Land of the Lost

[I have put off posting on the last three movies I've seen. As a result they will probably be shorter and less detailed because I can't find my notes.]

Land of the Lost is a movie that I have pretty much nothing to say about. You should know that I am not a huge Will Ferrell fan. I do like a lot of his movies, but I do not like everything he does. This movie falls into the not like side of his work. It is mildly entertaining, but I do not feel that I had a lot of enjoyment from it.

Essentially, Dr. Rick Marshall believes that travel through space and time is the key to science. He has found a way to go through a space-time vortex and as a result finds himself in a world of very freaky things (along with this two co-stars). Hilarity is supposed to ensue, instead the occasional chuckle ensues.

Land of the Lost gets one kernel - I am glad I only paid $2 to see this movie though Will Ferrell fans may like it a whole lot more.

Public Enemies

Public Enemies is based on the true story of John Dillinger (and other public enemies) and the efforts to bring them to justice, led by Melvin Purvis. Some time has passed since I've seen this movie, and while I still feel like it was pretty good, I also think that there were some flaws. It seems to me that there were just too many characters. Some of them you got to know briefly and others were around for quite a while, but it was difficult to remember their name because so many were flying around in the story.

Johnny Depp did do a good job portraying Dillinger. Marion Cotillard, in her role as Billie Frechette, was also very good. Christian Bale was perhaps a little forgettable as Melvin Purvis. I think a number of people could have done the role just as well or better. I wish the plot had allowed for more depth into the character of Purvis, as he is so important but we really know nothing about him.

Public Enemies gets two kernels - pretty good movie with good acting, but something keeping it from being great.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past is actually pretty good. I wasn't expecting a whole lot from this movie, but it was fairly entertaining. Matthew McConaughey, who plays Connor Mead, is obviously good at playing the jerk that sleeps with as many women as possible but is actually a nice guy deep down. We've seen him do it a dozen times before. The main love interest, Jenny Perotti, is played by Jennifer Garner. Like several of her other roles, Jennifer plays a strong independant woman who is quite admirable.

The plot to this movie is essentially this; Connor Mead is a womanizer. He goes home for his brother's wedding and finds the ghost of his uncle, played by Michael Douglas, who taught him to be a womanizer. Uncle Wayne is there to warn Connor that he should change his ways cause if he doesn't he will end up miserable and alone. In order to convince Connor, three ghosts show up. The best ghost was probably the one from the past. She was a complete eighties teenager and funny. I was surprised to find out she was played by Emma Stone (who was Jules in Superbad). I won't bother telling you the end of the plot...I am sure you can pretty much guess what happens.

The hightlight of this movie was definitely Lacey Chabert, who played Sandra the bride. She pretty much played the funniest bridezilla ever. She would completely freak out, like lose her mind kind of freak out, and then calm down to a level of calm that isn't really normal. It amused me greatly. Lacey Chabert usually amuses me greatly though (Mean Girls, anyone?).

The only other I wish to mention is how even though I completely failed and figuring out who the bridesmaids were, I feel the need to share the knowledge I googled. One bridesmaid is from Grey's Anatomy (the episode with the two Amish girls in which Silver from 90210 plays the one with cancer and this girl plays the one without). The other bridesmaid is Amanda Walsh, you know, the MUCH MUSIC VJ (I believe the youngest they've ever had). I remember thinking how adorable she was. Anyway, that is all. Though there is one other bridesmaid I remember nothing about her.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past gets two kernels - worth the price of a second run movie as it is entertaining, but oh so very predictable.

earth

earth is amazing. Let me just start by saying that. So much cute and breathtaking beauty. Now a tiny step back.

earth is a British-American-German documentary kind of film. It was apparently made in 2007, but not released until this year in North America. The film follows, through the course of the year, three families: polar bear, elephant, and humpback whale. Of course there are many other animals in the film as well.

As there is no real plot to speak of I don't have too much to say about the specifics of the film. It is so incredibly visual. I will say that if you are worried that James Earl Jones is going to be telling you that global warming is evil and we are all killing the planet for the entire film, stop worrying. I think global warming, or climate change, was only specifically mentioned three or four times.

One of the things I kept thinking during, and especially after, was how amazing it would have been to film all of the amazing animals. It seem as though they played a very observatory role and did their best to not interfere with any of the animal life. It clearly took a lot of time and money to put the film together, but I think it was well worth it. I very much recommend this film as it is gorgeous to watch, gives you some interesting facts (like, the boreal forest contains 1/3 of the world's trees [I think I remembered that right]), and is only 90 minutes if you have a short attention span.

earth gets three kernels - wide audience appeal and overwhelmingly beautiful.

UP

UP (seen in 3D). The short before the movie Partly Cloudy was really good. I've never seen a short in the theatre before. This was also my first 3D movie experience.

The story is about an elderly man, Carl, who shared a dream, with his now deceased wife, to fly their house to a far away land that an explorer (Charles Muntz) claimed to have been to when they were children. Carl finally decides to go for it and begins to fly his house. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, a boy named Russell comes on the journey with him.

The two actually reach their destination and come across some unusual things. The first being this strange large bird (the reason Muntz returned so he could bring it back and prove himself to be not crazy) that Russell names Frank. The second are dogs that can speak thanks to a collar they wear (one that Muntz invented). One of these dogs, Dug, helps Carl and Russell. As for plot I will leave it at that, cause I am not sure I can explain it any better.

I will say that the dogs were awesome. Very much how I imagine dogs to be thinking and to hear it verbalized is great. Carl and Russell's friendship is also great to watch.

I felt like they could have maybe done more with the 3D, but I guess it is good they weren't relying on it to hold your interest.

UP gets three kernels - really good story; funny and heartfelt.

I Love You, Man

So I fail at posting lately and what seems like a really long time ago I saw two movies which I will now post. They will be brief and without much detail. Sorry.

I Love You, Man is about Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) and his quest for a best man-friend. Peter has always been friends with the ladies, but not really any guys. When he gets engaged, Peter realizes that he has no one to be his best man. His search ends when he finds Sydney Fife (Jason Segel). Sydney is the kind of guy that wears UGGs with shorts and a wife-beater to walk his dog on the beach where he refuses to pick up the dog's poop. He is very unlike Peter in most ways, except for their shared passion for the band RUSH. That's right, there is a ton of Rush in this movie. Their friendship has its ups and downs, but ultimately they work things out.

I must say that I really enjoy Paul Rudd. Especially when he is awkward in a very endearing sort of way (like Mike on Friends). At one point he gets up the courage to call Sydney to set up a man date and the message he leaves is so wonderful. It is how I feel everytime I try to leave a phone message for someone.
I also really enjoyed the brother (Andy Samberg). The married couple that faught all the time (the husband, I just realized, is Pete from Friends...huh) and the slightly crazy single friend (who totally could have been played by Kristin Wigg) were also enjoyable.
There were parts which were more awkwardly inappropriate rather than funny, for me anyway, but overall it was pretty good.

I Love You, Man gets two kernels - pretty funny, but not the best thing since sliced bread.

Star Trek

I don't really know where to begin with Star Trek. In the interest of full disclosure I will tell you that I am familiar with the original series, but have not seen any episodes in a really long time and I don't rememeber many of the details. I will also tell you that I loved this movie. If you are not familiar with Kirk and the gang and still want to see the movie I wouldn't worry about thinking you will be a step behind. Because the story takes place at the beginning you don't need any prior knowledge. That being said, if you have prior knowledge you will be able to pick up on some of the smaller details.

I will avoid giving away plot (mostly cause I saw it a week ago and don't want to screw up any of the details) and stick to observations. While I don't remember all of the original characters very well, I was able to pick up on some of the mannerisms that the new actors included in their characters. Chris Pine plays an excellent Kirk (and has such pretty eyes). He is a lady's man that is not quite as corny, but still includes the crossed leg pose in the captain's chair. Zachary Quinto also does an Spock. Besides managing the balance between logic and emotion well, he also worked in the Spock raised eyebrow. Chekov was so amazingly adorable. I loved his accent and am pretty sure he was not that awesome in the tv show. I also enjoy Leonard Nimoy very very much and am glad he was in the movie. Oh, also Eric Bana plays a Romulan and while he seemed kind of familiar I had no idea it was him until after the movie. Cameron from House and Winona Ryder also briefly appear.

I would definitely recommend this movie to people because it has great action, but also quite a bit of comic relief worked in. A really good mix of styles. Also, if you do care about Star Trek characters it is really cool to see how they all came together.

Star Trek gets 3 kernels - good action, good comedy, and Chekov's wonderful accent.

Taken

I don't have a heck of a lot to say about Taken. Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is a former CIA kind of guy who has retired so that he can spend more time with his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). At first you kind of get the impression that she is roughly 7 to 9 years old. Then he gets to her birthday party and you see that she is turning 17. However, when they bring out a horse for her and she jumps up and down, runs over to it, and jumps on she totally looks like a 7 year old and continues to act like one throughout. She runs everywhere with arms and legs flailing. It really makes me wonder.

And now back to the actual plot. Kim really wants to go to France with her friend and eventually her dad agrees even though he is worried about her. She goes and while on the phone with her father she sees her friend get TAKEN (hey, there's the title) and then she gets taken as well. Bryan immediately goes all CIA on the kidnappers. He finds out that the people who took her are going to sell her into the sex trade and he has 72 hours before it is a hopeless search.

Neeson kicks some ass and is involved in a few car chases that seem to be missing something (not sure if it was the editing or music or what, but they were kind of boring). Eventually he finds his daughter and all is well. Aww, how nice.

Taken gets one kernel - Liam Neeson is alright in the movie, but you might as well wait until you happen to see it on tv.

Angels & Demons

If you know the book Angels & Demons, or are familiar with either form of The Da Vinci Code, then you know this is a complicated plot. Instead of giving you much of the actual plot I will stick to observations. I don't want to ruin anything, and I am too lazy to go into the detail that would be required to fully explain the end of the movie.
Your short plot synopsis: Vatican in trouble. Robert Langdon smart. Robert Langdon help Vatican.

In regards to the movie v. the book:

As I am pretty sure you are aware, Angels & Demons comes first in the book form, but the movie made it a sequel to The Da Vinci Code. This has very little impact on the movie except for the fact that the Vatican already has more of an opinion of Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks).

The movie also leaves out or changes a few of the characters. In the book the director of CERN (yes it is a real thing) plays a pretty vital role and I was looking forward to seeing him on screen. However, in the movie the director is mentioned once and his plot responsibilities are put on another character. Besides the time aspect the movie also may have cut the role of CERN out of the plot substantially because they had been less than thrilled with some of the things said in the book and were perhaps insistent that the same misinformation was not included in the movie. The movie also kind of rushes through the first part of the plot, which I get cause of time restraints, but I was looking forward to seeing it play out how I had it in my mind while reading.

The other change that I can think of that was rather noticeable to me was how they changed the relationship of the scientists. In the movie Vittoria (Ayelet Zurer) and her research partner were just partners. In the book they are father and daughter. This is a small change, but it adds so much more to her character. Not only is she helping Langdon cause she doesn't want the antimatter to annihilate, but she is also seeking revenge on her father's killer.

In regards to just the movie:

If I try to ignore the fact that there is a book that was changed to fit the criteria of a movie then I have few complaints. Tom Hanks didn't have the groos hair like in the last movie...he was however wearing a speedo for abou 30 seconds. Ayelet played a really good Vittoria. The best performance of the movie would have to go to Ewan McGregor for his role as Comerlengo McKenna. He had a few speaches and he delivered them well...very captivating. I also enjoyed seeing the papal conclave at work (though you do get more details in the book).

The only other thing I want to mention about this movie is the ambigram. Ambigrams are awesome. Essentially they are a word that is written in a way that you can flip it and still read the same word (or sometimes a different one). There are many different kinds and properties of an ambigram. The 'villain' in this movie is a group called the illuminati (which appears as an ambigram). They use a few others in the movie as well. I find them fanscinating and suggest you pick up the book and flip through it until you find them (or read the whole thing if you really want to). Also of note, the title Angels & Demons was designed as an ambigram for the first edition of the book.

Angels & Demons gets 3 kernels - intersting plot, good action, and ambigrams are cool.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

First I would like to say that I am a fan of the theory of these origin movies. The character's futures have mostly run out of interesting, but there are lots of good stories from the past that will be entertaining.
I guess this whole entry is kind of a spoiler if you don't want to know the history of Wolverine...and if you are already familiar with him you probably don't care at all. If you don't want to know then just stop reading now.

We meet Logan (Hugh Jackman) as a young boy who is ill and he quickly finds out that he has a half brother, Victor (Liev Schreiber), and that they are both mutants. They grow up together and fight in many wars and eventually become part of this elite mutant fighting team led by Stryker. Logan decides that he's had enough with all the killing and leaves to live his life in Canada (where he came from, btw).

After some other mutant related stuff as well as some fighting and some death, Wolverine tries to seek revenge on Victor (there I left some details out). This is where Stryker convinces Wolverine to get injected with the metal. Logan then learns that Stryker is trying to make a super mutant of sorts by taking powers from mutants. Logan gets involved in fighting this super guy. At the end Stryker shoot Wolverine in the head, while this will not kill him it will make him lose his memory. TA DA. WE NOW KNOW WHY WOLVERINE DOESN'T KNOW WHO HE IS!!!

Highlight of the movie: Ryan Reynolds as Wade. He was hot and funny.
Lowlight of the movie: WillIAm has some weak acting skills. It looked like he was reading and was really stiff when in the background.

I also really enjoyed meeting Cyclops and Xavier. I did not enjoy the rat that spent about a minute on Schreiber's arm. Overall there was good action and some cool mutants. It was probably a better movie than the last two X-Men.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine gets three kernels - it answered questions, was well acted for the most part, and was just plain entertaining.