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The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1 *1/2 Oh my gosh, this movie was terrible. It was really awful. It was padded to shit, there was no story and worst of all, it was bloody depressing to boot. I gave it that extra half a star only because it had some unintentionally funny dialogue ala The Room.

The Muppets **** Probably the best and most crowd-pleasing Muppet movie since well, The Muppet Movie. I think some audience members have a hard time swallowing a happier, brighter movie in these “Dark Knight” influenced times, but maybe a little green felt is what we all need.

Hugo ***** Easily a top 10er for me. This is Scorsese’s love letter to film. If my children ever wonder why I like movies so much, I’ll show them Hugo. First, because it exposes the world to the magic of film. Second, because it’s a great movie!

Arthur Christmas ***1/2 Yes, it’s yet another Christmas movie about believing in Santa, like we needed one more, but I guess we did, because unlike all those other, lamer, Santa-related movies, Arthur Christmas is both funny and heart-felt; a winning combination for Christmas movies.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows *** About as good as the first Sherlock Holmes (which I think also got a 3/5, but don’t quote me on that). There was way too much action and not enough mystery, just like the first film. But also like the first film, the best thing about it is the chemistry between Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. Plus, at least this time I knew what I was getting into. I wish Noomi Rapace was used a little better though.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol **** This is a better James Bond movie than the last James Bond movie. The new Mission Impossible is fun and charged with energy and wit. Go see it.

The Adventures of Tin Tin **** This is a better Indiana Jones movie than the last Indiana Jones movie. It’s also charged with energy, wit and good ol’ fashioned childhood fun. It’s great to see that Spielberg can still have a good time after all these years.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo **1/2 Holy anal rape, Batman! Seriously, that ass-rape scene will stay with ya, boy. This isn’t one for the squeamish. Now, you may be wondering why I gave a 50% grade to this movie, especially since I’m the world’s second biggest David Fincher fan. The problem is that David Fincher’s #1 fan is David Fincher who recycles his old style here minus any of the flourishes of humanity or liveliness that made movies as dark as Se7en or Zodiac not only tolerable, but brilliant. This movie feels unnecessary to me. As if, after the brilliance of The Social Network and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (I still love that movie, I don’t care what anyone says), Fincher just wanted to take a break and remake something that probably didn’t need to be remade. It held my interest for the murder mystery plot that drives the story, but then that wraps up and we’re left with a flimsy subplot that no one I know can even explain to me and characters that I had nailed in the first ten minutes … for the next thirty minutes. I wanted to walk out.

War Horse ****1/2 The last year Spielberg released two great movies was 1993 when Schindler’s List and Jurassic Park came out and now we have 2011 with Tin Tin and this. Another year with two great Spielberg films and released in the same month, no less! War Horse may be slow, but it’s powerful and it would take a hard heart not to cry even a little at the struggling journey of a thorough-bred horse named Joey in World War 1. This is Oscar-fodder, yes, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. This is a sweeping, moving film of the highest order.

So, there you have it. I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything on here, but I get busy and lazy just like everybody else. Sue me.

Welcome to the madness; the Movie Madness! It’s the official first episode of Movie Madness, the evolution of Double D Does the Movies. So stay tuned as David “Double D” Denis and Liam Larsen take on the latest movie news straight from Hollywood before discussing three random films.

This month they talk about Chevy Chase vehicle Fletch, John Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars and Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice. It’s random movie reviews like you’ve never heard before, featuring an all-new review of the Star Wars saga on blu-ray. You’re not gonna wanna miss this one. So, pull up a seat and get ready for some Movie Madness! Special thanks to DJ Technical for the theme song. Check out more of his music Click me…I’m a link!

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OMFG! I”M A KITTEN! AND A GREEN LANTERN!

Hey guys, welcome to another exciting episode of Double D Does the Movies! Double D switches things up this time around by not only introducing a new co-host, Liam Larsen, but also by reviewing a slew of random, classic titles. Rather than taking on the films of the month, Double D and Liam take on the films of the ages by tackling some challenging classic titles, including Mad Max: Beyond Thuderdome, Cats Don’t Dance and The Thing! Dave and Liam also bring you the skinny on the latest movie news from straight from Hollywood to your eager ears. So sit back, hit the play button and enjoy an all new experience on Double D Does the Movies, and don’t forget to leave your feedback too by sending e-mails to feedback@thisweekingeek.net with the subject line “Double D”.

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Double D is back from an excursion to a magical land known as Toronto, Ontario, Canada. While he was there, David “Double D” Denis volunteered for the Toronto International Film Festival, the second largest film festival in the world! David will share with you his experiences volunteering at various venues, seeing stars and of course watching amazing films. So, be sure to check out this month’s very special edition of Double D Does the Movies for a run-down on all things TIFF and don’t forget to leave your feedback!

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Double D is back for another friendly dose of filmy goodness! That’s right it’s the latest episode of
Double D Does the Movies for September, 2011. This month Double D will bring you all the latest movie
news including updates on the Oscars and the upcoming Blade Runner sequel! He’s also got five new
reviews for you, including Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Help, Fright Night and more! It’s movies
done just the way you like them, so tune in and listen to another exciting episode and don’t forget to
leave your comments and feedback at feedback@thisweekingeek.net.

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David “Double D” Denis is back to bring you more commentary goodness and this time he brings along
a new addition to the TWiG Crew and a new partner-in-crime, childhood friend, movie buff and all
around cool guy Will “The Stachman” Stachnik. They’re here to talk during the movies you know and
love and this month they’re bringing you a couple of animated classics from the mastermind known as
Don Bluth. The first film on their platter of amazingness is the Spielberg/Lucas vehicle The Land Before
Time. Dave and Will are going to bring you so much dino goodness that you may have to bring an extra
pair of pants just in case and don’t forget to leave your comments and feedback and stay tuned for more
commentaries to come!

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Double D is back for another amazing movie adventure as he looks at the films that made July, 2011 so arguably epic. He isn’t joined with a co-host this month due to unexplained complications, but that’s OK, because he doesn’t need one. Double D will bring you the latest in movie news, reviews, rants and a few all-new surprises in the way that only he can and he’ll do it all by himself because he’s that awesome! This month he’ll be covering Hollywood’s latest and greatest hits including Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Captain America: The First Avenger and Cowboys & Aliens. So keep it locked and loaded and stay tuned to the only podcast that brings you all the filmy goodness you’ve come to know and love. Its Double D Does the Movies … bitch!

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Double D is back for more movie news and reviews for the month of July, 2011! He’s not alone this time,
however. He’s joined with newcomer and film-lover Andrew Roebuck. Together they’ll take a look back
at the biggest movies of June, 2011. They review last month’s biggest hits, including Super 8, X-Men:
First Class and Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also bring you this month’s biggest news stories
from the world of Hollywood along with a few more surprises. So, find a seat where the floor isn’t sticky
and listen up as Double D and his friends bring you the latest in the world of film.

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Well, after a long wait, he’s finally back! Double D makes his epic return this month to share the latest
in movie news and reviews for you. This time he’s decided to kick it solo, as he will likely be doing from
here on out. He is a sad, strange little man, but he’s here to share all of his sadness and strangeness
with you! It’s finally summer movie season and Double D has all the latest in the movies you’ve been
waiting for since last summer movie season, including reviews for Kung Fu Panda 2, The Hangover
Part II and Thor and news on the latest happenings in Hollywood, including big announcements from
Arnold Schwarzenegger and The Hobbit movies, it’s sure to be a blockbuster hit! So, sit back, grab some
popcorn and enjoy the latest episode of Double D Does the Movies

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First off, I should mention that I saw this movie with the worst audience ever. I left angry, not because of the movie, but because of those watching it. Seriously, kids need to learn how to watch movies without texting every ten seconds. Also, about 20 minutes in I had to switch seats because the guy in front of me kept saying the word “tits” for no reason and burping loudly, burps that floated backwards to me and almost made me throw up. I hate this kid and if I ever see him again in public, I will likely murder him. I have the perfect alibi too. Once the judge finds out he was talking during a movie, it’ll be thrown out as “self-defence”. Anyways, speaking of murders with perfect alibis, let’s talk a little about Scream, shall we?

The Scream franchise began in 1996 when horror patriarch and director of such classics and A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Hills Have Eyes, Wes Craven, decided that the horror genre was floundering and needed a bit of a booster, so he shot a film based on a very witty and self-referential script by Kevin Williamson (who also wrote this film and is currently working on a fifth instalment) and that film was called Scream. What Scream did was both revolutionary and not. At a time when horror movies were starting to take themselves too seriously it took the genre back to its roots to remind people of the very basic “rules” of surviving a horror movie as the characters find themselves trapped in what is essentially a real-life slasher film and discover that keeping these rules is their only chance for survival. At the same time, Scream presented its premise as being firmly grounded in the “real” world. It was this juxtaposition between something real and something almost cartoon-like that made Scream so funny and scary at the same time and made it one of the biggest films of the decade. To this day it is considered one of the most important horror films not just of the 1990’s, but of all time.

Scream 2 would basically do what Scream did, but it’s witty commentary was about horror sequels and the rules therein and then Scream 3 rounded things off by making fun of horror trilogies, of which there are exactly none, because they always end up making a fourth film. Speaking of which, I’m supposed to be talking about Scream 4, aren’t I? OK, so we had horror movies, horror movie sequels, horror movie trilogies, what’s left? Well, Scream 4 did something rather ingenious and unexpected by taking all of its shots at the recent surge of horror movie remakes in what is yet another horror dry-spell for Hollywood. Craven used what could have been an unnecessary sequel and allowed it to parody horror movies while furthering their significance, much like in the first film. The question though is does it really work?

The answer, for the most part, is yes. Scream 4, in my opinion, worked better than the second and third films because it basically did what the first movie did and was just as clever and actually did manage to shock and surprise. The fault of the second and third instalments is that they started trying a bit too hard and things actually got a little too serious. The tongue was slowly being removed from the cheek and here it’s right back where it belongs. Part of the reason was the return of writer Kevin Williamson who was absent for the third instalment. Also returning was Courtney Cox’s hair actually looking kind of nice, also absent in the third instalment.

Now, Scream 4 is far from being amazing. I think one of its greatest strengths is also its greatest weakness and that’s the “remake” premise. The new characters are all set to replace Sydney, Gale and Dewey as a new cast of victims/ survivors, but placing Sydney, Gale and Dewey amongst them can be awkward at time. It’s like Coldplay trying to do a concert with Radiohead without acknowledging that Radiohead did the same thing ten years ago, only better. It also means that Sydney is barely in the film and also very undeveloped. Instead, the film focuses more on her “replacement”, her cousin Jill (played by Emma Roberts, who I bet you didn’t know was Eric Roberts’ daughter). Now I will say that I did like this new cast. Williamson is the creator of Dawson’s creek and has proved over and over his prowess in capturing the voice of the youth of America. The problem is that Sydney is shoved aside and relegated to screaming and kicking people in the face, something she seems all too good at. Still, old vs. new was the central theme of the film, so bringing back the old characters was necessary. I just wish they had done a little bit more with them. It’s like having that aforementioned concert, but with Radiohead as the opening act.

Scream 4 opens with a scene of characters that have nothing to do with the rest of the film, a Scream tradition, only this time with an interesting twist. The characters are actually watching a copy of Stab 7, which contains characters watching a copy of Stab 6, which causes one of the girls to question the other as to the plausibility of the Stab films existing within their own universe. This film within a film within a film is a clever nod to Screams invention of the now all-too-popular insurgence of meta writing in Hollywood. It’s also confusing as hell and hilarious. After this initial blood-bath, we later find out that it’s the tenth anniversary of the original Woodsboro murders and that Woodsboro is the last stop on Sydney Prescott’s (Neve Campbell) press tour for her new self-help book based on her experiences surviving three murder sprees. She meets up with Dewey Riley (David Arquette) who is now the town’s Sherriff and Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) who has fallen into a slump after quitting her reporting career and attempting a full-time writing career that’s going nowhere. The subplot of their floundering marriage is never really taken as far as I hoped it would be, but that’s a side note. Pretty soon, once again, people start dying in a way that resembles the events of the first film (and with it the first “Stab” movie) in what the killer sees as a remake of the original massacre. The big difference this time is that it’s the new millennium and all the murders are caught on digital cameras. Also, being a new era means new rules and the characters find themselves frantically trying to learn how to survive much like in the original film. A joke is even made about how being gay ups your chances of survival nowadays. Once again, Sydney, along with the town’s youth, is on the run from yet another masked psycho as we, the audience are left to wonder who is really behind the mask. Don’t worry, I won’t give it away, but I was actually pleasantly surprised by the outcome.

Scream 4 may be a little unnecessary and may not be a perfect movie, but I was pleasantly surprised by it. The pacing was a million times better than the second and third instalments and arguably, the story as well and setting it back in Woodsboro was a nice touch too. It sort of brought things full circle for the franchise, which was nice. Not to mention, it was still funny, the scares still worked for the most part and it’s a film with surprises around every corner. Overall I’d say that Scream 4 was a worthy addition to the franchise and probably the second best film of the series next to the first one, but let’s face it, you’ll never top the first one, especially with a fifth movie, which to be honest just feels a little unnecessary. Also, the addition of newcomers Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Rory Culkin, Erik Knudson and Alison Brie was very welcome. I was so excited when I saw Alison as Sydney’s agent, I almost shouted “Annie!” at the screen, because I’m lame like that.

I give Scream 4 a 3.5/5 (pretty darn good).

Well, that’s about it for my ramblings, stay tuned to This Week in Geek for more blogs, more episodes of Double D Does the Movies and more commentaries. This month we’re doing a bunch of Disney cult classics, which I am so excited about! Keep it locked and loaded guys.

Your Highness is the movie equivalent of that guy in high school who draws a picture of a penis on your notebook and thinks it’s the funniest thing on the planet. In fact, the opening credits for the film even feature a storybook-esque opening that is literally defaced with moustaches and penises. I’m not even kidding. At this point, I think I knew what kind of film I was about to watch. Now, I have to say, I don’t mind vulgar humour. Sometimes, it’s hilarious, but it has to be done right. There has to be some restraint and there has to be a punch-line. Nothing is funny simply because it is vulgar. It’s funny because the vulgarity somehow puts the characters in an awkward or upsetting place. Your Highness doesn’t seem to get that and essentially, what plays out as one long, aimless penis joke, just fell flat. Plain and simple, very few of the jokes here actually worked. They didn’t work because no one involved seemed to understand the basic principal that in order for something to be funny you have to care about your characters beyond just a superficial level of watching them play out awkward jokes with paedophilic wizards.

It’s a shame too, because David Gordon Green’s Pineapple Express from a few years ago was one of the better comedies in recent memory and the wonderful James Franco and Danny McBride both return for this film, joined by Natalie Portman, Zooey Deschanel and a slew of great character actors including Justin Theroux, Charles Dance, Toby Jones and Damian Lewis. Unfortunately, I spent most of the film just feeling sorry for these actors. Literally all of them were better than this. It’s strange to watch a film that literally should be better than it is in every department, like everyone working on it just got lazy all at the same time. The only other example I can think of is The Godfather Part III, but the difference is that that movie is actually pretty good, just bad by comparison to the first two. This movie is just bad, no comparison required. I felt myself awkwardly chuckling at some of the jokes until eventually almost all of them went on for too long and then I stopped laughing.

Essentially this movie was born when someone, I’m assuming McBride, watched something like Dragonslayer or Willow while they were high and figured it would be funnier if the characters consistently uttered the f-word. Jokes like that work the first time, because of shock value, but just fall flat every time after that. I guess this is where I explain the plot of this dreck, but even that will be embarrassing. OK, let’s get this over with. So basically there’s a kingdom and there’s two princes in it. One is a dashing, young warrior named Fabious (Franco) and one is an ignorant jack-ass named Thadeous (McBride). The dashing, young warrior rescues a virgin named Belladonna (Deschanel) and plans to marry her, but she is kidnapped by the evil wizard Leezar (Theroux) who has to have sex with her when the two kingdom’s moons align in order for her to give birth to a dragon. Now, it’s up to the two brothers and a female warrior who they meet on the road named Isabel (Portman) to save her. So yeah, even this movie’s plot is one long, lame sex joke and plays out as such. It was embarrassing and I almost wanted to follow the old lady sitting behind me, who walked out early, presumably after assuming that a film called Your Highness would be a loveable family adventure But no, I stayed. I stayed so I could write this review, so you better appreciate it.

Your Highness is a film that keeps failing to impress. Despite how good the actors or director might be, it just fails on every conceivable level. That sucks too, because the trailer made it seem like it could have been a very funny movie. Unfortunately, all the truly funny parts are in the trailer and they actually work better there than they do in the context of the film. I really wanted to like Your Highness. A low-brow spoof of knight quest movies, a genre that was extremely popular in the 80’s would have been great if it paid homage to that genre and held some restraint in its jokes. It could have genuinely been a really great and unique comedy. Another problem was that the film never really knew when to turn the humour off. There were a lot of scenes where I was unsure if I was still supposed to be laughing or not. Knowing when to use comedy and when to use action, drama, romance, etc. is quintessential to making a good comedic film as well and also would have aided in making this film more memorable. Unfortunately, this film just doesn’t get these basic principles and as a result, it doesn’t work. Another loss for 2011. Tell me, will this lousy year in film ever pick up?

I give Your Highness a 1.5/5 (Don’t waste your popcorn.)

Anyway, here’s hoping we start getting some good movies soon and not just OK ones, which is really all we’ve got. Well, until that proverbial good movie comes out, I’ll be here to tell you all about the rest of them. Stay tuned for more junk from me and more big plans coming soon. Once again, remember to keep it locked and loaded, guys!

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It’s going to be hard to say anything about this movie that hasn’t already been said. 2001 is a movie that has been examined and explored by everybody from casual viewers to established institutions of science and film and people still argue about what it means. It’s no secret that the technology used to make the film as well as the technology on screen were both light-years ahead of their time. 2001 marked a significant change in the world of sci-fi cinema since, for probably the first time ever, science fiction was taken seriously as a medium of expression far beyond catering to “nerds”. People were now seeing science fiction as a viable form of artistic expression, just as much as a cool way to show what happens in the future. Not only that, but 2001’s version of the future was so startling and real (it was shot on 70 mm to present the highest definition possible on film) that audiences had never seen anything quite so vivid before and thus, the face of cinema was altered indelibly and all without the use of any major actors to help sell the film. That’s quite an accomplishment.

Personally, when I first saw 2001 about 5 years ago, I was a little put off. I thought it was just an overlong experiment that didn’t really work as a film and that it was quite overrated. It wasn’t until years later that I looked back and realized how truly brilliant this film is. The slow pacing, the lack of dialogue, the long, empty shots of space, are all part of the appeal. The vastness of this movie is only indicative of the vastness of our own universe. Despite saying very little, this movie says quite a bit. I think a lot of screen-writers, many of which have a knack for over-writing (I’m looking at you, Christopher Nolan) could learn something from the softly spoken 2001. It’s a movie about human evolution. It speaks volumes about where we’ve been, where we’re going and not only the triumphs we’ve made, but also the mistakes as well. The dastardly HAL 9000 represents man’s often cold, calculated cruelty while the towering monolith represents the strides we’ve made in pushing ahead from Neanderthals to where we are now. Interesting to note too, is that the monolith’s first appearance occurs just prior to a monkey creature deciding to take a bone and beat a rival to death, signalling the dawn of man; not with a towering accomplishment, but with gritty violence. Man was born not of his will to overcome violence, but rather from his capacity for it. It’s always been the main thing separating us from animals and Kubrick shows us our humanistic shortcomings for what they are. It’s not an optimistic film. It’s a realistic film, despite its inaccuracies.

2001 is a film that presented a grander vision, not just of the world, but of film as well. It pushed the boundaries of what film could accomplish and most importantly, it did that while never actually preaching to the audience once. I suppose that’s what makes it so brilliant. When no one is told what to think, then everyone thinks something different. Everybody walks away with a different interpretation. Not just that, but the same person returning to the film several times can develop a unique interpretation on it each time. That’s the mark of a great film; something that’s so unique and personal that everybody has their own view of it. That’s basically the definition of art. Some people will love it. Some people will hate it, but you can be damn well sure that no two people see it exactly the same way. And if you ask me, that’s a pretty cool way to make a movie, and Stanley Kubrick would later employ that style of film-making in well, everything he ever made. Seriously, that’s one of the many reasons why he’ll be remembered as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, but out of all of his films that I’ve seen, I’d have to say I like 2001: A Space Odyssey the most.

So, what’s left for me to say? Not much, other than the fact that 2001: A Space Odyssey is both entertaining and ground-breaking and well deserving of a spot on just about any favourite films list. It’s complex, but quiet, like that guy that you don’t talk to, because you think he’s weird, but then when you do talk to him you realize he’s actually a pretty cool guy. There was a guy in the training class at my last job like that. His name was Kevin. So yeah, 2001 = awesome. Even though the actual year contained terrorism and kind of sucked. Anyways, stay tuned for more reviews and other nonsense. Keep it locked and loaded.

I guess I should preface this review by saying that I do not like Zack Snyder. Dawn of the Dead paled next to the original. 300 was pointless at best and Watchmen was only mediocre compared to the source material. I will say though, that he is honing his craft a little bit. Last year’s Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole was actually very underrated. Refer here for my review of Legend of the Guardians where I say exactly the same thing I just said: Here Actually maybe you shouldn’t read that review, I don’t want to look repetitive. The point is that Zack Snyder is flawed, but improving slowly. Sucker Punch continues that improvement, but only slightly and not in the way you might expect, but I’ll explain that in a bit.

I’m pretty sure Sucker Punch (whose title has nothing to do with its content) was created some time shortly after Zack Snyder created a list of everything he thought was cool. Here are the things that were probably included on that list:
- Hot, young women in sexy burlesque outfits
- The 60’s
- Zombies
- World War II
- Nazi zombies
- Robots
- Goblins
- Dragons
- Cryptic old wise men
- Mechanised exo-suits
- Machine guns
- I should probably fit Carla Gugino in there somehow
- This iTunes playlist I just made featuring remixes of old songs that I like. Seriously, this play list rocks!
And hence Sucker Punch was born. Totted by Snyder as “Alice in Wonderland with machine guns”, it was basically an excuse for Snyder to pack everything he likes into a single film; one genre-bending, eye-popping, over-the-top, crazy joyride of nerd porn that feels more like a video game at times then a movie. The strange thing though, was that as much as I kept telling myself not to like this movie, I couldn’t help it. I still did.

Sucker Punch presents the story of Baby Doll (Emily Browning) who is institutionalized by her evil step-father after her mother dies and a stray gunshot leads to the death of her sister. Once there, the head nurse (Oscar Isaac) is illegally bribed to have her lobotomized in five days when the doctor who does those surgeries (Jon Hamm, in little more than a brief cameo) returns. After being introduced to the facilities, Baby Doll (whose real name is unknown) retreats into a fantasy world where the insane asylum is a brothel where she is forced to dance and more with five other girls who are also trapped there; Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish), her sister Rocket (Jena Malone), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens) and because they ran out of cool nicknames, Amber (Jamie Chung). They are controlled by the morally ambiguous Madame Gorski (I already mentioned Carla Gugino in my list). This fantasy isn’t much of a fantasy however, because it’s still a sucky situation, but that’s OK, because the real fantasy happens when Baby Doll is forced to dance for horny onlookers and then enters the second level of fantasy where she has to fight robots and Nazi zombies and stuff. Confused yet? I assumed so. Don’t even bother trying to make sense of this confusing mess at this point, just watch the movie and go along for the ride. That would be my advice.

The real problems with this movie mostly come from the plot. Obviously the most entertaining sequences are all in the second level of fantasy where Snyder is allowed to play around. The two problems I have here are a) If this is Baby Doll’s fantasy, why is it so distinctly masculine, modern and violent? A good example of where mental retreats of fantasy worked well was in Pan’s Labyrinth. In that film Ofelia retreats from her problems through a fantasy world that actually makes sense from a little girl’s point of view, to an extent. Here we are taken not into Baby Doll’s mind, but into Zack Snyder’s. He is the star of this movie, not Emily Browning. The other major problem here is that, since all of the action scenes are mere hallucinations, they provide little to no real tension to the narrative. In short, about 50% of this movie is little more than mindless eye candy.

Now, here are the reasons why I actually liked Sucker Punch. At this point you might be shocked that I even did, but believe it or not, I kind of did. I liked Sucker Punch because for once in his miserably career Zack Snyder is directing something that he deserves to direct. For whatever reason, people keep handing Snyder extremely brainy projects that he inevitably turns into something brainless. With Sucker Punch he has a movie that is brainless to begin with and even better, it wasn’t handed to him by anyone. It’s his own creation, so all of the mistakes are only scarring him. I also liked that, for once, Snyder doesn’t seem to be pretending like he’s directing something smarter than it is. He’s not presenting a pointless action film to the world and telling us it’s the next Citizen Kane. Instead we have a pointless action film that knows what it is and is proud of it and I’m totally OK with that. I walked into the theater expecting stupid, pointless action, knowing that it was a Zack Snyder film and alas, I got what I thought I would get, nothing more. Yeah, I guess there was a bit of a ham-fisted morality message thrown into the last act, but I can deal. Besides, it has to have a bit of a point, right? Even if it is buried under all this mindless eye-candy.

So to summarize, Sucker Punch was a gratuitous, garish, immature nerd-gasm on screen, but I liked it because that’s all it was and it didn’t waste any time pretending to be anything more. I was sick of Zack Snyder pretending to be Martin Scorsese. He’s not a great director and he’s finally not pretending to be one anymore. So, basically I liked Sucker Punch for the very reasons why most Zack Snyder fans won’t like it. The dude stopped trying to be great, but for a mediocre director, accepting mediocrity and playing to your strengths is the best possible thing you can do and for Snyder those strengths are dark, violent flights of fantasy. So, for once I have to say, “Way to go, dude!” Not to mention, despite its flaws, I actually had fun watching this movie. It’s just a cool movie. So relax, turn off your brain and give it a chance. What have you got to lose?

I give Sucker Punch a 3/5.

Stay tuned for more reviews and an all new episode of Double D Does the Movies coming in April featuring a podcasting newcomer! Lots of exciting stuff coming up guys, so keep it locked and loaded.

Limitless stars Bradley Cooper, star of The Hangover and last year’s The A-Team in his first big-budget starring role as dishevelled, lowly writer Edward Mora, because all writers are down-on-their-luck losers. I’m not saying that sarcastically, it’s actually true and probably the most accurate thing about this film. Things turn around for Eddie when he has a chance encounter with his ex-wife’s brother, who happens to be a slimy drug-dealer, who sets Eddie up with a new experimental drug, known as NZT. NZT has the incredible ability to expand the user’s mind in order to maximize its full potential. Eddie uses his new-found abilities to do what any self-respecting man who looks like Bradley Cooper would do, sleep with his neighbour’s wife! Things go a little awry though as Eddie discovers his brother in law dead in his apartment and uncovers a terrible secret; all the people using NZT have either died or been hospitalized after attempting to stop using the dangerously addictive drug.

At first, Limitless seems like a brilliant concept, and it is. It’s an idea full of potential. I mean, what would you do if you suddenly had a drug that made you super smart? The answer for me is just about anything BUT what Bradley Cooper did in this movie. You know, for a guy with a “4 digit IQ” (his own words) he seems awfully stupid. First off, he uses the drug to develop some kind of master plan that the audience is never let in on, possibly because the writer was too lazy to think of one, beyond him wanting to make a lot of money. So, what does he do to get some capital for his stock market scheme? Go to a bank? Nah, too conventional, why don’t we make him go to a Russian loan shark who threatens to choke him to death with his own skin if he doesn’t pay him back and then forget to pay that guy until the last minute? That sounds like something a really smart person would do, right?

As you can probably tell at this point, I was really disappointed with Limitless. This move had so much potential and the trailer made it look great, but the trailer is very misleading. First off, the main conflict in the film is not between Cooper and Robert De Niro, who plays a financial guru named Carl Van Loon, who Cooper sucks up to as part of his “plan”. The central conflict actually comes between Cooper’s character and the Russian loan shark he forgets to pay back, who also develops a taste for the mind-opening drug. Now, I usually don’t have a problem when my ideas of what a movie could and should be are not even close to what the movie actually is. Sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised when a film is absolutely nothing like its trailer. Disney’s Tangled is a good example. This time it was a problem however, because my pre-conceived notions for this film were about a hundred times better and more exciting than the actual film.

The second problem comes from the film’s tone. Limitless never really decides what it wants to say. It could have been a brilliant anti-drug cautionary tale like Requiem for a Dream or it could have been some sort of ironic druggie fantasy, filled with tongue-in-cheek situations brought on by the characters’ substance abuse, like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Instead it falls uncomfortably in between these two extremes and never really makes up its mind as to which side it’s really on. I won’t give away the ending for anyone who hasn’t seen the movie, but by the time it comes around, I felt little more than confusion and a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth. The idea was there, but not the statement. What did the director or writer really want to say with this movie? I honestly couldn’t tell you if you paid me.

Now, that’s not to say that Limitless is a total loss. Bradley Cooper absolutely shines despite the jumbled mess he’s trying to work with and De Niro is great as always and there are some genuinely interesting ideas thrown around here, like how Cooper decides to play the stock market and how the pill eventually leads him into a downward spiral where he starts to lose hours and even days of his life without any memory. I just wish these ideas would have been fleshed out a little better. OK, a lot better. For a movie with so much potential Limitless feels kind of, well limited.

I give Limitless a 2/5.

Stay tuned for hopefully more reviews in the near future and of course, more episodes of Double D Does the Movies, plus lots of other exciting crap, so keep it locked and loaded!

Here’s a link to the show:

http://thisweekingeek.net/episodes/double-d-does-the-movies-the-show-omfg-he-lives-episode-1

Hello ladies and gentlemen and welcome one and all to the very first, inaugural episode of Double D Does the Movies! It’s the show where your host David “Double D” Denis will be taking you, the listener, on a journey through the world of Hollyweird through exciting new releases, upcoming anticipations and a few stinkers here and there for good measure, not to mention movie news and of course, the return of the Double D rant, which can only be found here! So join me and my first on a long list of wonderful co-hosts, This Week in Geek Community Manager, Clark “Superfan” Pulliam as we take a look at the upcoming films of 2011. What’s going to rock? What’s going to suck? And what is completely unnecessary? I’m looking at you Spy Kids 4! So, kick back, relax, turn up the volume and enjoy Double D Does the Movies. Keep it locked and loaded guys!

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Well, it’s another day and that means another blog post! As you may or may not know, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recently released its list of this year’s nominees for the Academy Awards or Oscars as they’re commonly known and every year I pick my predictions for who will win in each category based on trends, other awards and actually seeing the movies that are nominated. Now, obviously I haven’t seen all of the movies that have been nominated, so I’m not 100% informed, but I do my best anyway. So, what I’ve compiled here is a list of who I think will win in each category, not who I want to win, just keep that in mind. Also, I haven’t included anything for short films, documentaries and foreign films because I don’t know anything about any of them, which is unfortunate, but the theatres around here really suck. Anyways, this is going to be a really short blog post featuring the predictions with no explanation, because really who cares? Besides, I said I’d be keeping these things brief and as for explanations, the only explanation I’ll need is if I’m right or not. I usually have pretty good accuracy with these things, so let’s see how I do this time with all of my blog reader(s) keeping me accountable. Anyways, here goes:

Best Motion Picture of the Year: The King’s Speech

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Colin Firth for The King’s Speech

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Natalie Portman for Black Swan

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Christian Bale for The Fighter

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Melissa Leo for The Fighter

Best Achievement in Directing: David Fincher for The Social Network

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen: David Seidler for The King’s Speech

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published: Aaron Sorkin for The Social Network

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: Lee Unkrich for Toy Story 3

Best Achievement in Cinematography: True Grit

Best Achievement in Editing: The Social Network

Best Achievement in Art Direction: The King’s Speech

Best Achievement in Costume Design: The King’s Speech

Best Achievement in Make-Up: The Way Back

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for The Social Network

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song: A.R. Rahman, Rollo Armstrong, Dido for “If I Rise” from 127 Hours

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing: Inception

Best Achievement in Sound Editing: Inception

Best Achievement in Visual Effects: Inception

So, that’s about it. It wasn’t too hard to predict with the exception of Cinematography. I figured Roger Deakins stood the best chance because he’s been nominated 9 times and still hasn’t won yet, so it’s about damn time for him to get a statue. The rest are pretty self-explanatory. So, let’s see what happens, but I’m starting to notice that the Oscars are becoming more and more easy to predict every year. I don’t know if that’s a good sign or not.

#10 – Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
This is mostly on the list for personal reasons. First off, I love the graphic novels it’s based on. Also I love Edgar Wright and lastly I love Canada and that’s where it takes place. There’s more reason than just that to like this movie however. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was THE summer movie for me in 2010. It represented what a summer movie should be; fun, fast-paced, funny and overall very heart-warming. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World will become a cult classic and will be quoted by fanboys and fangirls for years to come. Not to mention a few awesome original songs from Beck.

#9 – The Fighter
Boasting powerful performances from everyone involved, The Fighter is a movie for the ages. What seems at first to be a poor excuse for yet another boxing drama turns out to be a very unique experience of a film. Director David O. Russell uses rock classics from everyone from Led Zeppelin to Red Hot Chili Peppers to pepper the soundtrack in a surprisingly effective move against convention. The film is also shot in a “documentary” style that makes you a part of the action. It may not be perfect and parts of it fly off the handle a bit too much, but it’s a movie you won’t soon forget. The Fighter is a film that reminds us why we fight, both in the ring and out.

#8 – The Town
Good job, Ben Affleck! Jeez, just when all you thought this guy could do is fake-cry and overact, he pulls of what is easily the best move of his entire career; this movie. Boasting credits in the writing, producing, directing and acting departments, Affleck turns what could have been a very boring story into a powerful, fast-paced, balls-to-the-wall bank heist drama that grabs the audience right from the first frame and doesn’t let go. This movie will bring back memories of some of the better crime dramas of the last 75 years and also add its own spin to the genre as well. Did I mention that Ben Affleck’s acting is actually good in this movie? He should really get behind the camera more often.

#7 – True Grit
The Coens are back, baby! And they’re doing what they do best, weird movies with witty dialogue that make you laugh and think at the same time. This time they made a remake of a John Wayne film I still haven’t seen yet, though I swear I’m going to try and watch the original the first chance I get. This film, although somewhat anti-climactic is still filled with all sorts of memorable moments from actors Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon, as well as newcomer and well-deserved Oscar Nominee Hailee Steinfeld, who I hope we’ll be seeing more of in the future. The Coens wrote dialogue that would be difficult for a 44-year-old, never mind a 14-year-old and little Hailee delivers every line with perfect precision. This is a quick-witted and peculiar film. Fortunately it’s peculiar in all the right ways, just like a good Coen Brothers movie should be.

#6 – 127 Hours
After Danny Boyle won his Oscar a few years ago for the delightful Slumdog Millionaire, everyone wanted to know what he was going to do next. When I found out it was going to be a movie about a guy who gets trapped under a rock and has to chop his own arm off, my first thought was, “How the hell is he gonna make that last for an hour and a half?” Well, not only does he make it last, he also crafted one of this year’s most powerful films. By jumping back and forth between events leading up to Aron Ralston’s death-defying experience and the actual experience itself, interjected with hallucinations and visions, Boyle crafts a wild and fulfilling film. Not to mention James Franco’s perfect performance. Ultimately, just like Slumdog, this is a life-affirming and gratifying experience. What could have easily left its audience paranoid, will actually leave them wanting to live a richer and more fulfilling life. This film is much more than the part where Franco chops his own arm off. Though I’m sure that’s the main part people are talking about.

#5 – Inception
This is Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece in my opinion, as if all of his directing up until now has been leading up to this one, thrilling moment. Inception is a captivating film. The plot is thick, but never impossible to follow and it’s filled with wonderful characters in a dreamscape that never tries to remind us how weird it is. Instead, Nolan’s approach is that the dream feels real while you’re in it, so we, as the audience members should perceive the dream as a slightly skewed reality. The result is a world that feels both real and surreal at once and a film that has essentially the same effect on its audience. Ultimately, Inception is quite possibly the coolest film of the year and that’s because it’s exciting, fun and intelligent, which is what all good blockbusters should be.

#4 – The Social Network
Truly a movie for our times, the true story of Mark Zuckerberg and the creation of Facebook hits home, not just because of the subject matter, but because of the way it’s presented. Ultimately, Facebook is not the star of this movie. It is merely the catalyst that leads the characters down a dark and confusing road that they can’t seem to control. David Fincher has always been one of my favourite directors and he does a superb job here of crafting the crumbling relationship between Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin by painting them as outcasts who finally get their big break. The Social Network also boasts an incredible score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross and a biting and witty script by Aaron Sorkin that’s a shoe-in for best adapted script at this year’s Oscars. This is a sure-to-be classic that is not to be missed.

#3 – Toy Story 3
Uh … here’s a link to my Toy Story 3 review: http://thisweekingeek.net/blogs/toy-story-3-review

#2 – The Ghost Writer
Easily, this year’s most underrated film, The Ghost Writer was ignored by almost every awards ceremony. Mark my words though, if this is not a classic soon, it eventually will be. This is the “Vertigo” of 2010; a film completely unappreciated in its time that gains recognition over time for being one of the most perfectly crafted thrillers of the last decade. Polanski made a film that balances comedy, drama and thrills with beautiful cinematography, an incredible screenplay that constantly excites and actors that never let down. I’ve never been a big Pierce Brosnan fan, for example, but he gives quite possibly the best performance of his career here. Best of all though, this film has quite possibly the best pacing I’ve ever seen in a film, like ever. If anyone wants to study how to perfectly pace a film, they should watch The Ghost Writer. I’m still a little pissed that this wasn’t nominated for any Oscars. I know that has nothing to do with the movie itself, but still! The Academy seriously needs to get over their Roman Polanski hating.

#1 – The King’s Speech
Hurray, we’re finally at #1 and what a #1 it is! The King’s Speech is an absolutely fantastic film. It would take me hours to talk about all the reasons why I loved this film, so I’ll try and keep this brief. The King’s Speech is a crowd-pleaser, but in the best possible way. It pleases with wit, amazing performances, poignant dialogue and a story for the ages. Sure you might be thinking, “How can a film about a royal dude’s stuttering problem be that good?” Well, it is. Also, this is way more than a movie about a guy with a stutter. It’s a movie about taking responsibility for your life and rising to the occasion when your people need you the most. This is a deeply personal film, but what I loved about it was it never got too “heavy”, so to speak. It never lost its edge and it never stopped having fun. You will have a blast with this movie from beginning to end, take it from me. I can’t stand all these movies they keep making about British royalty all the time and even I loved this one. You’d have to not have a soul to not glean some sort of enjoyment out of The King’s Speech. It’s astonishing from beginning to end and perfectly crafted and will likely go down in history as one of the best of the year, if not the whole decade.

So, that’s it, my top 10 of 2010 (so far) I hope you liked it and hey, if you thought it sucked then feel free to leave a comment telling me why, so I can leave a scathing insult in reply. Relax, I’m kidding, but not about the comment part, please do that. I always appreciate it. Also, I should mention that honourable mentions for the list include Shutter Island, How To Train Your Dragon, Tangled, Black Swan and The Kids Are All Right, all of which I enjoyed quite greatly. Well, that’s all I’ve got to say for now, but stay tuned for more blogs in the near future about the Oscars, movies I’ve watched recently and anything else I feel like talking about. Keep it locked and loaded guys!

However, I am not talking about any of those things today. Instead I am here to talk to you about Arnold Schwarzenegger. “Why am I talking about Mr. Universe himself?” you might be asking yourself. Well, first off, any excuse is a good excuse to talk about Arnold. I’ve impersonated him a million times before and it’s mostly because I love the guy and think he’s awesome, hilarious and cool. However, the main reason that I’m here to talk about Arnold is because I actually got to see the dude in person!

Let me start this story from the beginning. So, a few months ago my best friend Will from Buffalo informed me that Mr. Schwarzenegger was going to be a guest of honour at the University of Buffalo’s Distinguished Speakers Series. I was so excited! Arnold had been a hero of mine since I was a kid. Arnold always represented what a real man was to me. He’s strong, powerful, responsible, charismatic and always takes charge. I think that’s why people look up to him so much. Arnold represented a true hero in a time where men were becoming increasingly femininized. He wasn’t a girlie-man, that’s for sure.

Before I get into anything more about Arnold though, I guess I should talk a little more about the event itself. As it turns out, the school had an Arnold impersonation contest. It’s unfortunate that I don’t attend UB or I likely would have won it, just sayin’. Well anyways, Will’s impersonation isn’t bad either so he entered, and guess what? He placed third! That means he won a poster of this year’s distinguished speakers series guests, signed by each of the guests including Arnold and the Mayor of Newark for some reason. Not only that, but he also won some floor level tickets. So he traded his crappier seats to the smartest kid in his class in exchange for help with assignments. Sounded like a good idea to me.

So we went to UB’s big auditorium thing and took our seats on the floor. We were probably only about 40 feet from where Arnold was about to take the stage. Pretty soon the dean and the school council president came out to introduce our guest of honour. There was a quick video about Arnold’s meagre roots in Austria and his rise to stardom and eventual governorship in California and then he took the stage. It was the real Arnold Schwarzenegger, in person, in the same room as me, being met with thunderous applause! It was awesome!

Arnold thanked us for having him and told us that Buffalo was his first American stop on his speaking tour. That was met with even more applause, though I just had to play along since I knew he had actually started the tour right up here in Canada, which couldn’t make me more proud. He told us that his agent recommended a speaking tour to him after he retired as governor, because everyone who ever retired from politics got depressed if they didn’t do something else right away. He also explained to us that he was specifically asked not to give a political speech, so he focused much more on speaking about his own life and tried to really get the audience motivated. He even joked that when they poled people on what he should talk about 60% said his political career, 20% said his film career and the remaining 20% just wanted their money back for “Hercules in New York.” He definitely had a sense of humour, that’s for sure. When he started his speech he mentioned that going through airport customs, the first question he was asked was “Arnold, do you still work out?” to which he replied, “Of course I do. I’m still in great shape. In fact, just the other day I lifted 400 pounds … I helped Rush Limbaugh out of a chair.” The audience laughed pretty hard at that one. He also shared his secret to success with us; come to America, work hard and marry a Kennedy.

Things weren’t always roses for the big guy however. Arnold’s story is a true rags-to-riches tale of hard work, vision and determination. He grew up in Austria and idolized Reg Park, wanting to be a body builder, so he had a clear goal in mind and kept working at that. He mentioned that at the time there was no internet and little TV to distract him from achieving his goals. He even joked about how his Mom had called in the local doctor to find out what was wrong with her son when he had hung a bunch of posters of half-naked, oiled-up muscle men all around his room, when all of his other friends had pictures of girls instead. The doctor explained that this was nothing to worry about, since it was perfectly normal for young boys to hang pictures of their idols to remind them of their personal goals.

Arnold spoke a lot about having these kinds of goals in mind and working hard to obtain them. “There are no shortcuts,” he insisted. You have to do what it takes if you want to get what you want. It was an honest message and that’s what I liked about it. Sure, he was really narcissistic, but I guess of all people, he deserves to be, accomplishing more for the state of Californian and America in general than most politicians in the last 20 years with his environmental initiatives and humanist approach to politics, serving the needs of the people above the needs of his party and even forgoing his governor salary in favour of donating the proceeds to charity. Not to mention, his film career, becoming the highest paid actor of all time when he made Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines in 2003. Arnold couldn’t hide his humanist side however, mentioning how he had become the first politician to have a mentally handicapped person working in their office. He said that person, whose name was John Masterson, would bring him his mail every day, hug him and tell him that he loved him.

I think the main message that I got out of the whole speech however was to not be afraid of failure and to break the rules. When Arnold first tried to get into movies they told him he’d never make it. The “in” stars at the time were folks like Woody Allen and Dustin Hoffman, big guys were out, so he decided to break the rules and do what he wanted, but if he was afraid of failure, he would have gone nowhere. It’s the same thing with his political career. He explained that the reason why he called the California legislators “girlie-men” was because they were afraid of positive infrastructure change. The only time we fail is when we’re afraid to fail. If you lose that fear, then you can bounce right back from every failure and try again. That’s what life’s all about. Not everything is going to go your way, but if you’re too afraid to try then you’re not going to go anywhere. You can’t be afraid to fail.

So there you have it. It was encouraging, cool and fun to see one of my favourite idols in person and even though he was talking to a crowd of thousands, he might as well have just been speaking to me, since I was honestly touched and encouraged by what he had to say. Though, I must say, I’m not too afraid of failure, because in my endeavour to become the coolest internet blogger ever, I think I succeeded for the most part.

Anyways, that’s all for now, stay tuned for many more blogs to come in the next little while. I’m back and I’m here to stay, dear reader, so brace yourself! Keep it locked and loaded guys.

Now let’s kick things off with my review for Love and Other Drugs. First off, I’d like to start by saying that this was the first movie I ever saw completely alone. There was no one else in the theatre. I imagined this is what it might be like when I one day become rich enough to own my own theatre, since I’d likely still be single at that point. This has nothing to do with my actual review for Love and Other Drugs, but I thought I’d point that out. I was able to stand up, walk around, talk at any point I wanted, lie down in the aisles, switch seats, and even do this thing where I left my seat up and sat on the front of it without pushing it down, which is actually more comfortable than it sounds.

Now, on to the review. I didn’t plan on seeing Love and Other Drugs at first, since the trailer screamed “rental” to me, but with nothing better to do on a Sunday night, I thought, “What the hell? Why not?” I have to say though, even after watching the movie, it’s still a pretty solid “rental only” title at best, for several reasons, but first, let’s talk a little bit about the movie itself.

It is 1996 and Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) is an under-achieving electronics salesman that loses his job after getting caught sleeping with the supervisor’s girlfriend. He decides to follow in his younger brother Josh (Josh Gad)’s footsteps and work for the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. He has on and off success with the job where he has to compete with a rival salesman, named Trey Hannigan (The Spirit’s Gabriel Macht). One day he is shadowing Dr. Stan Knight, played by Hank Azaria, who probably pulls off the best character in the movie by giving us a funny, loveable, sex-crazed family practitioner. Anyways, this leads to him meeting up with a girl named Maggie Murdock (Ann Hathaway), who has to see Dr. Knight about getting medication for her Parkinson’s disorder and to look at a strange discoloration on her breast that turns out to be a lame excuse to show Ann Hathaway’s breast … I mean, a spider-bite. Honestly, in case you guys didn’t know, there are already like 6 other films where Ann Hathaway has appeared topless before and I’m pretty sure this won’t be the last. This includes the infamous deleted sex scene from The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, which would have made that movie so much more worthwhile. Anyway, from there they get into a sordid love affair where neither of them truly wants commitment, but neither of them is fully willing to leave either. Things get even crazier when the success of a little blue pill called Viagra takes over the nation and suddenly Jamie is busier and more successful than he could have ever dreamed. This leads into the spiraling craziness that will take us through the rest of the film. If this sounds like a lot of subplots going on at once, that’s because it is and never fear, literally none of them are resolved by the end. Wonderful.

Love and Other Drugs is a deceptive film in that the trailer led me to believe things about it that weren’t entirely true. I figured this movie would be a simple romantic comedy about two individuals entirely incapable of creating actual romance. I thought it would be funny and charming, if a little cliché, but that’s to be expected with a romantic comedy. This was not the case with Love and Other Drugs, mostly because the main plot doesn’t revolve around the love affair between Jamie and Maggie or even about Jamie’s drug business. It’s mostly about the two characters attempting to deal with Hathaway’s struggle with Parkinson’s and spending 80% of the film having sex with each other. In some ways it feels gratuitous, but in other ways it feels natural. Let’s face it. Normal people in normal relationships generally enjoy the act of sex. It’s a fact of life and a fact that this film doesn’t avoid. The problem however, is that you have so many other subplots on the side and none of them really seem to work together properly. It leads to a disjointed film that never really knows where it’s going. In short, it lacks direction. Love and Other Drugs was the kind of movie that felt like it was built on one script that was then rewritten five times and directed by four different directors. I never knew what it was trying to say to me or how it was trying to say it. I felt lost and by the end of the movie it felt like everything had fallen limp, which is ironic for a film about Viagra.

This is not to say that this movie is all bad. It did have a few shining moments of clarity between the characters. It was occasionally funny and the main relationship between Gyllenhaal and Hathaway felt fresh and real for the most part, mostly due to some not-too-shabby acting from the two leads. It also boasts some great character performances from actors like Oliver Platt, Josh Gad and the aforementioned Hank Azaria, all of which are grossly under-used and under-developed. The other problem is that I wasn’t sure what to feel about the characters in this film. It almost felt like the director himself was constantly flip-flopping between liking these people and not liking them. Even when I liked a scene in this movie it always felt like it wasn’t quite fitting in with the scene that preceded it, like the crew had amnesia or something. Not to mention the fact that they should have fired either their editor or their scriptwriter for consistently ending scenes before they resolved.

All these things make for a thoroughly unenjoyable film, which is too bad, because Love and Other Drugs had the potential to be the next When Harry Met Sally or Annie Hall. I was really expecting something simple and funny here. Instead I got something too over-complicated. I think part of the problem may have been director Edward Zwick. Zwick is great at making big-budget Hollywood dramatic tear-jerkers like The Last Samurai and Blood Diamond that can range from being really good to complete mediocrity, but at least he stuck with what he knew and what he did best. This film saw Zwick diving into new waters and rather than utilizing the opportunity to make something fresh and exciting, he dragged along the heavy burden of all of his old big-budget Hollywood tear-jerker ways and slapped them onto what could have been an otherwise decent movie.

My recommendation would be to skip this one. It’s good for a laugh or two or maybe if you want to see Ann Hathaway naked like eight times, but otherwise it’s not worth it. You’ll leave feeling 10 times more disoriented than you might have felt going in. Believe me. Hopefully Jake Gyllenhaal’s next film will be good, because between this bomb and Prince of Persia, it hasn’t been the best year for him. Somebody needs to fire their agent. Just sayin’.

I give Love and Other Drugs a 2 out of 5.

Now onto the next entry in my top 25, #21: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Here we go again with another Lord of the Rings movie and then in a few more posts we’ll get yet another one. I’m going to be talking about Lord of the Rings for a while, but hey, I don’t mind since I love these movies! I’ve got quite an attachment to this one especially since I still remember seeing it in theatres when I was 13 and how excited I was. I don’t think I had ever seen something so epic in scope on the big screen before. There were goblins, trolls, elves, hobbits and ring-wraiths all popping out at me. My eyes were literally glued to the screen for about 3 hours.

To this day, 9 years on, I still can’t watch this movie without getting a little sentimental and nostalgic. I even had the big making-of book when I was a kid. What stuck with me the most though wasn’t just how cool the movie looked with all its mind-blowing special effects and state-of-the-art this and that. It was the characters and just how much you connected with them by the end of the film. Every character here serves a purpose and drives home a truly epic story about overcoming fear, carrying heavy burdens and getting by with a little help from your friends.

Now, I have to say, I’m not the world’s biggest fantasy fanboy and I don’t just like Lord of the Rings because it has a cool-looking cave troll or whatever, but I must admit, the entire look and detail of this world is so incredibly beautiful, from the mines of Moria to the forests of Lothlorien and beyond, this is a simply gorgeous film to gaze at. Weta did a spectacular job of bringing the book to the screen in the most incredible way possible. Again though, ultimately it’s about character and story and Peter Jackson does an excellent job of streamlining Tolkien’s somewhat convoluted book into something engaging and intelligent for the big screen, no easy task indeed and of course it took the director of Brain Dead to do it.

It didn’t take very long for this film to be recognized for the masterpiece that it is and with good reason. All three Lord of the Rings movies are great, but I think The Fellowship of the Ring will always hold a special place in my heart, because of nostalgia as well as great film-making. I have to say, even if these films are over-hyped, it’s because they deserve it. And that’s why The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is #21 on my top 25.

Stay tuned right here for more reviews and other goodies, whenever I have some free time, from the guy that I hope you don’t hate by now, Double D! Keep it locked and loaded guys!

Let’s start off by saying that I HATED the trailer for Tangled. Not only did I have to watch it 800 times before the movie actually came out, but it was corny, unfunny and made the movie look like a cheap cash-in on one of maybe three classic fairy tales that Disney hasn’t tackled yet (I give them 5 years before a Hansel and Gretel movie). I have to say though; DO NOT let the trailer deceive you. Why? Because despite its faults and clichés, Tangled is actually really good. No, seriously. It’s strange too, because this film falls prey to every Disney cliché in the book, but it begs the question, “Is that always such a bad thing?”

Let’s do a quick check-list of kid’s movie clichés that this movie failed to break:
Beautiful Princess as the main character? … Check!
The Princess is in some sort of crisis or held captive for some reason? … Check!
Pointless musical numbers? … Check!
Animal characters that act strangely human and provide comedy relief? … Check!
Unanticipated romance between the two main characters? … Check!
Menacing goons that turn out to be nice guys once you get to know them? … Check!

Well, it seems like they’ve got their Disney movie clichés in order, so I was expecting to hate this film. I was really actually hoping I wouldn’t like it, but I did. After a while I realized that this wasn’t Disney reverting back to what they always do because they’re lazy, it’s because it’s what works and what they do best. In short, it was a return to form and I’m glad they chose this to be their 50th film. Was I angry at them for not using traditional animation like they had in The Princess and the Frog last year? Sure, I was and I’m sure I’m not alone, but after about an hour of pure, child-like wonder and joy, I eventually caved in and forgave them. I had been converted from cynic to 22-year-old man-child in the course of an hour and a half. Plus, some kick-ass 3D didn’t hurt either. This movie looked seriously sweet in 3D. If the Oscars had a Coolest 3D Award, and I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before they do, this movie would get nominated for sure.

So, I’m guessing you all know the story of Rapunzel. Here’s a recap. There’s an evil old lady named Gothel (Donna Murphy) who stays young by singing to a magical flower. However, when the Queen gets sick, the King sends his men out to find the flower. They take it and she drinks it, transferring its magical powers into her daughter, Rapunzel’s hair, which just keeps growing and growing without ending, because once cut, it loses its magical abilities. A bit of a stretch? Sure, but hey, it’s a classic story and it’s a Disney movie, so I’ll let it slide. Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) is kidnapped by Gothel and raised as her daughter in a remote tower in what is easily the creepiest subplot ever in a kid’s movie. Many years later it is Rapunzel’s 18th Birthday (Ooh, barely legal! ;D) and she wants to leave the tower to see the lanterns that the King and Queen and everyone else in the kingdom release on her Birthday up close, outside of the tower. How she knows when her own Birthday is when she’s raised by an adoptive parent is beyond me, but that’s beside the point. Things get crazy when a local thief named Flynn Ryder (Chuck’s Zachary Levi) steals Rapunzel’s lost crown, betrays his partners, The Stabbington Brothers (both played by Ron Perlman) and chooses Rapunzel’s tower as a hiding place. Rapunzel hides Flynn as well as the crown from Gothel and makes a deal with him to take her to see the lanterns in exchange for knowing the location of the priceless crown he’s stolen and from there cartoon insanity ensues.

Are there cheesy jokes? Yeah, and yes all of those corny moments from the trailer were here, though not quite as corny in context. Now, you may be asking yourself then why I liked this movie so much. I think the main reason is the characters. Disney actually took the time to develop these characters instead of just making them cliché like everything else and that’s what makes this movie stick out. That’s what makes it memorable. A strong focus on good characterization means you will actually care about these characters more than you might expect. Also, despite the plot having so many clichés, there’s a lot here that actually drew me into the action instead of pushing me away. I was thoroughly entertained by this film. Wary at first, yes, but by the end I was glad I watched it. Even the songs aren’t that bad. Not the greatest, but not ear-bleedingly horrible either. The ballad that the goons sing in the tavern is particularly delightful. If you see the movie you’ll know the one I’m talking about.

So, I’ve got to say, don’t let the trailer fool you, Tangled is one of the better animated films I’ve seen this year and it definitely feels like Disney is returning to what they do best; great storytelling. I’m recommending this film to families and kids of all ages, because even if you’re not a kid, it’s guaranteed to bring out the kid in you. And yes, I even liked Mandy Moore in this. What the hell has she been up to lately anyway?

I give Tangled a 4/5.

Now, on to a more serious note. This last week saw the passing of two legends. I was going to just pick one to profile, but I feel both men are important in their own ways and deserve remembering, so let’s take a bit of a look back on these two great men and the mark they made on the world of showbiz, shall we?

Let’s start with Leslie Nielson. From a personal perspective, I remember seeing Nielson in the Naked Gun films and then some other lesser comedic spoofs like Spy Hard and Wrongfully Accused when I was a kid and remembering him mostly for being a very funny comedic actor. I think what made Nielson so great and memorable was his ability to take a ridiculous situation and react completely dead-pan serious to it. Maybe that’s why he got type-cast in so many spoof films that ranged from classics to bleh. It’s too bad too, because the guy could act. I almost wish he had showed off his acting chops a little later in life, because I also remember watching him in Forbidden Planet back when I found a copy of it on VHS when I was in high school and absolutely loved it and I loved him in it. I couldn’t believe this was Leslie Nielson I was watching. He was actually a really good actor. Though the role most people will always remember and love him for is the bumbling Lieutenant Frank Drebin from the short-lived Police Squad TV Series and the films The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear and The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult.

Leslie Nielson was born on February 11, 1926 in Regina, Saskatchewan. He began his acting career in the late 1940’s and by the time the 1950’s rolled around, the young, handsome Canadian actor was starring in more guest spots and lending his vocal talents to more commercial voice-overs than he could count. Nielson’s first big break-through came in the form of the afore-mentioned Forbidden Planet however, but the young actor could never seem to stand above the crowd. That is until 1980 when Nielson played Dr. Rumack in the critically acclaimed hit comedy Airplane!, leading to a life-time of absurd comedic roles. His next major role would be Frank Drebin in the Police Squad series in 1982 and the pursuing spin-off films during the late 80’s and early 90’s, co-starring with Elvis’s widow Priscilla Presley and Mr. “The Glove Fits” himself, O.J. Simpson. Those films unfortunately would remain Nielson’s biggest commercial success. The 90’s would see Nielson star in many unsuccessful and critically panned spoof films that led to a somewhat lacklustre later career. However, Nielson loved what he did and did what he loved right up to the end.

Nielson was married four times and had two children from his second marriage. He appeared in over 100 films and 1500 TV appearances before his death on November 28, 2010 from complications with Pneumonia. He’ll be remembered as a man who did what he loved and brought a little bit of joy to the world. Also, I officially forgive him for the Mr. Magoo movie.

The next person I’d like to talk about is Mr. Irvin Kershner, another legend we lost this last week. Of course, most people, including myself, know Kershner for his one true masterpiece, Star Wars – Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Also, he’s notable to me as the man who made the non-official James Bond film Never Say Never Again, which was really only a mediocre film although notable as Connery’s last performance in the role and for his last movie Robocop 2, a movie that would have been much better if the studio hadn’t screwed with Frank Miller’s original script, but Kershner seemed to do his best with it.

Kershner and George Lucas actually met when Kershner was Lucas’s teacher at the University of Southern California. He was actually reluctant to direct the sequel to Lucas’s masterpiece when George first approached him and considered himself too old for the job. He would have been in his late 50’s at the time. He reluctantly took the job however and thank God he did, because if he hadn’t, Empire might have gone from a masterpiece in the careful hands of someone who truly cared about its outcome, to a cheap cash-in. That’s right, Empire could have been like the Star Wars prequels and we have this man, and of course screenwriters Lawrence Kasdan and Leigh Brackett to thank for that nightmare not coming true.

I guess I should take this opportunity to talk about Kershner a little bit instead of just talking yet again about how much I love Empire. From all the interviews I’ve seen with Kershner he seemed like a gentle and warm-hearted intelligent individual, the kind of man you aspire to be when you grow up. It’s a shame he’s gone, because I would love to have gotten to meet and speak with him just once. Maybe someday when I’m directing a film of my own I’ll be visited by his ghost. I can only hope. I discovered a few interesting things just reading his Wikipedia page actually. Kershner considered himself an internationalist and studied many cultures and religions before he died. He hated the idea of nationalism and considered it archaic. I am totally pulling this quote right from his Wikipedia page, but I really liked it, so I’m gonna copy and paste it here as a clothing thought.

“I’m afraid of patriotism. The world has gotten very small and cosmic awareness makes patriotism seem an adolescent notion, which is why immature minds are easily manipulated by it. I really believe that patriotism in its generally accepted sense means accepting social prejudices, and the fewer we have of them, the freer we shall be.”

I think that’s a nice closing thought, don’t you? I hate to end this blog on such a sombre note, but I know that these two men meant a lot to so many people and they will truly be missed. So long, guys!

I’ve been Double D reminding you to keep it locked and loaded. Catch ya later!

When I first saw The Hangover a year ago, I was shocked by how good it was. Maybe it’s unfair to start this review and already compare it to Todd Phillips last glorious romp just one sentence in, but let’s face it; it was only a matter of time before it popped up. I don’t know anyone who didn’t love The Hangover and when it won a Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy it was pretty much official that the world had fallen in love with this film and we were all asking ourselves the same question, “What is Todd Philips going to do next?” Well, what he did was Due Date, this time a road comedy starring Robert Downey Jr. and the overnight superstar Zach Galifianakis, who also starred in The Hangover. I guess it was a no-brainer for Todd and Zach to keep working together because everyone loved Alan so much.

So, it took me one sentence to compare this movie to The Hangover, and it took one paragraph to compare it to Planes, Trains and Automobiles, another comparison that just about 90% of the people that see this film are going to make, but who can blame them? John Hughes’ more adult sensibilities are plastered all over this film and that’s not such a bad thing. If you’re going to steal, at least steal from something good. What we’ve got here is the classic formula for a road comedy. You’ve got a tight ass who needs to be somewhere at a specific time. Here it’s Peter Highman, played by Robert Downey Jr. who has to get to Los Angeles in time to see the birth of his child, and the socially awkward loser who follows him. Here it’s Ethan Tremblay played by Zach Galifianakis, who also wants to go to LA in order to break into the acting business.

When Ethan accidentally gets himself and Peter on the “no fly” list after a mistaken terrorist threat, Peter’s only chance of getting to his wife, played by the love of my life Michelle Monaghan, who needed more screen time because she’s the love of my life. Sorry, what was I saying? Oh yeah, so since Peter’s luggage is stuck on the plane and he seems to have lost his wallet, he decides to ride with Ethan and hilarity ensues as the two go through hell together, usually a hell brought on by Ethan’s own stupidity, to get to LA.

Together the two of them, along with Ethan’s pet dog, Sunny, get into situations like being beaten by a hilarious handicapped war veteran, played by Danny McBride, engage in a daring police chase in a stolen trailer and partake in a thrilling car crash off a highway overpass. The fun never stops, especially when Ethan is so annoying and overbearing that you nearly want to strangle him and Peter still has some anger management issues to deal with. Together, just like in any good road movie, the two unlikely strangers learn to deal with each other’s issues and eventually become friends.

What surprised me about Due Date the most though, was how serious it let itself get. Ethan’s father has recently died and he’s also on a trip to find the perfect place to ditch the remains, which he keeps in a coffee can, in what I can only assume was an homage to The Big Lebowski. Anyways, we get some very serious real moments with these characters opening up to each other and at one point when Ethan accidentally spills his father’s ashes on the carpet in what could have been a moment of unmitigated silliness, Phillips shows as much sympathy for Ethan as everyone else did at that point. Even though he’s an annoying jerk, you still feel something for this guy. In this way Due Date is a very different movie than most of Phillips’ other work. For the first time the man isn’t afraid to sacrifice laughs for pathos and it really pays off.

Now, to be fair there are moments where the plot slows down unnecessarily in points that don’t deliver as many laughs as they should and really could stand some editing, like a scene where the characters make a stop at a local drug dealer’s house, played by Juliette Lewis. It’s nice to see her again. Honestly, where has Juliette Lewis been lately? But the scene on the whole drags on without really getting to a punch line, unless you call Robert Downey Jr. punching a kid in the gut a punch line? But that’s about it. It never goes anywhere after that and there were a few other moments like that too. A little bit more editing might have done the film well. Also, without giving away the ending, it does suffer from being somewhat anti-climactic and I sort of felt that Jamie Foxx’s character was a little unnecessary, especially because I love Jamie Foxx. Not to mention the obligatory “main character’s getting high on drugs and tripping out” scene.

I’ve got to say though; overall I really liked Due Date. It’s not a perfect movie, but it’s got a lot of heart and a lot of guts and I admire that. Todd Phillips really cared about what he was making. You can almost see the studio stepping away and letting him take the reins of his own film for once and it really paid off. I’m not going to say I liked this more than or less than The Hangover, because they are actually very different films in approach and execution. I’m just going to say that I like it. Some people may not like this movie right now, but I think it’s the kind of film that’s going to gain recognition and reputation over time, because it’s a good movie despite its flaws. I think Todd Philips should be patting himself on the back right now, but not for too long. I don’t want to wait for The Hangover 2.

I give Due Date a 3.5/5.

Next up we’ve got the next movie on my top 25, #22 – Tokyo Godfathers. This is the first of two anime films on the list (you’ll find out what the other one is much later) and stands here to basically represent my love of Satoshi Kon, may he rest in peace. The man was a legend and his legacy will live on long after his death through people like me who remember his works as the little pieces of genius that they are. I have to admit Millennium Actress was pretty damn close to making this list too, and I could easily write a whole article on that film as well and how it almost made me cry (OK, so it did make me cry), but since Tokyo Godfathers is my favourite Kon film, I figured it was the one most worthy of making this list.

I once did a classic anime minute for This Week in Geek about Tokyo Godfathers, so this isn’t the first time I’ve talked about how much I adore this film. The first thing most people will notice when watching this movie is just how little it actually feels like an anime. When most people think of Japanese Animation the first thing that comes to their minds is a giant robot fighting a tentacled monster. You know, that or other things involving tentacled monsters, but Tokyo Godfathers isn’t like that. The remarkable thing about most of Kon’s films is how easily they could have been made into live action films. There’s really no reason for a movie like Tokyo Godfathers to be animated, because there’s nothing here they couldn’t have done with some actors and a camera. There are no big special effects, no crazy dream sequences or teenagers getting super-powers or motorcycles that can turn into helicopters or anything crazy like that. Tokyo Godfathers is a film about people, plain and simple. It’s a movie that examines the heart and soul inside each of us.

So, you might be asking yourself why this movie is animated then, if it doesn’t need to be. Well, first off, the animation in Tokyo Godfathers is incredible. Kon’s team capture the emotion on a characters face when they’re faced with a near-death experience just as well as they capture the comedic timing of someone falling off of a bike. Nothing feels cartoony. It feels like real life that happens to be animated. In fact you might even forget you’re watching an animated film after a while. This brings me to the next reason why this film is animated instead of live action. I think Satoshi Kon wanted to prove here that animated films, Japanese anime especially, could accomplish great story-telling without the need to make something other-worldly or ridiculous. In that sense I sincerely hope that Tokyo Godfathers, as well as all of Kon’s other work obviously, will leave a lasting impact on not only the Japanese animation industry, but the animation industry as a whole. You don’t need to use animation to make super-heroes and talking rabbits. Sometimes just telling a simple human story is enough. Though I guess I should mention that the dancing buildings during the end credits would be difficult to achieve using live-action, but that’s beside the point.

I guess most of you who are unfamiliar with the film are probably wondering what the hell it’s even about at this point. No, Tokyo Godfathers is not a mob film set in Japan as its title might suggest. It’s actually the story of three homeless people, a middle-aged man named Gin, a transvestite named Hana and a teenager named Miyuki who discover an abandoned baby on Christmas Eve. Together they embark on a quest to return the infant back to its mother, and learn to change a few diapers along the way. The three unlikely heroes go through all sorts of little misadventures together as we learn little bits about each of their lives and the events that led to each of them becoming homeless. It’s a touching, humanistic story about the ties that bind people together and ultimately, much like Die Hard, my last film on the list, it’s an awesome Christmas movie as it explores what makes the season of giving worthwhile for people with nothing to give or gain.

Obviously I have nothing but praise for this film and I have little left to say except to go out and find a copy and buy it and watch it. Even if you don’t like anime, as long as you like a good movie, you’ll like Tokyo Godfathers, so go ahead and give it a chance. I even showed this film once to my friend Will, who isn’t a really big anime fan and even he thought it was great. Keep in mind that there is not English dub for this film, so you’ll have to read subtitles, but it’s worth it. Trust me. It’ll make you laugh. It’ll make you cry and it’ll make you think. Tokyo Godfathers is an incredible reminder of what it means to be a human being in a world filled with love and hate and that’s why it’s #22 on my top 25!

So, I guess that’s about it. Stay tuned for more reviews and other goodies coming soon from me, Double D! Thanks for reading and don’t forget to keep it locked and loaded!

Alright, let’s start with Megamind. Now, I work in a comic shop and being a comic shop employee means you get a lot of downtime to just sit there and read comic books. Now, reading so many comics often raises questions about character’s motivations, reasons and outcomes. I almost wonder if this is what the writers of Megamind were thinking about when they came up with this movie.

It’s kind of hard not to compare Megamind to The Incredibles and Despicable Me, but it seems like there’s been a trend recently of taking the super-hero genre in kid’s movies and re-examining the motivations of the archetypical characters in the films, drawing attention to conventions and breaking them all at once. In this sense, Megamind does a very good job. The basic premise is, “What would a super-villain do if he or she actually won?” I think it’s something all of us comic book lovers have thought about at one point or another, but we really never see it happen. As they say in the movie, “The bad guy never wins and the bad guy never gets the girl.” I guess this is true, but if they did win, what would they do with that power?

Megamind (Will Ferrell) finds himself with this very dilemma. His whole life has been plagued with a non-stop rivalry with a goodie-two-shoes super hero named Metro Man (Brad Pitt). Right from childhood the two, having escaped dying worlds in one of the film’s many homages to Superman, both find their way to Earth where Metro Man is raised by a good-hearted, rich family and Megamind is raised by convicts in the local prison. All through their childhood Metro Man finds acceptance, while Megamind, only rejection, his one friend a talking piranha named Minion (David Cross), who was sent with him on his voyage to Earth. Later, Megamind and Metro Man grow up and begin battling together over Metro City where they both live. Megamind has spent so much time fighting Metro Man by the film’s beginning that their exploits have become old hat and reporter Roxanne Ritchie (Tina Fey) is all too used to Megamind’s hostage situations. Then something magnificent happens. Megamind accidentally finds Metro Man’s weakness and finally defeats him. Now with no one protecting the city, Megamind can have anything he wants, except the one thing he really wants, Roxanne Ritchie. So he devises a plan to pose as the Metro Man Museum curator in an attempt to win her over. Something is still missing however and as Megamind continues to tear up the streets and take whatever he wants, he feels emptiness instead of satisfaction. Soon he comes to realize that this is because there’s no challenge anymore. Where there was once a hero to try and stop him, now there is nothing but an empty void. That is, until Megamind devises his best plan yet, to create a new super-hero using Metro Man’s DNA.

He accidentally chooses for his test subject Roxanne’s 28-year-old under-achieving camera-man Hal Stewart (Jonah Hill). Posing as Hal’s “Space Dad” in a somewhat unnecessary Marlon Brando send-up, Megamind convinces Hal that he’s destined for greatness as he trains him to take down villains and gives him the name Titan (or Tighten as it’s spelled in the film). Things go horribly wrong however, when Titan doesn’t show up for his big confrontation with Megamind and he soon discovers that Titan doesn’t want to be a super-hero, but rather a super-villain after being rejected by his long-time crush who happens to be, once again, Roxanne Ritchie. Now Megamind must decide, will he continue his villainous ways or take down Titan and save Metro City in Metro Man’s absence.

Megamind had a surprisingly well thought out premise for a kid’s movie, once again, clearly designed by a comic book geek like me to explore a few rarely explored facets of the comic book universe. Sure, it’s a DreamWorks movie and as we all already know, that means it’s not going to be perfect like Pixar. The soundtrack is littered with awkwardly placed 70’s hits, some of the referential humor is so forced you almost want to slap yourself in the face and the whole movie feels like it was rushed through development by a bunch of suits who just want to make money from 8-year-olds, but you know what? Despite all this, I actually liked Megamind.

First off, I enjoyed Will Ferrell’s portrayal and it never really felt like he was just playing the same character he always seems to play. He actually put some effort into getting into the right mindset for this character and it shows. The supporting cast all do their jobs quite well too, even if Brad Pitt was only in the movie for 15 minutes. Most importantly however, I liked the story here. I actually cared about Megamind. He feels like a real man with real motivations, not just a cartoon caricature of Lex Luthor with a blue head. I enjoyed watching him try to deal with not knowing what to do when he gets what he wants and most importantly, he’s convincing as both the bad-guy and the hero. Although I will have to deduct a few points for making the audience sympathize with him a bit too early.

The plot can feel a little rushed at times, but it’s a well thought out one anyways. Someone here wasn’t a suit. Somebody here actually gave a crap and it shows through, even through all the corny jokes. And that’s not to say that all the jokes were bad, there are a few great laughs to be found in Megamind too, so you’re definitely not going to want to strangle your kids for taking you to see this one. No, save that for Yogi Bear.

Anyways, for the final verdict, if you’ve got nothing to do one afternoon and you feel like taking the kids to see a movie, go see Megamind. They’ll enjoy it. You’ll, at the very least, not hate it and everyone will have a good time. And after all, I guess that’s all they were really trying to go for here. I wasn’t looking for the next Godfather when I saw this. All I wanted was an entertaining kid’s film and I wasn’t really disappointed. In fact, if anything, this was better than I expected. So, there you go. It seems like DreamWorks has been on a role this year, what with this and How to Train Your Dragon and even Shrek: Forever After wasn’t half-bad. Keep up the good work guys. You’re getting there!

I give Megamind a 3/5.

Next up we’ve got another product review for ya’ll. Of course I’m talking about Weta Workshop’s The Art of District 9, written by Daniel Falconer. First off, I need to thank my friend and This Week in Geek co-host Mike Dodd, since this was his book and he was nice enough to give it to me when he found me flipping through it one afternoon in his apartment. I was ecstatic.

I don’t think I need to tell you how much I love District 9, but in case you don’t know, I love District 9. Easily one of my top five favourites of 2009, District 9 encapsulated everything I love about science fiction. A powerful story with strong characterization and heavy social themes that sought to teach the audience something as well as entertain them, through stunts, action and dazzling special effects. Director Neill Blomkamp had once and for all proven himself to fans that were once wary of his attachment to the temporarily defunct Halo movie. District 9 was nothing short of a masterpiece and when critical acclaim and financial success led the film to a best picture nomination at that year’s Oscars I was surprised, but also very pleased that one of my favourites had made the roster. Though, I did it would have made it if they still had five nominees instead of ten, but that’s beside the point. The point is that District 9 is an amazing film and many people love it just as much as I do.

Now when I found out there was a Weta Workshops art book for District 9, I was so excited. This book is rare, but if you can find it somewhere, don’t think, just buy it. Trust me. The District 9 DVD and Blu-Ray don’t contain any concept artwork like The Lord of the Rings Extended Edition DVD’s did for example, so this is the only place where a lot of these images can be found and many of them are just plain stunning to see. There’s nothing like be able to have a sneak peak into the secret behind-the-scenes world of developing a film right from inception to final product and you’ll be astounded by just how many changes District 9 underwent during development.

Within the book you’ll find the designs that went into creating everything from the Prawns themselves to the MNU trucks, to the exo-suit and even pages about fake labels, fake news logos, fake signage and everything else that went into making District 9 pop to life and feel like a real world. The level of detail in the film and the extant of realism they were going for is astounding. Also astounding is the level of detail put into this book. There’s even a page of fake tabloid covers for goodness’ sake. Weta didn’t skimp out at all on this book and literally every little detail of design you could think of is represented here. For example, did you know that there were originally going to be three different types of aliens, slavers, who controlled the other races and the engineers and workers who would be controlled by the slavers? There are a lot of interesting ideas here and even things that didn’t make it to the final film like a weapon that sucks people up like a big vacuum cleaner. There was even a point where budgetary constraints were going to have most of the prawns played by men in suits instead of the CGI used in the final film. The amount of secrets revealed in this book is astounding and believe me, I’ve barely even spoiled them for you.

Obviously the book is filled to the brim with concept art, full color, hi-def photographs and 3D computer generated renderings, but what also makes The Art of District 9 worth buying is the writing as well. Daniel Falconer has worked for Weta for many years and definitely knows what he’s talking about. His insights will open up a world of movie design you never thought possible. Along with that, however, you also get quotations from the designers who worked on the film as well as from director Neill Blomkamp himself. The other big bonus is a Foreword by Blomkamp and introduction by Weta Workshop Design and Effects Supervisor Richard Taylor. In the few short pages that this prelude takes up, it provides the viewer with a better understanding of the film and the statement that the filmmakers were trying to make. Taylor even references the film being like a phoenix that rose from the ashes of the Halo movie they were planning on making. This book will give you a new exciting perspective on art, sci-fi and of course the movie District 9.

So, if you’re in a Chapters or something like that and you’re browsing through the film section and come across The Art of District 9, I’m telling you right now to buy this sucker! Even if you haven’t seen District 9, buy the book, buy the movie, watch the movie and read the book. Believe me, you won’t be disappointed. Weta knows how to pour their heart and soul into everything and that includes the collections of concept art that they’ve been putting out recently and this is definitely no exception. Obviously this is a book, not a film, so I’m not going to give it a rating out of five, but I am going to tell you that purchasing this book is something you will most definitely not regret.

So, thanks for reading again guys and don’t worry, I will be back real soon with a review of Due Date, plus another movie from my top 25, so remember; keep it locked and loaded.

Hereafter is the latest in Clint Eastwood’s modern repertoire of film, which is shaping up to look pretty good. Even last year’s slightly lacklustre Invictus had a few shimmering moments of brilliance and Eastwood’s other recent works like Mystic River and Gran Torino are nothing short of great. So how does Hereafter shape up compared to the master of cinema’s other recent works? Let’s take a look.

Matt Damon plays George Lonegan, a lonely psychic, who has conversations with people’s dead relatives through connections he forms with them through sense of touch. He’s quit his practice however and works full time at a factory in San Francisco until corporate downsizing threatens his job, possibly the last tether he has to a normal life. The only client he sees is brought to him by his brother, eager to impress one of his constituents. A lack of sleep has led George to take night classes where he meets another lonely soul, in the form of Melanie (Bryce Dallas Howard), who becomes George’s partner at an Italian cooking class he attends. George considers his ability to be more of a curse however, as it has led him to become somewhat of a recluse, hiding away from a society that’s labelled him as a “freak”.

The films doesn’t begin with George’s story however, but with the story of a reporter from Paris named Marie, played by French actress Cecile de France, who is taking a vacation in South-East Asia when a tsunami hits and wipes out the village she is visiting in what is easily Hereafter’s most expensive and exciting scene. She manages to survive, but not before having a near-death experience that allows her to take a special sneak-peak into the afterlife, which leaves her slightly disillusioned when attempting to return to her news-magazine show in France. She decides to take a few months off and focuses on investigating the events of her supernatural experience for a book she plans to publish on a conspiracy to cover up what many believe to be facts about the afterlife.

The third story that Hereafter presents us with is about a young twin from London named Marcus, as he attempts to cope with his brother Jason’s recent death and his mother’s drug addiction, which lands him in foster care. The twins are played interchangeably by British child actors Frankie and George McLaren, who generally nail all but a few awkwardly under-acted scenes. The three stories don’t intertwine until the end and the constant cutting between them can sometimes be a bit tiresome, especially when I was the most interested in Lonegan’s story, but Eastwood does a good job of juggling the plots without letting any one over-empower the other two.

Hereafter received a luke-warm reception at the Toronto International Film Festival this year, so I wasn’t expecting too much. I think I understood why people were disappointed, but that’s not to say that it was warranted. What people need to understand is that Hereafter is a slow movie, but there’s a big difference between a slow movie and a boring movie. A boring movie has characters that you don’t care about in an uninspired setting, doing uninspired things. You can pack a movie with explosions and sex and still make a boring movie. Hereafter was, by this standard, definitely not a boring movie. Its characters are unique and three-dimensional. Its premise is original and the story is personal and effective for the most part. However, I’m not going to apologize for any pacing problems the film has, because it does have plenty of them.

Characters drag their feet so much in this movie that when the climax comes, it hardly feels like a climax at all. In fact, I wouldn’t have known it was a climax at all if the three main characters, who spend the rest of the film in different parts of the world, finally meet up at a book fair in London. Nothing astonishing happens. The characters don’t all discover that they’re dead, but didn’t know it yet. They don’t take an adventurous journey into the hereafter that the film’s title refers to and their meeting doesn’t cause them all to have startling revelations about the nature of the afterlife. Eastwood and writer Peter Morgan (Frost/ Nixon) aren’t using Hereafter to create a film that will startle the audience or even bring it to a grand revelation. In fact, for a film about the supernatural, Hereafter is surprisingly, well, natural. Eastwood focuses his camera on the characters and how the experience of dealing with death and the afterlife has affected them on a personal and emotional level, rather than focusing on the meta-physical ramifications of the events in the film.

It’s this sort of character driven drama that really drives Hereafter, albeit at a remarkably slow rate. It’s not a movie about God. It’s not a movie about ghosts. It’s not a movie about heaven. It’s a movie about people; people who have all been touched in some way by death. Was I expecting more from Hereafter? Yes, I was, but I was still touched by what I saw, just in a different way than I was expecting to be touched. It seems like Eastwood, in his old age, may be dealing with death in his own way, and for Eastwood that means teaching the audience how to embrace life, even if there are no guns or explosions along the way. Perhaps he’s getting a little tired in his old age, but Hereafter, unlike Gran Torino for example, is not a film designed to entertain all audiences. In fact, if anything I’d say this movie was made for old people and I don’t mean that as an insult. It’s a ballsy move considering that the majority of the theatre-going audience in North American is comprised of people aged 5-30. It’s almost safe to say that Eastwood saw a gap in Hollywood’s corporate target and set his sights for it, crafting a film that firmly ignores the needs of younger audience members and instead focuses on the concerns of those in their twilight years; needs like the hope of an afterlife and the belief in true love. It seems like most of Eastwood’s grit is gone, but I don’t really mind. As long as he keeps focusing on strong characterization and all-around good film-making, I’m still happy with whatever the man decides to make.

I give Hereafter a 3.5/5

Next up we’ve got The Trotsky. Here we go with yet another Canadian movie on DVD and what is sometimes a rarity in this great land of ours; a movie that doesn’t suck. The Trotsky stars Jay Baruchel, one of the first Canadian movies the young rising star has made in quite a while and let’s face it, he’s probably the only reason most people are watching this movie and who’s to blame them? Baruchel delivers one of his most heart-felt performances here. I kept thinking the whole time I was watching this how great it would be if Jay played the actual Leon Trotsky. Anyways, I’m getting ahead of myself here.

Baruchel plays Leon Bronstein, a 17-year-old who sincerely believes himself to be the reincarnation of Russian revolutionary leader Leon Trotsky. In fact Bronstein is the actual birth name of the original Leon Trotsky. For those of you who don’t know (including myself before I watched the film), Trotsky was one of the people primarily responsible for the communist revolution in Russia, until he was assassinated later in life with an ice-pick. This is definitely an uncanny choice for a main character in a high school comedy, to be sure. Things get even more uncanny however when Leon meets the love of his life, a 27-year-old recent post-grad named Alexandra (Emily Hampshire). This is uncanny because the real Leon Trotsky also fell in love with and married a woman named Alexandra who was also almost a decade older than him. The only problems are that Alexandra can’t stand Leon and that he’s having a hard time finding a place to stage his revolution. After a failed strike at a clothing plant owned by Leon’s own father (Saul Rubinek) ends up in Leon getting arrested, his father decides to send him to public school for his last year of high school, instead of the private school he’s been paying for thus far. Leon uses this to his advantage to stage a student revolution against the evil Principal Berkhoff (Colm Feore) and his stooge, Mrs. Danvers (Domini Blythe). After eliciting some help from his over-enthusiastic cheer-leader Sister Sarah (Tommie-Amber Pirie) and a reluctant lawyer/ former Communist Party of Canada leader (Michael Murphy), hilarity ensues as Leon begins his revolution for student rights.

Once again, our society is being treated to some more pure John Hughes-esque brilliance and I can’t get enough of it. The difference here is that this movie feels a bit more like Reds or Dr. Zivago then it does The Breakfast Club. Director Jacob Tierny (watch for his funny cameo at the very end of the film) has crafted a film that draws just as much from epic cinema as from high school comedies. Now, I have to say I was wary of The Trotsky at first. For the first ten minutes or so I didn’t really know what to make of the film. I was more confused than amused. This is almost to be expected from a film where the premise is about someone believing that they are the reincarnation of a semi-renowned revolutionist. It can be hard to swallow at first, but I gave this movie a chance. Well, really I had to, since I knew I was going to review the DVD, but it was worth it. The Trotsky is a thoroughly enjoyable and well-made little gem if you give it a chance. It takes a while to get going, but within time you’ll actually care about this crazy little character and the people around him and the crazy little revolution he’s starting. And by my calculations, a movie where I care about the characters, enough to worry about what happens to them is a good movie. The Trotsky delivers lots of fun and, best of all, informative filmmaking to anyone who enjoys a good revolution story, even if it is set in a high school.

I’m not saying that The Trotsky is perfect. The film runs a bit too long and at least ten minutes of unnecessary footage, including a couple of pointless dream scenes could have been easily removed without affecting the plot. Yes, I got your Battleship Potemkin reference, but there’s much more important things going on in this movie. I usually don’t mind a few filler scenes, but when the rest of the movie is actually good then the filler is just a distraction from the wonderful complex relationships that are also present here. Still, I really did enjoy this movie. Honestly, if you get a chance, watch this. Even if you’re not a Jay Baruchel fan, you might be after seeing this film.

Now let’s talk briefly about the DVD itself. I’d say it’s definitely worth a rental, but don’t bother buying this one unless you really like it. The bonus features are OK, but you can probably get through all of them in a half-hour or so after you’re done watching the movie, before bringing it back to Blockbuster. The only exception is the director’s commentary. However, with the exception of a few interesting bits of info on little details I may have missed in the frame, I was mostly just bored by this commentary. It only features the director and his editor and none of the cast members are present, which is too bad. I would have especially loved to have heard Baruchel’s thoughts on the film. It’s not that I hated listening to Tierny talk about the movie. He seems like a really nice guy, but I didn’t pick up on much that I didn’t already know or learn from the other bonus features. There’s also a quick making-of featurette, which does pack in quite a bit of info into its 12 and a half minute run-time. We get to learn about the origins of the project, the cast and how it all came to be. It’s not too long, but it isn’t pointless either, so I’d say that part is definitely worth watching, as are the deleted scenes that they’ve put on, including an alternate opening and ending. There’s also a gag real that really isn’t exceptionally funny and runs a little too long, but hey, we can always use a gag real, so why not?

All in all, I guess I should end with a bit of a warning. What I discovered about The Trotsky is that it isn’t really a comedy. Sure it’s witty, but with the exception of a few scenes, it isn’t immediately funny. In the commentary Tierny describes the film as more of a romance between Leon and his passions. I think I’d have to agree with him there. The Trotsky is a thoroughly entertaining and engaging film, to be sure. It wasn’t what I expected, but it was still very good. In fact I’d say it was even better than I thought it was going to be. For a film with such a strange premise, this movie may be incredibly surreal at times, but in other ways it’s shockingly grounded in reality. I almost wondered why Tierny didn’t make a movie about the actual Leon Trotsky since I know he would have done a great job. I’m sure budgetary constraints had something to do with it. Oh well, maybe next time, but for now this one is definitely worth a peek.

I give The Trotsky a 3/5.

So I guess that’s it for that, stay tuned next time for some more exciting reviews, including something movie related that isn’t actually a movie. You’ll find out what it is next time on Double D Does the Movies! Keep it locked and loaded guys!

I like that, “keep it locked and loaded”, I think that’s going to be my new official sign off. Cool!

Hey guys, Double D couldn’t make it this week, so as a special guest to all you little cocksuckers and cuntholes, he’s been replaced by me, the deliciously repugnant demon Pazuzu! That’s right folks, I’ve possessed Mr. Denis, just for a few hours, so I can use his blog to tell you all about demons and the way we’ve been sometimes properly presented through films, yet often portrayed as boring fuckwads who go around slamming people’s doors for no reason. What a wonderful day for a review!

In case you guys haven’t guessed, this is going to be a review of the miserably terrible Paranormal Activity 2. What a crock of horseshit! First let’s talk about this family! What a bunch of cockheads! First you got this Dad who spends the whole fucking movie in angry denial. Basically he’s a dick and you’re supposed to hate it, but good luck because you’ll be too busy hating everyone else. The daughter spends all her time with her ugly cockhead of a boyfriend and then when he’s not around she just screams all the time and the wife. Well, OK fine, I actually didn’t hate the wife that much. She seemed like sort of a normal person I guess. I would love to enter her. Show her what a real possession feels like. Take her for a little ride. Heh.

Speaking of which, this movie’s idea of a possession is just plain sick. I thought Katie just walking around the bed in the first movie was bad, but this is just sad. According to Paranormal Activity 2, when you get possessed you stand around, stare blankly into space and get slightly irate. That’s not a possession! That’s a fucking high-schooler on weed! Basically the bitch gets dragged downstairs and all of a sudden she’s possessed, which apparently makes people incredibly boring. Fuck that noise! When I possess some poor motherfucker they never know what hits them; vomiting, cursing, physically impossibly acts. All sorts of good shit! None of that is in this movie. Do you know what demons do in the universe perpetuated by the Paranormal Activity films? They slam doors, rumble loudly and open cupboards when you least expect. We can also fuck with your TV. Oh no! Watch out! Better hope we don’t attack during the Patriots game next week! Shit, this is juvenile. Look, people watching these films. Never fear. No demon haunting your house for whatever reason is going to spend all their time fiddling with your furniture until eventually we decide to drag you down some stairs. Oooooh, scary! Not! Jesus, what a boatload of bullshit! If we’re gonna attack you, it’s not gonna be that subtle, even if you’ve got some stupid video cameras recording absolutely everything in your house 24/7. Christ, what do you do when you gotta jerk off? I sure know I couldn’t cope. Gimme 20 minutes and I’d have a crucifix in my crotch for sure, cameras or no cameras.

Speaking of cameras, what is up with this family and their fucking camera fetish? I don’t know about you, but when I’m spilling my guts to my best pal Eliazel, if he were to hold a big handy-cam in my face the whole time, I’d rip his fucking head off without a second thought! Honestly, people keep spilling their guts out to cameras in this movie! This is Paranormal Activity, not Big fucking Brother! Jesus, these guys never shut the god damn cameras off for a second! Can’t they do anything important to the plot without capturing it on film? I guess not.
Anyways, here’s the whole plot of Paranormal Activity 2. It’s actually a prequel to the first movie and it turns out that the “demon” that’s less intelligent than my retarded cousin Shadogo, actually attacked some other family first and they happen to be the family of Katie’s sister, but then they send the demon over to Katie and that’s where the first film begins. Shit, it even hurt my brain just describing that thing. Glad that’s over with. Oh, did I spoil the movie for you? Fuck you, I just saved you 8 bucks!

People, the reason why I possessed Double D to write this review for y’all is because I want to raise awareness. I want to raise awareness against demonism. False interpretations of the plights and daily activities of demons are plaguing the big screen lately and it alarms me. It alarms me that we go through so much trouble to strike fear and terror into the hearts of mankind and then we’re portrayed as nothing more than a minor nuisance. It truly astounds me. Whatever happened to the good ol’ days when being a demon really meant something? Those glory days are over my friend. It’s gotten to the point where people are getting us confused with ghosts now. Are you kidding me? Ghosts! Seriously? It’s just sad.

We’ve got to take it back, people; back to the good old days when we were a force to be feared. This shit is just sad. Anyways, if you’ll excuse me, I have a small Romanian boy to possess. Hey, I don’t decide these assignments. The big guy’s always on my ass. Anyways, I’ll see all of you in Hell! Mu ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Oh, I give Paranormal Activity 2 a 2/5. What? It had a few moments here and there. The ending was cool. But yeah, I gotta go.

Happy Halloween!

Anyways, let’s start with a little anecdote. When I went to see RED, there was a bunch of 13 year old kids sitting behind me. They literally kept talking throughout the entire movie. It was so frustrating and I guess the combination between their annoyingness and the adrenaline rush I got from this film caused me to yell at them after the movie was over and say something about personally finding their houses to kick their asses if they do that again. I was definitely channelling Bruce Willis.

I guess the point of that anecdote was to let you know that first off, you shouldn’t talk during movies or I seriously will hurt you and secondly, what I could hear of RED was very exciting and did manage to get my adrenaline going, which I’m guessing was the director’s intent. RED was actually a surprisingly funny, exciting and captivating little gem; definitely a blast that’s worthy of being seen in theatres. Sure, it’s not the best action movie ever, but if you’re looking for something new and fun, this will more than get the job done.

Frank Moses is a retired FBI agent with a bit of a crush on the woman who sends him his pension cheques, a lonely customer service clerk named Sarah Ross, played by Mary-Louise Parker. When his house is attacked by hit-men who were tipped off by recording Frank’s calls with Sarah, he decides to find out exactly who’s after him and why. The only problem is that whoever wants him dead, wants Sarah dead as well and so the two become an unlikely team who trek across the country, picking up help along the way from Frank’s old work-mates, Joe, played by Morgan Freeman, Marvin, played by John Malkovich and finally Victoria, played by Helen Mirren. During their mission Frank and his pals are chased by FBI Agent William Cooper, played by Karl Urban, who really has his hands full with the rag tag group of golden oldies. We also get appearances from Brian Cox, as Victoria’s old flame, Ivan, Richard Dreyfuss, as the villainous Alexander Dunning, who appears to be behind the whole plot and a wonderful little cameo from Ernest Borgnine, as the Records Keeper, an old man who stays in a locked room all day and collects information for the FBI, a role he was born to play. I love Ernest Borgnine, so it was great to see him again and damn, I must say he’s looking spry for his age. Wow.

Anyway, so that’s basically all you need to know about RED, Retired Extremely Dangerous. Like I said before, this film does a pretty good job of delivering in most respects. I absolutely loved everyone on the cast first of all and they do a pretty good job of using them all to the best of their comedic abilities, especially Mr. Malkovich, who has never been funnier. Everyone gets a chance to shine here. I don’t even want to single any more people out, because really I loved everyone in this movie, even Karl Urban does a good job. That being said, you’re going to have to take RED in stride. A movie where grenades can be batted like baseballs and a single bullet can blow up an RPG, you have to suspend your disbelief a little, but unlike in films like Prince of Persia where the ridiculous moments made the film almost unbearable, RED was so much fun that I never much cared how loony it got. I still had a blast. Even those stupid 8th graders couldn’t ruin it for me! Oh, and if you guys are reading this, I’m watching you, always. Mu ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

So, anyways, to wrap things up, RED is a fun, wacky, exciting little theatre-worthy film that you should probably go see if you get the chance. Take your significant other, your father, your mother, your dog, your second cousin Dan, whoever, just grab someone you like and go see this movie. You’ll have a good time, I swear and if you don’t then clearly you have no soul.

I give RED a 4/5.

Next up we’ve got what is easily the most Canadian film since Strange Brew, Score: A Hockey Musical. If that title makes you instantly burst with laughter than you are not alone. I almost peed my pants when I first saw the trailer for this film in front of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World a few months ago. I’m not going to lie; reviewing a film like this isn’t going to be easy. After I watched it I described it to a friend as being completely stupid, yet somewhat sincere, like a special ed kid making art with uncooked macaroni noodles. I guess that’s the only way I can describe this movie. It’s stupid, it’s ridiculous and it will insult your intelligence and yet in some ways I couldn’t help enjoying myself. I mean, it’s a hockey musical for Pete’s sake! You’ve got to lighten up and enjoy yourself a little bit.

Basically the plot revolves around 17-year-old homeschooler Farley Gordon, played by Noah Reid, who loves to play Hockey with his friends at the local rink. He’s never played a professional game in his life when he’s spotted by the owner of the local OHL Team and drafted to play on his team. The coach is unsure at first until Farley takes to the ice and plays so well that within weeks he’s on the cover of cereal boxes and promoting underwear on billboards. The conflict comes when it’s discovered that Farley is a pacifist and refuses to fight other players in a sport notorious for its fighting. To make matters worse, Farley is starting to uncover feelings for his childhood friend who’s name I can’t remember and for some reason isn’t listed on IMDb, but anyways, he runs into a snag when the girl who shall remain nameless’s heart is attempted to be stolen by her cello instructor, Marco. Don’t worry though, in the end everything works out in an ending that I’m sure will piss off hockey fans for years to come. Like I said earlier, we also get some notable cameos from Olivia Newton-John as Farley’s Mom and Nelly Furtado as a random spectator who’s barely in the movie, as well as a welcome appearance from Walter Gretzky.

I guess the big issue that I’m avoiding her though isn’t even the plot, because honestly who cares? It’s the music, which honestly, was slightly disappointing. The problem is that there’s so many songs that only a few of them actually stick out. The other problem is that the film never quite decided whether to go totally for broke in the camp department or to be totally sincere. It sort of just sits on the fence and most of the music suffers from it. What I would have liked is a film with maybe 5-8 songs where every song just bleeds so much camp that you can’t help but have fun. There are maybe only one or two songs that actually accomplish this, which is a shame, because in a film filled with mediocre acting and a predictable story, the music was what really should have carried this film, but it just isn’t quite up to snuff.

That isn’t to say that I completely disliked Score: A Hockey Musical. This film is going to be a cult classic 20 years from now. Why? Because it’s ridiculous and off-the-wall and actually kind of fun, to the point where it actually is kind of memorable in its own way. I mean, whoever heard of a hockey musical? No one and I guess that makes this movie a little special no matter how good or bad it was.

Score isn’t a bad movie, but it just isn’t really accomplishing the level of camp that it needed to to really make an impact, which is too bad, because I almost feel sorry for this movie. In a lot of ways, I wanted it to be better. It just wasn’t, which is too bad.

I give Score: A Hockey Musical a 2/5.

Well, that’s it for this week’s reviews, coming to you a few days late, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. Keep it locked for more reviews, as well as the Double D Does the Movies Official Podcast, coming soon! Be afraid, be very afraid.

Eve! Her name was Eve, not like you cared, but still.

Well, here I am now. I have no new movies from the past week to speak of, because there was really nothing I wanted to see this past week, so I didn’t even bother to attend the cinema. I think I might be getting withdrawals. There was a 50th Anniversary Screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho that was playing at a theatre near my house on Wednesday, but it was a one-time only thing and the scheduling didn’t work out. I’ll add it to the ever-expanding list of things that I had to miss out on due to scheduling conflicts. Oh well, such is life, I guess.

One of the big developments that I’m super excited about however, and the main reason I’m writing this blog is because I got a microphone and mixer on Wednesday, so I can start podcasting again! Yay! This means that I will soon be rejoining my friends over at thisweekingeek.net for all sorts of shenanigans! Also, the really big news is that coming in 2011 I will be creating a Double D Does the Movies podcast. I’m giving myself until the new year to work all the kinks out and make sure I’m good to go, but you can look forward to hearing my sweet, sultry voice once again talking to you about movies with all sorts of guest hosts, or maybe a recurring host, or maybe a recurring host who is replaced every now and again by a guest host. See what I mean about working the kinks out? Either way, it’s coming and it will be awesome. I can guarantee that. Don’t worry though; I won’t be giving up on this blog. Besides, I haven’t even finished my Top 25 yet! You’ll still be able to stop by and read me whenever you want, but believe me; I’m going to be working hard to keep pushing forward. I’ll give you all word on any developments as they come.

In other news, I did manage to see a few movies this last month that I haven’t blogged about yet. As opposed to wasting your time with lengthy reviews for each one however, I’m going to give you a quick one-paragraph recap of my thoughts on each film, followed by a rating, so you can see my thoughts, knowing that I fully recognize the out-of-dateness of this blog post. Yes, I know that out-of-dateness isn’t a real word. Anyways, on to what I like to call recap-o-rama! What, too cheesy?

Movie #1: The Town
Wow! What a movie! Seriously, Mr. Affleck, if you do not get nominated for some kind of Oscar, I call shenanigans! That’s the word of the day, by the way, shenanigans. Anyways, this movie was pitch perfect, from Affleck’s surprisingly well crafted performance, to the brilliant script, to Affleck’s also surprisingly good directing. Even the supporting cast do a great job with the likes of Jeremy Renner and John Hamm pulling their weight here as well. All I can say is that this movie will affect you. In a year filled with mediocrity, brace yourself for a movie where you will be gripped by the characters in a story that unfolds expertly. The film-making here harkens back to the great crime classics of old where the crime itself was often superseded by those committing it and its effect on their lives. The Town was definitely this year’s surprise hit for me. There’s a few clichés and it gets predictable every now and again, but I don’t mind predictability, as long as I keep predicting something great. 4.5/5.

Movie #2: Let Me In
If anything this movie deserves an Oscar nomination for best original score. The music in Let Me In was moving, sad and powerful. The movie however, was pretty good. Is it as good as the Swedish original from a few years ago? Of course not. American remakes never are, but it still holds up pretty well. The one thing I like about Let Me In as opposed to Let The Right One In is how director/ writer Matt Reeves has tightened the script, focusing in more on the relationship between the young Owen and his vampire girlfriend, Abbey, whereas the original strays off into several subplots that have been either shortened here or removed entirely to make for a much tighter, more effective film. Reeves also draws more attention to things left a bit more subtle in the original. All in all, cutting the fat works quite well. Where the film falls short however is how it was “Americanized”. In the original, Eli was creepy because she never changed form. Even when she was drinking blood she still looked and talked the same. In this version they had to give her a CGI face and an exorcist voice. Why? Wasn’t it enough that a 12-year-old is drinking blood? I guess not. There are also quite a few scenes that push into the violent action much closer instead letting us observe from afar like innocent bystanders like in the original film. Maybe it’s unfair to compare this film to the original. Despite some bad choices here and there and some bad CGI every now and again, this movie is every bit as impactful as the original and both should be enjoyed as being what a vampire film should be. This is definitely no Twilight. 3.5/5

Movie #3: Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Did Wall Street really need a sequel? Actually, it kind of did. The ending of the original film leaves you completely up in the air and that slaps a big fat “THE END” in your face, what a crock! I’m kind of glad that Oliver Stone finally became this desperate for ideas. Besides, he can’t make an Obama movie until at least 2012. So, what did I think of this follow up to the 1987 cult classic? It was decent. The original was decent and so was this one. My only major quip is that it lacks too much of the intensity of the original. Mr. Stone has gone a bit lax in his old age. Instead of a film that grabs you by the balls and shouts in your face, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps casually pats you on the back while giving you a friendly lecture about sustainable energy and economic responsibility. Well, that’s all fine and dandy, Old Man Stone, but I was half expecting you to be at your yelling-at-the-kids-from-your-porch stage. It sure would have made the film a bit more entertaining. Instead, what we get is a bit too pedestrian and don’t get me started on the happy ending! Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps was entertaining, if a little too casual. 3/5.

Movie #4: Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole
Holy crap, that title! That f**king title! It takes like 23 seconds just to say this movie’s name. I’d joke about awkwardly taking forever to buy tickets from the box office, but I buy all my tickets from that little print-out machine. I’ve become like a NASCAR pit crew on that thing. I’m so efficient. Anyways, I have to get something out of the way here. I am not a Zack Snyder fan. Cue angry crowd. Seriously, what does everyone love so much about that guy? Dawn of the Dead was a mockery of the original. 300 was well, 300 and Watchmen lacked the humanity that made the original comic so great. Now we get to LotG: TOoG (Jeez, even the abbreviation looks ridiculous!), which in all honesty wasn’t that bad. I was pretty shocked when I found out Zack Snyder of all people was directing a kid’s movie. In all honesty, he does a pretty good job. First off, this movie had brilliant visuals and looked AMAZING in 3D right from beginning to end. My eyes were glued to the screen. It was also very entertaining. Now there are some warnings I should give here. There are some very intense things here and um, this movie (I’m not typing the title again) is not intended for very small children, but kids over 8 are going to be pretending to be owls in their backyards for months and then again for a few weeks when the DVD comes out. The plot can be a bit ludicrous and there are times it moves too quickly, but let’s face it, this is a kid’s movie. It’s not Lord of the Rings with owls. No, wait… 3.5/5.

Movie #5: The Social Network
Right now is the perfect time to make a movie about Facebook. I’m going to use Facebook to promote this review. On Facebook, people will likely comment on it and on Facebook I will interact with anyone who cares enough to read this review. Facebook has become a microcosm of real life. Let’s face it, in a way we let it run our lives. So, why not make a movie about this phenomenon and who better to direct it than Mr. David Fincher, one of my all time favourite directors? Also, we’ve got Jesse Eisenberg, who just happens to look strikingly similar to the real Mark Zuckerberg to play the lead, with upcoming Spider-Man star Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin and a surprisingly adept Justin Timberlake as Napster founder Sean Parker. The casting was perfect, the timing was perfect, the movie was almost perfect. The Social Network had a brilliant, witty and intelligent script that balanced all its elements of humor, drama and informative social commentary quite well. The performances are quite good as well and for a movie that I half expected to be a little drab, it never once felt boring or like it was dragging its feet. In fact, if anything The Social Network moves to quickly, never really stopping enough to relish any of the irony that it’s characters are experiencing as their plan to connect the world causes their lives to further and further disconnect. Maybe I had my hopes up a bit too high. You really shouldn’t judge a movie by its trailer, but let’s face it; The Social Network’s trailer kicked ass! Anyways, despite a few misgivings, this was still a thoroughly intelligent and well-wrought social commentary and can truly be called a film for our times. The question is, will it hold up over time? I sure hope so. 4/5.

Alright, now let’s talk about Die Hard! Yes! I love this movie! Seriously, even though I’m really tired writing this right now and I sort of just want to jerk off and go to bed, Die Hard is too cool to not talk about. Where do I even start?

How about we start with Mr. John McClane? He is the ultimate down-to-Earth nine-to-five hero. He’s the everyman and maybe that’s why people like him so much. It’s hard to relate to James Bond, it’s easy to relate to John McClane, a man with no shoes on, totally out of his element and feeling like a loser as he desperately tries to win his wife back. He’s the kind of hero that really isn’t a hero. He’s just a guy trying to do what’s right, because no one else will and ultimately he’s the wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Essentially, at its core, Die Hard isn’t an action movie, but that’s what I love about it. Action movies have heroes that work for the FBI and chase after international terrorists with expert combat skills. Die Hard has none of that. Essentially, it’s just a brilliant character piece about a man trying to get his wife back, but hitting a few snags along the way. It isn’t trying to impress you with explosions and guns, as much as it tries to impress you with good characters and a wonderful story. It just throws in all those guns and explosions for good measure. And let’s face it; this movie has some pretty awesome action set-pieces. There’s the elevator shaft scene, the scene where John’s under the table, the part where the roof explodes; Die Hard is one of those few action-packed films where the action is just as well executed as everything else: the acting, directing, editing, music, etc. It all comes together perfectly. Let’s face it, films as fun and as perfect as this are rare.

The first of the so-called “snags” that Mr. McClane hits comes in the form of German terrorist Hans Gruber, played amazingly by Alan Rickman. Then later things get even more complicated when the FBI shows up. Fortunately John’s gonna get a little help from his friends Sgt. Al Powell, played by Carl Winslow and Argyle, the limo driver. I have no idea who plays him. The supporting cast and the brilliant realization of so many rich and wonderful characters, beyond just McClane himself is another one of the reasons why Die Hard is so impressive every time I watch it. I always end up clinging to the guys who have 6 minutes of screen time just as much as the guys who have 60 minutes. Every little detail in this movie is just realized so perfectly, it blows me away every time. Not to mention, it’s only the best Christmas movie ever! Or maybe a close second after A Christmas Story. I really like that one too.

So, it’s got guns. It’s got explosions. It’s got fights and danger and fun to be had at every turn, but it’s also got heart and in the end that’s why Die Hard is #23 on my Top 25.

Stay tuned next time for more Top 25 picks and more reviews, because you know you wanna!

And yes I know that Al was played by Reginald VelJohnson, not Carl Winslow. Jeez, I was making a joke! Get off my back, will ya?

First off, we’ve got Easy A. This is the newest film from relatively new director Will Gluck, who brought us the surprisingly decent Fired Up! last year. I’m starting to like this guy. He’s trying entirely too hard to take John Hughes’ mantle as the teen director for our generation, but he’s doing a decent job, so hey why not?

I have to admit that I’m a bit of a sucker for light-hearted teen comedies like this and Charlie Bartlett for example. They erase the horrible memories of what high school was really like and replace them with a slightly brighter, wittier false-reality that makes that four year hell seem a little bit OK. Even going to see this movie on my own, because three different people flaked out on me, I still had a pretty good time, and it cheered me up a bit. Don’t worry, I go see movies alone all the time. If you think that’s sad and pathetic, you might be right.

Anyways, enough of me, let’s talk more about the movie. Easy A doesn’t try to hide the fact that it’s a John Hughes tribute. In fact one of my issues with the film is that it reminds you too much that it is. At one point, Emma Stone’s character Olive tells her webcam that she wishes her life was more like an 80’s movie to a montage of clips from classic Brat Pack films like Say Anything and The Breakfast Club. At this point all subtlety in the references was gone. This can be a bit of an issue and really it is the biggest issue of Easy A. It was trying too hard to be that kind of a throwback, when really it should just be what it is.

Otherwise, Easy A does for the most part deliver what I expected it to. It was witty, funny and made me think at all the right times. Best of all though, it’s not afraid to get serious when it needs to. Easy A was a revelation in that it was a surprisingly intelligent teen comedy. You don’t get enough of those nowadays, so I guess the 80’s throwback wasn’t all bad. Sure, this movie wasn’t perfect. It’s a little shallow and ignorant at times and the way it ends is a little too anti-climactic for my tastes, but despite its flaws, Easy A still manages to entertain an audience without dumbing itself down or talking down to the droves of teens lining up to see it.

Basically Easy A follows the exploits of teen outcast Olive, played by Emma Stone, after she lies to her friend Rhiannon, played by Alyson Michalka, about sleeping with an older guy. Soon the rumour is spread by evil Christian (because Christians are always either crazy or evil) Marianne, played by my boyhood crush Amanda Bynes (OK, maybe I still have a crush on her) After calling another girl a bad name in class (It starts with a T), Olive is sentenced to detention with lonely, homosexual Brandon, played by Dan Byrd from Cougar Town, who convinces her to pretend to have sex with him at a party so the other boys won’t realize that he’s gay. Things escalate from there when every lonely outcast in the school starts paying Olive to have pretend sex with them, leading her to simultaneously become the talk of the whole school and become even more outcast at the same time. The themes of an escalating lie and the cost of helping others when deceit is involved and the parallels to The Scarlett Letter, which the movie is basically a modern version of, come off strong and so should they as this is the central struggle of Easy A; trying to do the right thing even if it means hurting people. It’s a surprising amount of depth for a teen comedy like this, but that’s definitely a good thing. Anyways, things definitely escalate for poor Olive as her little white lie turns into a big, big problem for a lot of people, especially when Olive wants to win over the love of her life, Woodchuck Todd, played by Penn Badgley, who is basically every dreamy teen guy from every teen romance movie, but maybe a tiny bit less cliché since he dresses up in a woodchuck costume and acts as the school mascot. Oh, and I also forgot to mention some great performances from the grown-ups as well, from Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson who play Olive’s hilarious liberal parents and Thomas Haden Church and Lisa Kudrow who play two of Olive’s teachers, who also happen to be married and are experiencing a bit of a crisis brought on by the turn of events in the film. Don’t tell my friend Mike Dodd though. He hates Lisa Kudrow.

Anyways, my final verdict is that if you want a good, light, PG-13, teen comedy, with just as many lessons as laughs, then goes see Easy A. In fact, just go see this movie period. It’s pretty good. It’ll probably lighten your day, even if you are the only person in the theatre watching it alone.

I give Easy A a 3.5/5. I’m going to go cry now.

Now onto part 2, my top 25 review for #24 on my list, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Now, you may think that because I put The Two Towers so low on the list that I don’t like it very much. This is not true. In fact, I love The Two Towers. I just happen to love the other two Lord of the Rings movies a little bit more. However, like I said before, I love them all enough to reserve three spots for them on this list. No other trilogies get that privilege, even Star Wars (mostly because I don’t like Return of the Jedi that much), so that’s pretty damn good. As a result I’m going to spend a lot of time talking about The Lord of Rings, so I apologize for that in advance.

I read about half of the Lord of the Rings before I got bored and stopped (audiobooks count as reading right?) I swear I’ll come back to it someday, but I gotta admit, I liked the movies better. Peter Jackson did an amazing job of taking Tolkien’s classic work of fantasy fiction and turning it into one of the greatest film epics the world has ever known. Jackson and his fellow screenwriters, wife Fran Walsh and friend Philippa Boyens did a bang-up job of taking Tolkien’s slightly convoluted story and tightening it up, throwing out anything unnecessary and adding lots more action to keep things exciting, resulting in a film series that succeeds on so many levels. Special effects, sound, acting, scripting, directing and overall style all get an easy A here. (See how I just tied the two reviews together like that? Pretty smooth, huh?) Watch the bonus features on the Extended Edition DVD’s sometime and you’ll see how much everyone really pulled their weight here. Even minor details like the background props and costumes are treated with so much detail that really pops through on screen. This is what filmmaking is all about. The Lord of the Rings was really responsible for rejuvenation in filmmaking in the early 2000’s. At a time when the over-indulgent cheesiness of the 90’s had really taken its toll on the film industry, a trilogy of films came around that reminded us that not only was it OK to sit there for three hours and take in something that was both entertaining and moving; it also made it OK for the general public to find elves cool. Especially if the elves were being played by guys that looked like Tommy Hilfiger models.

Now, let’s talk a little more specifically about this particular film. The Two Towers was the second part in Peter Jackson’s epic trilogy and was surprisingly probably the worst received and won the least amount of Oscars in the series. That doesn’t mean it’s bad. The Two Towers definitely had its merits, the main two being the introduction of the character of Gollum, the slouching, spitting disgusting, former hobbit, who quickly became an international phenomenon as “My precious!” became one of the most quoted film lines of the last 20 years. The other thing it did that put this movie on the map was the epic battle of Helm’s Deep, arguably the best orchestrated and most entertaining battle of the whole series, where Saruman’s gigantic army descends upon the meagre troops of the downtrodden Rohan. The Two Towers also had the task of introducing us to a slew of new characters including the feisty Eowyn and her brother Eomer as well as King Theoden their father and the nasty Grima Wormtongue, all players in the newly introduced kingdom of Rohan which soon becomes a major player in the film series as Aragorn attempts to defend it from the forces of Isengard. We’re also introduced to Faramir, the fallen Boromir’s brother. That’s a lot of new ground to cover, but Jackson picks up right from the last film perfectly and keeps things going with just the right amount of momentum, though never so much that he loses focus on the brilliant characters. In fact, it’s almost best to watch all three movies at once since that’s the way they were meant to be seen really. Oh, and watch the Extended Editions. They’re better. You get a lot more Gollum and that’s always a good thing. The fact that a few great scenes like the kill tally between Legolas and Gimli at the end of the Helm’s Deep battle and the “no hard feelings” exchange between Sam and Gollum were cut from the film is really too bad.

What more can I say? Tolkien wrote a brilliant book and Jackson made it into three brilliant movies with great performances and craftsmanship from everyone involved. Also, I have to say that the haunting Gollum’s Song by Emiliana Torrini is definitely my favourite end credits song in the series, so it gets bonus points for that. So, even though The Two Towers may have lacked some of the appeal of the other two films being sandwiched a little awkwardly in the middle the way it is and having to carry the weight of introducing several new characters in the second act, it’s still a brilliant film and definitely worthy of a spot on my Top 25. The Lord of the Rings movies will be remembered for years to come as some of the best to emerge from our generation. You did well, Mr. Jackson. You did well.

Stay tuned next time for more reviews and movie-related goodness from the guy you trust, Double D. Catch ya later, guys!

First, let’s talk about Machete. This film is basically the last big, crazy summer movie of the season, so I figured I’d give it a chance and let the summer season end with a bang and what a bang it is! Back in 2007 I watched the extended versions of the Grindhouse Double Feature on DVD with Mike and Pierce and for some reason the only fake trailer that made the transition to DVD was the one that Robert Rodriguez had directed called Machete. It featured Danny Trejo as a silent Mexican killer out for revenge and it was definitely good for a quick laugh, but I never figured that Rodriguez would manage to take the somewhat shallow premise and turn it into a feature-length explosion of breasts and blood, but if I know anything about Robert Rodriguez, it’s that he’s excellent at taking paper-thin premises and expanding them into very entertaining films, and for the most part this is no exception.

Machete is no less than one big explosion of craziness. You won’t go more than three scenes before Machete starts making out with some random girl or someone’s getting a limb chopped off by some kind of sharp blade. It’s also hilarious, which is a good thing. This is the kind of movie that invites you to laugh at it and spends most of its time laughing with you. Rodriguez must have known right from the moment he decided to turn his two and a half minute trailer into a full-length film that it was going to be silly, because it had to be silly. If a film like this took itself seriously, then we’d have another Batman & Robin on our hands and nobody needs that. In short, if you want to have some fun at the movies sometime in the next month or so, see Machete. It’s pretty awesome.

One of my few complaints about this movie is that the plot is actually a little bit too thick (believe it or not) and there are way too many characters for its own good. Basically you’ve got Danny Trejo who plays the soft-spoken, but totally bad-ass Machete (obviously), as the four villains (yes, there’s four of them) you’ve got an old, fat Steven Seagal with a bad Mexican accent as the crime-lord Torrez, Jeff Fahey as the conniving rich king-pin Booth, Don Johnson plays the merciless lt. Stillman and finally Robert De Niro is Senator McLaughlin, a racist Mexican-hater who Machete is hired by Booth to kill, oh and I almost forget Tom Savini as a hired assassin sent by Booth to kill Machete. Then you’ve got Lindsay Lohan (of all people) as Booth’s daughter April (too bad she waited until now to show her breasts on film), who decides to don a nun’s outfit on a quest of revenge midway through the picture. On the good guy team we’ve got Cheech Marin as Machete’s brother who’s working as a priest, but still has a few tricks up his sleeve, Jessica Alba as immigration officer Sartana, Michelle Rodriguez as the underground Mexican hero known simply as She and finally Daryl Sabara (who you may remember as Juni from Rodriguez’s Spy Kids films) as the young rebel Julio. If this sounds like a cast too large for what should have been a very simple film, it is. But I’ll excuse this film for getting a bit overblown, mostly because of how entertaining it is.
What else can I say about Machete? I usually split up the paragraphs and use one for complaints, one for talking about the characters, another for the plot, etc., but I sort of did all that at once. Let’s just say that if you saw the fake Machete trailer from Grindhouse and loved it, then go see this. It won’t disappoint you. Even if you didn’t see the fake trailer, even if you’re not a Robert Rodriguez fan, if you like good, old fashioned over-the-top fun, then you’ll probably like this movie. Again, go see it. As long as you’re not uptight, you’ll have a blast. There’s a part where he uses someone’s intestines as a rope swing for Pete’s sake! How can you even top that?

So, despite being over-blown and ridiculous with enough implausibly stupid moments to fill a truck, Machete was too much fun to pass up. I’m gonna have to give it a 3.5/5.

Up next we’ve got The American, starring George Clooney. This was a film I was looking forward to based entirely on the awesome poster it had and the fact that it had George Clooney in it. I usually love most of his films and I find he generally picks very intelligent films to star in and hasn’t really made a stinker since Batman & Robin. I regret to inform you that after the first five minutes of this dull, languid mess, my disappointment continued to grow and grow.

Now, let’s get one thing clear. The American isn’t all bad. It has some of the best cinematography I’ve seen in a long time. The beauty of the Italian countryside is captured in a way it rarely has been before, but if I want to watch nice scenery I’d watch a travelogue show from my satellite provider. Another pro would be the acting and direction. Director Anton Corbijn (I’m so glad this is a written review, because I have no freakin’ clue how to pronounce this guy’s last name) does a decent job of making the jump from music videos to films the same way David Fincher and Michel Gondry did. He commands some good performances out of his actors, especially Clooney, who clearly does his best to turn a cardboard cut-out character into someone that we can actually feel sorry for. He also makes good use of his camera and his editor. Looking solely at the technical aspects of this film, it is a marvel indeed and deserves all the praise it may receive.

Where The American falls apart however is in the story department. Remember how I said that Machete had too much plot for its own good? Well, The American is the opposite of that. The plot of this movie is really really really really really really shallow (I don’t think I used enough really’s). Let’s do that thing where I explain the entire film in one sentence, shall we? Here we go: George Clooney (who never gives hi s real name in the film) is on the run from some hit-men, so he flees to Italy where he is hired for one last job to build a high-powered automatic rifle while he begins a relationship with a prostitute. That’s it. Actually, I think I did a bad job of conveying how plotless this film is, because that last sentence actually made the film sound interesting. It isn’t. I could almost feel the nervous tension of everyone in the theatre desperately trying to hold themselves from walking away about an hour into the film. Sure, the first 10 minutes of this film are amazing. It really starts off with a bang and it looks like it’s gonna keep its momentum. It doesn’t. We never find out why the main character is being hunted and we spend most of the movie watching him talk to a priest and build a gun. That’s it. That’s his super top secret mission; to build a gun. Worst of all, we never even find out why he’s building the gun. The ending of the film is anti-climactic as well and will leave the audience with little more than a bad taste in their mouths. Go see Machete to get rid of it.

The main focus of the film is Clooney’s relationship with a prostitute named Clara, played by Italian actress Violante Placido. The two turn in some great performances and they do an OK job of fleshing out the relationship between two people that are paid for rendering services that may not be 100% moral. This film is basically a character study of these two individuals, so if you’re expecting anything more, you’re going to be very disappointed. The problem however, is that for a film that relies mostly on being a character study, the characters aren’t actually that interesting. Clooney plays a silent, collected man who spends most of the film not saying anything, unless he has something worth saying. That’s all fine, but what the writer’s didn’t seem to understand is that if you’re going to have a strong silent type as your lead you need to do one of two things, either a) have the character break down and reveal their motivations at some point or b) have other, more talkative characters to balance out the main character’s quiet nature. Tuco in The Good, The Bad and the Ugly and Ninja Ninja in Afro Samurai come to mind. However, neither of those things happen in this movie and we’re left waiting for something interesting to occur that never occurs.

So, to everyone considering seeing this movie, just know what you’re getting into. Don’t make the same mistake as me. Don’t believe the cool poster! The poster for this movie should have been George Clooney sitting at a table reading a book entitled “How to Make Cool Guns”. Actually no, even that would have gotten my hopes up. This movie is going to divide a lot of people, I think. Those going in with the right intentions of wanting to see an example of gorgeous film-making will not be disappointed. Everyone else will.

For pure technical merit I’m going to give The American 2.5/5. It’s a passing grade, but that’s all it deserves.

So, that about wraps it up, folks. Stay tuned for more reviews and more movies from my top 25. I’ll try not to neglect this blog as much as I just did, I swear. 0;) Anyways, I’ve been Double D. Keep it locked for more movie madness from the source you love and remember, don’t f**k with Machete!

OK, so let’s start with Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. I was unbelievably pumped for this film. Why wouldn’t I be? I live in Canada. I’ve been to Toronto a million times though I’ve never lived there and I read all the graphic novels prior to seeing the movie. I also played the video game, listened to the album and watched the teaser, the trailer, the international trailer, all the TV Spots, the interactive trailer and even got excited when a poster was revealed. Scott Pilgrim was something for guys like me, awkward gamers who also liked independent music and action movies. The audience for this film was me and I was psyched for it beyond belief. Then the axe fell and this movie became one of the biggest box office bombs of the summer. I quickly discovered that the audience I was a part of must be a small one, because the same thing happened to Kick-Ass, another movie targeted at my generation. It makes me wonder if anyone’s going to keep making movies for 20-somethings anymore if we stop supporting them. It’s a shame and I’m surprised this film bombed, mostly because it didn’t deserve to, because it’s a fantastic film.

Now saying that this film is fantastic doesn’t mean it’s not without problems. It’s a movie that attempts to condense six books of info into one film. That would be like if they tried to make three Harry Potter films instead of eight. A lot gets lost in translation and fans may be upset to find that their favourite moments have been taken out or altered to cut down on what would have been a three-hour long movie if everything was included. The character that suffers the most from this transition unfortunately is the main love-interest and femme-fatale Ramona Flowers, played by the gorgeous Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who you may remember as John McLane’s Daughter Lucy in Live Free or Die Hard. Ramona gets pushed aside to being mysteriously side-lined for most of the movie, which is unfortunate. Another unfortunate issue is that condensing all 7 evil ex fights into a single movie means the film feels like it’s moving very quickly from fight to fight at times with little room to breathe in between. Edgar Wright does as good a job as he can of condensing Brian Lee O’Malley’s masterwork into a single film though, balancing subplots around the main plot without making it ever feel to clunky, but by the time you get to the last few fights you might be asking yourself when all this fighting is going to end.

These are all just little quips for a movie that never failed to entertain me however and despite a plot that seems a bit rushed at times the film never feels like it’s just going through the motions. Wright definitely cared about the source material just as much as any fan and puts his own unique spin on things that is never boring or unfunny. This film is a witty, intelligent and entertaining roller coaster ride of pop-culture references and epic battle-scenes. It’s everything a summer blockbuster should be with everything from a CGI monster fight to a Seinfeld scene complete with laugh-track. Wright pulls out all the stops on this one and his lack of restraint works out perfectly as the video-game-esque world of Mr. Pilgrim translates just as intelligibly to film as it once did to comics.

Now let’s talk about the big pink elephant in the room, Michael Cera. Everyone seems to hate this guy, finding his awkward sad-sack persona tiresome, but I have to say I can’t really imagine anyone else playing Scott. Cera delivers the performance with just enough wit and pathos to make you really like this guy despite how much of an idiot he often is. Actually, if anything Cera made Pilgrim too likable. It’s almost hard to get mad at this guy when he’s being such a jerk sometimes. He really does pull it off though and I’m glad he was cast, even if a lot of people I know can’t stand the guy for whatever reason. I do find Cera gets type-casted sometimes, but he’s a more capable actor than most people give him credit for. The rest of the cast pulls their weight here as well, especially Allison Pill, who plays the sarcastic dry-witted drummer in Scott’s band Kim Pine and Kieran Culkan as Wallace Wells, Scott’s gay roommate. I seriously cannot imagine anyone else playing these roles so perfectly. Kieran delivers all of his lines so dead-on I was shocked I haven’t seen this guy in more stuff. Wright did a great job of getting the right people for the job. Even people I had my doubts about do a great job here. I hope I see Johnny Simmons and Mark Webber in more stuff after this too. I had never heard of either of these guys before this film. They play Young Neil and Stephen Stills respectively and do so to near perfection.

Anyways, for the unfortunate few who haven’t read the graphic novels and don’t know much about the films plot, (you really should go out and read them since they’re awesome) Scott Pilgrim is a pretty simple concept really. Basically Scott Pilgrim is a 22 year old unemployed loser who finds the girl of his dreams in the form of the mysterious Ramona Flowers and now must defeat her seven evil exes Mortal Kombat style in order to win her heart. It’s probably the most interesting metaphor anyone could ever use for a young couple trying to deal with each other’s baggage. On top of that Scott has to deal with trying to break it off with his current girlfriend, Chinese high-schooler Knives Chau and compete with his band Sex Bob-omb in a Toronto Battle of the Bands that lands the band a spot opening for a famous group called The Clash at Demonhead that happen to include Scott’s ex-sweetheart as well as the third of Ramona Flower’s seven evil exes.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is a film with a different surprise around every corner and just when you thought Edgar Wright has run out of interesting situations and sight gags in his bag of tricks he surprises you with another fantastic joke or fight scene or both. A lot of the humour is unexpected, in-your-face and of course hilarious. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is not to be missed. Even if you’re not an Edgar Wright fan or a Michael Cera fan, I challenge you to give this film a whirl. I think you might be pleasantly surprised by how much fun you’ll have.

I give Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World a 4/5

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Next up we’ve got The Expendables. I was psyched about this movie for entirely different reasons than I was for Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. The main reason being that I love classic 80’s and 90’s action movies just as much as the next guy and when I found out that Sylvester Stallone was compiling a dream team of action veterans like Dolph Lundgren, Bruce Willis, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke and even Arnold Schwarzenegger to get together and make a fast-paced 80’s style action movie about a group of mercenaries I was like, “Yes! Finally my dreams are becoming real!” Of course I still don’t have a hot Asian girlfriend, so not all of my dreams have come true, but I’ll take what I can get.

The Expendables more or less delivers on its promises. It’s violent, gory, action-packed and a lot of fun if you like movies that are violent, gory and action packed. It however is also not without its fair share of problems. The foremost of these issues is the films cliché-ridden plot. Basically here’s the plot: There’s a bunch of good guys, except one who betrays them (bet you can’t guess within the first ten minutes) and they all get hired by the FBI to stop a former FBI agent who’s financing a dictator on a small island in the gulf of Mexico. There you go. Now you know all you’re going to need to know about The Expendables.

What you don’t need to know is that this film is a heck of a lot of fun, despite lots of clichés and completely ludicrous moments, the fun kills make it all worth-while. I was a little disappointed by the lack of participation by some of the film’s stars, besides Statham, Li and of course Stallone and the ending is a little tacky, but I had so much fun that I didn’t really care all that much.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I might be getting the flu or something because I feel disgusting, but that about wraps it up for that review anyways. It’s a short review, but what else is there to say? Fun movie, lots of death, go see it.

I give The Expendables a 3.5/5

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go throw up now. I’ve been David “Double D” Denis. Stay tuned next time for more awesome reviews from the source you (hopefully) trust!

P.S.: It’s now the next day after writing this review. I feel much better and although I came close to throwing up, I managed to hold back just enough to keep my 16 month non-barf spree going. I was going to go back and rewrite this review, but honestly almost throwing up towards the end is what gives it all its personality, so screw it. I really don’t have much more to say about The Expendables anyways. To be honest, you can probably tell if you’re going to like it or not from the trailer. Anyways, catch you guys later when I’m hopefully not feeling like balls. Ciao!

Anyways, so let’s start off with the review for The Other Guys. I saw this movie on Monday with my friend Will in Welland, Ontario expecting a decent comedy and I was pleasantly surprised by what I got. I’m not a huge Will Ferrell fan. I find his naive, mildly stupid persona isn’t as charming as it’s supposed to be, but it worked perfectly for this film. In fact, just about everything worked perfectly in this film. It took me about 15 minutes to get used to the films overall tone, but once I did I began to understood the irreverence that director Adam McKay was going for. The film is over-the-top and crazy, but it knows it and it’s also hilarious. This is probably McKay’s best work to date, ranking right up there with Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

“What made this film so hilarious?” You might ask. The answer is simple. It’s the writing. This is easily one of the best written comedies I’ve encountered in years. With everything from Will Ferrell’s perfectly told and perfectly ridiculous back-story to a scene where Will Ferrell and Eva Mendez use an old lady to convey sexual messages to each other, I was practically rolling on the floor the whole time. This movie was a virtual tirade of humour from beginning to end and I couldn’t help but adore it. You might say I have a demented sense of humour, but I say I don’t care when this film caters to my demented needs so perfectly. Pay attention to Will Ferrell’s perfectly timed lion vs. tuna speech, because annoying College kids are gonna be quoting it for years.

Alright, let’s talk about the cast. Ferrell plays Officer Allen Gamble and Mark Wahlberg is his partner, Officer Terry Hoitz. We’ve also got appearances from Michael Keaton as Captain Gene Mauch, Eva Mendes as Allen’s wife Sheila, Steve Coogan as business mogul David Ershon and of course Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne “Formerly Known as The Rock” Johnson as Highsmith and Danson, the guys Allen and Terry have to replace. I was wary about the casting of this film at first, especially since I’m not a huge Ferrell or Wahlberg fan, but damn, everybody pulls it off perfectly. Ferrell’s naivety is perfectly suited to Gamble’s pencil-pusher persona and Wahlberg manages to channel every ounce of his energy into hating Ferrell’s character so much that you actually feel sorry for him. My only complaint about this movie would have to be that Wahlberg plays the jerk persona a little too well at first and you end up hating him for the first 20 minutes or so. I didn’t really start liking him until I found out he could dance ballet. Let’s not forget all the other minor roles here, especially Jackson and The Rock (I don’t care if he goes by Dwayne now, I’m still gonna call him that!) as the super-cop team, that for the short time they’re on screen are absolutely perfect at being the cops that everyone’s jealous of. In fact one of the films funniest lines comes from Jackson who tells Will Ferrell that if he wants him to talk, he’ll shove his fist up his ass and use him as a puppet.
Next up, I shall discuss the plot. It’s pretty simple really. In fact, I’m going to try and explain the entire plot in a single sentence. Let’s see how this works out. So, Samuel L. Jackson and The Rock (f**k this Dwayne s**t!) are super-awesome cops, but Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg suck, especially because Mark Wahlberg’s character accidentally shot Derek Jeter before the world series, but when Jackson and The Rock drop down (literally) it’s up to Ferrell and Wahlberg to step up as they take on a wealthy businessman played by Steve Coogan, who they believe is embezzling billions of tax payer dollars. OK, that was just a really long run-on sentence, so maybe I won’t do that anymore, but I figured it was worth a shot.

So, this review’s pretty short, but to be honest, I don’t have much to say about this movie other than it’s a hell of a lot of fun and that you should go see it, because it is one comedy joyride you will not want to miss. Seriously though, it’s really funny. What else can I say?

I wasn’t kidding about this being short, but hey, at least there’s a bonus Top 25 review coming up! I give The Other Guys a 4/5.

Now to talk briefly about the first movie on my top 25. I was going to make it a top 22 to celebrate my 22nd Birthday, but that would mean that I would have to remove three movies, so screw that! Besides, I promised ages ago that I would do a top 25, so top 25 it is and here’s the first entry, The Sandlot. This is the one that barely made the list, because it’s not nearly as good as the others, but did make the list based purely on how much I love it. Plus this film is in the list for the main purpose of representing my childhood. It’s a daunting task, but some movie had to do it. So I picked The Sandlot, because what movie better represents just about everyone’s childhoods than this modern classic from 1993. Even though the film is set in 1962 and I wouldn’t have been born for another 26 years I can still relate to the characters and their problems and situations and it’s that universal ability to relate that makes The Sandlot such a classic among those who have seen it.

For the unfortunate few who haven’t seen The Sandlot, it’s basically the story of a young boy who decides to join a local team of baseball players under the guidance of his mother, who thinks he’s not getting out enough. The boy, nicknamed Smalls, is a bit of a point-dexter though, so it takes him a while to pick up on the game, but soon the other boys adopt him as their own. They’re not part of a league. They don’t play any other teams. They just play with each other all day for the whole summer to have fun. Most of the film is very episodic, with the kids going from one situation to the next. The three that always seem to stick out to me are the one where Squints tricks the beautiful Wendy Peffercorn into giving him a kiss by drowning in the deep end at the local pool and then eliciting CPR from the unsuspecting life-guard, the one where the boys take chewing tobacco and end up throwing up on a carnival ride, mostly because I couldn’t sit through it as a kid, (though it seemed a lot tamer when I watched it again as an adult) and of course the climax where Smalls accidentally hits a signed Babe Ruth baseball over the fence at the end of the Sandlot, which happens to be guarded by a bull-mastiff who the boys have nick-named the Beast and all the different ways that the kids try and get the ball back without crossing the fence or getting killed.

It’s a distinctly memorable movie for anyone who’s seen it and if you haven’t, do yourself a favour and watch this and if you have kids, watch it with them. They’ll thank you for it later. This is the perfect movie to watch during this time of year. It’s about summer. It’s about first kisses. It’s about first failures, first triumphs and those little moments in life that we hold onto because they mean something to us. The Sandlot is more than just a movie to me. It’s a keepsake of precious memories that aren’t actually mine, but ultimately that’s what a good movie should be; a collection of interesting memories that don’t belong to you. We feed our brain with these memories and ultimately childhood memories, whether good or bad are the most precious of all, because they mean the most to who we eventually become. It is with this in mind that I will make the claim that watching The Sandlot at an early age will actually make you a better person later on in life. Yes, I am serious. And even though this movie wasn’t good enough to get any higher on the list I still love it to death and it will always be one of my favourites.

And if you’re reading this post from there, check out This Week in Geek, where these blogs migrated from, right here: http://thisweekingeek.net/

OK, so I figured because you guys have been so patient waiting for me to find enough time in my busy schedule to write this and since it’s my first time at my new home, I’m gonna be doing this as a double review. It’s also easier for me, because it saves me some time when I write a review for the last two movies I just saw instead of doing them separately. I can kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. So, without further adieu, let’s start with Despicable Me, since I promised it last week.

I saw this movie with a friend on a whim. I probably would have seen it eventually anyways, but we decided to go together and see a movie we both could agree on (my friend is a girl), so we decided on this film. Despicable Me is the main contender this year from Universal Studios in the fight against Pixar and DreamWorks, who are about to release their third animated film this year in a matter of months. That movie is Megamind and it will be the Antz to Despicable Me’s A Bug’s Life. The two films both feature a super-villain as the main character and even seem to have a similar sense of humour, but I won’t really be able to compare them until later. It’s always impossible to tell who’s copying who in these scenarios or if any copying was really happening at all.

Anyways, whether or not Despicable Me was the copier or the copyee is not the issue here. The issue is, was this movie good? The answer is sort of. It was OK. I wouldn’t call it great, though I’m sure a lot of people would, but I wouldn’t call it bad either. Really my opinion of this film matters little, because it’s going to make assloads of money no matter what I say, but let’s still examine the film at least a little.

First let’s talk about the actors. Let’s face it. This movie was cast specifically to make more money. Think about it for a second. When you make a kid’s movie, what is your built in audience? The answer is two different age groups; small children 3-12 and the parents that have them. They’re usually 28-45ish. So, what does that leave? People my age. How do you get these people to go see a kid’s movie? Well, there are two ways. You can have a wicked kick-ass story worthy of being told to anyone who’s a kid at heart (See my review for Toy Story 3) and there’s getting actors that should be appearing on SNL/ a Judd Apatow movie and throw them into the cast. This film unfortunately chose the latter. Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Kristen Wiig and Will Arnett all appear and with the exception of Carell (who did a superb job in my opinion) all these characters could have been played by just about anyone who could pull off their respective character voices. So, why choose these actors? Because it draws that crowd that lies in between the kids and their parents. 13-27 year olds are more likely to go see a movie with Steve Carell and Jason Segel than to go see a movie starring Ben Burtt where the characters barely talk. You know, unless that movie with Ben Burtt happens to be one of the best animated movies of all time, in which case, famous actors won’t make much of a difference. In short, it’s a lame way to compensate for a mediocre plot and I’m sad to say that Despicable Me reeks of mediocrity from its predictable plot to its jokes that seem to span the full spectrum of humour in an attempt to make everybody in the audience laugh at least once.

Speaking of humour, let’s talk about that next. What happens when you try to make everyone laugh at least once? Well, usually it works, but the fact is most people like to laugh more than once in a comedic movie. That may happen with some people, especially younger kids, but quite a few of the jokes in Despicable Me miss the mark a bit too much and leave everyone that isn’t a small child struggling to laugh at a lot of the jokes, which are really reaching sometimes. A few moments, such as a pointless dance number and a karaoke scene, both featuring Gru’s minions, are really just there for younger audiences. They left guys like me rolling our eyes and the lapses in logic in the film did take me out of the experience quite a bit. Yes, I know it’s a kid’s movie, but a good kids movie will make you believe it. Despicable Me doesn’t do that as much as I’d hoped and I never really felt drawn-in the way I should have been.

Now let’s talk about Despicable Me’s plot, probably its strongest suit. If it were treated properly this movie would have gone from mediocrity to masterpiece, but that’s the way it goes I guess. Basically Gru (played by Steve Carell) is a super-villain that hasn’t really succeeded at all of his endeavours and is threatened by obscurity as a new super villain named Vector (played by Jason Segel) steals not only the Great Pyramid, but Gru’s thunder as well. Now Gru has to prepare for the biggest job he’s ever done. He’s going to shrink down and steal the moon, but in order to do it, he has to exploit Vector’s only weakness, his penchant for cookies, by adopting three adorable orphans and forcing them to sell secret, robotic cookies to Vector in order to get back a shrink gun that Vector stole from Gru and proceed with their mission to steal the moon. However, along the way Gru discovers that he’s not so evil after all as the three little girls make him discover his inner Daddy. You can guess the rest.

It’s a harmless enough plot and it’s a harmless enough movie. One thing I’ll give Despicable Me is its not trying to be what it’s not. It’s a cheesy, semi-fun kid’s movie. It never really tries to be anything else, but that’s still not an excuse for mediocrity. It’s merely saying that something very average could have been very bad if it took too many risks. Instead they didn’t take enough risks and it shows. Despicable Me is definitely the kind of movie you rent on a Saturday night and watch with your family. You’ll have a decent enough time, but it’s not gonna stay with you months after you see it, like a good movie should. That’s too bad, because this movie could have been really great. That’s not to say it was bad. You’ll probably enjoy it to a degree, but all the enjoyment is on the surface. Try to peel back the layers and unfortunately, you may find this movie a bit lacking.

I’m gonna give Despicable Me a 2.5/5.

Alright before you send me all your hate mail (since everyone seemed to like that movie for some reason), let’s move on to a movie that I actually did like, a lot! That movie is this summer’s masterpiece from acclaimed director Christopher Nolan. I’m talking about Inception. This was definitely one of my most anticipated movies of the year. Let’s see if it holds up to the hype.

The answer is yes. Seriously can Christopher Nolan ever do anything wrong? This guy’s been doin’ pretty good, if I do say so myself. Now, let me preface this review by saying that I do not worship Christopher Nolan. I don’t think he’s perfect, like a lot of people seem to. I do however, think he is one of the best directors working today and he certainly does a great job at taking a great story and turning it into a great film and here the story comes from Nolan himself, and who better to direct your idea than you. Nolan seems to be making it a habit of making a Batman movie and then making a non-Batman movie (even though they always star Michael Caine) before returning to the next Batman movie. The Prestige was Nolan’s last non-Batman outing, but Inception reminded a bit more of an earlier Nolan movie; Memento, in terms of its psychological themes of balancing the real and unreal and its complex layered narrative where it may take two or three viewings to take everything in.

“What’s Inception about?” you might be asking. Likely though, you’ve already seen it or seen enough trailers/ read enough online plot synopses to know what it’s about already, but in case you haven’t, I’ll tell you. Leonardo Dicaprio plays Cobb, a man who has mastered the art of dream sharing, a process whereby people can enter into a universal dream where information can easily be stolen. Along with his partner Arthur (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) Cobb uses his abilities to enter into other people’s dreams and steal their secrets for the highest bidder. While working a job for a wealthy businessman named Saito (Played by Ken Watanabe) Cobb is hired to do the most challenging job he’s ever pulled off. He has to do something called inception, which is a process where an outside source plants an idea into someone’s head, making them believe it was their idea to begin with. It is extremely difficult to pull off however, since the human mind will easily reject an idea recognized as being from an outside source. Cobb reluctantly agrees to take the job however since Saito guarantees him safe passage back to America where he can see his kids again. Cobb has been living on the run from the law ever since he was accused of killing his own wife (played by Marion Cotillard) who keeps re-manifesting herself through Cobb’s dreams. In order to pull the job off however, he must assemble a team of specialists composed of Ellen Page as Ariadne, the “architect of the dream, Tom Hardy as Eames, an illusion specialist assigned to impersonate the victim’s father and Dileep Rao as Yusuf, a chemist who creates powerful sleeping sedatives. Together they must finally figure out a way to convince Robert Fischer, Jr. the heir to a major energy corporation (played by Cillian Murphy) to split up his father’s company. In order to do this they decide to create an extremely unstable three-layered dream, which they hope will help them successfully implant the idea into Fischer’s head.

This may sound like a lot, because it is, especially when Nolan starts adding on layer after layer of dreams into the fold. However, Nolan never hits you with too much at once, so it is possible to take it all in if you’re paying attention and you should be paying attention, because I honestly cannot remember the last time my eyes were this glued to the screen. Inception will capture you and hold you until it’s final frame. It is an enthralling, entertaining, stunning film and believe me when I say you will never be bored. Christopher Nolan is very good at taking the time to make you care about a character, especially Cobb in this case, and then wasting no time in throwing that character into the craziest, most mind-bending situation imaginable. In short, he’s a very good story-teller.

Nolan never really tries to stretch too far outside the box in terms of creative ways of shooting his action however. Everything is kept relatively clean and normal in his films, his personal style seemingly is to make everything as perfect as he can, but then leave it there, with little to no personal flair. In this case however, it actually adds to the film rather than taking away from it. Any other director would seek to constantly remind the audience that they are inside of a dream while they are inside of a dream. Nolan labours under the idea that dreams are perceived as real by the dreamer until they wake up, so the dreams are shot as normal situations that can be manipulated by the dreamer. Therefore the movie is kept from ever getting too far-fetched to keep the viewer guessing and slowly building from normal to surreal as layers of dreams and dream-logic are added to the ever-unravelling plot. The viewer is then slowly sucked into the dream world, rather than being allowed to separate themselves from it entirely right off the bat. It’s a very effective way of capturing your audiences into a world where there basically are no consequences. If you die, you just wake up … or do you?

I did have a hard time with this movie on the level of feeling threatened for this very reason however, there’s no way to actually die in a dream. It doesn’t make Nolan’s superbly directed action scenes any less riveting, but it does strip away some of the suspense. Nolan is trying to make the film just as intense as it is surreal and breath-taking, but it’s a lot easier to get surreal and breath-taking across in a dream world. Intense is a bit more challenging, though he does do a surprisingly good job to his credit. Listen to me! It’s hard for me to complain about this movie, even when I want to.

Inception was a truly wonderful film and along with Toy Story 3, easily one of the best things you could treat yourself to this summer. The last time dreams were treated this superbly was in Satoshi Kon’s anime extravaganza Paprika, which I was reminded of more than a few times while watching Inception. I almost wonder if Nolan has ever seen that film. Who knows? All I know is that Inception is crazy cool and definitely worth your hard-earned cash. Go see it!

I’m gonna give Inception 4.5/5.

So, there you have it guys. That’s my take on two of this summer’s biggest films. I hope you all liked it and don’t forget if you’re reading this review on This Week in Geek, make sure to check our Tomb of the Unknown Podcast and vice-versa. I’m really excited for this new partnership. I can’t say, “only at thisweekingeek.net” anymore, but what do I care? The more readers I get the better! I’m Double D and I’m slowly taking over the internet by storm! Mwu ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Anyways, I went out to a couple of movies this week, because I wanted to see both of them and those movies would be Predators, because Predator is awesome and I never expected them to make a new one, but I’m so glad they finally did and Despicable Me, Universal’s competitor in the race against Toy Story 3, Shrek: Forever After and How To Train Your Dragon for animated dominance so far this year. So, let’s see how they stack up, starting with Predators, because I saw it first. I’ll hopefully post a separate review for Despicable Me by the weekend, because this Predators review is just too damn long to make it a double review.

I was probably more excited than any of my friends when I found out there was another Predator movie coming out. I was even more excited when I found out more of the details about it. First off, Robert Rodriguez was involved. No one understands b-movies like this man. He can take a plot that in any other hands would be just plain awful and make it surprisingly entertaining and fun in most cases. He just gets it when it comes to over-the-top action films. He wasn’t directing the film however, merely working as a producer, probably too busy with his full-length Machete film (based on the hilarious trailer that features before the start of Planet Terror) to direct this film as well, so he left it in the capable hands of relative newcomer, Nimrod Antal. I’ve never seen any of this man’s other films, so I couldn’t judge his abilities prior to seeing this film. I was also excited however, as soon as I heard the plot. A group of deadly humans is snatched up and taken to the Predator homeworld where they’re let loose in a giant game preserve and hunted like deer. Now that was an exciting plot, taking an established franchise and building on it in a new, fresh and exciting way that didn’t require any of the original cast members, but still builds on the mythos established by the first two films without trampling on it or completely ignoring it either. I had worries that a new Predator film would either try to remake or “reboot” the series, without any good reason. Sure Predator 2 kind of sucked, but there was no reason they couldn’t keep the series going with new characters in a different setting. Besides, the basic predator formula is always the same. You take some tough-as-nails macho men/women, throw them into a desperate situation and add a killer alien with technology that can spear you alive, blow your head up or rip your skull right out of your body and then watch the macho men/women either break down under the pressure (and then later be brutally killed) or man up and take on the monster head on! The formula hasn’t changed much here and thank goodness for that, because there’s nothing more fun in my mind than watching people trying to survive against monsters whose powers they can barely comprehend and end up being pegged off one by one.

So, does this mean Predators was clichéd? Yeah, more or less. All the characters were stereotypes and it wasn’t too hard to guess what was going to happen by the end. Was it predictable? Well, besides a few well placed surprises, pretty much. You knew most of these characters were going to die and you can probably guess with relative ease within the first 20 minutes what order they’re all going to die off in. Does this mean it’s bad or not entertaining though? Hell no! The point of a Predator movie is not to be something extremely intelligent or challenge the audience’s moral ideals. This is not American Beauty. It’s a freakin’ monster that blows heads up! When you walk into the theatre knowing that you’re going to see a Predator movie, all you want are cheap thrills, but good cheap thrills. Well this is cheap thrills at their awesomest. There’s blood, there’s guts, there’s explosions, there’s surprises waiting around every corner and there’s even a f***ing sword fight with a Predator! I challenge anyone to come up with anything more awesome! Besides a space battle with dinosaurs I’m drawing a complete blank here.

Predators wastes no time cutting to the action. The opening scene is of Adrien Brody falling from the sky with his parachute refusing to open until the last minute, now that’s what I call cutting to the chase. The next ten minutes or so sets up the players in our story. Brody plays the main character, a tough-as-nails ex-CIA agent named Royce. I had my doubts about him in the main role, but they were quickly put away. Brody plays the part perfectly, much to my surprise. His normal, quiet, nice guy nature has been shoved aside entirely. This is not the Adrien Brody you’re used to. Alice Braga, who you may remember from Repo Men and I Am Legend is here as the Hispanic female lead that for some reason is in every predator movie (See Elpidia Carrillo from Predator and Maria Conchita Alonso from Predator 2), she does a decent job here however and provides the kind of strong-natured female you expect in these kinds of movies. Her government access has also allowed her to some pretty top secret information about the character’s foes. Topher Grace also makes a somewhat unexpected appearance as the least threatening character, a doctor named Edwin who doesn’t seem to fit in with the rest of the team. Don’t worry though. They wouldn’t drop him in there without a reason. The rest of the team of human “predators” is rounded out by a Japanese Yakuza (Louis Ozawa Changchien), a Russian Soldier (Oleg Taktarov), an African Officer (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali (and you thought the Japanese guys name was tough)) a Mexican Crime-Lord (played perfectly by the always awesome Danny Trejo (who probably has his work cut out for him between this and the upcoming Machete movie) and last, but certainly not least is Stans, a rapist/murderer sentenced to death row before being dropped on the planet. He is played absolutely perfectly by a guy you’ve probably never heard of (but have now) called Walton Goggins, who turns in quite possibly the strongest performance here, playing the knife wielding psychopath perfectly. At one point Stans even goes so far as to show the characters a tattoo of a naked woman on his belly. One of the characters asks if that was his girlfriend and he says with just the right amount of displaced anger, “No, it’s my sister.”

Through the movie the characters come into contact with not just the predators themselves, but the dogs they use for hunting, some traps set by a former prey, some of the other aliens that have also been dropped on the planet and even a super-predator as they discover that there are actually two races of predators on the planet who are constantly at war with each other. As you can see there are a lot surprises here and the movie expands the somewhat unexplored world of the predators quite excellently. This is not just a species that comes to Earth every ten years and kills a bunch of tough guys for fun. They are becoming a fully developed race with more background and history than we could ever know and as a complete geek, this excites me. Another obstacle they run into is in the form of a former survivor, played by Laurence Fishburne, who’s spent so much time on the planet that he’s started to go crazy and even talks to an imaginary friend. I was a little disappointed that he wasn’t the tough “survive against all odds” type that I thought he was going to be based on the trailer. It was only short disappointment though as I quickly realized that Brody’s character had already filled that role nicely and Fishburne plays the part with a bit more realism, because let’s face it, if you were stuck in this place for more than a few years, you’d go crazy too. It turns out to be another one of the many interesting surprises that help balance out the typical moments in the script.

Now, I’m not going to lie and say this movie was perfect in any way. No Predator movie is, even the original gets laughable at times. Remember the part where Billy Duke is talking to himself about how much he misses Jesse Ventura while that over-the-top army theme plays underneath (“I’m gonna cut your name into ‘em!”). I laugh at the movie every time I see that part. I’m not gonna lie and say this movie isn’t without those moments as well, but in a way that’s what makes these movies likable, isn’t it? I felt a few things were slightly under-developed however. Usually I’d complain about seeing too much of the monsters in a monster movie (See the Alien Vs. Predator movies), but here I almost felt like I wanted to see more of them, especially the awesome super-predator, who I felt was sadly under-used and could have really been cool if we got to see him a bit more. Instead he isn’t fully revealed until the end and then disposed of entirely too quickly. Most of this is done so the movie can keep moving forward at a break-neck pace however and I don’t entirely blame them. It never gets boring or repetitive by any means, but can you really have too much of something totally wicked?

So, in the end Predators was mostly what I had hoped for when I heard there was going to be another Predator movie. There were a few disappointments, but in the long run they didn’t fail to deliver the goods where action, gore and overall fun are concerned. You can go ahead and chalk this one up there with Alien, Aliens and the original Predator in the category of totally awesome man versus super-powered alien movies.

It really deserves a 3.5, but because I’m a fanboy I’m gonna have to give Predators a 4/5 and say it’s totally worth seeing in theatres. This is what the big screen was made for. It shows that not everything has to be in 3D to be relevant and entertaining. Sometimes what we really need is some old-school fun and that’s all Predators really is, but that’s all it really needs to be too.

Stay tuned for more reviews and fun stuff, including my top 25 countdown as soon as I get around to making one (don’t worry I haven’t forgotten my promise to make this list from like 8 posts ago) and my Despicable Me review. So keep those comments coming guys, I really appreciate them and don’t forget to keep coming back for more, only on thisweekingeek.net!

And remember if it bleeds, we can kill it!

The first new movie I saw was The Karate Kid, so let’s review it first. I really had no expectations going to see this movie. I had heard good things about it though, so I figured I’d give it a chance, but I wasn’t expecting it to be good or bad. I didn’t know what to think. I think I was pleasantly surprised by this little gem however.

First off, you have to remember that this movie was more or less a birthday present from Will and Jada Pinkett Smith to their son, Jaden. I guarantee you on his eleventh Birthday they rolled out a big box and inside was the script for the new Karate Kid movie. “Happy Birthday son, I’m giving you your own movie! Plus it’ll be a remake of a movie you like and you’ll get to work with Jackie Chan and learn kung fu! In West Philadelphia, born and raised …” So, thus is the story behind the new Karate Kid. However, does this make the movie bad? Not really, in fact the worst part of the movie was the end credits, filled with production photographs to remind the world how awesome of a time little Jaden had making this movie and why his parents are cooler than yours! The rest of the movie however, and I’ll only say this once, so please don’t hate me, was actually better than the original Karate Kid. OK, seriously, who’s throwing things at me? Please stop.

Anyways, let’s start with the premise. A small black kid, whose Dad died somehow (I can’t remember if they say how or not) has to move to China with his mother when she gets a job at a car factory there. There he gets picked on by some bullies who happen to know kung-fu (because what Asian kid doesn’t) and Jackie Chan, who plays the maintenance man at the building where Jaden lives, helps him out by beating up the kids who torment him, but accidentally enrols him in a tournament when he decides to confront the evil teacher of the aforementioned bullies. Now he must train the newcomer to becoming a kung-fu master. Along the way little Jaden finds himself a father and Jackie Chan finds himself a friend and the two really grow together. I’d use their character names, but what’s the point? They’re just Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan to me.

The big problem with this movie is at 2 hours and 20 minute it was unnecessarily long. Some major cuts could have been made and subplots dropped to make the movie a little more bearable for the children going to go see it. Now, that being said, there are some great lessons to be learned from this film, much like the lessons learned from the original it’s based on. Not to mention Jackie Chan probably turns in the best performance of his entire career here. The part where he talks about what happened to his family actually made me cry and that’s no easy feat (I have no soul), so I have to say this movie has a lot of heart to it and its overblown budget did add some good things, like some beautiful cinematography of the Chinese landscape and some very well choreographed fight scenes

So, overall this movie stood up quite decently, I’m gonna have to give it a 3.5/5.

Next up we’ve got what everyone’s been waiting for! That’s right, I’m talking about the newest chapter in the Twilight Saga (can you really get away with calling it a saga?), Eclipse. Let me start by saying that I am not a Twi-Hard and that’s not the reason why I went to see this movie. I make it a habit of seeing the Twilight movies each year because they are a big part of our modern culture, whether we want to admit it or not and I like to make judgements about everything big based on informed opinions, not here-say. So thus I went and witnessed the latest chapter in the Twilight series. So, what did I think?

First off, let’s start with the pros of this movie. David Slade is probably the best director they’ve got for the series so far. He adds a new level of intensity to the film that the first two were lacking with more suspense and some genuinely scary moments. He also demands more out of his actors, who probably turn in the best performances of the series here, which isn’t saying much, but still. Even Mr. Pattinson is showing a little emotion here for once, which is nice. Also, the cinematography and special effects of this movie are above anything the first two delivered and the soundtrack isn’t bad either. That’s always been one of the few strengths that this series has had right from the beginning. Not to mention some of the vampire fight scenes are nothing short of fantastic. Slade really knows how to ramp up the action. It also had a much better sense of humour than the first two films and even pokes a little fun at itself at times without getting too ridiculous. This is a nice reprieve from the first film, which took itself so seriously as to be laughable.

Now for the cons. First of all, the script. Secondly, the script. Somebody needs to fire Melissa Rosenberg, but somebody else apparently thinks she’s doing a good job, when obviously she isn’t. The build up for the final fight takes way too long, there are a bit too many flashbacks and although I do love a good love triangle, the one in this movie just gets repetitious after a while. You want to tell Bella to make up her damn mind already. It’s a little frustrating when a script goes in so many circles it’ll leave you feeling nauseous. Now, this does mean we get some great character moments between Edward, Jacob and Bella, but it got kind of tiresome after a while. I was more interested in the battle that took an hour and a half just to set up and is then barely shown. A few of the scenes drag on a bit long as well, especially right at the end, when you know the movie’s going to end, but it just keeps going for a few minutes longer than it needs to as Bella and Edward talk in a field of flowers. Where is this field anyways? It also has the problems that every Twilight movie has of Edward being overprotective and his relationship with Bella being extremely unhealthy as her self-worth hinges on his adoration, but that’s a topic for a whole other blog post of its own. Or just go listen to the Twilight show I did for This Week in Geek.

Overall though, Eclipse was the best Twilight film so far and definitely worth it for fans of the series, since there’s plenty of Edward and Jacob here to chew on. Even non-fans might find it a little harder to hate than the first two films, though I’m sure they’ll find a way. Let’s face it, this is Twilight. My opinions mean little here anyways. Most people reading this have either already seen it or never will. But hey, I might as well say what I think anyways, because why not? I give The Twilight Saga: Eclipse a 3/5.

So, stay tuned for more reviews and rantings from The Double D, only at thisweekingeek.net!

I didn’t realize going into this movie that it wasn’t really going to help my case in cheering me up too much, by the time the three main characters decide to have a threesome together I realized that the debauchery in this movie doesn’t really serve the purpose of cheering up the audience or even to create dramatic tension. I wasn’t even laughing by that point. It was then that I realized that this movie actually served little purpose at all. It wasn’t necessarily bad, but it wasn’t really striving to be anything else, which is too bad. I went into Get Him to the Greek with high expectations. The trailer looked funny and I was expecting debauchery, but entertaining debauchery. Instead I got debauchery that was sometimes amusing, but often served little purpose then to hit us over the head repeatedly, telling us for the umpteenth time that Russell Brand is crazy and Jonah Hill can’t keep up. OK, we get it. You don’t have to tell us again and again in every scene. I kept waiting for Jonah to punch Russell in the face and then nock a few teeth out with his Converse sneakers while he was at it. I also didn’t realize that this film was a spin-off from Forgetting Sarah Marshall until about 30 minutes in, which is too bad because I really liked Sarah Marshall. It was funny and I genuinely cared about the fate of all the characters, all except one of course, the character of Aldus Snow, also played by Brand in the original film. He was little more than the douche-bag boyfriend, an obstacle for the main character to tread around. I never watched Aldus and said to myself, “Gee, I love this character so much! I wish they’d make a movie about just him!” because I genuinely didn’t care about him and they didn’t do the best job of making me care about him here either, except now there was more of him, so I hated him even more. In fact, the only real indication that this movie has anything to do with Sarah Marshall is a brief cameo from Kristen Bell and a credit at the end that says, “Based on Characters Created by Jason Segel” Segel’s charming touch was clearly gone from the film however and it really showed.

Now, reading this so far, you may think that I hated every second of Get Him to the Greek, which is not true. I merely hated every second of missed opportunity, which seemed to happen entirely too often. I did laugh a little, but the missed opportunities for laughs were so frequent that I almost felt bad for the people making this film and I never really felt attached to these characters enough to laugh or wince at their misfortune, just take it all in, like watching an African child on a World Vision commercial. You feel bad. But you forget who they are 10 minutes after flipping the channel. Perhaps there’s an irony then to the joke about Aldus using African children as the theme for his failed recent album. I did appreciate some of the humour though, especially any moments with Sean “P Diddy” Combs who turns in a surprisingly hilarious performance as Aaron Green (Jonah Hill)’s boss. There’s also a few funny moments involving furry walls and the scene where Aldus makes Aaron shove a balloon filled with heroin into his rectum to hide it from airport security was about as amusing as you’d expect.

I guess next I should talk about the plot, though this shouldn’t take too long, since it’s a little thin, to be honest and more than predictable. Basically Snow’s latest album, African Child has bombed miserably due to its poorly hidden racist themes. Shortly after this his long time wife Jackie Q (played by Rose Byrne) splits with him and goes on to have relationships with several other famous rock stars and actors, leaving Snow alone living with his mother in London after a series of public outbursts that have left him with a less than positive image. Meanwhile Aaron Green and his girlfriend Daphne (played by Elizabeth Moss) are having a fine relationship until she suggests moving to Seattle, something Aaron doesn’t really want to do and their relationship goes on the rocks. Things go from bad to worse when Aaron suggest that Snow (one of his favourite rockers) come down to LA for the anniversary of a famous concert he did at the Greek Theatre in LA in 1999, with proceeds benefiting the floundering agency where Green works. You can guess the rest as Green sets off on a long and troublesome journey to well, get him to the Greek.

I have to say, overall Get Him to the Greek wasn’t an awful movie. It was just a missed opportunity at greatness and that’s unfortunate, because it could have been so funny. Instead I left feeling slightly unsatisfied and I wasn’t really cheered up like I wanted. Oh well, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.

I give Get Him to the Greek 2.5/5.

Stay tuned for more reviews and lots of other junk with me, David “Double D” Denis, only on thisweekingeek.net!

I decided to write my own blog about the film though, mostly because I promised to in my last blog and so I could share my own thoughts with all of you, even though they might seem strikingly similar to Laura, but that’s OK. We’re both here to confirm the good news that Cars remains Pixar’s only disappointing film to date!

Let me start by taking you back with a little bit of history. In 1995 I was 7 years old and my parents promised me that if I was on my best behaviour for a whole week they would take me to see a new movie that just came out called Toy Story. I didn’t know much about the movie except for a few TV spots I had seen totting it as the “first feature length computer generated movie ever!” I had no idea what this meant so I couldn’t get excited that way. At some point (I can’t remember if it was before or after my parent’s made their promise) I actually picked up the Toy Story picture book at a book fair at my school. I read it, but didn’t really understand it, mostly because I thought Andy and Sid where the same kid. Hey, it was a poorly written book and I was only 7, OK? Anyways, at the end of the week my parents took me to see the movie and I loved it! Well, of course I loved it. It had action, adventure, comedy and a great buddy aspect between Woody and Buzz, plus it was all about toys. What kid doesn’t love toys? Then again, just because I liked something when I was a kid doesn’t necessarily make it good. I liked Space Jam when I was a kid. I liked North when I was a kid. I liked most of the movies that the Nostalgia Critic has reviewed at some point when I was a kid. I had bad taste when I was a kid, because I was a kid and I didn’t care. Actors, directors and the art of film-making are meaningless terms to a child. When you’re a kid you watch a movie for one reason and one reason only: to be entertained. Movies mean little more to you than your toys when you’re a kid and well, a movie about toys; well that was just the best of both worlds to any kid. The question was; would it stand up as an adult? The answer is yes.

Toy Story is nothing short of a miracle. In fact, when The American Film Institute made their updated list of the 100 greatest movies of all time in 2007, they included Toy Story as #99, right above Ben-Hur at #100. That means they were saying that an 81 minute animated movie about a cowboy and a space ranger was actually better than a 212 minute live-action movie about a Hebrew slave in the time of Christ fighting against all odds to regain his freedom and save his family. Take a moment to re-read that last statement and think about the implications of what I just said. Toy Story had such an effect on our culture that this little movie, about two toys trying to escape from the bedroom of an evil 9-year-old and becoming friends along the way had such an impact on our culture that lines like “To infinity and beyond!” and “YOU … ARE … A … TOY!” became a part of our modern vernacular and you were really nobody if you had never seen it. Pixar successfully made us fall in love with these characters and took what could have been a disaster and turned the first ever feature length computer generated movie into nothing short of a masterpiece. Soon, this style of animation would dominate North America and then the rest of the world and still Toy Story remained one of the best and it still is today. I loved it as a kid and I love it now.

Then in 1999 I went to see The Iron Giant with my family (another amazing movie, by future Pixar collaborator Brad Bird, ironically enough) and I saw a preview for Toy Story 2. I had no idea this was coming, but Toy Story did lend itself to a sequel and I loved it, so naturally I was extremely excited. A few months later Toy Story 2 hit theatres and my parents took me to see it. I was 11 this time, but still a child, still with toys and still ready for another Toy Story adventure. I loved Toy Story 2. I didn’t really have my doubts, but I wasn’t really expecting it to be as good as the first movie. To my shock, I actually found myself having more fun this time around, with new characters a cool back-story for Woody and lots of perilous action-adventure. It was a blast and totally stood up to the original. Over time I’d recognize that Toy Story 2 relied a little too much on referencing the first film and didn’t have quite the impact, but it was still a favourite and remains one of the best sequels ever made, to this day. I left the theatre feeling satisfied that the story of the toys had been cleverly wrapped up. We found out where Woody came from and we had the comfort of knowing that Andy would love his toys for years to come and even when he grew up, they would just get passed down to Molly, right? I was OK with leaving the franchise there forever. I didn’t need to know what happened next.

Then 2009 rolled around. I was a College graduate living out on my own for the first time, trying to make my way in the world and spending more time than I probably should have hitting on girls. I was no kid anymore. Then I find out that the long-awaited Toy Story sequel I kept hearing about was actually happening. By this point I view movies very different, not only do I notice all the artistic merit, or lack thereof in a film, I also know a lot more about the politics of film and I knew this film was only happening because Disney wanted more money. Pixar wasn’t too keen on making sequels, eager to leave older characters behind and develop new ones. Their focus was on story-telling, not money. Naturally I was wary about the new film, I felt as if Pixar wasn’t going to put their hearts into it, because they were basically being forced into it. Boy was I ever wrong!

Growing up along with Andy and the toys he loves, I felt a deeper connection to these characters than I can even describe and I know I’m not alone. This movie was made for me and I can’t really be angry about that. Toy Story 3 hit me in ways I cannot describe. It reminded me of how I (along with anyone else over 15) had grown up with these characters and just like Andy, I had abandoned them, thinking that they had no more good stories to tell. When Woody and the gang reminded me that I was wrong, reminded me that we need our toys as much as they need us, reminded me that the things we love when we’re children are more than just toys, they are catalysts for our imaginations, they are pieces of our heart that we left behind in an attempt to “mature”, I was truly sad. Leave it to Pixar to show me that some good ol’ fashioned immaturity is just what I needed.

This is not at all to say that Toy Story 3 is immature. Like I said, it was made for everyone who ever loved these characters and it was also made to introduce a new generation to the things that we loved as a child. Just like Andy passing down his toys to the local day care, we were passing down our toy story to the local theatre and they loved it! Toy Story 3 is not a film to be taken lightly however, it takes itself just as seriously as it needs to and at times that means that it will bring the audience to tears or make you believe that the toys are in genuine peril and could actually embrace their end (see Laura’s review for confirmation of this). I can’t remember the last time I felt so strongly for a group of characters as I did for Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Mr. And Mrs. Potato Head, Hamm, Slinky, Rex and Bullseye in Toy Story 3.
Now I know what you’re thinking, “But Double D, you only care about these characters because you watched the first two movies 134 times each!” Well, that may be partially true (actually, it was closer to 150), but that’s not the only reason I cared about these characters this time around. I cared about these characters because Pixar, once again, had reminded me how special they are to me with a top-notch script and perfect plotting.

The plot, as you probably already know, revolves around Andy finally growing up, turning 17 and going away to college. The opening, a wonderful scene where we see things from Andy’s perspective as he plays with his toys as a child, followed by home video footage of Andy and the toys growing up together, perfectly sets up the film in a bitter-sweet way. We all knew Andy would outgrow his toys eventually, it was only a matter of time and that time has come. The next scene where Woody and the gang try one last time to get Andy to play with them by hijacking his cell phone sets up where we are today. Andy has a lot more use for that cell phone than he does for his old toys. We quickly find out that only Andy’s most important toys have survived, living in a toy box, waiting to be played with seemingly just as long as we’ve been waiting to see this movie. Toys like Etch, Wheezy, RC and most importantly, Bo-Peep have been donated to garage sales and lost along the way. This is the sad and bitter-sweet situation we are hurled into within the first 10 minutes of Toy Story 3. Things go from bad to worse when the toys are accidentally misplaced through a series of coincidences and find their way into a day-care that they soon discover is ran more like a prison, where toys have no way to escape due to a complex security system constantly being monitored by a cymbal-smashing monkey, and when Buzz is reset to his old crazy ways things seem bleak before an escape plan is formed and the real fun begins. From here Toy Story 3 goes into a series of hilarious, intelligent and enjoyable set-pieces that keep going from bad to worse until the toys and the audience are literally ready to embrace the end. I won’t give anything else away, because I don’t want to spoil the fun, but believe me, Toy Story 3 is just that, non-stop fun. I guarantee you will laugh, cry and believe once again that toys are alive.

I was worried at first that the inclusion of a slew of new characters would detract from the already large ensemble cast, but it doesn’t at all. The new toys all serve their purpose without ever drawing too much attention to themselves so as to distract from the over-all enjoyment of the film. In fact, I found the new toys added something fresh to the film and made me enjoy it more for taking things in a new direction, unlike Toy Story 2 which, as I said, relied a bit too heavily on the success of the first film. Pixar was not afraid to take this film into a surprising new direction and that’s why it felt so fresh for something that’s been around for 15 years.

And of course, in case you were wondering, Toy Story 3 looks just as good as any other Pixar film, with state of the art animation and yes the 3D was cool too. I do like how Pixar uses 3D to add to their films by merely adding another layer, rather than detracting by drawing attention to itself. Bad 3D is the equivalent of someone putting an annoying sound effect in the back speaker of a 5.1 surround system, just to remind the audience that they’re watching the movie in surround sound. Pixar is better than that.

So in conclusion of what must be the longest review I’ve ever written, (see Laura’s review for the shorter version) Toy Story 3 is a worthy successor to its predecessors and a worthy inclusion in the hall of Pixar greats. Score one more for Pixar! I had so many doubts about this movie and it proved me wrong in every possible way. I was entertained, touched and blessed to be a part of finally finding out what happens next for Andy’s toys. Toy Story was always one of my favourite movies, now it’s one of my favourite trilogies! C’mon, how often are third movies good? Spider-Man 3, anyone? So yeah, Toy Story 3 is awesome. Go see it.

I give Toy Story 3 a perfect 5 out of 5!

Stay tuned for more reviews and discussions about the movies you love (or hate) from the source you trust, Double D, only at thisweekingeek.net!

I seriously doubt I’m going to be this excited when Cars 2 comes out.

So, I can’t really write a fair review of the movie, though from what I saw (and couldn’t hear) it was a fantastic summer film that, although somewhat ridiculous (they fly a tank for Pete’s sake!) is also extremely entertaining and stays true enough to the heart of the original show. I had a great time watching it and it really put me in a great mood, audio problems or not. So, I’d definitely recommend it for anyone who wants a fun summer action movie in the vein of what Star Trek was last year. The A-Team is this year’s surprise hit and should not disappoint. Despite it’s plot holes, useless subplots and nonthreatening villains, I really didn’t care. I really liked it enough to overlook most of it’s flaws. The A-Team is sitting at about a 4/5 for me right now, but we’ll see if that changes once I get a chance to watch it again with better sound. It is, after all, one half of the experience.

Anyways, what can I talk about to make up for the lack of review this week? How about a discussion of my movie watching habits as of late. I’ve actually been focusing on trying to watch everything on the AFI Top 100 Films list (both the 1997 and 2007 versions if possible) I’ve made it up to #25 on the original list, but I’ve got a long way to go to watching them all. Thankfully the Welland Public Library has literally nothing, but classic AFI recognized films. I’ve also been watching a lot of Hitchcock movies recently. I love that man, watching many of his films, even less recognized ones makes you realize how brilliant he really was. Every shot, every action has a purpose and a power behind it. The man was a genius and just in case you were wondering, my favourite is North by Northwest. That is easily one of my all time favourite movies. As weird as it sounds, I’ve also been going back and watching the bonus features on some of my old favourite Don Bluth movies. His commentaries are awesome. If you ever get a chance to pick up the Family Fun Editions of Anastasia or The Secret of NIMH, please do. They are very well put together. Today I’m probably going to watch Annie Hall. I really want to find out how anything could beat Star Wars for best picture and it is pretty high up there on the list as well. I was thinking of some day making my own Top 25. I really don’t know if I’ve seen enough movies to make a comprehensive Top 100. I mean, I could but I would be stretching it. So, at some point in the future look forward to that and possibly a long discussion on the historical significance of Citizen Kane. The one film lecture that every film student must endure is the one on how amazing Citizen Kane is. I won’t lie, it is pretty awesome.

So, I don’t know what else to tell you beyond that. I have been really busy lately writing and working part time at a local comic shop, trying to scrounge enough money to buy a camera and a better quality microphone and mixer so I can do more content and rants for you guys, but it’ll be a little while longer before I have the cash to do so. I have big plans when I do however. I’m also busy working on my third full length screenplay (probably my most ambitious yet) and of course I plan on brining you more blogs to come. I’m going to see Toy Story 3 in Imax 3D this Friday with my girlfriend, so look forward to a review of that. I can’t wait! Hurray for Toy Story! The only way a bigger part of my childhood could ever make a comeback like this is if they made a new Tron movie … Oh, wait.

So, stay tuned for more reviews, more nonesense and more me! Catch ya later guys!

Wait, did I already say this movie sucks? Oh well. That’s all you really need to know. Don’t waste your money on this waste of money. I came into this film cautiously optimistic that there could finally be an intelligent video game movie. I realize now that that is an impossibility, at least for the time being, until the messiah comes and makes a video game adaptation that actually takes itself seriously as a film and not just an add to sell action figures. But for now we have yet another video game film that fails to suspend the audience’s disbelief, where scenes feel more like levels than scenes and where there are enough goofy moments to make a Merry Melodies cartoon look like an episode of Nova.

Let’s use this paragraph to say the things I liked about the movie. It’ll be a short paragraph. The actors are all good in their own right. I mean, they did what they could, considering the 2-dimensional roles that were written for them, but they’re all pretty good actors. I love Ben Kingsley and Jake Gyllenhaal in other roles, but the only actor I felt was given a role worthy of their prowess was Alfred Molina. He played probably the only character in this movie that I enjoyed watching, even though he was comic relief, Alfred Molina can take comic relief and make it brilliant. He’s just that good, people. I also thoroughly enjoyed the score. If you can find a copy of the soundtrack, just get that instead of seeing this movie. It’ll be more worth the money. Also, the set decoration, costume design and cinematography of this movie were all very beautiful and worthy of praise. It wasn’t a bad looking movie. It was just a bad movie in general.

Right from the beginning I knew I was in for a bumpy ride. One of the first scenes in the film depicts the Prince’s companions shooting arrows into a brick wall for him to climb it. I turned to my best friend Will, who was in the theatre with me and asked, “Can arrows actually pierce bricks?” “No,” he replied. “That’s what I thought.” Besides any lapses in logic, the movie just failed on a story level. It moved too fast for me to connect with any of the characters and just jumped into the action to quickly and too often and then when someone dies they expect me to feel bad for them. I didn’t. I also couldn’t stand Gemma Arterton’s character for most of the film. She was an annoying stuck up bitch! Honestly, if she wasn’t attractive, none of the other characters would ever put up with her. I can’t stand characters like that! The visuals were a little too much too. An overdose of CGI and slow-mo had me rubbing my eyes a few times trying to remind myself that that this was live action and not still a video game. They sure as hell did a good job of making it look like one. I really just felt like I couldn’t connect to what was happening on screen and that’s a shame, because again this film could have been pretty good. The potential was there, it just wasn’t tapped into. Then there’s the ending. It was extremely disappointing, but I won’t give anything away.

Anyway, that about sums up Prince of Persia. It’s another video game movie. So if you’re expecting something good, you’ll be disappointed, but if you’re expecting another video game movie, where the characters are shallow, the plot is contrived and there are enough laughable moments to make Uwe Boll himself proud, then this movie will be exactly what you expect. That’s all Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is; nothing special, just another video game movie. Oh well. I shouldn’t have been so optimistic.

I give Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time 2/5.

Stay tuned for more reviews from the Double D himself, most of which will be on time from now on, I hope. Also, if you’re so inclined, feel free to follow me on twitter.
Click here to follow me,I’m @David_Denis. See you at the movies!

Shrek Forever After is still lacking much of the charm that made Andrew Adamson’s first two films in the franchise such lasting and memorable treats for children as well as adults, but it wasn’t bad either and it was definitely a step up from the boring third film. Sure, the jokes are getting old, but they did a good job putting the storyline together this time. Plus you have to remember that this movie is targeted at kids and let’s face it, you can tell the same joke 18 times to a 4 year old and they’ll find it funny each time. I guess that’s not an excuse for lazy writing, but hey if the kiddies are entertained and the parent’s keep bringing ‘em in droves then that’s mission accomplished for DreamWorks. I still wanted to punch the screen though when Puss did his whole wide-eyed cute cat stare again. Sure, it was funny the first time, now I just want to strangle that damn cat. Some of the jokes worked better here than I expected from watching the trailer however. I don’t know why, but I thought the “Do the roar.” kid was the funniest thing since the “Do you know the muffin man?” scene from the first movie, but I guess that’s my over-the-top sense of humour talking. Another scene where Puss accidentally eats the Ginger-bread Man also had me in shocked laughter, similar to the bird exploding in the first film. For as many pointless homages that this film has to the first two entries in the series (the third film is deliberately ignored) it also captured the dark humour that made the first movie so memorable a little bit better than I thought it would. A lot of the humour is starting to get tired though and some of it came off as mean-spirited instead of charming. One scene that comes to mind is when Fiona does her exploding bird trick on Rumpelstiltskin’s pet goose at the end of the film and everyone just laughs it off. Therefore, I have to say that I’m glad the Shrek franchise is coming to an end (well, besides the spin-offs, prequel and TV show that they’re planning (sigh)) and I have to say it ended on an OK note instead of a downright bad one. If only the third movie never existed, one, two and four would have made a perfect trilogy. Oh well.

As for the storyline, you can gather most of it from the trailers. Basically Shrek is fed up with being a tamed, toned-down, family-friendly version of his former self so when down-on-his-luck Rumpelstiltskin, who’s name takes forever to type by the way, offers Shrek a day to be a true ogre again in exchange for a random, unimportant day in Shrek’s life, he takes the offer. Sure, it’s hard to believe that the savvy and knowing Shrek from the first two films would be this downright idiotic, but I suspended my disbelief for the sake of the plot. Rumpelstiltskin ends up taking the day Shrek was born (big surprise!) and so he never rescued Fiona and never met Donkey or Puss. Worst of all though, because Shrek wasn’t around to rescue Fiona, her parents decided to go to Rumpelstiltskin to help get her back and were tricked into disappearing into nothing. Now Far Far Away is in shambles and all ogres are being hunted and enslaved by evil witches. Shrek has one day to find true loves kiss again, in order to return everything back to normal, but Fiona’s too busy leading the ogre resistance to give him a second glance.

If this sounds like it rests on so many paper thin plot lines that it could collapse World-Trade Centre style any minute, well it does. (What? Too soon?) I didn’t really mind all that much though, as I was still entertained and there was enough action to keep my eyes glued to the screen. I also commend Walt Dohrn (mostly known for his animation work on shows like SpongeBob Squarepants and Dexter’s Laboratory) for doing the best non-celebrity voice acting since Ben Burtt played Wall-E. Rumpelstiltskin was probably the second best villain in the series (next to the absolutely perfect Lord Farquaad from the first film) and was probably the scariest of the four by far in my opinion. A scene where he deliberately melts one of his witchy hench-women by throwing water at her closely mirrors Robert De Niro’s infamous baseball bat scene from The Untouchables, though obviously a lot less violent. I also felt that Myer’s performance was a little less phoned-in than the third outing and the plot set things up for some very entertaining set pieces, especially between the witches and ogres, who seem to be a good match for each other. The animation was top notch too, but I felt the 3D was a bit intrusive at times, almost like DreamWorks was saying, “Hey, check it out! A Shrek movie in 3D! Look how 3D it is!” I guess it’s a minor nit-pick, but my eyes were hurting a bit in some of the scenes.

Anyways, I know it’s a shorter review than normal, but that sums up most of my thoughts on Shrek Forever After. It had its flaws, but I felt it was a worthy ending for a franchise that has seen better days and definitely worthy of the $7.50 I spent on a discounted ticket. Sure, it wasn’t amazing, but I think kids and grown-ups will still have a pretty good time with this one.

I give Shrek Forever After 3/5.

Also, for future reference:
Shrek = 4.5/5
Shrek 2 = 3.5/5
Shrek the Third = 2/5.

And now, our special bonus feature:

Yesterday (today while I’m writing this) was Geek Pride Day, as it marks the day that the original Star Wars was released in theatres 33 years ago (also known as Towel Day by some Douglas Adams’ fans) It’s a very special day to all of us fanboys though and this year is extra special because it’s also the 30th Anniversary of my all-time favourite move ever, Star Wars – Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back!

I love this movie. I remember when I was a kid watching this for the first time, finding out it was even better, darker and more character driven than the first one. I was shocked to find out that there wasn’t just one good Star Wars movie, but three and this one was always my favourite! No wonder too, it’s surprisingly dark, spiritual and has a depth and power that most sci-fi and fantasy films (such as the cold, distant prequels) are lacking. This is how you make a Hollywood blockbuster. Take the audience seriously and they’ll take your film seriously.

The Empire Strikes back is a film not just about amazing special effects, a green puppet and a cool guy with a jet-pack. It’s a movie about the characters, about their journey, their trials, their failures and their search for redemption. Its chock full of humour, chase scenes and romantic moments, but below its surface, Empire is a surprisingly powerful and impactful film that leaves its impression years after viewing.

I love everything about The Empire Strikes Back; the characters, the story, the shocking revelations, the relationships, the comedy, everything that works together to make this a movie moment to remember. So for all of us Star Wars Fans out there, Happy Birthday The Empire Strikes Back! May you continue to grace our screens (with or without George Lucas’s numerous and sometimes unnecessary changes) for years and years to come. You have earned a legacy that will be passed down from over-zealous Star Wars Fanatic to Younglings everywhere for generations. May the Force be with you and remember, he’s no good to me dead!

Thanks for reading guys and stay tuned for lots more reviews and other goodies, right here on Double D Does the Movies, only on thisweekingeek.net!

Anyways, without any further adieu, let’s cut to the actual review. Now you may have seen the title for this review and asked yourself, “What the heck is GravyTrain?” That’s exactly what I was asking myself when I was personally invited to the film’s premier in Toronto about a month ago by Tim Doiron, the film’s writer and star. We met at the Toronto Fan Expo last year where Tim and co-star/ director of GravyTrain April Mullen were promoting their previous film, Rock, Paper, Scissors: The Way of the Tosser. I saw their booth while I was out collecting footage for our TWiG Fan Expo video and got some footage of Tim and April doing a tossing demonstration. I decided to e-mail them later for a copy of the film on DVD (which I have since misplaced somehow) and never expected Tim to e-mail me again. Well, low and behold, he remembered who I was and was inviting me to the premier of his next film at the AMC Yonge and Dundas in Toronto. Tim and April, along with several other actors from the film (including A.C. Peterson, who you may remember from Defendor, who sat almost right behind me) were there and Tim and April personally introduced the film and did a short Q&A afterwards. Then, just this week, I had the privilege of attending the film’s final showing in the Niagara Square Cinema in Niagara Falls where the film was shot. It’s very rare that a film is shot this close to home for me, let alone a film of this quality and the turnout was fantastic for this event, which just goes to show you that Canadians are more than willing to support local cinema as long as it’s good. Tim and April were there once again to introduce the film and do an even longer Q&A and I also got a chance to pick up a free signed GravyTrain poster and a copy of the film a day early on DVD. Don’t tell anyone I got it early though.

Anyways, enough of me, let’s start talking about the DVD. First I’ll start with the movie itself. I was never blown away by Rock, Paper Scissors to be honest. It was OK and it did have a certain charm and exerted a sort of unique quirky quality that definitely became an asset for GravyTrain, but I felt it didn’t have the same staying power that GravyTrain hopefully will. Because of my slight disappointment I wasn’t really expecting much out of this film, but I was pleasantly surprised. GravyTrain was made on a shoestring budget and shot in just over two weeks, but it was a massive step up from Tim and April’s first film and really showcased just how creative and entertaining a film can be, even without a massive budget. It’s entertaining, engaging and hilarious! GravyTrain is seriously a heck of a lot of fun for anyone looking for something unique to watch this summer. I was definitely not disappointed with this pleasant surprise of a film and actually I found myself laughing out loud at many of the scenes. It’s silly, it’s juvenile, but it’s also hysterical! Perfect comedic timing and brilliant performances and ad-libs from acting talent that includes SNL’s Tim Meadows, Who’s Line is it Anyway’s Colin Mochrie and Glass Tiger frontman Alan Frew among others really make this film float above the crowd in terms of low-budget comedies. I never got bored and I never stopped laughing.

GravyTrain is basically a 70’s cop drama spoof about a man named Charles Gravytrain whose father is killed when he’s a child by a mysterious serial killer named Jimmy Fisheyes. 20 years later Charles is all grown up and has been hunting for Jimmy all his life. All of a sudden a new cop named Uma Booma comes to town to become Charles’ new partner and once again the bodies start piling up. Things get even more suspicious when avant-garde filmmaker Hansel Suppledick shows up to shoot his next experimental film starring Charles in the lead. This may sound kind of crazy and even I couldn’t come up with names like Hansel Suppledick (not to mention the local whorehouse proprietor, Madame Handlescock) and you know what? It is crazy and ridiculous, but in the best kind of way. This is my kind of crazy. This is my kind of ridiculous. You really need to see it to enjoy it. So if you can find a copy, get it. There are a few parts that go a bit too over-the-top and some of the comedy gets lost (a tripped-out drug scene being the best example) but for the most part this is top shelf comedy. Not bad considering the crap that Hollywood’s best has been delivering these days.

So, let’s move on to the next part of my review, the DVD. I was not disappointed with this either. This DVD contained everything I wanted it to contain and then some. The best feature is probably a commentary with Tim Doiron and April Mullen explaining the writing, directing and acting from behind the camera in a very in-depth way that really lets you get into the mindset of what it’s like to make a small-budget Canadian feature film. They also point out lots of little things in the frame that you’ll probably miss the first time around (watch for when a dear unexpectedly trots through the background). It’s definitely worth watching with the commentary track on. There’s also a very informative 20 minute making-of with interviews from most of the cast members that really delves into the 15-day production of the film. We’re also given the treat of over a half-hour’s worth of deleted scene (my only complaint would be that there’s no “Play All” function for these scenes) that help explain some of the film’s subplots, but ultimately slowed down the pacing so they had to be cut, but it’s still interesting to watch them and some are pretty funny as well. We also get the trailers and interviews that were part of the film’s electronic press kit. There’s also a pretty hilarious blooper real, because you can’t have a comedy with no blooper real. If these features weren’t enough we also get lots of other short little extras like the story of how they shot the film in the Empire Building in Niagara Falls, a bonus Hansel Suppledick short film and even more. Like I said, the bonus features were not disappointing. Some of them were really short, but there were enough of them to keep anyone entertained and make it really worth your money to buy this fantastic film on DVD.

So, if you’re in the mood for a great comedy, made by people who really care about what they’re doing with a top notch cast and top notch jokes, this film is for you. I always like to support Canadian Cinema as long as it’s good and this is almost as good as it gets.

I give GravyTrain a 4/5.

Stay tuned for more reviews and blogs, including a look at my favorite movie of all time!

I should mention that Robin Hood does not feel like Robin Hood movie, so get Kevin Costner and Errol Flynn and that talking fox out of your heads, because this is not your typical Robin Hood movie. In fact, this film acts more as a prequel to the Robin Hood legend; detailing the events leading up to what is usually shown in just about every other Robin Hood movie. We find out why King John hates Robin Hood so much, how he and Marian fall in love and the events that led to his transformation from soldier to legend. It was all pretty interesting and not what I expected going into this film. I was never really blown away by the film, but I wasn’t expecting to be. I expected to be relatively entertained and I was, it’s well worth the money if you’re looking for something new to watch and you’re sick of Iron Man 2 and How to Train Your Dragon. It was not the gladiator rip-off like everyone said it was going to be. Tonally and thematically the two films were really quite different, though they both definitely had that Ridley Scott touch that can make some of his films great (Gladiator) and some not-so-much (Kingdom of Heaven). This film sits somewhere in the middle. In fact the only similarity it shared with Gladiator was Russell Crowe.

This brings me to my next section, the actors. This film carried some real weight behind it in terms of acting prowess with the likes of Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett with veterans like William Hurt and Max von Sydow. But just as wars not make one great, actors not make movies great. None of the actors really carried the film for me and by this point, Russell’s tired likeable working-class hero routine is about as lifeless and phoned-in as it can get. There’s even an inspirational battle speech that always seems to come up in movies like this where I distinctly remember zoning off and counting the number of speakers in the theatre (There were 4 on each wall and 4 behind me). Cate and the other supporting cast seem to do a an OK job of holding things together though, but I felt like I had The Dark Knight syndrome with this film, where the lead actor is actually one of the weaker actors in the film and his performance is constantly overshadowed by the players around him. Not so great, considering Crowe’s fantastic performances in some other Scott films like Gladiator and American Gangster.

I don’t think the acting was really the main draw for this film. At least for me it wasn’t. It’s the battles, the action, the fighting. This film delivers that to an extent, but I was almost bored by it this time around. It felt a bit like a retread of films like Braveheart and Lord of the Rings. Sure, the action is epic, but big doesn’t always mean interesting. I was also perplexed by decisions like having Maid Marion join Robin in the final battle, or having King Richard killed by a French chef (I’m not even joking) Also, the action seems to be allotted to the first and last acts of the film, with the second used mostly for setting up an elaborate plot where Sir Godfrey (played by newly type-casted Mark Strong (who plays the villain in everything he’s in (Sherlock Holmes, Kick-Ass, this movie, the upcoming Green Lantern film))) betrays King John to the French, which eventually leads to a large battle scene at the end. Like I said earlier, despite all my complaints, I was still moderately entertained by the film. It wasn’t bad, I did feel an emotional connection to Robin at certain points when he’s dealing with the loss of his father and there were only a few moments that had me scratching my head, but I was only entertained because the film was telling me to be. It’s the equivalent of watching an old magician. You know all the tricks and the magic dies after a while, but you don’t mind watching anyways, ‘cause what the hell? It’s magic.

So, all-in-all, Robin Hood is mostly harmless fun. Just remember not to look at it as a traditional Robin Hood film and don’t expect too much and you might find that you actually like it. It’s big, its action packed and you’re gonna want to see this one before the sequel comes out.

I give Robin Hood 3/5.

Stay tuned for more reviews and blogs from the mind of the Double D!

Financially speaking, yes it was. Iron Man 2 has already broken the $130 million in its opening weekend alone! And in case you were wondering why I waited until now to see it, I had my Mom’s Birthday/ Mother’s Day party to attend to yesterday, so bleep you! Anyways, from an entertainment stand point, I’d say it was pretty worth it too. Iron Man 2 was pretty damn entertaining from beginning to end, just like its predecessor. The difficult thing in talking about Iron Man 2 is that I liked it. That’s it. It’s easy to talk about a movie you love and it’s easy to talk about a movie you hate, but talking about a movie you liked is always hard, but for all of y’all I’m going to try and do it anyways.

Let’s start with the plot, the film picks up right where the previous film left off, with Tony Stark revealing his true identity as Iron Man, except this time as seen on the TV screen of Ivan Vanko, played by Mickey Rourke, who will become Tony Stark’s newest and meanest villain. We are then taken forward to six months later where the annual Stark Expo is about to take place where Tony is the headlining star. He has new problems to face however when the US Supreme Court wants him to surrender the Iron Man suit to the US Military and a new competitor named Justin Hammer, played by Sam Rockwell. Things get even more complicated as well when Hammer decides to team up with Vanko to create a set of military drones designed to take down Tony Stark once and for all. On top of that Shield has sent an undercover agent in the form of The Black Widow, played by Scarlett Johansson to watch over Tony by posing as his new personal assistant when Pepper Potts is chosen by Tony as the CEO of Stark Industries when he finds out that the mechanical heart transplant thingy he got in the first movie is actually slowly killing him. Not to mention, Rhodes is back, this time played by Don Cheadle (replacing Terrance Howard from the first film) and he’s really getting fed up with Tony Stark’s brash behaviour to the point where he hijacks one of his older suits and brings it to the US Military for some upgrades from none other than Mr. Hammer (doesn’t his name sound like a porn star?) If this sounds like a lot … it is. The major problem with Iron Man 2 is that they’re just juggling way too many subplots for their own good. In fact the film is more of a patchwork of subplots than an actual plot. It bounces the viewer around a bit too much for my taste. Now that being said, it does do a pretty good job of combining all the elements together pretty cohesively and I never had a problem following along. I only had a problem trying to care about the characters as much as I did in the first movie where we spend much longer getting to know them then we do here. Things allowed themselves to take more time in the first movie, but now too much plot has driven the characters aside a little bit, which is unfortunate. Also, the unfortunate amount of plot forces character logic to be shoves aside a few times. Instead of long sweeping emotional strokes, everything happens in really fast splashes of drama. Characters will be angry with each other in one scene and make up in the next with little transition simply because the film doesn’t allot for it and that’s unfortunate. Not to mention how problems that should be big deals are often solved too quickly simply to move to the next plot point. For example, the drones that Vanko builds for Hammer are about as useful as the battle droids in The Phantom Menace. That being said I was, like I mentioned earlier, still entertained by the film. It still contained the same sense of fun and the same witty dialogue and surprisingly adept direction from Jon Favreau, who also takes more time to develop his own character of Happy Hogan.

In terms of overall mood Iron Man 2 attempts to present itself as being the dark Empire Strikes Back type of sequel in the first 5 minutes with the opening scene in Russia, but it’s all just a clever rouse. If anything Iron Man 2 is brighter than the first with a sharp wit and non-stop action. As soon as Iron Man makes his way through a roof to a cheering crowd of onlookers, we know where this film’s interests lie, in pleasing the real audience just as much as the onscreen one and to Favreau that seems to mean by throwing as much at you as he possibly can in the span of two hours. This means that Iron Man 2 is certainly never boring and it’s never really laugh out loud stupid either, but it’s almost too much to take. If this movie were a meal it would be a seven course dinner at McDonalds. Your first few Big Macs are great, but by the end you might be a little queasy. That’s not to say that the movie doesn’t lose its focus on Stark though. He is still firmly planted in the main character position and his slow death subplot does create a convenient means through which to make us sympathize with the billionaire playboy once again without any murdered parents to conveniently fall back on. Downy Jr. does a great job of portraying Stark’s plight without going too over-the-top and his character remains the easiest thing to attach to in this whirlwind of a film. The trouble with Iron Man 2 is trying to figure out which of the other characters to care about, which is unfortunate because I really wanted to care about all of them, but I had a hard time doing so because they were each only allowed so much screen time.

As for the actors themselves, I have to say first off that I liked Howard a little bit more than Cheadle as Rhodes. I think he embodied the military persona of the character much more convincingly, but maybe that’s just me. Everyone did a pretty fine job however, especially Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow who always seem to pull through, even when the script gets convoluted. Rourke and Rockwell are also perfect opposite each other as Rourke plays an extremely serious, bad-ass villain with a grudge and Rockwell, just plays a snivelling, second-place opportunist, sort of the Bill Gates to Tony Stark’s Steve Jobs if you will. Everyone else pulls through pretty well too with Johansson remaining the perfect casting choice for Black Widow and Samuel L. Jackson getting a bit more screen time then just a post-credits scene this time (stay tuned after the Iron Man 2 credits for another surprise). This was a short paragraph, but hey I don’t have much to complain about acting-wise.

So overall, what can I say about Iron Man 2? It’s an energetic blast of caffeine infected action and thrills coming at you from all sides, but ultimately it’s got a lot of heart and it doesn’t completely lose its way despite travelling a bit too fast at times and in the end it’s a heck of a lot of fun, just like the first one. Most fans will not be disappointed.

I give Iron Man 2 3.5/5.

Stay tuned next time for more blogs and reviews!

Audrey burst onto Hollywood out of nowhere in 1953 after a series of smaller roles to make her first starring appearance as Princess Ann in the classic Princess-cum-Commoner tale Roman Holiday with co-star Gregory Peck. Audiences ate up the film. It won 3 Oscars, including one for Hepburn’s acting. Though she would be nominated another 4 times, for Sabrina, The Nun’s Story, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and The Nun’s Story, she never won another Oscar. Audrey has starred in many of Hollywood’s most memorable roles in everything from musicals like My Fair Lady and Funny Face to thrillers like Charade and Wait Until Dark. Audrey displayed her acting diversity again and again from role to role, but never gave up her stylish beauty, even up to her death at the age of 63. Audrey got to star opposite most of Hollywood’s greatest leading men as well, with everyone from Rex Harrison to Humphrey Bogart to Carey Grant. Audrey became veritable Hollywood royalty.

Anyone who knows me knows of my love for Audrey Hepburn. It would almost be gay if I didn’t want to invent a time machine, go back to 1952 and marry her. Audrey Hepburn was not the typical Hollywood kind of beautiful, but that’s what I fell in love with about her. She wasn’t blonde, she didn’t have perfect legs or large breasts, but she had the most beautiful eyes and the most captivating smile anyone could imagine. She was truly beautiful in her own way and I think that’s why she captured America’s heart so quickly. Everyone else saw her beauty and her off-beat style and decided that’s what they wanted, to just be themselves, not to comply with the demands of society, but to dress the way they wanted and look the way they wanted and still be beautiful. She was an inspiration for millions of women for generations. I was actually first introduced to Audrey Hepburn when I was about 10 and watched a movie about her life on TV starring Jennifer Love Hewitt as Audrey. It wasn’t the greatest movie, but I was suddenly intrigued by this woman and now, a decade later, I’ve seen most of her films and I even own a gigantic Breakfast at Tiffany’s poster that had once garnered the walls of my bedroom.

Audrey Hepburn will always stay in my heart as she continues to capture it again and again. She was a truly beautiful woman and she will not be forgotten. Goodbye Audrey.

The house I am writing this in right now currently belongs to my parents. However, before this it belonged to my uncle and even before that my recently deceased Grandpa Tom (RIP). So this house has been in the family for more than 40 years. It’s really crazy when you think about it. I’m sleeping in the same room my Mom slept in when she was my age. That’s kind of creepy. Anyways, where I’m going with all this is back to a day in 1995 when my family was staying at what was once my Uncle’s house while it was up for sale to see if we wanted to buy it. My Uncle is a bit of a closet geek and I remember he had some Star Trek action figures on top of his TV and a copy of Star Wars on VHS. My Sister and my Mother were out grocery shopping and I was really bored. There really wasn’t much to do while I was staying there since I was away from all my toys, so I had to find something to occupy my time, so I was moping around and found a copy of a movie I had never heard of before called Star Wars on my Uncle’s book shelf. I went to my Dad and asked him what it was. He told me it was Star Wars, a very popular science fiction movie about robots and the like. He asked me if I wanted to watch it and I reluctantly agreed. I thought it might be kind of cheesy, but he convinced me to watch it.

Within the first five minutes I was hooked! I loved every second of it! The giant space station, the old, wise wizard, the dashing space rogue, the princess, the farm-boy, a couple of robots and the coolest villain I had ever seen, Darth Vader! It was amazing! I have never had and will never have another movie experience quite like watching Star Wars for the first time. It moved me, impacted me in ways I can’t even expressed and literally changed my life and the way I looked at movies. You could really trace my obsession with film back to that movie. After I watched it once I loved it so much that I just had to watch it again right away. My Mom and Sister came back right as Luke and his Rebel friends were attacking the Death Star. Suddenly Esther (That’s my Sister) wanted to know what was going on, so after I finished it, we watched it again together and she really liked it too! So we started watching it again. That’s right, four times in a row! Well, almost. You see, we only got about up to Mos Eisley when I suddenly developed a bladder infection and my parents to me to the hospital.Yeah, that wasn’t fun and I’ll never forget it, because it’s also tied with my Star Wars story.

A few weeks later my Dad, knowing how much I had loved the first movie went out and bought me the 1995 “One Last Time” Versions of the Star Wars trilogy on VHS. (Anyone remember those ones? They came with a Leonard Maltin Interview with George Lucas. Good Times.) I remember sitting back and watching The Empire Strikes Back that night and loving it too. It’s weird, but the biggest surprise to me was not Darth Vader being Luke’s Father (though that was quite a shock) It was the fact that Han was still in it. For some reason I figured hid storyline had ended after the first movie and he was going to bugger off and not return for the sequels. I don’t know why. I was really happy to see him come back though and I instantly fell in love with Empire just as much as A New Hope. I enjoyed Jedi as well when we watched it the next day and particularly liked the first part with Jabba and the Sarlaac Pit, but the last act of Jedi has always kind of bored me for some reason, though I did like the speeder bike chase a lot.

When I returned to school for Grade 3 in September I instantly garnered the nickname of “Hyperspace Kid” because everyone soon learned of my obsession with Star Wars. I kind of wish that nickname had stuck. It still sounds kind of cool and yet I ended up with Double D somehow. Oh well. Anyways, the Star Wars obsession continued with me buying everything Star Wars. I can still remember the joy I got every time I purchased a Star Wars action figure. I still have most of them in a box somewhere in my basement. They were like drugs to me. Opening the plastic, reading the description on the back of the box before cutting out the little character description for my Star Wars scrap book (yes, I even made a scrap book. I still have it actually if you want to see what every Star Wars chip bag ever made looks like) and then taking out the figure for the first time, setting them up and putting the little gun in their hand, even if they didn’t have a gun in the movie. Ever notice how EVERY Power of the Force figure came with a gun for some reason? Anyways, my obsession with Star Wars grew and grew until eventually my wildest dreams came true! A newer, better looking version of the Star Wars movies came to theaters! It was the Special Editions and while every older Star Wars fan was complaining about Greedo shooting first, I honestly didn’t give a womp-rat’s ass as I sat back in my big theater chair on opening night with a box of popcorn and enjoyed Star Wars for the first time on the big screen! Later on The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi also came out in Special Edition form and I was just as excited to see those as well. Star Wars was making a big comeback and I was more than excited to be part of that experience.

Now it’s been 15 years since my first Star Wars experience and I still love those movies like I was a child. The Star Wars Trilogy isn’t just a set of movies, it’s an experience for everyone who takes part in them. 15 years later and the magic is still there. 15 years later and I can still sit back like a little kid and watch my TV with wide eyes as Darth Vader stomps into the halls of the Leia’s ship for the first time and feel the same excitement as Luke uses the force to take down the Death Star, sending it exploding into a million tiny pieces as Han shouts, “Great shot kid, you’re one in a million!” These are the moments that stick with us as movie-goers for a lifetime! Star Wars is one in a million and whether you like the Prequels or not, whether you think that Han shot first or not, or whether or not you think that George Lucas has lost his mind (visit georgelucashaslosthismind.com for more info!) it really doesn’t matter because the Universe of Star Wars will continue to mesmerize children and children-at-heart for years to come. May the force be with you!

#1: Hire a new writer/ director/ producer.

Let’s face it, in the Executive Producer role George Lucas is usually a genius, he knows how to get money for his films and how to make money with them, securing 100′s of millions of $’s for his film’s budgets and even more moolah through merchandizing deals with everyone from Toys R Us to Pizza Hut. I don’t deny that he should have stayed in the role of grand overseer of the franchise, but the more creative positions should have been handed to someone else. I’m not sure who, but someone else. George can come up with decent storylines and character arcs that other writers can then take and mold into something amazing ala what Lawrence Kasdan did with Empire and Raiders of the Lost Ark. George however, is not that great of a writer. His dialogue is shoddy, (he chalks it up to an attempt to reminiscent of old space serials, but let’s face it they weren’t trying to be cheesy, they just were, because they were made fast and on the cheap.) his characters are poorly developed and his plotlines need some major reworking for plot holes (Episode 1) as well as pacing issues (Episode 2). George should also not be allowed to direct, because he stinks at it, choosing to focus on special effects and character design over acting and story. He also just doesn’t have the same energy he had in the late 70′s. He should have let someone else do it. And for fuck’s sake, fire Rick McCallum. He’s a fat ass money-grubbing dick hole and I don’t like him.

#2: Less CGI please.

George Lucas all of sudden developed some kind of a fascination with CGIing everything! In fact, thanks to him the term CGI is now a verb as well as a noun. I can understand CGI for some things that can’t be achieved with modern technology using miniatures, make-up, matte paintings, etc., but CGIing Yoda was a huge no-no, especially when it was Jim Henson’s puppet-work that made the character. Also whole planets and sets were CGIed when they didn’t need to be and hell even the Clone Trooper’s suits. The fucking Clone Trooper suits! Why? Was it that hard to just make some suits guys? Really? Let’s face it, whenever you don’t have to CGI something, then don’t do it. Real almost always looks better.

#3: Make the Universe bigger, not smaller.

Boba Fett, C-3P0, R2-D2, Chewbacca; what do all of these characters have in common? The fact that none of them needed to be in the prequels. We didn’t need to see C-3P0 being built by Anakin. We didn’t need to see Boba Fett hangin’ out with his Dad. We didn’t need to see Yoda hitchin’ a ride on Chewie’s back. I’m pretty sure when people saw the original Star Wars movies they weren’t like, “You know what would be fucking sweet? If Boba Fett was a 10 year old with Daddy issues! Fuck yeah!” No one ever said that, except George Lucas for some reason. We also didn’t need to see Tatooine. How about introducing Anakin from a different planet and maybe have Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru be a couple that he knew from his home world that went to the outer reaches of Tatooine to AVOID Darth Vader’s grasp. Why would they send young Luke to Darth Vader’s home world? Yeah, because he’s never going to visit it or put surveillance on it or take control of it with the Empire. Surely he doesn’t care about his home world at all! I would much rather have seen new planets, new characters, new bad-asses to exist alongside Boba Fett and Han Solo, instead we get the same characters and worlds recycled. I guess George Lucas is just getting lazy and you know what familiarity breeds…angry fanboys. Now granted, there are some characters from the originals that have to make a repeat appearance here. They would be Anakin/ Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and Palpatine/ Darth Sidious. You can’t tell the prequel story without them, but some more new faces would have been nice as well. Although Mace Windu was a total bad-ass, I’ll give them that.

#4: Less is more.

In the original trilogy we had 3 planets in each movie, count ‘em: A New Hope had Tatooine, The Death Star (technically not a planet, but still) and Yavin 4, in Empire we had Hoth, Dagobah and Cloud City and in Return of the Jedi we had Tatooine, The Death Star II (you can already see Lucas’s creativity starting to wane) and Endor. By the time we got to Episode III there were like 18 planets! Planetary overload! I never knew where the hell I was in that movie. I think part of it was on an asteroid or something. I’m just confused. They should have kept the formula and kept the movies to 3 planets a piece, maybe 5 max. There are also a lot of shots where there’s so much happening on screen that it’s confusing more than aesthetically pleasing. When did the Star Wars Universe get so fucking crowded? It’s a whole Universe! There’s a lot of space! Also there was so much going on by the time we got to the third movie, that again I was just confused. Entertained, but confused, this will bring me to my fifth point…

#5: Cut to the chase.

George wastes so much time in the first two movies that ALL the important stuff is in the third one. Think about how much more entertaining the movies would have been if The Clone Wars started at the end of the first movie instead of the second one. Also how much better would they have been if Anakin was older than 10 in the first movie and therefore his relationship with Padme was allowed to develop a little bit more in the first film instead of leaving all that for the second one. Honestly, if you think about it, when he appears as Jedi ghost at the end of Jedi Anakin is like 50, that means he’d be about 20-25 when the adventure starts, thus making his attraction to Padme a little less Rushmore-esque. Also, what if Luke and Leia are born at the end of the second movie, though Padme isn’t killed until the end of the third one? This would raise a lot more tension in the third film as Padme attempts to hide the children (possibly with Obi-Wan’s help) and it would also make the “Do you remember your mother?” scene from Jedi make a lot more sense. Also Luke’s seduction to the dark side could have happened more slowly over the course of all three films, instead of being relegated almost entirely to the third film. If things happened faster they could have been spread out better and the films would have been better. Period.

#6: Don’t wait until the second act to introduce your hero.

This is a short point and I was going to include it in the last point, but I figured it deserved its own. Episode 1 would have been so much better if we’re introduced to Anakin almost immediately. We’d be allowed to get to know his character, the empathize with his plot, to understand him and really walk in his shoes, then when the other heroes show up and take him away on the adventure of a lifetime, we’d already care enough about the hero that we want to see him win, therefore making him lose even more tragic. Instead we barely get to know Anakin and when we do he’s whiny and annoying. Sure Luke was a little whiny too, but at least we cared about Luke. What if we cared about Anakin just as much? We’d look at Vader completely differently. Instead I was actually kind of glad when he got owned at the end of Ep. III…because he was a douche bag.

#7: Stop explaining everything!

I don’t need to know that there’s a female version of Yoda. I don’t need to know what Boba Fett looked like under the mask. I don’t need to know that the force is controlled by some kind of biological beings called Midichlorians that don’t even exist! This pissed me off most of all! Why take something as mythical and powerful as The Force and explain it with science that isn’t even real. Maybe it was a move to please atheists who didn’t like the more religious aspects of the force. Well first off, fuck atheists! And secondly, even they don’t want The Force to be controlled by fake science. The shit in Weird Science made more sense than this shit. What made the Star Wars Universe so fascinating was what you didn’t see, what was never explained. Boba Fett was cool because you never saw what he looked like under the mask. The Force was cool because you never knew how it worked. It just worked. Not everything needs to be explained.

#8: Make Jar Jar a little less insulting.

It was inevitable that I would talk about Jar Jar here. First off, I don’t hate Jar Jar. In fact Jar Jar was the character who should have replaced R2 and 3P0, the neutral party through whose eyes we see the entire story, even though they don’t belong in it. If anything, he should have been developed a little better, but that’s the thing, they should have DEVELOPED Jar Jar. Instead he was used for cheap poop jokes and it makes the whole thing cheaper for it. I just wish he would have been a little less goofy, still goofy, but not as insulting to the audience’s intelligence.

#9: Too much politics!

When have politics ever been entertaining? Never, that’s when! There is so much pointless politics here, its mindboggling! Sure, politics lead to war and everyone wanted to see what the senate actually looked like, but jeez, cut back on the trade agreement-this and honourable delegate-that. Show us a little bit of politics to get the point across, but these movies were a political overload, another sign of Lucas losing his energy in his old age. I think he attended one too many town council meetings.

#10: wait a minute. Isn’t this supposed to be BEFORE the originals?

Then why the hell does it look like the technology is further along? It should actually look like it happens before the originals, with technology behind what it was in the new ones. Another point here is all the plot holes in the prequels that George fixed by changing the old ones instead of the new ones! The prequels should coincide with the original mythos, not the other way around. Things should be even less advanced here. Now granted, things that look run down in the OT would be brand new in the PT. That’s OK, but the computers and ships and guns and everything else is further along now. That just doesn’t make any sense, I’m sorry.

So that’s about it, follow these 10 simple steps and the prequels would have simmered perfectly into a delicious dish that everyone could have enjoyed instead of the mildly entertaining, forgettable films they ended up being. Like I said earlier, I don’t really hate the Star Wars Prequels. I just think they could have been so much better and these are my top ten reasons of why the Star Wars Prequels should have kicked the audience’s ass, but didn’t. I hope you enjoyed them. And maybe next time we can hope that George Lucas will be thinking of the audience more than his pocket book. Midichlorians? Really? REALLY!?

Be sure to check out Dave’s articles on the site as well which can be found
One of Dave’s article

Our segment starts around 2:15 or so

One of the things that makes The Beatles Rock Band such an interesting game is that it’s an almost educational experience. You’ll play through the Beatles entire career from their humble roots in a Liverpool club to the infamous rooftop concert. You’ll learn when certain songs were recorded, who sings which song and even how challenging their respective instrumentation might have been. You’ll discover first-hand just how much more talented Paul was compared to Ringo and through various unlockable photos and video clips you’ll learn more about the Beatles than you ever knew before.

There’s something quite surreal about being able to play as such living legends too. It’s different from the regular version of Rock Band where you can have a large, African American man in a gas mask singing a No Doubt song, here everything is about Authenticity. You play as The Beatles themselves in custom animated “dreamscapes” and re-created concert experiences. You even get to experience the band’s changing style as the game progresses. You’ll remember how stupid Paul looked with a full beard and how at one point every member had a moustache for some reason and so on. Nothing compares to being able to sit down, grab a guitar and pretend that you’re George Harrison or John Lennon in front of a crowd of adoring teenagers. It’s something everyone’s imagined at least once and now you get as close as ever to achieving your dreams thanks to modern-day video game innovations. Even the dreamscapes are shockingly similar to what was probably going through the Beatles minds when they were writing and recording these songs while consuming certain mind-altering substances. In fact, my only major complaint with this game is it didn’t come with nearly enough songs, considering the Beatles gigantic catalogue of classics. I could name a dozen chart-topping Beatles tunes that don’t feature on the game and that’s unfortunate, but luckily there is a solution.

That solution is the advent of something fairly new to the world of video gaming, downloadable content. Console gaming and internet use are now almost synonymous and downloadable content or DLC for short is invading the world of gaming by introducing download exclusive songs, levels, characters, weapons and so on to the video games that we all know and love. Thanks to this solution, whole Beatles albums are now being released to be played on your console. Let’s face it; if you own Beatles Rock Band, you have no excuse to not be picking up this content, especially when you can play Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in its entirety from start to finish. C’mon people! It’s freakin’ Sgt. Pepper! Rolling Stone Magazine named it the greatest album of all time and for good reason. Right now, Sgt. Pepper, Abby Road and Rubber Soul are all available for download to add to this already stunning game. The amazing thing about the various DLC songs is how much they integrate into the game, the studio banter that play before the song starts is still there, it still tells you when it was recorded and each song comes with either a new dreamscape or is integrated into a concert setting if it was, in fact, played at said concert. It feels like the new material could have come with the game. It works wonderfully and if you consider yourself a hardcore gamer and a hardcore Beatles fan, you can’t miss this experience that takes a game that was already great and makes it even greater. My only complaint is that once again, it would be nice to get more, and I can only hope for more in the future. The Beatles have so many amazing albums, it would be wonderful to see Please Please Me or Revolver or (my personal favourite) The White Album released as downloadable content, not to mention all the songs that were only ever released as singles such as Love Me Do or Hey Jude. I’d love to see more individual non-album tracks thrown into the DLC mix for fun.

I can’t really complain though, I mean playing through the over-15-minute-long medley at the end of Abbey Road as one long, uninterrupted song (and yes, it even includes Her Majesty) is an experience like no other and as I was saying earlier, it’s an almost educational experience. There were times that I thought that John or Paul were singing something when Beatles Rock Band showed me that it was really George or Ringo, etc. You gain an appreciation for this music when you’re really playing through it rather than just listening to it. The only other way to gain this kind of appreciation is to go out, buy a guitar and learn the songs in real life, but for everyone else there’s Beatles Rock Band, from Harmonix, EA, MTV Games and Apple Corp. Thanks guys for making something that takes a wonderful band and makes them even more wonderful. I can only hope for more DLC support in the future, but until then I’ll follow the sun. For This Week in Geek, I’ve been David “Double D” Denis. We’ll talk later.

6. Philosopher’s Stone – I know this one was supposed to set up the characters and everything, but it fealt like  just a bunch of random classroom scenes with no real plot until like the last 20 minutes when they must have been like, “Oh wait, we forgot to give it a plot!” So they just kind of tack one on. Plus the CGI was terrible. Compare it to The Fellowship of the Ring which came out the same year and it just looks bad.  It did get me interested in the overall franchise though, so it succeeded in that regard, but failed in most others.

5.  Chamber of Secrets – This was a slight step up from Philosopher’s Stone, but not much more. It had a lot more memorable moments, but it suffered from bad pacing and being too long (it’s still the longest movie in the series). It’s not as bad as everyone seems to think, but it could have been way better.

4. Goblet of Fire – This one also suffered from pacing issues, focusing too much on the tasks that Harry has to do and not enough on the bad guy or the actual plot leaving a lot characters undeveloped. It was still throughly enjoyable, but suffered from a major lack of focus in the editing room that made the film feel clunky and awkward.

3. Half-Blood Prince – Once again, this film suffered from pacing issues and having too much teen romance and angst. Not only that, but it felt like they were just getting all the exposition and romance out of the way before they make a much more entertaining seventh film. It may sound like I’m complaining a lot about this one, but despite all it’s flaws it was a thoroughly enjoyable movie and it was kind of nice to see the things that were only hinted at in the other films finally come to fruition. Even if not much more happened beyond that. I really liked this one despite it’s flaws.

2. Prisoner of Azkaban – This one was throrougly entertaining, esspecially once you get to the end and a lot of the stuff from earlier in the movie starts making more sense. It had action, humour and a very entertaining delivery that was never really what you expected. A few loose ends were kind of left undone, but they’re ussually left like that because they mention them again in the next film. Unlike Cho’s subplot, which just dropped off the face of the Earth. Cuaron should have directed all of the Harry Potter movies in my opinion, although David Yates is doing a good job.

1. Order of the Phoenix – This one’s my fave. It’s got the right amount of humour, action, suspence and a general sense of fun and danger that makes the whole movie very entertaining.  I don’t really have much to say about this film other than I really like it.

So there you have it. I’ve never read the books and I know nothing of Harry Potter lore other than what I saw in the movies, but those are my judgments from a critical perspective. I hope you don’t totally disagree. Anyways, I’ve got to get back to watching more porn, I mean movies. I’ll catch you guys later with some more awesome blog posts!