Movie Reviews By Movie Reviews Pro

Layer Cake

Rating:

Movie: Layer Cake

Studio : Sony

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 106 min

Website : Layer Cake Movie

Trailer :http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8ptle

Review:

When looking up “Layer Cake” on Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB, the combined, it only gained a 7.75, but the reasons given by critics were that it was the same as all the other British crime dramas that predated it, mostly notably “Snatch” and “Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels”. As the producer on the two movies, it isn’t surprising that one would make this comparison, but they missed the mark. The point of “Layer Cake” was to take these same ideas, where bumbling criminals can always succeed and turn them on its head.

On previous projects that Mr. Vaughn worked with Guy Richie, the characters played by Jason Statham, Tom and Turkish respectively were neither adept nor even competent. The character played by Craig is a middle man for the British drug trade with aspirations of getting out of the business, not because of morality, but because he is a business man who tires of the incompetence of those he works with. He is backed by a small group of cohorts who help him ply his trade. Because he is careful, Craig’s character tries to stay away from those who aren’t.

Unfortunately for him, in his self-stated last deal, he is given the task of selling 1,000,000 ecstasy hits which were stolen from a group of Serbian militants. The thieves are the kind that he attempts to avoid, but now has no choice but to associate with him. Having both the British drug lords and Serbian militants on either side of him, guns drawn if he decides to sell or give the drugs to anyone but them, he has to get creative.

With a stellar cast, including George Harris, Colm Meanny, Kenneth Cranham, Sienna Miller, and Michael Gambon, the film succeeds at every corner, giving only the exact amount of information needed to move the story forward. For a viewer that wants everything explained to them, this is not the film for you, but on a second watch, the film will answer most of the questions needed to truly enjoy the movie.

A last word about cinematography and soundtrack: I am not sure that I have seen many movies with many more beautiful shots which flow in and out like dancers on a stage or music that so suits the mood, from The Cult’s “She Sells Sanctuary” to Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get Blue Monday out of My Head” to Joe Cocker’s “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”, every song fits the moment of film perfectly as if they were written for this project.

Layer Cake is a must watch, and a suggested buy for film.

-M. Sigurd Hall

Crime, Drama, On BLU-RAY, On DVD, Thriller crime, Drama, Thriller

The Men Who Stare at Goats

Rating:

Movie: Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)

Studio : BBC Films

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 94 min

Website : themenwhostareatgoatsmovie.com/

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

Review:

Even with its somehow puzzling title, The Men Who Stare at Goats offers an impressive line-up that raises our expectations significantly. Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, George Clooney and Kevin Spacey form a high priced cast bound to please all viewers and that make us hold out for another Hollywood blockbuster on the American army. Mind you, this is not what you’re going to get (it’s much better).

Based on true events (and on Jon Ronson’s book of the same name), the film takes us on a mind-boggling adventure through the Middle East, as Bob Wilson (McGregor) digs deeper into Lyn Cassidy’s secret psychic army story. Gone to Kuwait to win back his ex-wife by impressing her with his war reporter experience (go figure!), Bob Wilson stumbles upon Lyn Cassidy, a special-op force psychic agent played by an especially tanned and crazy-eyed Clooney. Cassidy reluctantly takes him along his journey to find his mentor, Bill Django (Bridges), creator of “the New Earth Army”, a secret experimental army unit formed of psychic warriors aka “Jedi warriors” (humoristic hint at McGregor’s famous Star Wars’ role). Bob Wilson tries to learn more/make sense of the mission of these incredible super-powered soldiers by following Lyn Cassidy in his crazy adventures.

Super-powered? You may ask. Then it has to be some kind of science fiction movie, right? Or is this another “Roswell-like” situation the American people have not yet heard about? Not exactly. Weirdly enough, we do not once witness any super power display or have a tangible proof of their incredible capacities. Instead of that, we discover the power of the mind over logic, over physics and most of all over common sense. What the film succeeds to do is keep us at the edge of our seats, expecting to see the magic happen, with goofy plot twists and hilarious dialogues that make no sense whatsoever to people in their right minds. As the two men’s adventure goes from disaster to disaster, we can’t help but wonder why Ewan McGregor’s character keeps going along with this masquerade. But what we slowly realize is that this insane hippie project is maybe not that irrealistic and offers to those soldiers an ideal to follow, a place to belong to.

The magic power of The Men Who Stare at Goats resides in showing us the capacity of the human mind to believe and to defy logic with unconditional faith. Maybe this is what we need: something to believe in. No matter how crazy it may seem, we simply need something to make us keep on going. All in all, do not expect to get it, do not expect to make sense of the characters, just be prepared for a very odd hour an a half of delectable madness.

-Nolwen Cosmao

Comedy, On BLU-RAY, On DVD, War

Titan AE

Rating:

Movie: Titan AE (2000)

Studio : Twentieth Century Fox

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 95 min

Website : N/A

Trailer :http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3qht7

Review:

Year 2000: one of the most technologically advanced animated films was released, by 20th Century Fox. Directed by Don Bluth, famous for such movies as Disney’s ANASTASIA, ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN, and THE SECRET OF NIHM, TITAN A.E. is an animated film that is littered with great talent led by Matt Damon (of TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE and EUROTRIP fame), Bill Pullman (CASPER) John Leguizamo (SPAWN), Nathan Lane (THE PRODUCERS), Janeane Garofalo (MYSTERY MEN), and Drew Barrymore (E.T.).

Though it wasn’t the first movie to explore computer animation (from memory, that honor would be TRON), it used the animation as more than just a vehicle of fancy. It served as an incredibly important piece of what makes TITAN AE the movie that it is.

With a view of the stars, the hero, Cale’s (Damon) father speaks in retrospect to his son about the reason society is in its current, restless state, mostly blamed upon the alien race, the Drej, a glowing blue, energy based race of beings which were entirely animated digitally. Because of the creation of the unexplained Titan, the Drej attacked the Earth. As the ship’s creator Cale’s father takes the Titan into orbit, leaving Cale in the arms of Tek, an alien as a godfather of sorts. Both the Titan and the ship housing Cale and Tek make it into outer space before the destruction of Earth.

Fast forward 15 years. Cale works in space salvaging junk. Because humans have no home world, humans are considered second class citizens. Cale is attacked and rescued by Korso (Pullman) who tells Cale that he is humanity’s last hope against the Drej. Cale, Korso, and crew embark in search of the Titan.

What I find the most incredible about TITAN A.E. are the details. Every time a character with any amount of hair turns, their hair moves in congruence with the rest of their action. Their clothes hang naturally on their bodies, and when Cale is injured, his wounds bleed progressively through his bandages

The one lacking part is the story. It’s too much the same as so many of its processors. There is great potential, but in the end, it doesn’t deliver.

For the majority of audiences, TITAN A.E is a watch, not a buy, but it is worth the watch, as at the very least, it’s an entertaining ride.

-M. Sigurd Hall

Adventure, Animation, On BLU-RAY, On DVD, Sci-Fi

Hot Tub Time Machine

Rating:

Movie: Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)

Studio : Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 100 min

Website : hottubtimemachinemovie.com/

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

Review:

Adam (John Cusack), Lou (Rob Corddry), and Nick (Craig Robinson) are lifelong friends who are unhappy with their lives, who along with Adam’s nephew Jacob (Clark Duke), find themselves trapped in 1986, via the hot tub time machine, as their younger selves, reliving their past and missed opportunities, with a possibility (or impossibility?) of changing their present/future.

Much of the film’s strength is the fact that it takes place in the 80’s–the funky hair, the music, the slang, and the nostalgic factor. Loosely based on Back to the Future’s time traveling plotline, it also pokes fun at Quantum Leap, and various other 80’s films. Added to that is male-bonding comedy about lovable losers reliving their pinnacle moments of their past, and to the film’s credit, those moments provide poignancy.

This is a sci-fi B-movie-style broad comedy. This film is directed by Steve Pink who wrote the screenplay for Grosse Pointe Blank and High Fidelity. I wished he had also written this film because this film could’ve used some of his sharp wit. While the film is mostly funny overall, occasional jokes do fall flat and some parts could’ve used one more draft of rewrite. Better or for worse, much of the humor (although not surprisingly) involve toilet and sexual humor, with some gratuitous drug use and nudity.

This isn’t sophisticated stuff, but this film isn’t trying to be. It’s called Hot Tub Time Machine, after all. The film works because the characters are likeable and the time travel concept is fun. John Cusack plays his usual, likeable everyman role. Lou (Rob Corddry) provides much of the extreme, wild humor. There are fun geeky references, familiar faces, and nostalgic elements for those of us who grew up in that era–the younger generation may have a hard time fully appreciating some of that. Nevertheless, the filmmakers know it’s silly stuff and they milk and revel in the concept to its fullest extent, which is all one can ask for.

-“D-Art” Kang

Comedy, In Theaters, Reviews by Genre Comedy, John Cusack