Genre: Drama // Running Time: 106 minutes // Release Date: September 9, 2011
Cast & Crew at IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1598778/
Overall Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Synopsis: Pretty straight forward here, it's a movie centered around the outbreak of an unknown and deadly virus that quickly escalates to an epidemic threatening to destroy civilization as we know it.
First of all, this movie has a large and excellent cast, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Winslet, as well as a few other notable actors and actresses. It is also directed wonderfully by Stephen Soderbergh. And secondly, for being a movie about a virus and the battle to identify and hopefully cure it, they keep the technical science and associated vocabulary to a minimum. And in the rare moments where they are forced to be a bit technical, they explain things clearly enough for most 5th graders to understand.
I really enjoyed this movie because it was fast-paced and worked hard to keep me involved in the story and caring about multiple characters all the while wondering about different potential side plots, cover-ups, and conspiracies. Soderbergh does an excellent job throwing in elements of government conspiracy, big business pharmaceutical cover ups, and gives you a pretty realistic look at what would happen in our society if an event like this were to occur, without focusing on any one element for too long. I was also struck by the idea that this movie would fit pretty nicely in the middle of Will Smith's 'I Am Legend'. In that movie they show the beginning of a viral epidemic and then fast forward to the future where it's pretty much just Will and his dog, and it seems to me, that this movie could fill the middle part of that movie pretty well.
However, all personal sidetracking aside, this movie is a pretty good watch. It's got a good pace to keep you interested, great acting, and it's well within the realm of something that could actually happen, which makes it a bit frightening. So much so, that when I finished watching it, I felt compelled to go wash my hands and add hand sanitizer to my shopping list.
It also has a great quote about blogs, which is perfect to post on a blog: "Blogging is not writing, it's just graffiti with punctuation!"
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Real Steel
Genre: Action, Drama, Sci Fi // Running Time: 127 minutes // Release Date: October 7, 2011
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lily, Dakota Goyo - Full credits at IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433035/
Overall Rating: 9 out of 10
Synopsis: Charlie Kenton is an ex-boxer struggling to make it in the futuristic world of robot boxing. After being unexpectedly reunited with his 11 year old son combined with the discovery of an old discarded sparring robot, Charlie and his son Max begin their quest to conquer the ranks of robot boxing and attempt to build/repair their severely damaged father/son relationship.
While at the beginning this movie looks to be a science fiction piece about robot boxing in the near future, it becomes obvious fairly quickly that it's much more than that. We are introduced to our main character Charlie Kenton, played by Hugh Jackman, and it is painfully apparent that he is a deadbeat loser who may or may not survive long enough to make it through the movie due to all the money he owes to several questionable, and in all likelihood, dangerous characters. Charlie is then reluctantly reunited with his son Max, played by Dakota Goyo, and the futuristic robot boxing, science fiction aspect of this movie quickly takes a back seat to the far more intriguing and interesting father/son relationship developing between these two characters, as well as the romantic relationship that develops between Charlie and Bailey Tallet, played by Evangeline Lily. Hugh Jackman is fantastic in this movie, he makes being a deadbeat loser seem almost appealing with his charm and confidence and that damn sparkling smile. And let's be honest, the ladies don't seem to find him too hard on the eyes either. What really surprised me in this movie was the performance of Dakota Goyo. His character Max is really fun to watch, he's snarky, sarcastic, condescending, and gives a real convincing feel to the character. By the end of the movie, you really feel yourself rooting for Charlie and Max and you may even feel a little emotional with the touching father/son moments along the way. This movie is very fun and very watchable for any audience (barring a little language at times). If I was the skinny guy and the fat guy, I'd give this one two thumbs up!
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lily, Dakota Goyo - Full credits at IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433035/
Overall Rating: 9 out of 10
Synopsis: Charlie Kenton is an ex-boxer struggling to make it in the futuristic world of robot boxing. After being unexpectedly reunited with his 11 year old son combined with the discovery of an old discarded sparring robot, Charlie and his son Max begin their quest to conquer the ranks of robot boxing and attempt to build/repair their severely damaged father/son relationship.
While at the beginning this movie looks to be a science fiction piece about robot boxing in the near future, it becomes obvious fairly quickly that it's much more than that. We are introduced to our main character Charlie Kenton, played by Hugh Jackman, and it is painfully apparent that he is a deadbeat loser who may or may not survive long enough to make it through the movie due to all the money he owes to several questionable, and in all likelihood, dangerous characters. Charlie is then reluctantly reunited with his son Max, played by Dakota Goyo, and the futuristic robot boxing, science fiction aspect of this movie quickly takes a back seat to the far more intriguing and interesting father/son relationship developing between these two characters, as well as the romantic relationship that develops between Charlie and Bailey Tallet, played by Evangeline Lily. Hugh Jackman is fantastic in this movie, he makes being a deadbeat loser seem almost appealing with his charm and confidence and that damn sparkling smile. And let's be honest, the ladies don't seem to find him too hard on the eyes either. What really surprised me in this movie was the performance of Dakota Goyo. His character Max is really fun to watch, he's snarky, sarcastic, condescending, and gives a real convincing feel to the character. By the end of the movie, you really feel yourself rooting for Charlie and Max and you may even feel a little emotional with the touching father/son moments along the way. This movie is very fun and very watchable for any audience (barring a little language at times). If I was the skinny guy and the fat guy, I'd give this one two thumbs up!
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Shark Night (3D)
Genre: Horror // Running Time: 91 minutes // Release Date: September 2, 2011 (USA)
For more information (cast & crew etc) check out IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1633356/
Overall Rating: 2 out 5
Synopsis: A group of college students head out for a weekend of fun, drinking, and hopefully some hooking up at their friend's lakeside cabin, but see all their well laid plans ruined by a mysterious wakeboarding accident before anyone can even get drunk. They quickly find out that the cause of the accident is a rather large and menacing shark and the adventure to survive unfolds.
I think the most surprising thing about this movie was that the acting really wasn't as terrible as the plot would indicate. Nothing seemed overly forced or over-acted, and I can't recall being distracted from the "movie experience" by laughing at really bad acting, which is usually the case with movies of this genre. I also think the movie would have been slightly more fun in 3D, but I would have been very upset if I had paid money, especially 3D ticket prices, to see it. So if you have a 3D television and absolutely nothing else to do, you could give this movie a watch.
The behavior of the sharks and sheer absurdity of their physical feats (you'll know what I'm talking about after the jet-ski scene) is probably the only reason I gave this movie a 2 out of 5 instead of a 1. That, and I kind of feel bad for Donal Logue. He went from being a co-star in Blade to this? Poor, poor man.
For more information (cast & crew etc) check out IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1633356/
Overall Rating: 2 out 5
Synopsis: A group of college students head out for a weekend of fun, drinking, and hopefully some hooking up at their friend's lakeside cabin, but see all their well laid plans ruined by a mysterious wakeboarding accident before anyone can even get drunk. They quickly find out that the cause of the accident is a rather large and menacing shark and the adventure to survive unfolds.
I think the most surprising thing about this movie was that the acting really wasn't as terrible as the plot would indicate. Nothing seemed overly forced or over-acted, and I can't recall being distracted from the "movie experience" by laughing at really bad acting, which is usually the case with movies of this genre. I also think the movie would have been slightly more fun in 3D, but I would have been very upset if I had paid money, especially 3D ticket prices, to see it. So if you have a 3D television and absolutely nothing else to do, you could give this movie a watch.
The behavior of the sharks and sheer absurdity of their physical feats (you'll know what I'm talking about after the jet-ski scene) is probably the only reason I gave this movie a 2 out of 5 instead of a 1. That, and I kind of feel bad for Donal Logue. He went from being a co-star in Blade to this? Poor, poor man.
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