Naked Hobo

When Bower (Ben Foster) wakes up from cryo-sleep he can’t remember his mission, or even who he really is.  Once he wakes up a second crew member, Payton (Dennis Quaid), he sets off on the ship to try and find out what is going on.  Along the way he starts to regain bits of his memory, and he also discovers that things have gone terribly wrong on the spaceship Elysium.

This movie was better than I expected it to be.  It has a bit of an “Aliens” feel to it, the claustrophobia of the tight cramped spaces on a spaceship, the dark lighting, the constant feeling of something nasty being just around the next corner.  Of course it isn’t as good as “Aliens”, but it is still a decent sci-fi flick and worthy of a dvd rental.

I am really starting to like Ben Foster as an actor.  Now, like most typical sci-fi flicks there isn’t a lot for an actor to flex his acting muscle on, but he still does a good job as Bower.  Dennis Quaid, well, he is Dennis Quaid, you get what you expect to get out of him.  he isn’t a great actor, he isn’t a terrible actor, he is just Dennis Quaid.  The rest of the cast, eh, typical filler folks to either help or hinder the hero, the norm in a movie like this.

Now the story, well, it does have some serious faults, and I am just about ready to give up and let plot holes go, but I still have a little fight left in me.  There are plenty of questions that aren’t ever really answered, and maybe that was the intent, to leave some things a bit ambiguous.  However, you are never really told what is actually going on, and things kind of blur the lines between what is happening and what is imagined.  Again, maybe this was intentional, but at times it was a bit annoying.

Not a total dud, but not a grand slam either.  This film is fine as a sci-fi Bmovie, maybe B+ movie.  I think they could have done a lot more with the story and the ending is a bit cheesy, but an okay effort overall, 2 1/2 Axes.

Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) is an aging former country singer.  At the age of 57, years of alcohol abuse and smoking have taken its toll and the former country icon finds himself roaming from town to town, playing gigs in lounges and bowling alleys.  When he meets ayoung report, Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal), he starts to turn his life around.

In many ways this film is just another in a long line of middle age redemption stories.  I think one of the things that sets this film apart from many of those others is Jeff Bridges.  This is the role of a lifetime for him.  Now, I will admit that for me, he wills always be “the Dude”, but his portrayal of Bad Blake is Oscar worthy.  I also didn’t know that Bridges could sing, which he does quite well.  With a strong supporting cast you get great characters to go along with a decent story.  Notice, I said decent story.  This is nothing against the screenwriter, it is just that this is such an overused theme that there isn’t a lot of wiggle room for creating something truly new.

The director, newcomer Scott Cooper. does a good job of pacing the movie wonderfully.  The film is slow with a sober and determined path, exactly the flow this tale requires.  Bad Blake isn’t some crazy thrill seeking adrenaline junkie, he is a broken down cowboy, and the direction goes a long way to showing you that.  The ending of the film was no surprise to me, and I am glad they didn’t go totally sappy with it.  I hate the Hollywood idea of everything ending perfectly with a big red bow on top.  Life isn’t like that.  Did I dislike the ending?  No, there really are only so many things you can do in a story like this, so while I found it predicatble I didn’t find it disappointing.  This is one of my favorites from 2009, and Bridges will hopefully get that elusive trophy soon, 4 1/2 Axes.

Now there is an ancient manuscript that must be protected from the evil angels.  A lone woman must defend the book against many foes.

These films are really just one story, and it is best to view them back to back.  Okay, it is best not to view them at all, if I am being honest.   The one good part if you do watch them though, they are both rather short.

Without Christopher Walken this series is more than just dead, it is decayed.  He brought a certain quirkiness to the films that is sorely lacking in the final two installments.   When your biggest name is the likes of Kari Wuher of “Sliders” fame you can’t expect much.  Sure, she’s nice to look at, but the niceness ends there.  The whole concept is just too tired, too worn out, too over played, and should just be put down.  Hopefully these atrocities will be the final nails in the Prophecy coffin, 1 Axe, but only because I am in a good mood.

So the baby that was saved in the last Prophecy movie, Danyael (Dave Buzzotta), is the only thing that can stop the angel of genocide Pyriel (Scott Cleverdon) from wiping out the human race.  ArchAngel Gabriel (Christopher Walken), being made mortal in the last film, is Danyael’s only help.

Really the only thing that still makes this francise watchable is Walken, and there are two more films still with this being Walken’s last.  Guess what that is gonna make the last two films.  But, that is for another review.  This film is actually a little better than the second one, but not by much.  Seeing Gabriel working towards his own redemption was a nice touch.  Walken brings his own style and humor to everything.

This film does do a good job tying the whole trilogy together, and for a low budget, direct to video film it ain’t all bad.  The acting, well, at leats we have Walken, eh?  I just wish I could say that this is really the end, but it isn’t, and that saddens me a little.  This would have been a decent ending point for an interesting, if a bit lackluster, series, 2 Axes.

After being taken to hell at the end of the first film, Gabriel (Christopher Walken) claws his way back to Earth.  Once again he is intent on destroying mankind because God loves them more than him.

Basically, what we have here, aside from a sequel to a movie that didn’t really need one, is a dumbed down, simplified for the masses, more action less story, version of the first film.  It still isn’t terrible, Walken gives enough to make this film not a complete waste.   Walken is quite funny as Gabriel, his reliance on his suicidal helper because he can’t use a computer or drive, and now I can’t picture an angel without hearing his stilted speech.

The story is just to overused, and whatever originality the first movie had is gone by now.  Also, it really isn’t all that different from the first movie.  This is my big problem with some series, there is a lack of difference between each installment.  Kinda why I lost interest in the Harry Potter books, oh wow, the bad guy is Voldemort.  Well, seeing as there are still 3 more sequels this is a high point in a quick descent into awfulness, 2 Axes.

George (Colin Firth) is an English professor that must mourn the loss of his partner of 16 years in silence.  He tries to carry on with his life in the 1960’s, but is unable to let go of his lost love.

First of all, Cloin Firth is an amazing actor.  I have always liked him, and I think this is his best performance work to date.  With a small, but wonderful, supporting cast this film shows how good acting can be.  Julianne Moore is vibrant and talented as always, and I think Nicholas Hoult is a star in the making.  The characters felt truly real, and it was easy to make a connection with them.  The way Firth portrays so much with just his body language and facial depth, it would be a crime if he didn’t at least get an Oscar nomination for this role.  Moore is brilliant as Charley, a woman that sees her own mortality fading every time she looks in the mirror and sees her own good looks fading with age.

Tom Ford, fashion designer turned film director, has a keen eye for lavish detail.  It is easy to see both his fashion design and photography background come to life in the film.  For such a simple and common story, that of love lost, the visuals are stunning at times.  Small things, the close up of water drops on a rose, may seem pretentious to some, but it gives such a feel of realism to the film, and it gives more depth to the characters in it.  The film portrays both the wonder and beauty of the world, along with the cold depression that can often overwhelm us.

I almost didn’t see this one at the theater.  From the trailer I wasn’t sure what the film was really about, and it seemed so much darker than the actual film proved to be.  You get a solid story, with real emotion, true it is a sad tale, but there is a touch of comedy to buoy the film in a sea of sorrow.  A surprise for me and a bright star for Colin Firth, 4 1/2 Axes.

A young priest (Kang-ho Song) volunteers for a medical experiment which turns him into a vampire.  Struggling to keep his humanity, he must contend with not only his thirst for blood, but his lust for a young woman (Ok-bin Kim) as well.

This film was yet another reason added to the list of why South Korea makes some of the best horror or horroresque films as of late.  Chan-wook Park, the man behind the well done Vengeance trilogy brings his skills to bear once again.  He has a great visual style of storytelling.  This film gives you a good dose of horror, eroticism, romance, and dark humor.  That is a lot of what I want from a vampire film.  There is a great story here, and blood, plenty of red, raw, gushing blood.

The budding romance between the priest and the girl starts off as if it is a bit of salvation for both of them.  The girl who never really knew freedom meeting the boy that needs love and acceptance.  It turns very dark as the film progresses though, turning salvation into damnation.  The acting is incredibly well done, even though the movie is subtitled it lost little, if any, of the emotion that the actors were conveying on screen.

The only real complaint I would have about the film is its length.  Clocking in at over 2 hours, the film could have been tightened up a little bit.  It isn’t perfect by any means, but it is a good film with a dark story and real characters. You could do worse when it comes to vampire films, much worse.  I’m looking at you “Lost Boys 2:  The Tribe”.  The film also deserves, no, requires, to be seen more than once I think.  My second viewing gave me a bit more insight into what the story really was.  South Korea pleases me again 3 1/2 Axes.

Joel (Jason Bateman) owns an extract company.  He is stressed out over his relationship with his wife, theft at work, trying to sell his company, and a pending job related injury lawsuit.  Joel needs to save his company, his life, and find out what he really wants out of life.

When this was first advertised it was hailed as the next “Office Space.”  It is not.  It is mildly amusing, but hardly a great comedy.  Bateman is an actor I have always liked, and he doesn’t disappoint here.  The rest of the cast, eh, typical but nothing special except for one thing.  Ben Affleck really is not a very good actor.  He doesn’t even play a drugged out friend very well.

I am glad I didn’t see this in the theater like I had planned on doing when it first came out.  There was just nothing special about it.  There are a few chuckles, one or two big laughs, and then about 40 minutes of rather forgettable fluff.  Too bad, I wanted to like this, 2 Axes.

When a flasher starts terrorizing people at the local mall, bi-polar security officer Ronnie Barnharndt (Seth Rogen) makes it his personal goal to take the pervert down.  When the flasher strikes at the girl of his dreams, Brandi (Anna Faris), Ronnie steps it up to act as protector in the hopes that Brandi will return the feelings he has for her.  He finds competition, both for Brandi as well as  bringing the suspect to justice, from Detective Harrison (Ray Liota).

This is one of the darker comedies I have seen in quite a while.  It crosses a few lines that just shouldn’t be crossed, date rape really isn’t all that funny.  I can accept some of the heavy handed violence and the immense drug use, but some things just don’t belong in a comedy, no matter how dark it is.  Maybe I’m just getting old, maybe not.  I am sure some people that saw this were rather put off as well, especially as the trailer really failed to express how twisted the film was.

Aside from the boundary issues I have, I also just think this wasn’t  a very good film.  It has nothing to do with the cast.  Rogen is about his usual self, a little more disturbed, but I got what I expected out of him.  Ray Liota continues to be the actor that was so high after “Goodfellas” and has fallen so low that it was a surprise to see him in a not awful role.

The movie is also rather depressing.  Sure, I laughed at times, but I shouldn’t come away from a supposed comedy feeling this bad about everyone in it.  I think it is a lower point in writer/director Jody Hill, who, while I like some of his work, has never lived up to the hype I have heard about him.  This film could have been so much better, instead it is a bleak and depressing version of “Paul Blart, Mall Cop.”  Blah and meh, 1 1/2 Axes.

With a supposed supernatural nemesis on the loose in London, the great detective Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and his faithful companion Dr. Watson (Jude Law) must use every ounce of their skill and wit to piece together a mystery and save not just London, but the entire world.

When I first saw the trailer for this film it looked like a terrible action film version of the classic Holmes stories.  I did have some hope, I do like Guy Ritchie as a director, and with Downey as the lead I knew that I would at least get some good acting.  I got better than I expected.  Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law play incredibly well off each other.  Their back and forth banter was fun and it was vintage Ritchie.  One can always expect some flashy character interaction in a Ritchie film.

Now, this isn’t a page by page faithful adaptation of the Holmes created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  And don’t get me wrong with some of the things I am going to say, I love Sherlock Holmes, but I can see why the story was, for lack of a better term, modernized.  Sherlock Holmes, the Doyle version, does not have a huge mass appeal for a modern audience.  People need a little something to keep them interested.  While this is a rather sad fact of modern cinema in many cases, this film still had some fun characters and a fairly good story to go with the little extra flash and bang that was added.  While seeing Holmes beating guys up is something rather new, I think that they got the character down better than any Holmes I have seen on film before.  And Watson, oh how I love not seeing a fat, bumbling, oaf as Watson.  Jude Law plays a capable and competent Dr. Watson, much more like the books than some other films have shown.  Now, could the film have been done with a little less of the 2009 spruce job?  Sure, and it would have probably fared a bit better with the critics, but I think it would have fared worse at the box office.  I don’t mind sacrificing a little bit to get what I want to see.  In a perfect world there would be no give and take, and every person would have movies made specifically for them with their individual tastes in mind, but we live in an imperfect world.  I can take an explosion or two if you give me a story that keeps me interested when things aren’t blowing up.  While not the best film of the year, it was a better end to 2009 than some other film I saw recently, 4 Axes for this one.