The Eagle ***

“The Eagle” is certainly not in league with films like “Spartacus” but at the very least it tells a good old fashioned story and it is not over stuffed with incomprehensive, nonstop action.  I was happy to see physical sets, extras in costume and overall good production values.  Enjoy it while you can because it is becoming a rarity.

Channing Tatum is becoming a fairly interesting actor.  I thought he was not going to be able to break away from roles like “Dear John” and “Step Up”.  He has the physical presence and the chops to convince me that he is a roman warrior and that was good enough for me.

The director of “The Eagle” is Kevin MacDonald, who also directed “The Last King Of Scotland” and “State Of Play”.  You get the sense with his three directorial efforts that he is not so interested in over produced, big budget films.  He seems old fashioned and likes to tell stories about characters who some might say are outdated.  I just hope he stays the course.

I Am Number Four **

“I Am Number Four” had potential to be a fairly engaging science fiction thriller.  I am sad to report that it sort of ended up a little like “Twilight” in the way that it dumbs itself down for it’s target audience. 

There used to be a time when movies aimed at younger audiences had the freedom to follow their dark visions.  Instead we are looking mostly at lifeless visual effects shows where a good story is cashed in for mindless action and effects.

My only hope after seeing this movie is that it does not lead to a series of sequels and turn in to an endless franchise.

Warrior ***1/2

“Warrior” takes the traditional sports movie and follows it fairly closely with two notable exceptions: The first is that it paints it’s canvas with authentic characters who seem real.  They have real back stories, emotions, vulnerability’s and life problems.  The second is that this story has to protagonists. 

Most sports themed movies have clearly defined heroes and villains.  Here we meet a set of brothers, each with very different problems, both of which enter a mixed martial arts tournament, needing to win prize money.  Rarely do we get to a final big fight in a movie and we are not sure who to root for and for the first time in a long time I had no idea who was going to win.

The starts with a U.S. Marine, Tommy Conlon (Tom Hardy) visiting his father, Paddy (Nick Nolte), a recovering alcoholic.  Tommy becomes angry about his father’s formerly abusive behavior, and Paddy fails to convince him that he has truly changed. The next day, Tommy enters a gym where he beats a professional fighter named Pete “Mad Dog” Grimes unconscious in less than a minute.  The fight is filmed via a flip video camera and later uploaded to the Internet where it spreads. Tommy learns about a winner-takes-all tournament called Sparta, and in order to provide for the family of his fallen friend in the Marine Corps, Tommy asks his father to help him train for the tournament, but only under the condition that they do not try to reconcile their relationship.

Turns out that Paddy has an older son, Brendan Conlon (Joel Edgerton), a high school physics teacher and former UFC fighter.  He is struggling to financially provide for his family, and faces the possibility of his home getting foreclosed. To increase his income, Brendan risks returning to his former profession for extra cash.

Rumors of Brendan fighting in the ring begin spreading amongst his students, and the school, objecting to his participation in such dangerous activities, suspends him without pay. Left with no other option, Brendan seeks the training of an old buddy, and begins competing in smaller venue fights. After the fighter Frank planned to enter into the Sparta tournament is injured during training, Brendan convinces Frank to enter him instead.

Director Gavin O’Connor gives each of the two brothers equal screen time to develop and flesh out their characters, which invests the audience in both of them equally.  When they talk face to face for the first time in many years, I found the movie touching on strange emotions.  Not of a lot of movies in general, let alone sports themed ones, touch on situations like this.  I almost found myself wishing that the whole tournament plot was scrapped so we could get to know these characters even more.

Young Adult ****

“Young Adult” is the latest from director Jason Reitman who brought us “Juno” and “Up In The Air”.  That might lead some to believe, including myself, that this is going to be a razor sharp comedy that balances mainstream comedy with indie drama.  That is partially true.  What makes “Young Adult” stand out is that it is a fairly bleak movie.

When we meet the heroin, played by Charlize Theron, she is pretty much at the point of no return.  She is an alcoholic who has hit rock bottom and really has no chance of getting back up. I admired the screenplay in the way that it follows this character down and then simply lets her fall further in to oblivion.  Not a lot of movies would end with no light at the end of the tunnel. 

Theron plays Mavis who was once a Prom Queen and is now a struggling novelist.  She writes a series of Young Adult fiction books that are at the tail end of their popularity.  When she receives an invitation to a baby shower by her high school sweetheart she decides that she is going to her home town to get him back.  She believes that he will simply leave his family for her and start a new life. 

What struck me is the performance by Charlize Theron.  She is uncompromising in her determination to get this guy back.  She puts no thought in to wrecking somebody else’s marriage and breaking up a set of parents.  She sees him at her only chance at a somewhat normal life.  What she doesn’t realize is that there is no hope for her. 

Not a lot of actress’ want to be seen in such a light.  Theron goes for broke and turns in what I think is her best performance.  She bares it all. 

She is helped along by Patton Oswalt, who also gives an amazing performance as the guy who lusted after her in high school.

Just how good is Jason Reitman?  It is almost like he was born with a gift for filmmaking.  Here he works again with Diablo Cody, who wrote the screenplay for Juno.  Did she incorporate some of her own life again in to this screenplay?  It seems to real to be made up. 

Insidious ***1/2

I saw “The Woman In Black”, which reminded me that I had not written anything about “Insidious” yet, even though I saw it months ago.  Why I was reminded of this movie is because they were both horror films that refrained from over the top gore and got back to basics. 

“Insidious” managed to frighten me almost all the way through.  It is a low budget horror film about a little boy who seems to have attracted some seriously destructive demons.  Now I mention that it is low budget because I find that when a creative director is working with limited funds, he is forced to be patient and build up actual suspense and fear instead of just hammering the audience with startling sound effects and body parts.

The director her James Wan, who directed the first “Saw” film.  That might lead you to believe that everything I just described was a rouse and that this is actually a torture porn film.  That is not the case.  It is almost like he has seen what that franchise has become and has woken up to what horror movies can truly be.

The basic outline of the story is routine and the ending gets a little out of hand but everything leading up to it will scare the pants off most people.

The Rum Diary **1/2

“The Rum Diary” is an odd movie to sit through.  It is unfocused and seems like have a story but it held my attention.  Maybe because of Johnny Depp’s droll performance as well as some of the supporting characters.

The story follows a guy named Paul Kemp, a journalist, played by Depp, as he grows disillusioned with America and moves to Puerto Rico to write for the San Juan Star.  There he begins drinking rum on a daily basis, getting into bizarre drinking adventures and becomes obsessed with a local socialite.

The movie is based on a book by Hunter S. Thompson, whom Depp is quite fond of.  He played Thompson in 1998’s “Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas” which has developed a cult following. 

Here the story doesn’t depend on mind bending drugs.  Point of fact, this movie doesn’t really depend on anything. Every plot thread that is developed is pretty much left open ended.

But I have to admit that I was intrigued by a lot of the supporting characters, my favorite being a really offbeat reporter played by Giovanni Ribisi.  Here is a man who looks like an alcoholic who may not need to drink anymore as his DNA is now producing his own booze.  He was funny anytime he was on screen, even if his character really never developed or went anywhere.

“The Rum Diary” is not a good movie but I would not deter you from seeing it.  It is almost like a dream by someone with a massive hangover. 

Rampart ***1/2

In the last few years it has been nice to have Woody Harrelson back.  There was a few years there where he was drifting in to oblivion.  But recently he has put together some great performances in “Zombieland”, “No Country For Old Men” and his Oscar nominated role in “The Messenger”.  Here he goes for broke as an all out corrupt cop who has no remorse for any of his actions.

The director and writer is Oren Moverman, who also wrote and directed Harrelson in “The Messenger”.  I am starting to look forward to his projects.  He is a raw talent who doesn’t seem to be afraid of dumbing down his subject matter for a wider audience.  He is unafraid to explore characters who are outside of the mainstream.

“Rampart” may not be new territory.  I found this material to be more effective in 1992’s “Bad Lieutenant”.   But the setting of L.A. gives us a refreshing look at similar scenes in a different type of atmosphere than that of New York.  The sun is always beating down, the characters always seem to be hot and sweaty.  Its almost like these people could blame their actions on heat strokes. 

Red State *

I am always interested when a good director tries to stray out of his comfort zone and try something new.  When I heard that Kevin Smith was going to try his hand at a horror movie I was instinctively excited.  So far he has stayed pretty much in the comedy department.  I have loved some of his films and and disliked others but I am always excited for his next project because he is an original talent.

“Red State” is his first horror movie.  What a disaster it is.  It has been a while since a film has rubbed me the wrong way like this one did. Some scenes go over the top, others are tedious and long, some make no sense at all, the performances are bad and the dialogue is painfully awkward.

I will leave you to discover the plot for yourself.  It involves religious nuts who kidnap and torture sinners.  I have no problem with that when it is done in a way that is chilling and suspenseful. 

Arthur **

You know I wish this movie had been a lot funnier than the above picture would suggest.  Russell Brand’s humor really grown on me in recent years.  His character, Aldous Snow, stole the show in “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” so much that he got his own spin off movie last year.

I just don’t think this is the right vehicle for him.  It is too safe in my opinion. I see him as possibly in the same league has Sacha Baron Cohen and doing more fearless satire.  I say that I laughed at the site of Luiz Guzman stuffed in to a Robin suit that is one size too small but I need more than that to sustain a whole film.

The real story here is how Helen Mirren got involved.  Since her Oscar win she seems to be taking some strange roles lately.

Mr. Popper’s Penguins **1/2

I watched this movie with my six year old son.  He loved it to pieces.  I was not looking forward to seeing it but found myself laughing more then I expected. 

The plot is basically Jim Carrey finding himself in ridiculous situations involving penguins.  They move in to his house.  He grows to love them.  He begins to transform his apartment in to a snow village for him.  He finds that this brings him closer to his children and his ex wife. 

This is not going to get Jim Carrey any closer to the Oscar nomination that he has wanted for many years now but it certainly doesn’t hurt his career.  It is what it is and you either laughed or you didn’t.