The Bourne Legacy (Movie)

    My third movie watched in 2013, The Bourne Legacy.  Since I usually average two movies a year, it appears I'm turning into a cinemaholic.

    TBL was a decent enough flick, with action from the get-go, and a repeat of the intrigue from the first trilogy.  Matt Damon isn't anywhere to be found, and I spent the first third of the movie trying to figure out who was now playing Jason Bourne.  Silly me, it turns out the JB character isn't in this one at all, save for a brief cameo shot on a wanted poster.

    I didn't recognize any of the actors/actresses, including the two stars, Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz.  The romance is kept to a minimum, but it appears they plan to make this into another trilogy (Holy Plagiarism, Batman!), so we can expect these two to go a-bedding in the next installment.  Provided of course, the baddies don't bump off the girl to p*ss off our hero.

    At 135 minutes, and a PG-13 Rating, you certainly get your money's worth of excitement, plus a bunch of bitchin' location footage, and an entertainingly-long motorcycle chase as the climax.  The hired thug, Larx, was a bit of a disappointment though.

    I can't complain about any of the movies I've watched in 2013.  The other two are reviewed here and here.

    8*/10.

Stardust (Movie)

    My second movie watched in 2013.  The first was Batman - The Dark Knight Rises.

    We'll give Stardust 9*/10.  Great special effects; a cute romance for Liz to get into; and of course, the genius of Neil Gaiman behind it all.  Michelle Pfeiffer does a good job, and the two young'uns are okay, including Claire Danes, who is a fine Gynneth Paltrow lookalike.  But Robert DeNiro frankly steals the show.

    I read the book back in October 2011, and gave it 9½*/10.  No surprise there, Gaiman is a frickin' fantastic author.  The movie is almost - but not quite - as good.

The Dark Knight Rises

   
    Finally watched this last night.  At 165 minutes, it dragged a bit, especially as we waited for Batman to work himself back into shape.  But I quibble.

    Catwoman was kewl.  I like the dark tone.  The Bane character could've been psychoed up a bit more - sticking a muzzle on him was chintzy compared to Heath Ledger's Joker character in the previous film.

    The storyline held together reasonably well.  The takeover of Gotham by Bane reminded me of Doctor Zhivago after the revolution kicked out the Czar.  But it was quite a stretch to imagine that the federal government would just sit idly by while a major metropolis was occupied.

    The action scenes were well done.  There were enough plot twists to keep me on my toes.  I suppose there could be a Part IV to this series, but that would frankly surprise me.

    I quite enjoyed this whole Batman Trilogy.  Whoever makes the next Caped Crusader movie has his work cut out for him.  I'd rate TDKR around 8 Stars - some minor irritations, but overall a good flick.

Picture of the Year - Big Miracle

    I call this the Picture of the Year, not because it's good, but because I watch about one movie a year, and this just happened to be it for 2012.

    Drew Barrymore, Ted Danson, and a bunch of other actresses and actors I didn't recognize join forces to save a family of three whales who are too dumb to make it to the open sea for the winter.  That's about all you need to know about the plot.

    The storyline - allegedly "based on a true story" - is sickenly sweet.  The Greenpeace activist (Drew) gets chummy with the oil tycoon (Ted).  The Eskimos get chummy with the gringos.  The Russians get chummy with the Americans.  And two rednecks from Minnesota get chummy with anyone else.  I kept expecting everybody to break out singing Kumbaya at any point.

    I watched this while on our Alaskan Cruise, so at least there was a climate tie-in.  As a 107-minute piece of fluff, it does okay.  Thing is, I cooda just as easily watched Hunger Games.  Poor choice, Terry.

    Big Miracle is rated PG, the gods only knows what for.   We'll give it 4*/10.  Add another 2 stars if you enjoy those TV "Hallmark movies" that are on every Sunday night.

Red (the Movie)

Movie Release Date : 15 October 2010

DVD Release Date : 25 January 2011

MPAA Rating : PG-13

Length : 111 Minutes

Overall Rating : 7*/10

. Bruce Willis is content to be retired from the CIA and hitting up by phone on some girl who sends him his checks, until a hit squad from his former employer arrives to take him out. Naturally, he ices the whole squad (hit squads are incredibly inept. just ask Jason Bourne), but they demolish his house, so it's off and running until he can figure out why they want to kill him and/or someone runs out of ammo. . What's To Like... It's a geezer-studded affair. Willis does a decent job, and Morgan Freeman is in it, which is always a plus. It was cool to see 90-something Ernest Borgnine (McHale's Navy); but it is John Malkovich who frankly steals the show. Geezerette Helen Mirren is also in it, who I was supposed to know, but didn't. In wiki-ing her, it turns out a long time ago, she was Morgana in the awesome King Arthur flick, Excalibur. Whoodathunkit? . There's lot of action, lots of shooting, and plenty of humor. On the downside, the plot makes zero sense, so check your brain at the door before watching this one. . Two BTW's. "Red" stands for "Retired, Extremely Dangerous". And in Bulgaria, the movie is called "Besni Strashni Pensii", which means "Furious Frightful Pensioners". . This was my first movie of 2011, and overall, despite the plot loopholes, it was fun to watch. I mean, do we really care if a Bruce Willis flick makes any sense? Body counts and wit are all that matters. 7 Stars.

Seems Like Old Times (Movie)

Seems Like Old Times

Genre : Comedy; Light Romance

Theater Release Date : 19 December 1980

DVD Release Date : 19 March 2002

Length : 100 minutes

MPAA Rating : PG

Overall Rating : 8*/10
 

  . Seems Like Old Times is a follow-up to the Hawn/Chase flick Foul Play.  Written by Neil Simon, it finds a schlep (Chevy Chase) falsely framed for a bank heist, and seeking refuge at his ex's (Goldie Hawn) house, as she hides him in various places from her now husband (Charles Grodin).  Madcap mania ensues.

What's To Like...
    It's laugh-out-loud funny, thanks mostly to Hawn's efforts, a good script, and a gaggle of gags and routines.  This is almost despite Chase (who's a great comic but can't act worth a lick); and Grodin (who received a "Razzie" nomination - for worst supporting actor - for this film).

   The slack is taken up by a jive-talking chauffeur (T.K. Carter) and a no-nonsense cook/maid (Yvonne Wilder).  Heck, even the half dozen dogs do a good job of acting, especially the Yorkie.  Harold Gould plays the judge and almost succeeds with his Groucho Marx routine.  He doesn't quite pull it off, but hey, who can, outside of Groucho.

Excerpt...
    Goldie : "You just went through a stop sign!"
    T. K. : "I can't help it. I don't like to read when I drive."

   The performances by Chase and Grodin leave something to be desired, but the timing of the lines is perfect and I laughed throughout the movie.  I credit this to the director, Jay Sandrich.  In this day of "Dumber and Dumberer" comedies, it was a pleasant change to watch one where you were expected to use your brain a bit.

  . Ultimately, this is more like an hour-and-a-half SNL routine than a coherent story.  But there are zingers aplenty and ample antics, which more than make up for the somewhat tepid ending.  You won't find the meaning of life or love here, but you will be entertained.  That's all I ask of a film.  8 Stars.

Cop Out

Theater Release Date : 26 February 2010

DVD Release Date : 20 July 2010

Genre : Action; Comedy

Length : 107 minutes

MPAA Rating : R

Overall Rating : 5*/10

.

Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan (who?) play a detective duo trying to bust a drug lord. Willis' daughter is getting married, and he needs a bunch of cash to one-up his ex's rich, new hubby who's offering to pay for the kid's lavish nuptials.

.

So Willis pawns his priceless baseball card, but the store gets robbed just as the transaction is going down. The card ends up in the hands of - guess who? - the drug lord, who will trade it back to Willis for his stolen Mercedes Benz, which (it is darkly hinted), contains something very valuable. So our dynamic duo takes to car-napping.

.

What's To Like...

If you wish they'd make some more Rush Hour and 48 Hours series, your prayers have been answered. If you can tolerate believability issues for the sake of disparate plotlines all tying together somehow, you'll like this. Sean William Scott steals the show as a less-than-perfect cat burglar. Someone named Kevin Smith directed - apparently I should know who that is. There's lots of action, enough laughs, and a chiquita in distress.

.

Alas, this ain't Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker; nor is it Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy. Willis just goes through the motions, and Morgan just isn't convincing as the funny-but-crazy sidekick. The plot is formulaic - if I see one more case of cop(s) getting suspended then solving the case, I'm gonna scream.

.

In the end, Cop Out is just entertaining enough to make up for the fact that it has absolutely nothing new to offer. It's worth renting, but don't waste your money buying it.

Hot Tub Time Machine

2010; 99 minutes

MPAA Rating : R (for Nudity, Alcohol, Drugs, Cussing, Violence, Sex, you name it)

Genre : Comedy (Low-brow)

Theater Release Date : 03/26/10

DVD Release Date : 06/29/10

Overall Rating : 6*/10

. Three middle-aged friends (plus the nephew of one) return to a Colorado resort where they (except the nephew) spent a wild weekend way back in 1986. The hot tub is on the fritz in a most unique way - it transports the foursome back to that weekend. Riotous antics ensue, with each of the trio getting a chance to change the course of their lives, even if it jeopardizes the nephew's existence. The hell with the Prime Directive! . What's To Like... It's got time-travel. It's got T&A (for both the guys and the girls). It's got John Cusack and a very old-looking Chevy Chase. The "what if" scenarios are kewl. Stylistically, it's Dumb & Dumber merged with Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. The ending is great, and has a couple neat twists. . OTOH, it has way, way, way too much cussing. And a bit too much up-chucking. The first 20 minutes or so - until they actually go back in time - is boring. This ain't a film for the kiddies. ."One little change has a ripple effect and it effects everything else. Like a butterfly floats its wings and Tokyo explodes or there's a tsunami, in like, you know, somewhere..." This is strictly for when you're in the mood for low-brow laughs. Since I'm a chrono-hopper, I probably enjoyed it a bit more than I should have. Liz thought it was just plain dumb. . The plusses outweigh the minuses by a bit. We watched this Friday night, after my brain had quit thinking, so it was a good choice. On a Saturday night, I'd probably rate it one less star. 6 Stars.

Inception (2010 Movie)

Theater Release Date : 16 July 2010

DVD Release Date : who knows?

Length : 148 minutes

MPAA Rating : PG-13

Overall Rating : 10*/10

. Unless you live under a cinematic rock (which I do), you've heard all about this film. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his partner Arthur (Jonathan Gordon-Levitt, who once upon a time played the boy on Third Rock From the Sun) specialize in entering into people's dreams to steal information. That's called an Extraction. Now a client wants them to instead plant an idea in a victim's head. And that's called an Inception. . The film has the twists of The Sixth Sense, the special effects of The Matrix, and the teamwork of Mission Impossible. It will inevitably be compared to The Matrix (the first one, not the two sucky sequels), and I think Inception is better, because the storyline is not as murky. Yeah, the first 20 minutes are confusing, but everything after that is easy to grasp, and the film wraps up by resolving the opening scenes. . DiCaprio is superb; and the supporting cast is excellent. Only Ellen Page's Ariadne character seemed meh, and that might have been due to weak dialogue rather than the actress herself. I'd deduct a point for this, but Michael Caine is in it, and that's an automatic "+1". It also has a chemist, and he's not the stereotypical psychopathic madman. Kewlness. . The quibbles (such as, how did they arrange to occupy every seat in the first-class flight?) are minor. There are no "black hats and white hats". Indeed, if anything, our heroes are the ones that are less-than-ethical. There's lots of action, and the special effects are impressive, yet don't distract from the storyline (take a hint, Matrix). There's a romantic subplot for the ladies, but it's kept minimal for us guys. The ending is great, yet there is ample room for sequels. . If the concept of "a dream within a dream within a dream" (and one level lower is a place called "Limbo") doesn't confuse you, and the other movies mentioned here are in genres you like, then you'll enjoy Inception. I really can't think of any negatives. 10 Stars.

Avatar

162 minutes; PG-13

Theater Release Date : 18 December 2009

DVD Release Date : 22 April 2010

Overall Rating : 9½*/10

. Director James Cameron's high budget hit from last Christmas; you know it's a good movie when it ends after 2½ hours and you go, "Is it over already?" . The film felt like a mix of Dances With Wolves, Star Wars, The Matrix, and one of my personal favorites, Starship Troopers. Corporal Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), although wheelchair-bound, takes the place of his brother who died on the way to the planet Pandora. The humans are there to mine something more valuable than spice on Dune - Unobtainium. Unfortunately, the ore lies on land held sacred by the native Na'Vi, so we have to use one of two things to convince them to move - charm or napalm. Sigurney Weaver also stars as Dr. Grace Augustine. After battling Aliens for three films, the Na'Vi are childsplay. . What's To Like... We watched this on our big-screen at home, and the visual effects were absolutely stunning. I can only dream of what this was like in 3-D in the theaters. The storyline was straightforward and has been done many times before, but that doesn't matter, because it was convincingly done. The UE (Col. Miles Quaritch, played by Stephen Lang) isn't completely "black", and Sully's main Na'Vi squeeze (Neytiri, played by Zoe Saldana) is way cooler than Princess Leia and any of the green alien vixens that James T. Kirk ever bedded. . My quibbles are small. I can't see why it took everyone so long to figure out a way for Jake to overcome his handicap. And why the scriptwriters couldn't come up with a better name for the ore than Unobtainium. Geez, guys. . I thoroughly enjoyed Avatar, despite its predictability. It may well turn out to be the best film I watch this year. 9½ Stars.

Alice In Wonderland (2010 Movie)

Movie Release Date : 05 March 2010

DVD Release Date : 01 June 2010

Length : 108 minutes

MPAA Rating : PG

Overall Rating : 6½*/10

. This film probably should have been called something different. It isn't a remake of the 1950's Disney animated film; nor does it follow Lewis Carroll's story. Similar to the movie relationship of Hook and Peter Pan, this Tim Burton opus finds Alice, now 19 years old and about to be coaxed into an unappetizing betrothal, falling down the rabbit hole and into a whole new plotline, peppered with characters out of both Alice In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass. . The storyline is good, but not compelling. Mia Wasikowski is not impressive as Alice. Johnny Depp does an admirable job, but his Mad Hatter character is too surreal for anyone to call this his finest role. The visual effects are excellent, but we're not talking Avatar here. (More on that in a few days) The ending is a bit weak, although it makes more sense if Burton intends to do a sequel. . Overall, I liked this movie. It's good, escapist fun with some interesting characters, especially the Cheshire Cat, the Blue Caterpillar, and Bayard the Bloodhound. The underlying theme -controlling your own life - is a laudable one. It's a worthwhile watch, but you'd do best to rent it first. 6½ stars.

District 9 (Movie)

Movie Release Date : August 2009

DVD Release Date : December 2009

Genre : Sci-Fi

Length : 112 minutes

MPAA Rating : R Overall Rating : 6*/10

. The "sleeper" movie of 2009, District 9 was a low-budget movie with a largely unknown cast, that ended up being nominated for four Academy Awards. . The film is set in Johannesburg, South Africa, where an immobilized alien mother ship is found to contain a couple million emaciated insectoid aliens. They are brought to earth, resettled in a slum, but years later, our humanitarian attitude has soured, and it is decided to evict them and resettle them out in the boonies. A dimwitted bureaucrat named Wikus (Sharlto Copley) is put in charge, but he becomes contaminated with an alien elixir, and begins to transform into one of "them". . What's To Like... It's a novel twist to depict bug-like beings (perjoratively called "prawns") as the oppressed, and we humans as the inhumane oppressors. It's no coincidence that this was set in South Africa, where apartheid was practiced until very recently. Indeed, the forced eviction is based on a historical event, where white South African forces tried in the 1970's to move tens-of-thousands of Blacks out of District 6 in Johannesburg. . The first part of the film is shot is "documentary" style, which presented the story effectively, but was a little bit too "Blair Witch Projecty" for me. And although the central theme (Xenophobia) is a worthy one (especially here in Arizona, with our hate-filled anti-immigration laws), the film seemed to have tunnel-vision about it. Finally, there's no getting around it, despite oodles of special effects, this was a low-budget film. . Nevertheless, I liked it. It won't take the place of a sci-fi epic like, say, Starship Troopers, but it had a good message. My big wish would be for someone like Spielberg to wait five years, then do a re-make with big money thrown at the special effects. Six stars. .

- 2nd Opinion -

Liz thought this was a wretched movie. Halfway through, she gave up and read a book instead. So this probably isn't the DVD to buy the missus for Valentine's Day or your Anniversary.

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2008) Genre : Fantasy MPAA Rating : PG-13 (123 minutes) DVD Release Date : April 2010 Overall Rating : 5*/10 (maybe 6)

.

This was Heath Ledger's swan song, and has all the ingredients for the making of an epic movie. Terry Gilliam (12 Monkeys, Time Bandits) directs an all-star cast consisting of Christopher Plummer, Jude Law, Colin Farrell, Johnny Depp, Tom Waits, Verne Troyer ("Mini-Me"), and the delectable Lily Cole. The London setting is great, and the cinematography (especially the surreal "imagination" scenes) is fantastic. The film received two Academy Award Nominations - Best costumes; Best Art Direction.

.

So why the low mark? Because the storyline was both confusing and devoid of tension. Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) is engaged in a Faustian series of bets with The Devil (Tom Waits), seemingly winning them all (so far), yet finding himself in desperate straits. The soul of his daughter (Lily Cole) hangs in the balance, and all will be lost unless he can "win" 5 souls before Old Scratch does.

.

That ought to make for a great plot, but instead we get lots of sparkle and very little substance. The acting is good, but there's little drama. I knew who was going to win in the end, but frankly, I didn't care. The surreal scenes were psychedelically stunning, but didn't really contribute much to the story's resolution. Objectively, this is a 5 Stars (out of 10) movie, although you could add one star more in tribute to Heath.

The Stepford Wives - (2004 Movie)

The Stepford Wives (2004 Re-Make)

Genre : Comedy

MPAA Rating : PG-13 (93 minutes)

My Rating : 4½*/10

. Want to get away from the stress of city life? Want to live happily forever-and-ever? Want your wife to be June Cleaver with playmate boobs? Then the quiet 'burb of Stepford, Connecticut may be just what you're looking for. But tranquility and docility come at a cost... . What's To Like... If you're going to do a remake of a classic, then at least do something different. The 1975 movie based on an Ira Levin novel was positively spooky. This 2004 version tells the tale via a whole new genre - comedy. . You get an all-star cast - Nicole Kidman and Matthew Broderick are the headliners. Bette Midler and John Lovitz are a great supporting duo, and Glenn Close and Christopher Walken threaten to steal the scenes, they're that good. . The one-liners are great. The make-up artists show how big of an effect they have by doing makeovers on Bette and Nicole. And you even have a gay couple living openly in Stepford; a sure sign that this isn't the 70's anymore. . Alas, the script and plot resolution are positively atrocious. Are the Stepford Wives robots? Zombies? Aliens? Brain-Washed? Tagged and Chipped? ATM machines? Hypnotized? At various times, any and all of the above seems to be the answer. The movie never resolves that. This is a flick where simply checking your brain at the door before you watch it may not be sufficient. A full-scale lobotomy may be in order. . There is a nice plot twist at the end, but it gets cancelled out by Kidman's mucho lame-o climactic moralizing speech. Don't blame her though. Shoot the scriptwriter. . This movie bombed in the theaters, and according to the Wikipedia article on it (see here) just about the entire cast ended up hating the finished version. I give it 4½ stars. Watch it for the laughs, and try not to scratch those itchy lobotomy sutures.

The Men Who Stare At Goats

The Men Who Stare At Goats (2010)

Genre : Comedy (94 minutes)

MPAA Rating : R

Release Date : 11/09 (DVD released 03/10)

My Rating : 5*/10

. Ewan McGregor plays a reporter in Iraq who crosses paths with a special forces operator (George Clooney), who claims to be on a top-secret mission that requires his Jedi knight-like abilities. They forge a Luke-Obi Wan type of relationship, and along the way, there are lots of flashbacks to when Clooney was part of a "New Earth Army" training program in the armed forces, under the guidance of a pony-tailed hippie named Bill Django (Jeff Bridges). Kevin Spacey plays the bad guy in the mix; and the goats play themselves. . What's To Like... The all-star cast does not disappoint. Men Who Stare At Goats features good acting from top to bottom. There are some laugh-out-loud funny scenes, and there is no romance. If you are someone "stuck in the 60's", you will find this film a hoot . . So why did this flop at the Box Office? Simple - the script sucks. The "Mission" is a total let-down, and while there's a hilarious closing scene (albeit, not realistic at all in a war zone), the ending itself is lame. . Still, it brought back some fine psychedelic memories. Umm... not that I ever personally did any hallucinogens, mind you. But I read about them in Reader's Digest. Umm... Yeah. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. . So we'll give it 5 stars. There's enough humor to compensate the lack of a plot, and the fine acting compensates for the bad ending. It's worth your time to rent this, but don't buy it. What it needs is for someone to wait 5 years, and then do a total re-make of the concept, as was done with the various Batman cinematic series. This cooda been really good. Unfortunately, it wasn't.

2012 (the movie)

2012 (DVD released - March, 2010)

Length : 158 minutes

Genre : Fluff Action

MPAA Rating : PG-13

Our Rating : 7*/10

. The end of the world is upon us. If only we had listened to the ancient Maya, a modern-day wacked-out comspiracy-freak/evangelist, and/or a couple geophysicists in 2010 monitoring the earth's core. . What's to like... Woody Harrelson (the evangelist) and Danny Glover (the US president) turn in fine performances, even though neither one is around by the time the final credits roll. The computer-generated graphics - specializing in falling buildings and erupting volconoes - are stunning. The humor will make you chuckle, even if it is sometimes a bit macabre (such as Sasha's demise). . The scientific explanation for the calamity is plausible. An unprecedented barrage of solar flares heats up the earth's core. This results in hundreds of huge volcanic eruptions, which in turn leads to a radical shifting of the earth's tectonic plates and magnetic poles. That causes things like California to fall into the ocean, thus spawning a series of tsunamis with waves so high they flood over Mt. Everest. . None of that is a spoiler because this isn't a Cri-Fi film. Nor is there any effort given to figuring out how some 7th-century Mayans somehow knew this was going to happen. And that may be the main drawback of 2012 - the movie exists for the cheesy plot, the great disaster images, and a bunch of laughs. This is true even of the action scenes - they're just too over-the-top for the viewer to take seriously. . Hare rama, Dalai Lama. Hare krishna, thanks for the fishna. Judging from the reviews over at Amazon, a lot of people hated 2012. Maybe they were expecting an epic. It isn't. As long as you recognize it for what it is - a fluff film - it does okay. This isn't the first movie to misrepresent itself. Heck, they tried to tell me Titanic was an adventure film when it debuted. . I give 2012 seven stars. It didn't cause me to flee to the mountain tops or try to appease the angry gods. It did entertain me for 2½ hours. That's good enough for me.

Inglourious Basterds

Inglourious Basterds - 2009

Starring : Brad Pitt; Christopher Waltz

Genre : Historical Fantasy

Time : 153 minutes; MPAA Rating : R

Overall Rating : 5½*/10

. Led by a cowboy-sounding, Nazi-hating sergeant (Aldo Raine, played by Brad Pitt), a group of American mostly-Jewish commandos is wreaking havoc in WW2 German-occupied France when an opportunity arises to take out a slew of Germany's upper-echelon baddies. Including, it turns out, Hitler himself. Meanwhile, a young Jewish woman, whose family was brutally massacred by an evil Gestapo officer, is also plotting her revenge. . What's To Like... If you yearn for the return of spaghetti westerns, this will fill your bill. I could almost hear the Good-Bad-&-Ugly theme-song playing in my head during the opening act. There's lots of gore and a decent amount of action. There's no romance; this is a "Manly Man Man" movie. . The UE is the best I've seen in years. Christopher Waltz plays the shrewd, sadistic "Landa", who's earned his nickname "The Jew Hunter". He won the 2009 Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, and it is well-deserved. He shines here, while Pitt is reduced to almost a cameo role. . There's also a lot of French, German, and Italian spoken in the dialogue, which means about 3/4 of the movie is subtitled. I'm used to that, and hearing full-speed French again was a treat for me. But if you don't like subtitles, YMMV. . The plot has some decent twists, including an unexpected ending. Not all the good guys live; not all the bad guys die. Finally, John Travolta isn't in the film, and that's always a plus. . So why only Five-and-a-Half Stars? This is a Quentin Tarantino film, and I am not a big fan of his. The violence is gratuitous (did I really need to see a graphic scalping?), there's too much meaningless dialogue (let's all play "Who Am I?"), the story is disjointed (although he addresses this by splitting the movie into 5 separate acts), and if the story had a message, I didn't grasp it. . Inglourious Besterds is better than QT's Pulp Fiction (one of the worst movies of all time), but not as good as his two Kill Bill flicks. The plusses pretty much balance out the minuses, and the twists and non-stereotypical characters (there are even a couple heroic Nazi soldiers) add a half-star to an average rating. It's worth watching - but only once.

Sherlock Holmes (the movie)

Opened in theaters : Christmas 2009

DVD Release : March 2010

Genre : Action, Mystery

Overall Rating : 9*/10

. My first movie for 2010, and a good one. Jude Law and Robert Downey, Jr. are the latest cinematic Watson & Holmes duo, and they team up to try and figure out what evil mayhem Lord Blackwood, a devil-worshipping baddie who somehow manages to come back from the grave, is up to. . What's To Like... The turn-of-the-20th-century London settings are fantastic, even if they are CGI-rendered. Both main characters have been re-cast, and like (most of) the Batman movies of the past decade-plus, this is an improvment. Holmes is more brooding now, and often withdraws into his inner thoughts. His boxing skills now have some kung-fu influences, and although he of course has brilliant detective skills,, he also has some vulnerabilities. Most notably, a pretty face and some female attention can really screw his head around. . But it is the re-make of Watson that really shines. Gone is the bumbling, clueless geezer; replaced by a young, close friend of Holmes who, if lacking the deductive prowess of his colleague, has a level head and a lot more common sense. Which means he can cover Holmes' back a lot better than the "old" Watsons. . The plot is good. You keep wondering if Blackwood's feats and powers are of supernatural origin, as natural explanations seem few and far-fetched. And there's a lot of (scientific) chemistry throughout the movie, which makes me misty-eyed, albeit probably from the fumes. We're a long way from OSHA. . The action scenes are well-done, and there's a stream of subtle humor that flows along with the plot. The ending points to an obvious sequel. Blackwood may be evil, but he's no UE. That role is reserved for Professor Moriarty. . So we'll give this one 9 stars, losing points only because Holmes mumbles too much when he broods, and because Mycroft Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars are nowhere to be seen. It kept me entertained, and there was even some romance to keep Liz interested. Although I read the complete set of Sherlock Homes stories many times as a kid, I find the "new" Watson and Holmes to be a refreshing change. And the fact that the plot is new, and not a retelling of one of Arthur Conan Doyle's tales is a plus, not a minus.

Roger Waters - The Wall - Live In Berlin

115 minutes

Genre : Concert

MPAA Rating : n.a. (documentary)

My Rating : A-

. This was a benefit concert, given on 21 July 1990, just 8 months after the Berlin Wall was demolished. Ex-Pink Floyd guitarist Roger Waters assembles a star-studded list of guest musicians and stages a live version of The Wall, overcoming tremendous technical difficulties to do so. The audience is estimated to be between 200,000 and 300,000. . Some of the stars... The Scorpions were an impressive opening act, even if they did milli-vanilli it. Bryan Adams was still young enough to come off as a stud. Van Morrison and The Band were cool to see, although they didn't have big enough parts in the show. James Galway played a b*thchin' flute. Waters' in-house lead guitarist, Rick Difonzo, was awesome. Cyndi Lauper and Sinead O'Connor were still relevant back then. And Mick Jagger's ex, Jerry Hall, got to prance-&-pout. . What's To Like... It's Floydian music, so naturally it's great. But it's the technical aspect of the stage show itself that really makes this a worthwhile concert/DVD. Waters puts his soul into the work, and the result is a more like a musical than a concert. The building of the wall, and its subsequent crumbling down - all done while the musicians are doing their thing - is fabulous. So if there was some miming going on, and if some of the DVD scenes are re-takes and pre-takes, that's okay. . The quibbles are few. Joni Mitchell seems to be stuck in the 60's - no visual effort on her part - just stand-&-sing. Cyndi Lauper seems overly-happy, and Sinead O'Connor seems underly-so. As always, the list of musicians who declined to play is mind-numbing : Eric Clapton, Peter Gabriel, Rod Stewart, Joe Cocker, and of course, the rest of Pink Floyd. . Tear Down The Wall! In the end, this is as much a historical happening as a well-staged musical. Germany was in the process of reunifying, and 45 years of French, Russian, British, and American occupation was coming to an end. The German people, especially the young, needed a focal event to remember the long, gradual reunification by. Roger Waters supplied it. . It is said the original concert audio was rather wretched. This 2003 version had the sound tracks re-mastered, and they certainly sounded good to me. We'll give it an "A-", and recommend it to fans of both Pink Floyd and History.

The Time Traveler's Wife (movie)

Genre : Chick Flick

114 minutes

MPAA Rating : PG-13

My Rating : B

. Yeah, I don't normally agree to go to Chick Flicks, but I am a time-traveler, so there was relevancy. To boot, Liz had just finished the book about two weeks ago. She enjoyed the novel, so this was a must-see. . What's To Like... There's a pleasant blend of chuckleful humor, cool "what if" scenarios, and of course, romance. The movie did a fantastic job of finding people to play the two female leads at various stages in their lives. And the make-up people did a fantastic job with our hero. There are a couple quick butt shots, which earned the movie its PG-13 rating. . Liz says it follows the book closely, although it naturally drops a few scenes, including an important one near the end of the book, when the time traveler's wife is very old. But Liz will definitely be buying this as soon as it's out. . The technical part of time-travel. Our traveler is an amateur chrono-hopper at best. He can't control when and to where he jumps. And like Arnie in Terminator, his clothes stay behind in the here-and-now. Besides the fact that it's just plain wrong (don't you think it would be easier to time-warp an inanimate object than something living?), it raises questions about what else would be left behind. The fillings in your teeth? The crowns? Your pacemaker? Your glasses and contact lenses? Your tattoos? . They got the "mortality" aspect right. You can't cheat death by time-jumping to the past. They blew the "inevitability" conundrum. The time-traveler claims he can't change the past, then he goes out and rigs a lottery drawing so that his wife wins. And of course, there's no mention of dimension-travel, which really limits our hero's options. . I hate to say it, but I enjoyed this movie. It's against my moral code to give a chick-flick an "A", so I'll give it a "B" instead, and recommend it to any guy who wants to score brownie points with his wife. If you're going to have to sit through a romance movie, this is the one to go see. . P.S. One of the previews was for The Lovely Bones, and that looks like it's gonna be a must-see too.