Serving Sara (2002)

Originally Reviewed

Sunday August 20, 2006

 

This isn't some gangster rap movie where a bunch of hooligans dance off only to end their moves with the triumphant yell of "you got served!" Serving Sara is a film about getting even, beating the system, and of course the only true reason anyone would bother watching this film... Elizabeth Hurley in tight pants.

Matthew Perry plays Joe Tyler, he hunts down people and serves them divorce papers, law suits, you name it. Although as of late Joe has been having a little bit of trouble serving people due to a fellow server who has been tipping off his hits ahead of time making it harder for him to serve them.

Then the big job comes along, some wealthy Texas cattle rancher, played by Bruce Campbell, has hired Joe's company to serve his wife some unexpected divorce papers. But once again Joe's target Sara Moore (Elizabeth Hurley) is tipped off that he is coming and makes a quick run for it. Finally after catching up with Sara Moore, she offers him a rather intriguing proposal. She offers to hire him to serve her husband first in Texas so that she can get half of his fortune, 10% of which she'll give to him, totaling 1 million dollars.  Joe accepts and so begins the race against time as Joe and Sara have to travel to Texas and serve her cheating husband before Joe's rival can catch up with them and serve Sara. 

Serving Sara isn't a great film, but what do you expect from a film with Cedric the Entertainer and Bruce Campbell? And while the film is rather forgettable it still ends up being pretty entertaining while you're watching it. It's definitely not as bad as a lot of people make it out to be, and Matthew Perry and Elizabeth Hurley actually worked quite well together in this rather silly comedy. 

All in all it's much more entertaining than Hurley's other attempt at a "romantic comedy" Bedazzled, which is really wasn't one, but neither is Serving Sara really much of one. Although, in the end it's no where near as corny as Bedazzled and managed to sustain my attention for the entire film so I'll be the second person on RT to give it a barely fresh rating.

6/10

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V for Vendetta (2006)

 Originally Reviewed

Saturday September 2, 2006

Not being a fan of "graphic novels" (which I assume is what this film is based off of) like Sin City, and not being a fan of boyish looking Natalie Portman, I didn't think I would find this film enjoyable in the least. Even the previews didn't look that intriguing to me and it seemed to continue the tired out film style of The Matrix trilogy which the writers and producers of this film also penned.

The film starts out in 1605 when a man named Guy Fawkes is hanged for attempting to blow up Parliament as a way to induce the fall of the British government which many had believed and grown corrupt. Hundreds of years later, a man whose life was ruined by the horrors of such a government has decided to complete what Guy Fawkes had set out to accomplish, his name is V.

The British government now more controlled than it had ever been before and has turned the country into a prison for the citizens who are constantly kept in check by Parliament and told that such rule is for their own good, less they become like the fallen United States who crumbled due to war and disease. V only sees Britain as becoming a more communist nation that only wishes to have a choke hold on its people, so he takes matters into his own hands.

First, V begins to knock off the various people who were apart of a national travesty which had been covered up by the government, then on Guy Fawkes day, November 5th, he plans to ignite Parliament in the same fashion and purpose as Fawkes had. All in the hopes of ending the reign of an government of dictatorship and bring forth the birth of a new, better government.

I was surprised that I actually quite enjoyed V For Vendetta, it's really kind of a strange film yet the atmosphere and the plot blend together perfectly. The film is really more a political and social spew than it is a big budget action film, although the ending does offer a rather bloody encounter. You could probably spend months going through this film and estimating what represents what in comparsion to issues in the world today.  [But as America continues to spiral into a more communistic form of rule itself the ideals and messages of this film begin to hit a little closer home.]

The acting was good I honestly didn't know Hugo Weaving was V until the credits rolled and I saw his name, although many times throughout the film I thought to myself he sounds very familiar, and I kept thinking of Agent Smith in The Matrix saying "Mr. Anderson". Natalie Portman was bearable, I have never found her attractive or talented, but she didn't screw up the film even though her English accent was laughable at times and was more like a Saturday Night Live impression.

In the end, V For Vendetta is a pretty good film; personally my favorite part was the ending when the whole town gathered on November 5th and were all dressed up like V, which was hilarious! The film definitely has some major political & social agendas going on and I'm not talking about the dictatorship aspect but its got some things it in that are obviously trying to push a certain way on issues that are going on in our country today. So if you can look past some of the blatant propaganda in this film it's pretty enjoyable.

8/10

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Edison Force (2005)

Originally Reviewed

Saturday July 22, 2006

Like many other people who probably rented this film I only rented it because of RT's (Rotten Tomatoes) gorilla marketing campaign to force this down our throats with the constant banner ads and advertisements. Other than that I rented it out of curiosity for how bad it was going to be... well my curiosity has been filled, and this film is sufficiently bad, I hope RT got lots of money for advertising this because if they actually thought this film was worth advertising then we have more problems than the constant crashes and maintenance of this website (referring to Rotten Tomatoes buggy site).

Edison Force is about a group of undercover cops who are apart of a group called FRAT, First Response Assault & Tactical unit, made up of a bunch of highly skilled shooters who have all served prison time. FRAT is above the law and while they have technically cleaned the city up, in all actuality they have now become the ones responsible for causing all the messes.

The film has a quite impressive cast of well known names; grant it there isn't a whole lot of talent to back up those names. The film follows rapper LL Cool J, who has only recently become a member of FRAT, but he's not too comfortable with their ways of handling situations.  Dylan McDermott is his drugged up, trigger happy partner who gains his pleasure from killing and beating up civilians. After McDermott executes an unarmed guy during a drug bust he forces the guys buddy to take the wrap for the whole thing claiming he came after him with a knife.

LL Cool J was not comfortable with any of this but goes along with the story during the trial, adding to the fact that the defendant did appear to have been in fear of his life when they arrived on the scene. The defendant thanks him while he exits the courtroom which catches the ear of newbie reporter Justin Timberlake. Timberlake's curiosity is sparked by this exchange and decides to delve in further but is unable to get any information. When he goes to the defendant in prison he spills some information about this all being a cover-up for the cop. This was all he needed to continue his story, yet as he gets closer and closer to the truth he puts his life in even more danger. In the end the only one who can help bring justice to the dead and end the corruption of FRAT is one of the guys whose actually in it.

I really wasn't expecting much out of this film at all, so I wasn't terribly surprised when it ended up being a total piece of crap. This is also one of those horribly written films that somehow believes that continual cursing will make the film more intense and hide the fact it's worse than a TV movie. I'm really surprised at the number of people they got to actually do this film even though most of them aren't that talented, from LL Cool J, Dylan McDermott, Justin Timberlake, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Piper Perabo, Roselyn Sanchez, and even the dad from Home Alone (that ones not a surprise).

For the most part the acting was horrible, of course I'm sure it has something to do with the bad story, but some of the characters were beyond bad. Dylan McDermott as a deranged cop became hilarious as he overacted the entire role. Justin Timberlake, while not the worst in the film wasn't very convincing in his role and seemed to simply be excited to be an in film. Kevin Spacey had a horrible wig on that sunk his character into truly cornball city right off the spot, hard to not burst out laughing when he first appears on screen. Morgan Freeman was alright but he's basically exactly the same as he is in every film, pretty dull and monotone.

In the end, it was as bad as I thought it would be and probably worse, an extremely bad film with sub standard actors, and a horrible script. But what do you expect when the two leading actors are LL Cool J and Justin Timberlake!?! Both of these guys really need to stick to music. I'm getting tried of people in the music business thinking they can act, I have yet to see anyone who was truly great at both. I'm a big fan of Will Smith and his music but even I'll admit he's really not that great of a rapper, acting is his strong suit, and these guys need to go back to their strong suit. Let this film go by unless you're intentionally prepared to watch a total piece of crap, it's truly direct to DVD material.

2/10 

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Jurassic Park (1993)

Originally Reviewed

Thursday June 1, 2006

"Spared no expense" is what millionaire John Hammond continues to proclaim throughout the film about his theme park geared towards bringing forth a realistic adventure that everyone can visualize and touch. This is Spielberg's attempt in the making of this film and I believe successfully accomplished in his recreation of these massive creatures. The problem is there is only so much one can do with dinosaurs other than run!

Jurassic Park is about millionaire John Hammonds creation of an island theme park where genetically engineered dinosaurs, cloned from the DNA found in amber incrusted mosquitoes, created to be displayed in what is planned to be a most unique theme park. Hammond?s investors though are rather skeptical of his creations and require that he have some experts in the field to provide a stamp of approval. So two paleontologists (Laura Dern & Sam Neil) and the comical relief mathematician (Jeff Goldblum aka "The Goldblum") are brought to the island to experience all of its glory... or disaster.

Everything appears to being going according to plan, but little do the visitors know that their lives are severely in danger. A massive storm is about to hit the island, but that happens to be the least of their problems. Wayne Knight (better known as Newman) plays the greedy computer engineer named Dennis whose in charge of the keeping all the systems running. He's run into some financial trouble, or more likely wasted all his money away, and Hammond is unwilling to increase his salary so that he can blow even more. So Dennis turns to the competition and offers to procure them dinosaur DNA for large sums of money, now all he has to do is obtain the DNA and get off the island before the storm gets worse.

Obtaining the DNA isn't the problem its getting off the island in time, after he shuts down the security system, making it look like system maintenance, he's free to go but has to make his way through Jurassic Park unaware that the dinosaurs are now on the loose! Meanwhile the visitors are in more danger as they sit in front of the Tyrannosaurus Rex enclosure that is no longer secure. Now everyone is faced with the challenge of escaping the island alive and intact.

I couldn't help but think why is Dennis, "Newman" still working there? If I'm running some elaborate park that relies on security, I wouldn't continue to employ someone who potentially had it out for me because they wouldn't get more money, especially when they have access to almost the entire system and could easily make more money selling the secrets or in this case the DNA. Big mistake there which pretty much lead to the whole disaster, but of course without it you wouldn't have much if a movie.

Jurassic Park is the film that started the ball rolling bringing dinosaurs back to the screen in realistic form. Probably one of the biggest movies of it's time and certainly visually top at the time, 13 years later its realism is still pretty impressive. The only problem is it starts to get old pretty quick. While the film actually progresses in the beginning fairly quickly, once arriving at the island things start to take a slower pace and it's quite a while until any real action takes place. Then when the dominos finally start to fall, it's all about running for your life.

In the end, Jurassic Park is definitely an entertaining film, well put together and is very well written and entertaining. You have to give the actors credit as well for doing a great job pretending that there was actually something there when for the most part there wasn't. I wasn't even overly annoyed by "The Goldblum" whose fast talking rambles can sometimes become tiring. Overall, I liked Jurassic Park, but I didn't love it, its definitely entertaining but how entertaining can running away from dinosaurs for two hours be after a while, it gets to be a little old, but the story did help to make the repetition bearable, something the sequels suffered from.

8/10 

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The Family Man (2000)

 Originally Reviewed

Sunday September 24, 2006

Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if you had made a different decision in the past? Can one decision be the life alternating piece that decides whether you're a wealthy and successful business man, or an average middle class family man? For the highly successful Jack Campbell, those questions are about to be answered.

Thirteen years ago Jack Campbell (Nicholas Cage), about to fly to London for a one year job internship, stood in an airport terminal with his girlfriend Kate (Tea Leoni). Kate expresses her doubts about him leaving and suggests that they forget their plans and start their life together now, but Jack reassures her that one year won't change the way he feels about her.

Fast forward thirteen years to the present, Jack is the President of a very large and wealthy company, about to close one of the biggest deals in corporate history which he was responsible for. Jack is now a very successful and wealthy man, yet he is alone, while everyone else has families to go home to on Christmas Eve all he has is his work. He receives an unexpected message from his old flame Kate, but tosses it aside not wanting to dredge up old memories from the past.

Jack is in for a surprise when he wakes up on Christmas day to discover a life he could have had. Now married to his college sweetheart, Kate, and the proud father of two kids, Jack finds himself in the life of a middle class tire salesman. This is all just a glimpse of what his life could have been, but it's a glimpse he's stuck in until he's able to figure out why this is all happening.

I've watched The Family Man on a few times over the years, but for some reason it wasn't as good this time, or maybe I don't remember quite how I felt about the film before. Frankly, The Family Man is quite the forgettable film, it doesn't leave you with any lasting memory and isn't the film most people will want to watch again and again. It's the type of film that gets old fast as you watch the characters continue to run around in circles until the very end, where even then your left with a rather lack luster finish that leaves you hanging.

Nicholas Cage and Tea Leoni do a fine job, but my problem with them is their acting is too one dimensional. Cage seems to be almost identical in most of his roles and Leoni's whining voice and overly upbeat personality tends to grade on me after a while. I really haven't seen her in role I particularly like because she always seems to play the same rather annoying character. Of course the predictable plot of the story and the fact that this type of film has been done in so many forms in the past doesn't help matters.

In the end, The Family Man is an average film. The best part of the film is the scene where Cage is changing a baby diaper and his daughter comes up to him and thinks he's an alien because he has been acting so strangely and welcomes him to earth! But overall, the film is definitely no holiday classic and probably not even one most people will want to break out once a year to watch. The acting and story is formulaic but still relatively solid, it's simply nothing new and Cage and Leoni are identical to so many characters they've played in the past. It's a nice film to watch every few years but this glimpse fades away quite fast without much of a memory.

7/10

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Finding Neverland (2004)

 Originally Reviewed

Thursday May 19, 2005

Ever wish you could get away? Escape the daily grind of life into a fantasy land that only you had the power to open the door to. Finding Neverland tells the story of how such a place came to be, a place where children never grew up and a place where even adults could find solace from the pains of life... that place is called Neverland.

Finding Neverland is the story behind the ever so popular adventures of Peter Pan and Neverland. James Barrie (Johnny Depp), is a famous writer and playwright of the time but one who has begun to find himself in a rut of consistency and played out themes. Searching for some new spark of creativity Barrie happens upon the Llewelyn Davies family, four boys and one widowed mother (Kate Winslet). His new found friendship with the Davies family begins to open up new aspects of literature he had not yet explored before, as his adventures with the Davies family transforms into what is soon to become his greatest piece of work yet... Peter Pan. 

But the road to success is sometimes fleeting as Barrie is chastised for spending too much time with the widow and her four young sons while he neglects his own wife. Everyone around Barrie begins to wonder what his relationship with the Davies family really is, and how such a play with fairies and pirates will ever appeal to a group of sophisticated debutantes. In the end Barrie's masterpiece becomes much more than a play, but the proof that each and every one of us, if we truly believe can have our own piece of Neverland.

Finding Neverland is a very entertaining story about the creation of a literary classic. Johnny Depp's performance is nothing short of brilliance, and is backed up by a wonderful supporting cast. I also liked the casting of Dustin Hoffman in the film, which if you didn't know, played the role of Captain Hook in the film Hook. 

Don't expect Finding Neverland to be a typical Peter Pan story, it's not a fantasy film in any sense, but a drama which depicts the creation of the fantasy world itself. It's a very well written film that mixes humor and drama together brilliantly to provide a very entertaining, and at sometimes emotional story of James Barrie and his inspiration for Peter Pan. I highly recommend this film to anyone who has yet to see it because it is truly well done.

8/10

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Wimbledon (2004)

 Originally Reviewed

Monday January 2, 2006

Wimbledon has to be the only tennis film (or tennis anything for that matter) I've ever seen. I'm racking my brain to think of another film based around tennis, but coming up dry. I rented this film on the basis of someone else's review combined with decent ratings on Netflix. I don't like tennis, I know nothing about tennis and I really can't stand Kirsten Dunst in any shape, form, or being, still I surprising found some enjoyment here.

Wimbledon is your typical comeback story, Peter Colt (Paul Bettany) was once 11th overall in the world and now is 119th. Luck is on his side and he's offered a wildcard spot at Wimbledon where he plans to end his professional career. With not much hope of success, or support from family, Peter begins to feel like he might end up looking more foolish than he already feels he is. That is until he meets American tennis star Lizzie Bradbury, who he instantly falls in love with, and begins to use as adrenaline to win games. As the tournament proceeds Peter must deal with Lizzie's overprotected father, the pains of love, and the last chance he has to finally win Wimbledon.

Wimbledon actually moves along quite well, hardly ever dragging and constantly managed to sustain my interest. Paul Bettany is a pretty good actor in the films I have seen him in previously (A Beautiful Mind and Master & Commander) and he does a decent job here as well. Kirsten on the other hand was her same goofy self with the same frown and annoying smile, fortunately she didn't ruin the film for me, but her relationship with Bettany's character seemed incredibly stilted and forced.  Luckily this was more of a sports film than a romantic comedy, had the story focused more on Lizzie and Peter I'd not have much to compliment. Overall, Wimbledon ends up being an average sports story about a sport that doesn't see much silver screen time, and is worth a look for fans or general audiences looking for a slight variance.

7/10

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The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997)

Originally Reviewed

Monday December 12, 2005

 

This is the Bill Murray of old, the classic, the hilarious Bill Murray not the straight dark comedy Bill Murray, the one I find excruciatingly hard to sit through any of his films.  I don't find him funny anymore but I guess he's having more success with his new style and genre of film. The Man Who Knew Too Little ranks somewhere in the Top 10 funniest movies of all-time, it has to, because it's just that good. It's Wallace Ritchie's (Murray) birthday and he is coming to London to visit his brother. Bad timing because Wally arrives on the night of his brother's big business meeting and his brother knows how much Wally hates boring meetings, so he sets him up to participate in the Theater of Life. Something he expects he brother will enjoy since he's in the movie business... well actually he works for Blockbuster in Demoine, Iowa!

The Theater of Life is a live action role playing drama where the customer is the main participate in a story made to appear real. Ironically Wally gets mixed up in something much bigger, an assassination plot to foil a treaty between two countries. Although the whole time Wally believes this is all an act, all part of the experience of the show. Wallace Ritchie soon becomes the main target of the resistance and is thought to be an American spy hired to foil the plot, but the whole time he's enjoying himself tremendously and has no clue whatsoever that his life is in great danger.

The Man Who Knew Too Little is one of the funniest movies I have seen, and it's no less amusing after the tenth time. Definitely the funniest Bill Murray film as he has no clue what's really going on yet he's outsmarting the bad guys who think he's some type of super agent. I highly recommend this film; you are guaranteed to laugh, if not see a doctor because something is wrong with you. One of the best written comedies ever, it flows extremely well and there is never a dull moment.

9/10

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Kate & Leopold (2001)

 Originally Reviewed

Friday December 9, 2005

Kate and Leopold takes an interesting spin on a genre that is usually pretty formulaic. Kate's a modern day corporate woman, who's used to doing whatever necessary to succeed, even if it means selling people stuff they really don't need through false advertising. Leopold is a charming 19th century Duke who is forced to pick someone to marry or lose his title as Duke and forever be poor. Both of them are about to have their lives turned upside down, when Leopold is visited by Stuart a relative from the future who had discovered a time warp in the present. Leopold mistakenly follows Stuart "back to the future", and is stuck in the present. Stuart is injured in an accident and taken to the hospital, then a mental institution because he keeps rambling about having to get someone back to the past before the time portal closes otherwise they will be stuck in the future forever.

Kate lives right below Stuart and dated him for 3 years, which she claims were wasted years of her life. When she meets Leopold she finds him to be insane, while her brother thinks he is an actor and is just living his part! Kate begins to find herself falling for this strange man, when she promised herself she wouldn't do this again. The two fall in love but begin to realize they are two quite different people. Leopold has to decide if he's willing to return home and Kate has to decide if she's willing to change her life.

I'm not a big Meg Ryan fan, but I do enjoy some of the romantic comedies she is in, and this one was no exception. It was very well written and acted, Hugh Jackman played the role of Leopold flawlessly and truly brought a realism to the character as well as some light hearted moments, although for someone taken from the past and brought over a hundred years into the future he did not seem that disturbed or frightened. The whole idea of bringing a man from the past who is very much out of place in the present was an interesting concept and added some suspense because it kept you wondering if he would ever make it back! In addition, it's the common story of a fish out of water, where you take someone and put them in a totally unfamiliar environment, which usually leads to some very comical moments. In the end, Kate and Leopold is a worthy addition to the above average list of romantic comedies.

8/10 

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Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

 Originally Reviewed

Saturday March 3, 2007

I thought I would pick something special for my 200th review, and what could be more special than quite possibly the greatest action/adventure film ever! No, not Die Hard, but Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade! What film could offer better action, adventure and the tag team duo of two of the greatest actors to grace the silver screen? Indiana Jones is unarguably the greatest fictional character in film, and who better to play his father than the original James Bond, Sean Connery, the man who help spawn a multi-billion dollar franchise!

The Last Crusade is the 3rd adventure in the Indiana Jones saga, while it could be deemed that last crusade signifies Jones's final adventure it's more reasonable and accurate to believe that it refers to the final crusade of the knights who searched, discovered and then swore to protect the Holy Grail. Our adventure begins with a brief back-story into the life of the young Indiana Jones, as well as a look at Indiana's father and a passion of his that would span 40 years, leading into our present day adventure.

Indiana's father Henry was obsessed with the story of the Holy Grail, the cup of Christ. He spent most of his life researching the story, gathering facts and combining them together into a diary, a guide that would be useful in the search for this great artifact. Indiana hasn't spoken to his father for many years, but receives word of his father's disappearance on a quest for the Holy Grail.  In an attempt to find him Indy becomes entangled in one of the most dangerous adventures yet, and finding himself face to face with Nazis once again, who intend to procure the Grail for their own selfish gain!

I honestly cannot think of anything negative to say about this film. The cast is spectacular, the locations are breathtaking and the action is non-stop. While the previous two films were also nothing short of amazing, certain characters such as Marian Ravenwood, Short Round and Willie Scott could be quite annoying at times, but in The Last Crusade none of the characters really grade on your nerves as much. The story is gripping and well written even more so than the previous installments and it really helps get you into the film and almost want to run out and visit the locations. I would love to go to where they filmed the entrance of the cavern where the Grail was kept, which was like a castle carved into the face of the canyon!

Overall, The Last Crusade is a definite must see film...no it's a must own film, in fact you must own this entire trilogy, as it's one of the best film trilogies out there, don't try to argue with me I'm quite right on this one. So if you're the part of the 1% of the population who hasn't experienced this film or the Indiana Jones saga get off you butt now and run out and buy the Indiana Jones Trilogy and enjoy the best three adventure films ever made.

10/10

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