Geek For E!

Geek For E!

Creators of the TwitView! Reviews in 140 characters or less.

Movie Review – “The Lone Ranger”

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From the very start you realize that this incarnation of The Lone Ranger is not going to be anything like the classic-dud The Legend of the Lone Ranger from 1981. In fact so much time has passed since 1981 I wonder if I’m only but a few that actually remember seeing the “original” movie. In this version of The Lone Ranger we get a movie that tries to be too much of a good thing all at one time – it’s a western that wants to be part comedy, part serious drama, part action flick, part romance, and part Pirates of the Caribbean (the first one, not the other three). When The Lone Ranger works it really works. But when it falls flat and the plot starts to drag, you really start to wonder if this is going to be as good as it wants to be??

Starting in 1933 San Francisco we see a young child dressed as the Lone Ranger walking through a carnival as he enters a tent that promises to show off “The Wonders of Yester-year”. This tent is filled with side-show type displays of the 1869 old west – stuffed buffalo, a wild white horse, and a native barbarian (native Indian to us today). This is where we get our first glimpse of an older Tonto as he relates the story of how The Lone Ranger came to be.

So what worked? What didn’t? You know the drill…

The Lone RangerGrade: 3 out of 5 stars

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Movie Review: Despicable Me 2

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I coudn’t wait to see Despicable Me when it came to theaters.  Mostly because I met a minion; actually I met two.  Yep.  Walking down the streets of DC, I saw two minions just hangin’ around the area theater.  Of course I had to give ’em a hug.  Because they’re awesome.  The great thing about Despicable Me was that even beyond the minion-ness, it was a great story about how a man becomes who he was always meant to be.  A dad to three adorable kids.

Well, these kids are a little bit older, but the minions are still the same.  Does Despicable Me 2 bring the funny?  Yes.  Is it as good as the first film?  Well, yes and no.  With retired super-villain Gru now a nice guy, there’s no wondering if he’ll be good or bad.  Gru has joined the Anti-Villain League and is spending most of his time trying to make jams and jellies.  Instead, the story focuses on a “will he or won’t he” romance with his secret-agent partner Lucy.  But the folks behind DM2 know what you want, and bring it to you in spades.  So if you’re wanting a new minion fix?  It’s gonna be your lucky day.  If you’re looking for a story beyond the basics, you may be a little nonplussed.  But hey; minions!

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Movie Review – The Heat

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The Heat is an interesting movie in that Paul Feig (director of Bride’s Maids) takes inspiration from quite a few different decades and movies to create a new, and at times “been there done that” movie, that does deliver on the laughs and actually has a pretty decent plot too. From the 70’s inspired opening to the buddy-cop mash-up we get a movie that at the heart is about two law enforcement agents who are tasked to bring down a drug distribution ring in Boston. There are lots of laughs and enough of a good plot and acting to really make this a fun movie to sit through.

So how did it fair? You know the drill….click after the break to read the review.

The_Heat_37990Grade: 3.5 out of 5

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Movie Review: White House Down

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Oh Roland Emmerich.  I love you and your absolutely crazypants way of channeling the American psyche.  The Day After Tomorrow, 2012, Independence Day…hell, I even enjoyed your Godzilla.  Because even with all the preposterous bombastic goings-on, your movies have heart.  Now, with White House Down, you’ve whipped up another mix of patently unbelievable but still compelling and enjoyable fluff.  Dude, thank you.

With White House Down — not to be confused with Olympus Has Fallen from earlier this year — there’s the typical President-in-peril plotline.  The Prez is at risk, and it’s up to someone who has never reached his potential to save the day.  Though I find it hard to believe that Channing Tatum has never reached his potential.  Phwoar.

Tatum plays Cale, a DC cop that is looking to become a Secret Service agent.  He scores an interview, along with passes to the White House so he can bring his President-fannish daughter along.  But wouldn’t you know it, just as soon as Cale gets the heave-ho from his interview (it didn’t help that he was being interviewed by Agent Finnerty, a woman who knew him back in his crazy frat-boy days), a group of scary paramilitary psychos take over the White House.  The psychos kill everyone that’s holding a gun, leaving Cale, Our Hero, to save the day.  But how’s he gonna get the Prez and his own daughter out of there alive?  The best way America knows how; superior firepower baby.

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Movie Review: World War Z

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 Look — up in the sky!  It’s a bird!  It’s a plane!  No, it’s a zombie leaping out to try to grab your helicopter!  Man you’ve gotta hate when that happens.  While a few folks in the theater seemed to giggle, the rest of us got our good ol’ fashioned creep on.  Because World War Z perfectly melds the action and horror genres, coming up with something nobody wants to see in a horror movie, a fully functioning hybrid.  And with the PG-13 rating there’s not much gore in this film.  I didn’t really miss it, I never had the time to think about it.  Yeah, there’s that much action.   if you’re looking for an action-packed popcorn fest that’s low on gore but crammed with zombies?  Honey, buy that extra-large popcorn right now.

Much has been said of the many rewrites, script-doctoring and post-production shuffles World War Z went through.  However, the final product shows no wear and tear in that regard.  This is the thinking man’s horror film, something that demands that you sit back and absorb how things work in our world — and in the natural kingdom — in order to get the most out of your spooky.  Since Hollywood loves to throw down comparisons (and let’s face it, so do I), I’d say you can think of this as The Walking Dead meets Contagion.

World War Z doesn’t go for the cheap gore (though I am a fan of that kinda thing) or booga-booga scares.  It takes Gerry (Brad Pitt, in a wonderfully down-to-earth role) and his family through hell as they try to escape a sudden and inexplicable outbreak of a virus so horrible that it takes you from bite to death to undeath/resurrection by virus in 12 seconds.  The virus runs the show, taking control of human beings and turning them into one-man virus armies with one goal; to spread the virus.  Teeth clack ominously, mobs of infected/zombies hurl themselves at a wall so others may make it over and infect the living.  World War Z hired researchers to give the film a feeling of something that could actually happen.  “If everyone was infected with the same virus, they would exhibit collective behavior,” says biologist David Hughes, a scientist this film hired to get a handle on how a virus may turn us into running, biting machines.  Seeing that idea played out on the big screen?  Ulp.

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Movie review – “Man of Steel”

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I’m a Superman fan. My dad got me hooked on Superman when I was a child and I’d watch the Superfriends ever Saturday morning  as I’d eat my Fruit Loops or Frosted Flakes (hey…it was the  late 70’s and early 80’s so sugar was in!). I’d run around the neighborhood in my Superman “S” shirt with a red towel as my cape and pretend to fly and save the day. I remember watching the black and white TV show staring George Reeves and laughing when the bad guys would throw their gun at him when it ran out of bullets. Heck, growing up when I did, I Love Lucy was always on Fox 5 from DC and how could you not like the episode with Superman when he saves Lucy from the building ledge. Best line of the episode was Superman to Ricky after saving Lucy from her recent hair-brain scheme, “…and they call me Superman.” Even then Superman was larger then life and could do no wrong.

Then in 1978 what is now considered the grandaddy of all super hero movies was released – Superman: The Motion Picture – and we saw what a director with a vision could do in making Superman fly. He rescued Lois, fought Lex Luthor, and if you’ve seen the Director’s Cut of the movie he went through a gauntlet that tested his durability against fire, ice, and lots of bullets. This was the movie that showed us what Krypton could be like, how Jor-El and Lara sent Kal-El to Earth where he was found by the Kents – John and Martha. We got a movie that for YEARS became the cornerstone of what a Super Hero movie should be.

Then in 1980 a Richard Lester directed Superman II was released (with some footage that had been shot by Richard Donner as this was to be a continued sequel to the original – do a wiki search for the history on that one). Superman got to fight the general that brought down the destruction of Krypton – Zod. Terrance Stamp put his mark on a lesser-known villain and made him an icon. The last act really showed us a Superman that was in a toe-to-toe battle with three villains that all have the same powers and strength as him….they just don’t have the control or training that he learned while growing up on Earth.

Lastly we have three movies that kept the franchise going and had little to do with Superman and more to do with marketing and branding. I’m skipping the Richard Prior and Quest for Peace movies to focus on Superman Returns right now. This was to be the big return of Superman to the big screen. Bryan Singer was brought in to direct and his track record at the time was near perfect with his take on Marvel Comic’s X-Men and the incredible X-Men and X2. So what happened with what would become a big mess of a movie? He stayed too close to his love of the original in trying to mimic the tone and feel of Superman: The Motion Picture but bring into a modern world. He brought Richard Donner in as a consultant, cast Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor with Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane and Brandon Routh who did a great job of channeling Christopher Reeves’ performance as Clark Kent/Superman. Again, staying too close to the original and almost being a pseudo-remake of that source material. Yet he made Superman a real dick in terms of his relationship with Lois. Superman would never leave and not say good-bye or tell Lois what was going on. He’d never stalk Lois and get jealous that she moved on while he moved away. And don’t even get me started on “the kid” plot! But I will give Singer credit in that he made changes to how we see Superman use his abilities, with X-Ray Vision being used not to see through things but to cut the layer away to see. The airplane sequence is some of the best use of Superman and the John Williams/John Ottman score in the entire movie. The threat, the challenge, the heroics are all there. And there were some great almost-there-but-not-quite-yet-Superman moments like when he was shattering the falling glass with his heat vision while flying back to the ground. The only thing missing is an original plot and Superman fighting someone let alone being in the same scene with the villain prior to the last act. Oh, and the ending that just couldn’t figure out where to end made a long film seem longer to the point that you just wanted it to end and end soon so you can go home and re-watch Superman: The Motion Picture or Superman II and wash away the bad taste that Superman Returns became.

Here we are in 2013 and Zach Snyder, the man that brought us 300 and Watchmen, was tapped to recreate Superman for a new generation. Man of Steel by far is not a perfect movie but overall it delivers what we’ve been waiting for since 1980 – a movie with Superman doing all the Superman-like things we’ve been waiting to see him do. Check after the break for the full breakdown as I do another edition of The Good, The Bad, and The Geeky.

man-of-steel-header-image-new-trailer-movie-posterGrade: 4 out of 5 stars

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Movie Review – “This is the End”

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When I heard that there was a movie coming out where the plot is “James Franco throws a party and all of his friends are there and then the End of the world happens” I was sold. This idea just seemed quirky and out-there enough that I couldn’t see how this would be a failure. Then I saw the first trailer and I laughed and said to myself, “OK…this doesn’t look like it will suck at all.” I then learned that it was based on Jason Stone’s short film from 2007 James and Seth versus the Apocalypse and that the main characters are in fact James Franco and Seth Rogen playing themselves. How surreal! Actors portraying themselves as slightly-not-them-but-them characters that mimic their real life yet not so much. Twisted and brilliant, I know!

Seth Rogen and his writing partner Evan Goldberg (both also directed this amazing movie) manage to make BEST COMEDY TO HIT MOVIE THEATERS IN A DAMN LONG TIME!! I don’t even know where to start as I’m still laughing as I think about the movie while I’m typing the review. It’s that good and that funny. I haven’t laughed from start to finish for a movie in a very long time. I mean the audience was laughing so hard and loud at times that I need to see This is the End again just to try and catch some of the jokes that I missed due to all the laughing. If Man of Steel wasn’t coming out on the same weekend (even if it is two days later), This is the End would be the number one movie in the box office this weekend….but being the number one comedy will suffice.

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Grade: 5 out of 5 stars!!

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MOVIE REVIEW : THE KINGS OF SUMMER

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Perhaps I am too sentimental, but I get excited at the idea of a movie that doesn’t paint the youth of this generation in a negative light. I like to think that not all adolescents are solely concerned with underage drinking, destroying their parents homes by throwing ragers, experimenting with drugs, and having unprotected sexual encounters. I hold onto the notion that some sense of normality still exists. Typical problems like resenting your parents for being too overbearing or pulling all kinds of (really funny) stunts because your mother passed away and left you with a father who doesn’t understand you. I need to believe that a level of innocence can be maintained, even if a lot of bad things are happening on a regular basis. Maybe that is why I listen to Taylor Swift.

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Movie Review – The Internship

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The Internship delivers on the laughs that are always associated with a Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson movie. Our story here is two seasoned salesmen who find out from a customer, not their boss who is played by John Goodman, that the company they work for is closing it’s doors for good. So what do they do? They enroll at an online College and then apply for an Internship with Google. When you take a real company that is used by so many people in various forms and functional factors (I’m in IT, does it show??) you can ground the story in some reality that should make you want to care about Billy and Nick’s (Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson) story. It’s called using familiarity to force a connection between the story and the audience.

This could have easily been called We Love You Google! as the love of all that is Google is the backbone of the story. Not only is the setting at Google’s California campus but we get a lot of “Google-ing” throughout the movie with events taking place around applications and services that Google has to offer WHILE also dealing with Nick and Billy’s interactions and integrations with the rest of the new Interns. It’s a good premiss on paper and it’s a good execution on screen and it does make you wonder who – Director Shawn Levy, writer Jared Stern, and Vince Vaughn is also has writing credits with the screenplay – if not all of them must have stock in Google.

So what did I think of The Internship? My thoughts are after the break.

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Grade: 3 out of 5 stars [Read more…]