The odds that a movie comedy remake of a television drama that, while critically acclaimed, ran for just five full seasons could be a blockbuster movie you think would be rare. I would think the same thing. And when I first saw the preview of Chris Miller’s (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Shrek the Third) 21 Jump Street, my first thought was why. After finishing the preview, I thought this would be a disaster. I was wrong. While I hadn’t heard a single person say this movie was bad, it still sat next to my DVD player for over two weeks after its Netflix envelope arrived. Channing Tatum (Stop Loss, Public Enemies) and Jonah Hill (Moneyball, Superbad) are decent actors. I’m certainly not going to go out of my way to watch a movie because one of these two is the star of it. As a duo, I thought they wouldn’t work. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this movie.
It’s not going to get on many Top 10 lists (especially when released in 2010, the best year for movie releases in my lifetime), but The Other Guys is fun. One of my only complaints about the great year for movies that was 2010 was that it lacked a great horror film and a great comedy. Though I have not seen it, I thought Get Him To The Greek might be the comedy movie I was looking for. While that is a movie I will still watch, it no longer has the potential to be the top comedy of 2010. I believe that ranking belongs to The Other Guys. Continue reading The Other Guys (2010)→
Jason Patric can play a police detective as well as anyone can. Patric would have been excellent on a show like The Shield. Seeing Patric in a reoccurring role and watching him delve deeper and deeper into his character, regardless of which direction that character might have gone, would have been something special. But Patrick has always been, and probably always will be, a silver-screen performer. He is undoubtedly not an A-lister, and his role has become few and far between. But, outside of Speed 2: Cruise Control, he always brings his A-game. For Patric, that involves grit, determination, and a deep understanding of the character he will be portraying. In my opinion, Patric was born to play the roles of undercover detectives, police officers, narcs, etc. He’s got the look. He understands the lingo. He’s scuzzy enough to pull it off but can invoke just the right amount of sympathy for viewers to believe in him and know that he’s one of the “good guys.” Continue reading Narc (2002)→
Fans of the Jason Bourne Trilogy (The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum) will, in all likelihood, enjoy The Matt Damon-less The Bourne Legacy. However, I’m wondering how many new fans this movie will attract. Director Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton, Duplicity) repeatedly references Jason Bourne in this movie. Those looking to enter the franchise and think that this is the right time because Jeremy Renner (The Town, The Hurt Locker) is cast in the lead role instead of Damon will be disappointed if they don’t do their homework ahead of time. I would have been very frustrated watching this movie without seeing the other three first. I would have wanted to understand better what was going on. In The Bourne Legacy, Gilroy doesn’t seem interested in recapping a story that has already been told. You are out of luck if you have not seen a previous Bourne movie or need to research. Gilroy feels it’s not his job to keep you informed. For those wishing to see this movie without seeing any of the predecessors or if it has been a while since you’ve seen The Bourne Ultimatum, I suggest you visit this site first. The Bourne Legacy Primer: Five Things to Know Before Seeing the Franchise’s Latest Flick – E! Online. Even if you saw The Bourne Ultimatum the night before seeing this movie, I’d recommend checking out this link. It won’t hurt to do so. Continue reading The Bourne Legacy (2012)→
Christopher Nolan’s (Inception, The Prestige) last chapter in his Batman franchise is the exciting but imperfect The Dark Knight Rises. This is an excellent movie and successfully concludes the best trilogy I’ve ever seen. However, if you go in with the idea that it will be better than The Dark Knight, you will be disappointed. With Hedge Ledger’s to die for performance as the Joker, The Dark Knight is as close to a perfect movie as you will get. It holds a place on my Top 10 Movies of All-Time list. The Dark Knight Rises is very ambitious, a little too ambitious. At 2 hours and 45 minutes, you’d think they have plenty of time to tell its story and conclude the franchise, but there is so much to the story, and rushing its development and racing to its conclusion would not have resulted in a successful movie. This is one of those movies where a review such as mine won’t persuade you to see it or not see it. You most likely have it in your head that you will either see this movie or not. So why do I write it? Because I committed myself to reviewing every film that will be on my Top 10 list at the end of the year. I am very, very confident there will not be ten other movies released in 2012 that will be better than The Dark Knight Rises. Continue reading The Dark Knight Rises (2012)→
The odds that a movie comedy remake of a television drama that, while critically acclaimed, ran for just five full seasons could be a blockbuster movie you think would be rare. I would think the same thing. And when I first saw the preview of Chris Miller’s (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Shrek the Third) 21 Jump Street, my first thought was why. After finishing the preview, I thought this would be a disaster. I was wrong. While I hadn’t heard a single person say this movie was bad, it still sat next to my DVD player for over two weeks after its Netflix envelope arrived. Channing Tatum (Stop Loss, Public Enemies) and Jonah Hill (Moneyball, Superbad) are decent actors. I’m certainly not going to go out of my way to watch a movie because one of these two is the star of it. As a duo, I thought they wouldn’t work. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this movie.
It’s not going to get on many Top 10 lists (especially when released in 2010, the best year for movie releases in my lifetime), but The Other Guys is fun. One of my only complaints about the great year for movies that was 2010 was that it lacked a great horror film and a great comedy. Though I have not seen it, I thought Get Him To The Greek might be the comedy movie I was looking for. While that is a movie I will still watch, it no longer has the potential to be the top comedy of 2010. I believe that ranking belongs to The Other Guys.
Jason Patric can play a police detective as well as anyone can. Patric would have been excellent on a show like The Shield. Seeing Patric in a reoccurring role and watching him delve deeper and deeper into his character, regardless of which direction that character might have gone, would have been something special. But Patrick has always been, and probably always will be, a silver-screen performer. He is undoubtedly not an A-lister, and his role has become few and far between. But, outside of Speed 2: Cruise Control, he always brings his A-game. For Patric, that involves grit, determination, and a deep understanding of the character he will be portraying. In my opinion, Patric was born to play the roles of undercover detectives, police officers, narcs, etc. He’s got the look. He understands the lingo. He’s scuzzy enough to pull it off but can invoke just the right amount of sympathy for viewers to believe in him and know that he’s one of the “good guys.”
Fans of the Jason Bourne Trilogy (The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum) will, in all likelihood, enjoy The Matt Damon-less The Bourne Legacy. However, I’m wondering how many new fans this movie will attract. Director Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton, Duplicity) repeatedly references Jason Bourne in this movie. Those looking to enter the franchise and think that this is the right time because Jeremy Renner (
Christopher Nolan’s (Inception, The Prestige) last chapter in his Batman franchise is the exciting but imperfect The Dark Knight Rises. This is an excellent movie and successfully concludes the best trilogy I’ve ever seen. However, if you go in with the idea that it will be better than The Dark Knight, you will be disappointed. With Hedge Ledger’s to die for performance as the Joker, The Dark Knight is as close to a perfect movie as you will get. It holds a place on my Top 10 Movies of All-Time list. The Dark Knight Rises is very ambitious, a little too ambitious. At 2 hours and 45 minutes, you’d think they have plenty of time to tell its story and conclude the franchise, but there is so much to the story, and rushing its development and racing to its conclusion would not have resulted in a successful movie. This is one of those movies where a review such as mine won’t persuade you to see it or not see it. You most likely have it in your head that you will either see this movie or not. So why do I write it? Because I committed myself to reviewing every film that will be on my