Green Room rated R for strong brutal graphic violence, gory images, language, and some drug content ***spoilers***

I was curious about this movie but a little nervous because I'm not generally keen on torture porn movies and this looked like it might be a torture porn movie.  Then I was strongly urged to see this film by an acquaintance who has excellent taste in films for the most part.

This film opens with a punk rock band called the Ain't Rights who are on tour.  The Ain't Rights consists of Pat (played by Anton Yelchin), Reece (played by Joe Cole, Sam (played by Alia Shawkat) and Tiger (played by Callum Turner.   After a gig doesn't work out for them, their contact Tad (played by David W. Thompson)  recommends them to another gig where his cousin Daniel (played by Mark Webber) works in a remote area of the Pacific Northwest.  The catch of playing at this gig is that the show is at a neo-Nazi/skinhead bar.  The band is put off but willing to play because they need the money to get back home.

After their set, Pat witnesses a violent act that happened in the green room (hence the title).  A young woman named Emily (played by Taylor Tunes) from another band has been murdered by her bandmate  Werm (played by Brent Werzner).  Emily's friend Amber (played by Imogen Poots) urges Pat to call the police which gets the rest of the Ain't Rights involved.

The Ain't Rights are forced to go back into the green room with Amber while the owner of the establishment, a man named Darcy (played by Patrick Stewart) and his group decide what to do to "fix" the situation.

So a vicious bloody fight for survival ensues between the Ain't Rights and Amber versus the neo-Nazis.

The story and the characters were so well written that I can understand why anyone would recommend this film to anyone else.  The cinematography was well done as well.

While it is violent and gory, I wouldn't consider this a proper torture porn film only because it isn't as bad as true torture porn films that I have seen where the violence is more for the sake of violence and pushing the envelope so to speak.  The violence in this film is in your face but it is executed very well and within reason.

I liked that this film depicted people and a scene that most people aren't familiar with.  All of the characters in this film were multi-faceted, some perhaps more than others but none of them were caricatures which I would imagine is hard to do given the subject matter.

If you aren't keen on violence, you probably shouldn't watch this movie.  But, if you are the least bit curious, I would definitely recommend checking out this film sooner than later.

The Hangover rated R for sexual content including nudity, pervasive language, and some drug material

Same friend who recommended Horrible Bosses and Hall Pass put this film on for me during a visit.  Again this friend swore that I would love it.  Like the previous recommendations I didn't hate this picture but I didn't love it.

Four men travel to Las Vegas from Los Angeles to spend the night for a bachelor party.  The groom, a guy named Doug (played by Justin Bartha) is the tie that binds the group.  His two best friends are Phil (played by Bradley Cooper) and Stu (played by Ed Helms) and they are the ones who "organized" this event.  The fourth guy in the group is Alan (played by Zach Galifianakis), Doug's future brother-in-law.

The men travel to and arrive in Vegas with no problems.  Like any bachelor party depicted on film that goes to Vegas, the men have definite plans to hit up bars and casinos and just have an all around great time with their last hurrah before Doug gets married.  The next day it is apparent that things didn't go quite as planned.  The discovery of a chicken, a tiger, and a baby in the suite is certainly disconcerting enough but then it turns out that the groom is missing as well.  To add to the fun, none of the three remaining men can remember what happened the previous night.

So, off they go to find Doug and figure out just what exactly happened the previous night.  Along the way, the men find out that they apparently stole a cop car, meet a heart of gold stripper named Jade (played by Heather Graham) who is evidently married to Stu, and find that they have run afoul of a gangster named Mr. Chow (played by Ken Jeong) as well as Mike Tyson.  Meanwhile, through phone calls, Phil works on keeping the bride Tracy (played by Sasha Barrese) in the dark about the missing groom and Stu tries to fend off his bitch of a girlfriend Melissa (played by Rachel Harris).

The location of Doug is certainly a surprise and the film wraps up very nicely.  A lot of funny moments.  The story was well written and thought out. While the whole cast is great, I feel that Zach Galifianakis easily steals the scenes that he is in.  I also enjoyed that the film ends with "Right Round" by Flo Rida featuring Ke$ha playing while we the audience get to see pictures from the events of that fateful night.

If you are curious, check it out.  If you aren't curious, you aren't missing anything.

The Quiet Man Not Rated ***spoilers***

I remember first coming across this film in an English composition book in ninth or tenth grade English.  There were pictures from the movie in the book and the movie was broken down into a story.  I was intrigued both by the title and the fact that the pictures were from a movie.  I was disappointed that we did not cover that story in class and for some reason I didn't actually read it myself but only skimmed over it.  Funniest thing about this situation was that I didn't recognize John Wayne even though he was clearly visible in the pictures.

Fast forward years later and I finally saw it.  Prior to watching The Quiet Man, I was mostly familiar with McLintock! and, to a lesser degree, Donovan's Reef as far as John Wayne's films were concerned.  My family had and still has great respect and admiration for John Wayne so I was aware of him in that sense as well.  His other films were watched in our household when they came on TMC or AMC but as a younger child I hadn't been interested in those as much as the ones that I just mentioned.

John Wayne is something of a mythical person in my mind.  While I didn't know his films and thus wasn't terribly familiar with him, I knew of him to be someone that you didn't speak lightly of.  He was and is a great man to my family's thinking.  It turns out that, in my opinion, they were and are right in their high regard of him.

But for the longest time, I mostly thought of him as just a cowboy.  So, here comes this picture in which he isn't a cowboy and, truth be told, I found myself to be skeptical of the idea of him being anything other than a cowboy.  I am pleased to say that I was wrong in my assumptions.

This film tells of Sean Thornton (played by John Wayne), a quiet man who returns from America to his childhood home called Innish Free in Ireland for mysterious reasons.  From the first day of his arrival at Innish Free, he both runs afoul of a local man called Squire "Red" Will Danaher and is captivated by Will's beautiful younger spinster sister named Mary Kate Danaher (played by Maureen O'Hara).

Will's home and property are immediately adjacent to Sean's property.  It turns out that Will had been wanting to purchase the land that is Sean's property for years prior to Sean returning from America.  Will is furious that the owner of Sean's property the Widow Sarah Tillane (played by Mildred Natwick), sold the property to Sean who is an outsider to boot rather than himself.  Will becomes more difficult when he learns of Sean's affection of Mary Kate and Mary Kate's reciprocating the affection.

Mary Kate is a traditional Irish woman and Sean has a hard time understanding the Irish ways that he encounters that are so much more different than he is used to.  Further Sean struggles to keep secret his past and his reason for coming home to Ireland.

Meanwhile some of the townsfolk decide to form a secret conspiracy to trick Will into allowing Sean and Mary Kate to marry.   They also try to help the couple out when Will turns out his own "trick" so to speak after the marriage.

This film is gorgeous, with beautiful Irish countryside as the backdrop.  There is exciting horseback racing and riding in it.  There's enough touches of humor to keep it light.  The story is excellent.  And who doesn't love a good fight like the brawl between Will and Sean towards the end of the movie.

As always, John Wayne as Sean and Maureen O'Hara as Mary Kate have such amazing chemistry that brilliantly shines throughout their scenes.  What's especially lovely is there is understated passion and tenderness that doesn't require sex to be conveyed.

For the first time, I finally saw John Wayne in the new light of handsome leading man.  I love that his character Sean is so in love with Mary Kate and it's conveyed so surprisingly sweetly from a "rough tough" guy like John Wayne.  How wonderful to be loved and accepted just as one is as Sean loves and accepts Mary Kate just as she is!

And, while Mary Kate definitely loves Sean back, it's funny to me how realistic it is that Mary Kate doesn't fully realize how much Sean loves her and how far he is willing to go for her at least at first.  For an older movie when more serious matters were usually softened or ignored, you don't get much more like real life than that.

Hall Pass rated R for some graphic nudity, crude and sexual humor throughout, language, and some drug use ***spoilers***

I was again advised by a friend to watch Hall Pass.  I was told it was hilarious and that I would love it.

This film tells of two couples who are basically tired of being married. Rick (played by Owen Wilson) is married with children to Maggie (played by Jenna Fischer).  Fred (played by Jason Sedikis) is married to Grace (played by Christina Applegate).  They don't have children.  Rick and Fred have been friends for some time and as such their respective wives are friends with each other as well.  Rick and Fred are envious of their single friend Coakley (played by Richard Jenkins) who is living the high life, traveling and partying with "cool" people including different hot chicks every night.

One day, Rick and Fred hear about a "hall pass" which is a week off of marriage.  The idea is specifically for guys to be able to go on dates and have sex with other women.  When Rick talks with Maggie about the hall pass, Maggie gives him a hall pass.  She decides to take their children and go up to visit her parents for the week.  Fred decides that he wants to get a hall pass also and, after getting in slight trouble with the cops for masturbating in his car in front of his house, Grace gives him a hall pass and joins Maggie.

So the two men rent a room at nearby hotel because they don't like the idea of having sex with other women in their respective homes (clue number one for both of them that maybe they might not sincerely want a hall pass).   Their friends including Gary (played by Stephen Merchant) and Hog-Head (played by Larry Joe-Campbell) decide to cheer them on and "live vicariously" through them.

In a bit of a twist, the wives end up facing the possibilities of having their own respective experiences with their respective hall passes.

During the week there are quite a lot of funny moments including the golf scene and the scene at Applebee's .  One of my favorite funny moments was definitely the girl who goes back with Fred to the hotel room and thinks that she is going to be sick scene.  What happens is hilarious to me for a number of reasons but one of the main reasons was that the result was unexpected and I absolutely loved Jason Sudeikis' facial expression during the scene.  It's interesting to watch in a censored format so if you do decide to watch this movie, the humor is to be found on the uncensored version although this film is not recommended for younger audiences.

On a sweet note, I loved Rick's small speech to Leigh (played by Nicky Whelan) near the end of the film and I also loved Rick and Maggie's talk near the end of the film as well.

A lot of funny actors and actresses in this film but I felt that Derek Waters as Brent was good at stealing most of the scenes that he was in.

If you are curious, watch it.  If you aren't curious, you're not missing anything.

Horrible Bosses rated R for crude and sexual content, pervasive language, and some drug material

A friend recommended this film to me, enthusiastically telling me that it was so funny that I would love it and so on and so forth.  I eventually got around to watching it when it came on tv one night.

This film tells of three men and their bosses.  Nick Hendricks (played by Jason Bateman) works for Dave Harken (played by Kevin Spacey).  Dave has impossible standards including expecting Nick to be in at work early before sunrise and staying late.  When Nick "fails" the standards Dave calls Nick out on his "failings".  Further Dave takes away Nick's promotion and then blackmails Nick when Nick threatens to leave.

Dale Arbus (played by Charlie Day) has trouble fending off the sexual advances of his boss Dr. Julia Harris (played by Jennifer Aniston).  He can't leave his work despite the daily sexual harassment because he is a registered sex offender as a result of peeing in a playground late one night.  To make things more unpleasant for Dale, Julia threatens to send compromising pictures to Dale's fiancee Stacy  (played by Lindsay Sloane).

Kurt Buckman (played by Jason Sudeikis) happens to love his boss Jack Pellit (played by Donald Sutherland).  Jack is a great boss who seems to sincerely care about each and every one of his employees.  He also happens to be an ethical and successful businessman.  Everything changes for Kurt and his coworkers when Jack dies and Jack's coked up jerky son Bobby Pellit (played by Colin Farrell) takes over the company.  Bobby is a very self-centered, pompous idiot who goes so far as to demand that Kurt fire every fat, ugly, or disabled person immediately because he doesn't like them.  When Kurt refuses, Bobby then orders Kurt to fire either his pregnant coworker or disabled coworker or Kurt will be fired along with the other two that Bobby wants fired.

Each of the three friends are fairly aware of each guy's respective struggle with each respective boss because they hang out after work.  One night they decide that they should have their bosses killed.  They try to hire a "hitman" named Dean "MF" Jones (played by Jamie Foxx).  The "hitman" turns out to be a murder consultant who advises them on how they can accomplish their goals of having their bosses killed.  He specifically suggests that each guy eliminate a boss that isn't theirs so that the cops can't trace the murders back.

Funny complications arise with unexpected results that neatly tie up the film.  There were some funny parts and some not funny parts.  The three "horrible bosses" all stole the scenes that they were in.  It was great to see Jennifer Aniston step away from the usual "good girl" that she is good at playing.  Kevin Spacey is always entertaining to watch in my opinion (even though he scares the mess out of me usually).  Colin Farrell was so funny as the almost over the top jerk.  He did a good job of balancing his performance so that it was entertaining.  Jason Sudeikis was very good as the slightly obnoxious stupid friend.  Jason Bateman was my favorite character because he is the most relatable and he was very funny.  Ioan Gruffudd stole his respective scene as well in his understated comedic way.

My biggest complaint with this movie was the character of Dale.  He was too stupid and too obnoxious although I was happy to see how the film played out for his character.  I couldn't for the life of me understand why Nick was friends with Dale.

If you are curious it's worth watching.  If you aren't interested, you aren't missing anything.

The 40 Year Old Virgin rated R for pervasive sexual content, language, and some drug use

I wasn't particularly keen on seeing this picture at first.  It looked like it would be a too-embarrassing comedy that I couldn't enjoy.  After hearing a lot of hype I became more convinced that I wouldn't like it.  Finally curiosity and that fact that it came on tv one night when I couldn't find anything else to watch prompted me to watch this film.

This movie tells of a guy named Andy (played by Steve Carell) who's kind of a loser nerd.  He works at a store that specializes in selling electronics kind of like a Best Buy.  He has made friends with some coworkers including "unhappily single" David (played by Paul Rudd), "enjoying the single life" Cal (played by Seth Rogen), and "in a relationship" Jay (played by Romany Malco).

While playing poker one night with his friends, Andy unintentionally reveals that he is a virgin.  Andy is mortified and hopes that the embarrassing business will go away.  For better or worse, Andy's friends are appalled that Andy is a virgin and determine to get him laid as soon as possible.

This involves Andy's friends and coworkers giving Andy ridiculous advice and suggestions (for the most part) and taking him to clubs and parties where "easy" women can be found.  Naturally comedic high-jinks ensue.  Along the journey to get Andy laid, Andy meets a lovely single mom and grandma named Trish (played by Catherine Keener).  After meeting Trish, Andy finds himself torn between continuing to pursue casual sex with women that he doesn't know or pursuing a relationship that will eventually involve sex with Trish.

This movie had some funny moments.  I particularly enjoyed the "Age of Aquarius" sequence at the end of the film.  I also thought that, of all the advice that Andy was given, Cal's advice was probably the best.  It wasn't as painfully embarrassing as I was worried it would be.

If you are curious it's worth watching.  If you aren't interested, you aren't missing anything.

The Grudge 3 rated R for violence, disturbing images, and some language ***contains spoilers***

I was unaware of this movie's existence until I was flipping channels one evening.  I was surprised and puzzled because I hadn't heard of the picture and I wondered what the plot of the movie could be.  After watching the movie the mystery of why I hadn't heard of the picture was clear.

This film picks up where The Grudge 2 left off.  Through a series of flashbacks the audience is both reminded that when a person dies in a terrible rage a curse is born and of the events from the previous films that brought the story to where it is as of this movie.  The boy named Jake (played by Matthew Knight) from The Grudge 2 is now in a psych ward and is in the process of being treated by a doctor named Dr. Sullivan (played by Shawnee Smith).  After his mysterious death, Dr. Sullivan begins researching what happened to the boy's family and the events that preceded his family's deaths.

At the same time that Dr. Sullivan begins her investigation, a young Japanese womannamed Naoko (played by Emi Ikehata) who is living in Japan is having dreams about what is happening to Jake and what has happened to the others affected by the curse.  She appears to have knowledge of what is happening and she hints at doing something about it.

Meanwhile, back at the apartment building in Chicago that Jake and his family used to live at, the young superintendent Max (played by Gil McKinney), Max's sister Lisa (played by Johanna Braddy), and Max's younger sister Rose (played by Jadie Rose Hobson)  are experiencing varying degrees of effects of the curse.  Lisa's boyfriend Andy also has experiences related to the curse.

Naoko journeys to the apartment building in Chicago to help stop the curse and to reveal more about Kayako.  During the course of her efforts she meets and interacts with Lisa and Rose and enlists their help.

The film was better than expected considering it sounds like it was a straight to dvd/tv movie but in comparison to the other Grudge movies it's not as good. The acting was ok.  The story was all right.  I would recommend this film if you are curious.  Unlike the previous Grudge movies, this movie is shown in sequence.

The Grudge 2 (2006) English remake rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, disturbing images/terror/violence, and some sensuality **spoilers**

I was keen to see this picture after I got over being scared of The Grudge and began to appreciate The Grudge more.

This film is also displayed out of sequence.  It opens technically the day the "final" effects of the curse are played out in this picture.  In the opening credits the audience is reminded of the events that triggered the curse in the first place through flashback imagery.  The audience is also reminded that someone dying in the grip of a powerful rage can lead to a curse being born on that spot of the death and that anyone who comes in contact with the place will be consumed by its fury.  But the audience is also informed that it is possible for the curse to be "reborn" which is the main theme of this picture.

Again there is the haunted house that anyone who goes into is doomed to die from the curse.  This picture still retained the atmospheric horror of the first one but there was definitely more menace in the atmosphere of this picture than the first one.  That wasn't a complaint by the way as it felt like they added more to the story without taking away from the story.  In any case, this picture tells of three high school girls Allison (played by Arielle Kebbel), Vanessa (played by Teresa Palmer) and Miyuki (played by Misako Uno) who enter the house.  Vanessa and Miyuki are technically playing a mean prank on Allison who is a bit of a "reject" of sorts when they go into the house.  Allison of course doesn't realize that they are playing a prank because she wants to be friends with them and figures they will let her be friends with them if she goes along with them.  While in the house, there is a moment of terror where Allison gets stuck in the closet (the taped-up one featured in the first Grudge movie) and she screams in horror at something that she sees in the attic space.  We the audience recognize the ghost of Kayako (played by Takako Fuji). The three girls flee the house and the film switches over to Aubrey (played by Amber Tamblyn).

Aubrey is summoned by her very ill mother to go to Japan to bring her sister Karen (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar) back home.  Aubrey is told that Karen started a fire and killed her boyfriend Doug (played by Jason Behr).  When Aubrey gets there, she meets a guy named Eason (played by Edison Chen) who helps her find her sister as Aubrey doesn't speak or understand Japanese.  When Aubrey sees Karen, Karen is obviously distraught and isn't making sense, something about needing to stop "her" but who "her" is isn't made clear to Aubrey.   When Aubrey is leaving the hospital Eason explains that he wants to talk to Karen about what she experienced in the house.  Aubrey is initially put off by him as she thinks he is just acting as a nosy  reporter with no sensitivity for Karen and her family.  As Aubrey is walking outside of the hospital and talking with  Eason about her sister, Karen lands on the pavement near Aubrey and Eason.  It would appear that Karen committed suicide but the audience knows better.  Also Eason clearly sees Kayako holding onto Karen's lifeless body as if she had pulled her to her death.

Thus begins Aubrey and Eason's attempts at finding out what if anything can be done to stop the curse from consuming everything it touches.  One of the reasons that I initially didn't like this film was that to me it didn't make any sense.  How can the curse affect people who haven't even been to Japan much less entered the house?  Eason explains that when Karen burned the house, something changed about the house and the curse.  It's almost as if the curse has escaped.

Meanwhile, mysterious deaths and disappearances occur relating to Vanessa, Miyuki, and Allison.  When Allison returns home to her parents' apartment in Chicago strange happenings occur that lead to mysterious deaths and disappearances.  In particular a neighboring family including Bill (played by Christopher Cousins), his new wife Trish (played by Jennifer Beals), Bill's daughter Lacey (played by Sarah Roemer), and Jake (played by Matthew Knight) seem to be most affected.

Like I said earlier I didn't initially like this picture as much because I missed the key plot point of Eason explaining the change and how the curse is able to affect all of these people.  I liked that they incorporated many elements like the deaths and disappearances from the original Ju-On films.

Again there are disturbing images in this picture so if you didn't like The Grudge you might not like this one.  I would still recommend giving this one a try if you are even remotely curious.  It isn't better than the first one but it is as good as the first one which is more than some sequels particularly horror sequels can say.

The Grudge (2004) English remake rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, disturbing imagery/terror/violence, and some sensuality

I remember being scared of this movie when I saw the first trailer but still intrigued enough to watch it.  I hadn't seen any proper Japanese horror pictures at that time.  I didn't even know that The Grudge is a remake at that time.  In other words I wasn't prepared for how this picture played out.

This film is told out of sequence.  It starts technically the day after the major impetus for the story of this movie takes place and subsequently bounces back and forth in time.  In my experience most people are unaware of the out of sequence way that the picture is told the first time that they watch it.

In the opening credits the audience is informed that if someone dies in the grip of a powerful rage a curse (Ju-On) is born.  This curse stays in that place and anyone who comes in contact with the curse will be consumed by it.  To make matters worse, there is nothing that can be done to stop it in theory.

In this film the curse happens to be in a house in Japan.  You can walk by it, you can look at the house from the outside.  But once you set foot in the house, you are doomed to be consumed by the curse.  It doesn't matter if you are the nicest person who wouldn't hurt a fly or if you've never done anything wrong or if you didn't know about the curse.  The house looks fairly ordinary from outside.  What's interesting is that, throughout this picture (and the subsequent sequel), anyone who goes into the house is unnerved at least slightly.  It's as if they sense that something is wrong in that house even though they have no knowledge of the events that took place that resulted in the curse.

The picture features a family that moves into the house after the curse is born and any visitors that enter the house as well.  The family consists of Matthew (played by William Mapother), his wife Jennifer (played by Clea Duvall), and his mother Emma (played by Grace Zabriskie).  Matthew's sister Susan (played by KaDee Strickland) also lives in town but not near the house.  Since Emma has dementia, a home nurse named Yoko (played by Yoko Maki) is hired to come help care for Emma.

When Yoko doesn't show up for work one day, an American college student named Karen (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar)  who also works at the center that Yoko works for is sent to the house to help.  After mysterious deaths start occurring and after witnessing the strange death of Emma first hand, Karen starts looking for answers as to what happened in the house.  After she finds out about the curse, her search begins to find a way to beat the curse.

The film is very atmospheric in its horror.  It definitely has some jump moments.  Many people that I know of are bothered by the distinct sound that the main ghost Kayako (played by Takako Fuji) makes.  Incidentally the sound that she makes is in fact performed by the director and writer of this picture Takashi Shimizu.  Further the reason for the sound is explained in the sequel to this picture The Grudge 2.

All in all a very good horror picture.  If you don't like horror pictures, I would say that I can appreciate that but this film is worth giving a try.  It isn't gory at least and there is barely a scene of sensuality.  The imagery is disturbing so watch with caution.  Probably not for small children.

The Nice Guys rated R for violence, language, drug use, sexuality, and nudity ****some spoilers***

When I first saw the preview for this film, I was initially excited because I thought that it looked funny.   My initial excitement was immediately followed with the concern that all of the funny parts would be in the trailer leaving the rest of the movie heavy and/or boring.  I was particularly curious to see Ryan Gosling acting as an apparent "bumbling idiot" as I'm more familiar with his more dramatic roles than comedic roles.  My optimism won out especially as my amusement didn't dissipate with each viewing of the trailer.

This film takes place in 1977 Los Angeles. The film opens with a car crash and doesn't really slow down from there.  There are parts without action but I would say that this film was very well paced.  An incompetent PI named Holland March (played by Ryan Gosling) is our narrator for a bit.  It turns out that he is a single father, struggling with guilt and alcoholism as a result of his wife's death in a house fire.  He has a precocious, intelligent thirteen year old daughter named Holly (played by Angourie Rice) who acts as his assistant at times and chauffer.

March is investigating the "disappearance" of a porn star named Misty Mountains (played by Murielle Telio).  As far as March (and the rest of the world) is concerned Misty killed herself in the car crash that the film opens with but her aunt insists that she saw her two days after her death.  Further the aunt insists that March find her.

While March is "working" on that case he also looks for another missing young woman named Amelia (played by Margaret Qualley).  During March's search for Amelia he crosses paths with a tough guy named Jackson Healy (played by Russell Crowe).

Healy is sort of a private eye himself but he is more of a tough guy that you send in to send a "message".  The "message" is usually delivered in a very painful way.  If the "message" is ignored Healy will probably come back and there won't be a second chance.

Healy is sent to March to give him a "message" which features the most comical arm breaking scene that I have seen in a film so far.  March is told to stop searching for Amelia or else.  March agrees and Healy leaves him thinking the job is all settled.  Shortly afterwards Jackson is "visited" by a couple of tough guys who want to send him a message to not look for Amelia as well.  During the course of the fight, the lead bad guy (played by Beau Knapp) gets blue ink on his face thus resulting in his title Blueface for the rest of the picture.

Healy is bothered by this sudden interest in Amelia and returns to March to have him search for Amelia.  After observing March's incompetence and alcoholic tendencies, Healy reluctantly teams up with March to figure out what is the reason behind the interest in Amelia and how it ties in to the recent string of tragic "accidental" deaths that seem to have happened with all of the people closely connected to Amelia.

I thought that this film was hilarious.  Ryan Gosling was almost too good at being an idiot and Russell Crowe was a great straight man to him.  I really hope that these two enjoyed making the picture together and that they would do more comedies like this one.  The plot was very well thought out and executed I think.  I also liked that even though there were sincerely heavy aspects to this picture, they were dealt with in a way that never dragged the picture down but instead added to it.

Not for younger audiences of course but all in all a very enjoyable film.

RocknRolla rated R for violence, language, drug use, and brief sexuality

I actually considered not doing a post on this film because part of my intention with this blog is to inform people about the plot at least in a basic manner.  But as I myself am not entirely sure of the plot I don't have as much to talk about with this picture as most other pictures.  I was so very disappointed with this movie.  But since this blog is about movies, for better or worse I feel that it wouldn't be right for me to avoid blogging about this picture.  Also, as anyone who has looked through my blog can see, I have posted about pictures that I dislike before.  It appears that it is time for another one.

In my personal opinion, I hold Guy Ritchie films in high regard for the most part.  Prior to RocknRolla I felt that he had only made one "bad" picture and it wasn't entirely his fault because the picture wasn't truly his but rather a remake if I'm not mistaken (Swept Away in case you were wondering is the film I am referring to).  So, there I was all happy that another "wonderful" Guy Ritchie film was coming out called RocknRolla.  I didn't know what the plot was and I didn't care because "it's a Guy Ritchie film so it's bound to be good, right?"  To add to it, one of my favorite actors Gerard Butler is in it so yay!  Boy was I mistaken.

My biggest problem with the plot is the plot.  I couldn't actually tell what was going on half the time.  There were too many characters and sub plots to keep up with.  One of the funny things is that I started the picture from the beginning so it wasn't like I missed any part of it that would make me go "Hmm..what's going on?"   Basically the film is about criminals stealing from other criminals and there's a criminal who is supposed to be dead but by not being dead he could ruin everything and the Russian mafia is involved.  There are quite a few talented people in this film including Gerard Butler (of course) playing the character One Two, Idris Elba playing Mumbles, Thandie Newton playing Stella, Tom Wilkinson playing Lenny, Tom Hardy playing Handsome Bob (truly great actor and character ;-)), Mark Strong playing Archie, and others.

Given the stellar cast and the writer/director this film should have been great.  It wasn't.  The best parts were with "The Wild Bunch" One Two, Mumbles, and Handsome Bob.  The two best parts in my opinion were the part where One Two and Mumbles are attempting to steal from some tough Russian mafia dudes and everything goes comically wrong and the part with Handsome Bob and One Two hanging out together the night before Handsome Bob is supposed to go back to jail.  It was particularly funny to see One Two defensively demanding that Handsome Bob not talk about what they did together and Handsome Bob's smirk response.  Archy was funny too at times.

I got so lost so quick that I actually had to look up the plot synopsis online to find out what this picture was about while I was watching it!  Even then I had to periodically look at the plot synopsis to see what the heck was going on.  I was also annoyed that when I saw this picture on tv, they cut out "what One Two and Handsome Bob did together before Handsome Bob went to jail".  As it turns out they slow danced together because Handsome Bob is gay and is attracted to One Two.  Apparently One Two was completely oblivious to the fact that Handsome Bob is gay but everyone else that knows Handsome Bob knows that he is gay.  The slow dancing scene was cute and funny.  I recommend looking it up on YouTube if you don't have a way to access the film on dvd/blu ray to watch it yourself.

I suppose no filmmaker is perfect and Guy Ritchie unintentionally displayed a noted lack of "perfection" with this picture.  Happily he seems to have gotten his groove back since then so hopefully the world will be spared of future "failures" so to speak.  Very disappointing since I should think that a picture with Stella and the Wild Bunch would probably be better than this picture.

Darkness Falls rated PG-13 for terror/horror images and brief language

I vaguely remember being intrigued and frightened when I first saw the trailer to this picture.  Just the mention of The Tooth Fairy sounds a little unnerving.  Consider the image that the words The Tooth Fairy might inspire. A fairy made of teeth?  A fairy that takes teeth and if so how and why?  Of course for most people one of two, possibly three images come to mind and none of them are the least bit frightening.  This film explores a darker possibility.

This film has its own take on the Tooth Fairy and it certainly isn't a sweet image.  The town of Darkness Falls has been haunted by a spectre called the Tooth Fairy.  In this picture the Tooth Fairy is the vengeful ghost of an innocent woman named Matilda accused of killing two children circa nineteenth century.  The woman was burned alive by the townsfolk after they decided that she was guilty of murdering the children.  While she burned, she cursed the town by stating that she would come for the last baby tooth of every child in that town and that she will kill any child that sees her when she comes for the tooth.  After she died the two missing children were found much to the shame of the townsfolk.

Years pass.  A young boy named Kyle sees Matilda the Tooth Fairy when she comes for his tooth.  Kyle flees to the well lit bathroom which seems to keep Matilda at bay.  Unfortunately Kyle's mother is viciously killed by the ghost.  Kyle is determined to be the killer and sent away to a place for "disturbed children".

Years later, Kyle's childhood friend Caitlin (played by Emma Caulfield) is dealing with being a parent to her young brother Michael (played by Lee Cormie).  Michael has developed a severe fear of the dark, stating that the Tooth Fairy will come for him in the dark and get him because he has seen her.  Strangely enough, when Michael has been left alone in the dark, he has been observed to develop injuries that look like scratches on his arms even when his arms are secured in restraints.  Caitlin recalls her friend Kyle having trouble with being afraid of the Tooth Fairy and tracks him down with the intention of having him convince Michael that A) he needs to sleep and B) the Tooth Fairy isn't real.  Kyle (played by Chaney Kley) reluctantly returns to Darkness Falls initially with the intention to try to help Michael but eventually to face the Tooth Fairy and try to defeat her once and for all.

This picture is a decent horror film.  I think that it had a good premise and had a pretty good plot.  At the time of its release it was more original than most other horror pictures.  It has quite a few jump scares but unfortunately it isn't comparable to more recent horror pictures for scariness.  The story is said to be loosely based on true events but I personally haven't tried to find out.  The Tooth Fairy is rather frightening looking I think with her china face.

If you don't like horror pictures you won't like this one.  If you do like horror pictures and you're unable to "just go with it" so to speak,  you probably won't like this picture either.  If you decide to watch it, watch with low expectations.  And remember

STAY IN THE LIGHT!

 ;-)  Just kidding, it's just a movie. 

Or is it?

The Edge rated R for language and some adventure/gore violence

I was glad to finally see this picture as I never seemed to catch it from the beginning and the plot sounded good.

This film tells of a rich man named Charles Morse (played by Sir Anthony Hopkins) who travels with a small group of people including his beautiful model wife Mickey (played by Elle Macpherson), her photographer Bob Green (played by Alec Baldwin), and Bob's assistant named Stephen (played by Harold Perrineau) to Alaska for a photo shoot for Mickey.  The party arrives at a remote lodge that is reached by plane.  A caretaker/guardian named Styles (played by L.Q. Jones) and a couple of other people staff the lodge.

On the first evening, Charles displays a talent for remembering seemingly useless facts much to the amazement of the group.  It is also apparent that Charles is a touch sensitive about the fact that he is rich and how others gravitate to him as a result of his wealth.  Charles is also somewhat insecure as he is almost painfully aware of the fact that he is much older than his beautiful wife Mickey and many men desire her or at least have expressed admiration for her beauty.  Charles is very aware that Bob seems to be very attracted to his wife and probably wants her for himself.

Styles warns the guests that they shouldn't leave food out ever as they are in bear country.  He further gives instructions on how they should deal with a bear if they come across one.  Finally he reassures them that he will deal with any bears that they come across if they come across any bears.

After everyone retires to bed on the first evening, Charles kindly goes downstairs to make a sandwich for his wife after she sort of demands/asks him to make her a sandwich.  While Charles is downstairs he gets spooked after finding that a door leading outside isn't shut.  All of Styles' warnings about bears and food naturally cause Charles to consider that a bear is in the house.  In a very thoughtless manner (although there is an implication that there were no mean-spirited intentions) Bob dresses in a bear skin and jumps out at Charles startling him while the other guests reveal a surprise birthday gathering.  Bob apologizes but I thought that his wife was quite mean to arrange such a surprise birthday gathering given the circumstances.

The following day, Bob asks Charles and Stephen to accompany him on a trip to locate a local trapper for Bob to photograph him.  The two men agree and the three plus a pilot take off in the plane.  The plan is to photograph the trapper then return all in the course of a few hours.

After the plane goes down, Charles, Bob, and Stephen attempt to make their way back to the lodge on foot.  Along the way they cross paths with a large grizzly bear that charges after them, chasing them and causing them to cross a log to safety.  After eluding the bear, a showdown of sorts erupts between Charles and Bob.

Charles is as calm and level-headed as a person can be given the circumstances.  Bob is understandably frightened and as such excitable.  He consistently does the wrong thing though whether it is to spite Charles or because he is that stressed is kind of hard to tell.  Stephen gets injured in his leg, further slowing the progress of the group.  The bear catches up to them at least partly due to Bob's carelessness/willfulness and Stephen is killed by the bear.  So it is that Charles and Bob must rely on each other to try to survive their ordeal and get back to the lodge.

The film was well done in my opinion.  The story was well thought out and belivable.  Some people would anticipate certain factors of this film that others might find surprising/unexpected.

Epic rated PG for mild action, brief rude language, and some scary images

I wasn't particularly keen on seeing this picture when I first heard about it.  For the most part, I have trouble being interested in pictures that can't tell me what they are about in the two minutes or so long trailer that they release.  Sometimes there is just something about a film that speaks to me that tells me that I will love it despite not knowing much about the film.  Epic was definitely not one of those.

As far as I can tell Epic is a mish mash of Ferngully:The Last Rainforest, Arthur and the Invisibles,  and Strange Magic but with more big stars than those other films combined.  Another sign of a potential bad movie as far as I am concerned is when one of the major selling points of a film consists of listing all of the big names in the picture as opposed to telling the audience what the film is about.

Since the trailer doesn't tell you, the plot tells  of the adventures of  a teenage girl M.K. (voiced by Amanda Sayfried) who is moves in with her father, an eccentric scientist who is studying little people (fairies without wings essentially) that live in the forest near his home and M.K.'s involvement with the little people.

When the picture opens a narrator tells of a war between the "good" little people called the Green Men led by Ronin (voiced by Colin Farrell) and their ruler Queen Tara (voiced by Beyonce)  and the "bad" little people called the Boggans led by their ruler Mandrake (voiced by Christoph Waltz).  The Boggans want to putrify the forest just because as far as I can tell.  The Green Men and Queen Tara want the forest to thrive and as long as there is a living ruler of the Green Men the forest will thrive.

On the day that M.K. moves in with her father, Queen Tara is supposed to journey to a pond to gather a pod to give her magic and the life of the forest to.  Ronin doesn't think it is a good idea as the Boggans have been unusually aggressive in their attacks recently.  Queen Tara insists and so they journey to the pond with a parade of attendants and Green Men.

Back at M.K.'s father's house, M.K. has decided to give up on living with her father after an hour or two because she feels that her father is not going to be a good parent due to his inattentiveness on her and his focus on his work.  After leaving a note and while she is walking out of the house, the dog gets out and runs into the forest.  M.K. follows the dog into the forest.

After Queen Tara gathers the pod, the Boggans attack.  Queen Tara is mortally wounded and separated from the Green Men and the rest of her people.  M.K. finds her dying in the forest.  Queen Tara shrinks M.K. and gives M.K. the pod, charging her with taking the pod to Nim Galuu (voiced by Steven Tyler).  Nim Galuu will give further instructions when she gets the pod to him.  With the help of  Ronin, Ronin's protege Nod (voiced by Josh Hutcherson), a slug named Mub (voiced by Aziz Ansari), and a snail named Magda (voiced by Blake Anderson)  M.K. journeys to Nim Galuu then to the Green Men's stronghold to ensure that the pod blooms in the light of the moon.

Along the way, M.K. and Nod grow (so to speak).  There are battles both large and small.  There is just enough humor to take the edge off of the darkness the story making it much more lighthearted than expected which was very nice.  The story had a decent ending but I was confused by the abrupt sort of attraction that M.K. and Nod briefly indulge in since this film could only end one way.

The humor was good for both young and old.  I was concerned that Aziz Ansari might end up being annoying more than entertaining but was pleasantly surprised that he was the opposite.  My biggest complaint after watching the film is that there were too many drawn out moments where our heroes were on the brink of failure and at the last minute were saved.  Drawn out moments where heroes might be defeated but are saved at the last minute are good but only once or twice maybe.  It seemed like every few seconds there was another "Oh no!  Will our heroes make it?" moment and it got old very quickly.

If you haven't seen this picture I wouldn't say that you are missing anything.   It's a good family picture.