Quantum of Solace

As a huge Casino Royale fan, I really had my hopes up for this film. In terms of action, this sequel delivers. Unfortunately the storyline falls short. Casino Royale introduced a new Bond, allowing the ultimate womanizer to fall in love, and now we get to see the betrayed and pissed off Bond who's looking for revenge. Overall the story had some major holes, and I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the Russian actress playing a Bolivian woman undercover as a Russian (she's a chick playing a chick disguised as another chick!). I would still recommend seeing Quantum of Solace, if just for the hotness of Daniel Craig and his Aston Martin, as well as the ridiculous action sequences. I just hope that the next Bond installment features more of the car, less clothes for Craig, and gets back to spying (as opposed to just killing) and womanizing.

Role Models

If you enjoy raunchy comedy or just seeing kids cursing, this is the movie to see. Personally I don't mind sitting through an hour and a half of bad movie just to watch Seann William Scott, but laughing for the entire movie is even better. And with Paul Rudd you pretty much can't go wrong. Combine these two with McLovin, a violent disrespectful 10 year old, and some serious LARPing, and you've got comic genius. So for those who are not easily offended, I'm rating this as a Must See.

Scarface (1983)

This past weekend a friend and I decided to rent a movie classic that neither of us had seen. Although we keep up to date on current movies, we're way behind on older films. I mentioned possibly renting Sling Blade (I'd been rereading Tucker Max's I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell), but checking Rotten Tomatoes showed a running time of 2 hours and 37 minutes, and not looking for such a long movie, Sling Blade was vetoed. So instead we chose Scarface, without thinking to check the running time, which turned out to be 2 hours and 50 minutes. And unfortunately, it was a very boring and painful 2 hours and 50 minutes. My friend fell asleep for half the movie but I adamantly stayed awake, thinking I'm already halfway in, I might as well finish this so I can legitimately say, "Yes I've seen Scarface".

I am saddened to find out this was the 3rd "final" version of the film, as director Brian De Palma cut the film down twice when the MPAA gave the film an X rating, which was later appealed to an R rating. This reflects how long ago the film was made, as I didn't find anything about this film as overly gruesome or violent. Primarily I noticed the language factor as, according to IMDB, variants of the word fuck appear 226 times throughout the film. Even after cuts, the film was unnecessarily long and often dragged with unnecessary subplots and details.

The camera work was relatively poor and often shaky and was paired up with overly dramatic music, which wasn't proportional to the mood of the scenes. I was also disappointed with Al Pacino, whom I've always respected as an actor. Although he tried for a convincing Cuban accent, while standing next to true Hispanics (particularly Steven Bauer, who was born in Cuba), Pacino's Italian background is quite blatant, and even distracting.

I cannot believe how much this film is revered in American movie culture. I'm sure I'll get some flack for this but I just wish I could get those 3 painfully dull hours of my life back.

Recommendation: Waste of Time

Disturbia

I have been raving about this movie from the moment I walked out of the theater over a year ago, and I will continue to rave for many years to come. Disturbia is a brilliant mix of suspense, drama, teen romance and most surprisingly, humor. I'm generally not a fan of horror movies, particularly not of the gory torture genre that has emerged in recent years, so I'm happy to say that Disturbia is much more thriller than horror film. Director DJ Caruso effortlessly lightens the tension of this growing mystery with the humorous details of everyday life. He also manages to create what can only be described as one of the most intense scenes that I've ever watched within the first ten minutes of the film. Along with Caruso's direction, the success of the film is clearly the result of a talented ensemble cast, led by Shia LaBeouf.


Bad guy David Morse is the actor you love to hate. He flawlessly projects the reserved demeanor of your typical guy-next door psychopath, straddling the line between menacing foe to Kale (Shia LaBeouf) and charming gentleman to Kale's mother, Julie (Carrie-Anne Moss). Carrie-Anne Moss offers a refreshing performance as a loving mother trying to be understanding while maintaining authority over her troubled son. Also in supporting roles are Aaron Yoo as Ronnie, the quirky best friend, and Sarah Roemer playing the new girl in town and the object of Kale's affection, Ashley. The chemistry between the three young actors is incredibly natural and helps to ground Kale as a typical teenager who's just made some bad decisions while dealing with a difficult time in his life.

I've been a fan of Shia LaBeouf since the Even Steven days, but this is the first film where young women everywhere realized that Shia is more than just the oddball comedian; he's actually kind of sexy. But even beyond realizing that little Shia has grown up well, Disturbia only continues to highlight LaBeouf's exceptional acting talent. Of the three films LaBeouf starred in during 2007 (Disturbia, Surf's Up, Transformers), he was quoted as saying that Disturbia was his favorite simply because it was so character driven, and I have to agree wholeheartedly. LaBeouf effortlessly portrays a myriad of emotions as a teenage boy dealing with the emotional upheaval of losing a loved one, followed by the mental toll of living under house arrest.

Overall, I can't say enough good things about this movie. I laughed, I swooned, I jumped, and for a solid minute I think I forgot to breathe. For those of you that insist you can't handle scary movies, I have to insist that this film is worth it. Invite a bunch of friends over, watch it in the middle of the day with all the lights on; whatever you need to do, this is a must-see.

Recommendation: Mary's Favorites

The Marine

As the WWE's first independently produced film, The Marine lives up to expectations. The dialogue is cheesy, the acting is sub par, and the plot holds major flaws. However, 90% of the sets and vehicles in the film explode, the girls are hot (Kelly Carlson of Nip Tuck fame, and lesser-known Abigail Bianca), the fighting is intense, and the guys are mostly drool-worthy (if you're a fan of the jacked up pro wrestler type physique). If simply looking for mind-numbing entertainment, The Marine satisfies.

Recommendation: Mary's Favorites

Hancock

I went into this movie not expecting much; just hoping for something entertaining enough to keep me awake after a long week of work. And although there were some disappointments, I got exactly what I wanted. Overall the dialogue was hilarious and the story was solid. I'm a fan of all three major actors in this film, and they lived up to expectations. Although the real scene-stealer was Jae Head, a young actor who plays Aaron, the son of Jason Bateman's character. He was absolutely adorable in every scene he was in.

The main factors holding Hancock back from being a major favorite were the effects and the directing. A lot of the film's stunts revolve around Hancock's ability to fly and unfortunately the blue screen effects were just too obviously fake. Although I can overlook bad effects to a certain extent, it's impossible not to notice the color differences between Will Smith and the background he's supposedly flying over. I was also really disappointed to realize that Hancock's director is Peter Berg, the same man behind The Kingdom. Although I have some problems with the overall plot of The Kingdom, it was still a great film. Berg didn't live up to that standard in Hancock, mostly because of an overuse of closeups on characters and poor camera angles. With the quality of actors in this film, the audience can easily pick up on the characters' thoughts and undertones without resorting to camera spins and closeups that detract from the flow of the story.

Despite these drawbacks, Hancock was still a fun and entertaining film. My friend and I walked out of the theater satisfied and re energized. Will Smith brings his usual charisma and comedy, while Charlize Theron lends her Oscar-winning talent to a lighter character. Ultimately, if you've seen every other comic book, super-hero movie out there and you still haven't had enough, there's always Hancock.

Recommendation: Entertaining

Rating System

It has been suggested that I use a rating system with my reviews. I can appreciate the value of this as it is a clear representation of how much I enjoyed the film, but for some reason I've always had trouble assigning a number on a scale. So instead I will begin to include recommendations with my reviews. The following scale of recommendations will be used:

- Mary's Favorites: These are movies that I absolutely love, and can watch over and over again. I will be the first to admit that these favorites are usually purely entertainment movies, often falling in the action or comedy genres. These are the type of films that I pop into the DVD player when I don't want to think, or late at night when I can't fall asleep.

- Must See: This is pretty self-explanatory. These are movies that for some reason blew me away and I highly recommend that everyone gets around to watching them at some point.

- Entertaining: These are the movies that you're gonna walk away from satisfied, but you're not gonna be raving about them for weeks to come. If you've already seen all the Must See movies that are out, these are still worth going to see.

- Wait for the DVD: These are movies that have some merit, but simply don't warrant the expensive trip to the theater. A lot of comedies fall into this category, since they're fun entertainment, but without any big special effects, you aren't losing anything by watching them on the small screen.

- So Bad It's Good: There are certain movies that are made to be watched with large groups of friends. Movies that don't require you to pay close attention to every word, and that practically require you to make fun of everything that is happening on screen. Most commonly these are horror movies, but can include any genre. One shining example is Dragon Wars: a horrible film with literally no redeeming qualities. The only appropriate setting in which to watch this movie is with your loud and obnoxious friends who can turn anything into a joke.

- Waste of Money: As a former movie theater employee, I've seen a lot of these movies. When you don't have to pay for something, you often lower your standards considerably. So in the event that you're getting a free movie, perhaps on a date or movie night with the family, you won't completely hate yourself for wasting time watching one of these films, but you will be glad you didn't waste the $10.

- Waste of Time: These are the movies that should never have been made, the type that you turn off the DVD or walk out of the theater before it's even over. With no redeeming qualities, there's no point in seeing this type of movie, under any circumstance. Even if you think, "oh I've loved this director's other movies", or it stars one of your favorite actors, just don't do it. Resist the urge and save your time.


Hopefully this covers the full spectrum of films that I have or will see, but if I find something that doesn't fit any of these categories, I'll be sure to update. And scroll down, I'll be updating my previous posts to include my ratings of those films.