Equilibrium (2002) R - 3½ Stars

When this movie first started, I was thinking, oh man this is going to suck as I didn't understand what was going on. But I stuck with it and actually it ended up having a decent story line. If you like a good action Matrix type - kick ass movie, then you'll like this one.

It's the beginning of the 21st Century and WWIII has erupted and from it a new nation is born called Libria. This nation is run by Dupont (Angus MacFadyen) under "Father's" law of complete conformity. The belief is that all wars are based on people's emotions of jealousy and rage so by making everyone equal there is no competition. This new society of equilibrium is insured when citizens must inject themselves daily with a dose of Prozia II to eliminate any chance of feeling emotional. Any form of creativity or any objects that trigger vanity and emotion are outlawed and immediately destroyed. Citizens caught with such items or showing any form of emotion, are immediately subject to death by incineration.

Cleric John Preston (Christian Bale) is a Grammaton, a real bad ass when it comes to fighting, and his job is to track down and punish these "sense offenders." Four years prior his wife was taken from his family of two children, and burned for showing feelings of emotion with them.

When John was washing his face one morning, his dose of Prozia II was breaks when it hit the floor. Not being able to get another dose right away, he starts to look at the world in a new light. When the Grammaton raid a commune of sense offenders, a small puppy licks him and triggers a whole array of feelings. In the raid, Mary O'Brian (Emily Watson) is taken prioner and he becomes completly fascinated with her. After meeting with her a few times, Mary tells him what type of life is worth living if there is nothing to be felt. He begins hiding his doses of the drug and eventually awakens his feelings that had lay dormant for so long. Now with these senses hightened, he joins up with the underground refugees that refuse to take their meds and together it gives them the passion to fight for freedom.

Dimension Films/MGM
Director: Kurt Wimmer
Writer: Kurt Wimmer
Producer: Lucas Foster, Jan de Bont

I viewed 4/18

The Good Life (2006) R - 3 Stars

Written partially about the director / writer's experiences in real life, the movie really makes you think of the sadness and loneliness some people try to cover up. It's not the most exciting movie but it sends out a loud message of friendship, betrayal, innocence, love and compassion. I'm not sure I totally get the ending though.

Taking place in the late 1970's, in a small town in Lincoln, Nebraska where football is the king, Jason Prayer (Mark Webber), is a quirky teenage boy, born with an affliction of loosing his hair. He wears a hat and covers his head a lot so people won't notice or stare. His father committed suicide and leaving Jason with the responsibility of taking care of his mother (Deborah Rush). Having not been close with his father, he is afraid to open a package that is given to him after his father's death. Jason works at the local gas station and gets harassed a lot by the local jocks due to his condition.

Gus (Harry Dean Stanton) runs the local movie house, that only shows old movies, as he feels they are the best. But his mind isn't what it once was with the onset of Alzheimer's disease he needs Jason to help him out setting up reels and reminding him to make the popcorn.

Frances (Zooey Deschanel) befriends Jason after the local bad boy football jock Tad (Chris Klein), takes a beating to his face. She's sees more into Jason for who he is, not how he looks but doesn't tell the whole truth while she claims Judy Garland's lines as her own. Though everyone seems alone in their own misery, they find temporary comfort in each other.

TGL Productions LLC, Image Entertainment
Directors: Steve Berra
Writers: Steve Berra
Producers: Patrick Markey, Lance Sloane, Devin Sloane, Bill Paxton, Phyllis Laing

I viewed 12/08

The Hamburg Cell (2004) NR - 3 Stars

This movie gave me a pretty good realism into what I would think the people responsible for 9/11 were like. Somewhat normally behaving people amongst themselves but empty inside with non emotions. I plan on watching a lot of these type of films in order to get a better understanding of the minds of people who hate the U.S. and their religious devotion.

Meet the pilots behind the September 11, 2001 attacks. Ziad Jarrah (Karim Saleh) member of the Al Qaeda cell would force America to stand up and take a good look at terrorism. The film is about the cell of Al Qaeda members living in Hamburg Germany. It gives the viewer a first hand look at this group of religious extremists as they prepare to take planes as hostages in America.

Channel 4 Television
Director: Antonia Bird
Writers: Alice Perman, Ronan Bennett
Producer: Finola Dwyer

I viewed 12/06

Capturing the Friedmans (2002) NR - 2½ Stars

I'm sure the true life story of the Friedman's was more interesting then the documentary. The way the film is put together, I didn't find that it really made everything clear. Did they or did they not abuse the children? Dad looks like he could have for sure but mom doesn't look the type.

In 1987, the prominent family of Arnold and Elaine Friedman and their three sons , Jesse, Seth, and David turns dysfunctional when it's found out that Arnold and Jesse are abusing and sodomizing the children in Arnolds class. Through their home videos this is the true story of the Friedmans struggle to keep their family together after being accused of molestation. The cameras are given to the family to record and document life at home.

Awards include:

2003 - Capturing the Friedmans - Boston Society of Film Critics - Best New Filmmaker
2003 - Capturing the Friedmans - Los Angeles Film Critics Association - Best Documentary (Runner-up)
2003 - Capturing the Friedmans - Sundance Film Festival - Documentary Grand Jury Prize.

Magnolia Pictures
Director: Andrew Jarecki
Producers: Andrew Jarecki, Mark Smerling

I viewed 11/17

28 Weeks Later (2007) R - 2½ Stars

The rage virus in London destroys the entire town but there are survivors. Don Harris (Robert Carlyle) and his wife survive the zombie like creatures only later to become one and the outbreak begins again. Will the entire town be nuked to put an end to the virus once and for all.

Not very scary and not real exciting to me.

20th Century Fox Distribution
Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Writers: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Alex Garland, E.L. Lavigne
Producers: Alex Garland, Allon Reich, Andrew Macdonald

I viewed 10/17

Collateral (2004) R - 4 Stars

Here is another one of the real head game movies I love so much. Zola's pic for one you should see at least one time or own in your collection.

Max (Jamie Foxx) has been driving a cab for 12 years hoping someday to own limo company. He starts out his night picking up Annie (Jada Pinkett Smith). She's an attorney and Max thinks maybe hell get lucky later when she hands him her business card along with the fare. Then he picks up Vincent (Tom Cruise). Vincent offers Max several hundred dollars to drive him around and wait for him at each stop. Max just figures he has a lot of errands to run and gladly excepts. What he doesn't realize, till a body lands on the his car, is that Vincent is a hired hit man on a mission to take out key witnesses who will be testifying for a federal grand jury. Max is just trying to stay alive when he realizes one of the next people to kill on Vincent's list is Annie the girl he met earlier.

Awards include:

2004 - Collateral - American Film Institute - Best Picture
2004 - Collateral - British Academy of Film and Television Arts - Best Cinematography

DreamWorks
Director: Michael Mann
Writer: Stuart Beattie
Producers: Julie Richardson, Michael Mann

I viewed 10/06

The Other Guys (2010) PG13 - 2 Stars

Oh brother! What can I say about throwing a bunch of named stars together and making a piece of crap. The only reason I am given it 2 stars is I still love Will Ferrell. But the days of his off beat innocence on "Saturday Night Live" and movies like "A Night at the Roxbury" are over. Will, why do you keep doing these mindless comedies - it's boggling to me. Reading some of the reviews that say how funny it is well to me it's stupid, not funny. The best part of the movie is Samuel L. Jackson and the "Rock" Dwane Johnson at the beginning and even then it wasn't funny to me. I think this is one you can miss completely.

Detective Allen Gamble, (Will Ferrell), and Detective Terry Hoitz, (Mark Wahlberg), have been doing their time in the office instead of out on the streets where the action is. Detective P.K. Highsmith, (Samuel L. Jackson), and Detective Christopher Danson, (Dwayne Johnson), were the macho heroes on the street until they jumped to their death going after once last bust. Now Captain Gene Mauch, (Michael Keaton), needs someone to step up to the plate and take their place. Gamble and Hoitz are the two least likely to succeed but rise to the occasion where the other guys could not.

Mosaic, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures
Director: Adam McKay
Writers: Adam McKay, Chris Henchy
Producers: Adam McKay, Jimmy Miller, Will Ferrell

I viewed 12/10

Catfish (2010) PG13 - 2½ Stars

Social networking can be a positive experience for those unable to communicate properly or in a normal fashion. But stuff like this goes on all the time. Who are you really chatting with and think you know? Some people live in a virtual world built solely on fantasy and this story is about one woman who paints a portrait of Nev Sculman, mails it to him and concocts a fantasy world around it. This film documents what he thinks may be the beginning of a love affair. Myself, I didn't feel the documentary was totally true. It gives me the impression that it's made up though I wouldn't accuse anyone of that. But it does go to show you, the influence of social networking has on today's society.

Nev Schulman is a photographer in New York City. He receives an email from Abby, an eight year old girl in Michigan, that wants to paint a portrait of him after she has seen him in the newspaper. Nev develops an on going conversation with this young girl until his painting arrives in the mail. The art work is amazing and he is very intrigued how such a young girl can paint so masterfully. In future conversations, Nev is introduced to more members of the family including Abby's sister, Megan whom Nev finds attractive. They speak on the phone and develop a romantic bond. But as his friends Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, begin to document this love story, things don't add up. The three young men decide to pay a surprise visit to the family to get behind the mystery of who is who.

Rogue Pictures, Focus Features
Directors: Ariel Schulman, Henry Joost
Producers: Andrew Jarecki, Henry Joost, Marc Smerling

I viewed 1/11

Manufacturing Dissent (2007) R - 2½ Stars

I believe we are spoon fed so much B.S. watching T.V., listening to the news, reading the newspaper, listening to the radio and now even the Internet, that it's hard to make an intelligent choice without getting all the facts. I feel most people, including myself at times, just go along with the flow and allow the media to dictate what we eat and buy, how we vote, feel, live our lives and even react to situations. And heck, if we get out of hand, there's always some new pharmaceutical drug we can take to comply with society.

Michael Moore is one of those controversial film makers you either love or hate. I didn't use to think too much of him until I started watching some of his documentaries. The one thing I ABSOLUTELY LOVE about Michael Moore is he gets under your skin causing a twitching reaction. Even though you can see his dramatics in his films, I still think they make a point and cause awarness. Too often we sit back and just allow someone else to solve the problems instead of wanting to be involved. Michael Moore makes me what to have a voice and has done a great job of getting people motivated to stand up for what the believe.

Now having said that, a Canadian team of film makers, Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine, made this documentary to show that you can't believe everything you see - read - hear, even if it's from Michael Moore - the supposed truth speaker. It gives you an in dept look on how Michael has used a lot of footage for his documentaries, manipulating the context to his advantage. He's claimed, on more than one film, he can't get interviews with people he's going after. Here, with the tables turned, the film makers can't get Michael Moore to speak with them for more than 4 minutes. They're banned from plugging into the audio feed, they're cameras are not allowed at certain events and just lots of off limit areas for someone wanting to make a documentary of one of the master of documentaries.

The film shows another side to Moore. It implies he's making films just for his own ego and the money he can bring in. But after viewing the film, I still feel sparking controversy and reaction into people is the only way to bring about change. Remember, the first part of solving a problem, is admitting there is one.

Liberation Entertainment
Directors: Debbie Melnyk, Rick Caine
Writers: Debbie Melnyk, Rick Caine
Producers: Rick Caine, Debbie Melnyk

I viewed 5/08

Buried (2010) R - 3½ Stars

Being semi claustrophobic, I wouldn't last 5 minutes under these conditions. Perhaps that's why this movie made me totally uncomfortable, leaving a knot in my neck. It's pretty hard to make a good movie with just one on screen actor but if you crave edge of your seat thrillers, you'll love this one.

You'll find there are many things you think he should be doing in this situation and at least for me, I found myself yelling at the screen. Also, there are way too many calls and videos sent from just one bar of phone charge left. Perhaps the bag should have shown a spare cell phone battery inside and when he finds the cell phone number, why does he only leave a message for his wife? So don't spent too much energy over analysing what he should or should not be doing, instead sit back and enjoy this intense and horrifying thriller.

Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) is a truck driver in Iraq and he's just awakened to find himself bound and buried alive in a coffin. Reaching around in the dark, he finds a lighter to scope out his dyer situation. A sudden ring finds he's also been left with a cell phone. An Iraqi voice on the other end tells him 5 million dollars will get him out. With 90 minutes of time, a limited supply of oxygen, and trying not to panic, Paul must blindly call numbers to find someone to locate and free him.

Awards:
2010 - National Board of Review - Best Original Screenplay
2010 - National Board of Review - Best Independent Film

Projectes Mevi, The Safran Company, Versus Entertainment, Dark Trick Films, Lionsgate
Director: Rodrigo Cortés
Writer: Chris Sparling
Producers: Peter Safran, Adrian Guerra

Frozen (2010) R - 4 Stars

I really don't remember hearing about this movie coming out but I have to say, I LOVED IT. The movie made me completely eerily uncomfortable with chills and the feeling of coldness. For that alone, I have to give it 4 stars for evoking that "edge of your seat" feeling throughout most of the movie. Frozen is a simple yet believable story line of 3 teens getting stuck on a chair lift as the mountain closes down for the weekend and everyone goes home not realizing they are still aboard the lift. Though the movie is sometimes slow it manages to raise your blood pressure significantly at times. I really loved the concept of the story line and you will think twice about being one of the last to get on a ski lift.

Parker O'Neil, (Emma Bell), her boyfriend Dan Walker, (Kevin Zegers), and his best friend Joe Lynch, (Shawn Ashmore), are all looking forward to a full day of snowboarding on Mount Holliston. Unfortunately they don't have enough money to all afford the lift tickets so they talk Parker into sweet talking the lift operator Jason, (Ed Ackerman), to let them ride for a flat cheaper rate. Jason agrees to pocket the extra money and look the other way. Parker is just learning how to snowboard so much of their day is spent with her practicing rather than racing downhill. Right at dusk, the three decide to take one last ride up the lift and give it everything they have coming down. Jason again lets them on the lift one last time but is called away after they depart and his replacement is told to look for three last kids coming down the mountain. As he sees three youths make their way down the slope he turns off the lift unaware these are not the three just sent up. Mount Holliston is in a small town and only open on weekends and now they are closing down until next weekend leaving Parker, Dan and Joe dangling in mid air. With a snow storm approaching, their cries going unnoticed and the trio must find a way off the lift before frostbite and hypothermia set in. That won't be an easy task as other unknown obstacles are in their way.

A Bigger Boat, ArieScope Pictures
Director: Adam Green
Writer: Adam Green
Producers: Peter Block, Cory Neal