The Men Who Stare at Goats.

The Men Who Stare at Goats.
Blu Ray and DVD.


It has a silly name but it is well worth watching. Jeff Bridges plays a stoner army colonel who leads an army of hippy soldiers. George Clooney plays a psychically trained soldier, who was once the number one psychic in the military. As the story progresses, he tries to convince reporter Ewan McGregor that he is a real life Jedi warrior.

The casting of McGregor as a doubting reporter was a giant nod to the audience as he is famous for playing a Jedi warrior.

This was based off of a true story about the military creating an army of hippy, psychic warriors that would change the world with peace and not lethal weapons. The previews made it seem like a comedy and while there are funny parts, it is more in the situations and the acting than in the jokes.

The story of the psychic army was told in flashback as Ewan and George travel through Iraq during the initial American occupation.

The fact that this is a actual true story that took place just a short time ago makes you really think. Some of the things, such as Barney music being played 24 hours a day to torture prisioners, I remembered hearing about in the news.

Kevin Spacey played the role he seems best at; a guy with his own agenda who doesn't care for authority.

On a side note my Safeway club card is registered under the name of Ewan McGregor.

7 out of 10
Taylor

X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
DVD and Blu ray.


There can never be another actor who plays Wolverine as well as Hugh Jackman. For decades people will identify him as this character. In fact, he helped redefine the whole comic to movie experience and legitimized actors playing (what some might consider) a role for children.

Hugh Jackman looks younger now and is in better shape than he was ten years ago for the original X-Men movie. His face has aged a little, but you can hardly tell he’s as old as he is.

As a reader of the comics, I already knew a lot about Wolverine's origins {read the “Wolverine: Origins,” graphic novel}. But like the X-men movie series it was its own creation. Basically the X-men movies made their own version of the mythos and that's where this movie ties in.

It is loosely based on the Wolverine Origin comic series, but altered to fit the movie series. Which is okay in the big picture, because the comics get more detailed and go into much greater depth than can be translated into a two-hour movie. Plus, it was a prequel to the trilogy already in place. The only really obvious thing changed from comic to movie was the fact that Victor and Logan are now brothers. In the comic Logan had a older brother (not Victor) that also has claws but was assumed dead. He comes back to find Logan years later.

This movie serves not only as a prequel to the X-men movie series but as a start of a new series of movies. Wolverine 2 is coming out in 2012, X-men Origins: The First Class in 2011 and Deadpool also in 2012.

We see Wolverine, or as he is called for most of the movie James, Jimmy or Logan, through the years in the early 1800's. We get to see the emergence of his powers when he was a child. We also see him with his brother Victor fighting every war in the past 150 years up until Vietnam. At this point both Logan and similarly powered Victor get arrested for treason and heal after being executed. They are the recruited into a special ops team full of other mutants. Logan has an ethical issue with their missions and leaves. Years later members of the team are being killed one by one which force Logan to become Wolverine.

A lot happened in this movie and more was explained, like why Logan has no memory past a certain point. There are even a few nods to history like the top secret base being under 3 mile island. This is a better movie then X-men 3: the Last Stand, well worth watching and owning.

It did leave me with one question: What was the deal with Deadpool? Did they just ignore the history of that character and change it for some unknown reason? There was seemingly no reason to drastically change his history. This is the only major thing I saw wrong with the story of this movie and the only hard core reason to not have given this movie a 10.

In the early 90's it was rumored that Wolverine would be played by Harvey Kietel. Scott Bakula was slated to play Cyclops. Lucy Lawless was in talks to be recruited. Rumors about Christian Slater abounded. Luckily that version never came to be. The story centered around Jubilee and Gambit joining the X-men and fighting Sentinals. The plot was based on a similar story to the X-men: Adventures animated tv show.

One Christmas I dressed in a Wolverine costume and put on a Santa hat and called myself Santa Claws. No one laughed. Maybe with the revived popularity this movie has produced. I'd try again this year, but the suit seems to have shrunk. I might need to lose some weight before trying on the spandex again though. Just a little weight.


71/2 out of 10
Taylor

Arrested Development: the movie.

Arrested Development: the movie. 
Bluth Watch. 

Will Arnett and David Cross both announced they read what there is of a script and loved it. Apparently it is 75% done. 

Release date 2012. 

Predators

Predators. 
Blu Ray and DVD 


Originality is something that is often missing in sequels. After so many failures on the big screen (Predator 2, Aliens vs Predator and Aliens vs Predator 2) it's nice to see movie that doesn't try to rewrite the series or revamp it but stays true to the actual feel of the original. 

I would say, more then anything, that this movie has recharged the series and could easily lead to more movies being made. 

There are several references to the first Predator movie that reminds us how good science fiction horror movies can be. I personally like the use of some of the music from the original. 

Predators starts out when a handful of soldiers and warriors (and Topher Grace) from modern Earth, awaken on another planet which is used as a hunting reserve for the Predators. 

Through the course of the movie we learn that the multinational ethnic group of humans are predators in their own right as one by one they get picked off. There is an awesome sword fight between a predator and a yakuza gang member. Another fight between a regular predator and the newer, superior, 2nd kind of predator was neat too. 

I've really got to compliment whoever did the mask effects for the predators. It was very real and if computer effects was used I couldn't tell. 

That being said... the casting wasn't so great. I never could really believe Adrien Brody as a hero. Laurence Fishburne plays a crazy multi-personality survivor from a hunt years earlier and did a fairly decent job. Danny Trejo aka Machette plays Danny Trejo. Topher Grace played the same character from That 70's show except for him being a psychopath. 

One thing I was hoping for was a little more explanation about the Predators. How does a society that worships hunting and killing build and maintain spaceships? Someone has to build stuff. How did that society evolve? How do they communicate with each other? How does a species that can only see in shades of infrared travel through space? An Alien prequel is in the works that if supposed to fill in some gaps and connect the two series even more. 

As I write this Predators 2 has been announced. Sure to be more Predators than Chris Hansen can catch. 

If you loved the Predator movies you'll love this one. This brings back the feel of the first movie big time. 


7 out of 10
Taylor

Year One.

Year One.
Blu Ray and DVD.


I was told by my editor (wife) that this was the worst movie ever made and that I shouldn't watch it because it was so stupid. That being said, I watched it anyway.

Year One was written and directed by Harold Ramis, writer, director and actor of the Ghostbusters movies. He played Egon and is a genuinely funny guy.


This movie stars Jack Black and Michael Cera in their typecast roles of fat loud mouthed loser and shy nerdy loser. The only thing that differentiates this from a typical Black or Cera movie is that it is set in biblical times. David Cross was hilarious as Cain, from the story of Cain and Abel. But that's about it for the hilarity.


The story is about two cavemen that get banished from their village and must go out into the world at the beginning of recorded history. At first they just wander, but eventually run into others of their tribe that are now slaves. Their attempts to save them ends disastrous. During their journey they run into Cain and Abel and end up in Sodom after meeting Isaac and his son.

Both Black and Cera play roles that they are very comfortable with. Here's the real problem: on paper this movie sounds great but on film it doesn't work so well. It felt like the movie had a lot of backing, but was rushed through.

There's a lot of toilet humor and sex jokes all throughout the movie. I will be honest, I laughed a couple times.

This movie could have been great. While it is not the best comedy I have seen it is not the worst. I'd say skip this movie. Next time I might listen to my wife (hmm... probably not).


3 out of 10.
Taylor.

The Book of Eli.

The Book of Eli. 
DVD and Blu Ray. 

This movie walks a thin line between science fiction, apocalyptic survival horror and religion. The story is set some thirty years after a war opened a hole in the atmosphere which let the sun burn everything for about a year. The hole also caused a blinding flash which took away the eyesight of many survivors.  Those that survived underground or other safe places tried to rebuild but they had no foundations to build on. Society blamed religion and burned all of the bibles, hence the Book of Eli. 

Denzel Washington hasn't seemed to age in the last decade and kicks some butt fighting gang trash. He stays true to character and on mission to his goal of heading west with the book he reads from everyday. 

Gary Oldman plays the villain, a abusive minor king of a small kingdom he pieced together from his knowledge of fresh water springs. Oldman himself seems to be weathered in this movie and practically has a roadmap of lines on his face. 

During his journey west Eli meets bikers, cannibals and Malcom McDowell with what might be the world's worst wig. He also gets stuck with a side kick played by Mila Kunis, it was a interchangeable role that anyone could have done. Mila Kunis has obviously had some acting lesson since that 70's show which was an improvement.

The ending was surprising and makes watching Eli's journey (and how Denzel Washington handles the secrets we learn about him) worth rewatching. 

Eli's quest and book are religious in nature. All he had to go off of was his faith. It was not preachy, which is nice for those that are not to religious. 

8 out of 10
Taylor

Robin Hood.

Robin Hood
DVD and Blu ray

There are more the a few Robin Hood movies and tv series. Pretty much everyone knows the story of Robin of Loxley fighting corruption, the Sherriff of Nottingham and Prince John. 

This time around we see Robin Hood now with the last name Longstride. A simple archer in the crusades, he fight in a couple engagements as King Richard's army makes it's way from the middle east back to England. Only to find that France is trying to kill the king. The whole mess makes the king's brother, Richard, into king who spends the majority of the movie demanding late tax payments.  

This Robin Hood is a whole new twist on the story with additions of actually history such as the Magna Carta Dukes and the crusades. 

Russell Crowe was okay as the title character, it just seems he played the Gladiator in a different outfit.  Maid Marion was hardly used as a character while all other versions have her as a major player. 

I would have liked to see more of the merry men. Little John, Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet are there but more as a background filler. The only view of the rest of the merry men was at the end when Robin Hood lives with the outlaws in the forest. 

From the get go this movie had script problems and was being rewritten even as filming was done. This is an okay movie to rent at a Redbox or Netflix when you have nothing else more important to watch. 

6 out of 10
Taylor