latest episode of Shut Up! The Movie's Starting, the official podcast of Cucu for Movies.

In this episode Michael and Russell discuss the movies The Muppets (in theaters now), Limitless (available on Netflix Streaming now) and Take Me Home Tonight (available on Netflix Streaming now). They also discuss The Descendants, My Week With Marilyn, Serendipity, The Ref, the trailers for Mirror Mirror and The Adventures of Tin Tin, We don’t need Pixar trailers, There are too many trailers in front of movies, Muppets still have it, useless cameos, Christmas movies (For my 25 Days To Christmas movie watch list click here), movies with emotion and so much more!

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Short Review: My Week With Marilyn

Grade: A-

A young man falls in love with Marilyn Monroe on the set of The Prince and the Showgirl.

A very interesting story and a great insight into who Marilyn Monroe really was. Based on a true story.

Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne, Kenneth Branagh, Dominic Cooper, Judy Dench and many more.

Attention span must last 1 hour 39 minutes to enjoy.

Friday, November 25, 2011

A (Somewhat) Alternative 25 Days to Christmas Movie List

Well, it is officially that time of the year, time for Christmas movies. Around this time of year is when you start seeing TV stations play A Christmas Story on repeat. Well, I have a confession to make; I am not a fan of A Christmas Story. I don’t think it’s entertaining, I don’t think it’s funny and I am constantly baffled by why so many people seem to love it so much. It seems to me that this time of year you can either watch A Christmas Story or stuff like A Charlie Brown Christmas, which is fine, but I like a different brand of Christmas movie.

So here it is: my (somewhat) Alternative 25 Days Till Christmas Movie Watch List:

25. Ernest Saves Christmas

This is the only Ernest movie that holds up. I will admit, this is a very cheesy and corny movie, but overall it is pretty entertaining and funny movie to watch this time of year.

24. Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

Trailer

This odd and entertaining Finnish movie is about a group of archeologists who uncover Santa Claus, buried deep in the mountains. Children start to disappear soon and the residents of a local town discover that Santa isn’t the jolly man that everybody thinks he is. If you are looking for the darker side of Christmas, this is the movie for you. Scary yet hilarious, this movie is a nice new edition to the Christmas genre.

23. Serendipity

Trailer

John and Sarah are two strangers who meet by chance in a department store in New York a couple days before Christmas. Sarah has a strong belief in fate and the two decide to take a risk and see if they meet again, if they do then they are meant to be together. Years later they do meet again, but both are engaged to other people. I really enjoy this movie. It is fun, sweet, romantic and funny. John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale have great chemistry together and the supporting cast is great.

22. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (MST3K version)

Trailer

In this strange movie from 1964, Santa is kidnapped by Martians and taken back to Mars, where their kids have become obsessed with the Earthly fascination with the man. When they get to Mars, Santa, with the help of two Earth children, conquer the Martians with joy and Christmas cheer. Yes, this is a terrible movie but I have to recommend watching the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version of this movie, it is hilarious and tons of fun to watch with a group of friends.

21. Mixed Nuts

Trailer

This is one of the most underrated Steve Martin movies. In it, Martin plays Phillip, who runs a crisis hotline with some friends. Around Christmas, Phillip is evicted by the building manager and he and a group of people fight to stay. This movie has many interlocking stories that all comes to a great conclusion and has a wonderful message. It is very funny and is loaded with a great cast that makes this movie well worth watching.

20. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Trailer

Robert Downey Jr. plays a thief posing as an actor in Los Angeles. Val Kilmer plays a private eye who runs into RDJs character and they work together to solve a murder mystery. An amazing movie that is hilarious to boot. What does it have to do with Christmas? The movie starts with RDJ robing a toy store for gifts for his kid and all of the events take place around Christmas.

19. The Santa Clause

Trailer

Yes, this movie is more on the traditional side of Christmas movies and this won’t be the last one on this list, I did say “somewhat” alternative. Either way, this movie is great and a lot of fun to watch. Taking a more “legal” approach to the man in red, The Santa Clause stars Tim Allen as a man who accidentally kills Santa Claus and ends up donning the suit himself. It is a very charming and funny movie that the whole family can enjoy. I do have to recommend skipping the sequels.

18. Love Actually

Trailer

One of the few movies that focuses on a dozen or more characters and actually works. This is Valentine’s Day if that movie took place on Christmas and was good. Love Actually follows eight different couples in intriguing interconnecting stories set during the month leading up to Christmas. One of the best romantic comedies of all time and loaded with an amazing cast.

17. Just Friends

Trailer

Chris and Jamie were best friends in high school. However, Chris was in love with Jamie and wanted to have a more involved relationship with her but she put him in the “friend zone” and would not advance their friendship. Years later, Chris looks much better and comes home to Jersey for Christmas (with a crazy pop star in tow) and tries to win her over again. Ryan Reynolds and Amy Smart are great together but Anna Farris steals the show in many of the scenes. Hilarious good times with some really great moments.

16. Jingle All the Way

Trailer

Howard is a busy man and a bit of a workaholic. When he forgets to get the number 1 toy of the year for his son he spends all of Christmas Eve going from toy store to toy store, fighting all manner of people, in order to try to find the toy and win his sons affections. This is a great satire about modern consumerism and how it is more important to just spend time with your family than trying to buy things for them because you think that is what will make them happy. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad are hilarious in this movie and Phil Hartman steals all of the scenes he’s in.

15. A Christmas Carol (2009)

Trailer

There have been about a million different Christmas Carol movies but this is one of the best. Robert Zemeckis directs this motion capture animation retelling of Charles Dickens classic tale. I believe this to be one of the most accurate versions of the story. The animation is great and the story is properly scary, funny and inspiring. Jim Carrey does a great job as Scrooge AND the three ghosts.

14. Home Alone

Trailer

When 8 year old Kevin’s family accidently leaves him behind when they go on vacation to New York for Christmas, Kevin decides that it is great living on your own. That is, until two burglars decide to target his family’s house. Macaulay Culkin stars in this ridiculous yet fun family holiday comedy. I would like to say that easily the best parts of the movie are with John Candy as the leader of a Chicago based polka band.

13. Batman Returns

Trailer

Yeah, that’s right. When you think Christmas, who doesn’t think Batman? Yes, this movie, directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton, takes place around Christmas in Gotham. It just might be better than Burton’s original Batman. This one has Christopher Walken as a corrupt business man, Danny DeVito as the Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman. An exciting and entertaining movie with Gotham City in Christmas as the backdrop.

12. The Holiday

Trailer

Amanda lives in Hollywood. Iris lives outside of London. The two both have been having problems with love lately and decide to escape by swapping houses for the holiday season. Starring Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Jack Black, this movie was surprisingly charming. I really enjoy watching this and while all the characters and their romances are entertaining, my favorite moment is when Kate Winslet has a Hanukah dinner with an actor, played by Eli Wallach and a group of actors and writers from the golden age of Hollywood.

11. A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas

Trailer

Yes, a very new edition to my watch list as this movie is still currently playing in theaters. I will admit, this movie is absolutely not for everybody. I however enjoy the first two movies and I think this just might be the best Harold and Kumar movie. In it, Harold and Kumar are reunited after years of not talking to each other but they band together to find the perfect Christmas tree in order to win over Harold’s father-in-law, played by Danny Trejo. This movie is much funnier than I thought it would be and Neil Patrick Harris’ part in the movie is one of the funniest things I’ve seen him do yet. Not to mention, this movie introduces the greatest Christmas gift ever, The Wafflebot!

10. The Ref

Trailer

When a house robbery goes wrong, the burglar decides to hide out in an unsuspecting couple’s house in Connecticut on Christmas Eve. However, the couple bickers to no end and their family is coming over for dinner so they all have to play ball and act like this man is a family friend for the night. This movie is Denis Leary at his finest. It is a laugh a minute watching him fight with Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis. The movie takes a couple of interesting twists but it is absolutely worth watching.

9. The Nightmare Before Christmas

Trailer

Written by Tim Burton, this movie is a classic that you can watch either for Halloween or Christmas. In it, Jack Skellington is the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town. One day he discovers Christmas Town and is mesmerized by their decorations and the head of that town, dear old Santa Claus. He tries to take some of Christmas Town’s concept back to Halloween Town but he doesn’t completely get it. A strange movie about what would happen if Christmas and Halloween combined into one bizarre event.

8. Bad Santa

Trailer

This has turned into an almost instant anti-Christmas classic. Billy Bob Thornton is perfect as a drunk who plays mall Santa’s during the holiday season in order to plan to rob the store on Christmas Eve. When he befriends a troubled young boy, things begin to fall apart. This is a great dark comedy and I watch it every year around Christmas time.

7. A Muppet Christmas Carol

Trailer

What happens when you combine Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and the Muppets? Pure awesomeness, that’s what. This version of the classic tale is fantastic and highly entertaining. Not to mention that Michael Caine does a genuinely great job at playing Ebenezer Scrooge. It’s interesting seeing an actor put so much effort into a performance when he’s acting across from a bunch of characters made of cloth and string.

6. Gremlins

Trailer

A boy is given a strange creature called a Mogwai as a gift for Christmas. However, when he accidently breaks the three strict rules of owning the animal, it manages to multiply then metamorphose into green scaly creatures that wreak havoc on the small town. Written by Chris Columbus and directed by Joe Dante, this is actually one of my favorite horror/comedies of all time.

5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Trailer

Ron Howard did a great job bringing this classic Dr. Seuss tale to life in this movie. Jim Carrey is perfect as the Grinch who has been outcast by the Whos in Whoville so he comes up with a scheme to literally steal Christmas. This movie keeps the laughs coming and does a great job interpreting the story. The rest of the cast is amazing too and includes William H. Macy, Molly Shannon, Jeffrey Tambor, Taylor Momsen and more. The classic cartoon is worth watching too.

4. Die Hard

Trailer

John McClane is a New York cop who has just flown to LA to surprise is distant wife and kids. Her company is having their Christmas part in their office in the building at Nakatomi Plaza. However, a group of terrorists break into the building and hold everybody hostage and it’s up to McClane to stop them. One of Bruce Willis’ best movies and one of my favorite Christmas movies, Die Hard has it all; action, humor, explosions and so much more. Loaded with classic moments like “Now I’ve got a machine gun Ho Ho Ho” you will not be disappointed by this movie. The follow up, Die Hard 2: Die Harder, also takes place on Christmas and is worth watching as well.

3. Elf

Trailer

This movie ended up really surprising to me the first time I saw it. I like Will Ferrell but his movies rarely work for me and the premise of this sounded insane, but it works. Ferrell plays a man who, when he was a baby, was accidentally taken to the North Pole by Santa, he is then raised as an elf. However, when he’s much older, he finds out he’s not a real elf and ventures off to New York in order to find his real father. This movie has my sides splitting from start to finish. Ferrell’s over the top performance is actually just what the movie calls for. James Caan plays is father and is a great contradiction to Ferrell’s insane antics.

2. Scrooged

Trailer

Easily one of Bill Murray’s best movies and funniest performances, Scrooged is a fun twist on the classic A Christmas Carol. Murray plays a cynical and selfish TV executive, Frank Cross, who is visited by three ghosts to make him realize that he needs to change. One of the better and more subtle jokes is in Frank’s office, he has a banner on the wall that says “Cross; n (noun); a thing they nail people to.” My absolute favorite part of the movie is Carol Kane as the Ghost of Christmas Present. She is hilarious and she just keeps beating Murray’s character. Just a great movie and Murray is amazing in it and he has some hilarious rants in it.

1. Christmas Vacation

Trailer

As I stated at the beginning of all of this, I can’t believe that they play A Christmas Story for 24 hours straight on TV around this time of year. However, I could easily watch Christmas Vacation on repeat, and sometimes I do. I watch this movie easily 5 times every December. This movie is absolutely hilarious and is definitely my favorite Christmas movie. Chevy Chase is at his best in this movie and keeps me laughing throughout. The family hijinks are hilarious and surprisingly relatable. Loaded with so many great one liners and Clark goes on two hilarious rants that I just can’t get enough of. Beverly D’Angelo, Randy Quaid, Juliette Lewis, Johnny Galecki, Doris Roberts, Brian Doyle-Murphy, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and everybody else in the movie will keep you in stitches as well. I cannot get enough of this movie and is an absolute must watch Christmas movie. I will never tire of this movie, no matter how many times I’ve seen it, I still laugh as if it’s the first.

Merry Christmas everyone and I hope you enjoy this list.

I would like to add some honorable mentions: These are some TV shows that have had amazing Christmas specials.

1. It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia: It's A Very Sunny Christmas

2. Community season 2: Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas

3. Futurama season 2: Xmas Story

4. Futurama: All of their Christmas specials are great.

5. A Colbert Christmas

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Full Review: The Descendants

Grade: A+

Matt King is a direct descendant of one of the last kings of Hawaii. As a result of this, he and his cousins are in possession of a trust that is a very large chunk of land on Kauai that is possibly the last bit of undeveloped land in the state. Now the whole state is watching him as he decides who to sell the land to because the trust is up in a couple years. Meanwhile, his wife was just in a horrible boating accident that has left her in a coma. He now is left to take care of his two daughters himself, which he’s not used to, but they have all drifted apart and he is trying desperately to reconnect with them during this hard time.

I have been intrigued by this movie for a while but was a little nervous that it would be overly dramatic because that’s how the trailer sells it. Glad to say it’s not overly dramatic at all. It is a very sweet and entertaining movie. I ended up completely loving this movie and it is easily one of the best movies of the year. Writer and director by Alexander Payne (Sideways, Election) did an amazing job with this movie. It is mature, funny, moving and somewhat original. I love movies like this because it doesn’t fit into any one category of film. It deals with serious subjects yet has a great sense of humor. It’s an honest movie that is a great commentary on how ridiculous life can be at times.

George Clooney (Up in the Air, Ocean’s Eleven) plays the role of Matt King. Clooney always delevers great performances and can be very charming but he delivers possibly his best performance in this movie. He isn’t always the most likeable character at times be I was still always feeling sympathetic toward him. If for no other reason, see this movie for his performance. Relative new comer, Shailene Woodley, plays Alexandra King, Matt’s daughter. She is amazing in this movie as well. Alexandra is a complicated character but she plays it brilliantly. The movie also features great performances from Amara Miller, Nick Krause, Robert Forster, Judy Greer, Beau Bridges, Matthew Lillard and more

The Descendants is easily one of the best movies of 2011. I cannot recommend this movie enough to anyone looking for a quality movie to watch. It has great writing and directing and is loaded with outstanding performances all set with beautiful Hawaii as the backdrop. This movie is inspiring and I hope as many people as possible go see it.

Great quote: “My family is like an archipelago: together yet apart and somehow still slowly drifting further apart.”

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Short Review: The Descendants

Grade: A+

A father tries to reconnect with his daughters after his wife is in an accident that puts her in a coma.

An absolutely wonderful film. One of the best movies of the year.

George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Nick Krause, Robert Forster and more.

Attention span must last 2 hours to enjoy.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Podcast: Episode 29

Head over to sutmspod.wordpress.com to hear the latest episode of Shut Up! The Movie's Starting, the official podcast of Cucu for Movies.

In this episode Michael and Russell don’t see any new movies in theaters (because you couldn’t pay them enough to sit through Twilight and neither have interest in Happy Feet 2) but they do discuss the classic Death Becomes Her (Available on Netflix Streaming). The two also discuss Fargo, Spaceballs, Gremlins, Never Let Me Go, Little Shop of Horrors, You’ve Got Mail and other movies. They also ramble on about Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, Metalocalypse, Trains, Rewatching movies you didn’t like when you were younger and enjoying them now, Stephen Dorff, I think I’m gonna barf and so much more in our shortest episode yet!!! Enjoy!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Short Review: J. Edgar

Grade: A+

The story of J. Edgar Hoover and the early days of the FBI.

Extremely well made and well written. Interesting story with great acting. Clint Eastwood does a great job directing.

Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, Judi Dench, Naomi Watts and many more.

Attention span must last 2 hours 17 minutes to enjoy.

Short Review: Immortals

Grade: B

Theseus tries to stop King Hyperion before he releases the Titans which could destroy the world.

Fun and very stylized movie. Great action scenes.

Henry Cavill, Mickey Rourke, Stephen Dorff, Freida Pinto, Luke Evans, Zjohn Hurt and more.

Attention span must last 1 hour 50 minutes to enjoy.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Podcast: Episode 28

Head over to sutmspod.wordpress.com to listen to the latest episode of Shut Up! The Movie's Starting, the official podcast of Cucu for Movies.

In this episode Michael and Russell discuss the movies J. Edgar (in theaters now), Immortals (in theaters now) and Safe Men (available on Netflix Streaming). They also discuss Clash of the Titans, This is Spinal Tap, Rat Race, the trailers for The Hunger Games, Snow White and the Huntsman, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island and Goon, Bottle Shock, John Cleese, the hilarious short Eagles Are Turning People Into Horses and more! Listen and enjoy!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Short Review: Tower Heist

Grade: B+

When a rich man living in the penthouse of a building steals most of the employees pension plans, the employees decide to fight back and take what's rightfully theirs.

Surprisingly good and funny. Great to see Eddie Murphy returning to form.

Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Matthew Broderick, Alan Alda, Tea Leoni, Casey Affleck and more.

Attention span must last 1 hour 44 minutes to enjoy.

Short Review: A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas

Grade: A-

Harold and Kumar return in order to save Christmas.

Much funnier than I expected it to be. Not a great movie but well worth watching if you enjoy the first two. Best parts: NPH, wafflebots and the baby on drugs.

John Cho, Kal Penn, Neil Patrick Harris, Danny Trejo and many many more.

Attention span must last 1 hour 30 minutes in order to enjoy.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Podcast: Episode 27

Head over to sutmspod.wordpress.com to listen to the latest episode of Shut Up! The Movie's Starting, the official podcast of Cucu for Movies.

In this episode Michael and Russell discuss the movies A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas (available in theaters now), Tower Heist (available in theaters now) and Blitz (currently available on Netflix Streaming). They also discuss The Way, The Jurassic Park Trilogy, old school movies, James Bond, classic Eddie Murphy, Neil Patrick Harris, Wafflebots, women look better with age, Jason Statham, bookstores are expensive, the trailers for 21 Jump Street, Wanderlust, Safehouse, Chronicle, think Jonah Hill and much more!

Monday, October 31, 2011

Podcast: Episode 26

Head over to sutmspod.wordpress.com to hear the latest episode of Shut Up! The Movie's Starting, the official podcast of Cucu for Movies.

In this episode Michael and Russell discuss the movies In Time (in theaters now) The Rum Diary (in theaters now) and Red State (available on Netflix Streaming). They also discuss Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Margin Call, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Lorax trailer, Logan’s Run remake, Samuel L. Jackson, WB is getting greedy and much more.

Short Review: The Rum Diary

Grade: A-

A man consumes lots of rum while working at a failing newspaper in Puerto Rico.

Fun movie. Based on a great Hunter S. Thompson novel.

Johnny Depp, Michael Rispoli, Aaron Eckhart, Amber Heard, Richard Jenkins, Giovanni Ribisi, more.

Attention span must last 2 hours to enjoy.

Short Review: In Time

Grade: B+

Time is money... literally.

Fun sci-fi movie with an interesting premise and a bit of a message.

Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy, more.

Attention span must last 1 hour 49 minutes to enjoy.

Short Review: Margin Call

Grade: B+

During the early stages of the financial crisis, key people at an investment bank realize they are losing more money than they are making.

Very interesting movie. Well written and well performed.

Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Zachary Quinto, Stanley Tucci, Jeremy Irons, Demi Moore, Simon Baker and more.

Attention span must last 1 hour 47 minutes to enjoy.

Short Review: The Three Musketeers

Grade: B+

Three guys find a fourth and try to save the Queen's reputation.

Surprisingly fun. Pretty funny at times. Great swashbuckling.

Matthew Macfadyen, Milla Jovovich, Luke Evans, Ray Stevenson, Logan Lerman, Orlando Bloom, Mads Mikkelsen.

Attention span must last 1 hour 50 minutes to enjoy.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Podcast: Episode 25

Head over to sutmspod.wordpress.com to hear episode 25 of Shut Up! The Movie's Starting, the official podcast of Cucu for Movies.

In this episode Michael and Russell discuss the movies The Three Musketeers (in theaters now) and The Trip (available on Netflix Streaming). They also talk about Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Sleepy Hollow, Haunted Honeymoon, Young Frankenstein, Poltergeist, their general lack of interest in horror movies, Hunter S. Thompson, the ultimate badass: Han Solo, Steve Coogan, the always great Elizabeth Shue, their anticipation of upcoming movies including Piranha3DD and so much more!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Short Review: The Thing

Grade: B

A group of scientists encounter a shape shifting alien.

Takes place before the 1982's The Thing. Pretty good. Fun to watch. If you like the 1982 movie, check this one out.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Eric Christian Olsen and more.

Attention span must last 1 hour 43 minutes to enjoy.

Short Review: The Big Year

Grade: A-

3 guys compete to spot the most species of birds in North America in one year.

Surprisingly good. Funny. Good story. Worth watching.

Jack Black, Steve Martin, Owen Wilson and many many more.

Attention span must last 1 hr 40 minutes to enjoy.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Podcast: Episode 24

Head over to sutmspod.wordpress.com for the latest episode of Shut Up! The Movie's Starting, the official podcast of Cucu for Movies.

In this episode Michael and Russell discuss The Big Year (in theaters), The Thing (2011) (in theaters), The Perfect Host (available on Netflix Instant Watch), AVPR: Alien Vs. Predator Requiem and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The two also talk about The Avengers trailer, Red State (Available on DVD/Blu-ray (and maybe Netflix Streaming) October 18), Resident Evil, Scream 4, David Hyde Pierce, Catastrophes in Colorado, the possible R-rated Wolverine Movie, Their desire for a third Alien Vs. Predator movie, Their lack of interest in the upcoming Man of Steel movie, Mortal Kombat, Michelle Rodriguez’s ability to escape death in movies and much more!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Short Review: Real Steel

Grade: A

A man bonds with his son while their robot beats up other robots.

Fun. Exciting. Great story.

Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo, Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie, Kevin Durand, more.

Attention span must last 2 hours 7 minutes to enjoy.

Full Review: Real Steel

Grade: A

In the near future robot boxing is the biggest sport in the world. Charlie, a former boxer, is a down on his luck robot boxing promoter who discovers that he has a son, Max. He makes a deal with Max’s aunt and uncle, who feel it would be best if they took custody, to take the 11 year old boy on the road with him as he makes one last desperate attempt to make some money in the cutthroat world of robot boxing. The two find an old sparring bot in a dump and fix it up so they can start teaching it to box. As the bot wins bout after bout, father and son form a strong bond.

Real Steel is based on the classic game “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots” and because of that most people seem to hate this movie sight unseen. I thought it looked fun and I ended up enjoying it way more than I thought I would. Real Steel is a fun, futuristic Rocky-like movie. The characters are surprisingly well written and the robot fights are tons of fun to watch. In fact, as the movie went on, I found myself getting more and more involved in the story and with the characters so much so that by the climactic fight, I was on the edge of my seat dying to just jump up and cheer for Charlie, Max and Atom, their robot. This movie is entertainment for entertainments sake and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Hugh Jackman (X-Men, The Prestige) plays the lead role of Charlie Kenton, a former boxer in financial trouble. Jackman was great in this movie, he was funny and tough and pretty emotional when he needed to be. He did a great job with this role and made Real Steel as much fun to watch as it is. Newcomer Dakota Goyo plays the role of Max, Charlie’s estranged 11 year old son. Goyo was great in this movie and did a great job acting alongside Jackman. Evangeline Lilly (The Hurt Locker, TVs Lost) plays the role of Bailey, a friend of Charlie’s and owner of Tallet’s Gym. She was great and very enjoyable in this movie. It was nice to see her in a bigger role in a movie. The movie also features Anthony Mackie, Kevin Durand, Hope Davis, Karl Yune, Olga Fonda and more.

Real Steel is a surprisingly fun and entertaining movie. I personally felt that it was very effective and got me to be completely involved in the story. Just because this movie won’t win or be nominated for any Oscars doesn’t mean it’s not worth watching. This is a movie that almost anybody could enjoy. In fact, if you like movie’s like Rocky, check this one out.

Podcast: Episode 23

Head over to sutmspod.wordpress.com for the lastest episode of Shut Up! The Movie's Starting, the official podcast of Cucu for Movies.

In this episode Michael and Russell discuss the movies Real Steel (in theaters now) and Rock Slyde (available on Netflix Instant Queue). They also discuss AVP: Alien vs. Predator, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Ides of March, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, some movie news, the awesomeness that is robot boxing, political dramas, enjoying movies simply because they are fun to watch and more.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Short Review: The Ides of March

Grade: A

An idealistic young staffer on a presidential campaign gets a crash course in dirty politics.

Great performances, great writing, interesting story.

Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright, Max Minghella.

Attention span must last 1 hour 40 minutes to enjoy.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Short Review: Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

Grade: A+

While helping his friend fix up his new vacation home, a man falls in love with a woman while her friends try to kill them.

Hilarious from start to finish. A fantastic take on the horror comedy genre.

Alan Tudyk, Tyler Labine, Katrina Bowden and more.

Attention span must last 1 hour 30 minutes to enjoy.

Full Review: 50/50

Grade: A+

Adam is 27 years old, has a job he loves in radio and a seemingly great girlfriend. However, his life gets turned upside down when he finds out that he has a cancerous tumor on his spine. He is forced to go through chemotherapy to try to reduce the size of the tumor and on top of that he finds out that the survival rate of this particular type of cancer is only 50%. He also starts to go to a therapist who is rather new to the position and his mother is overly protective. Thankfully he has his best friend Kyle on his side to help him cope and get through this hard time as everything in Adam’s world seems to be falling apart.

50/50 is an inspiring movie that is based on the true story of its writer, Will Reiser. It is unlike any movie I have ever seen. It manages to perfectly blend the drama of the main character having cancer and the humor that many people use to help cope. It is the most honest movie about cancer that I’ve ever seen. The balance was absolutely perfect, I was laughing through most of the movie with moments that caused me to tear up a bit. The writing for this movie is amazing and all of the characters in it are very real. I am glad to see a movie like this because I feel that it’s the first movie that really understands this subject matter. By that I mean that just because it’s a movie about cancer doesn’t mean that it has to be completely serious and devoid of any kind of humor.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception, 500 Days of Summer) plays the lead role of Adam. He was absolutely amazing and gave what I would call an Oscar worthy performance, if the Oscars paid attention to comedies. I am a huge fan of his and this is my favorite performance of his and probably his best performance to date. All the subtle nuances in his character are part of what make it so great. Seth Rogen (The Green Hornet, Zack and Miri Make a Porno) plays the role of Kyle, Adam’s best friend. I think that this is the best performance Rogen has given as well. He was perfect as the worried friend who doesn’t always know how to handle the situation and hides behind his humor. Anna Kendrick (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Up in the Air) plays the role of Katherine, a young therapist still working on her doctorate. I am amazed every time I see her in a movie. Let’s not hold the Twilight movies against her because outside of those she is absolutely amazing and just keeps getting better. She is wonderful in this movie and again, because it’s the only word I can think of, she is perfect in this movie. Angelica Huston (Choke, The Royal Tenenbaums) gives an awe-inspiring performance as Adams mother. The movie also features Bryce Dallas Howard, Phillip Baker Hall, Matt Frewer and more.

50/50 is easily one of the best movies of the year. Every moment of this movie is simply amazing. It will make you laugh then question why, in a good way. It is very inspiring, emotional, hilarious and it will make you think. I cannot recommend this movie enough to absolutely everybody.

Great quote: “I smother him so much because I love him.”

Short Review: 50/50

Grade: A+

A 27 year old finds out what matters most in life after he finds out he has cancer.

One of the best movies of the year. Hilarious and emotional.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Angelica Huston, Bryce Dallas Howard, Philip Baker Hall, Matt Frewer and more.

Attention span must last 1 hour 40 minutes to enjoy.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Podcast: Episode 22

Head over to sutmspod.wordpress.com for the latest episode of Shut Up! The Movie's Starting, the official podcast of Cucu for Movies.

In this episode Michael and Russell discuss the movies 50/50 and Tucker and Dale vs Evil (Available in theaters now) as well as Troll Hunter (Available on Netflix Instant Watch). The two also talk about Predators, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, What’s Your Number, Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop, The Mechanic, Nightmare in Red, White and Blue, Michael’s love and Russell’s hatred of documentaries, the sad box office results, actors who work better as supporting stars and so much more.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Short Review: Killer Elite

Grade: C

An assassin assassinates other assassins while an assassin tries to assassinate him.

A really long build up to not much of a pay off. Action scenes are fun though.

Jason Statham, Clive Owen, Robert De Niro, Dominic Purcell, Yvonne Strahovski.

Attention span must last 2 hours 5 minutes to enjoy.

Short Review: What's Your Number?

Grade: B

An unemployed girl is helped by an unemployed guy to track down her ex-boyfriends and the two seem to have unlimited resources.

Very fun and funny for the first half, then it turns into a typical rom-com.

Anna Faris, Chris Evans, others.

Attention span must last 1 hour 45 minutes to enjoy.

Full Review: What's Your Number?

Grade: B

Ally has just gotten out of a bad relationship. On top of that, she has just lost her job in marketing. On her way home she comes across an article stating that women who have more than 20 sexual partners have a hard time finding a husband. She discovers that she is at 19 and is determined to stop sleeping around until she finds a suitable mate to settle down with. This is when she meets and befriends her neighbor, Colin, who is good at finding people, so she has Colin track down all of her exes because she is convinced that they must have changed and one of them must be compatible with her now. All the while, she spends a lot of time with Colin and the two form an interesting relationship.

What’s Your Number? isn’t all that different from many other romantic comedies like it. The lead female has found some ridiculous piece of information that convinces her she must stop and find a man to settle down with. The gimmick in this movie is that she has possible slept with too many people and if she sleeps with one more man she will never find a husband. Ally’s sister is getting married and while she never directly says it, she seems determined to find this man before the wedding, because nothing is worse than going to a wedding by yourself.

However, Anna Faris (Take Me Home Tonight, Observe and Report), who plays Ally in the movie, is absolutely hilarious throughout the movie. I have always liked Anna Faris and she was really enjoyable in this movie. This is the funniest I think I have ever seen her be. Chris Evans (Captain America, Sunshine) plays the role of Colin, Ally’s neighbor who is helping her track down her ex-boyfriends. He can be really funny and he is hilarious in this movie. The two works together and play off each other so well in the movie. The movie also features Ari Graynor, Blythe Danner, Ed Begley Jr. and more.

My problem is that the humor and the fun happy-go-lucky relationship that Anna Faris and Chris Evans have in the movie is so much fun to watch and so funny for the first half of the movie. Then the movie takes the turn of the typical romantic comedy; the two realize that they have feelings for each other but at least one of them is stupid and convinces themself that it won’t work then the entire third act of the movie is the person slowly realizing that their feelings for the other person are strong, it will work and then begging for forgiveness.

I really enjoyed the first half of this movie. I laughed a lot more than I thought I would and I actually enjoyed the way the movie was playing out, it really surprised me. However, once the movie took that turn that I mentioned, I began to quickly loose interest. This movie is a pretty typical romantic comedy but it is really funny at times. If you are looking for a fun date night movie, I would recommend this.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Podcast: Episode 21

Head over to sutmspod.wordpress.com for the episode 21 of Shut Up! The Movie's Starting, the official podcast of Cucu for Movies.

In this episode Michael and Russell discuss the movie Killer Elite (in theaters now), The Flintstones (available on Netflix Instant Watch), Predator 2 and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (on blu-ray). They also discuss the new movie Moneyball, playing in theaters now, The Social Network, Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop, the overly long trailer for Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as well as the trailers for J. Edgar, The Grey, The Three Musketeers and Immortals, they talk about Michael’s love for Aaron Sorkin’s writing, airship battles, marathoning LOTR, the awesomness of Nicholas Cage and much more.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Short Review: Moneyball

Grade: A+

A man uses statistics to build a better baseball team.

Easily one of the best movies of the year.

Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, more.

Attention span must last 2 hours 15 minutes in order to enjoy.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Full Review: Moneyball

Grade: A+

Billy Beane is the general manager of the Oakland Athletics professional baseball club. The team has been going through hard times lately. They recently lost their opportunity to go to the World Series and their three top players have just been drafted to the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Socks. Billy has another problem; the Athletics have the smallest budget in the MLB in order to pay for players. He needs to come up with a new way to build a winning team on a budget. That is when he meets Peter Brand, a young baseball statistician, who shows Billy a way to use computer generated statistic s in order to build the best possible baseball team on the extremely low budget. If this works, Billy could completely change the way people look at baseball.

I would like to start out by saying that I am in no way a baseball fan, yet for some reason I was drawn to Moneyball. I am glad to say that this movie isn’t really about baseball but rather the business behind baseball. On top of that, Moneyball is an absolutely amazing movie. To start, it is shot beautifully and the story is told in such a way, every once in a while flashing between the present (2002) and Billy’s past as a baseball player, that I found really interesting and captivating. It was directed by Bennett Miller (Capote) who did a spectacular job. It is written by Steve Zaillian (All the King’s Men, Schindler’s List) and Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network, A Few Good Men). These two did an amazing job writing this movie, I loved everything about it. The dialogue was interesting, the story moved along at a great pace and it had just the right amount of humor tossed in.

Moneyball stars Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Burn After Reading) who plays the role of Billy Beane, a former baseball player and talent scout who is now the general manager of the Oakland Athletics. This is probably one of Pitt’s best performances, he was absolutely perfect in this role. Some of my favorite moments of the movie are when Beane is interacting with his daughter, you really have to see it to understand. Jonah Hill (Get Him to the Greek, Cyrus) plays the role of Peter Brand, a statistician who comes up with a way to build a team on a budget. It was very interesting seeing Hill in a much more serious and, well, subtle roll. I am glad to say that he really pulled it off and did an amazing job in this movie. Hopefully this will allow him to further expand his talents and take on different roles. The movie also features fantastic performances by Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Chris Pratt, Stephen Bishop, Kerris Dorsey and more.

Moneyball is easily one of the best movies of the year. Everything about this movie is great; It looks amazing, the writing is superb and the acting is astonishing. If you’re a fan of baseball or even if you’re like me and find baseball to be about as exciting as watching paint dry on growing grass, go and see this movie, it is well worth your time.

Great quote: “There’s an idea, I can teach one of the fans.”

Monday, September 19, 2011

Podcast: Episode 20

Head over to sutmspod.wordpress.com for the latest episode of Shut Up! The Movie's Starting, the official podcast of Cucu for Movies.

In this episode Michael and Russell discuss the very artistic Drive (Available in theaters now), the hilarious Mystery Team (Available on Netflix Instant Watch) and the always awesome Predator. The two also discuss The Beaver, Blind Dating, Winter’s Bone, Jennifer Lawrence, Bill Duke, great one-liners in action movies, the hilarity of 80′s action movies, the exceedingly great Marvel Comics and their movies, DC Comics and their greatly disappointing characters and movies, exciting Expendables 2 casting news, The Muppet’s parody trailers, the point break remake, 3D beach volleyball, and so much more.

Short Review: Drive

Grade: A

A quiet man really likes to drive.

A very artistic heist movie. Graphic. Great story.

Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Oscar Isaac, Ron Pearlman, Christina Hendricks.

Attention span must last 1 hour 40 minutes to enjoy.

Full Review: Drive

Grade: A

A quiet man who lives by himself works as a mechanic and a part-time Hollywood stunt driver also moonlights as a wheelman for robberies. One day he meets his new neighbor, Irene, in his apartment building and quickly becomes friends with her and her son, Benicio. When Irene’s husband, Standard, is released from jail, he still has a mob family seeking him for some money in order to let him finally leave the business. He asks the driver for his help and they work out a deal with the people looking for Standard. However, when things go sour on this final job, the driver seeks out all the people in order to set things right.

Drive is a very well made and interesting movie. It is very artistically done and looks great because of it. I really appreciate it when movies make bold steps like this these days. Most movies these days aren’t really willing to allow long pauses in the dialogue and have entire scenes with virtually no dialogue. The story is pretty interesting and you think that it’s heading in one direction when suddenly it takes a drastic turn. Also, and kind of as a warning, the violence in the movie is really graphic and realistic. Overall, this is a slower moving movie but is well worth it. The few action scenes that are in this movie are really tense and exciting to watch.

Ryan Gosling (Crazy Stupid Love, Blue Valentine) plays the lead role of the unnamed driver. I used to be pretty hesitant about seeing movies with him in them but I have definitely come to realize that given the right role, he can really shine, given that I would like to say that he was exceptionally good in this role. Carey Mulligan (Never Let Me Go, An Education) plays the role of Irene, his neighbor. She was pretty good in this movie and really fit the role well. Bryan Cranston (Contagion, TVs Breaking Bad) plays the role of Shannon, the driver’s boss at the mechanic shop and his only friend. Cranston was great in this role and I’m really excited to see him getting more roles like this. Drive also features great performance from Albert Brooks (who I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets some award nominations off this role), Oscar Isaac, Ron Pearlman, Christina Hendricks and more.

Drive is a very interesting and well-made heist movie that takes an artistic look at the genre. It is not the quickest paced movie but is well worth a watch. This movie is fantastic and loaded with great performances and a story that, despite its slower pace, keeps you griped to the edge of your seat. I have to say, given most of the other movies coming out this time of year, this is probably most worth your time and money right now. I would not be surprised if this movie gets some award nominations during award season.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Short Review: Contagion

Grade: D-

People get sick around the world.

Boring. Nothing Happens.

Matt Damon, Jude Law, Lawrence Fishburne, Kate Winslet, others.

Attention span must last 1 hour 40 minutes to enjoy.

Full Review: Contagion

Grade: D-

Mitch Emhoff’s wife, Beth, has just returned from a business trip to Hong Kong. She has unfortunately contracted a new flu-virus that manages to kill her in about twenty-four hours. The virus then also claims the life of Mitch’s stepson, Cliff. Mitch is immune and he takes his daughter and locks them into their Minnesotan house. This strand of flu-virus breaks out and quickly turns into a world-wide pandemic that threatens to kill billions of people. Meanwhile, members of the CDC and the World Health Organization quickly scramble to learn as much about the virus as quickly as possible in order to create a cure. As they try to do so, the media starts to question the government’s willingness to truly help the people.

Contagion, at first, seems to look like an exciting virus outbreak movie, like Outbreak but more global. It is billed as an action-thriller, but sadly I am here to report that this movie is about as far from action-like or thrilling as possible. It gets going pretty quickly. The first twenty minutes of the movie show the virus spreading quickly and it seems like it’s all going to build up to some huge and exciting climax that never shows up. The entire time I was watching this movie, I kept waiting for something to happen, so many times I kept thinking something was going to happen, but nothing ever did. Every once in a while the news would mention the numbers of people dead around the world, but they never really did anything to show the impact of that. Yes, streets were empty, but simply because the people were told to stay inside in order to avoid contracting the disease, plus the only people on the streets were people robbing stores and threatening people. Then, after a while, things just start to work out for everybody. Not to mention that this movie has one of the most annoying shots I’ve ever seen in a motion picture.

Most of the characters of the movie are very hollow and you never really feel anything for them. Mitch loses a wife and a kid in the same day and doesn’t really seem to care. The head of the CDC seems to truly not care about anybody but himself and his wife. Alan, a reporter, seems to only care about getting hits on his blog, even if that means causing mass hysteria. So many more examples like this, like I said, I didn’t care about one person in this movie.

Matt Damon (The Adjustment Bureau, True Grit) plays the role of Mitch Emhoff. I like Matt Damon and I don’t know if it was a choice or if it really is the way the character is written but he seemed ambivalent the whole movie. Lawrence Fishburne (Predators, The Matrix) plays the role of Dr. Ellis Cheever, the head of the CDC. Fishburne is great but again, I felt nothing for his character and he seemed pretty selfish and uninteresting. The movie also features John Hawkes, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Gwenyth Paltrow.

I have never walked out of a movie before but I came dangerously close with this one. I only stayed and watched the whole thing because I was determined to see how it ended. I can’t remember ever being so bored with a movie. Nothing happens in this movie and nothing keeps happening. For a movie where 100+ million people die, a whole lot of nothing happens. This movie serves only to attempt to cause paranoia in people as cold and flu season approaches and to slam the government in not so subtle ways. I really have to suggest that you skip this movie and if you absolutely have to see it, wait for DVD. Oh, this movie is also the biggest waste of IMAX sight and sound I could ever imagine. There was no visual or auditory spectacle to this movie. If you see it on IMAX (which again, just don’t see it) you get the pleasure of watching people sweat and look pale on a giant screen with crystal clear resolution, what a waste.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Podcast: Episode 19

Head over to sutmspod.wordpress.com to hear the latest episode of Shut Up! The Movie's Starting, the official podcast of Cucu for Movies.

In this episode Michael and Russell talk about the new movie Contagion (available in theaters now) as well as I Love You, Phillip Morris (available now on Netflix Instant Watch). Then the two discuss Alien Resurrection, A Few Good Men, Tangled, Wayne’s World, the awesomness of Ron Pearlman, groups of super-macho hit-men in action movies, the Star Wars blu-rays, their favorite Disney animation movies, the upcoming Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, the backwards ratings system, weird childhood behavior and so much more!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Short Review: The Guard

Grade: A+

In west Irelenad, an unorthodox policeman is teamed up with an uptight FBI agent to stop a cocaine smuggling ring.

Very funny, great story, great writing, great acting.

Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Mark Strong.

Attention span must last 1 hour 36 minutes to enjoy.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Podcast: Update

head over to sutmspod.wordpress.com to hear a quick update/podcast I posted.

On this “episode” I talk about the movie The Guard and I give a lot of information about Red State, which is available On Demand now, will be “in theaters” on September 25th and on DVD/Blu-ray October 18th. For more information on where Red State is available On Demand go to coopersdell.com, for more information on Red State and where it will be available in theaters go to redstatements.com.

Hopefully we'll return next Monday. Thank you.

Full Review: The Guard

Grade: A+

Sergeant Gerry Boyle is a rather unorthodox Irish policeman who has been working in west Ireland for a long time. However, shortly after a mysterious mystery in a local town, an FBI agent from the states shows up in search of a cocaine smuggling ring. Boyle is teamed up with agent Everett and the two do not get along very well as Boyle likes to make many inappropriate and offensive jokes. As the violence begins to escalate the two finally are forced to cooperate with each other and begin to form a bit of a friendship.

The Guard is a fascinating and surprisingly funny movie. I was extremely impressed with this movie and how it played out. I was interested in seeing it after watching the trailer for it a while back, mostly because of the cast, but I was unsure of how the movie would actually play out. I was very glad to see that the movie has a wonderful sense of humor and kept me laughing throughout the course of the movie. The characters are extremely well written and even better portrayed by their respective actors. The film is also really well shot and the cinematography really shows off the beauty of the Irish countryside.

The cast is what interested me the most in this movie and they did not disappoint. Brendan Gleeson (Harry Potter, In Bruges) plays the lead role of Sergeant Gerry Boyle, a wisecracking Irish policeman. Gleeson was absolutely wonderful and perfect in this role, this is probably one of my favorite performances of his. Don Cheadle (Iron Man 2, Ocean’s Eleven) plays the role of FBI agent Wendell Everett. Cheadle did a great job with this role and countered Gleeson’s character very well. Mark Strong (Robin Hood, Sherlock Holmes) plays the role of Clive Cornell, the leader of the cocaine smugglers. Strong did a great job, he always does an amazing job playing the bad guy.

The Guard is a surprisingly good movie that is fun to watch and will make you laugh a lot. I will say though, sometimes the accents are hard to understand, but I don’t think it’s too bad. The movie is loaded with many great moments, the story is great, the writing is fantastic and the actors all do a wonderful job. It is a fun comedy thriller movie to enjoy during this slow period at the movies.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Short Review: Attack the Block

Grade: A

Aliens south London, a teen gang decides to fight them off.

Fun movie with a lot of fun action. Cool alien design.

John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker, Nick Frost, many more.

Attention span must last 1 hour 30 minutes to enjoy.

Short Review: Our Idiot Brother

Grade: A+

Ned stays with his 3 sisters causing conflict.

Best comedy of the year. Subtle and underplayed humor.

Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer, Steve Coogan, Rashida Jones, T.J. Miller, Adam Scott, more.

Attention span must last 1 hour 30 minutes to enjoy.

Full Review: Our Idiot Brother

Grade: A+

Ned is a bit of a free spirit who grows vegetables on an organic farm and sells them at a market. But when he sells marijuana to a uniformed police officer, he is sent to jail. After his release, his ex-girlfriend at the farm doesn’t want him back so Ned is forced to stay with some of his family. He essentially gets passed around the homes of his three sisters. Ned has a lot faith in the good in people and he insists on be as honest as possible. This, however, does manage to cause some complications amongst his sisters as he forces them to deal with each of their own problems.

Our Idiot Brother is yet another instance of bad advertising and a trailer that doesn’t properly portray the movie. When I watched the trailer I thought it was going to be a raunchy/stoner/slapstick comedy and I was glad that it wasn’t. The movie is my absolute favorite kind of comedy: subtle and underplayed. This movie had me laughing the whole time without getting raunchy or gross, without the characters falling down or getting hit by stuff, without much exaggeration and without a lot of the other things that most comedies these days tend to overdo. The writing was great and all of the characters were fascinating in their own way, especially Ned. This movie completely took me by surprise and is easily my favorite comedy of the year, thus far. I honestly don’t know how else to describe it but I loved absolutely every second of this movie.

Paul Rudd (Dinner for Schmucks, Role Models) plays the lead role of Ned. I am a huge fan of Rudd’s, he is one of the most consistently funny actors out there today. He is so good that even though I really don’t like the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I love his character in it and that almost makes it worth watching. With that said, I have to state that this is now my favorite role I have ever seen him in. Elizabeth Banks (The Next Three Days, Zack and Miri Make a Porno) plays the role of Miranda. Banks is great and one of my favorite comedic actors and she does not disappoint in this movie. Zooey Deschanel (500 Days of Summer, Yes Man) plays the role of Natalie. I can never get enough of Ms. Deschanel and she was great and extremely en in this movie. Emily Mortimer (City Island, Harry Brown) plays the role of Liz. Mortimer was great in this movie and this is one of her better roles I’ve seen her do. The movie also features Steve Coogan, Rashida Jones, Adam Scott, T.J. Miller, Kathryn Hahn and many more.

Our Idiot Brother is my favorite comedy of the year and is one of the better comedies to come out in a while, it feels like. I cannot recommend this movie enough. If you are looking for a feel good movie or a great comedy, get out there and see Our Idiot Brother. I can’t wait to see this movie again, I really loved it, I know I’ve said that a few times.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Podcast: Episode 18

Head over to sutmspod.wordpress.com/ to listen to the latest episode of Shut Up! The Movie's Starting.

In this episode Michael and Russell discuss the movies Our Idiot Brother and Attack the Block, which are playing in theaters now, as well as Rubber, available on Netflix Instant Watch. The two also talk about Alien3, Colombiana, The Help, Peep World, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, The trailers for Tucker and Dale vs Evil and The Rum Diary, Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim, the lies told by some trailers, the relatively new Denver Film Center, their love of Alan Tudyk, Steven Chow’s movies and oh so very much more!

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Full Review: The Help

Grade: A

Set in the 1960’s, Skeeter has just returned home to Mississippi after graduating from college. She is determined to become a writer and takes a job at the local newspaper writing a housekeeping advice column. While reconnecting with old friends, she sees the way that everybody treats the black maids who clean their houses and raise their children. When one woman in particular, Hilly Holbrook, puts forth an initiative to have everyone build separate bathrooms for the help to use, Skeeter decides to ask some of the maids to answer some questions and tell stories from their perspective. Aibileen is the first person to agree. However, in the midst of the civil rights movement, more maids begin to step forward to tell their stories and help Skeeter write her book that when released, could shake the very foundation of southern society.

I will admit I was a bit wary about this movie when I first heard about it. I didn’t get why Hollywood would chose to make a fictional movie about the civil rights movement when there are so many amazing true stories to tell. However, after The Help was released, I started hearing about the performances and I became increasingly interested in seeing this movie. I’m really glad that I decided to watch this movie. It is a well written, well made and extremely well performed movie. Despite the fact that all of the characters in the movie are made up, all of the events happening around them were very real. I was very impressed with how good this movie was and how powerful it felt and the emotion in it was intense. It’s no wonder to me that this movie is already getting early Oscar buzz.

The movie touches on many interesting issues from back then. It shows how these maids raised these people’s children (often far more and far better than the actual parents) but yet were treated poorly and not allowed to even use the bathroom inside the house. It shows how even though these women raised these children and were close to them, the children would grow up only to treat them like third class citizens, just like everybody else. It discussed how even though the maids were technically employed by these people, often they were inherited as though they were objects. One of my favorite aspects of this movie was the character of Celia Foote, who was outcast by the rest of the girls because she doesn’t act like the rest of them do. Celia hires Minny and rather than treat her like everyone else treats their maids, she treats Minny like a friend and they form a wonderful relationship.

Emma Stone (Easy A, Crazy Stupid Love) plays the lead role of Skeeter. It is great to see Emma Stone stretch her wings a bit in this movie. She usually plays much more comedic roles and it was nice to see her in a more dramatic role. She did a great job in the movie and proved my thoughts about her potential as an actress. Viola Davis (Knight and Day, Doubt) plays the role of Abileen. She is an amazing actress and she delivers a powerful performance in the movie, I can’t say enough about her in this role and I strongly believe she will get many award nominations out of it. Bryce Dallas Howard (Herafter, Terminator Salvation) plays the role of Hilly Hilbrook, essentially the villain of the movie. She did a great job with this role and was extremely convincing in her performance. Octavia Spencer plays the role of Minny Jackson, Abileen’s best friend. It was interesting seeing her in a prominent role in a movie and a serious role at that and she did a great job with it. The movie also features great performances by Allison Janney, Jessica Chastain, Sissy Spacek, Ahna O’Reilly and more.

The Help is a great movie and one of the better feel good movies of the year. It manages to tackle the difficult subject with grace and meaning. One thing that really amused me while watching this movie was that of all the horrible things that are said and done to these maids and to black people in general in this movie, the audience I watched it with was never more horrified and offended than when one of the characters spanked her child. I recommend that everybody go out and see this movie when you have a chance, you won’t regret it.

Short Review: Conan the Barbarian

Grade: C-

A young man grows up to be a great warrior.

Fun action scenes but the story is uninteresting and the acting is bad.

Jason Momoa, Stephen Lang, Rachel Nichols, Rose McGowan, Ron Pearlman

Attention span must last 1 hour 53 minutes to enjoy.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Podcast: Episode 17

Head over to sutmspod.wordpress.com to listen to episode 17 of Shut Up! The Movie's Starting, the official podcast of Cucu for Movies!

In this episode Michael and Russell discuss the movies Fright Night and Conan the Barbarian (in theaters now) as well as Piccadilly Jim (available on Netflix Instant Watch) and Aliens. The two also talk about Hobo with a Shotgun, Take Me Home Tonight, Defendor, the trailers for Harold and Kumar 3, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and Underworld 4, the upcoming John Carter of Mars, future Pixar projects, Ridley Scott, the awesomeness of 80s fantasy and action movies and oh so very much more.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Short Review: Fright Night

Grade: A-

A boy befriends a Vegas magician.

Surprisingly good and entertaining

Anton Yelchin, Colin Ferrell, David Tennant, Toni Collette.

Attention span must last 1 hour 46 minutes.

Full Review: Fright Night

Grade: A-

Charley lives with his mom in a small suburban town just outside of Las Vegas. He becomes suspicious of his new neighbor, Jerry, after his friend raises some interesting questions about the man. Charley does soon discover that his neighbor is indeed a vampire. When Jerry finds out that his secret has been revealed, he begins to focus all of his effort on killing Charley and his mom. Charley then goes to Vegas to enlist the help of Peter Vincent, a self-proclaimed vampire hunter and stage magician. Vincent, however, turns out to be a drunk and doesn’t seem interested in helping.

Fright Night is a remake of a classic cult movie of the same name from 1985. I will admit, I have never seen the original and I was very wary of this remake as nobody seemed to have much faith in it and the trailer didn’t really make me all that interested in seeing it. However, I would like to say that I was very pleasantly surprised by this movie. In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The plot is fun and really entertaining and the action is great. The movie has a really great sense of humor and it will make you laugh a couple times. This is probably one of the better vampire movies to come out in a long time, no sparkling in this one. My only complaint about this movie is that I saw it in 2D (no interest in 3D) and there are several blatant 3D shots in the movie. By that I mean that there are some weird camera shots that were set up specifically so that something can be thrown at the camera to try to scare the people seeing it in 3D.

Anton Yelchin (Star Trek, Terminator: Salvation) plays the lead role of Charley. I am already a huge fan of this guy, he is great in every movie I’ve seen him in and this movie is no exception. He has great delivery and manages this character very well. Colin Ferrell (Horrible Bosses, In Bruges) plays Jerry, the vampire. Ferrell is perfect in this role. He makes an awesome and fun vampire. David Tennant (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, TVs Doctor Who) plays Peter Vincent. Tennant was fantastic in this role. He was hilarious and entertaining and he manages to pull himself together and be a total badass by the end of the movie. The movie also features Toni Collette, Imogen Poots, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and more.

Fright Night is a surprisingly good movie that I think most fans of vampires will enjoy. Again, I haven’t seen the original and I do plan on watching it soon, but this movie is absolutely great and so much fun to watch. I really recommend it for people looking for a decent vampire/horror(ish) movie.

Short Review: 30 Minutes or Less

Grade: B-

A young man has an explosive day.

Funny, could have been better though.

Jesse Eisenberg, Aziz Ansari, Danny McBride, Nick Swardson, Fred Ward.

Attention span must last 90 minutes to enjoy.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Podcast: Episode 16

Episode 16 of Shut Up! The Movie's Starting is now available at sutmspod.wordpress.com

Welcome to episode 16 of Shut Up! The Movie’s Starting. In this episode Michael and Russell discuss the movies 30 Minutes or Less, playing in theaters now, and John Carpenter’s The Thing, available on the Netflix Instant queue. They also talk about Alien, The Rocketeer, Tremors, Spaceballs, Simon Pegg, Mike Myers, the Harold and Kumar 3 trailer, the hilarity of future tech in old sci-fi movies and so much more.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Short Review: The Change-Up

Grade: B

A man works hard to make partner at his law firm.

It's a body switching movie with dick and fart jokes.

Jason Bateman, Ryan Reynolds, Leslie Mann, Olivia Wilde

Attention Span much last 1 hour 52 minute to enjoy.

Full Review: The Change-Up

Grade: B

Dave is a hardworking lawyer who is married with a daughter and two new born twins. Things have been rough lately as Dave has been working hard on a case at work and his home life has been affected by this. Mitch is an actor who doesn't seem to get much work and spends most of his days doing, pretty much, whatever he wants. The two have been best friends their whole lives and after a night of drinking, the two stumble upon a fountain they use to urinate in. Somehow, by doing so, the two switch bodies and the fountain has gone missing. Now, the two must do their best to respect each other’s lives until the fountain is found and they can switch back. The two, of course, learn valuable lessons along the way.

The Change-Up follows a tried and true formula of movies like Freaky Friday and its many remakes. The main difference being that this body switching movie is much raunchier and has tons of adult language. Rather than being the typical Mother/Daughter or Father/Son switch, this is more of an Odd Couple switch. Dave is clean, organized, wears a suit every day, has a respectable job, has kids and is generally responsible. Mitch is single, lazy, does what he wants (which usually includes lots of drinking and weed) and has lots of random sex with strange women. So to watch these two switch bodies is really funny and entertaining. Especially watching as Mitch tries to be Dave and just fail miserably. I easily laughed through 85-90% of this movie, it is better than I thought it would be. However, I do have to say that there are several moments in the trailer that were hilarious and they are either played down or missing all together from the movie. While I understand that this happens frequently, some of these moments were genius and I don’t get why they would be cut out. Also, one of my few complaints about this movie is that I am not a big fan of poop/gross humor and while there are only a small handful of these moments, some of them took me out of the movie for a moment.

Jason Bateman (Horrible Bosses, Paul) plays the role of Dave. He does a great job in this movie and he is absolutely hilarious, as he usually is. Bateman is one of the more consistently funny actors out there and he does not disappoint in this. Ryan Reynolds (Green Lantern, Buried) plays the role of Mitch. He was great and completely outrageous in this. His character has the vast majority of the language and raunchiness in this movie and Reynolds does this extremely well. Bateman and Reynolds play each other extremely well, but some of that is because the two have similar comedy styles. The movie also features Leslie Mann, Olivia Wilde, Alan Arkin and more.

If you are looking for a fun comedy that is loaded with adult humor and all that comes with that, then the Change-Up is the movie for you. It is a great comedy but the easily offended should pass on this one. It tries to instill a message and succeeds somewhat but it’s kind of lost amidst everything else that is happening in the movie.

Great quote: “Take my hands off of you!”

Podcast: Episode 15

Episode 15 of Shut Up! The Movie's Starting is available now at sutmspod.wordpress.com

In this episode Michael and Russell discuss The Change-Up and Rise of the Planet of the Apes, both in theaters now, and The Chase, available on Netflix Instant Watch. The two also discuss Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Jersey Girl, Smokin’ Aces 1 and 2, Intolerable Cruelty, The Jonses, MacGruber, the greatness of Val Kilmer, remakes that should not be, their lack of enthusiasm for Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Rises, they ramble on for a bit and Michael continues to defend the quality of the Apes movies and so much more.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Short Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Grade: A

APES!!!!!!

Great addition to the Apes series. Lots of fun. Very emotional. Not to mention APES!!!!!

James Franco, Andy Serkis, John Lithgow, Freida Pinto, more.

Attention span must last 1 hour 45 minutes to enjoy.

Full Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Grade: A

Will Rodman has been working at a genetic lab for years where he has been working on a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease. He has recently made a break through and a chimp they have been testing on has been showing amazing cognitive abilities. Unfortunately, the chimpanzee went out of control and they were forced to stop the program and put down all the chimps. It turns out, the chimp they were testing on had a baby and rather than put it down, Will took him home in order to hide him from the company. It appears that this chimp has increased cognitive abilities and quickly learns sign language and much more. After becoming hostile with a neighbor, Will is forced to put Caesar, the chimp, in a primate sanctuary. Here, Caesar learns how humans really are and he begins to organize a revolution with the rest of the apes.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is essentially a prequel to the original Planet of the Apes from 1968 starring Charlton Heston. I have been pretty excited about this movie for a while as I am a huge fan of all of the Planet of the Apes movies (there are 6 including Tim Burton’s remake). I was hoping that this would be a nice addition to the series. I was not let down at all. Rise manages to be fun and exciting as well as very emotional. The chimpanzee, Caesar, goes through many emotional and tragic ordeals, it gets to the point where you aren’t just rooting for him, but all of the apes. On top of that, they make many great references to the original movie as well as some references to some of its sequels, particularly Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. The writers did a great job and managed to sneak in many of the classic lines we all know and love. The special effects in the movie look absolutely spectacular, the apes look incredibly realistic. The buildup is great but the payoff is even better. The climactic scene with the apes rampaging through the streets of San Francisco is an absolute blast to watch. They left it somewhat open ended for possible sequels, which as an Apes fan, I am all for.

The movie stars James Franco (127 Hours, Your Highness) as Will, the genetic researcher who finds the cure for Alzheimer’s. Franco did a great job of playing Caesar’s surrogate father. He did an amazing job with his character’s connection to Caesar. Andy Serkis (King Kong, Lord of the Rings) portrays the role of Caesar, a hyper-intelligent chimpanzee. Serkis did an amazing job with all of the motion capture work for this character. He made this character feel extremely real and you truly sympathize with Caesar, more than I thought I would in this movie. John Lithgow (Orange County, TVs Dexter) plays the role of Charles, Will’s father who has Alzheimer’s. Lithgow is great in this movie and does a great job with some of the heavy handed stuff he has to deliver. The movie also features Freida Pinto, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo, Tyler Labine and more.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is absolutely everything I could have asked for and more out of a new Apes movie. I enjoyed this movie from start to finish and can’t wait to go see it again. If you are a fan of any of the Apes movies, I really can’t recommend this movie enough. If you aren’t a big fan of them or have never seen any Apes movies, I still suggest at least giving this one a try.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Short Review: Cowboys and Aliens

Grade: A

Mysterious visitors come to a small mining town in the old west.

Perfect summer popcorn flick. James Bond AND Indiana Jones are in it, how can you lose?

Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell

Your attention span must last 2 hours in order to enjoy.