Knocked Up
May 31, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Judd Apatow returns to the directors chair to follow-up his surprise hit from 2005, the 40 year old virgin, with another solid film from his genre. I say his genre because in my estimation he is the ‘John Hughes’ of the 2000’s and we all know Hughes films were considered to be a genre unto themselves so why not Apatow. Anywhoo, onto the good stuff.
Knocked up is all about a guy that gets really lucky one night, only to find out his luck may have ran out about 8 weeks later and a girl who’s luck ran out the second she saw him nekkid the morning after. Now I realize that story doesn’t sound that complicated and to be honest it isn’t but in the right directors hands it can turn into a pretty funny story. Throw in a few twists and turns, some sentimental BS and you’ve got yourself a movie… Now that’s Italian!
Our Guy; Ben Stone (Rogan) is an out of work fat Canadian that works at home with his friends in hopes of making it rich by creating a web site that details hot female celebs in the raw… all the while not knowing that one already exists (censored to protect our hit count:), and he’s down to his last 200 bucks, so his life not so good. On the other side of the coin we have our Girl; Alison Scott (Heigl), an up and coming, smoking hot ‘E’ network on air personality with her professional life ahead of her… with only one small exception, she mooches off her sister and her husband (Mann & Rudd) by living in the pool house in their back yard, things are going pretty well for our Hotty. Do you see the wackiness that headed your way?
On the night of Alison’s promotion to on air personality from go-fer, she and her sister Debbie decide to head to the club to celebrate and that’s where she meets Ben. They dance, drink and make out at the bar and then the most unlikely thing in the world happens, this hot chick that would NEVER in a million years talk to anyone that looks like Rogan (he needs to thank his lucky stars he’s an actor), asks him to come back to her lilly pad for the night. He scores (Yay!), she craps out (Aww!) and the rest of the story just kind of tells itself.
The strongest parts of this movie by far are the dialog and Seth Rogan’s delivery (Alison’s not so much, you’ll see what I mean) but the supporting cast of… well basically the entire cast of Freaks and Geeks is also freaking awesome; Rudd and Mann have their moments at stealing the spotlight too but for me the best part of all is the cameo provided by Ryan Seacrest… I believe whole heartedly the lines he spews out of his mouth are exactly how he feels and he was funny as Ish delivering them. It’s nice to see celebs make fun of themselves and this movie has a few of those (cough..Carell.. cough) but Seacrest was the high point.
In short, the movie is funny but it also has a very dramatic tone to it as well that will suit anyone that has kids, or wants them. There are some moments in the movie that touched me and some others that had me howling, so a nice mix. I liked it enough to give it 4 stars but not quite enough to give it 5 so you should give it a shot if you like Apatow’s work… And, If you think 40 Year Old Virgin and Anchorman were the beginning of Judd’s genius and you didn’t get the Freaks and Geeks comment, you need to add that series to your queue as well and then you’ll see where his style really started.
Flags of Our Fathers
May 31, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Based on a best selling novel of the same name by James Bradley. Flag of our Fathers is the story of the historic flag raising on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima. But, unlike other war movies the real story is not so much the battle, but the flag raising itself. Legend has it, that On February 23, 1945 6 men (5 Marines and 1 Navy Corpsman) climbed to the top of Mount Suribachi, to plant our flag and declare victory over the island, and all of this was caught on film in one of the single most popular photos ever taken. That was the story the US citizens were told, but that ain’t exactly the truth. Well, let’s just say not all of it’s true. Yes we did climb the mountain, and yes we did plant the flag, but that was not the first flag planted and we were far from victorious when we did it. In fact it took another 31 days to fully capture that little island and establish our much-needed midway point to downtown Tokyo.
Anywhoo, this famous photo makes it’s way to the US shores and the military gets a great idea, bring those 6 boys (well 3 now, 3 of them died within days of the photo being taken) home and have them go on a coast to coast tour telling their story, and asking the stateside Americans to invest in war bonds. By this time fighting a war on 2 fronts had nearly bankrupted our country and according to some of the points outlined in this film (book as well), if we didn’t find more money we would lose both wars. FDR had just died, the military didn’t have the resources or cash to build ships, tanks or even ammunition, and the war department was desperate to do whatever they had to, to get money, and this was the opportunity they’d been waiting for, and in their estimation could not have come at a better time.
Flag of Our Fathers follows the 3 survivors Ira Hayes (Beach), John Bradley (Phillippe), and Rene Gagnon (Bradford) as they go from place to place selling their story to the millions at home, that needed something to believe in, and some sign that all of the hundreds of thousands dead or dying was worth it. This late in the war the morale of the troops as well as the citizens at home was at an all time low and judging by the outcome, this was exactly what was needed for everybody, and the rest was as you say history.
The survivors deal with the pressure of the loss of their friends as well as the multi layered lie the government is telling it’s people, as much as they hate being a part of it, they know the need for the lie is even greater and their story means more to the folks back home then it ever could any of them. It’s a great book and the movie is a very solid representation of it. So if you liked the book you should like the movie.
Eastwood out does himself in my opinion with his direction and had it not been for his annoying score, I would say it was his best directing effort ever. I realize one has nothing to do with the other but come on Clint you need to give us a break! You did the same thing in Million Dollar Baby and it was annoying then too! We get it, your talented and you can do whatever you want… but enough is enough, pick one or the other! Now I’m curious to see how the second half of this epic will play out. In case you didn’t know, Clint filmed 2 movies back to back about the same battle. One from our perspective (this one) and one from the Japanese that’s due out next year called Letters from Iwo Jima. Who knows, that one may be the 5 star choice of the pair.
Severance
May 24, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Severance isn’t scary enough to be a horror movie, nor is it funny enough to be a comedy, but in this case the movie is more than the sum of it’s parts.
Palisade Defence is a weapons supplier currently providing munitions to fight the war on terror. “Currently” is the important term here as they’ve been in business for 75 years and have been a supplier to many different countries over that time period. After an initial glimpse at what’s to come (in which we see a very creative way to get some girls to take their clothes off) we join the story with a group of Palisade employees on a bus heading to a mountain retreat for some team building.
This is a horror movie at this point even if nobody gets killed.
When the road to the lodge is blocked by a tree the driver refuses to take a dirt road detour and instead kicks everyone (and their luggage) off the bus to fend for themselves. He seemed a bit of a prick, but since he wasn’t speaking English it’s hard to say exactly what was happening. Anyway, the office manager gathers thetroupes and they head down the path on their way to the “luxury” lodge Palisade just purchased. Imagine Michael Scott from The Office and you get the general idea.
This is the typical office group.. a manager, a kiss ass, an ass (he seems to be sales), a stoner, a hot chick (Laura Harris), a geeky developer chick, a black guy (even in a British horror movie you have to ask yourself if you think the black guy is gonna make it) and a few others to round everything out. It’s a horror movie though, so you know they’re all fodder for the knife.
After one of the girls sees someone standing outside of her 2nd story window, the group decides they’ve had enough team building and they want out. Management doesn’t agree but bows to demand and a couple of them head to the hilltop to try and get a cell signal to call for help while the rest play a little paintball.
On the way to the summit they spot the bus… and the bus driver who has seen better days. Fortunately the keys are still in the bus so they quickly drive it back towards the lodge to get everyone and go home. Meanwhile there’s been a bit of an accident while playing paintball and one of the team is in dire need of medical attention. They all hop on the bus and ride to safety!
Or at least they try.
No point going into the details on what happens next, but they end up fighting for their lives and of course most of them don’t win this battle. Can you imagine a horror movie where only a couple of people get the axe?
Severance is a solid 3 star movie that gets a bump to a fourth due to the actions of Laura Harris. Her character does something so perfect not once, but twice in the movie that it just had to get a bump for it. Besides that, the picture you’re looking at of a girl and a machine gun is a great scene, and the final word spoken in the movie is just classic.
See this one with some buddies at the theater if you can, and if not, make sure you watch this on DVD when it comes out.
Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End
May 24, 2007 | Leave a Comment
I enjoyed the first PIRATES movie, the second not nearly as much. This third (and final?) one is somewhat sluggish like the second movie, but it’s overall a better film.
Unfortunately, I forgot the details of both previous PIRATES movies as soon as I finished watching them, and this third film doesn’t have a lot of exposition, so I wasn’t always completely sure what was going on. Maybe a STAR WARS-style scroll at the beginning would have helped. But it’s not particularly important; these films are about the spectacle, and Johnny Depp doing his Jack Sparrow thing.
Barbarro (Geoffrey Rush) is back in this one. At this point, I can’t remember if he’s a dead guy, or a formerly dead guy whose curse has been removed and is now a living guy. He and Our Heroes embark to rescue Jack Sparrow from the underworld.
Jack Sparrow, meanwhile, finds himself in a peculiar Pirate’s Hell that is slowly driving him mad. Well, madder.
I’m struck by how the geography of the world in these movies must be different from our own. Continents don’t seem to exist, just islands. Going from the Caribbean to Singapore (without a ship) then to the Arctic then back to the Caribbean doesn’t seem to be inconvenienced by South America or Africa. I imagine it’s something like Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea.
There’s a lot of mystical mumbo-jumbo. Everybody seems to have a curse on them; this guy’s curse can only be lifted by assembling the eight shards of Captain Morgan’s magical broken rum bottle, or that guy’s curse requires the four pieces of Blackbeard’s magical dagger be reassembled. I can’t help but think that if these movies were more cartoony versions of MASTER AND COMMANDER rather than all these video game quests, they’d be better movies.
Here we learn that pirates are a world-wide secret society with nine Pirate Captains comprising the board of directors, apparently going back centuries.
Also, God is apparently a pirate, because the infrastructure of the universe seems to be based on piratey stuff.
We have a lot of ships chasing other ships. At times it’s a bit hard to keep track of who is on whose ship and why. The squidly Captain Davy Jones is back, but he’s being controlled by evil British merchants from the East India Company. There’s also a God-thing with a bad case of the crabs.
We have a lot of sword fights, of course, and various scenes of ships being raked by cannonballs.
Ultimately, it boils down to whether watching Jack Sparrow strut around is worth your time. He is still amusing.
Kiera Knightly is fine, although after seeing her in a woad bikini in KING ARTHUR she seems overdressed here.
Orlando Bloom has now done two complete trilogies and a few other movies running around with a sword. Oh well, there’s always ELIZABETHTOWN.
Keith Richards, in a nice cameo, plays Jack Sparrow’s pappy.
All three of these movies are about 20 minutes too long.
Something that struck me is, for all the pirates we see (including a conclave of many more pirates), nobody seems to actually ever do any pirating. That is, waylaying innocent ships, stealing their goods, putting the men aboard her to the sword, offering the women a Fate Worse Than Death, selling the children off to be slaves. Our pirates just seem to be sort of like ocean-going Easy Riders, and the East India Trading Company wants to shut them down like the principal after Ferris Bueller. These pirates have no visible means of support!
Shrek The Third
May 22, 2007 | Leave a Comment
There’s a trend in having the third movie in a series more kid-friendly. ROBOCOP III, MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME, CROCODILE DUNDEE IN LOS ANGELES are examples.
The SHREK series are for kids, but they’ve always had humor that was aimed at adults as well. In this third movie, everything is a little more cuddly. Everyone has been domesticated, including not only the ogre but the fire-breathing dragon!
The first SHREK movie was Meet Cute. SHREK II was Meet the Parents. Now it’s Knocked Up.
Fiona is pregnant, and Shrek fears he won’t be a good parent. Or at least, he makes a few vague statements in that direction which doesn’t drive the story at all. The story: with the Frog-King dead, Shrek is the heir to the throne. He goes on a quest for Artie, a young prince who has been sent off to school elsewhere. Artie has a magician named…Merlin. Meanwhile, back in Far Far Away, Prince Charming has gathered up all the Bad Guys and stormed the castle. Fiona, and all the other princesses at her baby-shower, have to go all Die Hard.
Nobody seems to have any big conflicts in this movie that aren’t quickly resolved, and the good guys don’t seem to have much trouble overcoming the opposition.
That Fiona and Shrek are going to have kids is a logical step in the third of the trilogy, but this doesn’t do anything with the idea.
The animation is still amazing… except that, we’ve seen it twice before, so it’s not so amazing anymore. Also, there aren’t any really spectacular action sequences in this, to compare with scenes like the Dragon’s Lair sequence in the first movie.
The comedy isn’t unfunny, it’s just sort of pleasant. Chuckles and grins instead of guffaws.
The only bit that really stood out was Princess Sleeping Beauty being narcoleptic.
Kids will still probably enjoy this, but adults may find themselves a little restless.
Letters from Iwo Jima
May 20, 2007 | Leave a Comment
War is hell, we all know that. One problem with watching a movie about a war is that you’re automatically rooting for one side or the other, which almost makes the movie like a sporting event in that you’re rooting for your team… except in this case the other team gets shot. An excellent way to tell a war story without this being an issue is by telling it from the enemies prospective, just like the classic movie Das Boot. In that one we rode along in a German sub while they were being hunted by the Allies. In Letters from Iwo Jima we watch Japanese soldiers prepare for an American invasion by digging tunnels and preparing what little resources they have to repel a much larger force. We know they’re gonna lose and in fact, so do they. It’s the will to try anyway that’s the point of this movie. Duty, honor, dedication to Emperor and Country… it’s like watching a bunch of Klingons fighting a losing battle. Except a Klingon would never hug a grenade.
Letters starts off on modern day Iwo Jima with what we’ll guess are some historical archivists who are excavating the tunnels dug by the soldiers before the battle. One of them stumbles upon a bag buried in a central room and as everyone rushes over to take a look we are transported back in time to IwoJima as it was before the battle. We learn it’s a bleak existence, with soldiers moving artillery back and forth and spending their time digging trenches on the beach. The leadership seems to have lost their way as well, but a new general is on the way to help solve that problem.
The new guy is General Tadamichi Kuribayashi who previously has spent time in America as an ambassador. He was so well liked among his American colleagues that he received a beautiful side arm during his farewell party, a weapon he now carries in battle against the Americans. His is not conventional Japanese thought in that he understands that to win a battle sometimes you have to fall back to a better area to make your stand, and that killing yourself in order to die an honorable death just means less manpower for future battles. Unfortunately his subordinates are mostly old school and work against his command even during the midst of a battle.
You know how this one ends (unless you have a public school education, and then you might be a little confused) so there’s no point in trying to hide the fact that they lost the battle, and obviously most of them die in the conflict. I was struck with a sense of futility as I watched so many die, and even more so when some of them decided to make a grenade their “honorable” friend. But I also had a sense of the pride of what it must have been like to fight for principle and duty. I do believe that’s the point of the film. Yes, war is hell and should be avoided but if not, and if there’s a good damn reason for fighting then you hope your soldiers have the conviction of those Japanese men as they defended Iwo Jima.
It’s bloody, and you have to read it if you don’t speak Japanese, but it’s well worth the trouble. If you collect war movies then buy this one, otherwise put it at the top of your Netflix queue.
The Ultimate Matrix Collection (HD-DVD)
May 19, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Warner Bros. has put out their Ultimate Matrix Collection on HD-DVD, and I’m quite glad they did. I could watch the first movie on a weekly basis and not get tired of it, and the second two have bits that are just spectacular to watch. In addition to the movies there’s an insane amount of extra material here. Don’t believe me? How’s this for a list:
Disc 1: The Matrix (1999)
- In-Movie Experience
- Written introduction by The Wachowski brothers
- Philosophers’ commentary by Dr. Cornel West and Ken Wilber
- Critics’ commentary by Todd McCarthy, John Powers and David Thomson
- Cast and crew commentary by Carrie-Anne Moss, Zach Staenberg and John Gaeta
- Composer commentary by Don Davis with music-only track
- Behind The Matrix: Making The Matrix, The Dance of the Master: Yuen Wo Ping’s Blocking Tapes, The Bathroom Fight and Wet Wall, The Code of the Red Dress, The Old Exit: Wabash and Lake, Agent Down, But Wait- There’s More
- The Music Revisited
- Marilyn Manson Music Video Rock is Dead
- The Matrix Teaser, trailer, and TV spots: Manson, Reality, Forget Everything, Mystery, Buckle Up, The Answer, Kung Fu, Whoa
- The Matrix Revisited
- Take the Red Pill: What is Bullet Time? What is the Concept?
- Follow the White Rabbit: Trinity Escapes, Pod, Kung Fu, The Wall, Bathroom Fight, Government Lobby, Government Roof, Helicopter, Subway
Disc 2: The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
- In-Movie Experience
- Written introduction by The Wachowski brothers
- Philosophers’ commentary by Dr. Cornel West and Ken Wilber
- Critics’ commentary by Todd McCarthy, John Powers and David Thomson
- Behind The Matrix: The Matrix Unfolds, Pre-Load, Get Me an Exit, The MTV Movie Awards Reloaded
- Enter the Matrix: The Game
- Enter the Matrix (contains 23 scenes from the video game)
- P.O.D. music video Sleeping Awake
- Reloaded/Revolutions Teaser
- The Matrix Reloaded trailer and TV spots: Yes, Jack In, Nice Trick, Story, No Escape, I’m In, Prophecy, Neo
- Car Chase: The Freeway Chase, Oakland Streets and Freeway: Unseen Material, Tour of the Merovingian’s Garage, Queen of the Road, Arteries of the Mega-City: The Visual Effects of the Freeway Chase, Foresight: Pre-planning the Mayhem, Freeway Truck Crash: Anatomy of a Shot, Fate of the Freeway, Freeway Action Match
- Teahouse Fight: Two Equals Clash, Guardian of the Oracle: Collin Chou
- Unplugged: Creating the Burly Brawl, A Conversation with Master Wo Ping, Chad Stahelski: The Other Neo, Burly Brawl
- Action Match, Spiraling Virtual Shot: Anatomy of a Shot
- I’ll Handle Them: The Great Hall, Building the Merovingian’s Lair, Tiger Style: A Day in the Life of Chen Hu, Heavy Metal: Weapons of the Great Hall
- The Exiles: The Exiles, Big Brother is Watching: The Architect’s Office
Disc 3: The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
- In-Movie Experience
- Written introduction by The Wachowski brothers
- Philosophers’ commentary by Dr. Cornel West and Ken Wilber
- Critics’ commentary by Todd McCarthy, John Powers and David Thomson
- Behind The Matrix: Revolutions Recalibrated, Neo Realism: The Evolution of Bullet Time, CG Revolution, Super Big Mini Models, Super Burly Brawl, Double Agent Smith, Mind Over Matter: The Physicality of The Matrix, Future Gamer: The Matrix Online
- The Matrix Revolutions trailer and TV spots: Give Anything, Help, Power, Future, Believe, Control
- Behind The Matrix: Before the Revolution, 3-D Evolution
- Crew: Owen’s Army: The Australian Art Dept., 2nd Unit: A World of Their Own, Bill Pope: Cinematographer of The Matrix, Masters of Light and Shadow
- Hel: Coat Check, Upsidedown Under, Fast Break, Exploding Man, Gun Club, The Extras of Club Hel
- Super Burly Brawl: The Skybarn, The Crater, The Egg, Anatomy of the Superpunch, Super Burly Brawl
- New Blue World: Geography of Zion, The Ships, Tour of the Neb, Matrix TV, Logos Fight Expansion
- Siege: Dig This, The Siege Action Match, Anatomy of a Shot: Mifune’s Last Stand, Building an APU, Product of Zion
- Aftermath: Revolutionary Composition, The Glue, Dane Tracks, Cause and Effects
Disc 4: The Animatrix & The Roots of the Matrix
- Voices: The Second Renaissance Part I Commentary by Mahiro Maeda, The Second Renaissance Part II Commentary by Mahiro Maeda, Program Commentary by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, World Record Commentary by Takeshi Koike
- Scrolls to Screen: The History and Culture of Anime
- Execution: Making Final Flight of the Osiris, Making The Second Renaissance Parts I & II, Making Kid’s Story & A Detective Story, Making Program, Making World Record, Making Beyond, Making Matriculated
- Return to Source: Philosophy and The Matrix (A.K.A. Brainiac’s Revenge)
- The Hard Problem: The Science Behind the Fiction
Disc 5: Burly Man Chronicles and The Zion Archive
- The Burly Man Chronicles
- Pre-Production
- Alameda Shoot
- Australia Shoot
- The Zion Archive
- The Rave Reel
- The Matrix Online
- 2 music videos, theatrical trailers, and TV spots
Yeah, this may be an expensive box set but it has so much on it that it’s actually worth the price. Highly recommended.
Tex Avery’s Droopy - The Complete Theatrical Collection
May 18, 2007 | Leave a Comment
If not for Bugs Bunny and the Road Runner, Droopy would have been my favorite cartoon as a young boy. I loved that slack-jowled little dog and how he always managed to overcome the villain-du-jour (usually a lazy wolf or a bulldog named Butch) with his clever tactics and uncanny way of seemingly teleporting wherever he needed to be.
And now that I’ve reached my fortieth year, Warner Home Video has released ALL 24 Droopy theatrical cartoons on one DVD collection. ROCK!
Well…not so fast. As I popped the first disc into the dvd player, I wondered if I’d find these cartoons as funny as I did as a child. I mean…I’m “all growed up now,” right? (well, mostly growed up) Unfortunately, I didn’t laugh anywhere near as hard as I did back then. Even the ones that previously made me laugh so hard that I stopped making noise and turned blue (such as Drag-a-Long Droopy, Deputy Droopy, The Shooting of Dan McGoo (shot ‘on location’ in Coldernell, Alaska), and Homesteader Droopy) only got a few chortles and giggle out of me this time.
Even still, it was a real treat getting into the wayback machine and re-living a great part of my childhood. You might just get the same warm feeling yourself and, if you have kids of your own, maybe they’ll do like I did back then and laugh til they can’t breathe anymore.
Spider-Man 3
May 4, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Your friendly neighborhood Spiderman is back for another round in Spider-Man 3. He gets a new suit, a couple of new foes and the return of an old one. And he’s also trying to juggle school and a high maintenance girlfriend all at the same time. The man’s got a lot going on! And we were a bit worried about how returning director Sam Raimi would squeeze it all into one movie.
When we rejoin the story, we actually find Spidey, still played by Tobey Maquire, doing quite well. The city loves him because crime is down. He’s getting straight A’s at school and has a smoking hot lab partner. Kirsten Dunst is back as Mary Jane, his girlfriend. She has a leading role on Broadway and good old Peter even makes time to sit in the front row and cheer her on.
Now as any guy knows, when things are going that well, all it takes is a girlfriend who wont tell you what’s really wrong to screw it all up. Although it doesn’t happen in the dialogue there are points in the scenes with MJ and Peter where I know every guy is hearing in the back of his head “what’s wrong dear?” followed by “Oh, nothing.”. Next thing you know, web is the only thing Spidey is getting to sling and he’s in a really bad mood with a new dark suit.
Fortunately, he has lots of foes to take out the frustration on. Green Goblin is back, or I guess actually we should call him Gobby Jr, looking to avenge his fathers’ death. Thomas Haden Church joins the fight as Sandman. Sandman, who incidently does not slam beers and smoke cigarettes, is a man of few words, but this character introduces some really impressive visual effects on screen as he morphs between sand shapes and that of a human. Peter also has a rival, his name is Eddie Brock, though he should’ve been called Eddie Haskel. Topher Grace does a great job of playing a truly annoying new photographer competing for Peter’s job at the Daily Bugle. And last but not least, we have the mysterious Venom, who is kind of the anti-Spider-Man with exaggerated versions of the same powers but with a really nasty disposition.
Whew! Told you he had a lot going on! So how did Raimi do in crafting it all together? The answer is pretty darned good! The story felt neither too long nor rushed, which was a bit surprising. The performances of the live actors were good, these guys know the characters now and seem comfortable. But the real outstanding performance is in the effects department. We again get to see Spiderman do things on screen that we’ve previously only seen in our imaginations based on inspiration from panels within a comic book.
The action and visuals alone make this a must-see. So what’s not to like? That’s easy, from our point of view there’s too much mush. Makes for a good business decision because adding a little story about the relationship between Peter and MJ makes the Spider-Man franchise very chick friendly, and that’s one of the things that helps it do such huge box office numbers. It’s a movie that everyone wants to see, guys, gals, kids and parents as it has something for everyone. The action makes us tolerate the mush, so we still give it a good strong 4 stars.
Next
May 3, 2007 | 1 Comment
Next is a thriller based on a Philip K. Dick novel. For those of you who do not know but find that name familiar, Dick is also the author who wrote the story upon which Minority Report was based. This time the story is set in present day, but again it deals with the ability to predict the future.
Nicolas Cage stars as Cris Johnson. Cris has an interesting skill. He can see the future. But not much of it. He can only see 2 minutes forward and only things that involve him. Like any of us who had such an ability would do, he’s in Vegas. He’s working as a lounge magician in a third rate casino and picking up a discreet amount of cash doing a bit of a wagering with his special abilities. Unfortunately, his uncanny ability doesn’t go unnoticed by the Feds, and they decide he’s their best bet for helping find a nuclear threat that is on U.S. soil. And that’s where our thriller really takes off.
Next is a very intriguing premise and makes for a great story. It also has an excellent cast. Cage is the perfect guy to play a character that has problems that make him slightly out of whack but deep down is a good guy. Jessica Biel makes us lick our chops as the female interest. And Julianne Moore plays the female FBI agent in a role that has a striking resemblence to her portrayal of Agent Starling in Hannibal. She’s starting to show a little age over her days of letting Dirk Diggler lay the pipe, but there’s something about a chick that is good with a gun that we like.
Here’s what you really need to know though. We have a strict no spoilers policy. Not all reviewers are so kind. And your friends at the water cooler can also ruin this movie for you. It has an ending that you will NOT see coming. But it’s an ending that will make people talk, and thus ruin half the experience for those who have not seen it yet. Do yourself a favor and check this one out as soon as you can. We give next a strong 4 stars.
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