Shutter Island (DiCaprio, Kingsley, Ruffalo) 138 mins
The 1st thing to keep in mind about this psychological thriller is it was directed by Martin Scorsese. So first of all naturally it stars Leo DiCaprio. Second it screws with your head the whole time. Which in this and his other films, keeps you interested. But, like some of his other films you leave it feeling gyped out of a decent ending. He just likes to leave you sitting there and saying to yourself “well WTF?”
DiCaprio plays a federal marshal in the 50’s sent to investigate the disappearance of a patient/inmate of a isolated highly guarded mental facility for the ciminaly insane. What he uncovers there will keep you guessing for the whole 2 hours. As a mystery/thriller it does succeed. Everytime you guess something you can be right or can you? Exactly. It just can get slow and left me on a sour note. I like my closure all wrapped up nice and neat.
Verdict—> If you are a big Scorsese fan and love psychological thrillers it’s a good pick so look for it in your red box soon. If you are like me and were interested b/c of big names and box office and just happen to have 2 hours to kill go for it. But I prolly won’t watch it ever again. It just didn’t grab me that much. Also if you are on a date or you and the wife want to watch a good movie, don’t bother. I kinda contradict myself a bit there but see which of those you fit into and then make your decision.
She’s out Of My League (Jay Baruchel, Alice Eve) 104 mins
She’s out of My League is a Beauty and the Geek movie done to the predictable end, mixed with some John Hughes goodness. It’s a fun romp and funny with dialogue amongst the guys taken straight out of a Judd Apatow flick. Baruchel is Kirk an everyman TSA agent, who finds himself dating a complete hottie in Molly. However he’s well aware that he’s no where near good enough for her. It’s this that eventually gets in the way. To say anymore is to give away too much of the already predictable plot. I really hate to use the word “predictable” b/c it has negative undertones when talking about movies. Here I really don’t mind it so much. B/c even tho Eve is hot, what the movie really is about is friendships of the guys and how they can effect one another without realizing it.
Verdict… I highly recomend this movie. It’s good to watch and if you tell any chick you watch this with that she is ultimately out ofyour league you are bound to score points. After all Mrs. Geekjock is WAAYYYY out of my league. I try to make sure she is loved/spoiled to the fullest and hope every day she doesn’t realize that she’s a 10 and I am the way inferior 4.
More Reviews tomorrow AM. Happy 4th of july everyone!
Valentines Day (A ton of stars, mainly Kutcher, J. Garner, P. Dempsey, T. Grace) 125 mins.
This is a movie that will now get me on my soap box about movie critics. EVERY single movie review I have ever read about this movie was about how bad it was and how everyone mailed in their performance. What a load of crap, from a bunch of pretentious critics who don’t know a good movie from a their ass. It’s completely easy for them to look at ensembles and want Movie production perfection. Thus, they just want to bash it to bits. Here’s the basic problem, critic’s think the “in” thing to do is bash anything that is commercial and has likable groups of people in it. It’s made for us to like it so they obviously cannot.
Ok the real deal is this movie is good. It’s enjoyable it’s fun and like I said it has alot of people who we like, as characters we want to like. Naturally not everyone can be liked in a movie that’s about Valentine’s day b/c not everyone in real life is happy anyway but it delivers this even in a likable way. It’s a good yarn of intertwining stories that are all different and unique in their own way. Sure since it’s a date movie it’s slightly predictable and happy but that’s really what we want out of a date movie anyway. The only problem (if there is one) is that when you have this many stars and characters it just takes a bit of time to get it all wrapped up. And at slightly over 2 hours it is a bit longer for a rom/com. You really won’t notice it enough if you are on a date or watching it with the significant other b/c you will remember why you are sitting with them in the 1st place. That’s why it succeeds.
SO, movie critics BITE me, from everyone who likes a good movie. Do yourself a favor people, listen to friends when it comes to movie reviews or take critic’s reviews for basic info but DO NOT let them influence you when you want to watch a movie. EVEN if I say it’s a pile of crap, if you want to watch something just do it. I just try to tell you who will like it, if you should spend any money on it, watch it on cable or a definite DVD buy.
Verdict… Good couples movie,or good chick movie. Rent it if you want as well, it’s worth it.
Youth in Revolt (Michael Cera, Portia Doubleday,Jean Smart, Steve Buscemi)
Youth in Revolt is a fairly funny movie in the Michael Cera sort of way. He’s an amazing intellectual actor and his delivery of deadpan comedic lines continue to crack me up. He plays his usual quirky socially awkward kid who has been alone or loner type all his life due to being a child of divorce. Not just divorce but divorce of two selfish and fairly useless parents. While on a vacation (of sorts) he meets a girl who he falls in love with instantly. However, he feels he needs to change to a bad-ass self to get her to be his and thus the imaginary alter ego is born named Francois.
It’s from the creation of his alter-self that the movie takes a bit of an odd turn. It begins to straddle the line of comedy and drama and from there it gets a bit off course. We laugh at the usual delivery of funny lines from Cera but the rest of the writing tries a little to hard to mix the dramatic story into it all. I think it could have been a bit of a better movie if it just stayed the course as complete comedy, instead we get a comedy first and a coming of age story second.
However, like I mentioned earlier it is funny and it is entertaining. It’s just not a huge keeper. I can recommend you watch this on cable if you see it on. Unless of course , like me you are a bit of a Cera fan, and then go a head and grab it from the Red-Box.
Last week during E3, G4 had some good coverage on Bioware’s upcoming MMO Star Wars The Old Republic. The Geek and just about anyone who has ever played an online game is drooling in anticipaton of this game. Not only is Star Wars one of the most popular IP, the fact that Bioware is one of the best game developers out there right now. After the crap tard that is Star Wars Galaxies people are itching for some Star Wars MMO goodness.
The Video they released today was basically about the same thing that G4 showed just in a 4 min package. We see a group of characters interacting with a few boss like mobs, and we see some crowd control going on in the distance and see tanking and healing as well. It shows us some good group dynamics that we have been wondering how they will implement into the game. I have some more thoughts on SWTOR after the clip.
The one thing I have been wondering about is how Bioware is truely going to implement multiplayer. This video has helped me to put that fear slightly behind me but I still want to see more of it in action. My reservations mostly are due to almost all we have seen in the NPC interaction is in the soloing view. They show us how the classes attack and interact and have shown us your own spaceship but until now it’s all be solo player views. This video also seems to show that the groups when interacting with some NPC’s that can start a fight or plot point it seems to put the group into it’sown instance of sorts. I am really hoping this doesn’t mean that most of the game is instanced with some chat hubs scattered around the world. Where you really only see other PC’s in set areas and group up there. It’s kind of a long shot but it’s just kinda the way everything has looked to us up until now. The clips and info we get are all about how EPIC the story is for all the different character classes and both main factions. This is all fine and good but I think alot of us really just want to be able to do quests with a nice story and adventure with our friends. NAturally the game looks great and I am sure as more info comes out and more videos get released this should completely live up to the hype. I cannot wait for this game I think it will suck up a ton of my time next year when it’s released. After some of the titles that have been released in the last few years that I have tried and just didn’t lead up to the hype, (I’m looking at you Aion, Warhammer,Champions online) I had basically decided to take a wait and see attitude on anything pay to play. However, I think SWTOR might make me just jump in with 2 feet on launch day!
The Islanders finally enter the FA fray today signing 2 defensive minded D-men. According to Yahoo’s puck daddy shoutbox they get Mark Eaton for 2 years (2, then 3 mil per) and Milan Jurcina (reportedly 1 year 1 mil). I like both of these signings. While not earth shattering they both are solid stay at home types who do not put their team’s in holes much. And they come on the relatively cheap. I don’t like the 2nd year of the Eaton deal but hey avg of 2.5 for him isn’t too bad.
Are you paying attention CANES??? You could easily sign good, helpful players, on the cheap!
Another signing of note, to me, is Chris Higgins. A local guy from right next door from where I grew up (he’s from Smithtown on Long Island), he will be signing in Fla to play for the Panters. I have not seen the terms tho. He will either be a bargain or over priced, I don’t think there is a middle road. He is exactly the type of guy I wanted the Isles or Canes to pick up b/c he has taken a lot of slack last year or two and he should have something to prove. Hungry guys make for hustlers who play hard most nights. And they usually come at a bargain too. Again, are you listening Rutherford??
EDIT: Higgins’ deal is worth 1 year 1.6 mil. Quite affordable IMO.
The Isles also signed Zonon Konopka who I am sure will have 10 fights next year with Rangers new tough guy Derek Boogard.
I took the kids yesterday to see Toy Story 3 and I will say I was very impressed. Pixar just simply does not know how to make a bad movie. Even the short film before Toy Story 3 ,”Day and Night” is an amazing production.
TS3 takes place years after the first 2 with Andy having graduated high school and getting ready to head to college. It’s now decision time for the family with the toys and they eventually, due to a mix up, get donated to a child day care center. Once there we are introduced to a bevy of new characters all with new personalities, and more animations which show pixar’s strong points. They are great at showing new personalities and not overwhelming us with anything. Where movies like Shrek want to overwhelm us with pop culture references in order to make us laugh, Toy Story simply gives us toys with personalities and let us marvel at how they all get along in our vast world. A world which doesn’t exist to Woody and Buzz, outside of Andy and how they can be there for him. It’s this loyalty, that just seems to make you warm in side while you watch it.
I won’t spoil any of the plot but I will warn you of a few items. First there is a real villain in this installment. In the past we had villains but they existed as fobs who did not strike fear in the heart of anyone watching or bring any real peril. Here we get a character and some situations which could very well make a child a little bit uncomfortable. Granted, do not take that too much to heart b/c as usual everything becomes hunky dory and happy and any child will quickly forget they were uncomfortable as fast as it happened. The other warning is this is a touching movie, and even a grown man will likely shed a tear near the end. Pixar is just THAT good.
All in all I would say this is prob right up there with any of the Pixar classics and I fully recomend anyone with kids or without, go see it. The animation alone, in fact even just the opening sequence, is worth the price of admission (although with the rediculous prices these days probably see it only once, but that rant is for another day).
Bob Mackenzie with TSN reports Ray Whitney signs 2 year 3 mil per deal with the Phoenix Coyotes.
As usual great job idiot Rutherford not dealing him at the deadline. He had teams he would go to (even tho a short list) and they got nothing for him. HUGE blunder by Rutherford there. One of the biggest most coveted players at the deadline and you got ZERO for him. I hope you have a way to make it up to the fan base.
Well as usual the Canes re-sign (sorta) one of their own. Often AWOL and quite the underachiever Anton Babchuk is back in Carolina for 1.4 mil for 1 year.
This is a typical dispicable signing for the Canes. He has never shown to use his 6’5 frame like he should. He won’t hit guys and cannot clear the crease at all. The only positive in the past has been the fact he loves to shoot the puck. And when he’s accurate and hot he’s good. Unfortunately that’s only 2-3 games a year.
I’m not impressed at all. I give this Canes signing a D+ at best. I hope they prove me wrong.
In my real job I am a pharmacist. I work for a company that handles after hours clinical consultations and data input for multiple hospitals overnights. It’s a 7 on 7 off position which is pretty sweet. Occasionally in some of these facilities, patients will be wanting so much privacy that they will not even put real names into their in house computers. Usually you get a patient that has the name “Patient Confidential”. However they sometimes make up names to put in which are completely fictitious.
So imagine my surprise last winter, (or how much I laughed) when I found that Optimus Prime not only was a 68 year old male, but he also had pneumonia! I can only hope the autobots have a good coverage and the stoic leader recovered after his short stay in the hospital.
Granted there are HIPPA rules in the USA and I would never use a pt’s name anywhere, so if in fact the guy’s name was Optimus Prime I guess I owe a big fat appology to him!
