COMING SOON: District 9

Last night I attended an early screening for the new Sci-Fi alien invasion movie District 9. As I walked up to the theater and witnessed the long line of people that extended out the doors, along with one of the local radio stations coverage and the National Guards on hand as well, something told me the hype for this movie was big. Upon leaving the screening I couldn't help but take in the reactions of the fellow movie goers, who were pretty satisfied with the Sci-Fi thriller, which I will agree was interestingly entertaining.

Please check out the attached link to view the trailer for District 9 which is due to invade theaters Aug 14 and be sure to catch my review of it on opening day. www.d-9.com

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE

Plot:

In this sixth installment to the Potter series, Harry (Radcliffe) and his friends Ron Weasley (Grint) and Hermione Granger (Watson) are still attending the school for gifted wizards and also experiencing the leap to adolescence (in regards to dating). This time Harry is taking up potion lessons, when it so happens he comes across a book of potions that use to belong to The Half Blood Prince who has ties to the Dark Lord Voldermort. When Head Professor Dumledore (Gambon) enlists the assistance of Harry ,his most gifted student, to inquire information from fellow Professor Slughorn regarding the evil intentions of the Dark Lord, he realizes that the book also holds some clues that were noted by the Half Blood Prince. Harry must also deal with his nemesis Draco Malfoy (Felton) who has an agenda of evil of his own that would put him in good graces with the dark one.

Reel Talk:

Well the gangs all back for another go round as Daniel Radcliffe, who seems that he hasn't aged since the very first movie (who is he Benjamin Button?), Watson and Grint take on another adventure in the Potter series.Unlike the previous movies this one has more dialog and very little action, which it appears is the set up for the next two installments. Director David Yates who directed the previous one and is tagged for the future movies does a good job with the visual cinematography, that captivates the mystical aura that makes up the Potter story. Unfortunately it's just not enough to hold your interest unless you have read the novels and can follow along. This one has no frills or thrills and makes for a long 2 1/2 hours of a dull moviel.

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Michael Gambon, Jim Broadbent, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Alan Rickman and Tom Felton
Directed by: David Yates
Rated: PG

I give it 3 corn dogs

By: Corndog - The Reel Hustler

I LOVE YOU, BETH COOPER

Plot:

It's graduation day and class Valedictorian Denis Cooverman (Rust) stands at the podium calling out his fellow friends and classmates for their quirks and bullish ways, and professing his love for Beth Cooper (Panettiere) a pretty girl who he has attended classes with but sat behind her never muttering a word. Problem is that she is dating a prior graduate named Kevin (Roberts), a junior jar head who was called out as well and now he wants to beat the crap out of Denis. When Beth accepts Denis invite to his graduation party along with her girlfriends Cammy (London) and Treece (Storm), all hell breaks loose as Denis and his best friend Rich (Carpenter) are in for one wild and interesting night.

Reel Talk:

This is your typical loser boy and pretty girl movie with crazed boyfriend trying to kill loser boy. Nothing new about the concept except the cast. I can honestly admit that I was not a follower of Heroes so outside her name and a few pics I knew very little about Hayden Panettiere, but she is a very attractive young woman who does the cameras justice. Paul Rust as the nerdy Denis was a good casting. This is not the best coming of age film but it is a good coming of age film worth seeing.

Starring: Hayden Panettiere, Paul Rust, Jack Carpenter, Lauren London, Lauren Storm, Shawn Roberts and Alan Ruck
Directed by: Chris Columbus
Rated: PG-13

I give it 3 corn dogs

By: Corndog - The Reel Hustler

PUBLIC ENEMIES

Plot:

It's the early 30's, The Great Depression Era, and crime is rampant with John Dillinger (Depp) and his gang at the very tip of the crimewave. With their ability to rob a bank in quicksilver speed, it makes them that much more elusive that FBI director J. Edgar Hoover (Crudup) assigns a special task force called G Men lead by Melvin Purvis (Bale) that are to hunt Dillinger labeled 'Public Enemy # 1' and his gang down by any means necessary. But with John's quick wits he is able to stay a few steps ahead of the G Men until he falls for the beautiful Billy Frechette (Cotillard), who has such an affect on him that rather than move on when the heat is thick, he stays around trying to figure a way to spring her after she was captured and used as bait against him.

Reel Talk:

This film has all the makings for a great movie: gangster theme, stellar cast and a great director. So what happened??? It was a slow and dulling depiction of a dashing bank robber. Sure Depp provides charm to the role but not flare and the unconvincing accents used throughout the movie by Bale and Crupup were more silly than anything else. Bale as Purvis was just plain boring, they could have taken his gun and let him kill the bad guys with boredom. There are a few action shoot out scenes, with the ones with Baby Face Nelson (Graham) standing out particularly. Even Academy Award winner Cotillard couldn't pull a rabbit out the hat for this one. If you don't mind a watered down Untouchables than you might enjoy this attempt at a gangster movie.

Starring: Johnny Depp, Marion Cotillard, Christian Bale, Stephen Dorff, Billy Crudup and Giovanni Ribisi
Directed by: Michael Mann
Rated: R

I give it 2 and a half eaten corn dogs

By: Corndog - The Reel Hustler

TRANSFORMERS:REVENGE OF THE FALLEN

Plot:

In this sequel to the 2007 box office hit 'Transformers', Sam Witwicky (LaBeouf) along with his girlfriend Mikaela (Fox) is again requested by Optimus Prime to help the Autobots in their fight to protect Earth against the evil forces of the Decepticons. When Megatron (who was destroyed in the first movie) is resurrected by The Fallen, the oldest ruler of the Decpticons who has been around since man's early existence trying to gain control of a device that will use the Sun's energy to destroy the Earth only to have his plans foiled by the Autobots. The device has since been hidden and The Fallen needs Megatron to go after Sam who has been having strange visions which are signs that will them lead to the device.

Reel Talk:

In this follow up film, the entire primary cast members from the first movie, are in this one. This is not necessarily a bad thing but someone got the idea to increase the dialog of some characters that just really wasn't needed. Like in the case of Sam's witless mother and father, a lot of the scenes could have been left out. The re-cast of John Turturro (who I feel is a good actor) as the terminated Agent Simmons was just not a good look at all. If you get off on explosions, more robots that have scrap metal brawls, a lot of running and screaming then you may enjoy this movie. It just gets boring at some point and it doesn't help that they extended the time of this movie 30 more minutes. The first movie was a blockbuster, and this one will be a box office smash also, but just because of the hype that comes from the success of the original. I was curious to see how director Michael Bay would fair with this sequel and must admit that I was disappointed. I felt like the story was weak, the acting was crappy and that they stepped up on the offensive language that the children in the audience should not have been subjected to.

Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, Ramon Rodriquez, Kevin Dunn and Julie White
Directed by: Michael Bay
Rated: PG-13

I give it 2 and a half eaten corn dogs

By: Corndog - The Reel Hustler

IMAGINE THAT

Plot:

Eddie Murphy plays Evan, a high powered financial advisor that is in competition with co worker Johnny Whitefeather (Church) for the job of their resigning boss. The week that they are to provide presentations that will decide whether he gets the job, he must look after his daughter Olivia (Shahidi) who has a strong attachment to a blanket that allows her to talk to imaginary friends (due to the lack of attention from her father). When sHe draws and paste glitter on his work that he must present to his boss because she says her pretend friends told her to, he goes berserk and is expecting to get fired until his boss tells him that his projections were right on point with what see place on his assignment. He then begins to spend time with Olivia and her imaginary friends who continue to help him make successful projections for his job until he becomes obobsessedith the blanket himself.

Reel Talk:

This is the second movie (first being Meet Dave) that my assumption of Eddie Murphy was like what are you doing because most of his kid movies bomb. But just like Meet Dave which did bomb, this was a decent family movie. While Murphy's performance was a combination of a bunch of character roles from some of his past movies, his co-star Yara Shahidi who plays Olivia was so charming that you just gotta love her. Thomas Haden Church as Whitefeather was hilarious and the scene where he is with his son is insanely funny.
Overall this is a good family movie and should have been promoted around Father's Day. But now Eddie please get back to making successful action movies.

Starring: Eddie Murphy, Yara Shahidi, Thomas Haden Church and Nicole Ari Parker
Directed by: Karey Kirk Patrick
Rated: PG

I give it 3 corn dogs

By: Corndog - The Reel Hustler

THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123

Plot:

In this remake of the 1974 film The Taking Of Pelham 123 , Denzel Washington plays transit coordinator Walter Garber who is under investigation for bribery charges. While working as the chief dispatcher for the subways he receives a call from someone who calls himself Ryder (Travolta) who has taken hostages on the train Pelham 123. Demanding that the Mayor (Gandolfini) fork over 10 millions or he along with his three assistants will begin killing the hostages. Ryder, enjoying the conversations with Garber, eventually demands that Garber brings the money down to the subway to him as chief negotiator Camonetti (Turturro) try to figure a way to foil the gangs criminal intent.

Reel Talk:

Director Tony Scott who is no stranger to action thrillers and who has worked with Denzel on a few films, brought his masterful touch to this remake. The action is intense and with the combination of Washington and Travolta, this is a good movie. Travolta being the great actor he is, seems to really put in his best work a villain He has played several bad guy roles and he does not hold back in this portrayal as Ryder. Luis Guzman as henchman Phil Ramos is always a character that will provide a few laughs.This is a good action thriller with a great cast. I just caught the original version with Walter Matthau and it was also good but it will help you appreciate the more updated remake.

Starring: Denzel Washington, John Travolta, Luis Guzman, John Turturro and James Gandolfini
Directed by: Tony Scott
Rated: R

I give it 4 corn dogs

By: Corndog - The Reel Hustler

THE HANGOVER

Plot:

When Phil (Cooper) and Stu (Helms) arrange to take their buddy Doug (Bartha) to Vegas for his last few days as a single man and they invite Doug's soon to be weird brother in-law Alan (Galifianakis), little do they know that they are in for one wild adventure. They set out on the road trip in a classic customized Mercedes Benz loaned to them by Doug's future father in-law with instructions that Doug be the only driver. Upon their arrival to Vegas the guys toast and take a drug given to them by Alan that they believe is Ecstasy but is instead a memory loss drug. They wake up the next morning and their luxurious expensive suite is a wreck, hookers are leaving, there is a tiger in the bathroom and Doug is missing and they have no recollection of what took place. The trio set out to backtrack to try and figure out what happened and how to find their friend. But they run into the most craziest circumstances along the way from Chinese gangsters to Mike Tyson that impedes them from finding Doug, so that they can make the wedding on time.

Reel Talk:

The Hangover is the funniest movie so far this year. I thought it was going to be a cheesy corny comedy but I was truly surprised. It will have you laughing pretty much the entire movie. And Zach Galifianakis as Alan will have you rolling with laughter as he plays the idiot role to the max as well as Ken Jeong as Mr. Chow, they are the most hilarious characters in the film. And of course the cameo appearance of Mike Tyson is funny as hell.
This is a must see hilarious movie that will have you leaving feeling good and ready to take a flight to Vegas.

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, heather Graham, Ken Jeong and Mike Tyson
Directed by: Todd Phillips
Rated: R

I give it 5 corn dogs and a soda

By: Corndog - The Reel Hustler

THE BROTHERS BLOOM

Plot:

Two alienated orphaned brothers Stephen (Ruffalo) and Bloom (Brody), who only got the love for each other between them, set out to become the ultimate con men.But as they become older, the younger brother Bloom longs for the one thing he always wanted which is to be loved by a woman, so he sets out on his own, seeking to find his way. Stephen the older of the two, along with his new sidekick Bang Bang (Kikuchi) , seek out his brother to help him with what he calls theirs last big score. The mark is an eccentric young rich girl named Penelope (Weisz) who has been sheltered for many years, so when she takes up with the crew she falls right into the con, but things become complicated when Bloom and Penelope fall in love with each other and the brothers are being tracked by one of their former mentors, Diamond Dog (Schell), who is trying to kill them.

Reel Talk:

Although this film falls short of being a great con movie like such classics - The Sting, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Diggstown and even Heartbreakers, it was still an ok movie. It's the characters that holds your interest in the movie, not all of them just a few. Like Mark Ruffalo as the card dwindling con artist, his charm works for the mindless scheme that is hashed out and then Rinko Kikuchi as Bang Bang, the explosive happy mute Asian woman, who although her parts were not big, but they are very impressive. Brody's laid back, ho-hum attitude fits the role for his character where as Weisz performance was drab. The Brothers Bloom falls short on the con but is a good brotherly love film at best.

Starring: Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, Rinko Kikuchi and Maximillian Schell
Directed by: Rian Johnson
Rated: PG-13

I give it 2 corn dogs

By: Corndog - The Reel Hustler

DRAG ME TO HELL

Plot:

Christine Brown (Lohman) is one of two people being considered for an assistant manager position at the bank that she works at. Having been told that she is not aggressive enough and is afraid to make the tough calls by her boss, she sets out to prove him wrong by denying an elderly Mrs. Ganus (Raver) another extension on her mortgage loan, forcing her to plead and beg Christine so that she wont be evicted from the home. Christine continues to deny her causing the older women to place a curse on the banker that will send a soul taking demon after her within three days. Christine along with her non-believing boyfriend Clay (Long) are soon tormented for the three days leading up to her demise, searching for options in avoiding the visit from the demon, including attending a ritual that is suppose to drive it back to hell without her soul.

Reel Talk:

Ok I'm still one of the biggest advocates for a good scary movie, so going into the screening for this movie I didn't know what to expect because the trailers were pretty exciting and it was directed by Sam Raimi (the Evil Dead series, Dark Man and the dark Spider-Man 3, just to name a few of his classics). Well although my void still has not been filled, Drag Me To Hell was an entertaining film. It's not scary at all, but offers more grossed out scenes that may turn a stomach or two. The story was so predictable that it left no room for the surprise element of fear. Still it made for a decent movie, that will simmer die hard horror fans' blood, but not boil it.

Starring: Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Lorna Raver, Dileep Rao and David Paymer
Directed by: Sam Raimi
Rated: PG-13

I give it 3 corn dogs

By: Corndog - The Reel Hustler