Now You See Me - A Magical Movie

It's a rare movie that dupes me in the end.  I usually have if figured out long before the halfway point.  This time, I was playing with the right deck, I'd just picked the wrong card.  Now You See Me is a movie that keeps you guessing until the end.  Everyone always watches magic and says or thinks, "how'd they do that?"  But, that's not what you will be doing while watching this movie; you'll be trying to figure out who's really running the show and why?

Now You See Me is a clever movie about 4 street magicians who are mysteriously brought together, and a year later go from crap magic to being huge Las Vegas stars known as The Four Horsemen.  Merritt (Woody Harrelson) is a mentalist/hypnotist who is great at guessing people's secrets.  Then there's J. Daniels Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) who is a natural born leader and performs classic magic, slight of hand type tricks.  Henley, J. Daniels' former assistant turned show stopper, played by Isla Fischer, is an escape artist.  Lastly, there is the youngster of the group, Jack (Dave Franco), who is a very skilled con artist.  Together, they create large scale magic shows that has the whole world talking.  Their bank robbing magic trick gets the police, FBI, and Interpol involved led by FBI agent Dylan Rhodes played by Mark Ruffalo.  Agent Rhodes together with Interpol agent Alama Vargas (Melanie Laurent) from France rely on the expertise of Morgan Freeman's character, Thaddeus, to try and catch The Four horseman. Thaddeus Bradley is an ex-magician who spills magic secrets to the world via his viral internet show. Oh, and ladies, Common is in the movie too.  His part is small, but he's on the screen long enough to get a good look.

I was greatly intrigued from start to finish.  Like I said, I was still trying to answer the who and why with 20 minutes left.  I'm glad it didn't move so fast.  Sometimes, like Scandal, people are talking too quickly and the action goes so fast that you miss too much to understand what's happening.  This movie is not like that.  There is a lot of action and the magic tricks are cool, but it has a great balance that keeps you entertained.  I liked it enough that I'd watch it again and again.  Now You See Me is a must see.

Next week, The Internship and The Purge are out at theaters.  I'm not sure which one I'll see if either.  But check back here next week.

After Earth - A sci-fi movie about Daddy issues

Will Smith has evolved as an entertainer over the last few decades.  In the 80's, he was a corny rapper with catchy songs.  In the early 90's, he was a goofy tv show star.  In the late 90's, he became one of the biggest movie stars on the planet.  In the 2000's, he became a family man, and now he's doing movies with the family.  He's now done two movies with his son Jaden Smith.  After Earth is their latest movie together, and will probably be Will's least successful.

After Earth, has a somewhat complicated plot.  Humans are on an alien planet after destroying Earth somehow. That wasn't very clear to me, or maybe I just didn't understand what Jaden was saying in his low pre-pubescent voice.  There are peacekeepers who show no fear which is a tool to help them kill the aliens trying to destroy the humans.  This ability to control your fear is called ghosting because it makes you invisible to the aliens.  Will Smith is General Raige of the Peacekeepers, and Jaden Smith is a cadette named Kitai trying so hard to make his father proud and conquer his own fears and demons of the day his sister died.  They get stranded on Earth, a now quarantined planet, after an accident in space, and now Jaden has to find a homing beacon while fighting deadly evolved creatures now inhabiting Earth and other hazards of the planet.  

In truth, there was too much going on in the movie and not enough time to develop all of it.  M. Night Shymalan is a writer and the director, and he does a good job of trying to pull it all together, but the depth of it all was missing.  There was some action, but I found it all to be extremely predictable.  You will figure out how it's going to end about 30 minutes into it.  I was also annoyed by the accent of the characters.  It sounded like a cross between a soft southern drawl and a canadian accent.  Who thought that was a good idea?  Who thought that Jaden was a good enough actor to be in a movie almost all by himself?  Nobody wants to look at that bewildered look of his forehead face for almost 2 hours.  He is no Will Smith and this is not I Am Legend.  And when did The Fresh Prince get so old?  I thought black didn't crack?  Maybe it was the make-up, but it was the first time I didn't find him attractive in the least.  

I'd pass on After Earth if I was you.  I don't think I've ever said that about any Will Smith movie.  Lies! I could have done without MIB 3 too.  I'll be shocked if it's the number one movie this week.  Oh well. Now You See Me is out this weekend too.  I'd go see that instead.  

Fast and Furious 6 - Much more than man candy

Where can you find car chases, car crashes, and car races with bad arse girl fights, gun fights, prison fights, and big guys with beefy muscle fights, plus tough chicks who come back from the dead and mucho man candy?  Look no further than the 6th installment of The Fast and The Furious franchise.  Fast and Furious 6, aka Fast 6, aka Furious 6, is a fast paced, action packed, movie with a plausible story to back up all the excitement.

Let's start with the reason why most women go to see the movie...the man candy.  Fast 6 stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne "I don't wanna be The Rock anymore" Johnson, Tyrese Gibson, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Sung Kang, and Luke Evans.  (There's girls too.  I'll get to them later.)  Just about everyone on that list is lick-your-lips yummy.  Vin is Dominic Toretto, the leader of the criminal crew who likes to drive fast cars while stealing money, drugs, or what have you.  He use to be drop dead gorgeous to me, but the more I look at him, the more I notice how he's aging and how tiny his mouth is.  It's just so small for his face.  He looks like a terrible kisser to boot which takes his hot factor down a bit.  Not to mention he's not hitting the weights regularly any more.  He's looking more like Daddy Diesel than Hott Man Dom.

Paul Walker and those sexy blue eyes is Brian O'Conner, former FBI agent turned criminal, who is in a relationship with Dom's sister.  Dwayne Johnson, is the master of the muscle bound man candy who is the law man using Dom's crew to catch the bad guy, but I think he needs to lay off the steroids and weights just a tad bit.  He was looking a little too meaty and it took his sexy down a little...very little.  Tyrese, Mr. Super Sexy Yet Arrogant I Don't Like Black Women Chocolaty Man, is the comic relief as Roman.  He cracks many jokes with his big mouth, and they crack many jokes about him, that big mouth, and his big forehead.  He's oh so very yummy to gaze upon, but he'll never be on the CGI list with that attitude of his.  Luda (nerdy somewhat sexy computer geek), Sung (almost hot asian guy named Han), and Luke (hot bad guy with a scrumptious accent, Owen Shaw) round out the man meat.

All of these guys except Luke appear in at least one of the Fast movies.  It is very necessary to watch all of them or at least have an idea of what happens in each one (ok, well 3 and 4 suck monkey balls so just read about them on Wikipedia or something) because every last movie was referenced in Furious 6.  If you haven't seen any of the movies, you won't understand why they are going through all of this to see Letty (Michelle "My shoulders are ginormous" Rodriguez), and the relationships between Brian & Mia (the super cute Jordana Brewster) and Han & Gisele (the extremely tough Gal Gadot).  They really do a great job of trying to tie all of the movies together, and keeping the story fresh and new.  After five movies, they finally started to get it right.  That's good because there definitely will be a seventh.  The movie kept everyone on the edge of their seats.  There was even a twist that I saw coming but clearly no one else did.  Now, some of the action scenes were outlandish, but very cool nonethless, so I'll give the plausibility a pass.

I must say, I truly enjoyed this one as much as Fast 5 which is the only one that I own on DVD.  I had my reservations about it seeing that it the SIXTH one, and as you all know, I don't think sequels are necessary unless it's a book.  But, and this is a big but, the Fast and Furious series may be an exception to this rule if only for all that yumminess on the screen, and if they keep the storyline interesting.  Go see it.  There's something for everyone to enjoy.

Next week, After Earth and maybe Now You See Me.

The Hangover 3 - The Alan and Chow Show

I know that I have said numerous times in previous posts that I don't watch comedies because they usually aren't funny to me.  There are a few that have slipped under the radar for one reason or another such as Encino Man, Dumb and Dumber, Empire Records, Friday, Step Brothers, and The Hangover.  I don't know why I like (and own on dvd) these movie, but I do.  Lord knows all of these are stupid movies, but they make me smile, giggle, and/or laugh, and I could quote a line or three from each one of these movies.  I'm not sure if The Hangover 3 will make the dvd cut, but it definitely made me smile, giggle, and laugh, and there quite a few quotable moments.

The Hangover 3 is the completion of a trilogy about four guys, otherwise known as the Wolfpack (includes Alan, Phil/Bradley Cooper, Stu/Ed Helms, and Doug/Justin Bartha) who embarked on an insane fiasco two years ago with the innocent intentions of giving their friend an awesome bachelor party in Las Vegas only days before his wedding (the premise of The Hangover).  That bachelor party and it's aftermath was the catalyst to the events of the Hangover 3.  The difference in the two movies, is that the writers capitalized on the two funniest characters from the first movie and made them the star of this show, Alan and Chow.  Alan, played by Zach Galifianakis, is the somewhat clinically insane brother-in-law of Doug from the first movie who inadvertently causes all this trouble.  Leslie Chow, played by Ken Jeong, is the often times naked, drug abuser, bi-sexual, asian criminal who increases the problems of the Wolfpack in more ways than one.  

The plot of the third movie is even more ridiculous than the first two combined.  I don't remember much about the second movie, but I do remember that I didn't think it was funny because the jokes were too similar to the first movie and the storyline was dumb and made no sense.  Don't get me wrong, the storyline in this installment is just a ludicrous, but much more funny and entertaining.  Although not as funny as the first, Alan and Chow do their best to make you laugh.  Almost all the characters from the first movie return including baby "Carlos".  Mike Tyson was one of the only ones not there, but John Goodman (one of my favorite actors) is his replacement as Marshall.  You probably won't remember Marshall from the first one because Black Doug, Mike Epps, only mentions his name once.  We learn who he is and why Black Doug was so afraid of him.  

Do you need to see the first two to understand this third one?  It'd be good because otherwise you will be a little left out, and may feel a little lost.  There are a few flashbacks, but I don't think it'll be enough to get all of the jokes.  If you don't get to see both of them, at least see the first one which is the best one, of course.  You will need a little of that back story anyway.  This movie will make you laugh out loud and is enjoyable.  Be prepared to laugh until you snort, and try not to take the story itself too seriously.  I really hope that this really is the end.  We don't need another because it ended so well and on a funny note which is always a good thing.  

Next movie is Fast 6.  I know I said that last time, but forreal forreal, it's next on my list.  

Star Trek Into Darkness - Best One Yet!!!

There have been numerous Star Trek movies, some good, some terrible, very few fantastic!  Star Trek Into Darkness is one of the fantastic ones.  In fact, it's the best one yet!  It's very hard to do a prequel, let alone a sequel to a prequel, but JJ Abrams does a wonderful job in pulling the old and new together.

If I give you the plot, I may give you too much, but let's just say Star Trek Into Darkness leaves off where Star Trek's 2009 film ended.  I didn't love that one, but I loved this movie.  James T Kirk is still the captain of the Enterprise and still getting into a lot of trouble with Star Fleet because of his rash and often times selfish decisions.  Spock is still no nonsense Spock and learning how not to feel emotions and have relationships do to his human side.  There is a villian that ties the old and new movies together, and our (Trekkies) favorite aliens show up as well, the Klingons.  I loved the modern take on both.  The Klingon faces were just as menacing, but softer if that possible when you have huge boney indentions on your face.  It was new and fresh but still paid homage to the past.  LOVED IT!!

This movie was action-packed throughout the whole entire 2 hours and 20 minutes.  It was a roller coaster ride of emotion and action.  There were aliens fighting humans, humans fighting super humans, humans fighting humans, not to mention Klingon Warbirds shooting at humans, and Enterprise versus an extra large star ship.  Can you see how I was on the edge of my seat and why I felt like I never really got to breath until the credits rolled?  Amazing!  This JJ Abrams movie reminded me of how I felt the first time I saw Jurassic Park, mesmerized, intrigued, and excited.  I felt all of that watching Star Trek Into Darkness.  In other words, go see this movie Trekkie or not.  It's by far the best movie I've seen yet this year!

Fast and Fineness Furious next week!!!

The Great Gatsby - Jigga's version

I love a good book turned into a good movie; all things Jay-z even his marriage to Beyonce (#1 Beyhater here); and a movie with a good soundtrack.  The Great Gatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire gives me two out of the three.  You all know Leonardo from his many films, his biggest one being Titanic which put him on the map, but I also remember him as Luke Bower on "Growing Pains".  He has definitely grown up since then even if his face still looks like the face of a 13 year old just now with crows feet around the eyes.  Tobey has a long film resume as well, but his big break came when he starred as Spiderman for a few films.  These two both still look like they just got out of diapers, but I digress...

The Great Gatsby is based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's book which I'm sure you have read or were told to read in school and like me maybe just read the cliff notes version.  I'll spare you a synopsis since I'm sure you have an idea of the premise of the movie.  There is a bit of a twist with the modern soundtrack laced with a lot of hip hop, R&B, and pop beats with music from Jay-Z, Beyonce, Andre 3000, Will.I.Am, and the like.  You could definitely feel Sean Carter's executive producers influence throughout the film.  I'm not sure if the music helped or hurt the film, but it definitely felt a little out of place in the roaring 20's which is the backdrop of the film.  The set and design was colorful, magical, and full of energy; plus the cinematography was fantastic in giving you that party feel, but I felt the movie was a lot of bang for the buck, and no substance.

For the first 30 minutes or so, everything was moving so quickly, it was like watching an episode of Scandal (Have you been watching?  OM-freaking-G this show is good!).  Tobey was talking so fast and he scenes were moving so quickly that I was quite lost for awhile.  Things finally slowed down once Leonardo finally made an appearance.  It started getting interesting at that point, but the rise and fall of the excitement made the movie feel like it was dragging on and on until the final climax.  I did hear someone snoring which tells me, I wasn't the only one kind of bored.

I really wanted to like this movie.  I tried to find a positive in the cinematography, the set design, the soundtrack, but it just wasn't enough to make The Great Gatsby a great movie.  I'm more excited to buy the soundtrack than I am to see this movie again.  Leonardo does crazy well, so he'll probably get an award nod, but other than that, this movie was a dud.  Oh well.  There's always next week when Star Trek comes out, or maybe I'll go to the movies tomorrow and see Peeples...or maybe not.

Iron Man 3 - Is this the end? Maybe it should be.

Iron Man and it's sequels are some of the top grossing films of the last decade.  Iron Man 3 has already grossed $345.4 million dollars internationally and $15.6 million on Thursday night alone.  This one is sure to blowout it's predecessors, but does the money mean it's a better movie?  I think not!  Iron Man 2 was my favorite of the 3; so much so, that I own it on DVD.  It gave me a great mix of action, comedy, and a plausible storyline not to mention some of my favorite actors in Don Cheadle and Samuel L. Jackson, and the star, Robert Downey Jr, isn't too shabby.  But, this 3rd installment didn't sit as well with me as the first two.

Iron Man 3 turned up the comedy and the action, but it seemed a little forced.  A little too much of both.  Don't get me wrong, I think Iron Man is a great super hero and great departure from all the many many many Batman, Spiderman, and Superman movies, but it kinda felt like there wasn't really much else for Tony Stark and his suits to do so they said let's make up a terrorist (no literally they make him up, you'll see what I mean) and create a very unrealistic medical miracle that turns a bitter person into an evil villain or a war veteran into a bomb. Yup, that about sums it up. They even gave Tony a little anxiety and PTSD about his stint with the Avengers in New York.  I guess it added a little more depth to the character, but it was kinda silly (maybe that was the point).  I guess every super hero has his/her demons.

All the stars showed up again, Gwenyth, Robert, Don, and Jon Favreau, but the villains were played by Ben Kingsley and Guy Pearce.  They did a despicable job in a comical kind of way.  Ben Kingsley was phenomenal as The Mandarin/Trevor Slattery.  He was scary when need be and funny when necessary.  Guy as Aldrich Killian was supposed to be suave yet intimidating, but he came off as greasy and sleazy with a touch of slimy.  Even at his scariest, I didn't feel it.  I just kept thinking, how is this not killing him.  It wasn't believable.

The movie was entertaining and almost everyone did a superb job as usual, but it fell a little flat with me.  The audience laughed when they were supposed to, but we didn't leave as excited and ramped up like I feel we did after the last one.  Maybe it's just me, but this one should be the last one, and it kinda eluded to it in the movie, but if not, they should really go back to the writers and directors of the first two where the energy was high and the chemistry was perfection.  I'm sure you'll go see this one and add to the box office totals, but go into it knowing that I just don't feel it's as good as the last two.  You go see it and decide for yourself.

Next Week, The Great Gatsby starring Leonard DiCaprio.  Until then...