The last playable DLC for Mass Effect 2 (Kasumi’s Dream) didn’t exactly cause any mass faintings due to how excited people became while playing, but with the DLC Overlord we are definitely getting the tingles.

A long time ago the Mass Effect universe learned about the feared robot uprising of today (it’s gonna happen) with their experience with the geth, a species that once started out as VIs built for labor before becoming sentient and rebelling.  Overlord takes it one step further.  In yet another attempt to quell their forces, scientists have been trying to control the geth by bonding a man’s mind with computer processing (think Chuck but way more intense and far less comedic).  What could go wrong, right?  Now Shepard is called in to put a stop to this VI before it starts yet another uprising in a true “rise of the machines” fashion.

This mission has Shepard traveling around to numerous bases in order to break down the hybrid’s defenses before being able to take it head on at its home base.  There is plenty of shooting and plenty of spare parts to amass, basically anything that can be expected from the gameplay of this title.  However, one cool thing is that Overlord works in the Hammerhead, the hovercraft that has been built to replace the Mako of the previous game.  It may not be revolutionary, but traversing the terrain in this vehicle is very fluid, simplistic, and there is no need to worry about getting stuck half way up the side of a mountain before slipping back down.  Talk about a relief.  Plus, the Hammerhead will also inform the crew of a nice view in the landscape, which I will admit, was a very nice view indeed.

What makes this additional gameplay pack worth the buy is the story and how it is structured into the level.  Obviously when this VI is involved there are gonna be the usual mech/geth attacks throughout the bases, which didn’t really bring on the “ooo” factor.  However, what really got to me was that there was a completely different feel to this DLC than from the rest of the game, taking on more of a horror feel.  While picking my way through the blood pools and scattered bodies in the bases there was always this feeling like someone was watching me, and with all the surveillance cameras and monitors around someone definitely was.  But it was palpable.  I even shot out a few cameras just to make myself feel a little better.  But just as I wrapped myself into this false illusion of safety a pixilated face would pop up on the screens and scream at me in some garbled language, and surprised, I sank back down once again behind my pistol as I got herded along to the next room of its choosing.

The ominous feeling while walking through the locations was enough to make this more than just another mission in Mass Effect 2, but the story and a major change to the world towards the end of this DLC boosted Overlord high above some of the others in the game.  It is definitely worth the buy for those who have hung on to their copy of the game until now.

Final grade: 8/10

You can always rent Mass Effect 2, but since it is my favorite 360 game I seriously suggest buying it for your PC, Xbox 360, or preorder it for your Playstation 3.

We have hit bottom.  At least I really, really hope we have.  But in hitting Don Draper’s rock bottom, wait; we were given the best episode of Mad Men yet.

In what starts off to seemingly becoming a night out with the boys of SCDP quickly dissolves into a two character dance as Don and Peggy work through some shit together.  It’s the night of the Cassius Clay/Sonny Liston fight and everyone is excited to head out to their local theater to watch a broadcast of the fight.  But late in the day Don gets a call from Stephanie in California and we know what that means.  Don’s decent is put into motion as he tries to avoid that call and distracts himself with the Samsonite ad that his creative team is failing at.  It’s when Peggy gets roped into the mix that the cathartic, hostile, and long night of events gets set into motion.

We know what sets Don off but Peggy is a bit more complex mess.  The day is her 26^th birthday and she is beyond successful for a woman, especially of that age, in the 60’s but Peggy doesn’t feel like she has earned the respect that she deserves.  This has long been a problem for her, its why she slept with Duck for so long, and it is all boiling up again even in her successful new role at SCDP over the lack of acknowledgement on the Glo-Coat ad she feels like she originated.  Beyond Glo-coat, Don hiring the lame duck Danny and being superceded by Stan on creative decisions is rubbing her quite the wrong way as well.  These feelings come out to the man she has been whispering about behind his back, Don, when the two clash for the best scene of this great episode.  Don is brutal in his lash against Peggy, even putting himself on the same level as Jesus, but for as harsh as he is he speaks a lot of truth as well.  But so does Peggy, and between all the yelling nobody is really wrong as both cut each other deep.  Peggy reaming Don over being drunk, Don judging here over her child out of wedlock, and a few other hits along the way.  It gets nasty and one can’t imagine how they are going to reconcile their differences.

But the most intriguing turn of events was that Peggy can’t leave her work or Don, even in his drunk and unappreciative rage.  She could have walked out, she should have walked out, and Don told her she could leave but she kept coming back and choose work over her relationship, ending it with Mark (which was probably the right thing to do anyways).  All hell broke loose, the two went their, angry and separate ways, and things should have seemingly ended there.

Though, Don’s discovery of Sterling’s laughable manuscript recordings rekindles their conversation on far more civil grounds.  Peggy opens up to Don and they fall into a conversation that spans many locations and hours.  The episode’s tone changes in these moments as things get poignant and funny as the two share drinks and dinner before returning home to SCDP, only to encounter Duck drunkenly stumbling around their offices looking for Peggy.  The two alpha dogs eventually run into a scuffle and Don gets his ass kicked by the drunken Duck.  Don has fallen so far he can’t even beat up Duck.  Peggy ushers out the former SC accounts man and passes out on Don’s couch with his head in her lap.

It’s that morning phone call that makes the episode though.  Watch John Hamm work in that scene is remarkable and it might be his finest performance yet.  Trying to hold it together on the phone with Stephanie and then losing it in front of Peggy.  This is the final moment in Don’s fall and the beginning of a new relationship with Peggy.  Peggy is going to have to become Don’s new Anna.  You could see it as the episode unfolded, Don was already letting her in on the bits and pieces of who Dick Whitman is and it is only a matter of time until she becomes his new confidant.  Their relationship is bound to spark a boom of creativity in the years to come, years bound to be filled with prosperity for SCDP.

Bullets:

-Sorry for the delay on the post, you probably aren’t reading this till Tuesday anyways right?

-Can’t applaud Hamm and Elisabeth Moss enough for their work this week, staggering and high water marks for both.  I wonder if Moss did this episode around the time she split from her husband?

-Don leaving his office door open, that has to be his story turning the corner, right?  And it was such happy exit music.

-Anna Draper’s passing reveals that ghosts exist in the world of Mad Men?

-So Cooper doesn’t have any balls? And for no reason either, damn that Lyle Evans!

-Trudy’s comment to Peggy in the bathroom about 26 being very young set off a lot in Peggy but I am sure Trudy was just trying to be nice.

-Duck, god I hate him, played wonderfully, but I was really sad Don didn’t lay him out.  It was also great to see Don stand up for his potential confidant.  Also, I think Duck successfully burnt any of his last bridges with Peggy after calling her a whore.

-Sterling was back to his old self this week with some delightful banter between him and Don.  Where the hell is Jane anyway?

-What a dick move by what’s his name to sell the free tickets off, I think TV boy is the real weasel of the SCDP now.

-Danny can’t last long with the SCDP if you ask me, but he seems to be fitting in nicely for now.

-How bout Peggy pitching the elephant suitcase ad a few years prematurely.

-Don’s line about finding the mouse, putting it in the suitcase, and throwing it off the roof was hilarious; only to be topped by his roach line delivery, “Let’s find some place darker.”

-I really liked the moment at the bar in which Peggy and Don both knowingly acknowledged their secrets and admits to themselves and each other that neither of them is perfect.

-I have a feeling Joey’s stand off moment with Joan over the trash is going to come back and haunt him sooner rather than later.

-Peggy is totally the next Don, I just don’t know if that is a good thing or bad thing?  Does Don ever step in and tell her she is better off not getting married if she is to follow his path?

-Props to the sound crew for making Don’s throw up some of the most violent and realistic ever put to film.

-Loved how they were able to work the fight into the episode on multiple levels and in a number of occasions.

-Don’s impersonation of Ali/Clay was excellent as well.

Ok, that’s all I got for now, see you all next week for hopefully another strong episode of Mad Men, though it is going to be tough to top this.

Looks like it is another week full of awesome gaming videos and far too few movie trailers.  We’ve got a trailer for The Freebie, and videos for the games Brink, Hydrophobia, the new Mass Effect 2 DLC, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, Portal 2, and Vanquish.

Movies:

The Freebie Trailer – A film in which a couple (played by Dax Shepard and Katie Aselton) toys with the idea that it would be okay if each was given a free pass to pursue a one night stand with someone else.

Gaming:

Brink Development Diary #4 – (360/PS3/PC) – In this installation the creators talk about how the art style for Brink came about, evolving from a realistic look to a exaggerated reality verging on cartoon-like features.

Hydrophobia Trailer – (Xbox 360) – A downloadable survival action game that takes place in a flooding ship.  All I know is that if it goes all Deep Blue Sea on me and I turn the corner of a random corridor and come face to face with a shark I might hyperventilate.  At least the water will hide all traces of my lack of bladder control…

Mass Effect 2: Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC – (360/PC) – One of the majorly cool things about Mass Effect 2 was how the experience of the first game was brought over to make the sequel more than just a second story tacked onto the first by furthering the actions of the player in the first game as those tiny storylines evolved in their own ways.  Another plus was that even though Shepard is working with pretty much a whole new crew, familiar faces came into play as well.  Not all of them lived up to my expectations (like that stupid Ashley ho face), but in many cases it was interesting to see how the characters that had been through a lot with Shepard had changed during the time between the two games.  A prime example is Liara, and now her story is getting even more depth with this DLC, taking on the Shadow Broker for his part in what happened to Shepard during his down time.  Any addition when it comes to DLC is always appreciated for this game, but this one should be pretty intense, and hopefully awesome.

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit Gameplay Trailer – (360/PS3/PC/Wii) – Here’s another look at the newest game in the franchise that is really looking to seriously deliver on the promise of old school Need For Speed awesomeness.  None of this drift nonsense.  Anyway, during the footage we get a glimpse of point earning through things like just barely escaping a crash and finding a new short cut, which must factor in somehow to help seriously beat your friends who have challenged you and seriously brought out the inner need for revenge in you by crushing your previous score on the course.  Whatever the case may be, it’s looking good.

Portal 2 Co-op Gameplay Footage – (360/PS3/PC/Mac) – Seriously awesome.  AWESOME.  Well, for me anyway.  The rest of you can drain your salivary glands over Halo: Reach (not that it doesn’t look awesome as well), but Portal 2 is all for me.  And this co-op mode is going to add so much to the already awesome puzzle solving.  Just try not to yell at your friends too much.  They say that they have added a targeting system that will let your teammate know where you need them to put a portal instead of just yelling unhelpful directions at them, but I’m guessing the short tempered among us will still bicker like a husband and wife on a road trip.  But if not, there is still GlaDOS at the ready to berate you.

Vanquish Trailer – (360/PS3) – Earlier this week I gave the demo for Vanquish a go and wasn’t over the moon about the gameplay quite yet.  Still a lot of potential, but my time in that boss battle was a little frustrating.  Then again, maybe with a little more buildup and not just being tossed into the mayhem will be what I need, so I am willing to give it a second chance come release day.  Especially since the most recent trailer has reinvigorated my intrigue.

The slowly creeping presence of zombies in mainstream popular culture means that they hardly need an introduction, but Capcom proves with Dead Rising 2: Case Zero, the prequel to the upcoming Dead Rising 2, that sometimes it doesn’t hurt to have a refresher course.

In this installation the player takes control of Chuck Greene three years following the events of the first game, as he travels cross-country with his daughter.  Like any little girl she hates getting shots, but she is not just like any little girl anymore.  She has been bitten, and now if she does not get an injection of Zombrex every twelve hours she will complete the transformation from living to walking dead.  Too bad someone has just stolen their truck, along with Chuck’s stash of Zombrex, marooning them in a town that is far less empty than it initially appears to be.

This prequel acts as both an introduction to the upcoming game and a reminder of the fun gameplay of the first.  In this standalone story Chuck is given a list of different objectives that can be completed before the clock runs out later that night.  Technically there is very little actually required to do and the player can choose which tasks to spend their time trying to complete.  If you simply just want to swing away to your hearts content then there are plenty of zombies littered around town to heap tons of aggression on, and just as many items to vary up the means towards bloody mayhem.  On the simplest level almost any object can be used when fighting for your life, from skull crushing heavy-duty wrenches, limb dissecting chainsaws, even paper cut producing newspapers; however, something new to consider is that many items around the world can be combined at workbenches in order to create something that will dole out more damage (to them) and merriment (to you).  This does not mean that just anything can be duct taped together, but even the small amount of combos in this prequel improves the level of glee received from attacking zombies exponentially.  You would not think that adding nails to a propane tank would make lobbing this weapon around any more satisfying, but you would be wrong.

The game may only be a few hours long, but this also makes the need to spend time wisely all the more prominent.  On a first play through the player might have to tensely make the tough choices as to help every survivor Chuck comes across, where as on the other hand you can greedily just do what is necessary to make sure that Chuck and his daughter make it through this day alive.  In actuality a combination of the two is completely possible, but it helps to have the previous knowledge of where special items and survivors are located before starting out.

Because of this, as well as the list of different achievements and the numerous endings that can be reached depending on your actions, there are plenty of reasons to replay Case Zero for the fans of the series and those new to taking on hoards of zombies at once.  And though the prequel is not required playing, just think of it as the stretching before a race because you are not going to want to cramp up during the full-length game.  That is how the zombies get you.

Final grade: 8/10

Dead Rising 2: Case Zero is available now in the Xbox Live Arcade for 400 Microsoft Points.

I found Jan Brewer’s beheaded bodies, they are in…Machete!

The Grindhouse faux trailer turned feature length grind house film fits in perfectly with its predecessors, Planet Terror and Death Proof.  The film is just as over the top, gory, and ludicrous as those that aforementioned double feature and is filled with same game talent beyond that.

The film follows Machete; an ex-Federales whose family was slaughtered by the biggest drug lord in Mexico is banished to the U.S. as a day laborer and gets a chance to enact revenge as he stumbles into an elaborate plot to control the border drug trade.  The plot does get in the way of the fun though, sadly, in the third act as things just get too big for its own good.

But forget about the plot, that isn’t why you are seeing Machete.  You go to this movie to have some good ole fashion gory fun hoping for some T&A for good measure and to that affect the film does not disappoint.  Right from the first scene you get decapitated heads, severed limbs, and a whole bunch of nudity.  The film’s opening act also perfectly sets up the grind house nature of the film with a dirtied up print and frame jumps just like we loved in Grindhouse.  And while we are on it, if you didn’t like Grindhouse, you aren’t going to like this, so check out now if you despised that amazing double feature.  Ok, back to Machete, the film’s over the top opening gives way to a stretch of character introductions and set up, while also ditching the dirty print look (boo), but while it takes a bit to get to the next action beat the writing is entertaining and funny to keep you engaged.

In fact, the first two thirds of the film are right behind Death Proof as the best work of the Grindhouse saga.  Sadly, the third act makes a tonal shift from grindhouse fun to rather spoofy material and this is all wrapped up with just a so, so finale that entertains but pales compared to previous bits in the film.  But don’t let that detract you from the film, it is a blast, and I couldn’t help but wish that The Expendables had an ounce of this film’s heart in it.  The action is inspired, the dialogue hilarious, and the over the top never seen that factor runs through out the whole picture.  In what other film are you going to have a vagina, intestines, and a network of day laborers factor into the film as plot devices?

The acting in the film is appropriately silly with a lot of fun standouts in the film.  Danny Trejo is great as Machete and carries the film and its tone with ease as he slices and dices his way to revenge.  Robert De Niro has a blast playing a crooked senator and does some stuff you probably never thought you would see him do.  Jessica Alba and Michelle Rodriguez are appropriately hot and are in on the joke and do a good job even if you might think they are just doing their normal acting work.  Steven Seagal plays off his persona well and Cheech Marin shines as Machete’s hermano.  Lindsay Lohan does a nice job as well, and shows off a lot of skin, as a daughter who gets mixed up in the mess and she makes the most of her screen time.

In the end, Machete delivers exactly what it aims for and is entertaining from start to finish.  The films opening two thirds far out perform the third act but there are still plenty of gems in their as well.  I just wish the film didn’t have that odd tone shift in the end.  As it stands as a whole, this would fit right in with Planet Terror on a rating of the Grindhouse films and I really hope this isn’t the last we see of the series.

Machete is a B

The second feature effort from Anton Corbijn is almost as good as his first and is a quiet, deliberate, and sexy thriller lead by the great George Clooney.

Clooney stars as Jack/Edward, a hit man that is loosing his drive for the profession though is still as sharp as ever.  After a too close for comfort encounter with some enemies he decides to get out but his boss sucks him in for one last job.  Clooney doesn’t have to pull the trigger but is instead responsible for building the ammo and gun for a young female assassin’s next hit.  While secluded in the countryside of Italy Clooney still can’t feel safe from the Sweds and is constantly looking over his back as he puts together the pieces needed for the assignment.  Beyond the security threat, he also is coming to terms with his past and tries not to make the same mistakes moving forward.

Now, this is not the movie they are selling.  I will repeat; this is not the film the commercials are selling.  It is quite a great little film but it is not the action filled thriller the trailers will lead you to believe.  There are three action set pieces in the film, but two of them can barely be called that.  Having said that, the film keeps you on the edge of your seat and the lingering shots and ambient noise will have you caught off guard at every stray backfire or off screen noise.  Beyond not being an action film the films pacing will kill unsuspecting viewers I imagine.  It is never dull but is full of long takes, deliberate pacing, and extended moments with no dialogue at all.  Clooney is in every shot for the most part and he makes this pacing and subdued nature of the film work.  His face and eyes say so much and he shows off why he is one of the best actors working today.

The film is also beautiful, we are talking about Anton Corbijn here, and the film might up Control visually as it is just striking to look at.  The film is also unique in that every shot lingers a second or two longer than expected and it makes you think you should be seeing and looking for something you missed.  Corbijn’s camera also works wonders in when dealing with vehicles and the opening credits are the best of the year quite possibly.  The film is full of beautiful camera work throughout and the sound design is quietly brilliant as well.  The film is a technical marvel and Corbijn is someone to watch in the film medium officially from here on out.

The other surprising thing about the film is just how sexy it is.  There is a sex scene in the film that was just, well it was something else and that is thanks solely to the work of a fairly unknown actress, Violante Placido.  She is just gorgeous and sexy in this film and she has a wonderful chemistry with Clooney throughout. She also has one of the most convincing orgasms to grace the silver screen.  Playing the other female in Jack/Edwards life is Thekla Reuten as the young female assassin he is assisting on his last job.  She also has some nice chemistry with Clooney as she changes looks every time she pops up on the screen.

In the end, The American is a technical achievement and marvel for Corbijn and features a wonderful turn by Clooney.  A sexy and quiet thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat as the film slowly moves towards its conclusion.  Watching Clooney work is a fantastic experience as always and he does a whole lot with not a lot to do here and plays a pretty bad ass assassin to boot.  Go in with the right expectations for the film and you will not be disappointed and you will discover this little thriller to be very rewarding.

The American is an A-

Going the Distance is dirty R-rated romantic comedy that has a grounded and believable couple surrounded by a top notch supporting cast equals a funny and entertaining flick.

The film follows Erin and Garrett a new couple that meets over a game of Centipede and when they fall harder than expected they decided to keep the relationship going when Erin has to move back across the country.  What follows is a realistic struggle as they cope with the distance, try to keep things alive, and deal with burdens of being 3000+ miles apart.  Friends and family give advice as each end of the couple struggles with the sexual frustrations, loneliness, and communication problems of being three time zones a part.  The struggle feels hard and is done very real and I can’t comment enough on how authentic they made the film feel.

The two leads are played by Drew Barrymore and Justin Long and they are a couple off screen as well; and the chemistry bleeds through the screen.  They have a timing and rhythm that comes through their characters that help make the romance come easy and be very believable.  The two are also quite funny as long is underrated in my opinion and Barrymore can be quite hilarious when she just kind of goes weird and crazy.

Beyond the leads, the supporting cast is top notch all around and I couldn’t be more happy for Charlie Day to get some exposure outside It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. His character Dan isn’t all that different from Charlie on Always Sunny but he has some great improve moments and bounces off Long and Jason Sudeikis.  Sudeikis is another funny man that gets some nice exposure here as well and he and his time traveling mustache are sure to rock your world.  Jim Gaffigan is criminally underused, as always, but he steals every scene he is in and has one of the biggest laughs of the movie.  Christina Applegate is also quite funny as always and I hope she continues to get movies now that Samantha Who? is out of the picture (sadly).

Now this is an R-rated affair and while it not quite as dirty as Something About Mary it is still quite raunchy at times.  The light hearted shouldn’t shy away as it is nothing too outrageous but it was nice to see something a little bit edgier in the genre.  Though the dirty words do fly and thank god it’s not a PG-13 affair because that edge really helped push it above the pack.  The film’s set up allows it to avoid conventions that trap so many entries in the genre and Nanette Burstein does a nice job keeping the film feeling fresh.  Improv was used a lot and Burstein’s documentary background probably helped this film to feel alive and never fall flat or slow down.  The characters actually struggle as well in their lives and aren’t perfect beautiful super starts of their field.  Not only is this more realistic but it is also far more relatable.  It’s been a nice little summer for romantic comedies; too bad no one is giving them a chance even before they get in the theater.

In the end, Going the Distance is a solid romantic comedy that is a nice R-rated spin on the genre.  Filled with a great cast and some great improvised humor the film feels fresh and real while rarely relying on throwback and broad humor.  The film does get a bit too self referential in the end, but outside of that I thought the humor worked really well.  The real life couple shines through their characters and create real and engaging leads to root for and the pair will have you smiling all the way till the end.

Going the Distance is a B

That’s right, my write-up for rentals has changed yet again.  This time around (and hopefully I will stick to it this time) I will write up little blurbs about the movies I have seen in the past week on Fridays, giving you suggestions for what to pick up and what to avoid when considering what to rent that weekend.  On this weeks list we’ve got: The Back-up Plan, The Last Song,  Operation: Endgame, Repo Men, The Runaways, A Single Man, and The United States of Tara.

Fight for the Last Copy:

United States of Tara: Season One

This Diablo Cody created, Showtime TV show is about a woman who has recently gone off the medications that have helped to suppress the other faces of her multiple personality disorder (or dissociative identity disorder).  Toni Collette plays Tara, and the way in which she moves in and out of these other personalities is pure artistry.  Though this is a serious topic, it does not shy away from the humor of it all, thanks in large part to the people she becomes.  In the beginning she is aware of three: Alice is a 1950s housewife, Buck is the redneck hick with a heart of gold, and T is basically the teenage slut, but eventually another emerges (but I will not spoil in for those who want to watch) in response to the overriding story arc of Tara digging into her past to discover what caused this disorder to take form during her teen years.

The show does not just stop with how this disorder effects Tara, but shows the strain it puts on her family.  John Corbett plays her supportive husband who i leading the search to discover her past and must constantly coral the other personalities (though he is far from ashamed of his wife). They also have two children together played by Brie Larson and Keir Gilchrist, each with their own issues to work through during the season, both in relation to Tara and just being a teenager.  Also, Rosemarie DeWitt adds another point of view as Tara’s sister, who is still unwilling to believe that this is something Tara can’t control.

The first season is only 12 episodes long, each about 30 minutes each.  This may not seem like a lot of time for a dramedy, but they are able to fit an amazing story arc and plenty of character development into this short amount of time.  In a nutshell, it is a must see.

Final Grade: A

A Single Man

To state it simply A Single Man is a beautiful, artsy film that is not afraid to experiment with the editing and presentation of the story as apposed to a more conventional approach.  The acting from the cast is great on all accounts, with appearances by Matthew Goode, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult and Ginnifer Goodwin, but a huge, heaping amount of praise should be thrown at Colin Firth for his representation of George Falconer as he goes about his day after finding out that the love of his life has died.  As the day progresses memories and the inner working of Falconer’s mind affects how the film is presented, working in flashbacks as they naturally flit through a person’s mind, as well as simply editing out sound, slowing down time, etc. to further present Falconer’s internal processing and evaluation of the world around him.  A beautiful, ominously solemn soundtrack tops adds a great finishing touch.

Final Grade: B+

Rent:

The Last Song

I will say that like many others I went into this film with the predisposition to hate it.  The movie has Miley Cyrus in it, for crying out loud!  But hey, Nicholas Sparks wrote the book the film is based on, and though I know there will never be a movie that quite lives up to The Notebook (*sigh*) I am more than willing to give his other attempts a try to fill the void.

When the movie starts I was nitpicking and in all honesty Cyrus’ depiction of her moody “I hate the world” mentality gave lots of material for snarky commentary.  Eventually her character comes around and actually starts smiling and being a decent person, and I will admit that Cyrus does a better-than-expected job during this time.  And she can emote too, something that is much needed for Sparks’ works.

The locations and story is also something that seems a little worn in his work.  There is always a part of the Eastern coast in close proximity, love, a wrench thrown in said love, someone with some type of illness, etc., but he still makes me fall for his magic each time.  Though I won’t say that this film was perfect in any way, it still managed to win me over from hating it as I thought I would.  And a cute boy sure doesn’t hurt.

Final Grade: B

Repo Men (Unrated)

At this stage in the future disease has yet to be cured, but man has found a way to skirt the issue as we have a tendency to do by creating artificial organs to replace those that have gone defective in the potential client.  The problem is that these organs aren’t really covered by insurance, with the money putting a huge dent in the patient’s wallet, if they can pay at all.  If they get behind on their monthly installments, well that’s where Jude Law comes in.  He plays a man that does the dirty work for this miracle company, acting as the title suggests as a repo man, or someone who will take back what is no longer yours.  Eventually he has a change of heart (literally), and must come to terms with the company he works with as he is forced to see things through the eyes of those who usually look back at him in fear.

Forest Whitaker takes the role of Law’s partner in (questionably legal) crime and it is pretty fun to watch these two men at the peak of their professional careers, yet as the same time it is sad to think how desensitized to watching violence I have become.  The blood will flow in this film, with a splash of blood here as a throat is slashed or a pool will form there as it drains from a recently vacated chest cavity, but it isn’t until they actually start performing extractive “surgery” that the visuals become disgusting.  These moments of violence fill out an otherwise imperfect story that seems familiar at times, but it is still entertaining enough to forgive the similarities and forgive the tacked on relationship between Law Alice Braga.  Then again, without it we wouldn’t have gotten an awkwardly grotesque and provocative scene towards the end of the film.

Final Grade: B

The Runaways

The Runaways is a biopic of The Runaways (surprising, I know), an all girl rock band that only lasted a year or so during the mid 70s.  Like any film like this (Ray, Walk the Line) the story follows the group as they get caught up in the excitement of the lifestyle, leading to the coveted sex, drugs and rock and roll that eventually leads to their downfall.  Even with this familiar story this film is still worth at least one viewing.

Director Floria Sigismondi is able to create a gritty, dirty look to the film that sometimes seems hyper-exposed at times, reacting to the transitions of the people being portrayed.  The performances from the cast are all great, and a wise choice was made to cast Dakota Fanning as lead singer Cherie Currie.  Obviously we all know that the girl has the acting skills, but seeing this girl that I feel like I have watched grow up in front of me made her role all the more poignant and painful to watch.  She starts out as a more-or-less normal girl of the 70s with a meeker, not that impressive singing voice, but before long she has gained confidence and becomes a presence before her downward spiral into a drugged out trance.  In addition to Fanning, Kristen Stewart gives an equally strong performance both acting wise and vocally as Joan Jett.  However, the surprise star is Michael Shannon as the band’s manager Kim Fowley, who is like a cracked out hamster with poetic words of questionable wisdom.

Going in I didn’t really know a lot of the music from The Runaways (though I didn’t realize how much Joan Jett music I actually know), but the performances of the actors make this a film far more than just another rock-and-roll biopic, even though it is still full of similarities.

Final Grade: B

Possibly Consider:

Operation: Endgame

In some underground facility two highly top secret and volatile teams within the CIA can be found sharing office space.  The Alpha Team and Omega Team act to balance each other out, but today there are different plans when the facility is shut down and armed to explode in two hours.  Instead of working hand in hand to find their way out an all out fight for the death ensues with any weaponry they can make out of the items found within the offices.

The story doesn’t really pan out for me, but that didn’t stop me from loving the idea of this story.  The fights are fun and it actually works well as a comedic action film thanks to the outlandish duels and writing, the cast compiled, and the editing between the brutality and the commentating from Michael Hitchcock and Tim Bagley as they watch and react in horror to these gruesome murders going down on their surveillance big screen.  Yet somewhere it loses its edge, especially with the ending they went with, which seriously knocked the film down a full letter grade for me.  PS (Kind of a SPOILER!!!) – there is no way that Maggie Q would go down like that.

Final Grade: C+

Chop Off Your Hand Before Picking This Up:

The Back-Up Plan

No.  In all truthfulness that is really the only thing that I would need to say about this film.  It just does not work at all.  Jennifer Lopez plays Zoe, a woman who decides to go ahead with the artificial insemination process instead of waiting around for the perfect man.  As an act of cruel fate she meets Alex O’Loughlin when leaving the doctors office.  Surprise surprise.  The story continues as by the book as possible, with jokes that fall flat and acting that makes you cringe.  I couldn’t say that I am surprised on Lopez’s part because I haven’t really loved her in anything since Selena, but I do feel bad for O’Loughlin considering his abs get more praise than the character he is stuck with.  Other than his ripped body, the only other things worth mentioning are Michaela Watkins as Lopez’s hilarious and underused best friend, and Lopez’s handicapped dog.  My advice, find a different back up plan cuz this one will let you down.

Final Grade: F+

Usually a man’s best friend is a dog, but you’ve got two guesses as to what Machete likes to keep at his side.  Evildoers beware; you are about to be introduced to his BFF.

Back in Mexico Machete was the one man on the police force that would make grown man weep if they heard he was coming for them.  He is tough, no nonsense, not squeamish when it comes to blood, and can get the job done.  But one day things go horribly wrong and everything is taking away from him, leading him on a path of bloody revenge against those who have crossed him.  Now mix in a whole bunch of racism and we’ve got ourselves quite the exploitation film.

Let’s face it, this type of film that pays homage to the qualities of a exploitative B-movie is not for everyone, and could easily create a love it or hate it divide in the audience.  But before you write it off as something to pass on consider the possibility that you might not end up on the side of the line you would expect.  Just take it from me, going in I wasn’t really expecting anything from this since any spooftastic film tends to rub me the wrong way.  They tread a fine line because they can so easily take things a step too far if they haven’t just completely run across the line on the over-the-top side of things (there are too many lines in this paragraph), something that is hard to come back from.

Maybe it was because I wasn’t really expecting anything, or maybe this really is just an awesome film, but I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw.  Machete is knee deep in the current border war between Mexico and the United States, taking full advantage of the ridiculous nature of it all.  Robert De Niro plays a southern senator for the great state of Texas who is gunning for reelection with the promise to get those Mexican terrorists out of our country before Texas is made a part of Mexico once again by building an electrified fence.  Everything he says is drenched in hatred for the infestation occurring, but he is just the face for it all.  In addition to De Niro, Jeff Fahey and Don Johnson represent American racism at its height as some of the “underlings” for De Niro, who have their own plans for our southern neighbors.  Each man does a great job playing up the ethnocentric mindset, bringing about performances that furthered the humorous presentation of these issues without becoming preachy.  In addition to their ideology, be prepared to laugh whole-heartedly at tons of racial slurs, taco references, etc., and you can go back to being concerned with politically correct statements after the film.

It takes a real man to throw a gun aside, preferring a close range bladed kill; and that man is Danny Trejo. Trejo plays Machete, who quickly gets swept up in this battle when seeking revenge.  He is full-blown Terminator in this film, taking bullets like it was candy from a baby and healing faster and more often than any human being has the right too.  And boy does he know how to wield his weapon (eh heh heh…).  There must have been no lack of hoses hidden on the actors in this film because the victims of Machete’s blade end up looking like fountains spurting out blood in sync with their weakening pulses as they crumple limply to the floor.  And to elaborate on the other side of that double meaning, the men in this film come up short on the handsome ratings board, but this does not keep Machete from living every man’s dream by having every attractive woman in this film fall victim to his mystique, including Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, and Lindsay Lohan.  Thankfully they aren’t just here for their looks, playing woman who are just as capable as the macho men in this film.  Sure they might just be wearing a bra when doing so, but at least they aren’t damsels.

In the end Machete really is just a fun ride that finds the perfect blend of action and humor when presenting a story mocking the serious, topical issues of immigration, border protection, and full-blown racism.  It is ridiculous and over the top, and I would have it no other way.

Final Grade: B

Following the recent release of The Switch, it seems as if we have made yet another step in the right direction of the realistic romantic comedy with Going the Distance.  Maybe not quite to the same extent as the former, but way better than that heightened, cookie cutter, romanticized nonsense, none-the-less.

When it comes to long distance relationships everyone always thinks that their love is stronger than the lack of proximity to their significant other, and Erin and Garrett are no exception.  From the first day they knew that things couldn’t last because Erin would be moving back to California in six weeks, but quickly things escalate from “keeping it light.”  Now they are stuck on opposite ends of the country with only texting, phone calls, and hope to keep them warm at night, wishing that eventually they will finally be able to live in the same city within the next year.

While together Drew Barrymore and Justin Long provide a great matching for this couple, working well off of each other (insert gossip about their on-again-off-again off-screen relationship here).  Yet obviously relationships like this and the plans people have for them don’t always go according to plan. Which is where the likeability of these two actors comes into play.  In all honesty a lot of the movie is not spent with the two characters forming their relationship, building it to the point where they want to fully commit to the impossible, yet it is hard not to root for them through it all and hope for the best even when in all honesty it is much more entertaining to watch them apart.  Let me explain that little bit of nonsense.  We can all spout out “aw” until the cows come home, but what makes this hilarious is how the two characters spend their time apart.  What blooms from this separation are scenes of awkwardness in the attempt to keep the relationship going strong, such as Long cupping his man business in a spray tan booth for fear that he will scare the California girl away with his pasty skin (it may not live up to Ross overdoing it in Friends, but deserves just as many laughs non-the-less), and phone sex with the roommate giving his two cents through the wall.  Basically we laugh because they fail in so many ways, yet still root for the best anyway.

All this time apart also means that we get to spend more time with the large number of amazing actors forming Erin and Garrett’s support systems, who more often than not steal the spotlight effortlessly.  On Barrymore’s side there’s Christina Applegate and Jim Gaffigan.  Applegate plays Barrymore’s older sister, making this antagonistically protective role truly hilarious thanks to her straight faced line readings, including about the serious nature of dry humping, showing once again that the higher ups decision to cancel Samantha Who? was a big mistake.  Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day act as Long’s best friends, and though Sudeikis does a great job Day wins of the two because of his endearingly random character.  And finally, in the lesser capacity “Kristen Schaal Watch” continues with yet another tiny role to add to her imdb page, making the most of her minute or two of screen time.  Seriously, this woman disserves far more than roles like “Female Bartender” at this point.

Every once in a while the girl in me loves to get the fairytale story of boy meets girl and they live happily ever after (genre clichés and all), but it is refreshing when a movie manages to keep the heartfelt story without losing its grip on reality.  Going the Distance does just that, and if this is the way that a larger percentage of romantic comedies is going to go from now on then I am more than excited for the genre.

Final Grade: B