 Across the Universe (Revolution Studios, Julie Taymor, 2007) – Any Beatles fan is sure to fall in love with this amazing, surreal musical that uses 30 of their most famous songs to tell a story about love. When young Jude (Jim Sturgess, 21) leaves Liverpool in order to visit America, he befriends a young rebel, Max (Joe Anderson, The Ruins), and is introduced to his beautiful, younger sister, Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood, The Wrestler). Featuring amazing musical performances by the main cast and cameos by Bono (from U2) Eddie Izzard (Valkyrie), and Joe Cocker (musician), watching Across the Universe is just as great as listening to any Beatles album. The 2-disk deluxe edition of the movie includes many amazing features such as extended musical performances, five behind-the-scenes featurettes, and a photo gallery. Across the Universe is the kind of movie that, as unique as it is, honors the Beatles’ timeless music.Rating: ★★★★★ |
 The Boys Are Back (Miramax, Scott Hicks, 2009)– Playing a single father raising his two sons, Clive Owen’s (Children of Men) performance in this drama is said to be award-worthy. While I have not seen the movie yet, the commercials make it look like a good heartwarming film. It’s high on my list for rental.
Rating: ★★★★★ |
 Bright Star (Apparition, Jane Campion, 2009) – This romance biopic was released with a lot of Oscar-buzz, as the critics loved it. While it seems to be just another old-fashioned love story, this bio of famous poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw, I’m Not There), and his love affair with neighbor Fanny Browne (Abby Cornish, Stop-Loss) looks like a really great movie.
Rating: ★★★★★ |
 Carriers (Paramount Vintage, Alex/David Pastor, 2009) – Chances are most missed this movie about a deadly virus while it was in theaters, as it did not make enough money to have a long theatrical run. However, after seeing it, I highly recommend Carriers, as it is more believable than other similar films. Two young brothers (Chris Pine, Star Trek and Lou Taylor Pucci, Thumbsucker) and their girlfriends (Piper Perabo, Beverly Hills Chihuahua and Emily VanCamp, Everwood) are traveling alone, trying to escape a lethal virus that seems to be as contagious as the common cold (if the infected get blood on someone, then that person gets the virus over a period of time). While the movie never says how the virus was released to mankind (my best guess would be bio-warfare), unlike similar virus movies (like I am Legend), Carriers is actually believable, as the victims don’t turn into flesh-hungry zombies; they just die.
Rating: ★★★★☆ |
 The Day the Earth Stood Still (20th Century Fox, Scott Derrickson, 2008) – In this action-packed re-make of the 1951 original The Day the Earth Stood Still, Keanu Reeves (Constantine) plays Klaatu, an alien who, after arriving on Earth, decides to trigger unstoppable events that threaten to destroy mankind. The only person who may be able to talk him out of doing this is a woman (Jennifer Connelly, Dark Water) and her young stepson (Jaden Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness). While the original is said to far exceed this re-make, just compare the two, as both the 2-disk and 3-disk (which has all the special features) editions include both movies. However, as someone who has not seen the original yet, I really enjoyed the story and the special effects of the 2008 re-make.
Rating: ★★★★☆ |
 Extract (Miramax, Mike Judge, 2009) – As one who has not seen Mike Judge’s other film (that is said to be a classic), Office Space yet, after watching Extract, I sure hope it is better. As Joel (Jason Bateman, Juno) is about to close a deal and sell his flavor extract company, an employee accident begins to prevent it. As star-studded as this movie was (Saturday Night Live’s Kristen Wiig, The Book of Eli’s Mila Kunis, State of Play’s Ben Affleck, etc.), Extract was kind of boring. There were some funny jokes and memorable characters, but I wish Mike Judge had created an extract flavor for improving this comedy.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ |
 Factory Girl (Weinstein Company, George Hickenlooper, 2006) – If craving a weird and bizarre film, then check out Factory Girl. Taking place when pop artist Andy Warhol (Guy Pearce, The Road) was at his prime, young art student Edie Sedgwick (Sienna Miller, Casanova) becomes his starlet. While Warhol only sees Edie as afresh, new face in his adult movies, a country musician whose character is based on the legendary Bob Dylan (Hayden Christensen, Jumper) sees her as someone better than that. As weird as it is, Factory Girl is intoxicating and the acting is so good that if I had been able to meet Andy Warhol at one of his parties, I would approach him with caution.
Rating: ★★★★☆
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 I’m Not There (The Weinstein Company, Todd Haynes, 2007) – In this unique, surreal film, six different actors including Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight), Christian Bale (The Dark Knight), Richard Gere (Shall We Dance), and even actress Cate Blanchett (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) portray a certain stage of the legendary Folk singer, Bob Dylan. If familiar with Dylan (whose songs have weird lyrics), then I’m Not There succeeds in paying tribute to him and the songs (which are all performed by many musical artists in the movie) that made him famous. A second, bonus disk contains hours of extras including deleted scenes, a making of the film, a making of the soundtrack, the red carpet premiere, and a “Dylanography.” After watching I’m Not There, chances are one will want to plug in their iPod and listen to Bob Dylan’s music.
Rating: ★★★★★ |
 Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (20th Century Fox, Carlos Saldanha, 2009) – When the first two Ice Age films came out, they were quite good, as they had original story lines, and memorable characters with personality. However, like with most sequels, number three kind of ruined the series. Dawn of the Dinosaurs’ plot made no sense: the gang had to rescue Sid from an underground dinosaur world that, although below the ice age, was home to a whole forest of plants and dinosaurs (which somehow un-fossilized themselves). Then, to make it even worse, it eventually felt like I was watching Journey to the Center of the Earth led by Crocodile Dundee (a new character, Buck the weasel, was an obvious parallel). If you are opening your freezer, leave Dawn of the Dinosaurs inside; thaw out the first two Ice Age movies instead.
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ |
 Marley and Me (20th Century Fox, David Frankel, 2008) – Based on Josh Grogan’s best-selling novel, Marley and Me, this is one of those movies for any animal lover, especially if they have ever owned a dog. Owen Wilson (Wedding Crashers) and Jennifer Aniston (Friends) portray the Grogans who decide to adopt the “clearance puppy,” Marley who, although cute, proves to be a handful to raise. Actually, while both Wilson and Aniston gave great performances, it is Marley who is the star of the film, as his antics are sure to put a smile on your face. If you truly love animals, however, I might advise you to watch Marley and Me the way I did: after the movie is over, watch the first half again.
Rating: ★★★★★ |
 Michael Jackson’s This Is It (Colombia Pictures, Kenny Ortega, 2009) – If you did not catch Michael Jackson’s posthumous concert film while it had its limited release in theaters, I highly recommend buying it. For those unhappy with the lack of DVD special features (only 45 minutes of them), Walmart has an exclusive 2-disk edition featuring an additional hour of them.
Rating: ★★★★★ Read More Here: (http://www.tjjournal.com/2010/01/07/this-is-phenomenal) |
 Milk (Focus Features, Gus Van Sant, 2008) – If you have never heard of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected for office in California, I highly recommend Sean Penn’s (Mystic River) biographical film that won 2008’s Oscar for best actor. While some may be reluctant to watch it, please give it a try because not only is the acting superb (Sean Penn did a fantastic job acting gay), so is the story. However, you might want tissues nearby before you watch the ending.
Rating: ★★★★★
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 Moon (Sony Pictures Classics, Duncan Jones, 2009) – Having been stationed on a lunar base for about three years with only the robotic GERTY (Kevin Spacey, American Beauty) for company, Lunar Industries’ Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell, Everybody’s Fine) gets into an accident while inside a rover. When he awakens and goes back outside, Sam discovers a man barely alive on the moon’s surface. The man however…is Sam Bell’s clone. While the movie does tend to progress at a slow pace, the storyline is very original and well crafted.
Rating: ★★★★☆
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 Saw VI (Lionsgate, Kevin Greutert, 2009) – By now, I tire of the whole Jigsaw franchise, as after three successful movies, it just seems like a yearly event. The DVD does happen to include a generous bonus disk: the original Saw movie. However, if you are a Saw fan, just rent the sixth and save your money for the 2-disk special edition of the first movie (1 through 3 all have 2-disk editions).
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ |
 Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassins’ Ball (Working Titles Films, P. J. Pesce, 2010) – Do I want to know what happened before Buddy “Aces” Israel got smoked? Not really. While I have not seen it nor do I want to, based on the commercials, this direct – to – DVD prequel to Smokin’ Aces has none of the original cast members (Ben Affleck, Ryan Reynolds, Jeremy Piven, Andy Garcia, etc.) and instead looks like one big ball of overdone action.
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ |
 Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Lucasfilm Animation, Dave Filoni, 2007) – Prior to its release, I was really excited for a new Star Wars movie, as the computer animation in “a galaxy far, far away” seemed pretty descent. However, after seeing Star Wars: The Clone Wars (which was supposed to psych people up for a Cartoon Network series), my appreciation towards the classic saga gradually fell. Not only did I feel the storyline (Anakin must train a young Padawan) could have been much better, there was hardly any screen time for the villain, Asajj Ventress (a bald female sith who sports two lightsabers) or the epic action scenes that make Star Wars great. If any Star Wars fan decides to watch the Clone Wars movie, chances are they will leave their memories of it “far, far away.”
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ |
 Surrogates (Touchstone Pictures, Jonathan Mostow, 2009) – While Bruce Willis’s (Die Hard series) sci-fi robot movie was just “another robot movie” according to many critics, I will still check it out. The trailers make it look as action-packed as I, Robot and since I loved I, Robot, I might enjoy Surrogates as well.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Read More Here: (http://www.tjjournal.com/2009/12/02/robotic-mediocrity) |
 Whip It (Fox Searchlight Pictures, Drew Barrymore, 2009) – If you did not catch Drew Barrymore’s (He’s Just Not That Into You) directorial debut in theaters, I highly recommend giving it a roll. Juno’s Ellen Page stars in this movie about about small town girl, Bliss Cadaver (Page) who discovers her calling in the competitive sport of female roller derby. Joining the Hurl Scouts, Bliss is able to help them win matches, alowing them a spot competing in the finals. While the story was original and the acting was memorable, I really don’t see the purpose in producing DVD cases in colors other than black. Although lime green was the Hurl Scouts’ main color, it looks somewhat hideous covering the DVD case.
Rating: ★★★★★ Read More Here: (http://www.tjjournal.com/2009/11/15/rollintowhip-it) |
 Whiteout (Warner Brothers Pictures, Dominic Sena, 2009) – While a blizzard of critics did not like it, after seeing Whiteout, I do not understand why, as it was an entertaining movie. On the harsh, cold continent of Antarctica, U.S. Deputy Marshal Carrie Stetko (Kate Beckinsale, Underworld), is nearing the end of her job in a remote Antarctica base. When a dead body is found in the middle of nowhere, Carrie must try and solve the case before the arrival of an upcoming winter storm. While viewing Whiteout, I felt as if I was watching a 3D movie without the glasses, as it had a lot of “in your face” effects (an airplane crash, the constant blizzard of snow) and some beautiful scenery of a isolated continent.
Rating: ★★★★☆ |
