Movie Reviews By Movie Reviews Pro

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Rating:

Movie: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)

Studio : Paramount Pictures

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 118min

Website : gijoemovie.com

Trailer :http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xa0ryb

Review:

And so comes one of the most anticipated movies of the year, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Having been a fan of the cartoons and the action figures as a kid, I was excited to see this movie. As I watched, that excitement dwindled.

This movie seems to want to do for the cartoons what Phantom Menace did for the Star Wars movies. At the beginning of the film, we see two Special Op soldiers, Duke and Ripcord, being recruited for the G.I. Joe unit led by General Hawk. Their current mission seems to involve the retrieval of four nuclear warheads from the evil Cobras, before they destroy world landmarks, although this plot element unfolded in such a slapdash manner that I had a hard time grasping the logic of why the Joes would even be involved in this mission.

No matter: you don’t watch a movie like this for the story, which seems to be mostly background material so that the makers can create explosions and dogfights for the blockbuster action crowd. That being said, the movie is well-made on a technical level, but the special effects don’t make up for a lack of story. I love an action movie best when well-drawn characters who are fighting for something at stake. For most of the movie, I didn’t care whether the Joes retrieved these warheads because the makers didn’t take the time to make characters we could root for (the cartoons, campy as they were, actually had stories and distinguishing differences between characters).

The movie began to grow on me in the last hour, as some of the backstories involving Storm Shadow, a troubled ninja, and Barroness, Duke’s ex-fiance gone Cobra, engaged my interest. Marlon Wayans also provides some good comic relief as Ripcord as he jive-talks and takes pratfalls in a robotic suit of armor, but these things don’t bring the movie up to the level.

The ending all but tells us that there will be a sequel in the future. If and when it comes out, I’ll probably end up watching it on someone else’s Netflix subscription with a group of friends and a case of beer. If you must see this movie, I recommend that you learn from my mistake and save it for that particular forum.

-Craig Wynne

Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller Action, Adventure, gi joe, sci-fi

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard

Rating:

Movie: The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (2009)

Studio : Gary Sanchez Productions

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 90min

Website : None available

Trailer :http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9wjeq

Review:

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard is a briskly paced, vulgar comedy that’s sure to offend. If you’re the right mindset, it’ll also entertain. I do urge conservative, PC-types to stay away from this movie, as there are quite a few moments that border (or more accurately, embrace) bad taste.

Jeremy Piven plays Don Ready, the charismatic leader of a sales team who travels to different car dealerships in order to help move their merchandise. At the beginning of the film, we’re introduced to Selleck Motors, a failing dealership that employs characters like Dick, a World War II veteran who spouts racial and homophobic epithets as if they were second nature, and Teddy Jang, who falls victim to Dick’s prejudices in an uncomfortable but hilarious scene. The owner, Ben Selleck, hires Ready’s team to help them move 200 cars over the Fourth of July weekend.

Piven’s sales team is the backbone of the movie. His staff includes Babs, a vixen who becomes infatuated with Selleck’s 10-year-old son, who looks like he’s 30 thanks to a genetic disorder. This infatuation provides some of the movie’s funniest moments. Ving Rhames brings a lot of his dry humor to the table as Jibby, a 42-year-old man who’s had a lot of sexual experiences, but has never “made love” to a woman (it’s only natural that he’ll find it in the movie). David Koechner fumes more and more as Selleck makes repeated passes at him.

In addition to providing laughs, the quick movie actually makes the sales process looks exciting. There is a virtuoso sequence as we watch the salespeople in action, using underhanded techniques such as the “Nigerian buyback” and there’s a sexually charged scene involving Babs and a male customer that must be seen to be believed. The reason I mention this is I sold luggage in a department store every summer while I was in college, and I found the job boring and the customers annoying, and I approached the job like it was something I “had” to do in order to make spending money. Had I seen this movie while in college, I may not have fallen in love with the job, but I may have been inspired to work a little harder at the process of “selling,” as opposed to just “making the sale.” All I can say is this movie sold me.

-Craig Wynne

Comedy Comedy

Adam

Rating:

Movie: Adam (2009)

Studio : Olympus Pictures

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 99min

Website : foxsearchlight.com/adam/

Trailer :http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9zn4g

Review:

Adam is 29 years old, living in an apartment he once shared with his father, and is a relatively good-looking man. He gets blatantly affectionate looks from women, is well-dressed, and is a hard worker at his job as an engineer at a local toy firm. With his awkwardness towards the opposite sex and his tendency to ramble about his passions, you would initially think he had the makings of a 40-Year-Old Virgin, but chances are you would never imagine he had something like Asperger’s Syndrome unless he said so.

When Beth, a budding children’s author and daughter to an influential executive accountant, moves in and meets the awkward fellow by chance, she finds herself entranced by him and, like the very satellites Adam rambles on, they begin to push and pull against each other in an orbital dance with each other that leads both into a predictable trajectory and impact you expect from a romance film, but with the trappings of a convincing relationship between a woman finding her own way in her world and a man learning to understand his own.

I have to say that the acting throughout the film is really good. It seems that every character with more than one dialogue in the role has at least one moment to pull out at least one good scene in the film (Frankie Faison steals quite a few as Adam’s mentor-like friend, Harlan). While Rose Byrne does not seem to shine as well as her counterpart Hugh Dancy, she more than makes up for it in the later half.

Kudos should also go to the cinematography for the film, where you can tell care was placed in shooting the location and getting the most visually-appealing scenes and compositions you could hope for in a film of this nature.

-Donald Lee

Comedy, Drama, Romance adam, Comedy, Drama, Max Mayer, Romance

Bruno Rating: 3.5 stars

Rating:

Movie: Brüno (2009)

Studio : Everyman Pictures

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 81min

Website : thebrunomovie.com

Trailer :

Review:

Camper than Liberace in hot-pants, Brüno is Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest “undercover” comic creation and controversy = cash generator. The movie focuses on the crass antics of Brüno Gehard, a fictional Austrian fashionista with a penchant for both Adolf Hitler and evermore extreme forms of anal intrusion. Fired from his job as host of Funkyzeit, Brüno sets his sights on conquering the dizzy heights of American celebrity culture.

Once this obviously frivolous story has been set up and the action moves to America – via a brief trip to the Middle East to meet some alleged terrorists – the fun really begins. There are many hilarious set-piece scenes throughout Brüno, including the breathtaking cage-fight finale, but the standout scene for me has to be Brüno’s parading of his adopted African baby on some sub-Jerry Springer talk-show. As we are in on the joke, our immediate temptation is to howl with laughter as Bruno shockingly informs the predominantly African American audience that he gave the baby a “traditional African name – OJ”. In fairness to the audience though, their outrage was actually proportionate (given that they thought they were witnessing someone who genuinely treated his baby as a fashion accessory). This audience, however, were never the true intended targets of Cohen’s satire, rather, it was the celebrity adoptions of Madonna and Angelina Jolie – and the ensuing media mayhem – that he was gunning for.

That is a trend that exists through all of Cohen’s work: he delivers the maximum amount of outrage per a square satirical inch both in the foreground of the action and also in the background, where the bigger picture lurks. He gives the bigots what they want on camera (which is to re-affirm their petrified world view), and in doing so he reveals their absurd and isolated thinking. Yet lest you imagine this is a movie with a cause in mind, you better think again. Cohen does not deliver the certainties that causes require, instead choosing to walk along a cinematic tightrope of chaotic comedy on one hand and stage-managed cynicism on the other. Sometimes he does stumble and leave you yearning for the sight of Borat in his slick green Speedos. Such feelings quickly pass however, as the prospect of Brüno spreading more of his hot comedy seed across your face keeps you glued to your seat throughout.

-Paul Meade

Comedy, In Theaters, Reviews by Genre borat, bruno, Comedy, sacha cohen