The Boys Are Back

The Boys Are Back available 01/26/2010
PG-13 // 104 Minutes

I just have to say that I adore Clive Owen. I think he's a very talented actor and I just love listening to his English accent. And he definitely didn't disappoint me in this film.

Joe (Clive Owen) is a sports writer who is forced to become a single parent after tragic circumstances. Based on a true events, this story takes place in the Australian outback. This story of fatherhood is set in South Australia. When Joe's wife dies of cancer, he takes on the responsibility of raising their 6-year-old son, and his teenage son from a previous marriage. Joe refuses to listen to the advice of his mother-in-law and fellow parents and goes about raising his children in his own manner.

Because this movie is based on a true story, I found it especially sad. Clive Owen's performance in this movie was amazing! I've seen him in several action/guy movies, so watching him in this movie was a pleasant contrast. I truly wished this movie had gotten a nomination at the Oscar's, but no such luck.

Whiteout

Whiteout
R // 101 Minutes

Finally, a movie that I really enjoyed. With an actress that I find so talented, Kate Beckinsale.

US Marshal Stetko (Beckinsale) is tracking the first murderer in the Antarctica. Everyone is getting ready to leave, as there are only a few days left before the sun sets for six months.

Now, what's interesting is most of the reviews I have read about this movie haven't been good ones. But I felt the movie was great. It's suspenseful and kept me intrigued and always guessing about who did what and how it was going to end. It was interesting to see a "whiteout" and also kinda scary. At one point, Marshal Stetko loses a couple fingers to frostbite, after touching some metal outside, with now gloves. Now, that part was gross.

Upon further research of the movie, I found that it was based of a comic book with the same name. How interesting.

I always think Beckinsale does an excellent job, and she definitely didn't disappoint me in this film. The roles of Dr. Fury and Delfy were great characters and the actors (Tom Skerritt and Columbus Short) did a good job portraying them.

I really think this one is worth the rent, or placing it in your Netflix queue, as most of you probably do.

According to Greta

According to Greta
PG-13

This movie stars yet another Disney hatched actress, Hilary Duff.

A young suicidal and rebellious teen gets sent to her Grandparents for the summer where life takes an unexpected turn. Hilary Duff plays the title role of Greta, a waitress, who falls for an cook at the restaurant where they work. She's always threatening suicide, doesn't listen to what her grandparents tell and just pretty much does what she wants.

I had actually saved this movie to my Netflix queue a while back, thinking it had the potential to be really good and I was really looking forward to what I hoped would be Hilary Duff's breakthrough performance. I am so glad that I don't have to pay for my rentals at work, because I would have been fairly upset had I paid $4.00 and change for this movie.

I felt it was a typical, coming of age type of teen movie. Rebellious teenager gets sent away. Rebellious teenager keeps acting out. Rebellious teenager gets a second chance. Rebellious teenager becomes not quite so rebellious. Happily ever after. It was predictable and I thought the acting was seriously lacking.

Now, I've seen several of Hilary Duff's movies. Most of the were cute and she usually sang in them. But during the whole movie, as I listened to her talking , all I could think of was little Lizzie McGuire...Duff's voice hasn't changed at all since she was a kid, and I found that rather annoying. Her character is always talking about ways to kill herself and I just don't enjoy the whole acting out, teenage thing.

Everyone who rented it this week or has asked about during the last couple of weeks has been teenage girls. Those who saw it say it's awesome and they just love Hilary Duff. So that right there should explain what type of movie you would be renting.

I personally, don't think this movie is worth the rental.

Pandorum

Pandorum available Now
R // 108 Minutes

Pandorum is a Sci Fi horror film and oh so creepy. It has strong horror violence and quite a bit of language in it.

Taking place in the year 3097, Corporal Bower (Ben Foster) and Lt. Payton (Dennis Quaid) walk up in a hyper sleep chamber, disoriented, with no memory of how they got there. It's pitch black and they are on an abandoned ship 500 miles from earth and a terrifying vision of terror is about to be released.

I thought the acting was great. I'm a big fan of Dennis Quaid. I felt this was a very different role then what I am used to seeing him in. He has done a lot of nice, clean movies, like Parent Trap, Yours, Mine and Ours, The Rookie etc. His character has...well, he has some problems. Quaid's performance was excellent. Ben Foster, who got his start way back in 1997 in a Disney Channel show, Flash Forward, did an outstanding job. I'm glad he didn't stick with Disney like so many young actors do. I don't think he'd be able to pull off this performance if he had stayed.

The movie is fairly graphic and violent. There are creatures, for lack of a better term, that are among the few passengers remaining. These creatures were created very well, making them super creepy to watch. There were a few times when I was trying to figure out exactly what was going on and I got a bit confused near the end. Even now, there are a few things I'm questioning and am still confused on. But overall, I think it's a good movie. I'm very much into the sci fi genre. I definitely want to watch this movie again, as a second viewing may help me clear up any confusion I may have.

Harder then I expected...

Okay, so keeping up with movie reviews is actually harder then I would have ever thought. Sure, watching the movies is easy. It's the writing down what I thought about them that becomes difficult. Well, I watched five movies this weekend and I have reviewed two of them. I will hopefully get the other ones done tonight when I get off work.

It has been requested that I add a list of my personal favorite movies to my blog, so this has been done. You can check it out on the side of my blog. These are the movies that I personally recommend everyone watches at some point. Some are old, some are new, but they are the best!

I hope everyone is enjoying my blog, thank you so much!

Gamer

Gamer available 01/19/2010
R // 95 Minutes

Okay, so I really like action movies and I was really looking forward to this movie for a few reasons. Reason number one: Gerard Butler. I think he's a fantastic actor. Reason number two: what a great concept. Reason number three: Michael C Hall. I've only ever seen him in the tv show Dexter so I was excited to see him play something different. Now, violence and swearing doesn't bother me too much in a movie and I don't get easily offended. But this one is rated R for good reason. To get specific, it's rated R for frequent sequences of strong brutal violence throughout, sexual content, nudity and language.

Basically, the movie is about death row convicts who get the option to take a chance at being fully pardoned. All they have to do is have a cell implanted into their brain. This cell starts turning other cells and eventually it allows someone to take control of them, virtually. Then they have to make through 30 battles alive. It's a video game called Slayers, created for pure entertainment. We also see another virtual game, Society, being played where people volunteer to have other take control of them, and it's anything goes.

The movie is nearly non-stop action. Within the first 10 minutes, I counted the f-bomb being dropped about 7 or 8 times. And I definitely could have done without the nudity. On top of the movie just being bad in general, the way it was filmed was very frustrating. The action sequences were a bit hard to follow. It was like someone had a hand-held camera and was just running around with it. Very hard to see what was going on.

I don't think this movie was as good as it could have been and I was very disappointed in it. I'm glad I didn't go see this in the theater like I had originally planned. I know a lot of guys who would really enjoy this movie...the girls, not so much. I used to really enjoy all the junk this movie is full of, but I'm geared more towards the light-hearted movies now.

No Greater Love

No Greater Love available 01/19/2010
PG // 109 Minutes

First love, second chance. That's what this movie is about. Jeff and Heather were high school sweethearts and married young. After the birth of their first child, Heather goes over the deep end and just up and leaves her family behind. Forced to move on, Jeff raises their son on his own. After 10 years, Jeff is finally moving on, about to ask his girlfriend to marry him. When Jeff's son attends a week long church camp with a friend, Jeff finds someone he never thought he would see again. Heather. She is now part of a ministry at church, turned her life around and became a believer in God. Find out what happens when a believer and non-believer try to make things work after 10 years of being apart.

This movie is definitely family friendly. I did enjoy the movie, but there seemed to be something lacking in it. The acting and the way the movie was made reminded me of similar films like Fireproof and the Left Behind movies. Now, I still don't know the Bible that well, so I don't know if what was said in the movie about marriage and divorce is true, but it certainly made me think about what I want to be looking for in my future husband. It's a touching movie, that leaves behind a feeling of hope. That second chances really are possible.

If desired, you can go to their website http://www.nogreaterlovethemovie.com to follow along with a bible study that goes with the movie. I didn't get a chance to check out the study, so I don't know how good it is.

Overall, it was good to watch a clean movie. Free from swearing, violence and sex. Which is not what I can say that about the other four movies I watched this weekend!