12 Rounds (Movie Review)
03.27.2009 | By Jack Rico |
*Updated 2026
In 2026, when action movies are either gigantic franchises or streaming throwaways, 12 Rounds is easier to see for what it was: a lean B-movie built to keep moving.
03.27.2009 | By Jack Rico |
*Updated 2026
In 2026, when action movies are either gigantic franchises or streaming throwaways, 12 Rounds is easier to see for what it was: a lean B-movie built to keep moving.
03.23.2009 | By Mike Pierce |
Rated: PG for sci-fi action, some crude humor and mild language.
Release Date: 2009-03-27
Starring: Maya Forbes, Wallace Wolodarsky
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Country: USA
Official Website: http://www.monstersvsaliens.com/
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Yes! Monsters VS. Aliens – I had the chance to see this earlier this week and I must say…It was funny! I knew it would be. Check out the trailer and see for yourselves. (lol)
It stars the talented voices of Reese Witherspoon (Ginormica), Seth Rogen (B.O.B.), Hugh Laurie (Dr. Cockroach Ph. D), Will Arnett (The Missing Link), Keither Sutherland (General W.R. Monger), and many others. If you’re looking for a funny, all age family movie…Monsters VS. Aliens is for you!
It’s about this girl – who’s about to get the perfect life she’s always wanted. On her wedding day – she is hit by a meteorite from outer space…which turns her into a GIANT Monster lady. The government steps in and captures her – while she’s in the government prison…she meets 3 of the coolest monsters ever. Well, while that’s going on…an evil alien named, Gallaxhar decides he wants to attack and take over earth. As a last resort – with the leadership of General W.R. Monger and direct orders from the President of the United States…Ginormica and her 3 special friends must save the earth.
Ding…Ding…Monsters VS. Aliens. Your kids will love it and there’s enough adult humor to make you laugh.
I loved how they make you (me) remember all the classic monsters movies – The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Blob, and so on. You’ll see!
I give Monsters VS. Aliens…4 out of 5 Popcorns
03.18.2009 | By SBC Staff |
At its core, Duplicity is a romantic caper about two spies that have left the world of government intelligence for a scheme to cash in on a highly profitable cold war raging between two big rival corporations. The problem is, half the movie goes by before we can figure that out. Read More
03.18.2009 | By Jack Rico |
*Updated 2026
In 2026, when male friendship and emotional openness are easier to talk about, I Love You, Man still plays as a comedy about how awkward men can be when intimacy is not romantic.
03.17.2009 | By Jack Rico |
Rated: PG-13 for disaster sequences, disturbing images and brief strong language.
Release Date: 2009-03-20
Starring: Ryne Douglas Pearson, Juliet Snowden, Stiles White, Stuart Hazeldine
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Country: USA
Official Website: http://knowing-themovie.com/
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‘Knowing’, Nicolas Cage’s new apocalyptic action-thriller pic, is a mammoth and entertaining mega-production that possesses a captivating plot (rare in Hollywood these days), but due to its risible acting and incongruous occurrences, the enormity of the film becomes just a distraction to its script deficiencies. Is it entertaining? You betcha, but you’ll have to wait almost an hour to see the best scenes.
Nicolas Cage stars as a professor who stumbles upon terrifyingly tragic predictions about the future of the world – as he sets out to prevent them from coming true.
Blowing up Earth is where Hollywood has had some of its best box office successes and saving it is where Cage is king. His last two films, Bangkok Dangerous (2008) and National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007), were #1’s at the box office respectively, not to mention several others throughout his career. Regrettably, just because he topped the b.o doesn’t mean those movies are great. It means he works in films that the public likes. These type of movies that incorporate computer generated graphics are a huge attraction, but in the case of ‘Knowing’, the gaping holes are just too blatant to ignore. Worse is its denouement – its conclusion is the most random and absurd ending to any film I have ever seen!
If you’re in the mood to zone out and do not mind preposterous irrationalities, then you’ll enjoy this film. If you’re looking for a stimulating and thought provoking sci-fi flick, you’ll be very disappointed.
03.13.2009 | By Jack Rico |
Rated: R for sadistic brutal violence including a rape and disturbing images, language, nudity and some drug use.
Release Date: 2009-03-13
Starring: Adam Alleca, Carl Ellsworth
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Country: USA
Official Website: http://www.thelasthouseontheleft.com/
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‘The Last House on the Left’ is as uncomfortable a film as I have ever seen. Uncomfortable because the movie possesses elements that blur the lines between violence, abuse and entertainment. Cinematically, the film is arresting through and through due the high caliber of the production, the reliable and convincing acting performances and its engrossing premise to boot. But how can one recommend a movie that possesses a barbaric rape scene, as a good cinematic selection? It is a complex response, but ultimately, you need to be the judge.
This is the third remake of ‘The Last House on the Left’. In 1972, the first feature effort of Wes Craven, was a reworking of Ingmar Bergman’s 1960 picture, The Virgin Spring, which won the 1961 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. This third version, is more reminiscent to the 1972 edition. The story takes place after the kidnapping and butchering of two female teenagers. The guilty gang unknowingly finds refuge with the parents of one of the victims, hosts who devise a gruesome revenge.
Women be forewarned. If you have never been privy to scenes of sexual abuse, this is not the film to get acquainted with it. The rape scene images seen here are some of the most gruesome, disturbing and down right reprehensible ever committed to a Hollywood film. I’m not sure many will be able to withstand it and walking out of the theater just might be your best option. But if you can cover your eyes and get through it, there is a redeeming third act that will quench your thirst for revenge.Â
After seeing the entire film, I must say, Greek director Dennis Illiadis was a fantastic director who maintained a level of dread, suspense and retribution throughout the whole film. This is not a horror movie but a highly intense thriller that works the mind to feel contempt in its first half then vindication in its denouement.
‘The Last House on the Left’ is not a “pretty†movie, but it does challenge the boundaries of entertainment, and hopefully with an open mind, you’ll be the one entertained.
03.12.2009 | By Jack Rico |
*Updated November 2025
What an entertaining movie! I would dare say Race to Witch Mountain will be one of the breakout hits of the young year. The story, the fast-action-packed sequences, the charming performances, all add to a fun time with the family at the movies this weekend.
03.11.2009 | By SBC Staff |
Rated: R for language, disturbing images, some sexuality and drug use.
Release Date: 2009-03-13
Starring: Megan Holley
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Country: USA
Official Website: NULL
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“Sunshine Cleaning,†the third feature from helmer Christine Jeffs, is an amusing trifle of a chick flick that manages to hold attention for 102 minutes. It does so despite a thin plot mainly due to smashing performances by Alan Arkin as con-artist cum paterfamilias Joe Lorkowski, Amy Adams as his less than successful elder daughter Rose, and crisp dialogue by screenwriter Megan Holley. Arkin is making a career at playing pretty much the same existential character he played in “Little Miss Sunshine.â€Â Fortunately for “Sunshine Cleaning,†this time his character is not killed mid-flick.
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Plot centers on Rose’s almost “I Love Lucy†style effort to better her circumstances. A star high school cheerleader, opening cuts show her working as a maid days while screwing her now married high school boyfriend (Mac played by Steve Zahn) nights. An unwed mother, her son Oscar’s (Jason Spevack) expulsion from public school ignites her immediate need for more money to pay private school tuition. The Ethel in the duo is slacker younger sister Norah (Emily Blunt). “Sunshine Cleaning†is a biohazard cleanup concern Rose starts after Mac mentions that it is a lucrative growth industry – a point driven home by pic’s opening in which a fellow played by Christopher Dempsey offs himself by shotgun in a sporting goods store.
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After a shaky start, all goes well until Norah accidentally burns down a client’s house. That puts uninsured Rose out of business. A couple of notes of pathos (and tears) are introduced via the revelation, mid flick, of absent mother’s (Marya Beauvais) suicide when the siblings were tots. The revelation is set up by an odd subplot with lesbian overtones that leads to a dead end.
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Sharp editing by Heather Persons and Jeffs’ firm hand at the throttle move things along at a fine clip, making “Sunshine Cleaning†seem far more compelling than it is. Its message, if it has one, is the Nike slogan, “Just Do It.â€
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A weepy ending would be out of the question. Jeffs avoids it with a couple of scenes that appear to be almost tacked on – the pivotal one being a sort of deus ex machina that is not entirely set up by what went before, but is at least consistent with pic’s humorous tone. Editor Persons offers a nicely balanced touch in which quick cuts at the film’s open and end accomplish a good deal of exposition. “Sunshine Cleaning†is a bit like Chinese food. It seems more substantial than it is while one is eating it.
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Minorities are almost conspicuously absent in this flick set in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Beyond a few seemingly Mexican-American small roles, cast credits reveal only a few Spanish surnamed actors. One, however, Clifton Collins (a.k.a. Clifton Gonzalez-Gonzalez) plays a pivotal although not necessarily ethnic role.
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Distributed in the US by Overture Films, “Sunshine Cleaning†is rated “R†due to language, violence (the suicide in the first reel), and sexual content.
03.5.2009 | By Alex Florez |
Film goers, be warned. Watchmen is no ordinary superhero movie, but it’s also not an extraordinary one. Read More
02.25.2009 | By Jack Rico |
*Updated 2026
In 2026, when immigration stories are still fought over politically and emotionally, Crossing Over has a subject that matters more than the movie Jack saw on screen.
