Super Troopers (2001) R - 2½ Stars

You'll either love this movie or hate it's silliness. For me, I found the humor almost predictable and bordering on stupidity. On the other hand I can visualize some audiences laughing their ass off.

These State Troopers are about to loose their jobs to the local police department as in this small town there's no budget for both law enforcement agencies. The two agencies battle off with pranks to make each other look bad in front of the governor. But the jokes on her as she reinforces the wrong guys who are team mates with the marijuana traffickers.

Superior officer Capt. O'Hagan (Brian Cox), is in charge of four half wit state troopers, Mac (Steve Lemme), Thorny (Jay Chandrasekhar), Foster (Paul Stoter), and Rabbit (Erik Stolhanske), and the one do-gooder trooper Farva (Kevin Heffernan). In a small Vermont town near the Canadian border, these state troopers, with too much time on their hands, must prove themselves to Governor Jessman (Lynda Carter), in order to keep their jobs. Governor Jessman has just announced massive budget cuts for Vermont law enforcement personnel. Only one agencies can survive to keep their jobs so the battle between the State Troopers and the Earlville police department, led by Chief Grady with (Daniel Von Bargen), with Larry Johnson (Jim Gaffigan), and Ursula (Marisa Coughlan), begins.

The troopers stumble across a group or marijuana dealers. Solving this case is just what they need to prove the troopers deserve to keep their jobs. But with no love lost between the agencies, the Earlville police try everything to foil the troopers plans.

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Jersey Shore, Cataland Films
Director: Jay Chandrasekhar
Writers: Kevin Heffernan, Broken Lizard, Erik Stolhanske
Producer: Richard Perello

I viewed 2/12

Who the $#%& Is Jackson Pollock? (2006) PG13 - 3 Stars

If you don't know who the $#%&# Jackson Pollock is, you might want to watch this documentary. Maybe you too have an original artwork from the great artist& and you don't even know it. Good luck proving it and that's the premise for this film about the plight of a woman's struggle to prove she's holding a gold mine. Teri Horton bought the large painting at a thrift store because she thought it was an interesting large piece. Actually, she and her friend made fun of the painting until someone told Teri it might be an extremely valuable Jackson Pollock original, worth thousands to millions of dollars.

73 year old Teri Horton, a former long haul truck driver with an eighth grade education, bought the painting for $5.00 at a local thrift shop. When someone tells Teri it looks like the work of a famous artist, Teri decides to investigate further. Forensic scientific experts are able to confirm the painting came from Pollocks studio, making it that much clearer to Horton she is holding an extremely high priced original. However, she learns quickly the hard way that in today's modern art world, there are no easy answers to confirm the painting's authenticity.

This is her story as she takes on the modern day art world that snobbishly tries to tell her she is holding nothing more than a simple knock off worth nothing. She hires a forensic scientist who discovers a fingerprint on the back of the painting's canvas and he traces that same fingerprint to prove a positive match with a fingerprint discovered on a can of paint in Pollock's studio. The paint matches a can of paint in that same studio plus also matches markings on the floor, proving the painting was done at this location. However, no matter what she can prove, she is unable to convince the modern art establishments who proclaim the painting is fake and completely worthless. Horton spends over 15 years enlisting the services of many professionals who refuse to authenticate the painting which would bring Horton approximately $50 million dollars. The documentary gives an insight into the eccentric world of buying and selling art in today's modern world.

Director: Harry Moses
Writer: Harry Moses
Producers: Harry Moses, Steven Hewitt

I viewed 1/12

Monster (2008) NR - 1½ Stars

I gotta say folks, this is one of the worst monster movies of modern times. Shot in a Blair Witch, Cloverfield, type format, this movie really stinks. Here's what you do. Give two fairly decent looking girls a camera , break the switch so it turns on and off randomly, throw in a few Japanese friends willing to lower their dignity and a squishy octopus you rarely see and yes you too can make a movie. Supposedly, this footage has been found two years after Tokoyo Japan is reported to have had a major earthquake.

The so called "monster" you never really even see. I think they could have done so much better with some sort of special effects that at least focus on the ministering menace. Oh yeah, it's an octopus but it leaves underground like a giant worm? I'm confused but I guess I've seen worse.

After a massive earthquake hits Tokoyo Japan, thousands are dead. The world chocks it up to just another earthquake in that part of the country. But two years later, tapes are found belonging to sisters Erin Lynch(Erin Evans), and Sarah Lynch (Sarah Lieving), documenting what really happened to the town as they captured while on and expedition to report on global warming.

The Global Asylum
Director: Erik Estenberg
Writer: Erik Estenberg
Producers: Jeff Cagle, Paul Bales

I viewed 2/12

Monsters (2010) R - 3 Stars

So I just joined Netflix from my Xbox and flipped through a few movie selections and accidentally hit the icon for this movie. Okay so since it's a lazy rainy day, I decided to give in and check out what Monsters has to offer.

The movie sort of throws you right into the action with very little set up, making it take awhile to warm up to the characters. She's a semi spoiled rich girl seeking answers to her reservations against her upcoming wedding while visiting San Jose, Central America. He's an arrogant cocky yet determined photographer who's more concerned with getting his shot then the couples safety. Though the stand out like a sore thumb in the middle of another country, fear knows no boundaries and they soon fit in with the other panicked residents.

I did like the electrifying baby growths attached to the trees and the monsters were pretty good. I also liked showing two languages with sub titles easy to follow. For a low budget independent Sci-Fi's thriller, the special effects are pretty damn good. It's cheesy but does have it's moments and worth the rent if you like Sci-Fi.

When a NASA space probe crashes to earth, not far from the American border, Andrew Kaulder (Scoot McNairy), an American journalist, is on the front line in the danger zone, trying to capture the first live photos. Samantha "Sam" Wynden (Whitney Able), the daughter of a wealthy newspaper owner who happens to have hired Kaulder, has gone missing from her trip inside of Mexico. Kaulder pledges to his boss, Sam's father, that he will find her and get her safely back to the United States. But their journey will not be a easy one since it will take them directly into the Infected Zone where alien monsters run ramped, destroying anything in their way. Two strangers stuck in a nightmare will discover romance and terror as they make they way back to safety.

Awards include:

• 2010 - Austin Film Critics - Best First Film
• 2010 - National Board of Review - Best Independent Film

Vertigo Films,  Magnet Releasing
Director: Gareth Edwards
Writer: Gareth Edwards
Producers: Allan Niblo, James Richardson

I viewed 2/12