Review: Fast Five

Fast Five is the newest entry in the Fast and the Furious franchise. Fast Five picks up literally where 2009's Fast and Furious left off. After freeing Dominic Toretto(Vin Diesel) from his one way ticket to federal prison, his sister Mia(Jordana Brewster), and longtime rival/friend Brian O'Conner arrive in Rio de Janeiro to wait for Dom. While there they pick up a job stealing some cars, but they are not alone in this as the one who organized the job is none other than Vince (You may remember him from the first movie). Everything seems to go well and on the morning of the job Dominic shows up to lend a hand. As the heist takes place things go horribly awry and this places our protagonists on the short list of Rio's well known businessman/crime boss Hernan Reyes. Unfortunately for Reyes, the people he's dealing with aren't new to this game and aren't easily threatened and to make things worse for him, they bring along a lot of familiar faces for the ride. To top it all off you have a strong willed federal agent Hobbs(Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) hot on their heels.

Fast Five is quite possibly the best film in the Fast and Furious franchise. It has everything you could want from this type of movie and more. I will be honest and safely say that this movie is not in danger of being nominated for any sort of Oscar or Golden Globe Award. With all of that said though this film works. The acting is par for the course, but all the familiar faces from the past movies are here. The stunt work and CG is some of best I've seen. The car chase sequences are bigger and better than the past four movies combined.

The actually story and path that the movie takes interests me even more. This film has plenty of familiar things, car chases, humor, scantily clad women, and too much more to list. The one place where Fast Five stands head and shoulders above the other films in the franchise is the fact that it attempts to show the more human side of the characters. I noticed more screen time was spent focusing on the protagonists and their interactions with one another than on the action sequences and I have to admit i liked that. I believe that if the franchise continues in that direction it will garner more attention and gain more fans while strengthening the existing fan base.

Overall, Fast Five is one of the best movies I have seen in the past six months and is definitely the best in the franchise. If you're a fan of the series you have to go see this one and if you're not perhaps you should give it a chance and ......

GO NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. Stay after the credits to see a special scene that will blow your mind!!!!

Scre4m

Eleven years after Scre3m film makers Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson have returned with the unexpected fourth installment of the Scream franchise. Returning to play their now iconic characters are Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox-Arquette, and David Arquette. Joining the cast are Kristin Bell (Chloe), Emma Roberts (Syd's cousin Jill) Rory Culkin (Charlie), and Erik Knudson (Robbie).

The basic synopsis of Scre4m is at first very simple. Sydney Prescott, now a decade removed from the horror that she survived three times, has returned to Woodsboro on the final stop on her book tour. While there she has the opportunity to reconnect with the now Sheriff Dewey and his wife Gale. And then the phone calls, texts, and killing begins. It grows from there. The main characters are pulled in directions they haven't been before and are wonderfully intertwined with the new cast.

Let me say right now, despite what some have thought, this is not the same thing over again. It really is a new decade with new rules. It's not really following the formula established by prior Scream films. It does parody this past decade's onslaught of horror remakes. It does have characters based on the original Scream but it is different. And you absolutely have to know the first three movies or you be lost right at the beginning. It was awesome and not what I was expecting.

I'm having a hard time trying to figure out what to say that won't give anything away. We never get into spoilers at the AJ MR. Let me just say that Sre4m should be very well accepted by the Scream Community. It adds to the Scream mythology without messing up anything that has gone before. And it was really good.........................GO NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Insidious

Insidious made its way to theaters this weekend. It's a very simple story about a young boy who, through astro-projection, gets stuck in another dimension. This other world is called "The Further" and is occupied by creeeepy people (aka 'woolly boogers'). It turns out the only way the boy can be saved is by his father joining him in the other world and bringing him back. This movie features performances by Patrick Wilson (Watchmen's Nite Owl), Rose Byrne, Andrew Astor, and Lin Shaye (English teacher in A Nightmare On Elm Street, 1984).

The main thing I liked about Insidious is the genuine scares it puts out there. I feel sorry for the girl sitting in front of me during the showing. She's probably gonna have nightmares for a while. Or maybe she just likes to scream out whenever she gets the chance. I was impressed to see the use of real people in "The Further" instead of CGI stuff like was used in I Am Legend. The creepy stuff seemed well timed and not always predictable. From the poster at the top you read that some of the people who made the two Paranormal Activity movies made this one. That's very easy to see. A lot of the scary stuff you see early on is very similar.

My main problem with Insidious however comes from the basic premise of the movie. You may notice that the opening paragraph of this review sounds very familiar. That's because it's identical to Poltergeist (1982). One reviewer out there in internet land acknowledges this by saying that Insidious is a "love letter" to Poltergeist. I don't know about that. It just seems to be they re-imagined Steven Spielberg's and Tobe Hooper's classic movie and stuck a new name on it. That along really hurts Insidious's rating...

it'll be on one the Encore/Starz channels this summer............FX/TBS It...

Review: The Lincoln Lawyer

The Lincoln Lawyer is a griping thriller based on the Michael Connelly novel of the same name. It stars Matthew McConaughey as Mickey Haller a criminal defense attorney who represents wealthy clients that are less than savory. Oddly enough he has no office to speak of as he does all of his dealings out of the back of his Lincoln Town Car. The next case he takes, the one that sets up the movie's events, is that of a wealthy young man named Louis Roulet(Ryan Phillippe). Roulet has been accused of assaulting a woman in her home, that woman turns out to be a "lady of the night". On the surface it appears that this is a straightforward case with Roulet being set up by the prostitute, but as Haller delves deeper into the case he soon finds himself in a dangerous game of cat and mouse.

The Lincoln Lawyer is a top notch crime drama/thriller. Matthew McConaughey's Mickey Haller is one of the most likable characters I have seen in recent movies. The way that he plays the character is that of a man who knows the injustices of the judicial system. His most prevalent flaw is the fact that he exploits this for the gain of his client's which he mostly thinks/knows are guilty. Even with this glaring negative it's hard not to like him. Throughout the movie Mickey goes through a transformation which betters him as a human being, but that change isn't going to change overnight.

The other character that stood out for me the most was Louis Roulet. Ryan Phillippe was able to start out as a scared young socialite and effortlessly transitions into a more sinister, antagonistic character. The rest of the star studded cast which includes; Marisa Tomei, William H. Macy and John Leguizamo performed well and helped fully immerse me in the story.

The story was well written and the pacing of the film was perfect. Whenever I found my mind on the verge of wanting to wandering off, the film would throw what I thought I knew right out of the window and hook me back in. I have no real complaint about the movie, the actors or the way it all played out.

Overall, The Lincoln Lawyer is one of the best crime drama/thrillers that I have seen in the past few years. If you have the money and the chance to see it you should definitely....

.........GO NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sucker Punch

This weekend from the "master of slow motion action" Zack Snyder, comes Sucker Punch. A unique tale of a young woman who, due to the actions of her father (or was it her step-father, not sure on that one) is thrown away to an insane asylum. While there she is immediately given the name Baby Doll and added to a group of other pretty girls who are forced to dance for men. All this is directed by an evil orderly. Not a bad way to make some extra money. At first Baby Doll is reluctant but then she comes around. And that's where things take off. Every time Baby Doll starts dancing we are taken on an adventure ride in her mind. The first time we're there with her we learn from the Wise Man that she must obtain certain items in order to break out of the asylum. It's a wild story line.

Emily Browning stars as Baby Doll. The other girls are played by Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, and Jamie Chung. We also get performances by Oscar Isaac (bad guy), Scott Glenn (Wise Man) and Carla Gugino.

The first thing I like about Sucker Punch is the unique story. In 1975 movie watchers received an eye opener with the Oscar Award winning One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. That film brought to light the horrors of many mental institutions. News reports followed over the next decade that brought this problem further to the public eye. People were stuck in there, some needing help some not, that were abused and must have been longing from a way to escape. That's really what I would say Sucker Punch is about: finding a way to escape. It's a concept that isn't limited to mental hospitals either. I think everyone at some point or another in their lives can identify with escaping something or everything. The way all that is told in Sucker Punch is original and brilliant.

Visually the movie is stunning. It may not seem so much so at first because we've pretty much have come to expect that from Snyder. The slow motion action is there and it is well done. You never know what to expect on the different missions. There's all sorts of things Baby Doll and the girls have to contend with. I wonder if there is any symbolic meaning in all the monsters and characters?

I always like to comment on music in movies. The music here is outstanding and very much important in this movie. The soundtrack is made up of new versions of a wide variety of classic songs. Two of which are sung by Baby Doll herself (Emily).

Well I have no real complaints about this movie. I know alot of people out there haven't spoken too kind about it (some people don't like anything)...But it works for me and I think it's probably the best movie out there right now

...GO NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You should be able to check out the soundtrack here: http://music.aol.com/new-releases-full-cds/#/5

The Runaways - A Special Recommendation

The Runaways is currently airing on the Encore and Starz channels as well as T101 on Direct TV. I highly recommend watching it. It was not reviewed here due to its limited theatrical release. It stars Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie and Kristin Stewart as Joan Jett.

Unknown

The Neeson (aka Liam Neeson) has returned to play Dr. Martin Harris in his new movie Unknown. Along with The Neeson it stars Diane Kruger as the cab-driver Gina as well as January Jones and Aiden Quinn. The main genres featured in the movie are Mystery, Suspense, and Action. When the American Dr. and Mrs. Harris arrive at a Berlin hotel for an important scientific convention, things get weird. Dr. Harris has to return to the airport to find a lost briefcase. But, in so doing, he and his cab driver Gina have a horrific accident in which Harris ends up in a coma. A few days later he comes to and soon finds that it appears that his identity has been stolen. Not even Mrs. Harris recognizes him.

Overall this was a pretty good movie and a good story. There were alot of twists and turns throughout the plot. I found myself quietly saying "what a twist!" somewhere between 5 and 10 times (in honor of M. Night and Robot Chicken). The audience got to see a significant amount of non-fighting acting, though there was just enough action. I was especially surprised that Diane Kruger was in the movie. I had no idea she was gonna be in it. She's becoming one of my favorites (see Inglourious Basterds).

However, all though I really liked the main plot of the story, the more I think about it, it does seem to borrow quite heavily from 1990's Total Recall. Also too, they didn't really seem to drive it all the way home. It's good, just not on the same level as the now classic Taken.

...I'm going with a RENT IT.