Alex Cross - As bad as Madea in a suit

Let me preface this review by saying that I knew going in that I didn't expect this movie to be good solely because of Tyler Perry playing Alex Cross.  My intention was to go in and have the movie change my mind.  My mind wasn't changed about the movie being bad, but I can't blame it all on TP.

Alex Cross is movie based on the book written by James Patterson with the same name.  There have been previous Alex Cross movies played by Morgan Freeman in Along Came the Spider and Kiss the Girls which were both excellent.  How could they not be?  Morgan Freeman is an amazing actor.  One of my favs.  Tyler Perry...not so much.  If you have been under a rock for that past decade or so and have no clue who TP is then maybe Madea will help.  Yes, he's the guy who dresses in drag in plays and movies as Madea.  He's also one of the richest entertainers out there owning his own production company, writing and directing several (albeit horrible) movies and plays, not to mention his numerous tv shows on TBS.  And now, he has an exclusive distribution deal with OWN (Oprah is one of his BFFs).  He's doing it big in the business, but as an action/crime-drama hero...he sucks monkey balls.

I guess if you are trying to widen your audience and change their perception of you as a man who can only act in comedies then this is the way to go.  But, he's just not convincing as Alex.  Maybe it's because all I could see was Madea in a suit.  I don't really believe he's pissed and hurt when I'm supposed to be feeling sorry for him and angry with him.  I'm just not.  He doesn't come off as a tough guy.  Maybe it's his small yet soft facial features (I couldn't help but notice how small his cheeks and lips are compared to his face).  But there are other issues with this movie other than TP.

The main issue is the acting and directing, although Matthew Fox as a bad guy is fantastic.  He really came off as very insane.  I loved it.  Matthew was the best thing about this movie.  Everyone else, even the great Cicely Tyson could have done much better.  I'm beginning to feel like there is a shortage of great actors out there.  Let's not forget the cinematography (why is the camera shaking) and direction that really could have been executed better.  Shame on you Rob Cohen.  I really expected more from you.

All in all, Alex Cross was written well, but not executed well.  Let's find a more believable Cross and let's spend some time developing the story and picking people who really truly know how to act.  I wouldn't waste my money to see it again or waste my time when it comes on cable.  You shouldn't either.

Sinister - Not enough "boo" for me

I don't watch many horror movies as I can usually predict when I'm supposed to jump and scream, so it's been awhile since I saw one.  I tend to like slasher films with lot's of blood and guts a la Saw instead of scary movies with paranormal beings a la Sinister.  I have a bit of a supernatural fear, and I'm kinda afraid of the dark.  But enough about me, let's get to the movie.

Sinister starring Ethan Hawke is supernatural horror about a true crimes author who moves his whole family to the house of a murdered family that he wants to use as the basis of his next book.  Upon entering the attic to put up some of his moving boxes, he finds a box full of super 8 movies.  After settling in his family, he starts to watch the movies and begins to discover a connection between 4 gruesome murders.  This leads to him discovering Mr. Boogie (silliest name ever) and then all the creepy paranormal things begin.

I'm not saying you won't have nightmares behind this one because it's very possible, but I will say, it's kinda hard to be an adult and afraid of a man named Mr. Boogie.  Mr. Boogie tends to pick on families with more than one kid, so if you're single or a family with one, then I'd say your safe.  I'd also say your safe to wait and see this one on cable.  It's just not that dramatic.  It just didn't go far enough to really freak you out or scare you, and it's kinda slow.  There are moments where you might jump, but if you're an avid horror-movie-watcher, you probably won't because you'll see it coming.  And, there's little to no comedy which most horror movies have so maybe we'll call this one a bust, and hope the next one is better.  Oh, there just might be another one (and you know how I feel about sequels) since it ends with the super 8 still rolling.

Taken 2 - A great sequel...is that even possible?

Everyone remembers that moment in Taken when you thought to yourself, "ish just got real!"  For me, it was when Liam Neeson as Brian tells his daughter's captors that he will find them and he will kill them.  It's a classic cinematic moment.  As you all know, I'm not a fan of sequels because I just feel like they aren't necessary.  Just write a new movie with a new concept not recycle something that worked well the first time because it's usually not as good the second time around.  But, Taken 2 was almost necessary...almost.  It was as good as the first.  Can't say it was better, but you will be mesmerized by the action.  And, Taken 2 has that "ish got real moment" pretty much from jump.

The movie starts off where the last one finished but about one year later.  It opens with the burying of the men Brian (Neeson) killed while rescuing his daughter, Kim, in Paris and their father vowing revenge for their deaths.  Brian and his ex-wife, Lenny (Famkee Janssen), become closer due to her separation from her current husband while his daughter (Maggie Grace) tries to get back to a normal life even finding a boyfriend.  He invited them to come take a vacay in Istanbul where he is working for a few days.  (SPOILER ALERT)While there, Brian and Lenny are kidnapped and Kim comes close to capture as well.  So begins the drama, suspense, and action.

I was pleasantly surprised at how good the second one is.  There is the classic car chase, lots of gun play, a kick-arse Liam Neeson, a plausible plot, and a real resolution.  The horrible acting by Famkee Janssen and the predictability wasn't enough to deter me from enjoying the movie.  It even sets up for a third one, although I say let's stop while we're ahead.  I still believe the cinematic gods/executives should stop making sequels (unless we are following a book series of course), but I'll give them a pass for this one.

Pitch Perfect - When Gleeks go off to college...

I broke one of my movie rules that I usually only break for dates and dvds:  No comedies, rom-coms, and/or silly movies featuring college students.  It, surprisingly, was worth it like seeing Step-Brothers and The Hangover.  Pitch Perfect starring Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, is a cute little comedy full of practically unknowns for those who liked the first two seasons of Glee.  With lines from Chelsea Handler like, "Nothing makes a woman feel good like a man signing like a boy," and creepy soft-spoken asian girls like, "I set fires to feel joy," how could you not watch?

In it's simplest form, this movie is about a college student, Becca, who has dreams of being a record producer and is forced to go to college instead.  Her dad makes her a promise that if she tries one activity in school and if she still hates college after a year he will pay for her to go to LA and live her dreams. She chooses to join a pretentious acapella club full of misfits (ironic I know) who has dreams of being the first all-girl team to win the international acapella contest against their rivals, an all male group from the same school.  In the process she meets a boy who just so happens to sing in said rival glee club.

The set list in this movie is what make it.  Bruno Mars, RiRi, and Madonna make an appearance.  Plus my favorite song out right now, "Titanium", is sung beautifully acapella in the shower.  They do tons of old school/new school mash-ups acapella style.  Blackstreets' No Diggity will get you groovin' in your seat.  I often times found my self quietly clapping after they were done singing.  The movie is predictable.  You can figure out how it ends about 15 minutes into the movie, but you will laugh and leave feeling like a giddy nerd for enjoying it.  This movie really makes me wish I could carry a tune, but until God decides to miraculously bless me with a voice, I will continue to watch others do it (watching last night's Glee while typing this).

Looper - It will throw you for a loop!

Finally, a sci-fi thriller set in the Mid-West.  This is thinking people.  This is creative!  This is kinda boring.  Well, it is Missouri (Missouri is in the mid-west, right?).  Looper, staring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, and the adorable albeit psychotic, Pierce Gargon is this unconventional sci-fi/thriller set in Kansas City.

Basically, time travel is illegal and controlled by the mob.  The mob has set up a system where Loopers assassinate people purposely sent to the past.  Once your time as a Looper is up, the mobsters sends back your future you to be killed by you then you get paid handsomely to live out the next 30 years before your assigned death.  Why would anyone sign up for this job?  Clearly, not a well thought out plot, but let's continue.  One Looper sent back to die (Willis) decides he can change the future by killing the person responsible for sending him back, The Rainmaker.  He sets out to kill The Rainmaker (Gargon) while being chased by the Kansas City mob.  His younger self is also being hunted by the mob for not killing his older self and finds his way onto a farm which may or may not be the home of The much younger Rainmaker.  Are you confused yet?  It makes much more since when you watch it.

I'll be honest.  The movie is slow and very unrealistic even for a futuristic sci-fi movie, but it is gripping.  Plus there's nothing like seeing a bad-arse Bruce Willis with a gun shooting folks.  The star of the show, I must say, is Pierce Gargon who plays Sid.  He's cute, intelligent, and bad arse all in the same scene.  I think this would be better as a tv movie on the Sci-fi channel or TNT, or a three-day mini series.  There's just a lot to do and say in a two-hour movie which oddly made it move at a snail's pace, however, I did enjoy it.  And, I think most of you will too.

Dredd - Oh I'm judging

Why do I do this to myself?  Why would anyone do this to themselves?  Sit in yet another remake or yet another movie that didn't need to be remade.  I didn't have high expectations for this one, with good reason.  I don't remember much about the 1995 Judge Dredd movie or the comic strip, but I'm hoping it was much better than this 2012 version.  I mean, really why was this movie necessary?

I'm all for blood, guts, violence, explosions, ect., but I also like good acting and a plausible storyline.  Plausible story lines in action movies these days are few and far between.  Dredd was no exception.  Let's see if I can sum it up for you:  In yet another post-apocolyptic future, what's left of the major east coast cities have been combined to make a mega-city governed by judges.  These judges are police, lawyers, judge, jury, and executioner all in one.  Judge Dredd takes a psychic rookie under his belt to test her and see if she's cut out to be a judge.  They go to a 200 story high-rise building taken over by a psychotic ex-hooker turned drug lord (MaMa) after reports of a triple homicide to do their thing.  The judges after lots of gratuitous violence finds the murder of the 3 and henchman to MaMa, and ends up being locked up inside of this building with no way of getting out.  MaMa is after them to keep the henchman from telling about her enterprises.  For the next hour, the two judges run around this building with bullets managing to hit everyone BUT them.  I won't tell you any more.  You'll just have to suffer through it to learn the rest.  Let's just say through all the gruesomeness, there is a happy ending.

I'll do you this one favor.  Don't go see it.  Don't waste your life.  It's not necessary.  The movie is just a  whole lot of bullets and blood and not enough substance.  Wait until it comes on USA or TNT or better yet ABC or NBC.

House at the End of the Street - A classic tale...NOT!

We know this story.  We've heard it before.  Mom and teenage daughter move to a new town after a divorce.  Daughter meets next door neighbor who is a simple college boy.  Mom disapproves of daughter dating this boy.  They fight.  She lies and dates him any way.  Boy's sister is a killer locked up in the attic.  Some one breaks a leg; someone is shot, stabbed, murdered...BLAH BLAH BLAH!  A classic tale, right?  NO!

House at the End of the Street begins as this seemingly classic story that we've all heard an seen, but it's not.  It's a little more sinister than you can imagine.  There is a plot twist that I didn't quite see coming.  I kept expecting someone else.  I was wrong.  I'm not very often wrong.  I like a movie that has twist and turns that make sense.  This one did.  I'm not saying it's a great movie, but it is a suspenseful somewhat shocking thriller.  I wouldn't say it was a horror.  There was nothing scary about it, although I did jump once.  (They got me.  I know...I couldn't believe it either.)

Jennifer Lawrence is fast becoming the new Kristen Stewart meaning she's staring in a movie series based off of a very popular book series, and she's getting roles in B-list movies that would make better tv movies.  Lawrence, however, has two more facial expressions than Stewart and is a much better actress.  She's pretty bad arse in this one; I'll give her that.  Very Katness Everdeen-esque (google it).  Is it a great movie?  No.  Would I watch it again?  If it was on TNT, USA, Lifetime, and nothing else was on tv, yes.  You've seen this one before (sorta), and you'll see it again (probably).  No need to rush out to go see it.  There's probably even better drama going on in the house at the end of your street (or maybe not).