Dylan Dog: Dead of Night

Movie: Dylan Dog: Dead of Night

Genre: horror-comedy

Synopsis: This is a tongue-in-cheek movie about Dylan Dog (Brandon Routh) is a private detective in New Orleans.  Formerly, he was the designated arbiter or investigator for disputes between werewolves, vampires and zombies.  He is dragged back into the business when a man is brutally killed by a “monster”.  He is soon tracking down a device, lost for centuries, that will allow the vampires to  invoke a super-monster who will be able to wipe out all opponents.

My two cents: I got a kick out of this movie.  Definitely not to be taken too seriously.  There is a lot of humor . . . such as a spare parts store where the “parts” are body parts that zombies buy to replace body parts that have fallen off.  I hope there are some sequels.

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The Conspirator

Movie: The Conspirator

Genre: historical drama

Synopsis: This is the story of the trial of Mary Surratt (Robin Wright) as a conspirator in the assassination of Lincoln.  She is defended by Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy) and tried by a military tribunal. The evidence against Mary is thin, to say the least – but someone had to be punished . . .

My two cents: A fascinating movie.  Until this movie, I had never heard of any conspiracy trial related to the assassination of Lincoln.  The arguments made for trying a civilian by a military tribunal sounded like they could have come straight out of the law firm of Cheney, Rumsfeld and Ashcroft.   There was the classic conflict between those who felt that the end (giving the country closure over the assassination) justified the means (trampling all over an individual’s civil rights) versus those who hold the individual’s constitutional rights to be sacred and untouchable.  It definitely gives you food for thought.  Although it is easy to see both sides, the movie definitely comes down on the side of the individual/  I am just mystified how I managed to go my whole life without hearing about this trial.

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Fast Five: The IMAX Experience

Movie: Fast Five: The IMAX Experience

Genre: action thriller

Main characters:

            Dominic Toretto          (Vin Diesal)

            Brian O’Conner          (Paul Walker)

            Mia                              (Jordana Brewster)

            Hobbs                          (Dwayne Johnson)

Synopsis: Number 5 in the Fast and the Furious franchise, features a lot of characters from the last one, plus a new cop: Hobbs.  Hobbs leads a team that the FBI calls on when they need help.  He is an unstoppable force.  When Dominic is broken out of prison, Hobbs is brought in to track him down.  Meantime, Dominic and Brian and Mia have moved to Rio de Janeiro, where they are planning a $100 million heist – with the $100 million belonging to the reigning crime king of Brazil.

My two cents: I loved this movie.  Granted, the plot is a bit thin and some of what  they get away with is  a little hard to swallow – but the car chases are epic, the fights – both with and without guns – are great and there are some very satisfying explosions.  The whole movie was just made for IMAX.  The big showdown fight between Dominic and Hobbs was worth the price of admission.  With IMAX, you could feel the punches.  Also, the theft of some cars from a train was one of the most innovative heists I have seen.  Other than maybe being a few minutes too long, I have no complaints about the movie.  Also, Dwayne Johnson must be doing some serious body building.  He looked awfully ripped in “Faster”, but that was nothing compared to how he looked in this movie.

If you go to see it, don’t leave before the credits are finished. 

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Arthur

Movie: Arthur

Genre: comedy

Synopsis: Arthur (Russell Brand) is a perpetual drunk with no  purpose in life other than to have fun.  This quest is possible because he is heir to a huge family-owned corporation and has a virtually unlimited supply of  money.  He has his nanny, Hobson (Helen Mirren) to keep him out of serious trouble.  Arthur’s mother (Geraldine James) gives him an ultimatum.  Either marry the girl of her choice (Susan, played by Jennifer Garner) or she will cut off his supply of money.  As in the original movie, Arthur cannot stand Susan and instead, falls in love with Naomi (Greta Gerwig) a New York City tour guide.  The ensuing battle between Arthur, his mother, Susan and Susan’s father (Nick Nolte) take up the rest of the movie – along with Arthur’s romance with Naomi and a crisis with Hodges that finally makes Arthur grow up.

My two cents: The original “Arthur” is one of my all-time favorite comedies.  I was fully prepared to not like this remake.  I was pleasantly surprised that it held up pretty well.  I think Helen Mirren wearing a Darth Vader helmet and saying “wash your winkie” in Darth Vader’s voice was as funny as anything Sir John Gielgud did in the original.  I also thought the humor was really original.  For example, Arthur explaining why he does not trust horses: “Their shoes are permanent.  Who makes that sort of commitment?”  I thought that from a pure funny drunk standpoint, Dudley Moore was better, but from an over-all standpoint, I have to say I think Russell Brand may have been funnier.  As much a tribute to the writing as to Russell Brand.  One big disappointment was the theme song.  The original “Arthur’s Theme” won an Oscar.  Although the song played during the closing credits, it was played so differently that I almost did not recognize it.  I also would like to have seen more of Nick Nolte.  His character owned every scene he was in.

Bottom line: if you like laughing, definitely see this movie.  

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Rio the Movie 3D

Movie: Rio the Movie 3D

Genre: animated comedy

Voices:

            Blu          Jesse Eisenberg

            Jewel       Anne Hathaway

            Linda       Leslie Mann

            Nico        Jamie Foxx

            Pedro       Will.i.Am

            Rafael      George Lopez

Synopsis: Blu is a rare Blue Macaw who was captured as a baby.  He ended up being raised in Minnesota by Linda.  Years later, Linda learns that Blu is one of only two Blue Macaws left in the world. A scientist convinces Linda to take Blu to Rio de Janeiro to meet Jewel – the other remaining Blue Macaw.  Bad guys steal both macaws and plan to sell them.  Jewel has escape plans – but things are complicated when she learns that Blu never learned to fly.  They end up getting a host of birds to help them get back to Linda and the scientist.

My two cents: This was a really fun movie.  Watching the flocks of parrots and other tropical birds in 3D was worth the price of admission.  The colors were absolutely breathtaking. This movie was one that definitely deserved being in 3D.  Plus . . . it takes place during Carnival . . so we got to see the beautiful floats and costumes in color and 3D.  The story line is amusing.  It took a while to stop thinking of The Social Netowrk every time Blu talked. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie

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Your Highness

Movie: Your Highness

Genre: adventure-comedy

Main characters:

Fabious (James Franco), the noble and heroic prince

Thadeous (Danny McBride), the cowardly prince who is the medieval version of a stoner

Isabel (Natalie Portman), a butt-kicking warrior out for vengeance

Leezar (Justin Theroux), the evil wizard.

Snopsis:

Fabious has just returned from yet another heroic journey.  He is preparing for his wedding, when his bride-to-be is kidnapped by the evil wizard, Leezar.  Fabious immediately plans a quest to rescue the damsel.  The cowardly Thadeous wants nothing to do with the rescue, but his father forces him to accompany his brother.  Things go bad quickly – and then the brothers  are joined in their quest by Isabel, who has been hunting the wizard for years.  Naturally, they have to brave many perils before they catch up to Leezar.

My two cents:  This movie had a lot of potential.  Unfortunately, from my perspective, someone made the decision to go for teen-age gross-out humor rather than keeping it on a little higher level,  I find movies like this frustrating because the underlying idea is very funny, but the crudeness of the humor is such that many of my friends would probably just walk out if they saw it.  For example, in one sequence, Thadeous is trying to cut the horn off  of a Minotaur to keep as a trophy.  When he finds out you cannot cut a Minotaur’s horn off,  he cuts off the penis instead.  For the rest of the movie we get to watch a large penis dangling around Thadeous’ neck.  I realize I should have expected this, especially given Danny McBride’s involvement as a writer as well as an actor . . . but I just got tired of cringing from the vulgarity.

That said . . . Natalie Portman is great eye-candy and is fun to watch beat the crap out of people.  The movie has a lot of clever humor – just a bit crude for my taste.

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