Flying Swords of Dragon Gate 3D

Movie: Flying Swords of Dragon Gate 3D

Genre: martial-arts action

Synopsis: Kind of tough to explain.  A bunch of really bad guys are out to kill a royal servant who had the misfortune to get pregnant.  She is aided by several good guys  - one of who is played by Jet Li.  There is a lot of old-style kung-fu-movie fighting.  Some of the bad guys are also after a buried treasure in the desert.  Everything comes to a head at the Dragon Inn when a monster dust storm hits.

My two cents: I was not expecting this type of movie – where the everyone seems to be able to fly when they need to during a fight, where a flick of a finger can cause a telephone-pole sized post fly through the air.  If you like totally unrealistic kung-fu fights, you might like this. 

[94]

Frank & Robot

Movie: Frank & Robot

Genre: drama

Synopsis: In a not-too-distant future, Frank (Frank Langella) is a retired cat burglar.  He is getting increasingly forgetful and his son (James Marsden) is getting worried.  So . . . he gets his father a robot companion.  This robot can cook, clean house, and carry on intelligent conversations.  It turns out it can also be conned into learning to be a cat burglar.

My two cents: This was definitely a different type of movie.  It was very much a character driven movie.  There was a lot of humor and was very enjoyable. There was a bitter-sweet twist near the end.

[92]

Killer Joe

Movie: Killer Joe

Genre: thriller

Synopsis: Killer Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) is a police detective who moonlights as a killer-for-hire.  He is a thoroughly evil character.  Next, we have Chris Smith (Emile Hirsch); his father, Ansel (Thomas Haden Church); his step-mother, Sharla (Gina Gershon); and his sister, Dottie (Juno Temple).  This family would have to go to finishing school to achieve the status of white-trash. Chris, Ansel, and Sharla want to hire Killer Joe to kill Chris’s mother – so that his sister will inherit their mother’s life insurance.  When they cannot come up with the movie, Killer Joe requests something as collateral.  Let’s just say that Chris and Ansel’s carefully crafted plan does not exactly work out the way they intended.

My two cents: It was nice to see Matthew McConaughey in a role that was definitely out of his norm.  I really loved this movie.  It was gritty – but had an unexpected amount of humor thrown in.  Add to that a lot of unexpected plot twists and you have a pretty good movie.  If you are not put off by some graphic violence and some “R” rated nudity, give this movie a shot.  At the end of the movie, I just wanted to sit and reflect on it for a while.

[91]

The Apparition

Movie: The Apparition

Genre: horror

Synopsis: This movie stars Ashley Greene and Sebastian Stan as Kelly and Ben.  They have just moved into a new house in an almost deserted housing project.  Things start going bump in the night – and quickly get worse.  Their problems are traced back to Ben’s involvement with college psychic experiment that went horribly awry.

My two cents: I believe I could have written a better screenplay when I was in Junior High.  The plot and storyline were just plain lame.  I would not waste my time on this movie if it were free.

[90]

Premium Rush

Movie: Premium Rush

Genre: thriller

Synopsis: Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a Manhattan bicycle messenger known as Wilee (as in the Road Runner’s coyote).  He is the best messenger in the city and is totally fearless.  He is given a special delivery that turns out to be wanted by some very bad people – people who spend most of the movie trying to get the package from him any way they can, regardless of how many people are killed along the way.

My two cents: The action in this movie never seems to let up. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was great in the lead.  The scenes of him flying through the city on his bike are simply breathtaking.  If you like a lot of action, this movie will not disappoint.

[89]

The Bourne Legacy

Movie: The Bourne Legacy

Genre: spy thriller

Synopsis: The “Bourne” series continues with The Bourne Legacy.  It seems that Jason Bourne was just one of several agents produced by the Treadstone project.  This movie introduces us another one, Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner).  Aaron and one of scientists responsible for him (Rachel Weisz) spend most of the movie trying to avoid being killed while stopping a government program that has gone rogue.

My two cents: I was suspicious of a Bourne movie without Matt Damon – but Jeremy Renner does a pretty darned good job of picking up the Bourne mantle.

[88]