I Love You Phillip Morris (2009–102 mins) Jim Carey, Ewen McGregor

This is a bit of a quirky yet normal for Jim Carey movie to watch. What complicates it even more is it’s based on a true story. Albeit a really fricking weird so damn odd story that it can only be true story. It’s based on the life of Steven Russell (Carey), who had a normal life at first. He was a husband, a police officer and a normal upstanding member of society. One day he gets into a nasty car wreck and it has an amazing effect on him. It brings about an epiffany that the world around him will never be the same.  In a nutshell he realizes he is secretly gay and in order to be gay he needs a ton of money so he becomes a world class con man. Confused yet?  Don’t worry the confusion doesn’t end there. While in prison for one of his many indiscressions he meets and subsequently falls in love with Phillip Morris (McGregor). Russell then proceeds to use his tallent of conning to try and get him and his new lover out of jail and keep themselves together forever and happy. But for a chronic con man it’s never easy.

This sounds like it could be a new version of “Catch Me if You Can” with different people. But it’s a big gay uncomfortable mess of a movie. I have no problem with the gay community, nor do I have problems with gay people.culture in movies. However, I think this movie goes for some over the top depictions, jokes, and dialoug just for laughs, which makes it cheap and shallow to me. It’s like they felt they were missing some thickness to the plot and jokes so hey let’s throw in some more over the top gay jokes and since it’s in a movie that we depict gay people as the protagonists it’s ok! Well, it’s just not. It comes off as uncomfortable and thrusts too much of it in our face that we lose the main crux of the plot and story in the mess. It’s a movie about a man who is so far in love that he engages in an obsession of conning which then infringes on his obsession of love. All becoming a vicious cylce.

Carey is decent in this film, kinda an odd obsession of his own I think, in which he plays a weird, on another planet character like in “Me ,Myself and Irene”. He sells it well and jumps into it 100% but the dialoug brings him down a bit even if he sells it well and gets us believing in him the whole time. McGregor however, isn’t quite as good. It almost feels like he is overacting here and it almost takes a bit away from the part.

Verdict–> Again like other movies I have seen lately it’s not BAD it’s just not GOOD either. Lovers of Jim Carey will enjoy it throughly but the main stream audience who is just here to be entertained should shy away. It will make you more uncomfortable then it will entertain you. There are some laughs here and there tho and the story is kinda interesting being that it is based on a true story. Not kid friendly at ALL. I can’t give it my GeekJock recommendation tho for anyone other then the biggest Jim Ca

Due Date (2010–95 mins) Robert Downey Jr. , Zach Galifianakis

Due date is a buddy/odd couple comedy about uptight business man Peter (Downey) who is trying to get back home across country to LA for the birth of his child. The complications come when Peter gets thrown off an airplane and has his wallet missplaced as wella s all of his luggage. Furthermore he is put on the no fly list leaving his fate in the hands of aspiring actor and full time whack-a-doodle Ethan (Zach G.). What this becomes is a comedy of errors and mishaps straight out of “Planes Trains and Automobiles”. However the difference is this is not as complete and enthralling as that gem was. Don’t get me wrong it is funny and entertaining, but the problem I have is there are luls of boredom in the movie. It’s a roller coaster of funny and engaging, and then boredom on the other side. I never fully bought into it completely enough to love it. LIke it but not love it. The more I think about the movie the more I think they really tried to be the Candy/Martin classic with a modern twist and trying to cash in on the Downey/Galifianakis popularity but just could not live up to the challenge. Some of the misshaps are so extreme physically and unbelieveable that it takes away from it all as well. They couple believeable things and unbelievable ones too much to wrap it all up together.

As for the actors we get decent yet a little overdone performances from the stars. Downey takes the high strung A-hole bit a little too far so that even in redemption we still can’t quite recover to like Peter fully. Galifianakis is good as usual in his usual schtick, but again it’s laid on a bit thick that even when he’s acting sane and with a plan it feels even more out of place. The bit parts were hit and miss. Jaime Foxx and Michelle Monaghan both phoned in their parts a bit whereas Danny McBride was excellent playing his usual brand of badass funny with a twist.

Verdict–> Don’t take my knocks on the movie as reasons to miss out on it, b/c I enjoyed it a bit but was disappointed b/c of how good it could have been. That being said don’t expect the laugh a minute movie. It’s a good watch but you will forget about it shortly after, meaning you won’t rush out to see it again with everyone you know. Rent it b/c there aren;t t

Found this over at comicbookmovie.com. It’s an extended trailer for the # 1 movie I am looking forward to this year… Green Lantern. The trailer basically gives you almost ALL the back story you could hope for. Why do I love this movie? Well, first Green Lantern is among my favorite DC heroes, and secondly I was always a HUGE HUGE HUGE fan of the Green Lantern Corps. This movie showcases not only Hal Jordan but introduces us to a ton of members of the corps.

I am fairly certain the second movie will showcase Sinestro’s fall from grace and him becoming the big bad villain. It’s a great story and one which has played out in the comics and TV cartoons a ton of times. I hope it ends up as the sequel b/c it will easily be a hit with a strong story line like that.

Here is the trailer please let me know how you feel, b/c I hope everyone is as psyched as I am!

So as I get another year older (only a few more to 40!), and yet none too wiser, I sit here and think of the many things  I am wishing for this year as I blow out my proverbial candles on a great day in GeekJock life. From pop culture , gaming, sports, work, family, and recreation there is so much I can think of so hey why wait let’s get the party started right now!

The GeekJock’s Birthday Wishes

1. I would like this pollen season to END asap, so I can stop sneezing and rubbing my eyes raw.

2. I wish the Canes to spend money earlier this year in free agency and sign more impact players instead of 5 “role” players to fill out the roster. Mediocre hockey is no fun to watch…. Oh and for the love of God DO NOT RE-SIGN JONI PITKANEN!

3. I wish the Islanders and the town of Hempstead to come to an agreement and get a new building built. Players will want to play for a team with their youth and excitement if they don’t play in a 40 year old building that is constantly falling apart.

4. If the NY area Pro Hockey Writers Assoc wants to be idiots and boycott the voting for the NHL awards, I wish the NHL would give their voting rights to people who truely care. The fans and bloggers. WE would not abuse such a privilege and hold it over the heads of the teams as if their protest mattered. It only hurts the ones we love, the players.

5. I wish Diablo 3 would show up on my doorstep tomorrow. I’ll settle for coming out in 2011 tho.

6. I wish Star Wars:The Old Republic will be as good as Bioware says it will, and as good as millions of players are hoping it will be.

7. I wish RIFT would stop crashing my computer for no apparent reason what so ever. So annoying in fact, it might cause me to stop playing altogether.

8. I wish the Mets to finish over 500 and make a run at the wild card. I further wish them to never again sign aging , past their prime so they now suck, superstars to ridiculous contracts.

9. I wish my son to go to sleep before 2 hours have passed when we put him in his room for sleep.

10. I wish for cookies. After all who doesn’t want cookies?

11. I wish that the next few games Yucata would add to their site include…. Small World, Ascension, Thunderstone, Civilization (we can dream right?), Kingburg, Dominant Species,Alien Frontiers… Just to name a few

12. I wish the Jets would win a Conference Championship… You know start small and then work to the big one.

13. I wish that Target would get in more then 1 iPad at a time so I can actually buy one.

14. I wish the android app store would get as many (good) apps as Apple’s, so that I could buy an android tablet and not have to give the company I hate (Apple) any of my money.

15.  I wish for a pair of hands for the ice hockey rink. I seem to have lost mine and don’t think I will ever score again. Yet, as Bubba (resident idiot on my team) will inevitably say “you can’t lose what you never had!”

16. I also with Torchlight 2 were here, I miss that light fun addictive click fest.

17. I wish my lawn would mow itself.

18. I wish more people would “follow” me on Twitter and Facebook. (anyone who knows Felicia Day feel free to let her know how great this site is, I will truly owe you one )

19. I wish the  Green Lantern movie will be amazing and will be a hit at the box office. Spawning a bunch of sequels and a Justice League movie. After all us DC fanboys want to see JLA beat the Avengers!

20. I wish that my shoulder will hold out the whole baseball season instead of the Mid to late May that it’s usually toast.

So not too many are far fetched… Some dreaming, some wishful thinking and some will just never happen (I am looking at you Isles/Hempstead!)

So coming up on the Blog this week, tomorrow I head to a Hall Pass night for the GeekJock and couple of my buddies at the last home game (that I have tixx for) for the Canes. I will report on my thoughts (if I can remember them) and when they lose to the Red Wings, I will also be handing out my grades for the Canes players this year as well. Also coming up, 1 month in and is Rift STILL that good?

Stay tuned! And as always thanks everyone for reading!

When we look back on 2010-2011 NCAA College basketball season who will we say was the best team in the country? One of UCONN, Kentucky, VCU, or Butler, will end up being crowned “national champion”. Yet, can anyone truly say they are the best teams in the country? Everyone in the world loves the NCAA tournament, and “March Madness”. Granted it’s because all of us humans really just love the gambling aspect and chance to win the pools. It’s the same reason fantasy sports are so popular. It’s one thing to watch your favorite team but people would much rather have some stake in the game. It makes it that much more fun. Thus fantasy sports with players in just about every game, and March Madness pools with peoples brackets on the line are both huge things in our society. Think about it, would the 1st weekend of the NCAA tourney be anywhere NEAR as exciting if you didn’t have your bracket on the couch right next to you? Of course not. But back to my point. 90% of the time we get some upsets here and there but ultimately we get a winner of the tourney who has been a team who has been in the top 5 most of the year and has been # 1 or in the talks for # 1 at least some point int he season.

These 4 teams that are left, while show the tourney is fun as can be, also shows what is wrong with it as well. It’s a slap in the face of the idea of a “national champion” to see the caliber of team that will eventually be crowned champs. None of the 4 teams that are left have been in the talks at all this year as the best team, and no one will be able to say, “the best team won” when it is all said and done. Don’t take this the wrong way, this is not a rant b/c I think UNC should be there, b/c as much as I love them, they should not be there either. A great team, but not champs either. See, over the course of a tourney many factors have to go right to win. Even tho as a higher seed you play “lesser” teams you still have to play a ton of basketball to win it all. And in those games anything can and will, happen. Just look at the VCU – Kansas game or as mentioned earlier my UNC’s loss to Kentucky, more on that in a sec. The HUGE HUGE HUGE problem I have with college basketball is it’s the one sport of all of them that’s outcome can COMPLETELY be controlled by the referees. Other sports, no matter what happens, you can still manage to overcome the officials. Hockey, you can still score even if you spend more time short-handed. Baseball, no matter how many bad strike calls you get you are still going to be able to hit the ball and score. Basketball, not so much. Foul calls and lack there of, easily pre-determines the outcome. A friend of mine said to me the other day “fouls called in the beginning of the game are still fouls in the last minute of the game”. And I agree 10000%. However, this isn’t the case EVER in basketball. Refs consistantly call tickey tack things early in games and call completely different calls late in the game. It’s never called the same the whole game. Case in point, the UNC/Kentucky game. Ref’s called so many marginal fouls on Barnes and Henson early that they took the team out of the game. Sure, any team “can” overcome this but you are taking a team out of the game calling 3 and 4 fouls on players before the second half is a minute old. And consequentially they did not use this same liberal foul calling in the last minute of the game as they did earlier.

With all this randomness involved in winning, and the tournament committee wanting more and more teams in the field, is it time we go to 1st and or 2nd round Bye’s for the top teams? Right now the top teams only have 1 or 2 slightly easier games, in which still random things can happen. Maybe there should be more concessions made for being one of the top 4 teams in the country or for being the top overall seed. You put bye’s in you can also get more precious teams in the tourney along with the 800 play in games they have as it seems it is now.  If this happens then perhaps we get a true “champion” or best team in the country over the mediocre winner of this years tournament that we will get.

Next, perhaps the BCS has it right? No matter what we have to say about the lack of playoff in college football what we CAN say without a shadow of a doubt is that one of the truly best teams in the country has won the national championship. Generally we get the arguments about one of the teams that are in the game not earning that shot at the game but either way they are pretty damn close. Is that the case this year in college basketball? Did they get even close with the best team in the country? I think not. We all may love the tourney and love the pools and love the brackets. Yett, by doing so we are ensuring that every few years or so we are going to have teams that end up as “national champions” in the record books being complete farces and not even close to the bestteam in the country for the year.

I am not ready to get rid of the big dance as of yet, but I think a good case could be made to look into some changes that could be made to it for the betterment of the crown of “National Champions”.

The Fighter (2010–115mins) M. Wahlberg, C. Bale, M. Leo, A. Adams

The Fighter made out pretty well at the Oscars this year. It was nominated for a bunch of awards and took home the statues for best supporting actor (Christian Bale) and actress (Melissa Leo). It’s a Rocky story about an up and coming boxer being trained in part, by his retired and troubled boxer brother. Mark Wahlberg is Mickey Ward, a boxer who isn’t the greatest in the world but has a big heart and some good trainers around him. His trainer brother is Dickey Eklund played by Christian Bale. Dickey is a smart boxer and smart trainer but his limiting factors in life are his pushy mother and chronic drug abuse. Dickey also once had great potential and who even fought Sugar Ray Leonard, but his own vices lead to his downfall and he just can’t seem to shake them. Mickey also meets a love interest in the movie who also sees the potential in him. Amy Adams is the head strong bad ass Boston chick Charlene. Charlene knows that with the right training Mickey can be a champ, but his misguided mother, crazy bunch of sisters, and drug addled brother are all holding him back.

It’s a great movie and definitely worth the best picture nomination. I haven’t seen all of the movies that were nominated to say whether it should have won, but as much as I enjoyed “Inception” this was a bit better then that. As far as the other wins, Christian Bale 100% deserved to win the best supporting actor award. He was truly amazing in the Dickey role. He has transformed himself physically and mentally into the personification of the drug addicted brother. He is so convincing in the part you don’t see Bale at all you are just drawn into the part and mesmerized by the train wreck. As for Melissa Leo as the misguided mother Alice, she is very good, and I still cannot believe how she can manage to morph herself into the different roles she has done lately and she’s better and better with each one. However, as good as she was in this movie, the statue truly should have gone to Amy Adams. Adams is more believable as the girlfriend and delivers a more powerful role then Leo. Even tho I cannot fault either one and they both are brilliant in my mind Adams delivers the better of the 2 performances.

I am a huge Wahlberg fan and love his work and ability to do drama and comedy well. Unfortunately I think he is one of the few areas in “The Fighter” that I was not all that impressed with (other then the awfully choreographed fight scenes). I don’t see young boxer Mickey in him, I see him just being Mark Wahlberg as a boxer. The film doesn’t suffer from this but when you think back to the movie the things that truly stand out are Adams and Bale. It’s worth seeing the movie is just for their performances.

Verdict–> A great movie with some oscar winning/deserving performances. Pick it up when you can and watch it, just a great rental.

It’s Kind of a Funny Story (2010– 101 mins) K. Gilchrist, E. Roberts, Z. Galifianakis 

Craig (Gilchrist), is a depressed high school student going through a rough time. He’s got a whack a-doodle family, not one who isn’t loving or abusive but just out there. Dad doesn’t pay much good attention to anyone, mom who seems to be there but really isn’t for him, and a sister who is a child prodigy and the center of the family. Craig’s been to some shrinks and on some meds but still feels his life sucks, and wants out. He ends up at a mental health ward, where they are renovating the child ward so he ends up in the adult population. Naturally with movies like this there are plenty of colorful characters from all aspects of mental health issues. He ends up getting close to a deep depressive Bobby (Galfianakis), and a suicidal girl Noelle (Roberts). Through his one week mandatory stay at the facility, Craig learns more about his state of mind and that the world isn’t nearly as bad as he makes it out to be, and forges a life long bond with Noelle.

The movie itself is a low key good movie. It won’t blow anyone away but it’s got plenty of laughs and a good message. It has some good abstract scenes in which we are brought stylized into the thoughts and observations of Craigs mind with the world, and how he is dealing with his situation. I was impressed with the 3 main actor’s performances as well, but I think Galafianakis truly stands out in the film. He gets a ton of popularity from “The Hangover” where he was great but this spawned a ton of movies to throw him in there to do his schticky thing and many of them come up short on quality. Here, we get a real performance of a mentally troubled individual who they never give the miracle ending. Keeping it a bit more real to the story. They tend to leave him as a open plot point which is one area I have a problem with with the movie. Not that I have to have a happy ending but they evolve the character so much thru the story and then just use a one sentence to close up his story. It could have been fleshed out just a bit more and wouldn’t have taken much more time from it to do so.  

I enjoyed this movie on a few levels. First I tend to like some abstractness in telling stories and we get a bit of that here. My theory of comical whimsical narrators making movies much better works here as well. It’s also got good characters, funny smart dialog, and one hell of a great song scene. If there is anything other then the flat short ending for Bobby’s story that I didn’t like it would be that they are quite meticulous about telling stories and taking their time at bringing the story along, and then it seems the movie just resolves the main story and ends in one fell swoop. Blink when you think the movie is going well and you will miss that it is over.

While I think many people will like this movie, I think it has a possible good use to be shown to the teenage crowd. As all of us adults know, teenage years are a tough time in our lives and it’s very common to doubt ourselves or get down on the pressures of life. This movie really subtly brings up many of the issues and ideas kids come in contact with and so subtlety addresses them that it’s almost subliminal. It’s a great way to show teenagers that life goes on, and it’s not nearly as hard or as bad as you think it is. A great message movie in my opinion.

Verdict—> A very enjoyable light movie. Even with some abstract parts I don’t think they will turn off anyone who watches it. It’s got a wide appeal and you don’t only have to be a Galafianakis love to enjoy it. Pick it up at the red box when you can I think anyone will like it.

Life As We Know It (2010— 114mins) J.Duhamel, K. Heigl

Holly (Heigl) and Messer (Duhamel) are single adults who are best friends with a lovely married couple with a new baby girl. When this couple dies in an accident they find out that the couple have put it in their will that their last wishes are that Holly and Messer take care of their daughter. The kicker here is they are basically complete oposites. Holly owns her own business and is a bit of a nice girl. Messer is a playboy NBA broadcasting producer who lives life a bit fast and loose. They start the movie with these two having a failed semi-blind date. So anyone who knows anything about the movie knows a few things. First it’s a rom-com, and second that their friends are going to die and leave the baby with these two. And from the laws of romantic comedies we know these two will end up together (spoiler?? Oh the humanity!).  Those things are not even the most obscure from left field ideas. You know what is? The craziest notion of the whole thing, is that despite knowing exactly where the movie is going the whole time it’s actually pretty damn good. It’s funny, it’s cute and the supporting cast lends itself very well to the enjoyment.

Duhamel is a perfect likeable guys guy who is living most guys dreams. He gets hot women and works in sports. Heigl is funny and attractive (as always) and is a bakery chef/owner who seems to be Mrs. Perfect in the kitchen. Speaking of which, I don’t know what it is about Heigl. Just about every interview I have seen and all her interactions in hollywood off stage, and the Grey’s fallout, she seems like an absolute A-hole of a person. Normally I hate those actors/actresses, but she has a certain gift. It’s a gift that she has this subtle attractiveness and ability as an actress to make the world love her as all the characters she plays. She breaks down your defenses and draws you in. Kudos Heigl, you keep me actually liking most of your work, don’t slip up or you will find yourself on the list of GeekJock boycots— a la J-Lo, Jolie and Jane Fonda.

Anyway back to the movie. It’s paced well, not really making us feel the almost 2 hours run time. There are a few scenes that could have been cut out but it never drags on. I think they did a good job keeping the movie in such a manner that women will be drawn in by the lovey and the kid, but guys will follow it for the “scenery” and comedy. All which the film has a good blend of.

I do want to point out a standout supporting character and an actress who not only seems to be everywhere now a days but also is showing herself as funny as hell, Melissa McCarthy (Mike And Molly –CBS). She has shown in movies and the new show to have a quick wit and a great dry delivery that is amazingly likeable. Look for her in the upcoming female version of the hangover “Bridesmaids” coming out this summer.

Verdict—> Another good Rom-Com. Good for a date night, good for a couples night. Reco

Never Let Me Go (2010- 103 mins) C. Mulligan, A. Garfield, K. Knightley

This is one of those rare reviews by me. It’s a review that I simply do not care what I spoil in the movie, b/c it’s one of the worst movies I have ever seen, and is a complete and utter piece of crap, that if anyone actually goes out and rents it after reading this well, it’s your own damn fault if it’s spoiled or you don’t like it.

We start off with some kids in some sort of simple boarding school. We get to know a handful of them and how they are real close. We think for a sec WTF is this place? Well in short these kids are a sort of clones made to have their organs harvested later in life for the hosts and then they will just simply die early. Intriguing, interesting? You would think so but nope, just sleepy and depressing. The movie then becomes like “The Island”, cept no action, no trying to escape the fate and certainly no hot Scarlet Johansson. I kept waiting for there to be some sort of conflict, some sort of running from fate. Nope. There is some love crap that isn’t even overly out there or enjoyable. These people know they are going to die, they never say why they don’t try to run away and never seem to even think about it? WTF? The closest thing they do is have this mini plot that the couple of them try to show they are in love to get an extension on life. Really?? That’s all you do? Draw some pictures say Im in love and please let me live? Give me a break.  I am aware this is based on a book. I certainly hope the book covers more of this stuff then the movie does. And for those of you who read the book and liked it, keep it that way, I don’t even think you people will like the movie.

It’s hard enough to work nights and stay awake. When this movie was on I wanted to fucking kill myself. It was better then an ambien. SLOWWWW, boring, less then intriguing, hard to understand and shitty. The English accents remind me that I would rather poke my eye out with a rusty dagger dipped in tiger blood then attend a foreign film festival.

Verdict—> If you watch this movie after reading this you deserve the pain and suffering you endure. It’s painful and boring. I can’t even say catch it on cable late night. Screw that STAY AWAY it’s AWEFUL(well maybe if you have insomnia and need to sleep). Easily going to hit # 1 on the Geekjock worst movies I watched in 2011. Mark my words. I can’t say it enough PAINFULLY AWEFUL.

Morning Glory (2010– 107 mins) R. McAdams, H. Ford, D. Keaton

Becky Fuller (McAdams), is an up and coming producer of a failing morning tv talk show. When she is let go from he current position she seeks out whatever she can find, and the only thing that falls in her lap is a crappy failing morning show with 2 problem anchors. She soon is put into the position of her dreams as executive producer but if she cannot turn the show around quickly she will be out on her ass again as a 2 time failure. To spice things up she must fire a train-wreck sexist co-host in Paul McVee (Ty Burrell hilarious in thissmall role), and replace him with crotchety former king of the world anchor Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford). Pomery is a Dan Rather type who holds himself to a higher standard of the world, and is still looking for that breakout story of the world. However, in this what have you done for me lately world, he’s not young enough or with it enough to be that guy. So what we get is a movie about how Becky must balance the ego’s of the new big co-host and the old hen of the roost  (Keaton). Not to mention trying to have an actual love life with a new potential flame (Patrick Wilson).

Morning Glory was sold a bit short when it was out last year because it was advertised more as a vehicle to center the movie on Keaton and Ford bantering over control and McAdams as an afterthought. It is a lot more then that in it is a good coming of age story with McAdams doing a good job carrying it. It’s a light funny romantic comedy in which she has romance with Wilson’s character but also manages to break off that stone exterior from the mighty Mike Pomeroy. The film is quick enjoyable and light. We don’t have to decipher any codes, or think of any twists, just sit back and enjoy it for what it is.

Verdict—> This is a soon to dominate TNT/USA type rom-com with some good laughs and good performances. I would recommend it for a good date movie or couple sat night flick with the wifey.