Lost in America (1985)

Albert Brooks and Julie Hagerty star in a film about a couple that gives up on the rat race and decides to liquidate their assets, buy a mobile home, and hit the road.

Brooks is an incredibly whiny character, the type I can't stand to watch. He reminds me of Woody Allen, in the roles that made me strongly dislike him. Hagerty plays the timid, undeceive wife until they hit the road.

I hate to spoil the film with the adventures they run unto. Let's just say there are numerous parts of this movie that were painful to get through. I can't see why this is considered one of the funniest movies of all time. But then again, comedy is very subjective. I didn't like it, I'm glad it's over.

Vote: 5/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089504/

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The Godson: Le samouraï (1967)

Yay! I found a French New Wave film that I sincerely liked. Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville and starring Alain Delon. This film about an assassin was completely gripping. I watched it start to finish in one sitting, which is actually saying a lot if you know how I get through a lot of my movies.

The plot is quite simple, yet very complex. Delon's character prepares for an assassination with methods that remind me of the game Grand Theft Auto. He steals a car, pulls into a random garage, a guy switches his plates, hands him a new gun, then he pulls out and drives off. A perfectionist that lives a secluded life of complete paranoia.

I would definitely recommend this film.

Vote: 8/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062229/

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MacGruber (2010)

The latest Saturday Night Live skit turned into a feature length film. What started as just a spoof on the television show MacGyver, became a show of its own. My favorite SNL skit is the one featuring Charles Barkley, you can watch it here.

If you find it funny, you might like this movie. If you find it stupid you will hate this movie. The imdb average for a movie like this is almost guaranteed to be around a 5.0 no matter how good it really is, just because people are going to be very split on it. 700 have given it a 1, 800 have given it a 10, the majority falls around a 6 or 7.

I find Will Forte to be very funny, so I liked the movie. Kristen Wiig is great in her supporting role; she should replace Amy Poehler in the future as a good duo with Tina Fey. Ryan Phillippe doesn't wow me with his acting, but he is good. It was amazing to see how much Val Kilmer has let himself go, almost worth watching just to look at in awe.

The plot is weak, but that is to be expected. They really made a movie out of nothing so you can't really fault it to much for that. The strange sex scenes I could have done without. I was laughing hysterically when the explosives went off early in the movie. Overall I'm glad I watched it, just because I liked the SNL skits. I wouldn't recommend this to people unless you are fully aware of what you are getting yourself into.

Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1470023/

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The Untouchables (1987)

It only takes a few gangster films to feel like you have seen too many. Why? Because they all seem to be about Chicago covering the exact same story and the exact same people. This is another Al Capone movie. There are over 20 feature films portraying Capote, a dozen tv series and tv movies. It gets a little boring.

This movie loses a point just for lacking originality. At least they got a good actor for Capone (Robert De Niro), problem is they really don't use him enough. The movie is less about him and more about Eliot Ness, the investigator trying to bring him down. Kevin Costner was just not right for this role. He is weak in his performance and overshadowed and pushed over by Sean Connery, Andy Garcia, and Sean Connery. Garcia was FANTASTIC in his minor role. Good enough that I looked him up because he was so familiar, that is when I remembered he was nominated for an Oscar 3 years later for his role as Vincent in The Godfather: Part III.

The soundtrack for this film is ear piercingly bad. It is very very 80s. At over two and a half hours this was a time investment not worth making. I actually watched this in two parts. The first of about one and a half was pretty good, I was thinking 6 or 7 at that point. The slow motion scenes were so incredibly bad that this movie just sank in the last hour. It was even comical at times. Costner approaching De Niro at the end was just awful acting and scripting.

Let's just say a 5 is generous because the film had some merit. I can see why it fell out of the imdb top 250 several years ago.

Vote: 5/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094226/

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The Karate Kid (2010)

Jaden Smith (son of Will Smith) in his 3rd feature film, and first starring role. This remake of the 1984 original The Karate Kid starring Ralph Macchio. Is produced by father, Will, and takes place in China.

There are a few things that make this as good as the original, and a few things that do not measure up. Jackie Chan was fantastic in his role as Mr. Han (the new Mr. Miyagi). "Miyagi" is much cooler than "Han" though. The idea of a kid proving himself at a Karate tournament in China was a fun spin.

There were two things that kept me from making this is a "worth watching" film. #1: I didn't like the age of Jaden Smith. They should have kept this film idea in their back pocket until he was at least a teenager. The early high school age in the original was much more fitting. I just wondered, where are their parents during all this? when the kids got in street fights. #2: I didn't like the unrealistic fighting combos. Why use CGI and stunts that look completely fake? He could have excelled with realistic fighting like the original film.

I did like that he learned about Karate through every day activity. They didn't copy "Wax-on, Wax-off" which was probably a good move. Yet they stayed with the same general training theme, which make the film a lot of fun. It is 50/50 that you will like this one. I'd give it a PG rating, so it would be a good family watch, so that is a plus.

Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1155076/

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The Court Jester (1955)

Probably the most painful movie off hand from the AFI 100 Laughs. Considered a musical because of the random song-and-dance that breaks out several times. Danny Kaye is funny, but not funny enough to carry a film.

Most surprising was Angela Lansbury, I've only seen her in The Manchurian Candidate where she was already 37 years old. Seeing her at 30 was different. I'm so used to the old lady from "Murder, She Wrote", you know... the mystery tv series about the lady that is in the wrong place at the wrong time every week. People seem to have the instinct to commit homicide any time she is around.

Glynis Johns is the hottie in this movie though, she plays a leader of the rebel force trying to overthrow the tyrant king. This zany musical comedy might have been appropriate for the 1950s but doesn't translate well to the 2010s. It just comes across as silly and almost stupid, incredibly cheesy and painful at times. Avoid this one.

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049096/

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The Last Station (2009)

Not exactly the most exciting movie from last years Oscar ballot. Thought it had something to do about an old man sitting around at a train station. Can't say my assumptions were too far off. I haven't been very excited about writing this review, because the movie was kinda boring.

The film is actually a biography about Leo Tolstoy played by Christopher Plummer. Tolstoy, of course, is the famous Russian writer responsible for War & Peace and Anna Karenina.
Helen Mirren plays Sofya Tolstoy his faithful wife who helped him type out his works. In the film she is in a conflict with Vladimir Chertkov (Paul Giamatti) over who is entitled to his fortune in his will.

There is a side story romance between James McAvoy and Kerry Condon. Quite unnecessary to the plot and added to make this a feature length film. Overall this movie was so dull that this side story did very little to make it worth watching.

I will give it one thing. Unlike films like Bright Star, it opened by giving you a background into what you are about to watch. I hate when movies assume you have already ready a movie review, or watched the trailer, or just know what the subject matter is before the film starts. You aren't missing anything here though.

Vote: 5/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0824758/

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