Tower Heist

   There are those times when you look at the movies schedule and you scratch your head wondering what in the world there is to watch.  Most of the movies during the October-November months really don't have that "movie theater" appeal.  Sure a good Netflix, Redbox, or Blockbuster rental but again not a real good reason to watch at the theaters.  I had a day off from work and was invited to go watch a movie with some of my friends.  Those friends having more leisure time than me are able to watch more movies than I am so this was the last choice on the list that appealed to our somewhat shallow minds.
    This is a comedy that has Ben Stiller being his usual typecast self.  The self motivated, anally retentive go getter that is funny because of the more than awkward situations that you see him get into.  Eddie Murphy and his brand of over the top in your face loud brashness that only Eddie can do was a bright spot in this one.  The other actors did a decent job of playing back up and brought in some other laughs as well.
      The premise of the movie is interesting.  Nothing that really hasn't been seen in any Oceans 11-13 movie but the idea behind this one is its not professionals that are doing the heist.  Its a bunch of misfit unemployed workers of a condo in Manhattan NY.   This does provide some funny and interesting situations.
     The movie has crass humor in it.  There are plenty of innuendos and some "minor" cussing.  With the PG-13 rating you wouldn't expect a lot of the harsh words to come out but there is an occasional bomb throughout the film.  I would recommend sticking to the PG-13 rating and leave this for the kids at least 13 and up.  I would not recommend this as a theater experience but more of a take home rental.  Its good for some laughs and to lighten up the mood.

Captain America: The First Avenger

The time for the Super Hero movies is now. There are those episodes in history where for a few years you get bombarded with movies of the same ilk. In the 80's it was the cheesy sci-fi/fantasy flicks with Conan the Barbarian and its like leading the pack. In the 70's and early 80's it was the gritty crime drama with Dirty Harry leading that race. For now we have the comic/super hero movies to deal with. Not saying any of this is bad in any way. I myself loved the campy fantasy pics of the 80's, and who doesn't love a good Dirty Harry one liner movie.

    Captain America lives up to the genre that its in. It is a movie filled with lots of action and does continually move in a generally forward direction. To those of you who are fans of the Marvel Adventures, one of the good things is they did not venture far from the storyline in this one. The main focus of the movie actually was on Captain America amazingly. Usually in a movie like this the character development is lacking but we see a lot of that with the Cap. Sadly there isn't much room left for the other characters which could make for a great side story. The movie stayed true though and pretty much left all of the other characters on the back burner. This is probably a good thing. Why develop characters that will never be in another movie?
      The acting was decent. Tommy Lee Jones plays a great General, Matrix bad dude Hugo Weaving does a great job as the Red Skull, and Chris Evans (even though has played other Marvel Super Heros sic. Human Torch) was a good fit for Captain America. Besides the token female role in the movie, there really isn't much room for any other acting, but its Captain America, you don't watch a movie like this to see acting. You watch Captain America to see a man throw a sweet looking shield and have it boomerang back to him.
      There is violence and explosions so some of the young children might not enjoy this much but overall its an action flick that makes its way into the Summer Blockbuster Extravaganza. My only let down of sorts and not major just minor annoyance was the ending "boss battle" was kind of lackluster. It seems shows are starting to lose their creative edge when trying to figure out how to off the bad guy in a grandiose type of manner. It was a fun movie, fast paced and hardly a dull moment. Watch with your children 8 and up, especially the boys, and both parents and children will be entertained.

Rainbows End

     Rainbows end hasn't been released as of yet.  I have had the pleasure of watching this movie a few times and hope that my brother does not mind me posting a review here on my blog.  (I will beg forgiveness later)  The movie is about a conglomerate of oddballs from deep East Texas who are traveling for various reasons to California to find their pot of gold and the end of the rainbow.  Characters like Audrey Dean the olden oracle who wears short shorts and walks around town twirling a baton, or Brian the Birdman who just wants to get his roosters into the movie business,  Peter who is stuck in the 70's and is a one man singing sensation, and Country Willie who just wants to sing and play guitar with the Legendary Stardust Cowboy.
     Rainbows end is an up and down thrill ride filmed as if it were a documentary.  Some may say mocumentary, but all of the "acting" is mostly unscripted and the ups and downs of the movie are things that truly happened to this oddball bunch as they traveled across the county.  This is a very low budget movie.  There is no CGI and special effects are left to the musical score.  Most of which are provided by the band in the movie Country Willie and Cosmic Debris.  This a comedy of which few have seen.
    This isn't for the faint of heart.  It isn't a love story and the true meaning of the movie is much deeper than a lot of people expect.  It is a comedy of Epic proportions and the laughs rarely ever stop.  The characters are real.  This may be hard for some people to wrap their minds around this fact but the acting wasn't contrived it was these guys being who they are.  If you love independent films, if you really want to laugh and don't mind a Napoleon Dynamite style of humor than this movie is for you.  If you want to see an action film with fighting scenes and huge amounts of CGI and stunts galore, then well stick around there will always be those but this movie is a one of a kind.  The only thing is now for the movie to be released to the public.  Hopefully this is sooner than later. 
  

Cowboys &. Aliens

     Who on earth would go up against the cowboys of the old Wild West. Nobody that's who. No man in their right mind would tangle with the roughest, toughest, baddest dudes that ever existed. These guys were so tough that they drank cups of molten metal and pissed out nails. Their shooting so good that they would target practice on flies from 50 yards out shooting from the hip and never ever miss. The Cowboys of the Wild West were Chuck Norris's Idols and to this day he still cries because he knows he could never quite achieve such badassery. So who on Earth would ever take on said cowboys. Nobody, but from another planet now that is a different story. Aliens not knowing of the baddest beings to ever walk on two feet would make the mistake of landing in a time when humans where at their meanest and their toughest. It was their first and final mistake.
      Cowboys Vs. Aliens adds its mark in the great Summer blockbuster run. Opening with the likes of Smurfs to me it is a no brainer on which one I would pick to watch. Without children in tow I was able to take my wife and go see this movie. The acting was fairly decent. Olivia Wilde though not the best actress was good eye candy and did a good job. Daniel Craig even though not of the American persuasion still did a pretty good job of playing a grizzled cowboy type. Harrison Ford did a good job as well. The character development was well rounded and actually had you thinking about who was a "good" guy and who wasn't. Besides you know the bad guy aliens. The Aliens where well done. Its nice to see movies that don't overdo the CGI and use enough to make you want a little more.
Its an action packed movie. There are a few slow moments in this one but are quickly squashed and are followed up by the big explosions and fast paced action. You can't go into a movie like this thinking that things look real or don't look real, if you do that you need to seriously take a look at the name of the movie. If you really want realistic movies go watch the Smurfs or Twilight, that will give you huge dose of reality. Its an action movie with good effects and an intriguing story line.
      There are deaths, loud booms and a more adult oriented content. I would suggest the 10 and up crowd for this one. Amazingly though at the theater it was filled with more of the older crowd and when I say older I mean 50+. I think Harrison Ford was the draw for that one. If you don't like Sci-Fi then skip this one. If you like gritty westerns and Sci-Fi then you are going to love this one. Its got the best of both worlds. Don't go watch this one for the Oscar contention that it won't be up for, go to watch it for the action and not to mention its always cool to see Harrison Ford doing action movies.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Harry Potter and the .... Part 2(now known as HP)  I took my wife to see this and chose to leave the children at home. That was probably a good idea. As seen from the last few HP movies and from reading the books, the last few movies were going to be dark. And of course the mood and the on screen views were definitely dark.
I can see why there was a two part final movie. They wanted to make more money. Pretty much the only real reason. I think that with a little bit of an extension of time the Final movie could have been just one part. But then again why do that when one can make twice the amount of money. But alas I am writing a movie review not a review on the greed and corruption of Hollywood which we all know exists but we love to soak it all up.
The movie was Dark. I wouldn't recommend children under the age of 11. There isn't a lot of blood but there is a lot of killing. Voldermort is a scary guy and some of the little ones might be scared off from all that. I would think that if you hadn't have read the books it wouldn't be hard to follow the movies but there would be holes that are hard to fill in. Some of the emotions you felt in the book from people dying aren't really there. I think due to time constraints they played the death scenes down and tried to hurry to the action scenes. This isn't a bad thing necessarily but you lose interest in characters when there isn't a mourning period of sorts. Acting was decent, its really hard to tell because it seemed this one was more about action than acting. Things did happen quickly and the flow was much better than part 1.
If you are a fan of HP films then this is a must. That is a no brainer right there. If you have been hiding in a dark dank hole or living in your momma's basement for the past 5 years or so then first get a life, otherwise go watch the movie. It was a good summer flick. A lot of people will be dissapointed at the ending but its OK that's what happens when you get tired of writing a series and can't really figure out how to off the bad guy in a glamorous awesome way. Its not an Oscar contender for best Screenplay but is a good visual ride.