"Sons of Anarchy" Revolts Against the Mundane

Sons of Anarchy is an FX series that has been on for three seasons and the fourth is do out this year. Now I've never really been into the whole biker gang story but I gave this show a chance. The cast includes some interesting characters such as Ron Perlman who's voice is probably more familiar than his face as he is the voice of Hellboy. He is the president of the club as of now. Another familiar face to some is Katey Sagal who played Peggy Bundy in Married...With Children. Here she steps far out of these shows as a hard nose women who takes nothing from anyone. She seems to be the women who can pull anyone's strings. The rest of the cast is rounded out with some less familiar faces, but all are great at what they do. The show portrays the inner workings of the motorcycle club and what it entails. There is murder, guns, sex, and lots of drugs. But then we see love, and guilt as many difficult decisions have to be made. I have only finished the first season but I am glad to jump into the second season. Even if motorcycle gangs don;t seem interesting to you this show goes beyond that and makes a show that will have you biting your nails and feeling as though you too are part of this distortion of a family.

Grade so far: A

Star Wars: Force Unleashed 2 Chained Down by Mediocrity

Lucas Arts gives us another installation in this series. The first game seemed promising but was too short and the game play was simplistic but glitchy at times. The second had plenty of room for improvement but seemed promising. The story starts off with a clone of Starkiller breaking out of the facility he was made. The opening scene was exciting and opened up what seemed to be a great game. From there the story seemed uninteresting and not necessarily important. The control scheme seemed a little more fluent than the first, but the dual light-sabers looked a the second seemed only cosmetic. The cut scenes looked good and the graphics overall were nice the game play rang generic. Overall a good looking game with mediocre game play. It was worth renting but was still to short with 6 hour main game play with some extras that aren't that fulfilling.

Final Grade: C

"Dragon Hunters" Can't Defeat Mediocrity

This was produced and released originally in Europe. This movie came out in 2008 and seemed to be a film never heard of . Originally when viewing this I thought it had a lot in common with How to Train Your Dragon but after some time i realized that Dragon Hunters came out first, but when comparing the two, How to Train Your Dragon perfects the style and makes this movie seem even more mediocre. The movie had good music and a unique animation style but the praise stops there. The story seems very generic. People go on a quest to save the world and do so in an unlikely way. The girl who is the protagonist is just irritating  and overly talkative. She also tries to play on emotions but leaves you just feeling frustrated.The hero is voiced by Forest Whitaker, who is famous for the Last King of Scotland. He is a quite hero who can do great things but is not seen as the archetypal champion. His companion is a neutral character who at times fills the role of antagonist. But as all movies of it's nature, he learns his lesson and becomes redeemed. This movie doesn't have much action and though it has beautiful scenes they fail to really draw you deep into the plot, which is very surface level. And the ending seems very strange and disjointed. On a side note, why there are bunnies everywhere in the end is still racking my mind. I wouldn't suggest this if your looking for a good animated movie, see How to Train Your Dragon Instead. This could be a good way to entertain children or to spend a rainy night and there is nothing better to watch around.
 
Final Grade: C+

"The Other Guys" Take Center Stage

Adam McKay (Anchorman, Step Brothers) brings us another gut busting comedy. This film is full of some great actors who are hilarious. The film starts off with Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction) and Dwayne "Rock" Johnson playing hero cops who seem unstoppable. After a hilarious accident two unlikely officers step up, enter Mark Walhberg and Will Ferrel. Ferrel plays the cool headed but sometimes emotional cop who is the brains but no street smarts. Walhberg plays the testerone driven cop who is looking for action and is pushed by pure ambition and raw emotion. As Ferrel investigates a seemingly pointless case they get caught up into something much deeper. Ferrel has some great lines exchanged with his wife played by Eva Mendes (Hitch) . This movie was laugh out loud funny. Full of great jokes that point out the juxtaposition of Ferrel's attempts to be serious and Walhberg's tenacity make for some great scenes. The rest of the cast setup some great situation humor that left me gasping for breath. Most of Walhberg's scenes seemed like he was shouting or talking in a monotone way. But for him it somehow works most of the time. At one Ferrel points out how ridiculous Walhberg's character is making for a good laugh. Even when the movie seems serious it still manages a good laugh. This movie does a great job of making a satire of the police force and the bureaucracy of the law system. This movie has some great laughs and is worth seeing. These two actors are definitely a great match-up. This is a must see.

Final Grade: A-

"Diary of the Dead" Tells a Fascinating Story

George A. Romero (Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead) brings us another great horror movie. In this riveting film a group of students from Pittsburgh run from a wide spreading zombie invasion. The cast aren't A-listers but this adds to the credibility of the film. Shawn Roberts (Resident Evil: Afterlife) makes an appearance but the rest of the crew do not seem to be familiar faces  that stand out. The shooting style of this film is what really ties the movie together. Shot in a documentary style with two free hand cameras, we really get to see what people are feeling. This movie did not have to many jump out and scare you moments, but had constant suspense that had me biting my nails and sitting on the edge of my seat. The acting at times did seem a little disjointed. The professor who rode along with them had one of the strangest characters who's acting seemed hit or miss. The ending is very interesting and I'm not going to say much here but it was original and polishes off the movie well. I didn't here much about this film around it's release but if you like horror movies this one is worth the time to watch.

Final Grade: B-

Strange Wilderness, Just Plain Strange

Fred Wolf (Grown Ups, Without A Paddle, Joe Dirt) directed this movie. This movie definitely fits the mold of many of Wolf's his movies and for such makes this more average. In this film starring some familiar faces like Steve Zahn (The Perfect Getaway) who plays a son who try's to go out and film big foot so he can keep his dead fathers show on the air. Before heading out he hires a crew including Superbad actor, Jonah Hill. Another crew member Kevin Hefferman (Super Troopers) joins in to the crazy shenanigans that unfold.  As they go on the journey to find Bigfoot crazy things start to happen. This film was made by Happy Madison studios and we see many of the actors that show up in many of their movies such as Allen Covert (Big Daddy). The humor at times seems pointless and not funny. But at other times it had me laughing hysterically. Many of the gag reels where repetitive but lasted long enough to stay funny. this movie is filled with lots of yelling, profanity, and drug use. If you find these annoying then avoid this one. If not this movie may be worth watching at some point.
 
Final Grade: C+

"Last Air Bender" Steaming Pile of Special Effects

M. Night Shyamalan, who has directed Signs and The Village brings us his take on the semi-successful nickelodeon series. The only really familiar face is Slumdog Millionaire star is Dev Patel. The main characters seem to stick out as they are some of the few white characters.The action seems very slow and choppy. The plot though followable at times was disconnected and the time line was rushed. The special effects where fun to see but weren't enough to hold the movie together. The bending was fun to see but all the fighting seemed to slow. The fighting seemed turn based instead of actual action happening. There were beautiful scenes put forth but the slowness of them made it seem fake and overly acted. I only saw a part of the original cartoon series so I personally don't know the whole extent of the changes. But in watching it with an avid fan of the cartoon, he was left writhing in agony at the plot holes and the changing of the personalities of many of the characters. Nicole Pelts plays Katara, one of the last water benders, her character is quieter and a little more passive in the movie. Patel plays an exile prince of the fire nation. Noah Ringer who is a new actor plays the main character Aang. Aang seemed dampened and more serious than in the series. None of the acting was great but seeing Shyamalan recent films their was not much hope for this movie either. This movie was worth renting to pass the time but not much more than that. If you haven't seen this don't rush to do so now. For those who have seen it or saw it in theaters may still be feeling the pain of another disappointing movie from Shyamalan . Hopefully he can redeem his career soon.

Final Grade: D

"Youth in Revolt" Goes Against the Usual

This was directed by Miguel Arteta, a relatively less known director. In this tale of extreme teen love we see Michael Cera (Superbad, Juno), playing the good boy trying to be bad. He comes up with an alter ego to do his skullduggery. This movie seems to be a spirited version of Fight Club but through a teenager. The movie has some intense language and sexual themes but they do potray the teenage mind quite well at 16. The cast was packed with some familiar faces. Steve Buschemmi from both the Sopranos and Boardwalk empire makes an appearance as Cera's father in the movie. Also in the cast we see Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover) make an appearance, he plays a trailer trash boyfriend to Cera's mother. In any movie Galifianakis he adds a vibrant dynamic and usually a few good laughs. Another famliar face is Cera's father played by Steve Buscemi (Resevoir Dogs , and the voice of Randall in Monsters Inc.)The movie is full of crazy twists and puts a twist on the classic teenage love. We get to see a teenager who after being walked on his whole life he finds a girl he finds worth fighting for and sacrifices his old life to be with her. Overall this movie was a fresh take on an over done genre. At times it seems a little strange how the plot progress especially towards the end but doesn't take much away from the movie. If you have been putting this off, I would suggest renting this soon if you don't mind a quirky film, that pushes what is acceptable in society.

Final Grade: B+

"The Spy Next Door" Needs to Go Into Hiding

One of Kung Fu's greatest Jackie Chan (Rush Hour series) stars in this family and romance film. Directed by Brian Levant, who also directed The Flinstones, Are We There Yet, and Jingle All The Way. Knowing this movie is directed by Levant is hard to believe as most of his films seem to be of this mediocre quality.his film starts off with the revealing of Chan being a secret agent but stepping down to pursue what he hopes to be a normal life. To try and woo his love interest he offers to watch her children during an emergency out of state calls her away. The movie attempts comedy but at times is hard to follow. Chan is usually at his best in action movies and here he stepped out of that role. He does have scenes where he flexes his acrobatic and fighting skills but thy aren't enough to make a great movie. Also making an appearance is George Lopez and Billy Ray Cyrus, both are forgettable roles and don't add much to the film. While he speaks it's hard to understand Chan at times. The three children all seem to have some form of a complex. The oldest is irritatingly disrespectful, the middle child is a lier and socially awkward, and the youngest is rambunctious. These three seem at times intolerable. The villains are supposed to be Russian but just sound abysmal. In a completely expectable way Chan works with them and gets them to gain new respect for their mother an helps to solve some of these problems while having to step back into his agent role to try and save the day. Overall an average movie that is a little below average.
Final Grade: C-

"Resident Evil: Afterlife" Lacks A Pulse

Paul Anderson who also directed Death Race and Pandorum, brings us this fourth film in the series based on Capcom's video game series is a crazy action movie. For this one you need to leave your brain at the door. The action sequences are great but at times look fake and over done. Milla Jovovich renews her role as Alice, a bad-ass with oversized guns who takes no crap from the undead. The supporting cast shows the return of Ali Larter as Claire Redfield. The rest of the cast is changing so fast there isn't anyone who stands out in the survivors. Being a fan of the games seeing Wesker was bittersweet. Wesker is played by Shawn Roberts who had a strong presence and excellent gun skills but his character seems to lack the substance his video game persona has. This could be due to Roberts not playing a role of this caliber before. The story is usually easy to follow but at times the progression is choppy. This movie is nice for fans of the games as it has the most reference to the games to date, extra focus was put in from the fifth game.This movie does fit nicely in the series but seems disappointing for some of it's continuity issues.  Such as the lack of needing to reload ever or guns appearing out of nowhere. But all the technical issues aside this is a fun movie to watch to see some good zombie killing and stunning weapon choreography. The ending seems to point towards another movie in the series, but it doesn't seem to be a good idea after seeing this one. If you have seen the other three this one does work to answer a few questions that where left looming.This may be worth renting if you have a free night and don't mind seeing an average action movie.

Final Grade: C

"Family Guy: It's a Trap" Catches You in Funny

Seth MacFarlane brings this third installment of the Family Guy Star Wars series. The scrolling text really setup what is another good satire. Many jokes point out that this installment seems unnecessary, but do it so its still funny. Early on there are a few repetitive jokes that are funny but grow a little irritating. Great jokes point out some of the flaws in the original series and go places many wouldn't dare tred but they keep it funny enough so as not to really offend even the loyalist fan out there. Many jokes left me reeling and barely able to catch my breath before the next scene. It was fun to see characters from American Dad show up for some funny scenes. Some jokes seemed obscure and only for the true pop culture gurus. Overall though worth the rental. If you have time get this, its well worth the time.

Final Grade: B