Lincoln Lawyer ~ the McConaughey Man-crush continues.

Have you ever wondered what a defense lawyer would do if they found out their client really is guilty of the crimes they are accused of? Would they put the “sleazy” back into the “sleazy lawyer” or would they have a conscience? 

Well Mick Haller (Matthew McConaughey), finds himself right there. Mick is a defense lawyer working out of his Lincoln Continental. His ex and mother of his child Maggie McPherson (Marisa Tomei) is a District Attorney, which makes the sexual tension a great part of the movie. His client Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe) is young, rich, good looking, and guilty as hell. To make matters worse, he’s guilty of killing a prostitute a few years ago who is connected to Mick. Mick had represented the man accused of killing the woman, and he talked the man into taking a plea deal. The deal put the man away for life with a hopeful pardon in 15 years. Now Mick is screwed. He has to represent this killer in his latest rape attempt.

Rich boy Louis has it all figured out. He has Mick stuck in the lawyer-client privilege and he knows it. He also has a plan to make the girl he attacked look as if she is setting “him” up for the crime. When Frank Levin (William H. Macy), Mick’s best friend and private investigator turns up dead, Mick realizes Louis will not stop. To make matters worse, Ted Minton (Josh Lucas) is a brand new District Attorney representing the state, and isn’t skilled enough to win against Mick. He can’t tell anyone without losing his license and his job.

This is another enjoyable movie for McConaughey, and with Marissa Tomei, it just gets better. The relationship their characters have is enjoyable. Trace Adkins appears as the leader of a biker gang, and Mick’s streetwise sense really brought the movie home for me. I enjoyed it a lot. It’s more of a guy movie than gal (if you can really classify it that way anymore) but my wife did enjoy it as well, just not as much as I did.

Looking for a surprise hit for DVD night, bring home the Lincoln Lawyer. 

Life as we know it ~ and they'll be fine.

Holly Berenson (Katherine Heigl) and Eric Messer (Josh Duhamel) love their best friends Peter and Allison. So much that they became godparents to Peter and Allison’s daughter, Sophie, whom they absolutely love. There’s only one issue. Holly and Eric can’t stand each other.

Holly is the successful business owner/chef who has her eyes set on Dr. Sam (Josh Lucas), loves being organized, and Messer is the eligible bachelor working as a technical director for a television sports station, loving the life of one night stands, basketball, and motorcycles. For the most part they tolerate each other when in the company of Peter and Allison.

When Peter and Allison are killed in an accident, Holly and Messer find out they have been named as guardians of Sophie. Two single people, who hate each other, thrown together to try and cobble a life and take care of Sophie. Sounds easy don’t it?

This movie was a surprisingly non-typical movie to watch. You had a feeling that eventually at the end the two would fall in love, that there would be a grand fight, one would leave, they would realize they were in love, and the happy ending ensues. You’d also be right! I liked the twist of the pair not being at each other’s throats constantly then having the epiphany which is typical of movies like this. Instead, their movement towards a relationship was a believable one as was their fight and separation.

The movie made my wife cry, and parents will have the sympathetic moments. Dr. Sam who steps in when Messer leaves is not a character you hate and want ousted, in fact you could see the movie continuing with him or Messer being a good choice for an ending.

If you’re looking for a feel-good romance with some fun moments, pick it up from the DVD rental store.   

Thor ~ not so much thunder, but a backstory for the Avengers

In order to introduce the Avengers, we have seen the aspiring single movies for the individual members. The Hulk, Ironman, Captain America, and Thor, with some thrown in supporting roles like Black Widow (from Ironman 2) and Hawkeye (from Thor) we see the forming of the team that will grace the movie screen.

Thor, the God of Thunder (Chris Hemsworth) is the heir to the throne of Asgard. Asgard is the core of the nine realms, yada yada yada, nothing you really need to know when the Avengers come out, but to make a long comic book short, it’s where the protectors of the Universe live. Thor is a cocky, self-absorbed dude who only wants to fight for glory, machismo, and whatever motivated all of those large Viking-types back in the day to fight for. When these beings first came to Earth to defend us against the frost giants, they were taken for gods and thus named. The Asgardians repelled the giants and sent them back into their own realm.

Odin (Anthony Hopkins), Thor’s father, took the source of the frost giant’s power, the casket  and a young frost giant baby, which turns out to be Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who is raised as Thor’s brother and potential heir to the Asgardian throne. Loki is the God of Mischief, and boy does he ever live up to his name.

Thor takes a small team to the frost giant realm to kick some butt in retaliation for a sneak attack on Asgard. Odin gets ticked off and banishes Thor to Midgard (Earth) and forbids Thor from wielding his mystical hammer, Mjölnir which is his source of power and basically the only thing that makes Thor a superhero.  While human, Thor falls in love with Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), a scientist investigating the abnormal things that happen when Asgard connects to Earth through the Rainbow Bridge. I swear, I’m not making it up. It’s in the comic book.

Thor can’t wield his hammer until he stops being a jerk and learns how to be a better Asgardian. Turns out, this was all planned by Loki who is now taking over Asgard, and Thor’s team comes to Earth to help get Thor back.

The battle scenes and special effects are done pretty well. My favorite character is the Heimdall (Idris Elba) the guardian of the Rainbow Bridge, who basically sees everything in the universe at all times and opens and closes the connection from Asgard to the other realms. The battle in the Frost Giant realm is well done but very dark and hard to decipher what’s going on at time. As with some of the other battles, there is too much spark, and fiery flashing to see if the actors had any real fighting skills, but it’s enjoyable.

The movie itself is a bit slow in parts and very “background boring” as they try to establish who and what Thor is, and how he will figure into “The Avengers” later on. There’s a Thor 2 already in the works, so look for more establishment and joining of the Avengers.  Now that it’s on DVD, go ahead and check it out, I have a feeling you’re going to need it once the Avengers movies kick in.

Real Steel ~ Rock’em Sock’em Robots for grownups!

Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) is a boxer in a future where boxing isn't enough to feed the appetite for violence, so the world turns to robot fighting. Charlie hasn't had much luck trying to win fights with his robots. Charlie hasn't had much luck in love with Bailey Tallet (Evangeline Lilly), the daughter of his boxing coach. Charlie hasn't had much luck in his life, when he finds out an ex-girlfriend has died leaving him the next of kin to his eleven year old son Max (Dakota Goyo), whom he’s never met.

Losing his robot in a fight to a bull, Charlie needs his luck to change, so when he sees an opportunity to get some money by selling the custody of Max to Max’s aunt, he jumps at the chance. What’s the only catch? He has to keep Max around until October. Max is a smart kid, he knows what’s happening, but he wants to be part of his father’s world and the world of robot boxing.

The two happen across “Atom”, an outdated sparring robot with unique skills, while searching a junkyard in the middle of the night for spare parts. With nothing left to lose, they power him up and begin an incredible “Rocky Balboa” rise to stardom, robot style.

This movie is actually a blend of “Rocky” and “Over the top” plots. Crappy dad meets kid. Kid hates dad but is interested in what dad does. Dad and kid start bonding during “on the road” experiences. Dad realizes kids is awesome, kid forgives dad, they hug, they smooze, and the plan the sequel.  

It was a very fun movie which made the crowd cheer as Atom the robot started kicking some steel butts. I’m glad they didn’t give the robot “feelings” and try to make it seem to be “turning human.” Jackman nailed the part of self-absorbed dad who comes to the realization that his priorities need an overhaul. The ending of the movie set up a sequel, so look for more robot shenanigans in the future.

Go see it, take the kids, the wife, the husband, the neighbor, hell… give me a call, I’ll go see it again with ya.

Andromeda Strain ~ 1971 ... A strain to watch.

 

Everyone in Piedmont, Arizona, is dead. A secret military satellite called “scoop” has fallen to Earth, and like your typical red-neck town, they opened it.  The military calls in Dr. Jeremy Stone (Arthur Hill), Dr. Charles Dutton (David Wayne), Dr. Mark Hall (James Olson), and Dr. Ruth Leavitt (Kate Reid), or “Wildfire,” the government-sponsored team that counters extraterrestrial biological infestation. As if it happens nearly monthly.

The whole premise of the movie is that the government launched “scoop” to essentially scoop particles out of space to see if they may be used as a weapon against the United States’ enemies. In order to find one, a very elaborate underground testing facility was built with a nuclear reactor at its core. If something goes wrong with the test….. "BOOM!”

The Wildfire team studies what killed the town, and why the two survivors (a baby and the town crazy) of the town lived. Dr. Hall is the "odd man", since he is the only one without a spouse, and is given a red key, the only thing that can stop the nuke from blowing up. (The "odd man hypothesis" states that unmarried men are capable of carrying out the best, most dispassionate decisions during crisis).

Back in the 70’s, I’m sure this movie was considered high-tech, but post Star Wars, not so much. It takes 15 hours to descend the 5 floors of the testing facility and the four scientists go through a rigorous and mildly amusing sanitation process to get there to actually start to study the “Andromeda Strain” as it becomes entitled.

The Andromeda strain causes death buy causing blood to clot and dry to sand instantaneously. As it turns out, it’s not a virus, but a crystal-like, extraterrestrial microbe on a meteor that crashed into the satellite, knocking it from orbit. Not only does the microbe cause instant clotting, but it also mutates to eat plastic and skin. As you can imagine, Andromeda eventually mutates to corrode the seals of the secret base and begins contaminating it, and get this, nuclear energy causes it to grow. Of course, all the alarms go off, the base goes into “blow up mode” and there’s a dramatic attempt to stop the bomb from causing Andromeda to multiply and destroy the world. The world is saved when Andromeda eventually mutates to a harmless form and floats out into the atmosphere.

I reviewed this movie when I was told that movies like Contagion and Outbreak were sired from this “breakthrough” movie. Well…. Not so much, but you can see where they got the idea from it. This movie is basically the four scientists meandering around the secret lab, old monochrome computer monitors, binary code, bad TV angles, with echoed voices, and very dramatic animal death scenes. (I did not see a warning saying animals were not harmed… hmmmm?)

If you’re into classic old films, you may like it, but if you’re expecting dramatic special effects and good acting, you may want to leave this movie in the past. I can at least say I’ve seen it. It was also made into a TV series in 2008. I’ll let you know if it got any better.

Moneyball ~ You don't have to like baseball to like the movie

This movie was fun, funny, exciting (if you’re like me and didn’t know or remember the true story), and very riveting. I found myself actually rooting for the Oakland A’s to win. How many movies do you know of can make you tense about games that have already been played, decided, and in the history books? Brad Pitt plays a very Robert Redford-like role. At times I actually thought it might be Redford on screen. His interactions with his movie daughter Casey (Kerris Dorsey) were cute.

In the world of baseball, teams like the Oakland Athletics cannot compete financially with teams who can offer more money to players like the New York Yankees. What usually happens is that teams with less budget money develop players, make them great players, and then can’t afford them by the end of the season, so teams with more money can buy them up.

This guts the team each year. Call it fair or unfair, but it’s what Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), General Manager of the Oakland A’s has to live with every year, no matter how well the team finishes. Each year he begs for more money, to keep his players, or at least get completive new ones, and each year he’s told to do more with less. Billy stumbles across Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) while trying to make a trade with the Cleveland Indians.

Peter is an economist. He’s underappreciated, and usually ignored. Peter believes in Saber metrics. This is the analysis of baseball through objective evidence (like baseball statistics) rather than the “gut” feelings like scouts have been using for years. By measuring how many time the player gets on base, rather than how popular the player is, they figure out than many players who aren’t as well “liked” are cheaper, yet produce more collectively than a star player.

This ideas upsets the world of baseball, especially Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the Oakland A’s manager who thwarts Billy’s new concept by playing the players he wants to and screw the GM and his new system. Eventually through shrewdness, Billy gets Art to come around and the A’s go on to win 20 straight games. This isn’t a spoiler, its baseball history! J

Even if you’re not into baseball, this story of how facts win out over bias will make you smile. It's worth a watch in the theater.

Skyline ~ Great Effects, Plot...not so much.

Come to Los Angeles, enjoy the sights, celebrate Terry’s (Donald Faison) birthday. Meet his wife Candace (Brittany Daniel), and assistant Denise (Crystal Reed). It just might be a hell of a good time for Jarrod (Eric Balfour) and his pregnant girlfriend Elaine (Scottie Thompson). Shhh… Terry is having an affair with Denise, but they won’t get to enjoy it long, hopefully Candace won’t find out…um… what’s with this super bright light over the city? Ahhhhhhh… well… the movie is something like that.

They aliens have come to LA to harvest humans for their brains. Man did they go to the wrong place. The special effects in this movie are tremendous, even if the plot is not. If you’re like me, whenever you watch a survival movie like this, you imagine what you would do if it were happening to you. Like I imagine for you as well, the actors do things totally different than what would make sense to you. Seriously… if we’re going to “sneak” out of town, the choice of the loud convertible sports car during broad daylight with gigantic alien patrolmen would be lower on the “possibilities” list.

When the overly macho building security man Oliver (David Zayas), saves the day, then becomes an arrogant, bossy, jerk, it’s time to leave him before he turns into the psycho we all know he will be, but no, we need to stay in the building that the aliens have seen us run into, and the women never stop screaming which, by the way, attracts the attention of the brain suckers, so by all means keep doing it. So basically, they stay in the building, waiting to be rescued and arguing amongst them until they are all eventually picked off one by one.

At least in this movie, the human defenses are good enough to put up a fight, not win, but we do some heavy damage and there are some Independence Day type dogfights and for the first time, the nuke actually works…. Kind of. The ending of the movie is a cliff hanger. If they would have spent less time wasting the movie with the hiding in the building, moved the ending to the middle, and continued with that, the movie may have been saved.  Nothing like seeing something very cool at the end of a bad movie and thinking, “Why didn’t you do that earlier?”

It’s worth a rent, and a long laugh afterwards on all the holes in the storyline, and like other movies of this type, it has hours of conversation value as you ask your friends what they would do in the actor’s place. At the end of the movie, you’ll have to ask yourself a question. Are you a blue brain… or a red brain?