Category: Theatrical Review

This one took me by surprise. Based on it’s initial promotion, I thought Faster was going to be something entirely different than what it’s final product is turns out to be. I think this one is going to be passed on by a lot of people and it’s a shame if it is.

We’re introduced to a man called simply Driver. He’s just been released from a ten-year stretch in prison and he’s hell-bent on revenge. The Driver leaves prison with no one to meet him and he runs to a nearby junkyard. There he collects several things; a super-fast muscle car, a gun and instructions on where to find a certain man. The Driver quickly goes to the destination, an office building, and like a primal force of nature, kills his target in cold blood in front of many witnesses. But he’s not done yet…

This catches the attention of another man, known simply as the Cop. The Cop is a burned out detective with just days to go before his retirement and he finds himself drawn to help in catching this man, the Driver.

As the Driver’s killing spree continues, a third man gets involved. Known simply as the Killer, he’s an assassin for hire who does what he does now after a life of over-achievement. Killing is something that he does because he’s bored with everything else in his life, and doing this makes him alive.

Eventually the paths of all three cross in some very interesting ways, but that’s for you to discover how.

By the promotion that I saw for this movie and it’s title, I was expecting Faster to be something much more conventional though I was still looking forward to it. It had been too long since seeing The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) in a straight-up action movie after having made many lighter-flavored films designed to increase his audience visibility. I thought I was going to get something here that was going to be some sort of cross between a movie like The Rundown (which I loved) with the The Fast & The Furious (which I also loved).

What I got… well, I’d describe it in terms like this: this is what you’d get if you gave a Garth Ennis-scripted crime movie (to comic book fans, Ennis is best known for his astounding work on Vertigo’s Preacher) to a director with heavy duty Walter Hill leanings (who also has just a touch of John Woo’s Hong Kong days). It could also be described as a more straight-up version of Quentin Tarnatino’s KIll Bill movies. The final result is a fast-paced, hard-boiled crime movie that’s loaded with depth and context. While there are a lot of elements to this movie, you don’t get lost in it and all makes sense in the end. This isn’t as action-packed as the trailer promises and so I could see this as a minus to some viewers, but I was more than satisfied with most of the film’s other elements.

My only criticism is that the end is all too abrupt. Oh, it does make sense in the end, but there should’ve been more. There was one more character tied into these events that should’ve been seen in the finale- which in turn, could’ve lead to setting another character on the same path that the Driver finds himself on. I’m sorry to be vague with this, but really I don’t want to spoil this.

It’s ending does hurt it, but it’s not a total loss by any means. Faster is extremely well-acted, beautifully shot and made (this is my first experience with a movie directed by George Tillman Jr.), and it kept me on my toes all the way to the end, it’s just that the end should’ve been even more than what it was.

Ever since seeing Dwayne Johnson in The Rundown, well, I’ve been a big fan. I certainly appreciate what his years as a wrestler have given him when it comes to his acting chops. One of the nicest things about The Rundown was one of it’s opening scenes where a cameo appearance from Arnold Schwarzenegger literally passes the torch of “big action star” down to Johnson. While I don’t think his successive movies have quite stacked up, he’s still been good in them, though I have to admit, I haven’t been attracted to his recent string of more family fare films. I get why he’s done them, but I’ve wanted to see him come back to something harder and with Faster he has. While the Driver might be seen as a simple character on the surface, there are a couple of scenes here which aptly explain his single-minded purpose and considering that background, it’s easy to see why he’s as hell-bent as he is. Johnson’s definitely an imposing figure just by his pure physique, but what really works for him here is his eyes. The intensity and inner conflict shown there, just sells this character totally.

Billy Bob Thornton plays the Cop and he has “burn-out” written all over him for the part. In his own way, he’s just as driven as the Driver, but instead of revenge, he wants to correct his mistakes and on the surface, his going after the Driver seems like his way to do so. Thornton’s money in the bank with this part, helping to ground this movie. There’s a scene in the movie where the Cop first comes face-to-face with the Driver and it’s as powerful a scene as any I’ve seen in movies. A lot of that power is due to Thornton and his willingness to be ready to accept what he thinks his fate is going to be.

Oliver Jackson-Cohen plays the Killer and he sort of comes off to me a s a British version of Jake Gyllenhaal. The Killer is the odd man out in this piece. Seemingly out of place in comparison to the events around the Driver and the Cop, his function here is to serve as the total opposite of what the Driver does. He’s conquered every bit of adversity he’s ever faced in life and come out on top to such a point where it’s all pointless now and so he does what he does out of boredom more than anything else. With the Driver though, he’s found someone who’s literally faster (hence the title) than he is, and so his challenge is made. Jackson-Cohen does a nice job with the part, he’s arrogant but has his own depth.

The cast is rounded out with some nice support from Carla Gugino, Moon Bloodgood, Jennifer Carpenter, and Maggie Grace. All serve functions of setting up the men that they’re in support of (Gugino and Bloodgood for Thornton, Carpenter for Johnson and Grace for Jackson-Cohen). Their scenes are short (with the exception of Gugino who fares better with her screen time) but the support is top drawer. Even better though is Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (who you’ll know as Mr. Eko from Lost or Adebisi from Oz) who plays the last person on the Driver’s “to kill” list. Akinnuoye-Agbaje’s scene with Johnson near the end of the film is about as powerful as it gets.

As I said, Faster took me by surprise. While expecting something way more conventional, what i got was a sincere and hard-edged crime movie loaded with depth and detail. I don’t expect it to do well as far as the box office is concerned, though I do hope that eventually people discover this down the road. While it’s ending wasn’t what I wanted it to be (though it still works), I expect that this movie will get even better for me with repeated viewings later on. If you want to see Dwayne Johnson doing something harder-edged, then Faster is certainly worth your time, the marketing just betrays what this film really is. Very much recommended.

Thanks to the carelessness of two slacker railroad employees, a half-mile long freight train, loaded with explosive chemicals is now careening at high-speed across the tracks of southern Pennsylvania. It’s now up to veteran engineer Frank Barnes and rookie conductor Will Colson to stop the train and avoid it’s explosive consequences.

Unstoppable has a pretty simple premise and makes for some fairly riveting entertainment in this fifth teaming of director Tony Scott and lead actor Denzel Washington. Prior to this, their other movies included last year’s remake of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, Deja Vu, Man on Fire and this writer’s personal favorite of all of Scott’s movies, Crimson Tide. They’re a good team who works extremely well and I have no doubt that they’ll probably make more movies together.

Unstoppable has a nice pace with a leisurely start that quickly amps up thanks to it’s circumstances. Scott throws a lot of stuff on screen, but it’s all in service to the premise and it’s never intrusive and he’s got solid technical support and a very good cast.

The one thing that does get in the way (though I’ll grant you this isn’t really overwhelming) is the fact that this is promoted as being “inspired by true events.” Now a lot of movies do this with their promotion and I wonder just why this is such a big deal to use in their promotion. It’s now funny to me whenever I see those words in any promotional aspect of a movie, because it invites you to figure out what’s not inspired by the “true” events and what fits with Hollywood convention. As far as I know here, the only thing that’s inspired by something true is just the basic premise itself. I’m inclined to believe that because all of the character work and outside corporate influence smacks of pure Hollywood that’s designed to appeal to the gut and the heart.

Now really, there’s nothing wrong with this as long as your end product is good, and fortunately Unstoppable is a lot of fun. Tony Scott’s kinetic camera action is certainly evident, but not as manic as say in movies like Man On Fire or Domino. The train action sequences are extremely well done and when you have a movie with this basic premise, that’s what you want to see.

It helps that you have a solid cast in place and while no one’s going to win any awards for their work here, there’s nothing to be ashamed of either. I’ve said it before, I’m a huge Denzel Washington fan. Whenever he’s in anything he brings a great amount of gravitas to it, and this is no exception. Chris Pine plays Will Colson and he certainly impressed me with his rendition of Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek. Colson’s sort of the same type of impulsive character and so this is well-suited to him. Rosario Dawson plays the rail commander Connie and like Washington, she’s become a real favorite for me over time. Her performances have gotten more and more driven over time and it certainly doesn’t hurt that she’s drop dead gorgeous as well.

In the end, Unstoppable is fun diversionary entertainment. You won’t see anything new here, and as long as you know that going in, you’ll probably be entertained for it’s running time. I certainly was and I very much look forward to the next time that Tony Scott and Denzel Washington team together.

Jarrod and Terry are lifelong friends. Terry’s made a name for himself in some sort of aspect of the entertainment business (it’s really not specified) and is living large in Los Angeles within his penthouse apartment complete with shrew girlfriend and devoted mistress/executive assistant. Jared, hasn’t quite had the same success, he’s struggling as an artist, and has a pregnant girlfriend who’s just a touch on the shrewish side. Anyway, it’s Terry’s birthday and he’s invited Jared to come out to L.A. where he has big things in store for him… though getting caught up in a big-ass flat-out aliens-from-outer-space-invasion wasn’t one of them.

And that’s just what does happen, the aliens land and they ain’t nice. So goes the premise of Skyline, the new movie from The Brothers Strause, special effects guys who previously helmed Aliens Vs. Predators: Requeim. What I describe above are more specifics of the story here, in the bigger picture what this seeks to do is to take ideas from all sorts of bigger alien invasion movies before and tell a smaller side story, though that story does have it’s own unique twist for one of it’s characters. In a way, it kind of puts me in the mind of what you might get if you took a classic Stan Lee/Jack Kirby/Steve Ditko monster/alien comic story from the days of Marvel Comics before they became Marvel Comics, and flashed it all up with today’s technology.

The only thing is, you just don’t give a damn.

Now don’t get me wrong, there are some cool things here. The special effects are brilliant, especially when it comes to giant monster aliens walking the earth. Being a side story for this sort of thing, I thought it was pretty cool that most of the action is confined to a limited location. And it’s final five minutes goes in a direction that I just didn’t see this going in and at least for me saved this, putting it in the lower end of the B-movie scale. This is not a ringing endorsement though to run right out and see this in the theatre.

Where this fails is that you just don’t give a damn about any of the characters. Oh, I suppose if I was a young twenty-something living in Los Angeles who’s successful or semi-successful in the entertainment industry (or who has aspirations for such), I might find these guys as my role models. But no, I’m an older guy who lives in a flyover state, who’s just seen as being too whitebread to have any sort of idea of the bigger world around him.

Now while this is mostly a failing (for me) on the writing side, it doesn’t help that your lead actors don’t have a whole lot of charisma to them. Eric Balfour plays Jarrod and Donald Faison plays Terry. Now I’ve seen. Eric Balfour in a lot of stuff in the past, and tend to think he’s fine in support and character type of work, he just doesn’t give me anything here that makes me want to like him a whole lot. Donald Faison hits me a little better, but not by much, as the more proactive guy. The best of the cast is David Zayas, who plays the manager of the apartment building that Terry lives in. Zayas knows he’s in a B-movie, and certainly plays that to the hilt.

I’ve seen comments on IMDB that calls this the “worst movie ever” and to those that are saying that I just have to say you haven’t seen enough movies. There are far worse out there there than this, and usually they come from bigger budgets with bigger names who get a little too full of themselves and just should know better. Skyline is a B-movie and I don’t think it has aspirations for anything higher, though the pretentious title of “Skyline” doesn’t really help it a lot. It has some good moments, and an even greater over-the-top one at the end, but it’s all hampered by poor characters who I just couldn’t care about whatsoever, and for something like this, you need to care, even just a little bit.

I would recommend seeing this to B-movie fans, but you don’t need to run right out and do it, wait until cable or Netflix Instant Play and give it a go then. Your mileage will still probably vary, but at least you won’t be out the big money cash it takes to go to the theatre to find out.

When last we left off with Saw VI, Detective Marc Hoffman had been discovered as the one continuing the deadly Jigsaw killings. John Kramer’s wife, Jill Tuck was on her way fulfilling her husband’s final wish and taking care of Hoffman, who in his role as Jigsaw (Kramer’s successor) had been subverting the message that Jigsaw had originally intended with his deadly “games.” Hoffman had been left in one of Jigsaw’s reverse bear traps and managed to escape his final fate.

After two initial scenes, a short one that gives the promise to answer the series’ longest standing question of “Whatever happened to Doctor Lawrence Gordon” and an extended scene with another Jigsaw killing about to take place in an all-too-public location, we pick right back up, immediately after the final events of Saw VI. As with the other films in the series, this is a direct continuation, that answers some question and puts in some new elements while continuing it’s Grand Guignol thrill ride.

Saw 3D is the supposedly the final film in the series and it does offer a final resolution, though it’s also left itself a way to continue if the producers chose to continue. I love the series, I have since the start, and even though I’ll miss it, I do hope this is the final chapter.

Many critics dismiss the series as “torture porn,” it’s their way of telling us that they’re above something they perceive as this tawdry. I certainly get it, but disagree with it. I’m guilty of it in my own way as well, just reacting in horror whenever I see a new “comedy” come around with a Seth Rogen, or Zack Galifianakis or Jack Black or a new “romantic comedy” with Katherine Heigl or Jennifer Aniston. So I do get it, and grudgingly accept it, but am quick to defend the Saw series whenever I can. What’s been crafted here over the series of seven movies has been a highly intricate horror epic bathed in ridiculous violence. Sure the violence is ridiculous, but in my eyes, no more ridiculous in it’s own way than seeing a man fly in a comic book movie. This is a trapping that goes with the genre, it’s just a matter of how it’s used. The Saw series has always managed it well, though some fans will debate how well, between movies. But seen as a single piece, it’s been remarkably consistent and always well-crafted.

Even though the series has had three directors over time, the visual style and methods of storytelling have remained uniform and the look has always been on point. The over-arcing story is as intricate as any of Jigsaw’s deathtrap games. Charlie Clouser has provided strong and effective scores with each film, and you just wait for the signature theme to come into play when all of the pieces come together. On top of that, the series has never gone with any “star” actors, but those who have been part of it have been consistently strong and have willingly come back to play in this bloody sandbox.

The new wrinkle added this time is using a character who has falsely admitted to being a survivor of one of Jigsaw’s deathtraps. He’s now profiting from his lie and Jigsaw attempts to teach him a lesson. On it’s own, this would be another faction of the story, but because it’s also intertwined with answering the question of what happened to Dr. Lawrence Gordon, it has a little more significance. The question of Gordon does get answered and while I doubt that it will be of any surprise to long-time fans of the series (it wasn’t to me), it’s still satisfying in that the final story does come full circle. There’s not really any cheats here either, as Dr. Gordon has been mentioned in every film, so eventually it made sense that events would come back around to him. Hearing that this would be the final movie in advance, I was hoping to see actor Cary Elwes as part of the show again, and he does.

Elwes is here for a few brief scenes, and does a great job in those few scenes. Also returning are Tobin Bell as Kramer, Costas Mandylor as Hoffman and Betsy Russell as Jill Tuck. there’s a few other familiar faces as well, either as background characters or some of the other Jigsaw survivors attending a seminar given by our newest character, Bobby Dagen, played by Sean Patrick Flanery. While no one will win any awards for this, it’s all solid work, though I do want to call attention to one player, that being Tobin Bell. Bell’s only here for a couple of brief moments but his presence is felt throughout the entire film. Bell’s been kicking around out there forever in various character parts and it’s been nice to see him get his due with this series. He plays the very best kind of villain, one that knows what he’s doing is absolutely and uncompromisingly right. He has has his own brand of charisma that’s certainly made sense to the others that have followed him. As I said, his scenes are minimal here (though that’s understandable, his character has been dead since Saw 3), but because this is the last of the series, I wanted to give him special credit for what he’s brought to the table.

Where this fails, though it doesn’t hurt it’s story, is that it’s presented in 3D and from what i understand, only in 3D. The 3D here is not necessary at all and it’s just not used well. Oh there’s a couple of scenes where it’s not too bad, but in comparison to other recent 3D horror movies like The Final Destination or Piranha 3D it still falls extremely short. If you’re going to use 3D in something like this, then wallow in it. Absolutely glorify the killings as much as you can and take full advantage of every trick in order to bring the impact. This doesn’t do it, and because of that and because seeing it in the more expensive 3D presentation is from what I understand the only way to see it, this gets a lower rating.

For fans, it’s still a great capper and it’s final scene is absolutely terrific. For the uninitiated, you’ll be hopelessly lost without seeing the other films, so unless you want to make that effort, don’t bother. With the exception of the poor 3D, I was captivated from the start and so this still gets a strong recommendation, but beware, you will have to pay a higher price for it.

Last year, the original Paranormal Activity was the little movie that could. Made for an extremely low budget and utilizing a mostly word-of-mouth marketing campaign, the first was a huge success. Deservedly so as well, as the first is one very fun movie, one of my favorites from last year.

Now the second film is here, almost a year to the date from the first and it has a lot to live up to. And it does, serving up a film that serves as both prequel and sequel all in one.

Now I knew little of what this was about before going to see it, and absolutely zero when it comes to it’s story. I’m going to reveal a little something ahead here with the brief synopsis, so if you want to go into this cold, I’d advise skipping the next paragraph.

As this starts, we’re introduced to Christina and her family. Christina is coming home from the hospital with her brand new baby son, Hunter. Soon, the family experiences a weird break-in into their house and as a result of that, they install a series of six surveillance cameras to keep a record of what’s happening. Well, as this unfolds, we find out that Christina is actually Katie’s sister from the first movie and soon both Katie and her boyfriend Micah both show up to visit the family, where it’s then revealed that this takes place 60 days before the death of Micah Sloat. Weird things continue to happen which leads Christina to believe that this has something to do with the weirdness that she and Katie used to experience when they were little girls.

OK, so that’s it, no more about the story, if you want to find out more than seek it out on the internet or better yet go see it yourself. I was not expecting this close a tie-in to the first movie and I have to say, I was very pleasantly surprised by it.

Like the previous film, this is made of “found footage,” which of course has become it’s own sub-genre in this type of thriller. Where this ups the ante from the first is in it’s use of six stationary cameras this time around and only using one handheld. I also tend to think it’s there to strike back against the critics that will complain about the camera jumping around too much. Though I also tend to think that this won’t satisfy them either. Really, if you’re not a fan of this type of sub-genre thriller, I implore you… stay home, don’t go see it and spare yourself the “pain.”

Another criticism that I’ve been seeing about the film is that it just takes too long for anything to start to happen. Well, that’s not true, there’s always things happening here though they’re not the big scares. This is called the build-up and it’s necessary to both build the false sense of security and to get you involved with the characters. It does this extremely well.

I love the usage of the six surveillance cameras. Though the action depicted on them might just be happening on one part of the screen, the use makes you examine the whole screen and makes the startling moments all the better. Director Tod Williams uses these cameras extremely well and the pure storytelling is right on target. As are all of the performances (again, I don’t want to say too much here over the risk of revealing too much).

Paranormal Activity 2 leaves things wide open for another sequel and if it follows the same path as this movie and is a continuation, then I say bring it on. The excellent Saw series is coming to an end as of next week (review to come) and so another Halloween-timed horror series would certainly be welcomed by those of us who are fans of these movies. In the meantime, if you’re a fan of the first Paranormal Activity then by all means, go see the second. It’s a terrific night at the movies.

After Piranha 3D came out, director James Cameron derided the movie in the press (without seeing it first). He called it an example of the type of movie that’s currently giving 3D movies a bad name, of course conveniently forgetting to mention obvious tacked-on 3D movies like Clash of the Titans and The Last Airbender. How dare they use the new technology that he pioneered for such a gimmicked up piece of trash (in his unseeing eyes, I loved Piranha 3D).

I can only imagine what he’ll say once he finds out that his precious tech has been used to film a scene in which Chris Pontius’ private part is tethered to a radio controlled helicopter…

Johnny Knoxville and his band of friends are back to use and abuse the new technology with their own particular brand of humor with Jackass 3D and I have to say, I had a great deal of fun with it. 3D’s not the only thing they’re using in their new movie though, the Jackass guys are also now using high-speed filming to help them dramatically make greater effect with their 3D.

If Cameron was dead, he’d be turning over in his grave… and I’d say roll on over, Jimmy!

I love these movies and laugh harder here than what I would with most scripted attempts at film comedy, especially these days. They’re unabashedly stupid, but fun times owing to Tex Avery, Looney Tunes and the Three Stooges. And they’re made even more inviting by the obvious camaraderie that these guys share.

Like the other Jackass movies, this one has both it’s highs and lows with it’s best moments being it’s spectacular opening and closing scenes and just about anything that Steve-O is a part of. Oh, all of the guys are fun to watch in action, but with Steve-O there’s just a little something extra here, especially with his nervous anticipation of the torture that he’s about to put himself through. One of the better examples being “Tee Ball” where Mr. O is about to have his own take with America’s pasttime and the film’s final stunt before it’s close, involving Steve-O, a port-a-potty and some bungie cables.

At the same time though, these guys are getting older and a little chunkier (exceptions being Knoxville and Steve-O who seem fitter and trimmer than ever) and it’s a little apparent on-screen. Oh sure, they’re still having their fun, but it’s a little more hesitant than what it was before.

The 3D is pretty good, though it’s not entirely necessary for your enjoyment. It certainly adds to what goes on and I’d recommend it, but only mildly. To their credit though, this isn’t as augmented as what it would be for a high end effects-driven movie. Knoxville, producer Spike Jonze and director Jeff Tremaine have opted for it to be used more naturally with the only augmentation being the scenes where they’re mixing both the 3D and the high-speed photography.

It’s fun stuff, purely designed to be a party at the theatre. Of course it’s not for everybody, but if you don’t mind letting your hair down to watch live-action cartoon set pieces, you should have a pretty fun time, I know I did.

In your face, James Cameron…

Mark Zuckerberg is a Harvard student who’s having a conversation with a girl who he’s dating in a local bar. He’s a brilliant guy and he wants to make sure that everyone knows that he’s smarter than them and in turn better than them. He’s buried deep in his computer skills and his desire to make something extraordinary of himself and as such, his social skills are at a level near zero. He says one thing too many to this girl, and in turn she dumps him rapidly. Mark, who’s only definable human emotion seems to be his anger, runs back to his dorm room. In a drunken state, he blogs insults about this girl while simultaneously setting up a web site that takes out his anger on women in general. The web site seeks to take all of the women in the surrounding campus and systematically puts them up two at a time to be compared as to who’s the hotter of the two. This web site shuts down the Harvard network and starts to form a plan in Mark’s head of how to put himself on the top of the world with what will become the eventual creation of the internet sensation known as Facebook.

That’s the opening of the new movie, The Social Network from director David Fincher and writer Aaron Sorkin based on the book, “The Accidental Billionaires” by Ben Mezrich. To be perfectly honest, about a month ago, my interest level in seeing this wasn’t very high, with the only appealing factor to me being that it was directed by David Fincher, one of the best filmmakers at work today. I’m not really what one would call a big Aaron Sorkin fan, being turned off by his superiority messages on display in such TV shows as The West Wing and Studio 60 on The Sunset Strip. And as well, at the time, I had really nothing to do with Facebook, though I’d been skirting joining the site for awhile now for professional reasons.

And then three weeks ago, I joined Facebook, and my interest in The Social Network increased dramatically. I was all of a sudden a convert. I was back connected in a big way with relatives, old high school friends, professional friends and associates of mine from all around. I was having fun exploring the site, finding all of the pages related to my personal interests and even whiling away some time playing the assortment of Flash-based games that they offer.

So now, I’ve seen the movie and by it’s end, I almost wanted to quit Facebook out of spite… but don’t let that statement fool you, The Social Network is one brilliant and even scary film.

Fincher has been a hot commodity for years now, and after his last film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (which I enjoyed quite a bit), he was being attacked with being overly sentimental. The Social Network almost seems to be a strike back at all of those attackers because there’s nothing even resembling sentimentality here, with most of it’s characters having little to no human emotions at all, but an overwhelming anger to prove themselves beyond anything human.

Fincher’s trademark visual style is at an extreme minimum with this movie. Oh, don’t get me wrong, it looks great, but it’s not there to overwhelm you with his visuals. Instead, you’re asked to follow this through extremely smart and smarmy dialogue, delivered in a way that just knows one speed and one intonation, except for extreme circumstances. And here, Aaron Sorkin’s style shines… and shines brilliantly.

The scary aspect is just the question of where the humanity lies with these young internet geniuses out there today. It’s somewhat unsettling to see this site, which has connected so many people in such diverse ways could be put together by one man who seems to be devoid of anything remotely resembling humanity.

You couldn’t get that without a brilliant cast who has their finger right on the pulse. Jesse Eisenberg leads the cast as Mark Zuckerberg. His portrayal of Zuckerberg is grotesque and cartoonish, with just anger and superiority firing it. The only time he even begins to display the slightest notion of being able to be charmed by anyone is when he meets Sean Parker, the creator of Napster, brilliantly played by Justin Timberlake. Parker’s already been through everything that Zuckerberg is about to go through, and when they meet, it’s almost like sparks appear in Zuckerberg’s eyes. Here’s the one person who gets him and wants to give the finger to the world, while becoming filthy rich along the way. Timberlake is smooth and slick and charming in about the same way as a snake, and it’s thoroughly appealing to Zuckerberg.

But not so much to Eduardo Saverin, played by Andrew Garfield, Mark’s initial partner in the Facebook venture. Saverin is what could be seen as Mark’s real true friend here and he’s the one character in the main cast with the most humanity about him. Other cast standouts include Max Minghella as Divya Narendra and Armie Hammer and Josh Pence as Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. This trio originally engages Mark Zuckerberg to create a dating site for their house and once seeing the creation of Facebook, decide to sue Zuckerberg for stealing their idea. The Winklevoss Twins are probably the closest thing that comes to a fantastic visual effect in the movie. Both are primarily played by Armie Hammer and I have to say that Fincher fooled me into thinking it really was two separate actors throughout the film.

Now of course, it’s been very big in the news that the real Mark Zuckerberg is calling this whole thing fiction and really seeing Eisenberg’s portrayal, I don’t blame him in the slightest. The movie certainly acknowledges this as well with some carefully chosen words said by actress Rashida Jones (who plays as associate to Marks’ attorney). At the same time, there’s enough other accounts of what’s really happened that one has to think there’s something truly representative here. What you have here is truly a tale of ambition for our times, with money and power being thrown in the hands of someone who’s just too self-obsessed to know what it is to be truly human. Highly, highly recommended.

As we start, it’s 2001 and one Gordon Gekko is being released from prison. All he has are the possessions he came in with and a large amount of paper and notes, with no one to meet him as he’s released.

We move up in time to 2008 and we’re introduced to Jacob Moore and his fiance Winnie, who’s last name just happens to be Gekko (and yes, she is Gordon Gekko’s daughter). Both are getting up for the day, he’s a rising investment banker with the firm of Keller Zabel Investments and she runs a web site devoted to the environment. Jake is very much concerned about the environment as well with one of his pet projects being the financing of a company devoted to fusion energy as a future clean energy source. As they’re getting up, Jake flips on the TV and we see Gordon Gekko being interviewed about a new book that he’s written call “is Greed Good?” Winnie wants him to turn off the TV and have nothing to do with the man.

From there, we go to watch Jake at work at KZI, and learn of his close connection with the head of the firm, Louis Zabel. Zabel gives Jake a check to the tune of $1,300,000+ for his star performance and gives his young protege some sage advice about his future. And then the bubble bursts with the first huge financial crash of 2008 leading to a series of events that finds the young Jake seeking out Gordon Gekko in what is first a revenge scheme.

There’s quite a bit more to say about Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps but I’d just as soon you discover more of that if you should choose to see the movie yourself. Of course this is a much anticipated sequel to Oliver Stone’s original Wall Street which first told us the story of Gordon Gekko and the seduction of a young Bud Fox into Gekko’s way of doing business. The original got Michael Douglas an Oscar for his performance of Gekko, and Stone was going to be back at the helm for this sequel. There was a lot to look forward to here, especially if you’re a fan of the original and of Stone I’m both, though Stone has fallen a bit for me over his last couple of films.

He’s back in form here though and I have to say, I had a great time with this movie.

Now Stone is obviously known for putting his political and social messages to the forefront of his movies. He certainly did it with the first movie and he’s doing it again here. One thing, even though the first movie does have it’s message, at it’s core it’s heavy melodrama, and he hasn’t lost sight of that. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is heavy melodrama as well with somewhat simply drawn characters (on paper) in complex situations. Stone relies on his cast to get more weight with his characters and he gets it. He’s also wise enough to resort to some of the same tactics that he used in the first movie (split screening during a trading process as a for instance), which keeps this one right in line.

As I said, the characters are somewhat simply drawn, though that’s not across the board. There’s been a lot involved behind what Gordon Gekko would be like over 20 years later. His perspective has changed though his charm has not. This isn’t just Michael Douglas doing a re-hash of what he did in the 80s and I certainly appreciate that.

This is really well paced, though don’t go in expecting the same sort of pace that you would with something much more action oriented. It is a drama and so it moves a little more relaxed, but sets things up in the right way. It gets a little more self-reflective than what the original did, but I was sort’ve hoping for that considering that it’s been 20+ years since he made the first film.

Douglas certainly stands out, and I certainly looked forward to every scene he was in, but the rest of the cast does quite a good job as well. Shia LeBeouf plays Jake Moore and as far as Im concerned this is the best I’ve seen from him yet. He’s not as naive as Bud Fox was in the original and where Bud had much to still learn from his father, Jake is in the opposite direction and has much to give to his mother (played by Susan Surandon) who herself is a definite product of the real estate boom. There’s a real earnestness to what LeBeouf does here and it was great to see.

Carey Mulligan plays Winnie Gekko and though she is more simplistic in her motivations, but it’s not annoying and at times it’s even touching. Josh Brolin plays Bretton James,the head of a rival bank called Churchill Schwartz and hugely responsible for the fall of Keller Zabel. Brolin’s the villain of the piece, though unlike Gordon Gekko, he’s there to be a definite villain. Brolin excels at this sort of thing and he doesn’t disappoint here. The last cast member that I want to call out is Frank Langella who plays Louis Zabel. This is terrific work from Langella, who’s in this briefly in comparison to everyone else, but it’s pivotal. He’s weathered but also fiery when he needs to be and what happens to him is key to putting everything else in place.

I think Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is a terrific film and the best thing I’ve seen from Oliver Stone in quite awhile now. Will it carry the same impact that the original did? Well, I doubt that. I watched the original about an hour before I saw the new movie. The original to me has a lot in common with Martin Scorsese’s GoodFellas with a powerful seduction with a particular lifestyle that carried quite a bit of weight with it’s audience (hell, I knew guys who changed their wardrobe styles thanks to Wall Street) Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps doesn’t quite have the same impact, but then it’s subject isn’t as new as what it was in the first film. It’s also something that’s much more adversely affecting the public today and so I don’t think this will get quite the same embracement that the first film did. I do think it’s a definite advancement from the original and for that, I think it’s well worth seeing for those that do want to see it despite the times.

As The Town starts, we’re told through an opening card that the Charlestown area of Boston is responsible for a large number of criminals, in particular, bank robbers. We then get to see one group of bank robbers go into action and execute their crime. It’s brutal but very precise and planned to the extreme. The leader of this crew chooses a female bank manager to open the safe and they then abduct her as a potential hostage just in case a violent showdown with the police erupts. They escape and drop their hostage off on the shore.

The leader of this gang is one Doug MacRay, a very smart guy who’s been bred into this life. His crew, including one of his best friends, a very hardened criminal by the name of Jim Coughlin, learn that their hostage has since been contacted by the FBI. Coughlin wants to take care of this potential witness permanently, but MacRay’s cooler mind prevails and he starts to shadow her (her name is Claire Keesey). There’s only one small thing, he starts to really become attracted to her, as she represents a kind of life that he wants to have but can’t quite get to.

All the while, MacRay is being pressured into a couple more jobs while the FBI, led by one agent Adam Frawley, is breathing down their necks.

This is the premise to The Town, starring Ben Affleck and his second outing as a director. I’ve not seen his first movie, Gone, Baby, Gone, but if The Town is any indication, I should rectify that as soon as possible. The Town is truly some exceptional work.

Affleck has really matured as an overall talent, and it’s entirely evident throughout this movie. His performance is seasoned and lived in. His character just feels right and doesn’t fall into anything that’s emotionally forced. He’s a definite “bad guy” but he wants to find something more, though he’s also saddled with that sense of reality about his life that it might always be denied to him.

That’s just his acting skills, he’s really adept at telling this overall story (which he also co-wrote). The Town features three key action/heist sequences that are as thrilling and gripping as they come. There’s certainly echoes of Michael Mann’s excellent Heat through these sequences and one car chase that’s very much in the line of something that the late, great John Frankenheimer would do. As powerful as these sequences are, they wouldn’t mean a thing if the quieter in-between moments didn’t have the proper weight to them, and they certainly do. Though Affleck is the star of this film, he’s more than comfortable with giving his very good ensemble cast their moments to shine. These moments are all paced exactingly and naturally.

One of the better moments of the film finds Doug and Claire having a quiet moment at an outside cafe, when Doug’s friend Jim comes upon them. Claire had just revealed to Doug about remembering seeing a particular tattoo on the neck of one of the crew, one that just happens to be on Jim’s neck. This scene, which is very amiable and friendly has it’s own tension to it as Jim isn’t exactly hiding the tattoo, but it’s always out of Claire’s sight. Yet, it’s filmed in such a way that there’s always the chance that it will be seen and everything that Doug’s trying to do could fall apart in a single moment.

As I said, he’s got a great ensemble cast. Rebecca Hall plays Claire, and she really does represent a peace that MacRay desperately wants to find. Her performance is sweet and engaging and it’s easy to see why Doug would start to lose his way. Jeremy Renner plays Jim Coughlin, and while he seems a little slighter in stature here than what he seemed to me in The Hurt Locker, he’s a lot more vicious and ready to unleash that at a moment’s notice.

My favorite member of the cast though (other than Affleck) is Jon Hamm as FBI Agent Adam Frawley. Hamm has certainly earned his reputation through his television work on Mad Men, but if this movie is any indication, he’s got a huge career ahead on the big screen. He’s got the right heroic look and his mind is constantly at work, even though Doug MacRay’s mind is working just a touch faster.

Things are filled out with other good performances. Blake Lively plays Krista Coughlin, Jim’s sister who’s always had a connection with Doug. She’s here for only a few scenes, but they’re some great scenes and once Doug finds out more about his mother’s past, she further represents a life that Doug no longer wants to have. Chris Cooper plays Stephen MacRay, Doug’s imprisoned father. Cooper is here for only one scene, but it’s a powerful one and very telling to Doug what his life holds for him. Pete Postelthwaite plays Fergus Colm, the man behind many of the robberies that Doug and his crew pull off. Postelthwaite’s here for just a couple of scenes, but again, they’re good ones with a nice venality to them.

If I have any one complaint, and it really is a moot one, it’s just that there might be a few too many instances of “pahking the cah” in the Boston accent. This actually does get balanced out though thanks to Hall’s and Hamm’s characters, and further Hamm has a great bit of dialogue that actually does mock the whole thing. Like I said, it’s very moot and it really didn’t deter my appreciation for the film, and it shouldn’t yours as well.

This is masterful work from Ben Affleck, not just in front of the camera but behind it too. His supporting cast is absolutely top shelf and all have their moments to shine. His story is absorbing, the pacing exacting, and the action is riveting. The Town is very much worth taking a trip to. Highly, highly recommended.

When last we saw Alice at the end of Resident Evil: Extinction, she had discovered all of the clones that had been made of her and was planning to assault the Japan headquarters of the Umbrella Corporation. The people she had helped were making their way to what they believed was salvation to Arcadia.

After a brief introduction to the whole Resident Evil experience, Resident Evil: Afterlife picks up right where Extinction had left off, with Alice’s assault on the Umbrella Corporation and looking to find the secret of Arcadia. Along the way, she meets up with an old ally and picks up some new ones. And it’s all presented in some pretty slick 3D.

So goes Resident Evil: Afterlife, the fourth in the series of theatrical releases of the Resident Evil series (and technically the fifth in the series on the whole if you include the animated Resident Evil: Degenration) based off of the popular video game series. I’ve only ever played the first game in the series, so I’m not too sure how closely this follows the games, though I do know that they’ve been adding characters from the games along the way.

Paul W.S. Anderson returns to direct this fourth installment and boy, he’s sure having a lot of fun playing with 3D. I know there’s a lot of hate out there around his work, but I’ve always tended to enjoy his films my own self, and I can certainly say the same for Resident Evil: Afterlife.

Now there are a couple of downsides. First, like the Saw series, you really have to be a fan from the start and have seen the previous films. You can’t just go into this one cold and expect to pick everything up. There’s a brief introduction to what has led to this, but I still don’t think it’s enough for a fresh viewer. Second, there’s nothing really original here going on and if you’re looking to see something you haven’t seen before, then you won’t find it here. This doesn’t really bother me a whole lot as long as it’s well put together and I think this is. Third, our main villain of the piece, the character named Albert Wesker is little more than a clone of Agent Smith from the Matrix series. Actor Shawn Roberts looks and plays him like what you’d get if you mixed Hugo Weaving with Val Kilmer. I don’t blame him for his portrayal of the character though, this was no doubt what was asked from him and he certainly does bring that.

But on the plus side, the film really has a great look to it. Anderson looks like he’s been looking at a lot of anime and it shows here. The action sequences are all very exciting and fun to watch. The 3D is exceptional and Anderson is just basking in it with lots of scene immersion and in-your-face effects. This features a very nice techno score from the duo know as tomandandy (though I could see that being a turn-off for some as well, but not me). And it adds a couple of new characters to the mix, Boris Kodjoe playing Luthor West and more importantly Wentworth Miller playing Chris Redfield. As a big Prison Break fan, I was really happy to see Miller come on board here, and he brings a similar intensity to the part.

Of course, Milla Jovovich is back as Alice and Ali Larter returns as Claire Redfield. Jovovich has been money in the bank for this series. She has a committed performance, she embraces the heavy duty action and boy, she looks terrific. Larter’s fine as well, though she doesn’t quite strike me the same way that Jovovich does. Rounding things out, we have Kim Coates (from Sons of Anarchy) playing a sleaze-bag character who’s looking out for himself. It’s certainly nothing new for Coates, though it’s cool to see him here. And stay through the end credits, you’ll get a peak at another returning character.

If you’re a fan of the series (and I am) you should probably have a lot of fun with this. It’s not without it’s faults, but it’s still a fun ride and as I said, the 3D is terrific. I very much look forward to the next movie in the series.