Movie reviews

Movie reviews this week looks at the romantic comedy She's out of my league, it stars the charming Jay Baruchel (Tropic Thunder) as Kirk, and the very beautiful and talented Alice Eve (Crossing Over with a flawless American accent, just as she was with a flawless Australian accent in Crossing Over, even though she is British) as Molly.

The movie begins as Kirk and his best friends, Stainer played by T.J. Miller (Get Him to the Greek), Jack played by Mike Vogel (Miami Medical), and Devon played by Nate Torrence, are at an airport discussing Kirk's breakup with his girlfriend Marnie played by Lindsay Sloane (Entourage), one of them mentions the only way to get her back is to date other people and let her know he is dating other people so she gets jealous. They all work at the airport, with the four guys as Aviation Attendants. A drop dead gorgeous girl walks by, and captures the attention of everyone, including Kirk. She leaves her phone as she boards the plane, and when she phones her number via her friend's phone, to find out where her phone is, Kirk answers, she reminds him who she is, and of course Kirk hasn't forgotten her. She then tells him to meet her at a party she is organising (as she organises parties) so he can give her back the phone. On meeting her she tells him she has four tickets to a hockey game, and invites him as well as a friend, when Kirk gets back to his friends and tells them about her, and that she has invited him to a game, they guess this is a date, and are all amazingly surprised if not a little jealous, to which Kirk is reluctant to believe, claiming she is way out of his league. Kirk's group of friends even go on an intellectual debate about guys dating girls that are out of their league, even comparing King Kong and Naomi Watts.

Not only does Molly know a lot about Hockey but she even knows one of the star players, after the game Kirk invites Molly to meet his family (she asked and he couldn't refuse), where a hilarious scene occurs, as some of Kirk's family members are in a pool, and are shocked at the very pretty girl Kirk has brought with him, they ask her to join them in the pool, she says she would but she didn't bring a bathing suit, they mention underwear would be fine, but she says yes it would be if she was wearing any.

Kirk somehow has to convince his friends and more importantly himself that maybe he is good enough for her, despite her ex, Cam played by Geoff Stults trying to win her back.

Eventually it's turn for Kirk to meet Molly's parents Mr. and Mrs. McCleish, who surprisingly are played by Alice's real life parents Trevor Eve and Sharon Maughan, there is a hilarious sequence where Kirk refuses to shake Molly's father's hand due to an embarrassing incident, which Patty, Molly's best friend, played by the lovely Krysten Ritter (What Happens in Vegas), suggests she should dump him, as she is only dating him because she sees him as safe, and someone who won't break her heart.

She's out of my league is a nice romantic comedy with superb acting from all sides, many will enjoy.

Labels: Movie Reviews, shes out of league, Shes out of my league

Movie reviews this week looks at Red the movie. A crime and action thriller with an all star cast starring Bruce Willis (the Sixth Sense) as Frank Moses, the very dependable Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption) as Joe Matheson, Helen Mirren (The Queen) as Victoria, Mary-Louise Parker (with the same funny charm in Weeds, something about her eyes reminds me of a deer caught in headlights) as Sarah Ross, and Richard Dreyfuss ( many had to do a double take for his uncanny portrayal of Senator Cheney in W) as Alexander Dunning.

The movie initialises with Frank talking to a Pensions Adviser (Sarah), we sense from their conversations, that the two like talking to each other, Frank mentions about an avocado plant that has two leaves, to which Sarah sounds elated at, we presume that this is a long distance romance that has been going on for some time, albeit via phone calls only. The two talk about a book that they have been reading, we are not quite sure who recommended the book to each other, and we see them later tuck themselves into bed, reading the same book.

A little later in the night, Frank is attacked by a SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) team, we are not quite sure, if this is a dream, as Frank dispatches them with relative ease, but when we next see him in Sarah's apartment telling her that she is in danger because she spoke to him, and that from their conversations it is obvious that he likes her, we realise this is real, and we also realise that this is the first time, Frank and Sarah have met, as Frank says this is not how he pictured their first meeting would be like, to which Sarah replies, "I always pictured you with hair...now none of our dreams have come true".

It turns out Frank is a retired CIA agent, and one of their bests, responsible for toppling governments, and code named RED (Retired Extremely Dangerous). Frank had taken part in a rescue mission in Guatemala, and for some reason all the people associated with that mission are being executed, a journalist who discovered this, and the list of the names of the people involved in the Guatemalan incident, is herself executed, when Frank and Sarah find the list of names, it is no surprise that Frank's name is on the list.

Frank visits his old friend Joe to find out if he knows who could be behind it, Joe is a in a hospital battling cancer. They gather up some of their old comrades, with an eccentric Marvin Boggs played by the dependable John Malkovich (Con Air), and Ivan Simanov played by the stalwart Brian Cox (X Men 2). Frank visits him in his Russian Embassy stronghold, and the two get into a nostalgic chat about the good old days of the Cold War, there is a hilarious conversation where Ivan asks about a cousin he believes Frank killed, to which Frank says he didn't kill him, but flipped him (i.e. turned him to the CIA's side), and that he now weighs 500 pounds. Matters are made complicated as a young CIA operative William Cooper played by Karl Urban (His performance as Bones in Star Trek is simply phenomenal, had Bones' mannerisms right down to a t) has been ordered to eliminate Moses.

Red the movie is a great action thriller, with plenty of romantic comedy thrown in the mix, and one many will enjoy, especially with the great cast involved, and a cameo by the much loved Ernest Borgnine as Henry, the Records Keeper.

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Labels: Movie Reviews, Movie takers, Red Movie, Red the Movie, the movie Red

Movie reviews this seek looks at the crime thriller Takers, with an all star cast starring Paul Walker (The Fast and the Furious) as John Rahway, the stalwart Idris Elba (Rock N Rolla) as Gordon Cozier, Michael Ealy (The Good Wife) as Jake Attica, Hayden Christiansen (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace) as A.J., Matt Dillion (Traffic) as Jack Welles, and an impressive performance by Chris Brown as Jesse Attica.

We meet the cast in the middle of a bank job, that goes as smooth as they planned, leaving no trace as to their identities or who could have done the job, and they even have the courtesy to wave at the security camera (masked of course) and offer a signature salute. It is left to two cops Jack Welles and Eddie Hatcher played by Jay Hernandez (The Rookie) to figure out who carried out the robbery, with basically nothing else to go on except the heights of the culprits, and their gestures to the camera.

As with great movies we are made to sympathise with the characters early on, as we get to know a little bit about their personal struggles, especially for Cozier, as he tries to look after his sister Naomi played by Marianne Jean-Baptiste (28 Days), fresh from rehab; amidst the job they are planning, a job that they unexpectedly have been asked to do, by one of their associates, no one in the group quite trusts, Dalonte Rivers, played very convincingly by T.I., who tells them of an opportunity he learnt of while in jail, with several millions to them to obtain, if it goes smoothly.

The background to this distrust for Rivers, is five years ago he was caught and the time he has just spent in prison was as a direct result of the joint job he had with them, Rhaway assures him his takings from that job are in a savings account, and still good for collection, which Crozier and the others reckon, this is the only reason why he did not give them up.

We also get to see a little bit of the problems faced by the police force as they deal with some of the criminals, Welles as he tries to make time for his daughter, and deal with the case at hand, while Hatcher tries to explain to Welles his priorities are a little squinted.

Romantic interest for Jake is provided by the gorgeousJoe Saldana (forever in our minds as Neferti from Avatar) playing Lilly, this proves a little contested issue, as she was Dalonte's love interest before he went to prison, and has his sights on taking her back. There is a scene where Jake and Dalonte have a little confrontation in front of Lilly as Dalonte tries to reassert that she still has feelings for him in front of Lilly.

The acting in Takers is top notch and you will be on the edge of your seat to find out how it all onfolds.

Labels: Movie Reviews, Movie takers, Takers Movie, Takers the Movie, the taker movie