PCP on DVD - Planes

The other movie I watched while I was home sick with my child was nowhere near as fun as The Lego Movie. Instead it was thoroughly disappointing, and it is 90 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

Planes - 2013, rated PG.  My rating: 4 out of 10

Pixar's Cars is probably one of the weakest films from that studio, and I never saw its sequel but heard it was terrible. When Pixar refused to make a 3rd film in the series, Disney decided they were going to go and do so themselves. Set in the same world as the Cars movies, the film is nothing but a shoddy merchandising cash grab and nothing more. It is not surprising, considering how much money the Cars series made Pixar and Disney that they would want to cash in as much as possible, because there is nothing that Hollywood likes more than beating a dead horse for every last dollar.

The film is totally predictable and lame. This is what happens when Disney makes a movie without Pixar's magic, it just sucks. As soon as I learned that the film was about an around the world race, I already knew who was going to win it, and what plot "twists" would happen along the way. The film was ridiculously formulaic and completely unoriginal. Even my son got bored, checking out at about the half way point of the movie, unlike The Lego Movie which kept him enraptured.

Bottom line, stay away from this one. If you haven't exposed your kids to this one yet, don't, in case they do like it. It's not a movie you want to be stuck watching on repeat.

PCP on DVD - The Lego Movie

So, my son is getting old enough to watch movies now, as he's almost 3 years old. Recently, he was home sick for a few days because he had Hand, Foot, & Mouth disease, and had to be kept quarantined from his daycare so as not to infect everyone else. We spent the time watching a few movies and some of his favorite television shows, and surprisingly, one of the movies we watched for him turned out to actually be quite fun for me as well.

The Lego Movie - 2014, rated PG. My rating: 9 out of 10.

I had heard good things about this film from some friends who had seen it with their children, but I was skeptical when it first was announced. The movie seemed like it would be a 90 minute commercial for a children's toy (albeit, the best toy ever), and I didn't think that there was any way this film could be that good. Man, was I wrong.

The Lego Movie turned out to be very funny, both for kids and grown ups, and it was surprisingly way better than I expected. It turns out that it is from the same writer/director duo that helmed the also funnier than I expected 21 Jump Street, (and its sequel that I haven't seen yet), as well as the quirky yet funny animated series Clone High. Given that the things I've seen them do before had me in stitches, it should be no surprise that this film was also quite hilarious.

The film works on so many levels. It is a straight forward action film, your typical hero's journey, with a plot that is simple and easy for children to understand, obviously, because it is primarily a kid's flick. However, there's a lot going on at a deeper level for adults as well. There's a lot of jokes that primarily adults will get that will fly over the heads of some of the kids, and the film also serves as a deconstruction of many action film tropes, similar to how 21 Jump Street also made fun of many of the film tropes that it employed. One of the funniest jokes in this one, on a meta level, is the interactions between the characters of Superman and Green Lantern. Superman finds Green Lantern to be annoying and lame, and does what he can whenever possible to get away from him, which is funny for the kids, but for the adults it is even funnier, when you realize that Superman is voiced by Channing Tatum, and Green Lantern by Jonah Hill. There is something about that casting gag that just cracks me up, every time I've watched this movie (which is many times now as my son loves it). The rest of the voice cast is outstanding as well, including Morgan Freeman, Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Charlie Day, & Will Ferrell in major roles.

I don't want to give away any of the plot details, especially the third act plot twist, but I do recommend you go out and see this film yourself. Even if you don't have kids, there's a lot in this film for you to like as well. So, go out and pick this up on Blu-Ray if you haven't seen this yet, I promise you won't be disappointed!

PCP on DVD - Pompeii

Sometimes when I watch a movie, I realize I've made a horrible mistake. Pompeii was one of those films. So, rather than waste even more time with a real review, I'm going change things up for this one.

Pompeii - 2014, rated PG-13.  My rating: 3.5 out of 10. 

From a visuals standpoint this film was decent, with cool destruction sequences at the end. Otherwise though, it was a pretty bad movie with a plot ripped off from other films I've seen before. Overall, it was pretty much a waste of an hour and forty-five minutes.

Things I'd wish I'd done rather than watch this movie:

• Listen to Bastille's Pompeii on repeat for 1 hr 45 min. It's a good song, but I'm sure after listening to it that long I'd probably grow sick of it.
• Watch the parts of Titanic again that this film stole the plot from
• Watch the parts of Gladiator again that were again stolen by this film
• Watch star Emily Browning's prior film Sucker Punch again (and I gave that one a 4 when I reviewed it)
• Get spoilers on star Kit Harington's show Game of Thrones directly from George R.R. Martin
• Watch star Kiefer Sutherland's 24 series while being waterboarded
• Spend time with my wife and son
• Spend time working on other reviews for my blog
• Do pretty much anything else

Bottom line - don't waste your time on this movie.

PCP on DVD - Veronica Mars

Whenever people talk about great shows that were cancelled too soon, one of the ones regularly mentioned is Veronica Mars. The series only lasted 3 seasons on TV (2 on UPN, 1 on the CW) from 2004-07, yet it managed to build a very loyal and devoted fan following. Creator Rob Thomas and star Kristen Bell had always wanted to do a film, but were unable to convince Warner Brothers to greenlight the movie. Then came the crowd-funding website Kickstarter. Thomas had the idea to use Kickstarter to gain funding for the show, showing the WB that there was indeed an audience wanting to see the movie get made. The film set records on Kickstarter, hitting their goal of $2,000,000 in less than 10 hours and overall receiving over $5,700,000 in donations from over 91,000 fans to get the movie made. So, Thomas and Bell had their film, now the question was, would the fans of the show actually enjoy the movie they had funded?


Veronica Mars - 2014, rated PG-13. My rating: 8 out of 10.

I was a big fan of the show Veronica Mars, unfortunately not discovering it until after it had already completed its run on the air. For those of you unfamiliar with the show or movie, Kristen Bell starred as the titular character, a (then) teenager who moonlights as a private eye in her dad's PI firm, while facing the challenges of high school and college, but never losing her extremely sarcastic outlook on life. The show (and movie) have a ton of great one-liners, both from Mars and her on and off again boyfriend Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring). The show was a noir-ish mystery series, and that mood and feel carries over to the movie very well. Even if you haven't seen the show, however, the film is still actually rather well done, and can stand alone as a good way to spend your time, with a nice character-driven mystery. You might not get all of the in-jokes and shout-outs to the series if you haven't seen it, but since the film is set nine years after the final season of the show, it still does a pretty solid job of reminding viewers who is who and introducing all of the important characters in a clear way.

This time around in the movie, the case revolves around Logan being accused of murder, and Veronica, who had gotten out of the PI life and had just passed the bar exam, being pulled back in in order to help save her ex from jail time. The mystery was actually pretty good, and I had fun trying to solve the case along with the characters in the movie.

Overall, it was nice to inhabit the universe of these characters again, and the movie will have a place on my shelf next to the TV series that spawned it. If you're looking for a good mystery film, I do recommend this. And if you never watched the TV series, I strongly encourage you to do so, as it was easily one of the better TV shows of the past decade.

PCP on DVD - About Time

Before my wife had added this to our Netflix queue, I knew nothing about the British film About Time. Upon learning that it was another romantic movie involving time travel and starring Rachel McAdams, who also was in The Time Traveler's Wife, I didn't have high expectations that this film would be any good. It turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.

About Time - 2013, rated R. My rating: 9 out of 10.

As I learned from when I was hunting for the poster image to use in this blog post, About Time is from the writer of a few other great British rom-coms: Love Actually, Notting Hill, and Four Weddings & a Funeral. This movie stars upcoming Star Wars Episode VII star Domnhall Gleeson (real life son of the outstanding actor Brendan Gleeson) as Tim, a young British lawyer, who meets and falls in love with an American, Mary, (Rachel McAdams). But Tim has a secret that he doesn't share with Mary, a secret that is only known to the men of his family. When he turned 21, his father, named in the film only as Dad (Bill Nighy), lets him in on the family secret: the men of the family can time travel, back to any point in time they have personally lived before. Tim uses his powers to correct mistakes he makes in wooing Mary, and to lead a better, more fulfilling life, helping out his friends and family members along the way to also lead better lives.

I liked About Time's use of time travel, as it was a novel way I don't recall ever seeing portrayed in a film or book before. I also liked how Tim's dad explicitly points out that it can't be used to kill Hitler, giving a small shout out to the common joke about what one would do if they could time-travel. The film is also really funny, with Tim having some great one-liners and jokes. The time travel is also used to comedic effect, most notably in one montage where he cycles through possible best men at his wedding, based on their awful speeches.

Overall, between the funny dialogue, great chemistry between Gleeson & McAdams, and great life lessons imparted by the film to the audience, I found About Time to actually be a surprisingly good romantic comedy. I can definitely see this film being added to the rotation of rom-coms my wife and I watch when we are in the mood for a good romantic comedy, and I want to make sure it is a film that doesn't make me want to puke. This one definitely would be on that list. So, if you're looking for a good date movie, check this one out, I doubt you'll be disappointed!

PCP on DVD - Yet Another Backlog Clearout

Once again, I found myself facing a giant pile of films that I needed to write reviews for, but not the time to do it justice. So, like my many prior backlog clearouts that I have done, here's a quick burst of 12 mini-reviews for some movies that I've caught on DVD since last fall, in alphabetical order.

42 - The Jackie Robinson biopic was extremely well acted, especially by the star, Chadwick Boseman, who I don't recall seeing in anything before this. He did such a great job here though, and he's been tapped to star as James Brown in that legend's upcoming biopic as well. The film does a great job of showing the challenges that Jackie Robinson had to face in breaking the MLB's color barrier. A fitting film for an American hero. My rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Argo - What can be said that hasn't been said already about the Oscar Winner for best picture from a year ago? The acting was outstanding by the incredible cast. Ben Affleck has really matured into an incredible director, he hasn't had a misstep in a few years now, and has fully redeemed himself for Gigli. My rating: 10 out of 10.

Carrie - It's been too long since I saw the original, so it is hard to compare the remake to this one. Thanks to modern technology though they were able to do some really cool things with her telekinetic powers though. But like many Stephen King adaptations, the film was only meh at best, and this remake was probably not necessary.  My rating: 6 out of 10.

Despicable Me 2 - I liked the first one a whole lot better than this one. The first one was a pleasant surprise, this one was a bit of a repetitive retread. Hopefully the spin-off film starring the minions will be funnier. My rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Django Unchained - Quentin Tarantino is the man. I love his movies, and Django Unchained was probably his best yet. Outstanding film. Everyone involved, but especially Jamie Foxx, Leo DiCaprio, and Christoph Waltz were a blast to watch in this film.  My rating: 10 out of 10.

Monster's University - While not as good as the original, it was still nice to inhabit the universe of these characters again. It wasn't as big of a disappointment as Despicable Me 2 was, but it was still somewhat of a let down. Pixar might be starting to lose some of its magic. My rating: 8 out of 10.

Now You See Me - Visually this film was very striking, and it was entertaining thanks to the charismatic performances of the extremely talented cast, combined with some pretty cool magic tricks. Too bad the film squanders a bit of the goodwill on a "twist" ending that the film doesn't really truly lay any groundwork for, resulting in a somewhat unbelievable ending. My rating: 7 out of 10.

Oz the Great and Powerful - I thought this film was a lot of fun and it was way better than I expected. I especially liked some of the little Sam Raimi touches such as debris flying at James Franco in a way that reminded me of the Evil Dead series. While it could have been better, it was a fun ride that I enjoyed. My rating: 8 out of 10.

R.I.P.D. - This comic book adaptation about a supernatural police force had a lot of potential, as well as two great leads in Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges. Too bad it was really just a weak Men in Black ripoff, just with demons instead of aliens as the opposition. My rating: 4 out of 10.

Silver Linings Playbook - Another film worthy of all of the praise it has received. It was filled with outstanding performances, including a surprisingly great turn from Chris Tucker in a tiny role. I had this reaction upon seeing him in the film as well. Overall, a very entertaining and touching film. My rating: 10 out of 10.

This is 40 - The spin-off from Knocked Up was very funny for me and my wife, as Paul Rudd's and Leslie Mann's relationship on the screen reminded us quite a bit of our own and had us in stitches for much of the film. My rating: 8 out of 10.

World War Z - The book that this was based on was way better. Also, I'm sorry but they aren't zombies if they move fast. Also, this film was extremely unbelievable. Any viral plague that goes to full fatal infection in 12 seconds after exposure, combined with fast-moving zombie carriers, would lead to the total extinction of humanity as a species. Simply based on exponential growth, the population of a city like New York City would be completely overrun in a matter of minutes. So, points off for major unrealism, but otherwise the film was fun and had good scares. My rating: 7 out of 10.

PCP on DVD - Iron Man 3

I am really a big fan of the linked Marvel Cinematic Universe, but because they are making so many films all tied together, it sometimes becomes hard to see all of them in theaters. Iron Man 3 was one that I had to wait until home video for, because my wife & I were kind of turned off to the character after the disappointing Iron Man 2. Thankfully, the third entry in the series was far stronger than the 2nd.

Iron Man 3 - 2013, rated PG-13. My Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Iron Man 3 takes place in the aftermath of The Avengers, with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) suffering from PTSD from the events of that film. He faces down a new threat, known as the Mandarin, a terrorist responsible for acts of brutality around the globe. He also faces a second threat, an attempt at making Captain America-like super soldiers from a program called Extremis. Little does he know that the Extremis program and the Mandarin are linked in hidden ways.

RDJ is great as usual as Stark; honestly Marvel knocked the casting for this role out of the park when they hired him several years ago. He delivers the sarcastic one liners very well, but he also does a great job of showing us Stark's pathos and despair after the traumas he faced in his last outing.

Also great in this film are the action sequences. The sequence with Iron Man having to rescue people in free fall from an explosion on Air Force One was incredible, even if not realistic (for one thing, you can't hear anyone yelling at you in free-fall, something I learned when I jumped out of a plane a few years ago). The finale showdown between a whole slew of Iron Man armor suits and an army of Extremis soldiers was also quite awesome and spectacular.

Overall, the film was definitely a step up from the 2nd in the series, and it helped revitalize the character quite a bit. I'm looking forward to seeing how they use him in the next Avengers film, hitting theaters in 2015. I know that for that film, I won't be waiting until DVD to see it.

PCP on DVD - We're the Millers

I'm always looking for a film that can make me laugh. When a film comes along with a pretty solid comedic cast, I always give it a shot, even though the cast of a film is never a guarantee of it actually being a good movie - case in point, Movie 43. Fortunately, We're the Millers was better than I expected and had me cracking up in several places.

We're the Millers - 2013, rated R. My rating: 7.5 out of 10.

We're the Millers tells the story of a drug dealer, David (Jason Sudekis), who has to become a drug smuggler after his stash and money is wiped out in a robbery, putting him deeply in debt to his supplier, Brad (Ed Helms). Brad orders David to become a drug mule, or be killed. In order to avoid suspicion at the border, David comes up with the brilliant idea to use a fake family taking a vacation in a RV to get the drugs through, thinking that a family would be less likely to face scrutiny at the US-Mexico border. So he recruits his neighbors to pose as his fake family: stripper Rose (Jennifer Aniston) as his wife, and homeless runaway Casey (Emma Roberts) and local geek Kenny (Will Poulter) as his children. The film tells the story of their crazy road trip and the various cartel villains and federal agents they encounter, especially the hilarious Nick Offerman as Don, head of another RV driving family they encounter, who just so happens to also be a DEA agent. Along the way, the fake family is transformed into a real one, while still bringing the laughs at a pretty steady clip.

Last I heard, they are considering doing a sequel to this film. If they are, then I am on board with spending another few hours with this wacky family. The film entertained me quite a bit, and the outtakes in the end credits were actually quite funny as well, so make sure you stay tuned for those, including a pretty good practical joke played on Jennifer Aniston. Overall, I recommend We're the Millers, as it was one of the funnier films I've seen in awhile.

PCP on DVD - Fast & Furious 6

Last year's tragic death of Paul Walker made me extremely sad, because although he wasn't one of the best actors, like the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, I always looked forward to a new film in his big franchise, The Fast & the Furious. Walker starred in 5 of the first 6 films of this ongoing franchise, and they are delaying the seventh so they can re-work the script to account for Walker's death. I finally had the chance to catch the 6th installment of the series recently on Blu-ray, after not having the time to catch it in theaters last summer.

Fast & Furious 6 - 2013, rated PG-13. My rating: 7.5 out of 10.

The F&F franchise is the definition of a popcorn movie. It's got action, funny lines, and a whole bunch of eye candy. F&F6 takes the series up to a new level of audacity, with crazy insane action sequences that break every law of physics repeatedly. It is easy to forgive the film for doing this though, despite the number of times I thought to myself "oh, come on!" when something ridiculous occurred, simply because even though it was completely implausible, it still looked cool as hell on screen.

F&F6 brings back everyone important from F&F5, including my favorite former WWE star, the tank-sized Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and adds Gina Carano (Haywire) as The Rock's sidekick, and Luke Evans (Immortals, The Hobbit) as the villain, Shaw.

Shaw is a psychotic military expert and former special forces soldier, known for doing vehicular mayhem on a grand scale, similar to the crazy heists that our heroes specialized in. Now, Shaw has set his sights on an extremely valuable piece of military hardware, so government agent Hobbs (The Rock) calls upon the heroes crew to take Shaw down. What follows is a number of crazy, over the top car, tank, and plane chases that have far more mayhem than any other car chase scene ever committed to film.

Overall, the film delivers on its promise of massive quantities of vehicular insanity. There's also a post-credits scene that sets up the next film in the series, as well as redefines a key scene from Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift (the 3rd one in the series). I can't wait to see what happens in the next film in the series. Hopefully I'll be able to catch that one in theaters this time.

FML - Celebrating Star Wars Day

So this year my family celebrated Star Wars Day for the first time. My son & I were both decked out in Star Wars shirts, and my wife and I sat down to watch Episode IV: A New Hope. She had never seen any of the original trilogy of films before, somehow managing to avoid seeing them until now (although she has seen the prequel trilogy). Since my son is not yet two and a half, we knew that he wouldn't really be all that interested in the movie, nor able to follow it at all. In fact, he checked out from paying attention and went back to playing with his toys about 15 minutes into the movie. But initially, he was very excited, especially every time that C-3PO and R2-D2 were on the screen. The Star Wars tshirt he was wearing had the two droids on it, and he recognized them whenever they were on the screen, excitedly pointing to the screen and yelling "Robots! Robots!"

 

My wife thought the film was better than she expected it to be, but she still doesn't understand how some people are so pulled into fandom of the saga. I guess since she didn't see it at a young age, she'll never fully understand the passion this series has instilled in so many people. But I look forward to celebrating Star Wars Day in the future, especially as my son gets older and will be able to appreciate the films for more than just a few minutes.

Hope you all had a fun Star Wars Day yourselves, and may the force be with you, always!

PCP on DVD - Movie Backlog Clearout

Since I haven't had the time to write reviews because of grad school, but have still had the time to watch movies, I have once again developed a backlog of movies that need to be reviewed. Like I have in the past, I'm going to do a clear-out post of my backlog by posting really short reviews of 23 movies I caught within the past 6 months that I don't want to write more than a paragraph about. There were some good movies in this batch, some bad ones too, but I just want to get their reviews done so I can focus on longer posts on the movies I actually want to write about (i.e. the really good ones).  So, without further ado, here are the quick reviews in alphabetical order.

21 & Over - 2013, rated R. My rating: 5 out of 10. It's a college drinking movie about a 21st birthday celebration. It has its funny moments but nothing particularly original really. Basically, it's a lot like The Hangover retold for a new generation.

About Cherry - 2012, rated R. My rating: 4 out of 10. A lame girl moves to California and gets into the skin industry. Probably the most pointless well acted film I've ever seen. Lame ending left me asking "what was the point?" Don't waste an hour and a half of your life.

A Good Day to Die Hard -2013, rated PG-13. My rating: 5 out of 10. Were this named anything else and not part of the Die Hard franchise it'd probably warrant a 6 or 7, but it gets points off for sullying the name of the greatest action flick ever. Please stop making films in this franchise, thanks.

Beautiful Creatures - 2013, rated PG-13. My rating: 6.5 out of 10. Yet another young adult novel adaptation hoping to be the next Twilight franchise. It has cool effects for the witchcraft moments, and fun scenery-chewing performances, especially from Emmy Rossum. I don't think it did well enough for them to continue the series though.

Celeste & Jesse Forever - 2012, rated R. My rating: 8 out of 10.  Funny but touching, but also majorly depressing. It's not a romantic comedy date movie, it's more sort of like PS I Love You in the fact that it's a depressing love story. Rashida Jones & Andy Samberg are awesome though.

Hanna - 2011, rated R. My rating: 6 out of 10.  Well done action sequences offset by sucky plot meant that I found it hard to care about any of the characters. But, as I said the action sequences were pretty bad-ass, so that prevented the film from being a total waste.

Keep reading! There's more after the jump! --->

PCP on DVD - The Hangover Part III

The first Hangover film was one of the more enjoyable comedies of the past decade. It's first sequel was derivative, telling the same story but set in Bangkok instead of Las Vegas. For The Hangover Part III, they are back in Vegas, but without the massive memory loss story line of the past two films. Does a new story idea result in an enjoyable movie? Not really.

The Hangover Part III - 2013, rated R. My rating: 4 out of 10.

The Wolfpack returns for what I hope is their final adventure. I say that I hope that it's the end, because after this one I don't want to spend any time with these characters again. This time they are dealing with inadvertent consequences of their misadventures from the previous two films. The plot isn't really all that believable though, in reality a crossed mob boss would've just capped them and the movie would've been over after 10 minutes.

While it was nice to hang out with these characters for the third time, their stories were pretty played out and tired. All of the best jokes from the film were in the trailer too. Really, there's not a lot we haven't seen before. Zach Galifianakis is weird, Ed Helms is increasingly fed up with Zach's antics, Bradley Cooper the man in charge, and Justin Bartha missing for the majority of the film.

Really, unless you're a diehard Galifianakis fan (because he's the best thing of this movie), don't waste your time on this one. There are far funnier comedies out there than this mess.

PCP on DVD - Oblivion

If you couldn't tell from my two week series of posts this summer on science fiction, I am a big fan of the genre. This past summer was a great one for sci-fi, with a ton of new films in theaters that are now coming out on DVD and Blu-Ray. I had the chance to catch one that I had missed in theaters recently, the Tom Cruise flick Oblivion.

Oblivion - 2013, rated PG-13.  My rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Oblivion is a futuristic post-apocalypse story set in the year 2077, about 60 years after an alien invasion devastated much of the planet. Tom Cruise is a maintenance man working on the drones that protect the energy harvesters pulling resources out of the planet, to send to a colony of survivors on the Saturn moon Titan. But as weird things begin occurring, he starts to question who he really is and what is the truth behind his mission.

I'd say more on the plot but I don't want to spoil anything, although an alert viewer of the film can figure out what is really going on quite quickly. The plot of the film is somewhat weak though, due to its predictability. But I didn't see this film for its plot. I saw it for the cool tech and nifty visuals, and on that front the film does not disappoint.

Like the recent Star Trek reboot, Oblivion seems to be set in a future where Apple has taken over all design influences for any gadget. The floating house that Tom Cruise calls home, the drones, and his nifty airship are very sleek and awesome. The film's action sequences are pretty well done too, although the film missed an opportunity for some awesome spectacle. The moon in this future was destroyed (and is visible in orbit as more of an asteroid belt around the planet) which set off the destruction of the planet due to changes in plate tectonics and tides. This is all told through Cruise's narration and we see the after effects, but it would have been cool to see some of this destruction actually unfold on screen. Maybe they didn't have the budget?

Overall, I thought the film was above average, and worth a watch, especially if you're a fan of Tom Cruise. He's been doing pretty well lately despite having questionable material to work with, between this film and his other recent one, Jack Reacher. Basically, he's been the best part of both of those two films. Hopefully, he'll have some better material to work with in whatever film he tackles next, as he's one of my favorite actors to watch on screen.

Alright that's it for this one, thanks for dropping by and reading! Did you see Oblivion? Tell me what you thought in the comments. Also, Happy New Year!

PCP on DVD - Zero Dark Thirty

Twelve years ago was the darkest day in American history since Pearl Harbor, with the tragic events of 9/11. A war in Afghanistan (that still is going on) was the direct result, as well as a massive manhunt for the man responsible for 9/11, Osama Bin Laden, a manhunt that ended in his death in 2011. Zero Dark Thirty is the film that chronicles that manhunt, and as I am a student of history, I knew I had to see this film.

Zero Dark Thirty - 2012, rated R.  My rating: 8.5 out of 10.

The film opens in probably the most horrifying way possible. It is a pure black screen, no titles or credits, and all you hear is audio. It doesn't take long for it to sink in what exactly you are hearing: real audio recordings of emergency calls from within the World Trade Center, on 9/11. Hearing the audio on a black screen is actually worse than seeing images of the terror attacks, because it forces your brain to both populate those images into your head (because they're seared into all of our memories), but also it puts you into the fear and terror the victims of the 9/11 attacks went through in a way that just showing those familiar images does not.

From there we are introduced to Maya (Jessica Chastain) who is a young CIA analyst witnessing with disgust her first "enhanced interrogation" by Dan (Jason Clarke). A good chunk of the start of the film focuses on torture sequences of various detainees captured in the early days of the War on Terror. Some of the criticism of this film stems from the fact that it almost embraces the torture (or shows it to be effective) but really that isn't the point of showing it. The point the film makes is that the torture is not effective, as Maya gets far better and more accurate intel from other sources than those that are tortured; and also the film uses the torture sequences to show how Maya is becoming more and more hardened to the process and willing to go to ever greater lengths in her hunt for Bin Laden, even at the cost of her own moral center.

These torture scenes ruined the film for my wife, and nearly ruined it for me as well. She stopped watching, leaving me to finish the film on my own. I am glad I stuck with it. The film itself is technically excellent in its execution, slowly ratcheting up the tension as the hunt goes on and on. It is beautifully shot and directed by Kathryn Bigelow (the Oscar winning director behind the Iraq War film The Hurt Locker), Interspersed with the excellent acting sequences from a great cast of talented actors (James Gandolfini, Kyle Chandler, Harold Perrineau, Mark Strong, Joel Edgerton, & Chris Pratt, amongst many outstanding performances in this film) are brief bursts of action, usually additional terror attacks, all of which happened in real life. These action sequences help ratchet up the tension even more. Ultimately, the film culminates in the raid on Bin Laden's Pakistan compound, which was apparently shot to take place in real time with the actual duration of the raid. The raid was surprisingly slower and more methodical than I had imagined. If nothing else, the film is worth watching for this sequence alone, just so you understand just what went down on that May night a year and a half ago.

Overall, Zero Dark Thirty is a film that I would strongly encourage you to watch, although it definitely is not for all audiences. It absolutely is not a date movie. But guys, if your wife is not home one day, pop this one in and check it out. Hopefully you won't be disappointed!

PCP on DVD - Scary Movie 5

Sometimes I watch a movie because there's really nothing else better on. In some cases, that pays off and I find a good flick. Other times, like with Scary Movie 5, I find I just wasted an hour and a half of my life that I'll never get back. Not even drinking with friends could improve this train wreck to something even approaching entertaining.

Scary Movie 5 - 2013, rated PG-13.  My rating: 2.5 out of 10.

Anna Faris has left the franchise, and with her departure goes any last redeeming quality about this tired series of increasingly worse films. Also, for a film franchise called Scary Movie, why on earth are your primary films parodied in this movie the non-horror Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Black Swan, and the not very scary horror flick Mama? Seriously, that was the best you could come up with?

About the only funny part of this film was the extremely self-aware cameos by Charlie Sheen & Lindsay Lohan at the beginning and post-credits in this film, making fun of their drug troubles and problems with the law. But sandwiched between those 5 minutes of semi-funny is 80 minutes of crap. Don't take a bite of a crap sandwich, just walk away now and thank me later.

PCP on DVD - Wreck-it Ralph

Some animated movies are clearly geared very much towards children, like Bambi. Others are targeted squarely at adults, like South Park. Then there is the rare combination film (usually from Pixar) that successfully targets both generations. Wreck-it Ralph, while looking like a Pixar film (it isn’t), joins that pantheon of animated films that are entertaining for all.

Wreck-It Ralph – 2012, rated PG.  My rating: 9 out of 10.

Wreck-It Ralph was a film that I had been eagerly anticipating ever since seeing the first trailer. By combining new characters designed by Disney for the film with real life video game characters, the trailer and the film become a game of searching for Easter eggs and shout-outs, of which there are many, so many that even a hardcore gamer might miss several of them.

The plot reminds me a little bit of Toy Story, in the sense that the video game characters turn out to have real lives outside of their video games, like the toys that come to life when humans aren’t around. Here, they are able to travel to and from other games when the arcade is closed at night, through the power lines connecting the games. The titular Ralph, as the trailer explains, is a villain that is tired of being a villain, after 30 years of being stuck as one inside his game. So he leaves his game to try and find acceptance and belonging, and to prove that he is a hero that the characters within his game can respect. Unfortunately, his journey sets off a number of unintended consequences that threaten the lives of characters not only in his own game, but all of the other games in the arcade as well.

Ralph is voiced by the excellent John C. Reilly, who really handles the role well, making you feel the emotions that Ralph feels with his voice, from melancholy to happiness. His journey from villain to hero is heartfelt and touching, and also very funny. 

Overall, this movie is a lot of fun, and probably the best non-Pixar Disney animated film in years. Whether you have kids to see it with, or just want to indulge your inner child, Wreck-It Ralph is a fun flick, so see it and have a blast!

PCP on DVD - Goon

I like to enjoy the occasional sports movie, as a sports fan myself. This entry into the sporting films pantheon is actually quite enjoyable, and at 92 minutes isn't that long either.

Goon - 2012, rated R.  My rating: 7 out of 10

Goon tells the story of an unlikely hockey player, Doug Glatt (Sean William Scott), loosely based on the true story of pro hockey player Doug Smith. Glatt is a bouncer at a bar, who happens to be able to fight better than pretty much everyone, and can also take a pounding himself. He is recruited onto a minor league team despite the fact that he can barely skate, after getting into a fight (and winning) with players on the team. He goes through a training montage to learn how to actually play hockey, but he has been primarily recruited to the league for one reason and one reason only, to be a goon, aka the enforcer for the team that fights players on the other team, brought onto the ice to fire up his teammates and help them win.

Along the way he encounters Ross Rhea (Liev Schreiber), a soon to be retiring goon that Glatt looks up to on the ice, and you know pretty obviously (since they're on different teams) that sooner or later the two of them will have to have an epic hockey fight. And epic it is, along with all of the other hockey action scenes. The film is also very funny. Overall, if you are a sports fan I strongly encourage you to check this one out!

PCP on DVD - Journey 2 the Mysterious Island

I don't remember where I saw it online, but somewhere I saw Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson referred to as "franchise viagra" due to him being added to franchise films and them enjoying more success than the original film. He's been added to the GI Joe, Fast & Furious, and the Journey franchises just within the past couple of years. As a former pro wrestling fan, I'll pretty much watch anything that he shows up in. Unfortunately, sometimes that winds up being a waste of my time.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island - 2012, rated PG. My rating: 5.5 out of 10

Journey 2 picks up after the previous film in the series, Journey to the Center of the Earth, starring Brendan Fraser. This time Fraser is nowhere to be found, & The Rock has replaced him as the action hero father figure at the center of the movie, taking care of Josh Hutcherson as his new stepdad. They have to go and try and find Josh's grandfather, Michael Caine, who has stranded himself on a lost island.

The film is definitely a family film, with its low stakes plot and action-packed sequences that were designed to be viewed in 3D, but without any overt violence or gore. My son is a bit too young for it now, but I'm sure he'd enjoy this when he gets older. For me though, it was just too predictable and boring to be a winner, but it wasn't absolutely horrible either. It was just mundane. I wouldn't watch it again, unless it were with my son when he is old enough. You could probably miss this yourself and you wouldn't miss much.

PCP on DVD - G.I. Joe: Retaliation

I’m wrapping up my week of Channing Tatum posts here on the blog.  Ladies – I hope you’ve enjoyed getting a Tatum fix, I’m sure my wife did.  Today’s post is a review of G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Originally slated for a 2012 release, the film was pushed back until 2013 apparently for a 3D conversion, and reportedly for more scenes for Tatum as well, since he was blowing up last year between Magic Mike and 21 Jump Street. On with the review!

G.I. Joe: Retaliation – 2013, rated PG-13.  My rating: 7 out of 10.

On paper, G.I. Joe: Retaliation (hereafter GIJR) is a direct sequel to 2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. However, this film jettisons quite a lot of the deadweight of the first film, and it is as much a reboot as it is a sequel. Gone is nearly all of the original cast, returning only Duke (Tatum) and Snake Eyes (Ray Park) on the side of the Joes and Cobra Commander (Luke Bracey, replacing Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Zartan (Arnold Vosloo), & Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee) on the side of Cobra, in addition to the President of the U.S. (Jonathan Pryce) who was replaced by a Cobra duplicate at the end of the first film. Also gone is a majority of the campiness from the first film, with this film playing things more straight.

Newcomers to the cast include Firefly (Ray Stevenson), a bomb loving Cobra killer; Jaye (Adrienne Palicki), the Joes’ main female member; Roadblock (franchise Viagra Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson), the new star of the Joes; and Joe Colton (Bruce Willis), a retired general allied with the Joes.

As the trailer makes rather obvious, Tatum’s Duke isn’t around for much of the film, after a surprise attack wipes out all of the Joes save for Jaye, Roadblock, & one other inconsequential guy, plus Snake Eyes who is off on a separate mission, maybe 15 minutes or so into the movie (sorry ladies, you’ll have to get your Tatum fix elsewhere). The survivors have to regroup, figure out who struck them and why, and strike back hard, all while stopping Cobra’s nefarious plot to take over the world.

Overall, the film is far superior to the 2009 original (although that isn’t exactly saying much, considering how weak the first one was). The action sequences are better, the effects less cheesy, and the story more realistic. Seeing London getting destroyed was pretty cool too, it was nice to see it not be New York City or Paris as it usually is in big summer blockbusters. Overall, the film is really The Rock’s film, not Tatum’s, and he shines here in a solid action role. I’ve always preferred him as an action star than a family film star, so it was nice to see him taking names and kicking ass all over the screen. But as The Rock’s action films go, this one doesn’t even stand up to some of his earlier films, such as my favorite of his The Rundown. So, I’d recommend that one over this, but this one wasn’t too bad, all things considered.

PCP on DVD - Side Effects

So, continuing with the Channing Tatum theme for this week’s reviews, here is my review of Side Effects, supposedly the last film Steven Soderbergh is planning to make any time soon.

Side Effects – 2013, rated R.  My rating: 8 out of 10.

Side Effects marks the third pairing of director Steven Soderbergh and actor Channing Tatum. Unlike their pairing Magic Mike which is a lead role for Tatum, here his role is more like in their other collaboration, Haywire, a smaller role within the film. Haywire is really more Jude Law and Rooney Mara’s film. This is also Soderbergh’s third pairing with Catherine Zeta-Jones, his others being Traffic and Ocean’s 12.

Rooney Mara plays Emily, wife of Channing Tatum’s recently paroled Martin, who has just gotten out of jail after committing insider trading. Emily is feeling depression and attempts to kill herself, resulting in her being placed in the psychiatric care of Jude Law’s Dr. Banks. Banks prescribes various anti-depressants to no effect in Emily, so on advice of her former doctor, Dr. Siebert (Zeta-Jones), he puts her on a new antidepressant that has a side effect of sleepwalking.

While sleepwalking, Emily gets herself into trouble, trouble severe enough to have disastrous consequences for her and Martin, and on Dr. Banks’ career.  I’d say more but the plot gets rather twisty and conspiratorial at this point and I don’t want to give away the ending, except to say that I enjoyed this film very much. All of the actors turned in great performances, and the film flows well through the twists and turns of the plot. Also, unlike many movies, this one actually got a lot of the mental health and psychiatry stuff correct, something my wife says is very rare in film. She's a mental health professional, so she would know.  Overall, I definitely recommend this film, it makes for a pretty good thriller.