For Your Renting Pleasure

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 SongOperation: 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). [Read more...]

Review: Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

The latest adaptation from Chris Columbus is a huge step forward from his dismal last effort but for every good scene in this film there is a bad line or plot hole that levels the film out to just being an alright, mildly entertaining experience.
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief is quite a long title but the film is the first adaptation from this fantasy series that has quite the following and is hoping to be the next big thing with kids. After watching the first film, I think it will connect quite well with younger audiences and even works for the older audience at times but anyone with a bit of common sense will have quite a lot to shake their head at as this film rushes through to the end.
Percy Jackson seems like just like any other high school kid, but what he doesn’t know is that he is actually the son of Poseidon and is in the middle of brewing war between the Greek gods that the blame firmly falls on young Percy’s shoulders. It is unfortunate that Percy doesn’t know this yet and before he knows it he is attacked by a number of evil beasts as he, his mother, and his recently revealed protector/ best friend comes out of hiding and leads them in flee to “the camp.” The party reaches the camp which houses and trains all of the half-man/half-gods to use their powers and Percy must train to head off on his quest to stop the impending war. [Read more...]