The Town

To say I was excited to hear about Ben Affleck's movie entitled "The Town" is an understatement. After thoroughly enjoying his directoral debut "Gone Baby Gone" I couldn't wait to see his new work and I am happy to say "The Town" did not disappoint. I thought "Inception" had a lock on movie of the year but I feel it suddenly has some serious competition. I had high hopes for this movie going in and it not only met them, it surpassed them. I know, who would have thought it?

"The Town" has an amazing cast starting with the enigmatic Jeremy Renner who fresh off his role in the Oscar award winning film "The Hurt Locker" (the movie that won me my very first Oscar wager by the way) brings a menacing presence to this movie in a way that would make you look at your best friends differently. Playing James Coughlin, Renner is all hot head and danger rolled up in one with such a twisted sense of loyalty that he's not only deadly to complete strangers but to those he loves as well. Affleck plays his best friend Doug MacRay and together with Slaine playing Albert Magloan and newcomer Owen Burke playing Desmond Elmond they are an unforgiving and well organized band of theives from Charlestown, Mass. They take down everything from armored trucks to banks and it's a bank job where Affleck's MacRay meets Claire Keesey played by Rebecca Hall and things really get complicated.

Rounding out the cast is Jon Hamm from "Mad Men" and he plays the FBI agent charged with bringing MacRay and his team to justice. Then there's Blake Lively, the amazing Peter Postlewaite and Chris Cooper, as well as the underrated Titus Welliver who plays Jon Hamm's partner. To call this a powerhouse cast is to be putting it mildly and Affleck does one hell of a job getting the best out of each of them. He definitely knows what he's doing behind the camera.

This film has everything you could possibly want for your dollar. Gripping drama, unresolved father/son issues, a love story, and even a car chase William Friedkin, the director of the testosterone fueled "To Live and Die in L.A." would be proud of. The only issues I have with the film are the constant closeups of the actors (you could practically count each facial hair and tooth sometimes) and the music, it's forgettable. Outside of those to glitches, this picture shines and if you ever wanted to get an inside tour of Fenway Park then definitely see this film.

Ben Affleck, director....who knew?

See you at the movies!

Takers

Just to let you know, just to put this up front at the jump, "Takers" isn't the most original film ever done. In fact I think Michael Mann could justify filing a lawsuit against the filmakers of this movie because if this isn't a remake of Mann's "Heat" starring De Niro and Pacino then it's the sequel. Oh and if you missed the shootout at the end of "True Romance" starring Slater and Arquette then rest easy my fine readers, it's in here. As is the blatant and brazen rip off of "The Italian Job" starring Wahlberg and Theron. In fact that movie is even mentioned by name for the heist these well dressed men are about to pull. Like I said, it's not the most original movie ever made.

However, this movie does have a few things going for it and one of them like I stated was the wardrobe. I would have to say that only the Ocean's 11, 12, and 13 movies were better dressed than the people in this film. I would bet that a good portion of the budget was spent on the wardrobe alone. Add to that the fact that this movie had a cast that pretty much included everybody you could think of and even a few surprises and you'll forgive the cliche story line and the blatant rip offs of the movies I listed above.

Idris Elba does his best DeNiro as "Gordon" and leads his well dressed and precise team of thieves on a bank heist as the movie opens. Thankfully the director of this movie, John Luessenhop allows Idris to speak in his native Hackney, England accent. A refreshing change in my opinion (and just for the record I think he'd make a great Bond if they ever make another one of those movies). In his team are Michael Ealy, Paul Walker, Hayden Christensen, and Chris Brown and they are a finely tuned machine a with nary a disagreement between any of them. What Idris says is law and the team usually falls in line. That is until an old acquaintance gets released from prison a year early for good behavior.

T.I. plays the appropriately name "Ghost" and he comes back to the gang with a job that would be their biggest payday yet. Michael Ealy's character "Jake" wants him dead immediately but get's overruled by the team because they want to hear about his "job". "Ghost" has a serious bone to pick with his old crew though thanks to a heist gone bad back in 2004 which got him sent to prison. He lost his girlfriend, the always lovely Zoey Saldana to Michael Ealy's "Jake" in the process so there really is no love lost between those two at all.

Matt Dillon does his best Pacino playing detective "Jack Wells" while tracking down this crew while going through a divorce and potentially losing his daughters love, sound familiar? Someone get Michael Mann on the phone. He's truculent with the higher ups and even downright abrasive when it comes to dealing with Internal Affairs. His main focus is capturing the bad guys who robbed the bank and nothing else matters. Rounding out the cast are Glynn Turman, Steve Harris, Johnathon Schaech, Jay Hernandez, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste (who I think has been highly underrated her entire career). It's quite the cast and they are deftly directed by John Luessenhop, his second film and first with a budget this large I'm sure but you couldn't tell that by what you see on the screen. While you do see his inspiration from other films and directors he still does an okay job of pulling you into this movie. Sometimes the camera work is sloppy and while you have no idea what's going on at times it's still a solid job. The movie is stylish and glossy and at times even artistic. Scored by Paul Haslinger the music fits the images but sadly is ultimately forgettable.

Would I recommend this movie? Hard to say. That would depend on whether you liked "Heat", "True Romance", and "The Italian Job" and you wouldn't mind seeing all those movies again just this time all at the same time.

See you at the theater!

The Expendables

To say “The Expendables” was one of the worst films I have ever seen would be doing all those other bad films a serious disservice. At least those movies tried to give you something interesting while missing on some front along the way. Maybe they dedicated far too much time in character development on a character you could care less about or maybe they gave you too much action and no character development at all. There were those movies that gave you no story line or decent kind of plot at all and had you scratching your head as to what the hell was going on but the acting was pretty good or the cinematography was amazing. There was pretty much always something you could hang your hat on in those bad films that could almost justify the price of admission, almost. With “The Expendables”, there is no hook of any kind and no justifying the cost of the ticket.

If this movie came out when Arnold was fighting aliens with faces that looked like crabs and Bruce was fighting foreign thieves in Nakatomi and Mel and Danny were still the most entertaining form of ebony and ivory on the big screen then MAYBE this movie wouldn’t have been so bad. Sadly that isn’t the case. This movie is instead populated by action movie stars, wrestling stars, and MMA stars well past their prime (the budget on makeup alone must have been enormous). Sloppily directed by the heavy handed and ridiculously predictable Sylvester Stallone, this movie does everything it can to insult your intelligence and if you’ve seen his “John Rambo” opus then you’ve seen this movie already. This time though, instead of bringing along a bunch of no names like he did in “John Rambo” he decided to bring along every out of work action star from fifteen years ago hoping to get that dollar out of your pocket. I mean how could you NOT want to see that scene with Arnold, Bruce, and Stallone finally in the same room at the same time?

The dialogue was a joke and the plot is just utterly ridiculous but you didn’t buy your ticket for Shakespeare. You brought that ticket to see things blow up and old white men fight and flirt with women at least half their age and in that case you wouldn’t be disappointed at all. The explosions are many and grow in intensity as the movie goes on. The fights are numerous and border on the ludicrous and the three women in this movie I doubt will ever be using this film to pad their resume. The editing, much like the story is all over the place and apparently Sly has fallen in love with CG blood. He used it in “John” but he’s taken it to the next level by supposedly using guns so powerful that they can blow heads clean off bodies and cut bodies completely in half.

The story (and I use that word VERY lightly) follows a merry band of high paid mercenaries that get hired by the CIA (yawn) to assassinate a ruthless Latin American dictator that’s backed by a rogue ex CIA agent (yawn). There are the subplots of domestic abuse, substance abuse, and guilt for past deeds that took place in some jungle while bathed in blood. In the hands of real actors this may have been believable but for guys who only know how to squint and pump iron it all comes across as fake. The score by Brian Tyler was completely over the top like everything else in this movie. I usually really like his scores but this one, not so much. The music tried to add emotion where the actors failed too and went bombastic during the action sequences in the attempt to get that adrenaline rushing.

If you like and missed seeing Sly, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Steve Austin, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Eric Roberts, and Jason Statham and you don’t mind the unabashedly simplistic plot then you just may enjoy this movie. A movie that should have been released at least fifteen maybe twenty years ago.

Cairo Time

I have always like Patricia Clarkson as an actress. I always felt she was someone underrated and overlooked in the pantheon of fine actors. I admired her work in movies like "The Green Mile", "Far From Heaven", and "The Station Agent" but I didn't become a fan of hers until "Elegy" (which is a movie I highly recommend). I have also been a fan of Alexander Siddig's work as well. He's a very elegant actor and brings a certain dignity to everything he is in. From his TV work on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine", "MI5", and "24" to his work in films like "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Syriana" Siddig has never disappointed. So I was excited to find out these two fine actors were going to be starring opposite each other in a complex love story entitled "Cairo Time".

It's a movie set in the hustle and bustle of the largest city in Egypt and Clarkson's character, Juliette flies to Cairo in the hopes of connecting with her husband Mark who works for the U.N. for a much needed vacation. He's in Gaza and he's been delayed in getting to his wife so he asks an old friend and retired co-worker to look in on his wife. That friend is Siddig's character Tareq who when immediately after meeting Juliette offers her something she's denied herself for years. Was it because of her husband or her lifestyle? You never find out but when she does eventually indulge you can see the walls begin to fall and you see Juliette begin to feel free.

Early on Juliette gets herself in some trouble in Cairo. Walking the streets without being "properly dressed" she is almost attacked by the young men who liked what they saw. So much so that they chased her into a store and the proprietor had to shoo the men away. There are other mistakes made along the way along with some matrimonial bickering with the ever delayed husband Mark. To the rescue of possible physical altercations and plain old boredom comes the ever charming and ever graceful Tareq.

A friendship is formed amidst the beauty and the grit of Cairo and as Juliette grows more comfortable with her surroundings, she grow more comfortable with Tareq. She even begins toying with the idea of staying in Cairo. Much in the way the city has, Tareq has grown on Juliette and while she loves her husband dearly, she likes the way Tareq makes her feel beautiful again. She likes the freedom he represents and just when you think she's about to take that step, just when she wants to take that step, she can't.

Written and directed by Ruba Nadda, Cairo Time is a very sweet and heartbreaking love story between two people seemingly happy with the way their lives turned out only to realize they may have missed out on so much more. And while the score is forgettable, the cinematography is not. It captures the beauty of the architecture, the grandeur, and the madness of Cairo in vivid fashion that it feels like you've visited the city without ever getting on a plane. I really enjoyed this movie and would definitely recommend it.

See you at the theater!

Salt

Okay, to say that I was somewhat disappointed in Phillip Noyce's 2006 "Catch A Fire" starring Derek Luke and Tim Robbins would be the understatement of the decade. This was the director of "Patriot Games" and "Clear and Present Danger", two films I really enjoyed. "Catch" had a great cast and the potential to be up there in the canon of top anti-apartheid films. That never happened and Phillip Noyce then turned his attention to directing a few episodes of "Brotherhood" and then disappeared.

That was until now. Phillip Noyce has re-emerged with Salt, a powerhouse movie starring Angelina Jolie as Evelyn Salt, Liev Schreiber as Ted Winter, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Peabody (apparently making up for his role in 2012).

The film starts off three years in the past with a spy exchange in North Korea of Salt and some unamed North Korean spy. Salt is welcomed back with open arms and resumes her career in the CIA. She's about to head home to her loving spider hunting (I am not making this up) husband until a Russian defector states that Salt is a Russian spy and is going to kill someone major (doing my best to not give the plot away here) in NYC at the funeral of the Vice President. Then the film becomes a high octane chase movie with Salt doing her best to avoid capture and being shot by jumping from truck top to truck top.

I would have to say that this role for Angelina would have to be her most physically demanding role of her career. Sure she didn't do her own stunts but she did an awful lot of running and fighting in this movie then she's ever done before and she does it with much swagger. Sure she fought in "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" and "Wanted" but those movies don't even come close to the physicality of this film and Angelina pulls it all off convincingly. That goes for the rest of the cast as well. Liev and Chiwetel are no slouches when it comes to laying the smack down or chasing Salt around.

The cinematography captured the beauty and the grit of NYC perfectly and the editing was spot on. Nothing was cut from too soon or too late. The only underwhelming thing about this flick was the score. James Newton Howard usually does an exceptional job of scoring films but in this instance his music seemed directionless and forgettable until at the very end of the picture where he seemed to finally find his footing.

It's apparent Phillip Noyce has created a great popcorn summer hit and has made a triumphant return to movie making. You'll definitely enjoy this one so get your tickets, sit back, and prepare yourself for a fun ride and I'll see you at Salt 2!!!!

Predators

Okay, initially I wasn't going to review this movie (I was basically going to leave it alone) BUT a friend asked me to and so here I go.

Directed by Nimrod Antal and written by Alex Litvak, Michael Finch, and Jim and John Thomas (Jim and John wrote the first Predator movie), Predators is like a pretty good sandwich with nasty tasting bread. Meaning the beginning makes utterly no sense and the ending was completely ludicrous but the middle of the movie wasn't all that bad. If you can get past the beginning and if you leave maybe four or five minutes before the ending AND if you liked the very first Predator movie with Arnold then you won't mind some of the images in this movie.

Now I know you're probably asking yourself "why Adrian Brody?" and honestly, I don't know. I can't defend that move because it made no sense when I first heard he was going to be in the movie and now after seeing the movie I still don't get it but whatever. He plays "Royce" and he's the first person you see on screen, free falling through the clouds and plummeting towards a planet. Just when he's about to become a human meteorite his parachute opens (where this chute comes from is NEVER explained by the way) and he lands uninjured. As does the Yakuza gangster "Hanzo" played by Louis Ozawa Changchien, the big Russian "Nikolai" played by Oleg Taktarov (who just so happens to carry the same kind of gatlin gun that Jesse Ventura carried in the first film), "Isabelle" played by Alice Bragga (who you the viewer is supposed to believe is the young woman who survived in the first Predator movie along with Arnold) and all the others that parachuted in for the fun. Yes I said parachuted, don't ask me I didn't write it.

I know, I know, you're wondering where is Laurence Fishburn in all this. His character "Noland" also parachuted in but that happened years ago. For Noland, the planet became his own little island like the kind Tom Hanks inhabited in "Cast Away". The only thing Noland was missing was his very own "Wilson" because he was definitely talking to himself (can you say cliche?). He saves the group and then completely descends into Survivor mode and completely implodes (or explodes if you know what I mean).

Royce and his band of merry killers happen to wander into the Predators camp and in another nod to the first movie, there is a classic Predator trussed up. Royce figures there must be a ship that the predators use to get off the planet and he wants that ship for himself so he frees the tied up Predator in the hopes that he wants off the planet as badly as Royce does but the lead Predator arrives and the fight that ensues between the classic and evolved Predator is almost like the first time you saw two Terminators fight, it was impressive. Now this is where I would suggest you either walk out of the theater, turn off the DVD, or if you're really smart and wait for it to hit cable, this is where you change the channel because after the fight the movie turns south in a hurry.

The music by John Debney is a throw back to the first Predator score by Alan Silvestri, there's not much difference there (which is a good thing) and even the song playing during the closing credits is "Long Tall Sally" by Little Richard which of course was in the first movie. Now you could say that's due to a lack of originality but I would much rather say it's done to pay homage to the original film (they could have done a better job of that but they didn't so don't hope for more).

Would I recommend this movie to someone? ONLY if they are truly in love with Predator and would like to rinse that sour taste out of their mouths left behind from the AVP movies. If they aren't that person I would say skip it and wait for the bootleg DVD or cable.

I'll see you at the theater people!!!!

Inception

First off, welcome to Killer Korn, my movie review blog. So many people who know me consider me a critic and think I'm too hard on films because I view them differently then the average viewer (not that you're average but you know what I mean). I chose to put my thoughts on movies down in a blog (kudos to Art for helping out with the blog name).

Now I chose to start my blog reviewing the most amazing movie of the year so far (Tron Legacy may have something to say about movie of the year but we'll have to wait until December for that). Inception by Christopher Nolan is without a doubt the best movie of the year and so far it's put to shame every movie that's come before it this year. That's because not only is Inception an original idea and not a part 2 or part 3 (i.e Iron Man 2, Toy Story 3, Shrek the Third) but because it has something for every movie goer.

It's an intelligent movie, almost a "talkie" (that's what I call a movie when there's more talking than there is action) but just when you think that the action erupts on the screen with no apologies. A foot chase through Mombasa, a car chase through the streets with a van full of sleeping people complete with freight train, a shootout on snow covered mountains and so much more.

Dom Cobb played by Leonardo DeCaprio is the leader of a rag tag team hired to do something that's deemed to dangerous and virtually impossible. Inception is a movie where Dom and his team are hired to enter your dreams and steal your secrets. This time a Japanese businessman (Ken Watanabe) wants to hire Dom and his team (Ellen Page as the architect, Joseph-Gorden Levitt as Dom's right hand man, and Tom Hardy as the forger) to plant an idea into the subconcious of Cillian Murphy to get him to change his mind on a business idea. That's one hell of a plot but when you throw on top of all that how Dom can't get over or let go of the memory of his deceased wife Mal (Marion Coutillard) and how he's doing this last job in the hopes of getting home to his children and you have the makings of the meatiest movie in a long time.

I didn't think Nolan could top The Dark Knight but Inception blows Dark Knight out of the water and that's definitely with the help of Hans Zimmer score. It's taut with tension and pushes the movie along in ways a score is supposed to. It becomes a character on it's own and it's definitely one of Hans' best score in a long time (yes it's better than his score for last years Sherlock Holmes and that was a pretty good one too).

I am going to see it again because I want to make sure I didn't miss anything (it's possible) and basically because it's just a damn good movie. If you haven't seen it, SEE IT! And if you have seen it and are going to see it again, I'll see you at the theater.