You remember that movie that came out a few years ago? It addressed racism, football, and the south? Had something to do with Titans and remembering them? Oh yea! Remember the Titans! Invictus is that movie . . . backwards. The film follows Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman), the newly elected black president of South Africa. From here its that story again, the whites hate the blacks and you guessed it, the blacks hate the whites. So what does the newly elected president do to solve these problems? Rugby. He tells the captain of the South African Rugby team (Matt Damon)  to win the world cup. . . Sounds crazy. So crazy it just might work.

I don't remember this scene

The rugby scenes are filmed excellent, and if you know nothing about rugby, don’t be worried. The “need to know” rules are explained in a brilliant scene where the white rugby team teaches a group of black children in a slum. I will say though, if you know a little about rugby before seeing this film you will get a little bit more out of the movie as every detail of the game isn’t explained. With the joking comparison of Remember the Titans aside, this is an excellent movie for any sports movie fan, South African fan, rugby fan, racism fan, Morgan Freeman fan, or a fan of strange poems called Invictus. Which as one last aside, the title is explained, I just don’t want to be ‘that guy’ and spoil it.

You're doing it wrong...

This film is very loosely based on Radio Caroline, a popular pirate radio ship with a similar history and style. It was director Richard Curtis’s intention to weave a fictional story around the many pirate stations of that era, rather, than base the tale on a factual story. The film follows the adventure and rebellion of Radio Rock.  Radio Rock is a pirate radio station in the middle of the North Sea that’s populated by an eclectic crew of rock and roll DJs. Richard Curtis does a wonder job portraying a band of rogue DJs that captivate Britain by playing the music that defined a generation; and their story to defy the government’s attempt at the suppression of free speech. A few of the dominate characters are: The Count, a big, brash, American god of the airwaves. Quentin, the boss of Radio Rock. Gavin, the greatest DJ in Britain who has just returned from his drug tour of America to reclaim his rightful position. Dave, an ironic, intelligent and cruelly funny co-broadcaster; and a fearsome British government official out for blood against the drug takers and lawbreakers of a once-great nation.

I truly enjoyed the movie and could not have anticipated a better ending.  Do not watch this film if you are seeking a documentary or a recounting of all true events. However, all in all the film seems to have more of an “artsy underdog” feel and was enjoyable to watch.  Pirate Radio has a truly remarkable soundtrack that seems to set the mood of the entire film.  The soundtrack has such artist as Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Turtles, The Kinks, and many more classic groups.

I interviewed a movie goer from England who reminisced of the time when she listened to the radio pirates out in the North Sea.  She too remarked that the film may not have been historically accurate, but it did seem to revive the memories and lives of past rebels.

MPAA Rating: Rated R for language, and some sexual content including brief nudity
Runtime: 135 minutes

The stars Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, Malin Akerman, Kristin Davis, Kristen Bell and Faizon Love all unite in Universal Pictures’ the comedy Couples Retreat. Based on an original idea of Vaughn’s, the comedy follows four Midwestern couples who embark on a journey to a tropical island resort. While one of the couples is there to work on their marriage, the other three set out to jet ski, spa and enjoy some fun in the sun. They soon discover that participation in the resorts couples therapy is not optional. Suddenly, their group-rate vacation comes at a price. What follows, is an attempt at a hilarious look at real world problems faced by all couples.

However, I would not recommend this as a “couples” movie. There is the an occasional chuckle or even a laugh during the film not it still does not make up for the 113 minutes that you have to sit there. The more I hear the movie discussed the more I find that the audience seems to hold to one of two extremes. Either the film is enjoyed in the entirety or the audience seems to completely dislike the movie. It seems that the film was shot with the goal of including as many “witty” and “funny” lines as possible regardless of the storyline.

Runtime: 113 min
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 on appeal for sexual content and language. (originally Rated R for some sexual material.)

Stephen Sommers, the same director that brought you Catch Me If You Can, The Mummy trilogy, Van Helsing, and much more wrote and directed G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.  I would advise against expecting to much from the film.  It is comparable to Transformers 2:Revenge of the Fallen.  Visually, the movie is pleasing, and while in a cinema with excellent sound the action sequences truly come alive.

Some may remember the classic comic books or even the cartoon show G.I. Joe.  If that it the case you may be better off not even relating it to the movie.  The older cartoon emphasized the United States military and seemed to promote a since of patriotism.  However, Sommers’ movie portrays the division of Joes as not only from the various branches of the United States military but also from militaries of the world.  The focus is shifted away from the USA but onward to a “world order”.  During the film the Joes answer to a union of world leaders.  The suggestion remains below the surface but was something I found as an interesting theme throughout the movie.

There were also a number of inconsistencies that some may take issue with during G.I. Joe.  Internet Movie Database listed a few:

• The scar on Duke’s cheek changes size throughout the film. This is particularly visible in the beginning where it is quite long and end where it is a lot smaller.
• During the scene where the nanomites are being shown to the NATO command, one of the soldiers in the audience has a laptop which is only open to the Windows Log In screen.
• During the Baroness’s attempted theft of the nanites near the beginning of the film, the military convoy with Duke and Ripcord is seen using civilian H2 Hummers instead of military Humvees.

Runtime:  118 min

Rated PG-13 for strong sequences of action violence and mayhem throughout.

The long anticipated film Inglourious Basterds was written and directed by Quentin Tarantino.  The film truly has Tarantino’s unique touch.  Some have even described Inglourious Basterds as a mix of the Dirty Dozen, a spaghetti western (notably The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly) ¸ and Reservoir Dogs. Once you have made the connection between the preceding films and styles there is yet another detail that complicates the storyline.  All the way through Inglourious Basterds there are actually two separate plots that unfold simultaneously.

The first that the audience is introduced to is actually the story of Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent), a young Jewish/French girl.  More importantly within the first act the character of Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) is developed before the viewer.  It is the Colonel that ties the two plots together in somewhat of a loose fashion.

Finally, the audience is introduced to the Basterds.  This group of soldiers is comprised of Jewish/Americans who roam through France ahead of the Allied lines causing havoc within the German army.  The film follows the exploits and situations that the group faces during their time behind enemy lines.

Without giving out any spoilers, it is important to note that this film is VERY graphic.  However, Tarantino did not only focus on action and violence to hold up the movie.  Inglourious Basterds possesses a fabulous dialog that easily rivals anything else produced this year.  Inglourious Basterds is not simply a World War II film with blood, and guts, and big guns.  There seems to be an artistic feel to the movie.  Between the camera filters, angles, and the fabulous soundtrack that support the scenes it is truly a work of art.

Random trivia fact taken from IMDB.com:

Eli Roth and Omar Doom were nearly incinerated filming the fire sequence in the theater. During tests the flame temperatures reached 400 degrees centigrade, and during the take the set burned out of control and the temperature of the ceiling above them reached 1,200 degrees centigrade (2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.) Quentin Tarantino was seated on a crane operating the camera in a fireproof suit, and none of them wanted to back down and ruin the shot. Fire marshals said that another fifteen seconds of filming and the steel structure would have collapsed, incinerating the actors. Roth and Doom were treated for minor burns.

Quentin Tarantino interviewed by Eli Roth

Runtime:  153 min

Rated R for strong graphic violence, language and brief sexuality.

This summer has had a variety of high budget blockbusters that, with their bloated budgets and high profile actors, have brought mediocre quality to the table as far as cinematic enjoyment goes. One film however that broke this previous trend is District 9; with only a $30 million budget, (compared to Transformers 2:Revenge of the Fallen’s budget of $200 million) the film is visually stunning and offers a deep story. In this review, I am going to be quiet about the plot, because going into this film really not knowing anything about it made the ride much more enjoyable. I will say however, that the plot is not predictable, in fact I had a giddy smile on my face in parts of the movie because I had no idea what was going to happen next!

Visually, this movie is stunning. End of story. The effects in this movie make Transformers look like claymation. This is this first time in a film, where I literally forgot that some of the characters on screen were CG. The eyes of the aliens feel real, and when you look at them, its as if you can tell they have life– A true visual accomplishment. Do not forget either that this movie is rated R for a reason, the gore is present and messy. Lets just say that if someone is going to die, there usually aren’t many pieces left over after the alien weaponry is  used, and lets leave it at that.

The audio is immersive and felt great in theaters. There are many “Cloverfield” moments where the audio completely sells whats on the screen and makes the world feel even more real than it looks. I will be honest I came into this movie concerned that there were no “big name” actors, but the lack thereof makes the mockumentary style of the film work on more levels than one. Do not be fooled that this film is simply an action movie or a sci-fi movie, understand that this movie has many great themes and symbolism at its roots that build an experience that we have not felt in a long time in cinema. If you are over 18, and can handle some gore in action scenes, I highly recommend that you see District 9, as it is for me, the best movie of the year so far.

Matt: The Spirit is a fictional character, a comic book crime-fighter created by writer-artist Will Eisner in 1940.  This comic was originally published as a seven page insert into the Sunday paper.  One might wonder how an entire film could be composed of comic inserts and maintain a fluid story line.  The answer to this dilemma is that it cannot be done!  As a film The Spirit was very scattered and viewers that I questioned were still confused about the storyline after they watched the entire movie.  The Spirit is filmed in a similar style as Sin City.  The women found throughout The Spirit are gorgeous and have the same eye candy appeal as was common to Sin City. Predominately everything is black and white; however specific colors are emphasized to set the mood of the seen.  For example, when blood is shown reds found in the environment are almost exaggerated.

The Spirit seems to be set in a 1920’s time period, but there are constant uses of modern technology.  The characters can be seen driving an automobile from the 1920’s and talking on a Samsung cell phone.  Laptops and contemporary weapons also were able to be worked into the story.

The cast stars Gabriel Macht, Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah Paulson, Scarlett Johansson, and Eva Mendes which seem to give the illusion of an incredible movie experience.  However, the plot and overall storyline was very segmented and failed to connect to much of anything.  The execution of the movie could be compared to viewing a collection of short clips involving the same actors.  For instance, the villain (Samuel L. Jackson) can be seen conducting genetic experiments and pairing a human head to a foot.  Yet, not to long later emerges with a Rambo like grenade launcher and is involved in a ridiculously explosive street battle.

If you decide to watch The Spirit I would recommend at least reading a summary of the comic strips and entering with a general knowledge of the intended storyline.  This would be a great rainy day movie, when you want to do nothing but mindlessly watch something.

General Info:

Release Date: December 25, 2008

Running Time: 102 min.

Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of stylized violence and action, some sexual content and brief nudity.

Below is a link to the trailer:

The Spirit Trailer

Matt: Yes Man was directed by Peyton Reed and stars Jim Carrey and Zooey Deschanel.  Ace Ventura and The Mask, were absolutely great movies, yet this is certainly not one of Jim Carrey’s great movies.  Yes Man tells the story of Carl Allen, a recent divorcee who seeks to isolate himself from the people around him.  This all continues until Carl meets an old friend of his who persuades him to attend a seminar that will allegedly change his life.  At the end of the seminar Carl is convinced that he must reply with Yes to every question and opportunity presented to him in order to achieve personal happiness.  The movie continues to follow all the positive and negative effects of Carl’s responses.  Carl eventually falls in love with Allison (Zooey Deschanel) and more comedy and drama ensue.  Overall this movie contained a fair amount a comedic moments; however there seemed to be a drop between them.  The movement from the comedy in the movie to the romance and love between the characters seemed strained.  On an interesting note, during the production of the film Jim Carry broke three ribs while “pretending” to fall, and chose to bunji jump in the place of his stunt double during one of the takes.  The movie does have some great comedy but is nothing to be compared to the Wedding Crashers.  It is worth renting when it comes out on dvd, but I do not feel it is worth paying to see it in theaters.

Running Time: 104 minutes
Rated: PG-13 for crude sexual humor, language and brief nudity