07.27.2010 | By Jack Rico |
Rated: PG-13 for fantasy action violence, some frightening images and brief sensuality.
Release Date: 2010-04-02
Starring: Travis Beacham, Phil Hay
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Country:UK | USA
Official Website: http://clash-of-the-titans.warnerbros.com/
07.27.2010 | By Jack Rico |
Rated: R for strong bloody violence, grisly images, language and some sexuality/nudity.
Release Date: 2010-03-19
Starring: Garrett Lerner, Eric Garcia
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Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.repomenarecoming.com/
The first hour of the new futuristic action film Repo Men, one of the most violent and bloody films I’ve seen since Ninja Assassins, is a slow, gouge-your-eye experience that has you asking for a refund. But the second hour really picks up and it is where the true entertainment value of the film lies. The story is very compelling tied with a dose of dark comedy, but the dialogue is vacuous and there were some major miscasting calls with Jude Law and Forest Whitaker.
In the future humans have extended and improved our lives through highly sophisticated and expensive mechanical organs created by a company called “The Union”. The dark side of these medical breakthroughs is that if you don’t pay your bill, “The Union” sends its highly skilled repo men to take back its property… with no concern for your comfort or survival. Former soldier Remy (Law) is one of the best organ repo men in the business. But when he suffers a cardiac failure on the job, he awakens to find himself fitted with the company’s top-of-the-line heart-replacement… as well as a hefty debt. But a side effect of the procedure is that his heart’s no longer in the job. When he can’t make the payments, The Union sends its toughest enforcer, Remy’s former partner Jake (Whitaker)4, to track him down.
What will be most talked about Repo Men is the high level of graphic violence and gore it possesses. It is really a cringing, hands-over-your-eyes type of brutality that takes place in the scenes when these repo men are extracting organs from their clients who are late on their bills. Violence is used very gratuitously here and it wouldn’t surprise me people being repulsed by it. Does it help push the story forward? No, its purely for shock value.
The film suffers from a variety of problems commencing with the first hour which is filled with contrived situations, bad dialogue, a slow, churning pace, and in my opinion, a miscasting of the protagonists. Am I really supposed to believe that pretty boy Jude Law and plump Forest Whitaker are vicious, intimidating animals? Hardly, all their roles are mainly summed up as bewildered, warm and fuzzy characters. Credibility here was an obvious issue. I couldn’t take their roles seriously.
Nevertheless, the film was made to entertain people and make tons of money at the box office. If it weren’t for the first hour being so off, we could have been talking about a better reviewed movie. Go watch it if you like uber-hyper violence that will make you squirm in your seat, but stay away if you’re sensitive to heads being squashed.
07.27.2010 | By Jack Rico |
Rated: PG-13 for fantasy action violence, some frightening images and brief sensuality.
Release Date: 2010-04-02
Starring: Travis Beacham, Phil Hay
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:UK | USA
Official Website: http://clash-of-the-titans.warnerbros.com/
The friend who I shared my screening with last night said, “Clash of the Titans was sooo bad”. I don’t necessarily agree, but have to admit it was light on the entertainment. The main problems is that it’s filled with a plethora of posed shots, cringing one liners and anticlimactic action sequences. The acting was subpar and I have seen better 3D films this year such as ‘IMAX Hubble 3D’ – those effects were unbelievable!
This rehash of the original 1981 film, which I didn’t really particularly care for, has ‘flavor of the month leading man’ Sam Worthington playing Perseus, the mortal son of the god Zeus (Liam Neeson), who embarks on a perilous journey of revenge to stop Hedes (Ralph Fiennes), the underworld and its minions from spreading their evil to Earth as well as the heavens.
The majority of the people who want to see this film is for the promise of seeing some unforgettable action scenes in 3D. If it’s the action that tickles your fancy, then don’t get your hopes up. There are 5 action sequences that the film revolves around. The best one? The scorpion combat which got my heart beating a bit. Save for that scene, the rest is not worth the price of admission. I was geared up for some major entertainment and it fell flat. What director Louis Leterrier (The Transporter, The Incredible Hulk) fails to understand is that action scenes don’t work when the audience doesn’t care. There’s zero interest in them here. Brad Pitt’s ‘Troy’ was just as bad, but it was more compelling and entertaining than this because the sequences were built up with much anticipation. In regards to the 3D imagery, this was also mediocre. The film was shot in regular film stock then converted to 3D. There is a BIG difference when this happens – images in real 3D feel like they are rubbing your face, this film barely registered a difference between 2D and 3D.
This film was supposed to be Warner Bros 2010 version of ‘300’. The look of the films are very similar, but the rating wasn’t and that makes all the difference. Clash is PG-13 and 300 is R. When you see ‘300’ it’s all about the graphic nature of the violence and the masculinity of the film. No need of talk, just head squashing. Clash doesn’t come close.
If you still want to see this film, save yourself a couple of bucks and watch it in 2D, the 3D experience is really not worth it.
07.27.2010 | By Jack Rico |
Rated: R for strong bloody violence, grisly images, language and some sexuality/nudity.
Release Date: 2010-03-19
Starring: Garrett Lerner, Eric Garcia
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Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.repomenarecoming.com/
07.21.2010 | By Karen Posada |
Salt is THE summer’s action flick. No other actress can do an action film like Angelina Jolie, she gives an amazing performance in this one. We haven’t seen a movie by her since Wanted and that was pretty much a preview to what you can expect from her in Salt. The script was made originally for a male lead, it is rumored that Tom Cruise turned it down, which is a good thing because I doubt a male lead would have made it as successful. The movie will keep you guessing the entire running time up to the end. The one question running through your mind at every turn of the movie is: how will she get out of this one?
Since the beginning we realize that CIA officer Evelyn Salt (Jolie) is a tough female, the movie begins with her capture by the North Korean government, they try to beat the loyalty out of her, but can’t. We shortly meet Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber)her boss at the CIA and friend, he’s along on her side throughout most of the movie trying to help her. After we get a brief backstory on Salt’s life both the private and professional sides of it, we are in Washington D.C. in CIA headquarters where we meet Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor). As a CIA counter-intelligence agent he is not sympathetic to anyone specially to Salt after she is accused of being a sleeper Russian spy and she runs away to avoid being captured. This is when the action begins and where we are left to wonder: ‘who is Salt?’
Salt is married to an entomologist who is fully aware of her career path and the risks that are involved. He is one of the few reasons we ever see this character be soft, the rest of it is all tough CIA training from the fights to her assertive actions.In fact, this female character is the one that carries all the action of the movie, the other two secondary characters Winter and Peabody do very little physical work. Salt’s independence and kick-ass attitude is what keeps her going.
Jolie prepared for this character by talking to former CIA agents such as Melissa Boyle Mahle who worked for the force for 16 years. She spoke of Jolie’s relentlessness of getting every aspect of the character right, asking her how she felt and what she went through; she learned how spies live. Although Mahle says Jolie in the film makes it look way more fun and glamours than it really is. Oleg Kalugin a former KGB member and spy said Salt is very real, and she is tough like a Russian spy. Tom Ridge former Secretary of Homeland security spoke of the realities of the film as seen by current events and how the government has dealt with it since the Cold-War.
If you are into action films this one is for you, it is pure entertainment. There’s bits and pieces of romance in the way but it doesn’t disrupt the action. You can compare it to current events but remember this is hollywood, which means that nothing is to be taken to heart. The main subject here is loyalty, towards family, country, beliefs etc; which is what keeps the movie going and will keep you wondering.
07.20.2010 | By Karen Posada |
Rated: Not available
Release Date: 2009-04-25
Starring: Gloria La Morte, Paola Mendoza
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Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.entrenosfilm.com/
If this moving story would have been more developed and the ending wouldn’t have been rushed it would be worth watching. When the filmmaker Paola Mendoza told us that the movie was made in only 18 days this explained why it was so short and felt so rushed. The emotional connection is very strong, this could have taken it farther and it would be a better film that I could recommend.
The protagonist and producer Paola Mendoza plays a convincing role, she is a woman who suffers a lot because she is married to a man that’s worthless, he can’t settle anywhere. They’ve lived in Bogotá, Medellín, the coast of Colombia, and after only living two weeks in New York City he decides to move to Miami and leave his family behind. Mariana (Mendoza) tries all sorts of things for her family to have a good future and to follow her husband to Miami, she tries selling empanadas, washing dishes, but nothing works as well as recycling cans; this is the only way she can work and be with her children at the same time. Her children Gabriel (Sebastian Villada) 10 years old and Andrea (Laura Montana) 6 years old, take their mother’s work as a game and have fun recycling. Thanks to her children Mariana is able to surpass some of the hardest moments of her life. They are her strength. Gabriel understands a lot of what’s going on and when they are kicked out of her apartment for not paying the rent he goes and works recycling by himself when he’s able, to help his mom; as a kid sometimes he’s rebellious and gives her headaches but he has good intentions.
Some of the strongest points in this movie is the family connection, it shows how far we can get if we have the support of our family even if it’s only made up of three people. Gabriel’s behavior melts anyone’s heart, although he wants to study and play he understands that helping his mom is more important. The kindness of strangers is another strong point that is shown, a woman who rents out rooms (Sarita Coudhury) who feels pity for Mariana offers her friendship and support to her when she needs it the most.
Since this story is based in Paola Mendoza’s mom real life and her own it has a lot of real elements. These elements work well and create an honest environment full of harshness with which many can identify with. Unfortunately these elements are not squeezed to its greatest to create a movie that leaves you with something. As the other producer said Gloria La Morte, they wanted to make a film that would show the real side of New York City, that wouldn’t glamorize the american dream. This was accomplished until a certain point. The rushed ending ruins the rhythm of the movie and it’s essence in itself, because suddenly it becomes a fairy tale and from one moment to the next everything is ok and they are not poor anymore and we suddenly arrive to a summery of their lives up to adulthood without a warning.
07.20.2010 | By Jack Rico |
Rated: PG-13 for sequences of intense action and violence, a scene of sensuality and language.
Release Date: 2010-04-23
Starring: Peter Berg, James Vanderbilt
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Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.the-losers.com/
An action film with some heart, family values and a Latino flair is the way I would describe WB’s new film ‘The Losers’. The genres, though, do not necessarily fit well together. It’s a fun movie, but somewhere along the way it goes through a bit of an identity crisis. Does it want to be an action film or a family film? The producers seem to think both.
Based on the 1970 comic book of the same name, The Losers is about 5 members of a CIA black ops team who are betrayed and left for dead. Their mission now is to find out who wanted them killed.
This revenge film means well. It has a cast of characters comprised of a diverse and simpatico bunch (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana, Chris Evans, Idris Elba, Columbus Short, Óscar Jaenada and Jason Patric) that draws you into them and their plights. What most vexed me was their jobs – they’re killers for the government who have hearts of gold? Not sure verisimilitude played a role there, or at least, I don’t think director Sylvain White pulled it off well. You hate to be gripped into a storyline to then detour somewhere opposite. It’s not good storytelling and it’s what happened here. In the end, The Losers is hit and miss and it has more hits than the latter. You can forgive some of its deficiencies for some laughs and charm and some old PG-13 action.
On a side note, just like Fast and Furious, this movie has a very big Latin American feel to it that begins with the opening credits in Bolivia and lasts throughout the ending. Most of the film was shot in Puerto Rico, which we hope they film there much more. Stay for the closing credits, there some funny sketches that belong to the storyline of the movie.
To follow Jack Rico’s film review check him out on Twitter at @jackricofficial
07.20.2010 | By Karen Posada |
Rated: R for pervasive language including sexual references, violence and brief sexuality.
Release Date: 2010-02-26
Starring: Robb Cullen, Mark Cullen
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Country:USA
Official Website: http://copoutmovie.warnerbros.com/
‘Cop Out’ is well-rounded movie in the sense that each character contributes something different to it, it is this characteristic that makes it entertaining. It is not an original piece though, it is like seeing another sequel of such movies as ‘Lethal Weapon’, although the humor in it does make it stand out more. There are a lot of stereotypes that took away from the movie as well as some bad choices on secondary characters.
The story revolves around two NYPD officers who get into a whole lot of trouble for a baseball card that leads them to solve a major gang plot. Jimmy Monroe (Bruce Willis) seems to have done everything wrong in his life, so he wants to fix his mistakes by paying for his daughter’s wedding. The only issue is that he has the salary of a cop therefore can’t afford the wedding, unless he sells a rare, mint-condition baseball card he owns. His partner, Paul Hodges (Tracy Morgan) is devoted to help him despite of him having his own problems such as dealing with insecurity issues in his marriage. In their journey they loose their card to Dave (Seann William Scott) who becomes their assistant and leads them to the mexican gang who not only is in possession of the card but are also the ones to blame for other crimes in the area. Their leader Poh Boy (Guillermo Diaz) is bloodthirsty and wants nothing more than to expand his drug-dealing business out of Brooklyn, he begins by capturing Mexican beauty Gabriela (Ana De la Reguera) who holds the key for him to accomplish his master plan.
Director Kevin Smith did a good job at casting, Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan. They make a great team, Morgan is hilarious and comes up with the weirdest funniest things to say and do; while Willis with his strong character carries the movie forward as the responsible role he depicts, although he looks most comfortable in the action scenes. Sean William Scott has a love/hate relationship with Morgan, that is very funny in a ‘annoying younger brother’ kind of way. Diaz plays the role of a villain with a comedic side which he does well and De la Reguera is a tough damsel in distress that balances things out. The rest of the latino crew does a horrible job starting by their Spanish. Cory Fernandez should be ashamed of his performance as well as his nonexistent Spanish. I was disappointed with all the stereotypes in the film towards hispanics (mexican gangs, brute unintelligent men, violence, etc).
Overall the film is entertaining, a good laugh. There is lots of unnecessary cursing so make sure to go with adults only. Check out our interview with Willis and Morgan so you can look out for their favorite scenes in the film, as well as the Spanish they picked up on the set.
07.16.2010 | By Jack Rico |
What is undoubtedly one of the top 3 films of the year, Inception is a visual and production achievement infused with entertaining CGI and action sequences all while engaging you intellectually… characteristics that I wish every movie would set out to do. The premise is not a simple one to follow and it demands more focused attention from you than 90% of the films out there, but the payoff will be one of the great cinematic experiences of 2010 and perhaps the past decade.
Inception, in dictionary terms, means the beginning of something. In Christopher Nolan’s new film it is defined as the implanting of an idea through the dreams of a subject. That is what Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) sets out to do for the very first time in this story. He is a skilled thief, the best in the dangerous art of extraction: stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb’s rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossible–inception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse; their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one.
You’d have to go back to the The Matrix movies to even remotely experience anything like ‘Inception’. Director Christopher Nolan has perfected the craft of the cavernously dark, cerebral, tension filled films which have now become his stylistic stamp. His films such as The Following, Memento, The Prestige, amongst others, all carry the singularities and traits that have build up to ‘Inception’.
The assembled cast (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Dileep Rao, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Marion Cotillard, Pete Posthethwaite, Michael Caine), many from The Dark Knight project, is top notch. Dicaprio, the star of the film, is intense, affecting, and captivating. I do think though, his best performance was captured by Martin Scorsese in this year’s Shutter Island. In regards to the CGI, it functions as a compliment to the plotline instead of overwhelming it. Make sure you await with anticipation the hallway fight scene which seemed extremely hard to shoot and produce. That scene alone is worth the price of admission.
If you are looking for an action/adventure film that is layered with puzzles and mysteries, then you are going to love Inception, but remember, in order to fully enjoy it, your trip to the concession stand or the bathroom will have to wait. Don’t look at that text or that guy that’s gasping too loud in amazement. Just focus, just enjoy.
07.13.2010 | By Namreta Kumar |
Rated: R for language, some sexual content and drug use.
Release Date: 2010-04-02
Starring: Shana Feste
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Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.thegreatestthemovie.com/
The best parts of “The Greatest†are also its worst. Unfortunately, Shana Feste has created a film about spectacular moments but she failed to connect them.
This family drama is all about life and death. It is about loss and strength. Allen (Pierce Brosnan) and Grace Brewter (Susan Sarandon) are faced with the death of their son, Bennett. At that moment walks in Rose (Carey Mulligan), pregnant with Bennett’s child.
What stays with me after the end of the film are some very distinct moments. The honesty with which Shana Feste crafts her scenes is remarkable and is the high point in the drama. Each character has their own catharsis, distinct of the rest. For a second it seems to fool you into thinking that you are with them. However, as you move to the next scene that link is broken. The overall film suffers from this disconnect.
The most powerful connection the audience does make is between Allen and Rose when Rose takes Allen to a “Wouldn’t Be Caught Dead In†party. This is one particular moment to watch out for Brosnan and Mulligan’s performance and the layers that Feste has created in this moment of joint abreaction. Another powerful moment of association to watch out for is between Brosnan and Sarandon at the beach.
The greatest moments of the film are the ones that bring more than one plot in face of another, and unfortunately the lack of those moments leaves to many holes in the film. Unlike films like Crash and Babel, that have multiple stories that connect to some end, this film has a constant connection that does not justify parallel plots.
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