SUCKER PUNCH

Plot:

While trying to prevent her pedophile step father from sexually assaulting her younger sister Baby Doll (Browning) accidentally shots and kills her sister causing her step father to have her admitted to a mental hospital. During her wait to be lobotomized she is forced to join a small group of girls organized by Dr. Vera Gorski (Gugino) who perform erotic dances for clients arranged by the corrupt head orderly Blue (Isaac). Realizing that when she does her supposedly provocative dance it takes her into a dream world of sword battles and shoot outs, giving her incite to how she and the other girls can escape from their imprisonment.

Reel Talk:

Don’t get sucker punch by this movie! I mean it has all the makings for a good movie, director Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) at the helm, action with fights and shoot outs by scantily clad women in high heels if that’s your thing, but it falls flat with the story. The one thing that really got me was that we never saw her supposed seductive dances, I thought I was going to see her drop it like it’s hot, but nope, didn’t happen. Of course Snyder adds his special blended visual effects, it just was not enough to give this movie the punch needed to be a good movie. Even the action was just par at best. This one you can wait for the DVD, not one to rush out and see.

Starring: Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, Carla Gugino, Oscar Isaac, Jon Hamm and Scott Glenn
Directed by: Zack Snyder
Rated: PG-13

I give it 2 and a half eaten corn dogs

By: Corn Dog – The Reel Hustler

THE LINCOLN LAWYER

Plot:

Mick Haller (McConaughey) is a hot shot criminal attorney that prosecuting attorneys can’t stand to see in the court room. He’s a wheeler dealer who has it on the ball until he takes on a high profile case of a rich kid played by Ryan Phillippe who is being accused of brutally assaulting a prostitute. This case proves to be one of his toughest yet as it takes him back to a previous case that may have had him send his earlier client to jail wrongfully as well as jeopardizing the lives of his love ones.

Reel Talk:

McConaughey has done some cheesy movies recently, but he has certainly redeemed himself with this one. His portrayal of the witty and deviously charming fast track attorney is superb! This was a great suspense thriller with a great cast. From beginning to the end you will be glued to the screen. This is a must see movie, one of the best so far this year.

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Marisa Tomei, Ryan Phillippe, William H. Macy, Josh Lucas, John Leguizamo and Michael Pena
Directed by: Brad Furman
Rated: R

I give it 5 corn dogs

By: Corn Dog – The Reel Hustler

LIMITLESS

Plot:

In a person’s lifetime I think it’s been said that only around 20% of the brain will be used. Well what if you could take a pill and use 100% in a matter of hours? In Limitless Bradley Cooper plays Eddie Morra a burned out writer that has hit rock bottom and when it seems he’s about to wither away he runs into his ex brother in-law who gives him a mysterious pill that when taken gives you limitless brain access. Now with his new found power he becomes a major power broker for Carl Von Loon (De Niro) who is planning a huge corporate takeover. But unfortunately there are devastating consequences behind the drugs potential like its deadly side effects and the attention it lures to the menacing men that are following him.

Reel Talk:

If this drug was really available, man oh man, but if only ifs and buts were candy and nuts. This movie was refreshingly good, with what’s lacking in most movies that have been dropping lately, this one offers an original plot. While the role of Eddie seemed custom made for Cooper it was just a paying gig for Oscar Award winner De Niro who doesn’t have a stand out performance in the film. Still this movie is worth checking out, so get your snacks early and enjoy the ride.

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Abbie Cornish, Johnny Whitworth
Directed by: Neil Burger
Rated: PG-13

I give it 4 corn dogs

By: Corn Dog – The Reel Hustler

BATTLE: LOS ANGELES

Plot:

Just coming off a tour of duty, SSgt. Nantz (Eckhart) a hard nosed soldier with a horrid past, turns in his resignation letter so as to put the wars behind him and try for a civilized life. That idea is put on hold when Los Angeles along with other cities are soon attacked by aliens from outer space. Nantz and a group of soldiers must go into Santa Monica to retrieve some civilian survivors and get the to an F.O.B. site for safety, but the soldiers are soon in for a battle like no other as the aliens have them out numbered and out gunned.

Reel Talk:

Ok this movie was most definitely entertaining because it is an action movie but it truly lacked originality. It was like watching Independence Day, Transformers, War Of The Worlds and Black Hawk Down all rolled into one movie. But as I stated earlier the action is fast paced and will keep your attention focused on the screen. If you’re fans to any of the before mentioned movies you will certainly like this movie. Worth checking out.

Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Ramon Rodriguez, Cory Hardrict, Ne-Yo, Michael Pena and Michelle Rodriguez
Directed by: Jonathan Liebesman
Rated: PG-13

I give it 3 corn dogs

By: Corn Dog – The Reel Hustler

RED RIDING HOOD

Plot:

Amanda Seyfried plays Valerie a young girl whose small village is being terrorized by a werewolf. In the midst of the beast’s brutal attacks she is torn between her love for a young villager that must remain a secret and the lad that she has been arranged to marry. Things become chaotic when werewolf slayer Solomon (Oldman) and his men search the village in an attempt to find the man behind the beast, killing anyone that stands in their way.

Reel Talk:

What can I say? All while I watched this movie I kept thinking that this was a cross between Twilight (a good movie) and The Village (a terrible movie), which brought this movie to a mere mediocre point. With huge focus on Valerie’s love interests, it had a lot of dull moments that easily have you forgetting this is suppose to be a horror movie. The only real good point about this movie was the mystery about the identity of the werewolf. Not exactly a movie I would say rush to see, you can wait for the DVD release.

Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman, Billy Burke, Shiloh Fernandez, Virginia Madsen and Lukas Haas
Directed by: Catherine Hardwicke
Rated: PG-13

I give it 2 corn dogs

By: Corn Dog – The Reel Hustler

MOOZ-LUM

Plot:

Tariq (Ross) has just begun college and he tries so hard to hide his Muslim upbringing and escape the brutal hardships that it brought him as a kid by way of partying and dating which he was never allowed to do. But when Muslims are accused for the 9/11 terrorist attacks that has taken place on American soil, he is forced to make hard choices regarding his religious background, whether he should stay quiet or stand up for what he believes and was taught?

Reel Talk:

Mooz-Lum was based on the true story surrounding director, producer Qasim Basir’s life. This young filmmaker from Detroit has put together a powerful movie with a great cast that touches some hard topics, and it makes for a dynamic movie. Evan Ross’ role as the troubled young Muslim Tariq was very compelling alongside the charismatic star powered veterans of Glover, Long and Smith. This is a must see movie that you will not regret seeing!

Starring: Danny Glover, Nia Long, Roger Guenveur Smith and Evan Ross
Directed by: Qasim Basir
Rated: PG-13

I give it 5 corn dogs

By: Corn Dog – The Reel Hustler

BEHIND THE SHALLOW MIND

Plot:

When local thug Drake (Jason Wimberly ) and Terri (Sharmaine Nicholson) a street numbers runner have a random encounter and eventually begin to date, everything seems to be going good for the two until one of Drake’s longtime friends Lovell (Iken B. Jackson)who is on the run from the police for a murder charge, makes matters worse by allowing his shallow mind to put his focus on robbing Terri, compromising the friendship between the two pals. With everything on the line they all must make hard decisions that will change their lives forever as two hard nose homicide detectives played by LaDonna Graham and Sherman Eaton close in to catch the fugitive murderer.

Reel Talk:

This suspense drama is the reel deal that was filmed and used all cast members entirely from Detroit. This is the second film made by local filmmaker Steve Horn who brought us the 2006 street drama The Route. With a plot that is so different than most surrounding movies made in Detroit, Behind The Shallow Mind shows what happens when one’s mind is shallow and the consequences that will continue to compile as a result. Horn , already at work putting together his next project is a very talented filmmaker who doesn’t know the meaning of rest hence the name of his company Stevenotsleep Films LLC, shows that hard work does pay off as he was the recipient of the 2010 Trinity Film Coalition Emerging Filmmaker Award. We look forward to future films from this gifted movie maker as he stated he has more to come, with a few spin offs from this film.

Behind The Shallow Mind is available and can be purchased at AMAZON.COM or downloaded at FILMBABY.COM


Starring: Jason Wimberly, Sharmaine Nicholson, Iken B. Jackson, Dashanta and Deshaun West, Ian and Gibron Kinnard, Sherman Eaton and Ladonna Graham
Directed by: Steve Horn

I give it 3 and a half eaten corn dogs

By: Corndog – The Reel Hustler

El Debarge in Detroit

Corndog - The Reel Hustler holding it down with El Debarge for SVTV at the CD release party for El's new CD 'Second Chance'at Club Ambiance

FASTER

Plot:

Dwayne Johnson plays a man who survived being shot and left for dead along with his brother who died after the two were set up behind a bank robbery. Upon being released from prison after doing 10 hard years he sets out to serve as the judge, jury and executioner to all the persons that were behind the death of his brother. Carla Gugino plays a detective who teams with a heroin addicted cop played by Billy Bob Thornton so that they can try to stop the constant killings brought on by the avenging ex-con and before he encounters a showdown with the relentless hired killer who is sent to wrap up all loose ends from the earlier robbery.

Reel Talk:

This is not the best action movie, but it is entertaining. Outside of some corny dialog, the action is decent along with your typical predictable outcomes. After a brief stint doing some family films for Disney, it is good to see Johnson returning to some hard core action movies. And well I guess it’s just good to see Thornton doing anything theses days. So if you’re an action junkie who likes fast cars, brawls and shoot outs, this is definitely a film to catch.

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton, Carla Gugino, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Maggie Grace, Mike Epps and Tom Berenger
Directed by: George Tillman Jr.
Rated: R

I give it 3 corn dogs

By: Corndog – The Reel Hustler

Demented Genius

This week, West, 33, releases his fifth album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. It is in many ways pop’s event of the year, a stunning comeback for an artist whom many people had started to think of as more of a clown. It reveals West in all his complicated splendor: the bully, the innovator, the polymath genius, the diamond-studded blowhard. Most of all, it showcases the undeniable singularity of his talent, which has gotten lost in months of extraordinarily bizarre behavior. But it also complements that behavior: “Power,” the first single off the album, is not its only anthem of defiance. The entire angry album is a flipped bird to the preprogrammed narratives of celebrity culture. It’s not self-defense; it’s a premeditated attack on West’s haters and a rough exultation of his ego, his impulsiveness, his mess. “Immature adult? Uh-huh,” West raps. “Insecure asshole? What else?”


Demented Genius