Tron: Legacy

I didn't see the original movie or play the arcade game (Well, maybe I did a few times through other mediums), but I thoroughly enjoyed Disney's latest release, Tron: Legacy. Perhaps this goes to show the relative ease, with which anyone can pop into a theater and spend two hours enjoying visually awing special effects and the truly inspired soundtrack that is, Tron. You certainly don't need to be an avid Tron follower or a nerdy gamer to enjoy this movie, but in response to a friend of mine who asked, "Is it a boy movie?" I feel pretty obliged to say that it pretty much is that. Although, Joseph Kosinski, the movie's director made an effort to accompany the sound pumping action scenes with ones dedicated to developing the character's of Sam Flynn and his father, Kevin, I don't think many females will find the story too overtly appealing to them.

A lot of people are cautioning those who might be interested in seeing this movie, that it lacks a solid plot and poses many questions that are left unanswered. While "these people" may have a solid point, often times it's better to just go into a movie, especially one like this, with little expectations and an open mind. Besides, seeing Jeff Bridges act in one movie in this many different roles is well worth the price of admission (3D or 2D).

Easy A

I don't know what it is about movies that take place in a high school setting, but too often characters in them just look way too old. This is definitely the case a few times with Easy A, but that little stigma aside the movie does deliver.

Easy A, stars Emma Stone, of Superbad and Zombieland fame. She plays the role of Olive Penderghast, a precocious teenager who attends a fictional high school called Ojai North High in Ojai, California. This is significant to mention because of the liberal lifestyle associated with the "Governator" state. Olive's family is quite the diverse crew and her parents, played by Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson, certainly give Olive adequate room to express her teenage self.

Express herself is exactly what she does. Olive's English class is studying Nathaniel Hawthorne's, the Scarlet Letter, and she takes it upon herself, after a scathing rumor is started about her, not to deny the rumors, but let them take on a life of their own. This has an alarming effect on the student body at Ojai, who eventually all have an opinion of what she is doing or not doing.

Emma Stone has, in my opinion, solidified herself as a very viable movie star. She basically crushes the role of Olive and is more than easy on the eyes. Also, at 22 years old she has a wide range of roles that she could fit into.

Easy A, has a lot of social commentary directed towards teenagers that might be wasted on them, but it isn't on an older audience that has sat in classrooms similar to the ones in the movie. The advent of Facebook and other social networking sites has made gossip spread exponentially faster, but there hasn't been a movie released in awhile that depicts what types of effects it can have.

The Social Network

The first seventeen minutes of, The Social Network, unravel at a pretty frenetic pace, and is foreshadowing of how the movie will play out. The very first scene in the dimly lit bar with the couple discussing final clubs at Harvard, is definitive of the character of the protagonist of the film, Facebook creator, Mark Zuckerberg. He speaks rapidly, with an immense presence of intelligence and awkwardness about him, but he certainly lacks the ability to properly communicate with the opposite sex. His subsequent dumping and the vengeance he latter seeks out on poor Erica are the driving force behind the billion dollar social networking site and this potentially Oscar-winning film.

The Social Network which stars Jesse Eisenberg, as Mark Zuckerberg, isn't just a hyped up movie that's getting a lot of buzz from Facebook lovers. It's a movie about an idea that changed how the world stays connected to one another. It brings to life essentially everything that was going on in Zuckerberg's life that fall of 2003, when he created facemash, which eventually led to interest from the entire campus, notably the Winlevoss' twins. The film presents these events at a pace that is utterly entertaining, while Aaron Sorkin, the movie's screenwriter, infuses it with a script that is witty, clever, and downright masterful.

The film gets a huge boost from the acting of it's supporting cast, especially Andrew Garfield, who plays Eduardo Saverin, a co-founder of Facebook and it's initial CFO. He generates feelings of sympathy from the audience through his falling out with Zuckerberg over the direction of the company in its early stages. Justin Timberlake plays the role of Andrew Parker, the creator of Napster and Plaxo, who has sort of fallen from grace, but is considered by Zuckerberg to be somewhat of a "god". I remember being initially a bit skeptical of his casting in the movie, but after seeing it am convinced that it was a perfect role for him. Armie Hammer, who plays both Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, rounds out a terrific supporting cast.

There's something about The Social Network, (a certain je ne sais que, I guess) but it was very compelling to see a film about an event so transforming to the culture of the world unfold. Maybe it's because I was in college right at the time of Facebook's explosion, or that Zuckerberg took an idea that perhaps I or some of my friends could've come up with and become the youngest billionaire ever. Whatever it is though David Fincher, the movie's director, and Columbia Pictures have created an already impressively successful movie that could have the legs to carry it to a healthy showing come awards season.

Machete

A little late on this one, but I guess it took me so long to see Machete because I listened to a friend, who isn't a Robert Rodriguez fan. He was surprised why I'd want to see it, instead of The American, with George Clooney, he basically convinced me that it would be bad because of how cheesy the trailers made it out to be. Well, I finally made it to a showing, it was a hole in the wall little cinema that gets movies a month or so after their original release dates. The theater was pretty crowded and pretty noisy, which are pretty ideal ingredients when seeing a Rodriguez picture.

Back during the weeks leading up to the movies original release I remember seeing some TV spots promoting the gory flick, but nothing like the marketing that the Rodriguez/Tarantino movie, Grindhouse, received back in 2007 (Machete is actually based on a "faux" trailer from that movie). Maybe this was because that movie was hugely unsuccessful at the box office and studios noticed that the specific type of moviegoer that enjoys and will pay to see Rodriguez or Tarantino movies doesn't love them enough to sit through three hours of anything (I'm not sure anybody wants to sit in the same place for more than 3 hours). Anyways, I'm trying to make the point that Rodriguez tends to make movies more for a specific "cult" or demographic, than for the masses. A sort-of follow up to Grindhouse seemed like a big risk, but budgeted at around $20 million, I guess it wasn't too much of a gamble for a distributor like Fox.

Machete follows the story of the guy by that very name, played by Danny Trejo, who after being recruited for a hit on a Texas senator is betrayed and seeks revenge on the conspirators. The movie includes performances from Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, Don Johnson, Robert DeNiro, Lindsay Lohan, Jeff Fahey, and Cheech Marin.

There weren't any performances that really stuck out to me, but Marin's minor role was acted very well. Alba steals a few scenes and has an oddly inspiring monologue. Lohan's role as, April, was very forgettable, but it is worth mentioning that the theater I was in got a lot louder when she made her first appearance on screen.

Machete has an alarmingly high rating on IMDB, which is undoubtedly due to the fact that Rodriguez fans are movie addicts who spend alot of time on websites making comments or grading movies. I enjoyed the movie, but I'm a fan of Rodriguez's "style", to those who aren't though this movie will probably come across as too bloody, too cheesy, and too stupid.

The Town

The Town, has an uncanny ability to make crime seem very cool. Whether it's dousing a bank with bleach after a hectic robbery, bashing in a bank manager's face with an AK-47 then whispering him something sly, or seamlessly switching getaway cars after tearing through the crammed North End of Boston at breakneck speeds. The Town, or maybe rather it's director, Ben Affleck, is masterful at depicting the brazen activities of the underworld, seen through the eyes of a couple of Charlestown-bred criminal "brothers".

The film stars Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall, and Blake Lively. It's a story about a couple of bank robbers who during a heist are forced to take a hostage, who they later find lives a few blocks from them in the small neighborhood of Boston, known as Charlestown. Charlestown is credited as being the bank robbery capital of the world (Which for some reason to me, doesn't seem possible). But, nevertheless this is an intriguing claim and adequately aids to the pacing of the very fast-paced opening of the film.

Affleck and Renner are the main characters, with Hamm, of "Mad Men" fame playing the role of the FBI agent charged with the task of catching these criminals. Hall plays the role of, Claire Keesey, the bank manager who is taken hostage. The movie is cast very well, with supporting roles having a very authentic feel to them. Affleck shows his directing prowess by crafting a 2 hour long crime thriller that will show audiences across the country a side of Boston they probably didn't know existed. He blends frenetic paced gunfights with Fenway Park as the backdrop with much softer dialogue heavy scenes between Renner, Liively, Hall, and himself.

The Town is one of the best movies of the early fall season, with some drawing comparisons of it to "The Departed". I'm not sure it will have the legs to carry it into awards season, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Renner get an Oscar nomination for his supporting role.

Takers

#1 Movie in America? Yes, it did sell the most tickets over last weekend, but that doesn't make this movie the number 1 movie in the land, not by an epically long shot even. Honestly, I think Screen Gems inflated their box office numbers to beat out "The Last Exorcism", so they could utilize the tagline above, that this movie doesn't deserve.

During a trailer for this movie, I remember seeing that a critic considered this to be, "This generations Heat". That person should lose their job immediately. I know that is harsh, but Takers isn't even in the same league as Heat, let alone a movie like "The Italian Job" or even Ocean's Thirteen.

It was just bad all around. The only positive aspects to take from it are: a very solid performance from Idris Elba (he's really emerged this year), Paul Walker's film career may be over (Oh wait, filming is already underway for Fast and Furious 5...), and Chris "Breezy" Brown out-acted fellow musician Tip "T.I." Harris without question.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, is the third feature film from British born, Edgar Wright, director of cult classics, Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. It's his first film shot on American soil and with American actors. The movie stars Michael Cera, Anna Kendrick, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jason Schwarztman, Kiernan Culkin, Ellen Wong, and Aubrey Plaza (Long list, yes, I know, and they may not all be "stars" yet, but whatever). The synopsis of the movie goes like this: Scott Pilgrim, played by Cera, is a 23-year old slacker "in-between" jobs, living in Toronto, playing bass in a rock band, when he comes across the dangerously attractive Ramona Flowers (Winstead). After a first date with her, Scott learns that Ramona has seven evil ex's that he must defeat in order to win her heart(Sounds weird, I know, but give it a chance). The movie is based off of the Oni Press graphic novels, by Bryan Lee O'Malley. It incorporates alot of the themes from these graphic novels into the film, which I really liked.

I have a few criticisms for the movie, firstly, why Kendrick decided to be cast in the film for such a minor role. She's fairly fresh off her Academy Award nomination for, Up in the Air, and she has about 7 minutes of screen time in this one (Very unfortunate). Secondly, Winstead a certifiable "hottie" isn't portrayed well enough in during the trailers to let potential moviegoers know that, that's what side of her they'll be seeing on the big screen (I could barely even tell it was her during trailers due to her pink and blue wigs). Thirdly, the movie's estimated budget according to IMDB was $60 million, which seems very high to me, but considering how many special effects the film has that number doesn't seem too epic. But, honestly what is Universal thinking banking that much money on a movie with the biggest star being Michael Cera? I don't think the fan base for the graphic novels was big enough to justify doing this. Also, I feel that they should have overseen distribution for the movie in Japan, where the movie could and should be a big hit. Instead a company called Toho-Tawa is distributing it.

Criticism aside SPVTW is a clever, fantastically stylized comedy with great performances worth a trip to the theater.