Review: SHERLOCK HOLMES: GAME OF SHADOWS

           The first installment of these Victorian-super-secret-agent Sherlock Holmes re-imaging had a plot impossible to understand. This second installment fixes that problem by having a plot you don’t really need to understand; there is a clear villain whom Sherlock needs to confront. Everything else is frivolous set dressing, and action sequences done in slow motion. It is fun, but it isn’t the inquisitive thriller you would expect from a movie based of the adventures of an inquisitive detective. Like its predecessor this is simply a modern action movie, not very different from Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, done in costume; in MI: 4 we saw Tom Cruise dangling off the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building today; in Holmes 2 we get to see Robert Downey Jr, dangling off a train over what is an impossibly tall bridge.

Review: MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

I'm surprised Woody Allen doesn't slouch more. That head of his must weigh a ton, what with all the exhaustion and neuroses it's filled with. His newest braingasm Midnight In Paris should please everyone from the deepest Allen fans to newcomers of his style.

Woody Allen is one of my heroes for a specific reason; when he makes movies, he makes them for a reason. The reason he's made almost 50 movies is not because the studio asks him to pump them out like Stephen King novels. He makes his movies because he has vision about something. They range from wild fantasies to slapstick comedies, but they've always had the mark of a true vision. Allen is now 75, and Midnight In Paris is as true an Allen film as I've ever seen. As the phenomenal opening sequence came to a close, I realized he's still got it. He's still able to make movies people care about. Midnight In Paris is about a guy with a dream.

Review: MORNING GLORY

It's going to be nearly impossible to convince my readers of this little fact, but I'm going to have to try. My enormous crush on Rachel McAdams really takes a backseat to what I thought about her in this movie. Despite my constant ramblings of my love for her, I still believe she is the main thing that makes this movie as good as it is. I know, I have no credibility. But I guess you'll just have to believe me; I objectively loved her performance.

Morning Glory Trailer Arises

Finally, a trailer.





I saw this back in November, and it was absolutely hilarious. Much more of a comedy than the trailer makes it seem.

Review: SHERLOCK HOLMES

As the rather pleasant ending credits role at the end of Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes, you do not see a title that says, "Based on the novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle". Rather, you see a title that says, "Sherlock Holmes and John Watson created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle". It says that for a reason, and anyone who dares to tell me this movie was no good because it was very different than Doyle's novels can bugger off.

Review: THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE

This movie was almost there. It just about had everything it needed to be great. In most cases, this would only set a movie back a couple notches, but in a film like The Time Traveler's Wife, all the pieces need to be in order; no matter what order they are in.

The Time Traveler's Wife

The first official trailer for New Line Cinema's The Time Traveler's Wife, based off of Audrey Niffenegger's best selling book, is now online.



Rachel McAdams is the best looking person on the planet.

First Sherlock Holmes Trailer Hits the Internets

Boy oh boy, I can't wait.



Is it just me, or does he seem a bit too much like an action hero?

Review: STATE OF PLAY

I suppose you need to have a guy like Cal McAffrey for a movie like this to work.

He puts dates, places, people, events and connections together in his mind like it's no more difficult than the box score to a Celtics game. It's a bit ridiculous to have such a computer-brained protagonist, but in a film that is an adaptation from a six-hour BBC political crime thriller, you are just going to have to accept it; Cal McAffrey is the man.

Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) has brought a very well crafted film to the table here. Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton) wrote it, along with Billy Ray and Matthew Michael Carnahan, and while it is very clever, suspenseful, and often times funny, it seems to lack the sharpness and originality that was present in Michael Clayton. Don't get me wrong, it's a very solid movie, but I think it wouldn't have hurt to send the script through one more draft, and just get a little more in there. I can't say exactly what it lacked. It was awesome, but I just felt like I wanted a bit more.

As I said Russell Crowe plays Cal McAffrey, a smart and dry reporter for the Washington Tribune. While in the middle of investigation the murder of his good friend Commissioner Stephen Collins' (Ben Affleck) mistress, he stumbles upon clues and leads that send him into an obsessive hunt to expose the conspiracy of a giant corporation in DC. He teams up with a young blogger for the Tribune (Rachel McAdams) to expose the truth. I won't say anymore, because the film is very reliant on the plot, and its many twists. But what political crime thriller isn't?

Again, I can't exactly say why this movie didn't blow me away; it just didn't. We have some very solid performances by all of the actors. Russell Crowe is the best of all. And this is coming from someone who doesn't really like to watch him. His lazy eye always freaked me out. But here his eye is under control, as is his performance. He's a very likable character who really draws you in. Next best is Ben Affleck. Now, really, why does he get so much sh*t? It seems to be the fad to say Affleck is a bad actor. I've always liked him, and I think he's very, very good in this. He has a lot to struggle with as his character, and I think he plays it very well.

Now, on to Rachel McAdams. Anyone who has read my posts should know she is my favorite actress, for more reasons than one (if you catch my drift). And I'm sorry to say, she is not my favorite character here. I feel like her part was very underwritten, and she got excited to play a part in such a fun thriller. She definitely breathes much more life into the role than was written for it, and I honestly feel the character would suck without her. She's very good, I would even go so far as to say great, but she had nothing to work with.

In the end, I really have nothing specifically negative to say about the film, but I also have nothing glowing to say. It's a very good movie, and I recommend you see it, but don't expect to walk out with your world rocked. A 3 might be a bit undeserved, but a 4 suggests I had a lot to think about when I left.

Also, I don't know why it's called State of Play. Maybe that got left in the miniseries.

Upcoming Film: State of Play

Hey all,

Just a quick bit of fun stuff. As far as crime thrillers go, they tend to have something special, in that there are so many good ones.

Here's the trailer for Kevin Macdonald's (The Last King of Scotland, My Enemy's Enemy) State of Play. It's based off of the old BBC Series which I have seen some of, and loved.

It stars Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Robin Wright Penn, and Rachel McAdams*.

Here's the trailer:




*Anyone who has read my posts should know how I feel about Rachel McAdams by this point. If not, get an encyclopedia and look up "example of the most perfect, beautiful, and wonderful piece of stardust that the good lord has ever done us the favor of creating", and you will get a sense of how I feel about her.

Review: THE LUCKY ONES

"No, thank you."

What a perfect way to spin to the other side of an idea, and what a perfect line to sum up Neil Burger's, The Lucky Ones. It's a simple movie, filled to the brim with heart, humor, and, if you can spot it, poetry.

The Lucky Ones tells the story of three soldiers on medical leave from the war: Colee Dunn (Rachel McAdams), Fred Cheaver (Tim Robbins), and T.K. Poole (Michael Peña). When JFK Airport is shut down due to blackouts, Cheaver offers to drive Colee and T.K. back to his hometown of Louisville, so they can catch a flight out of there. When the drive ends up continuing to Las Vegas, the rest is a fantastically acted story of three "lucky" strangers.