Movie Spot News & Reviews Week Of Nov 21st 2009

Director JJ Abrams took time off from the last season of Lost to bring life to a tired franchise – Star Trek, and Borat’s at it again this time Sacha Baron Cohen is Bruno! Plus Adam Sandler and Judd Apatow’s collaboration, the sequel to Da Vinci Code and a slew of more of everything ever released this year!

New Releases this Week:

Star Trek
Cast: John Cho, Ben Cross, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Winona Ryder, Zoë Saldana, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin

To boldly go where no one has gone before, that’s the catch phrase that begun Gene Roddenberry’s legendary television series Star Trek. After many years and many movies, director JJ Abrams finally came up with a movie that bests them all by starting at the beginning. This is the story of how a young James T Kirk joins Starfleet, meets up with his regulars Bones, Scotty, Sulu, Chekov Uhura and of course Spock, Kirk’s best friend and mentor. The story features a wonderful villain played by an almost unrecognizable Eric Bana and crosses dimensions in time by introducing Leonard Nimoy the original Spock to himself as a young man (Zachary Quinto). The film in my opinion is stolen by Simon Pegg as Scotty, with choice one-liners and a sassy attitude. All the main crew take on the same characteristics of the original actors, Karl Urban’s Bones is perfect and even Chris Pine manages a young William Shatner. Fabulous movie, rent it twice!

Bruno
Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Alice Evans, Trishelle Cannatella, Sandra Seeling, Ben Youcef, Alexander von Roon, Candice Cunningham, Tom Yi

Borat’s at it again! This time Baron Cohen calls upon yet another of his alter egos - Bruno, a gay fashionista/TV reporter from Austria, who after being thrown out of the fashion world and sacked from his TV show Funkyzeit, Austrian media sensation Brüno goes to Los Angeles to reinvent himself and become a big, gay star... This time Cohen pushes discomfort to an often unbearable degree, going way, way further than Borat, with graphic anal sex jokes, and a talking penis to mention just two embarrassing moments. Verdict? I loved it, as they say if you can’t take a joke?

ThirstCast: Song Kang-ho, Shin Ha-kyun, Kim Ok-bin, Kim Hae-sook, Park In-hwan, Oh Dal-soo, Song Young-chang, Mercedes Cabral

When priest Sang-hyun (Song) volunteers for a medical experiment, a transfusion turns him into a vampire. Soon he’s drawn to Tae-ju (Kim), the wife of an old friend. The couple kills her husband, and Tae-ju turns into a bloodthirsty creature. The whole world seems to be intent on turning out vampire movies, TV shows and novels at the moment. Yet Park Chan-wook, the Korean director who made Oldboy, has still managed a fresh spin on the subgenre in this tale. Oldboy is one of my favorite movies of all time and this one is going to stay in my collection (I get screeners!) P.S. This movie is in Korean which means it isn’t badly dubbed, but you do have to read subtitles.



Angels and Demons
Cast: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgård, Pierfrancesco Favino, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Thure Lindhardt, David Pasquesi, Cosimo Fusco

Ron Howard’s film of Dan Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code ranks among the most profitable films of the decade, so naturally he again teamed up with Tom Hank’s to make the next novel. A sort of who dun-it and who’s going to do-it all situated in and around the Vatican. Given that it combines religious, scientific, political, and lunacy in one package, Angels & Demons is more entertaining than the dreary, talky Da Vinci Code (I thought so anyway!) This time out, heroic Harvard academic and devout agnostic Robert Langdon (a trim Hanks) has only an evening to solve a series of puzzles which have thwarted thinkers for centuries, as Se7en-style mangled corpses (cardinals killed by the four elements, great movie Se7en by the way!) are delivered on the hour before the possible destruction of the entire Vatican by anti-matter.



Funny People
Writer: Judd Apatow
Cast: Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana, Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, RZA, Aubrey Plaza, Maude Apatow, Iris Apatow

Judd Apatow has long-since established his credentials in the comedy marketplace ($1.4 billion ago, give or take) Funny People is comfortably his best movie yet. A personal friend of Adam Sandler it was obvious the two of them would collaborate; the movie’s pre-credits footage of a 20 year-old Adam Sandler making prank phone calls ; shot by Apatow when the pair were flatmates, begins one of the best comedies of the year. Oft used buddy Seth Rogen (he slimmed down for this movie) is wonderful; this is a real treat watch it now!

Shorts
Cast: Jimmy Bennett, Kat Dennings, Trevor Gagnon, Rebel Rodriguez, Jake Short, Leslie Mann, James Spader, Jon Cryer, William H. Macy

A young boy discovers a rock which grants wishes. So far, so awesome, however the joy is spoiled when calculating children and trouble-making adults all make a play for the power of the rock. There are a lot of people getting stuck into trash cans and there are a few monsters, some crocodiles get their hands on the wishing rock causing some consequences for the humans. All in all a nice movie for the holidays.



Ben 10 Alien Swarm
One of the top shows on the cartoon network, a game and now a movie sort of. With live and animated action, this is one for the young at heart crowd, (note how I said that!) The stakes are high and the action is intense as Ben fights to protect our planet from the Alien Swarm!



My One and Only
Cast: Kevin Bacon, Rene Zellweger, Logan Lerman, Eric McCormack, Chris Noth, Mark Rendall, Nick Stahl, Steven Weber

My One and Only, starring Renée Zellweger and Kevin Bacon, is reportedly based on actor George Hamilton's memories of his youth. It takes place in the 1950s of memory: a Technicolor world of big Cadillacs, white gloves and pastel dresses. Zellweger plays Anne, a woman of refinement who gets tired of her bandleader husband's philandering and takes off with her two sons on an adventure into America. This got a limited theatrical release, which is a pity because it deserved so much more, try it you’ll like it, I promise.

Continuing with the release of every important film of the year, comes the number 1 box office animated film. A very funny family film that will become a classic and is one that will never date. Speaking of dates, a perfect date movie in the Ugly Truth is a sure fire winner.

New Releases this Week:

The Ugly Truth

Cast: Gerard Butler, Katherine Heigl, Cheryl Hines, Bonnie Somerville, Bree Turner, Eric Winter, Vicki Lewis, Holly Weber, Nick Searcy, Yvette Nicole Brown

Hot Scotsman Gerard Butler and the lovely “doctor” Katherine Heigl star in this delightful yet raunchy romantic comedy.
TV producer Abby (Heigl) is forced to work with relationship ‘expert’ Mike (Butler), who advises women to use sex to get men. They make a bet: unless his methods snag her dream man (Winter) for her, he’ll leave the show.
Can’t miss, co-star two of the most popular and eye pleasing new actors in the business and you have a sure renter.



Up

Cast: Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, John Ratzenberger.

From Disney-Pixar here is the highest grossing animation this year. A comedy adventure about 78-year-old balloon salesman (voiced by Ed Asner) who finally fulfills his lifelong dream of a great adventure when he ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to the wilds of South America. But, he discovers all too late that his biggest nightmare has stowed away on the trip: an overly optimistic eight-year-old Wilderness Explorer named Russell. This was shown in 3D in the theatres and thankfully Disney didn’t try to release the DVD this way. In Blu-Ray it’s spectacular, yet a must see DVD in any format. The first animated movie to open the Cannes film festival and sure to garner loads of awards come Oscar time, leads to a question though, how is Disney going to top this one?

Classics Now Playing at the Spot

The Naked Gun Series:

One of the funniest series ever starring Leslie Nielsen is now at the Spot, rarely shown on TV because of one co-star namely O.J. Simpson!

The Naked Gun : From the files of Police Squad

Cast: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, Ricardo Montalban, George Kennedy, O.J. Simpson,

The Naked Gun: From The Files Of Police Squad! Came about in 1988 and grossed almost $100 million, spawned two sequels and countless imitators. Also continuing to prove the best acting OJ ever did was trying to put on a pair of gloves in a California courtroom.

As Lieutenant Frank Drebin, the star is Leslie Nielsen; he is as dapper as he is deadpan, and somehow this makes the fact that he's actually a bumbling idiot endlessly funny. The plot of the film is somewhat superfluous, and finds Frank attempting to thwart the assassination of Queen Elizabeth (at a baseball game of all places), avenge the attempted murder of his colleague Nordberg (played by O.J. Simpson, that’s irony for you!), and find love with the beautiful Jane Spencer (Priscilla Presley).



Naked Gun 2 ½ Smell of Fear


In the first sequel Frank Drebin is walking out of the men's room, causing First Lady Barbara Bush to slam face-first into the door. That's the Drebin we know and love: a walking disaster who is utterly and completely unaware of the destruction he constantly causes.

Naked Gun 33 1/3 the Final Insult

This last of the series is just as funny as the other two. Having retired from Police Squad, Frank Drebin is having difficulty adjusting to domestic life and the prospect of starting a family. When a vicious terrorist (Fred Ward) is linked to a previous suspect (Anna Nicole Smith), Ed (George Kennedy) and Nordberg recruit Frank to come back and go undercover…



Dave Chappelle’s Block Party


In September 2004, wildly popular comedian Dave Chappelle took his time and money to put together a block party for Brooklyn, New York. To entertain the crowds, he invited hip-hop luminaries such as Kanye West, The Roots, Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Dead Prez, Common, and, after pleasing some higher power, he also managed to get The Fugees to reunite for this special day. "Block Party" is the documentary covering the invites, the reasoning, and the spectacle.
It cuts back and forth between concert footage with his standup and the often-funny events that precipitated it.

Unforgiven

Cast: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris, Jaimz Woolvett, Saul Rubinek, Frances Fisher, Anna Levine, David Mucci, Rob Campbell

Clint Eastwood won the best director Oscar for this superb Western. In all it won 4 academy awards including best picture and has become somewhat of a classic. Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman (who won for best supporting actor) and Richard Harris are terrific, and even though Hackman plays the brutal bad guy sheriff, I couldn’t help feel sorry for him in the end. A must see...

Tomorrow Never Dies

Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Jonathan Pryce, Michelle Yeoh, Teri Hatcher, Ricky Jay

One of the best Pierce Bronson James Bond movies and for the first time since Sean Connery left the franchise; it feels like a real James Bond adventure. Jonathan Pryce plays a villain cut from the same cloth as Blofeld and Goldfinger, and it’s a treat to see the lovely Teri Hatcher years before she moved to desperate housewife land! If you are a newcomer to the Bond movies and just think of 007 as Daniel Craig, this is a good one to start your viewing off with.

News and Reviews from Movie Spot

Two summer blockbusters and a remake of a Philippines scarer plus the first Christmas release of the year; as we continue to release every film that came out this year!

New Movies Now Playing at Movie Spot

Taking of Pelham 123

Cast: Denzel Washington, John Travolta, John Turturro, Luis Guzman, Michael Rispoli, James Gandolfini

Tony Scott directs this remake of a 1974 classic thriller about the hijacking of a New York subway train. Thirty-five years after this sleek, faster-paced remake not only improves on a good thing, it showcases a much different New York after 9/11. Like the 1974 version, the story revolves around the takeover of the lead car of a subway train by armed hoods headed by their crafty mastermind, Ryder (John Travolta). They kill a cop, take 18 people hostage and give authorities just one hour to deliver $10 million. It’s up to train dispatcher Walter Garber (Denzel) to negotiate with Ryder in a cat-and-mouse game where innocent lives are used as bait. This is the John Travolta’s best outing in some time; I always like him when he plays the bad guy and this is definitely his forte. Almost stealing the film is the original Tony Soprano himself, James Gandolfini, who plays a slippery NYC Mayor trying to keep the incident from spiraling out of control. John Turturro is also worthy of praise as the hostage negotiator, a much different role than in the recent Transformer movie.



G.I. Joe – The Rise of CobraCast: Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans, Dennis Quaid, Byung Hun Lee, Sienna Miller, Rachel Nichols, Ray Park.

“Dead guys don’t breakdance”

In the not-too-distant future, US Army grunts Duke (Tatum) and Ripcord (Wayans) are tasked with couriering “nanomite”-filled warheads, when they’re ambushed by mysterious baddies armed with supercool hi-tech weaponry; one of them Duke’s ex, Ana (Miller) and saved by mysterious goodies with more supercool hi-tech weaponry. The goodies the Alpha Team of GI Joe, a secret international force formed for, uh, fighting baddies. If you think you need a 10 year old to figure out who’s who, do it, because this is one loud, brash, action packed Saturday morning movie!



The Echo

Cast: Hrant Alianak, Jamie Bloch, Jesse Bradford, Iza Calzado, Brendan Carmody, Kevin Durand, Jayne Eastwood, Bathsheba Garnett,

From the executive producers of The Ring and The Grudge, this is a creepy thriller about a man who fresh out of prison as a condition of his parole goes to live in his dead mother’s apartment. He soon begins to suspect that his neighbors had a sinister hand in his mother’s death. A remake of the Philippine film SIGSAW and directed by the same guy Yam Laranas.



Nothing Like the Holidays

Cast: Freddy Rodriguez, John Leguizamo, Debra Messing, Alfred Molina, Jay Hernandez, Melonie Diaz, Vanessa Ferlito, Luis Guzman, Elizabeth Peña

It’s Christmas in Chicago and the far-flung members of the Rodriguez clan are coming home to spend the holidays at their parent’s house. But Mom (Elizabeth Pena) has a surprise in store for the grown siblings: She is divorcing their father (Alfred Molina) right after the tree is taken down. This doesn’t sit well with the now adult kids, including business man, Mauricio (John Leguizamo), who has arrives with high-powered wife Sarah (Debra Messing). There’s also Roxanna (Vanessa Ferlito), a successful Hollywood actress, who seems to be at a crossroads in her life, while her nice neighborhood friend Ozzy (Jay Hernandez) would like to be mean more to her. And then there’s Jesse (Freddy Rodriguez), just back from Iraq and unsure of his place in the family. All of these situations intertwine when the serious illness of one of their own is suddenly revealed, and the family has to pick up the pieces and come together.