onsdag 28 mars 2012

Cross

For those who followed Beverly Hills 90210 back in the 90´s, actor Brian Austin Green is well known. When the poster of Cross was released, i was not sure what to think, seeing Brian Austin Green as a superhero. Along with Vinnie Jones, Jake Busey and Michael Clarke Dunkan, does Cross deliver a solid superhero motion picture?

An acient viking named Gunnar ( Vinnie Jones ) arrives in town in search for blood. Gunnar wants to destroy the world. But a Celtic Cross, gives Callan ( Brian Austin Green ) incredible powers, who is prepared to stop Gunnar.

I respect Vinnie Jones, he is not only a legend in football, but also as an actor, since he can deliver good characters with the right material. But with Cross, he totally fucks up. And let´s not forget Brian Austin Green, why is he even here? Cross is horrible in so many ways. The story is completely useless, and the special effects? Holy shit, Cross may be the worst movie i have seen for many years. Just bury this movie to where it belongs, deep undergound.

Rating: D

Journey 2 - The Mysterious Island

I read stories of author Jules Vernes as a child. His adventure stories have enchanted many children in many generations. In 2008, Brendan Fraser took us on a Journey To The Center Of The Earth, a sort of updated version of Jules Vernes book. And here we are, with a sequel, but this time around with a new cast, except for Josh Hutcherson. Is this adventure worth watching for the whole family, or is this a typical Disney product?

Sean Anderson ( Josh Hutcherson ) is arrested by police while trying to escape, from a satellite research center. He is escorted home with his stepfather Hank Parsons ( Dwayne " The Rock " Johnson ). Hank finds out that Sean tried to access a signal broadcast, wich he belives comes from his grandfather Alexander Anderson ( Michael Caine ), who have discovered a secret island. Hank does not belive this is true, untill he finds a paper with codes. It turns out these codes can tell them where the island is located. Sean decide to travel to the island, located in Palou. Hank goes with him, just to spend some time together. They manage to find the island, while crashing in a heavy storm, but this island keeps many secrets.

The ultimate adventure movie of all time, has to be Raiders Of The Last Ark, where Indiana Jones became a legend in movie characters. Journey 2 is nowhere near as good as this, but for a family adventure movie, this is a pretty good choice. Dwayne " The Rock " Johnson and Michael Caine is a charming duo on screen, not the typical actors you would think of in this genre. What i enjoyed most is the 3D effects, there is actually alot of 3D effects wich makes this adventure more fun to watch. Journey 2 may not give us anything fresh, but as a family movie it delivers some fun moments. And if you never heard Dwayne " The Rock " Johnson sing, you´re in for a suprise.

Rating: DDD

söndag 18 mars 2012

The Devil Inside

The Exorcist from 1973 is still today a timeless classic. At that time, it gave swedish born actor Max Von Sydow, a lot of respect, for his portrait of Father Lankester Merrin. Ever since The Exorcist came out, Hollywood tried to build on this subject, how to remove demons from human bodies. The 2005 motion picture The Exorcism Of Emily Rose was suprisingly good, very well made and well written. The Devil Inside is a new exorcism movie, made as a documentary, as if this is actual true events. Does the concept of exorcism work in a documentary stiled horror movie, or should this have been buried underground the Vatican of Rome?

October 30, 1989. A 911 call from Maria Rossi is made, where she says she killed 3 people. At the crime scene, polie find 3 people brutally murdered, wich seems to be connected to a exorcism ritual. The Catholic Church becomes involved, who decide to send her to a catholic psychiatric hospital in Rome. 20 years later, Maria´s daughter Isabella ( Fernanda Andrade ) decide to make a documentary about her mother, and find out if she really is possessed by a demon, or mentally ill. She meets 2 priests, Ben ( Simon Quartermain ) and David ( Evan Helmuth ), who studies her video she made, of her mothers behavior, after a visit at the catholic psychiatric hospital. Both priests belive she is possessed by a demon, and agree to help her. But since the Church does not authorize exorcism, they have to do this ritual in secret.

I am going to start by saying, the ending of this movie destroys everything. While some scenes are really creepy and works well, it all ends with frustration. Why does director William Brent Bell do this? The Devil Inside had potential to become a good movie, but we are left with something unfinished, just as if he didnt care how the ending was going to be. Thankfully this is not a disaster, the movie itself have some nice details, wich is well served to the audience. But, all together this feels like a dissapointment, when we have a ending so terrible, it´s just as bad as Paris Hilton´s acting career. If you love excorcism movies, go rent The Last Exorcism, i promise it will bring you more pleasure.

Rating: DD

Tower Heist

If you heard of Brett Ratner, you probably remember Money Talks and Rush Hour. He loves the action comedy genre, and he has delivered some decent movies. I was suprised he directed X-men: The Last Stand, wich was very different from his previous work. Tower Heist seems to bring Brett back to where he started from, action packed comedies, and with a cast of Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy. Does this duo work, or is this just another try to get big bucks at the box office?

New York city. The Wall Street billionaire Arthur Shaw ( Alan Alda ) is the owner of the luxary appartment compex named The Tower. The building manager Josh Kovacs ( Ben Stiller ) is a very hard working man, who wants everything to work as perfect as possible. One morning Josh see in the security camera, someone is trying to kidnap The Tower owner Arthur Shaw, but it turns it is all fake. In fact, Arthur Shaw staged the kidnapping while trying to do a ponzi scheme. This is not the only problem, Josh Kovacs gave Arthur his employees pension fund money, to make sure he invested the money right. But the money is gone, and none of the staff have any pension fund money left. Furious over the situation, Josh come up with an idea. He is going to take the money back, when he finds out Arthur Shaw might hide money in The Tower. He contacts a criminal by the name of Slide ( Eddie Murphy ), to help him and his friends make this work.

When was the last time you enjoyed Eddie Murphy in a movie? I´m actually suprised he works so well in Tower Heist, maybe because his character reminds me of his classic movie 48 Hours. Ben Stiller knows how to deliver a show, he always seem to find a good balance in different personalities. Its great to see Brett Ratner is back to what he knows best, action comedies. It´s kind of his style, and he knows he can handle the combination. Nothing bad to say about this really, Tower Heist delivers a good time, and check for the guest apparences, we have some goodies there, especially if you grew up in the 80´s like myself. One decent popcorn blockbuster indeed.

Rating: DDD

onsdag 14 mars 2012

Get ready this sunday

I think its about time we turn the volume up, and bring some fresh movie reviews to everyone. This sunday im posting new movie reviews. :) And for all you guys out there, i will not review any romantic comedies....wohoo :O. So turn in this sunday, i promise i have some goodies for everyone to enjoy ;)

söndag 4 mars 2012

What´s Your Number?

If you see Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson or...Drew Barrymore on a poster, you know there is a risk that it´s a romantic comedy. Some actresses seems to stuck into a certain genre, mostly because it sells tickets. When it comes to Anna Faris, she is not the typical romantic comedy girl, wich is great. She have tried to be flexible, try different kind of characters. One of her best movies so far is The House Bunny, a Playboy girl moves into college to help a group nerd girls be sexy. It had a great combination of a college comedy with funny dialogue. Let´s not forget her performance in Observe And Report, as a shopping mall diva. On paper, What´s Your Number? looks like another romance production, made to please all you girls who dream of the perfect man ( wich i already know i am ). So is this what we call in Sweden :- Kalkon rulle, or is this actually funny?


Ally Darling ( Anna Faris ) get fired from her job. On her way home, she buys a magazine, with an article named What´s Your Number? The article asks the reader to calculate how many people you had sex with. As Ally starts to calculate, she finds out she had sex with 20 men. Wich is more than she expected. She decides to track down all of her ex boyfriends, to see wich one has grown up, and hopefully find someone to marry. Her neighbour Colin Shea ( Chris Evans ) is a ladies man, always with a new woman. He decide to help her track out her ex boyfriends. Along the way, things are not going how Ally have expected.

The story itself is pretty dumb. Why would you look for all your ex boyfriends, and not just move on with your life? In this case i know why, she doesnt want to sleep with guy number 21. But anyway, What´s Your Number? is not as bad as i thought it would be, but that is because of Anna Faris comic timing. She makes this romance story fun at some moments. The biggest problem is it´s hard to be interested in her quest. They could have made her ex boyfriends more special, and it might have worked better. Now, were just left with a pretty thin comedy, that should have a completely different storyline. Anna Faris is a comic talent, she can deliver a good performance with the right material. But here she is the only reason you watch through the whole movie. My advice, if you want a romantic comedy that´s fun, rent I Love You, Phillip Morris, gay men know how to make romance movies more entertaining.

Rating: DD

torsdag 1 mars 2012

Don´t Be Afraid Of The Dark

If you by any chance have not seen The Orphanage, i might have to give you a true Bitch Slap. This movie is one of the best horror movies since the millenium, so there is no excuse not to see it. Producer Guillermo del Toro did a hell of a great job with director Juan Antonio Bayona, they found the perfect balance between old school horror with a fresh twist. When i heard about a remake of the 1973 motion picture Don´t Be Afraid Of The Dark, i did not have high expectations. With a cast of Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce and Bailee Madison, does this remake give you any chills at all?

Alex Hearst ( Guy Pearce ), Kim ( Katie Holmes ), and Sally Hearst ( Bailee Madison ) move into Blackwood Manor, a very old mansion, located in  Providence County, Rhode Island. Alex daughter Sally does not want to live here, even if her mom send her to stay with her father. While staying at the mansion, Sally discovers a basement, wich seems to have a lot of material left by painter Lord Blackwood. While she look around, she start to hear voices from the old fireplace. She begins to open the fireplace, not knowing what is waiting for her and her family.

I have said this before, but Guillermo del Toro is a very talented film maker, and most of the time he is involved in a motion picture, you know he will deliver quality. Now, this is not as frightning as The Orphanage, or as well made. But still, Don´t Be Afraid Of The Dark is quite a pleasant remake, with a strong performance by very young Bailee Madison. The creatures are quite creepy, with their odd looks. On the negative side, it might be that there are plenty of old house horror movies out there, that we have seen this before. But thankfully director Troy Nixey try and add some suprises along the way, wich is necessary. If you´re tired of the usual high school slashers, then this might actually please you. And who would have thought Katie Holmes can deliver a good performance?

Rating: DDD