Hunger Games

Preface: I'm an enormous Jennifer Lawrence fan and I didn't read the books on this one.

I really enjoyed the Hunger Games as someone who knew VERY little about the story. The story is Earth, or wherever they are, had a revolt 75 years ago and in retribution of the revolt the 12 Districts the "world" is broken into has to offer a sacrifice of one 12-18 girl & boy to fight to the death for the enjoyment of others into THE HUNGER GAMES. They are filmed and it's a grand affair with banquets, a parade, and interviews. They train for four days, are judged, then it's game-time. It's a movie that REALLY should have been R-rated to convey more intensity and realism. My biggest beef, and it's a huge one is the Parkinson's camera as I call it. It's jittery and all over the place during action scenes. It bothered me an insane amount in Batman Begins and it's the same here. I hate jump cuts and shaky camera work. It's a total cop-out to good choreography and acting. It hides violence, which was probably necessary to secure a PG-13 rating, but it's super distracting. Very good ensemble cast with notables being Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, and Jennifer Lawrence. The other actors do well, especially the younger child actors. I just really couldn't get past the shaky camera work. Everything else was really good, I just hated the lack or realism and actual fighting/violence.

Bottom Line: 9.0 out of 10. Right up there with Girl with a Dragon Tattoo for best film of the year, not sure if that came out in 2012 come to think of it... Lawrence, Harrelson, and LENNY KRAVITZ deserve nods for really good performances. Highly recommend jumping out and seeing this movie while it's in theaters.

Run Lola Run

I finally saw a movie that I heard was interesting awhile back featuring Franke Potente of Bourne Identity fame. She plays the girlfriend of a low-level gangster who loses 100K in DEUTSCHEMARKS that he's supposed to give to the local gangster boss in 20 minutes. Lola, AKA Franke Potente is forced to try to come up with 100K in 20 minutes and meet him in front of a grocery store a mile or so away. There's some great shots of Lola running through the streets, and my God is there a lot of running. Lola getting money to her boyfriend Manni is replayed three different ways at 20 minutes a pop. All with different outcomes to all characters. It intertwines Lola's Papa's affair to throw a little more spice into the story, but really it's just a frenetically paced moved that's interesting because of the camera work and performance of Potente. I wasn't a huge fan, but I did like the camera work. I imagine in 1998 when it came out it was a lot more riveting and interesting.

Bottom Line: 7.1 out of 10. It was worth the dollar rental, that is a fact. The soundtrack of techno/punk/rocky stuff is pretty interesting as well. Nothing special, but a pretty decent 90 minutes of adrenaline.

Immortals

I succumbed to wanting to see a stupid action movie and watched Immortals last night. It has Mickey Rourke as a tyrannical Kings who apparently only needs to steamroll one country to unleash "The Titans" back on the world. The Titans were imprisoned by the Gods after the war to start Earth occurred. It butchers and ignores mythology, which bothers me, but this movie wasn't near good enough to run with it's own story so it borrowed from mythology to try to make substance and that really pissed me off. Rourke is alright as a crazed King and there is some decent action scenes. That's the highlight as the rest is pretty much thrown together and baseless. There's a magical bow and arrow that's essentially like a howitzer coming at you, but it runs on magical light arrows that don't make any sense. Theseus (Hero) goes from kicking everyone's ass to getting his ass beat by old man Rourke. Save the few decent action sequences like the God's fighting and a few of Theseus' rampages the film pretty much sucks.

Bottom Line: 3.9 out of 10. Nice to look at visually, but the story, acting, plot, script, etc are pretty crappy. The few decent action scenes save this movie from me really tearing it apart.

Go

I saw an interesting throw a bunch of people whose stories all intersect movie in GO. really strong ensemble cast: Jay Mohr, Scott Wolf, Timothy Olymphant, Katie Holmes, Sarah Polly and Taye Diggs. You'll recognize most people in this movie as most have gone on to bigger & better, or were something before this movie (Mohr, Holmes, Wolf). The story follows a group of young convenience store clerks who are all looking for something to do on Christmas. Interesting mix of thugs, drugs, and craziness. Pretty fast-paced and gripping just on the simple fact that you bounce from character to character every 15 minutes. Does a great job of tying everything together while keeping you guessing on how it's all going to come together and end. I miss Jay Mohr being a smart-ass rich guy all the time.

Bottom Line: 7.9 out of 10. Really worth seeing for the performances and how everything is tossed together like a Guy Ritchie film. An excellent low-budget film that can be found on movie channels and such.

Winter's Bone

I finally got to see Winter's Bone since I just joined Family Video and it's preposterously cheap to rent movies there. I've wanted to see it for awhile because of the great reviews I heard and I thought it was a good thing to see before the Hunger Games to see Jennifer Lawrence in her breakout role. Winter's Bone is the story of a backwoods family, I thought it was West Virginia, but apparently it was all filmed in Missouri. Jennifer Lawrence plays the 17 year-old daughter who takes take of her younger brother and sister because her mom is incapacitated and a mute and her dad is on the run from the law. Her Dad signs their house and land up to post bond and Jennifer Lawrence must find him before their house it taken away and her family is homeless. You meet various hillbillies, rednecks, whatever you want to call them who resist Lawrence's character (Ree) and do their best to ruin any chance she has of trying to find her dad. It's a dark, brutal look into Ozark life and the strange backwoods way of doing things. Using a great cast of locals and actors I'm sure this was accomplished on a shoestring budget with relative unknowns for everything. I think it's excellent in all aspects, it really has an almost documentary feel, like you're along for the ride in this way of life. Lawrence carries the film as she must as the star in a no-frills film that relies on nothing but the actors and filmography to set the mood. It's very bare bones and gritty, but really it's the only way to convey the mood and way of life.

Bottom Line: 8.9 out of 10. Strong in all ways, just really depressing and dark subject matter throughout, but so well done that you stay involved throughout. Something that should be seen if you don't mind the fact it's not all special effects and action, but human emotions that are the flashy part of this film.

The Conversation

I went old school and DVR'd a movie from 1974 called "The Conversation" starring Gene Hackman and a few other notables in minor roles like John Cazale, Harrison Ford, and Robert Duvall. The story focuses on Hackman who is the premiere surveillance man in the business. You follow him and his crew as they tape a couple who are talking about plans to continue an affair. Hackman is instructed to bring the tapes to "The Director" and only him. There are nefarious words uttered by the couple exclaiming "He'd kill us if he had the chance" and Hackman can't look past the fact that if he hands in the tapes the young couple could be in danger. You get glimpses into Hackman's past as he is primarily a recluse. He's known primarily by reputation only. The film is pure suspense and just does a great job of not letting you know too much information about anything. The mystery and intrigue are thick, and I'm always a monster fan of Hackman. It ends strangely, but fittingly.

Bottom Line: 8.4 out of 10. Just an excellent movie. Technology and such are dated, but it's really all about the plot and acting, which are plenty to carry it.

Peyton Manning

I've had a complicated relationship with Peyton Manning. I disliked the shit out of him throughout college and most of his pro career. I reveled in the fact that he couldn't win the big game for most of his career. I enjoyed the fact of his continued failures for some reason. I think perhaps I thought there was some arrogance on his part that I really didn't like. He has done nothing but slowly win me over since that time. You only hear about his legendary work ethic and football intelligence. He's been hilarious and cordial in all events and shows he's been a part of. He does charity work and is always described as a nice guy. He gives handwritten notes to a select few players who retire expressing his appreciation for them. He was then thrown the harshest of sentences having an injury that despite anything he would do simply would not heal. His team, the one he built from worst to first and a perennial contender has moved on refusing to pay him $28 million dollars to continue to use his services. Nothing is more "what have you done for me lately" than the sports world. He handled this with utmost class of course, but now there's nothing but question marks in his future. A truly unrestricted free agent the likes of which we've never seen. The Colts without him struggled to win a game this year. He's probably a packaged deal with Manning stalwart Reggie Wayne. I'm excited for this to unfold. It puts crazy pressure on Andrew Luck to replace a legend right out of the gates. I love it and can't wait for the craziness to ensue. I love me the draft and this one will be no different.

Game on.

Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows

Saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie at the cheap seats and I was very entertained. I am an ENORMOUS Robert Downey Jr. fan, so I'm biased. He does an amazing job portraying a VERY complex character. Jared Harris is an excellent professor Moriarty, Holmes' greatest nemesis. Jude Law returns as does Rachel McAdams. This follows solely Holmes obsession with catching Moriarty red-handed in being the greatest criminal mastermind in the world. It is an epic journey much more action oriented than the first film. Good story tracking Moriarty around Europe and his various actions and countering everything. It gets a little weird with his "slow the world down" stuff, but you can get past it. You are always a few steps behind and it's never ridiculous enough to piss you off. Twists, turns, and a lot of ass kicking.

Bottom Line: 8.4 out of 10. Need to see it at some point since it's cheap now, I can't imagine you being disappointed on this one. It's just really good all the way around.

48 Hrs.

I finally saw the classic kind-of "buddy cop" film 48 hrs. It's perfect vehicle for Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy. Nolte plays the grizzled "not by the book" cop obsessed with finding the man who took his gun and killed two police officers. Murphy is the SUPER-slick con man who gets out of prison on a 48 hour pass to help bring "Ganz" to justice. Both actors are great, especially Murphy who used this as a vehicle to split from SNL and begin his amazing career, recent films not withstanding. It effortless blends action and humor and I can imagine it was amazing bold for 1982. It's crazy to think Murphy was only 21 at the time while you watch it. Really a good film and worth watching if it slipped through the cracks on you, like it did for me.

Bottom Line: 8.6 out of 10. Entertaining, well-acted and written. Rock solid.

Act of Valor

I had some worries jumping into this knowing it was using current U.S. Navy Seals, not actors for the roles. You will notice it's not as smooth as other movies in terms of dialogue and some acting parts, but it is all made up for in simply the most realistic military movie ever made. I also want to preface that the Seals are NOT bad actors, they do a fine job. The movie follows a Navy Seal team through a series of missions that start out as a rescue, then turns into a manhunt. They are so smooth and badass in the combat sequences that it really sets a standard for movies to follow. I did HATE the Call of Duty-esque camera view from time to time. It detracted and felt really gimmicky and cheap. The film is pretty heart-wrenching and gritty, it really doesn't pull any punches about the life of our armed forces. There isn't a lot of room for comedy and joy, just some character development and right into it. Really a tribute/ recruiting film for our military, but certainly worth seeing the most realistic combat you'll see.

Bottom Line: 8.2 out of 10. It's really worth checking out, bring tissue or a handkerchief, probably going to come in handy.