Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Growing up in the 90's video games were part of the life for this newest generation that I am apparently a part of. To me those days were you could play Nintendo were a chance to let your dreams play out whether it be through rescuing a princess or leading a team to the Super Bowl. Scoot Pilgrim Vs. The World stirs up those video game memories right from the start with the Opening Universal logo and theme song with 8-bit graphics and sound. It is quite the rarity for a movie to take on the feel of not only a video game, but the old school feel video games is even more rare. While many may complain about the quick moving thoughts almost like someone with ADD this only helped with the fact that this movie was based on a graphic novel and each quick scene was the equivalent of a comic strip box.

While the supporting cast of actors do a great job, Michal Cera truly shines in his performance as Scott Pilgrim. Cera plays the role with his usual corkyness and teenage awkwardness that anyone who has seen him in previous to this would be accustomed with. He fulfills his role with perfection especially during the battle round scenes, that give not only great moments of laughter but even add a feeling of the video games with the power-ups and weapons.

The story is brilliant, I love the idea that Cera's character in order to date a girl must defeat her seven evil exes. The creativity of each progressing battle culminating in the ultimate battle was simply something that left me in awe of the great visuals. The direction worked as it moved so quickly and flawlessly from thought to thought.

This film though is foremost an homage to video game culture. If you love video games, Scott Pilgrim piles on the references from fighting games such as Tekken to bits from the Zelda games soundtrack. Scott's pickup line to Ramona is about the origin of the name Pac-man. Which on a side note was something I had never heard and so it was neat to pick up another useless little fact. Wright's style draws on the classic gaming imagery with the use of low bit CGI (Computer Generated Images), comic book illustration, anime and more. Someone that is younger will gel with that, but someone older could definitely find this to be a complete visual overload. If our normal, humdrum lives took place in a world with video game or comic book rules, this movie is precisely what it would look and feel like.

Fueling the whole story is a wild imagination. At one point Ramona pulls out a giant Donkey Kong sized sledgehammer out of her purse, echoing countless fantasy games where characters carry around weapons and items that you never see on their person during game play until its being used. One scene even spoofs Seinfeld and other sitcoms. when Scott comes home to his apartment and a laugh track accompanies his interaction with his roommate Wallace. Yet the scene ends and then there are no other sitcom references. That's how quickly the scenes come and go. The transitions are abrupt, with scenes going from one place to another sometimes in seconds. There are no drawn out dramatic conversations, just bursts and vital snippets with occasional graphics and unique style shots.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is a movie that is unlike any other that I have seen. Wright pushes the feel of a movie with the video gaming imagery. This is definitely a movie that may not be for everyone but for those who enjoy video games like me would enjoy this homage movie. I am giving Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World three and a half buckets of popcorn out of five. This is one that I will more then likely end up adding to my collection when the price is right and I would say it is definitely worth the price of renting.

-The Movie Man

The Adjustment Bureau

The Adjustment Bureau is a film that has moved into its own smart genre of that of the science fiction romance. Matt Damon stars in this science fiction thriller that deals with a man who glimpses his future that Fate has laid out for him, only to realize he wants something else in his life after a chance meeting with a mysterious woman played by Emily Blunt. The Adjustment Bureau is based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, called The Adjustment Team. What makes The Adjustment Bureau a truly great movie is that it sends a powerful message: don't be afraid to go after what you want.

Matt Damon, continues his string of strong performances in the role of David Norris, a candidate for the New York senate. Damon continues to impress me in every role he takes, his dedication to roles is what sets him apart. He commits so fully to the role of David Norris that I truly believe that Damon could be a politician in real life. I have been a huge fan of a lot of Damon's roles and I believe this is definitely one of my favorite roles for Matt Damon. In this role Damon is his most charming, lovable and most moving. To go along with Damon is Emily Blunt as Elise the woman that David believes he was meant to be with. Blunt shows that she is definitely no longer just a star in the making, but she has truly arrived. Blunt is captivating in her role and has such a great elegance. The elegance is shown through her great dancing ability and the gracefulness she has when dancing. The chemistry between Damon and Blunt is truly captivating.

The supporting cast is workable. The cast of men who make up the Adjustment Bureau do a solid job at conveying a great amount of mystery around how they go about things and how they go about keeping everyone on "the plan" that has been laid out for them. The part that really made them work though was the complete opposites in bureau men Mitchell played by Anthony Mackie and Thompson played by Terence Stamp. Thompson you want to hate against from the moment he comes into the picture because of what he will do to get the plan back on track. While on the other hand we feel the internal conflict that Mitchell is encountering as he sees the free will determination that David Norris has for this girl.

Overall I loved the story for this movie. The story flowed fluidly throughout the film. I did not feel like the story died or even slowed down at any point that I felt the thought of I wonder how much time is left in the movie. With most movies where the story is continually moving it lacks the character depth to really allow the audience to feel the emotions of each character. The Adjustment Bureau does a splendid job at keeping the story moving while giving us the character depth. One such instance is when Norris sees Elise dance at the studio for the first time, because he has fought against "they" to get to the studio. I loved that in the story this movie could have gone very complex and built layer upon layer, instead they went very simple and it was set out for the viewer minute by minute.

The film's charm is definitely in its explanation for things. The way the bureau works and how they function is a wonder in itself. You'll never look at a door or a man wearing a hat the same way again after viewing the film. Perhaps the most interesting is Thompson's explanation of how events in history like The Great Depression and The Holocaust came about. The story is very imaginative and different from the norm, which is always a fantastic change in pace when it comes to film. At the same time though, those who like having absolutely everything explained to them will probably be disappointed. The Adjustment Bureau explains enough to get the wheels in your brain turning and leaves some things open to your interpretation, which could hurt someones overall opinion of the film depending on the viewer.

The Adjustment Bureau is a great science fiction thriller that gives a great romantic story on top of the great underlying storyline. I am giving The Adjustment Bureau three and a half buckets out of five. Damon and Blunt are amazing together, this is definitely a movie that one should see in the movie theater to get the full effect of everything. This will eventually be a movie that I will add to the movie collection.

-The Movie Man

Tangled

Walt Disney Animation follows up last years highly successful Princess and the Frog with tangled. Tangled is different form the other Disney princess movies because the title does not let the viewer know which princess story it is going to be. Plus in an attempt to appeal more to the younger boy demographic this story is told from the hero character of Flynn Rider. For me Disney was right on the mark with this movie as I feel that it was an overall improvement from the Princess and the Frog.

One of the most important aspects for animated movies is to have skilled voice actors who not only fit the role, but can give a feeling of chemistry while speaking the part. Zachary Levi and Many Moore are both perfect for their parts. Mandy Moore has a voice that fits Rapunzel perfectly with her innocent voice, but at the same time exudes confidence and not a damsel in distress. While Zachary Levi is perfect as Flynn Rider. He exhorts a great amount of cockiness and strength that you would expect from a thief, who has always been able to overcome the odds to stay alive. Most surprising though was Levi's singing in the movie, he does a great job and since for me I recognize him for his role as Chuck on the TV show Chuck, because of that the singing ability I was totally not expecting.

The second aspect within Disney animated movies is that of the songs throughout. For Tangled I feel that the overall song score fell short of the Disney standard. Yet individually some of the songs are great and are definitely ones you will not only hear over and over but they can get stick in your head. It may be wrong thinking on my end  but it did not have the usual number of songs in a Disney movie. Yet, this is the only real weakness that I noticed in seeing this movie.

The third aspect in this movie is probably its greatest strength is the storyline. Going outside of the traditional princess fairytale mold of being narrated by someone telling the story, they used the hero of Flynn Rider as the narrator. While this may not work well in most of the Disney fairytale movies it fits perfectly in Tangled. with the story of Rapunzel it is fairly simple and straightforward. Disney is able to take the simplicity and give it such a great underlying theme and also add some unique turns to keep viewers of all ages entertained throughout.

In typical Disney fashion while the main characters are great it is the secondary characters that steal the show. It is even tougher for a secondary character to steal the show without uttering a word but that is precisely what Paschal the chameleon and Maximus the horse do. This is a tribute to the talents of the animators because of the great emotion and message these two characters are able to emit from just simple facial expressions.

Tangled ends up being a fun family film that will entertain movie goers of all ages. It was great to see slow motion action sequences that one would expect in a movie like the Bourne Identity and not an animated one. For the overall enjoyment I am giving Tangled three and a half buckets of popcorn out of five. This is definitely a movie that we will be adding to our movie collection.

-The Movie Man

The Other Guys

From the moment I saw the motion poster online for The Other Guys I knew it was a movie that I would definitely be seeing. While most cop movies focus on action, it is always nice when one comes around that is a comedy and takes shots at the serious cop movies. Will Ferrell is once again over the top and works well with Mark Wahlberg. This movie does nothing special from other comedies, but like all good comedies the jokes are spot on and made me forget about reality. One of the interesting things is that Cop Out originally was supposed to have Will Ferrell, but he backed out to do the Other Guys.

Will Ferrell is his usual comic genius in the role of Alan, a cop who specializes in accounting forensics.  Of course anytime I see a Will Ferrell movie I am always curious to know what percentage were ad libs on his part. Ferrell plays his cop role with a great neuroticism and with such a desire to be a cop that is the hero that one can not help , but root for his success while laughing at the same time. Wahlberg playing opposite of Ferrell continues to show his versatile acting abilities with his ability to not only be in a comedy, but to actually be funny as well. Wahlberg is able to deliver some of the funniest laugh out loud moments in the movie that he plays not only believable but with a straight face. Wahlberg's line about being a "peacock and that the captain needs to let him spread his wings and fly" should definitely make memorable movie quote lists in the future.

The number one component that truly made The Other Guys successful is that they were successful in avoiding the number one issue that most cop comedies fall into is that Ferrell did not have all the funny lines. Instead the great one liners were spread around. Michael Keaton as the Chief of police is one example as he continually gives quotes from TLC songs yet claims he is not familiar with their music. Also with the buddy cop movie one of the cops is the goof off while the other is dead serious. While Wahlberg's character is intense he matches Ferrell with the funny moments, and because of that the chemistry between the two is stellar.

The solid jokes alone though would eventually bore the audience, yet for a comedy cop movie The Other Guys delivers a good story as well. It is almost as if this movie was written as a cop action/drama movie and it was then at the point of having the story written that they went and added the great one-liners and jokes into the strong storyline. The Other Guys gives us a movie that allows the viewers to work to figure out the villain at the same time and does not give us the bad guy right from the start like with a super hero movie.  This draws the audience in more and allows them to work to figure it all out at the same time as the main characters figure it out.

One thing I would have loved to have seen which is not the fault of the filmmakers, but the marketing would have been to keep "The Rock" and Samuel L. Jackson's roles hidden. This would have been a great surprise to the audience and after the first weekend this would have created a great amount of buzz then the buzz that came about by showing them in the trailer. I will say though that it was pure genius to have them both be the ultimate cliche action hero cops, because it only made the characters played by Wahlberg and Ferrell that much funnier and likable.

The Other Guys is a great funny buddy cop film. Wahlberg stole the show in my opinion and only further showed his versatility with his ability to make us laugh. The Other Guys surpassed my standards and what I expected and still has me questioning why this movie was released in August. August is typically when studios release movies that are traditionally bad. I am giving The Other Guys three buckets of popcorn out of five because of the stellar chemistry between Ferrell and Wahlberg. While this may not be the greatest movie ever made it is definitely one worth renting and even worth buying if one can find a great deal.

-The Movie Man

Red

Red is a fast moving action comedy movie that has found a way to make fun of action movies in a way without moving into the realm of spoof. The movie critics were extremely harsh on Red and having seen it now I think the critics missed the boat on the movie being an action comedy and not just an action movie. Red is another strong movie that is based on a comic book. With the recent trend of so many movies being based on graphic novels and comic books, the quality of these movies have all raised the bar and Red meets this new standard.

The cast that was put together is superb and truly has a great all star cast. Bruce Willis does a great job in his role of Frank, a retired CIA agent who is lonely and finds the best part of his day comes from his frequent calls to Sarah regarding his "missing" pension checks. Sarah is the customer service representative he talks to each time about his "missing" checks (which really arrive and he simply tears them up). Willis plays a great role in being the action hero he has played so many times before, yet this time he does not play the role so serious. He plays in not so serious yet still gives us some great action sequence stunts, such as him stepping out of a spinning cop car to shoot at someone who is chasing him.

The great work by Willis would be pointless though if the supporting cast was not just as stellar. Anyone who may have thought that Red was meant to be a straight up action movie should have been convinced otherwise upon seeing Helen Mirren brandishing and firing automatic weapons. Anytime this happened I could not help but laugh simply because Mirren's roles have always been so regal and dignified. Meanwhile Malkovich plays the paranoid former agent to perfection. The way he acts makes you laugh and wonder how he can play someone so crazy so easily. The part everyone will remember of his from the trailer is him yelling as he runs down the street with an explosive vest strapped to his chest. Mary Louise Parker is not nearly as well known as many of the other main characters, yet she hold her own on screen with this not only great cast but ones that will go down as legends. Over the next few years she will definitely become a bigger star as more of her performances get noticed.

I loved the creativity in that Red stands for Retired Extremely Dangerous. The story from this graphic novel is very strong and the plot is just as strong as the acting. The story is one that I though was very well thought out because the overall reasoning behind why Frank and his former team are being hunted down by a hit squad remains hidden from the audience until the point it comes out in the end of the movie. Being one who has seen so many different movies it is truly enjoyable to view a movie that is able to hide the overall plot and only reveal it little by little.

The action sequences in the film are great and very over the top. The great epitome of over the top action is Bruce Willis stepping out of the spinning police car to fire his gun at the car chasing them. I know some people are critical of wanting action to be realistic, yet I am one of those people that enjoys suspension of disbelief. Of course this movie can not be an action one without tons of gunfire and explosions, one such over the top firing exchange is that of the hit squad taking out Frank's house with bullets upon bullets. This leaves his house riddled with bullet holes and even causes front parts of the house to fall apart.

Red is a funny action movie that delivers on all levels. I am giving it four buckets of popcorn our of five. The acting lives up to what one would expect from such a great cast and the story and plot are up to the level of the cast. This is a movie that is not only worth the pricing of renting but is definitely one worth buying.

-The Movie Man

The Social Network

After seeing the first trailer for The Social Network I was very unsure as to how successful a movie about the creation of Facebook. After seeing more trailers the interest grew and it became a movie that I definitely wanted to see. Having seen The Social Network it delivered on so many levels and is a movie that brings strong acting, a strong script and camera work that all comes together for a great artistic movie. It is one movie that has deserved the praised and it is very deserving of the awards it picked up during the Golden Globes and Oscars.

Jesse Eisenberg plays Mark Zuckerburg the co-founder of Facebook. Eisenberg gives a career changing performance and does a brilliant job playing Zuckerburg. He plays Zuckerburg with a cold and focused social awkwardness that does not endear anyone to him. This was definitely real in relation to the actual Mark Zuckerburg. Similarly to Eisenberg's performance is Andrew Garfield's portrayal of Facebook co-founder and friend to Zuckerburg, Eduardo Saverin. Where Eisenberg plays the cold genius, Garfield brings the warmth that endears the audience to the creation of Facebook. The chemistry between Eisenberg and Garfield as the friends flows together perfectly. Yet what makes the chemistry even stronger are the moments of disagreements whether it be adding ads to facebook to bring in money or during the deposition dealing with the lawsuit between the two of them. These two roles are definitely the breakout roles for Eisenberg and Garfield.

The superb acting would all be for naught if the direction of the story was weak. The whole movie unfolds in a unique way, in that it centers around the deposition of the two lawsuits that Zuckerburg faced. From this aspect we are able to be pulled in to the story through flashbacks. While flashbacks have been used in various movies I loved how Fincher used the two depositions for the present, it gave a feel for the story that is different and new.

The cinematography for the film fits perfectly to the overall feel. The dark feel to the cameras gives a home video quality through most of the flashbacks. This feeling is almost as if the whole creation of Facebook was documented step by step using home videos to document step by step how the success slowly came about. The dark and graininess also helps the audience distinguish the flashbacks from the present. Not to mention this graininess also makes the flashbacks feel more memory like because of the foggy feeling with it. Having seen The Social Network now I would say while the main story is that of the creation of Facebook but I also saw it as a movie that is a commentary on society.

The Social Network is a movie that has lived up to its hype. The acting was superb and I expect a lot from Eisenberg in the future and I look forward to seeing how Andrew Garfield handles the role of Spiderman. The Social Network is a unique film that told the creation of Facebook creatively with flashbacks. Everything flowed together perfectly. I am giving The Social Network four buckets of popcorn out of five. This is a film that we will be adding to our movie collection in the near future.

-The Movie Man

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One

After the disappointment that was Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince, I was excited yet hesitant about part one of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. While I felt that the HP and the Half-blood Prince stumbled and missed the overall feeling of the sixth book and gave us a movie that focused to much on the romantic relationships. I am pleased that they got back on track with Deathly Hallows Part One and captured the feelings of uncertainty, loss and even the mounting darkness of the book.

The decision to split the Deathly Hallows book into two parts is what made part one work so well. While I have enjoyed all of the Harry Potter movies, as the books got longer I have felt that the movies lost some key points that at first glance seem irrelevant but truly end up really helping to tie different feelings in scenes together. This feeling has been lost because in order to tell all the main points the movie had to have a quick pace which ended up causing us to lose a lot of the depth that has made the books so successful. With this split the audience is able to feel the despair that the Harry, Hermione and Ron are feeling throughout as Voldemort and his supporters become more brazen and daring in their taking of power. I loved the way Voldemort and the Death Eaters are portrayed in the movie. No longer do they settle for being anonymous caped figures with masks. Instead they are out in the open and are willing to discuss whatever they want with no fear of any repercussions.

The crux of the movie lies in the relationships between Harry, Hermione and Ron as they set out on their quest through the bleak English countryside to discover the locations of the remaining Horcruxes. Being on the run from Voldemort and the Death Eaters along with the immensity of their journey, begins to take a toll on them. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson are perfect in their roles as they all give the viewers such strong emotions of fear and frustration with such a natural realism that I myself could not help but be pulled right into the English countryside.

While I am sure some may find the middle part of the movie to be slow and tedious as Harry, Hermione and Ron fail to not only figure out a way to destroy the Horcruxes, but they also are making no headway into finding any of the other Horcruxes. This lack of progress slowly mounts between the trio and truly tests the friendships they have been building the past six years. Through all of this the audience is left in their seating feeling like the movie is going nowhere. This feeling of going nowhere is the point that is being made, because at this point Harry, Hermione and Ron are truly going nowhere themselves.

While the film gives the direction of going nowhere, it still provides us with some great action sequences that do not disappoint. Whether the action sequence is that of multiple Harry's, a wild flying motorcycle chase to even Harry, Ron and Hermione's daring movement into the Ministry of Magic this only builds up to a lot of anticipation for what should be some amazing action sequences in part two. While the action sequences as well as the feelings of despair as Voldemort's power grows could have really bogged down the overall mood of the audience the film makers bring in moments that definitely help to lighten the mood and bring hope that good can win out in the end.

While amazing visual effects have been a true staple with the Harry Potter franchise. Aspects of the seventh installment of the franchise go above and beyond anything that has been done previously in the franchise and to make a comparison is simply not fair to the previous installments. The crowning achievement of the effects happens with the telling of the story of the Deathly Hallows. While the direction of telling this story could have gone various ways, the direction to use shadow animation was brilliant. The shadow animation not only told the story,but because of the black and white feeling to me it gave it a feeling of how someone might imagine the story within their own head. The visuals are so stunning that in essence words would truly not be needed to tell the story of what is taking place. This animation if it was eligible for Oscar consideration would have been able to win an Oscar on its own.

The only drawback or disappointment of this first installment of the final book is that it did not end up being in 3D like it was originally slated, but even this was very slight because I am not sure that it being in 3D would have brought much more to this strong film.

I was truly happy to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One rebound from the disappointment I felt from the sixth movie. This installment gave the audience a great depth of character which only draws the audience further into the feelings of despair and frustration that Harry, Ron and Hermione feel throughout. I simply can not see enough about the shadow animation visuals and hope to see it employed some more in future film making. I am giving Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One four buckets of popcorn out of five. While I know it may be out of theaters soon I would highly recommend this movie to be one that gets seen in the theater for the first screening. Which can definitely be possible because I expect part one to be re-released in theaters a couple weeks before part two is released this summer.

-The Movie Man

Unknown

Unknown follows suit like a lot of movies as of late in that it is adapted from a book. Unknown follows Doctor Martin Harris who after being in a car accident, awakens to find his identity has been stolen and his wife does not recognize him but instead states that the impostor is her husband. This immediately puts the audience on a ride to finding out what happened and how Dr. Harris can get his life back. Unknown ends up being a great action ride from start to finish that really puts the pedal to the metal from the get go.

Liam Neeson continues his recent streak of strong performances and shows that he is a bona fide force to be reckoned with as an action star. Neeson really commands the screen with great power and presence that he becomes ageless in the eyes of the audience. The ease that Neeson is able to not only able to portray true emotions from confusion to determination, but that he also does all the action sequences with such a commanding presence that the audience does not see the age of Neeson, but just sees the character on the screen he is portraying and the desire the audience has for him to succeed. Along with Neeson, Diane Kruger gives a stellar performance as she is pulled into this wild adventure because she simply rescued him from the car accident. Kruger is most notably known for her role in the National Treasure films, and like in her previous films she is not overpowered on screen by her big name co-stars. She plays her role to perfection as the audience wants to believe that she will help Neeson out yet we feel the great inner conflict as she tries to decide whether to just run away from this or if she truly wishes to help Neeson.

The other supporting cast members work superb and really are the great glue of the movie that help strengthen the story and allow Neeson and Kruger to have such a strong chemistry. Notably, Bruno Ganz, who plays Jurgen, a former East German Secret Police Officer plays his role with a little bit of old man humor. He also ends up playing a great role as he helps to keep the movie running at a couple of points as his character helps to tie in and reveal some very key plot points. January Jones in really one of her first major roles, at least that I am aware plays Mrs. Harris with real poise and at the same time a great mysteriousness. This mysteriousness she plays is the most intriguing to me as she has the audience trying to figure out if she is part of the identity theft or is her life being threatened in some way to go a long with everything that is happening.

The camera work in Unknown for all the different action sequences is exactly what the audience wants by immersing them right into the action. This immersion really shines through during the main car chase sequence. Moving the shots alternately from inside the vehicle to outside to give a street view of the chase, helps the audience see what is happening and not move the camera so fast from different angles that it is hard to tell what each car is doing. The street view gives the audience precisely what they want in that they can see what is happening and yet they still feel immersed in the movie and that they are not just merely watching it. The film makers do not make the same mistake that happens so often in action fight sequences, Unknown they do not get so entangled with multiple camera angles instead they keep the cameras separated from the fight that the audience is actually able to tell what is happening in the fight and not trying to guess from the shaky camera action shot who pulled off what move within the fight.

The story/plot for Unknown did exactly what the story needs to do in a movie. The story does everything it needed to not only keep me on the edge of my seat but had me trying to figure out what was coming next. With the screenplay being adapted from a book, I am very curious and interested in reading the book and seeing how it compared to the movie. While I won't give anything away, Unknown does give a couple of good twists and turns that were very fresh and not ones that I recall being in action movies of the past.

Unknown is a great edge of your seat action movie that leaves the audience feeling like they just got their money's worth. I am giving Unknown three and three-fourths buckets of popcorn out of five. Neeson is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors as he gives great performances anytime he is on the screen. Unknown is a film that I would suggest one to see in the theaters. It was definitely worth the price of the ticket and it is a movie that will be added to my movie collection someday.

-The Movie Man