Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

So I really have no idea why I felt the need to go and see this movie. It was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, who usually doesn't have a whole lot of depth or sensible entertainment in his movies. The trailers did not look all that entertaining to me, but I went to go see it anyway.


Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is about a young boy named Dastan, who lives in the slums of Persia. During a confrontation with Persian hierarchy, the King at the timue admires Dastan's bravery and decides to adopt him, making him a Prince of Persia. The first ambush we see of theirs is of a city named Alamut. Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) disobeys orders but ends up succeeding in the ambush and ends up getting a hold of the special dagger. This dagger has the ability to turn back time, because of the sand it contains in its handle. Unfortunately for Dastan, the beautiful princess of Alamut is also supposed to guard that with her life. So their little journey begins across the land.

It's hard for me to describe the movie because I hated it so much. I was really just anxious to get out at so many different junctures of the movie. It's just dumb. You can argue that you can zone-out and just enjoy the movie for the action, but there is nothing to enjoy. It's so pointless. I don't know why studios give out money for movies like this to be made. It's annoying. It's a waste of money, don't see it.


Rating: 1 out of 4 stars.

Robin Hood

I was reading Roger Ebert's review of this movie before I went to the 9:55 opening night showing of it, and the one thing that I took from it was that it was kind of frightening to realize that Hollywood today is taking these once innocent movies or shows and turning them into something completely different. The only example I can think of off the top of the dome right now is Harry Potter. That's not as bad but it is starting to get more and more ominous in it's appearance (Harry Potter, that is). That gave me mixed feelings heading into this, but we'll get to my opinion later.

In Ridley Scott's rendition of 'Robin Hood', we actually go way back to the very beginning, before we knew anything about Sir Robin Longstride. He is merely just an archer in King Richard the Lionheart's army. Unfortunately, the king gets killed in battle. On the way to deliver the king's crown, the man in charge of the mission also gets killed. They're not having such good luck at the moment. Robin then takes it upon himself to bring back the crown. So him and his men set off and do indeed deliver said crown. This makes the fallen king's son, John, king. One of the kings' men, Godfrey, ends up betraying King John and making his own army. Somehow it all falls on Robin to keep things safe, once their home is attacked by Godfrey's army. There ends up being a lot of fighting, a lot of scottish sounding accents, and as many beards and olde english dialogue to make you're wildest dreams come true.

It is hard for me to describe this movie without rambling on forever, so forgive me for sounding vague. I do have problems with this movie. First of all, it was really long at 140 minutes. I can only take so much Russell Crowe in one sitting. The other problems I had was that it was really confusing in the first chunk of the movie, which then led me to lose interest in the movie. There is plenty of action, and that was a bonus, but when it was all said and done, I did not enjoy my time watching this. I was hoping for something more, but it fell short. A must see though if you like action.


Rating: 2 out of 4 stars

Kick-Ass

This will be a short review because, frankly, I don't have time to tinker around and write reviews. Kick-Ass, in short is about a nerdy little fella who is curious as to why nobody ever just becomes a superhero for fun. It's all for the greater good, right? His first heroic act is sticking up for a stranger, which consequently makes him a YouTube sensation. His friends and love interest are all obsessed with this masked hero, but 'Kick-Ass' can not reveal himself yet. Of course he runs into loads of trouble and he ends up having to really be a superhero.

This movie is not bad. You really do you have to take it for what it is. The 'third act', if you will, is actually really action packed and it truly did have me on the edge of my seat. I can almost guarantee that you will feel super badass while watching this, because that's just what this movie is. For lack of a better word, it's pretty kick-ass. Sorry for the short review, but it's all I have time for.

Rating: 3 out of 4 stars

BROTHERS

This surely is a late review, but I need to do this. This is a movie that had the potential of being great, but at the same time had the potential to suck. Luckily, it didn't suck. It was very good. We'll get to this in a bit though.

'Brothers' is the next movie in a long line of war flicks. Although it's nowhere near as good as the recent war film 'The Hurt Locker', both movies do the same thing. They both put the viewer in tense, practical situations. 'The Hurt Locker', hypothetically, physically puts you in the day-to-day life of a bomb defusing soldier. 'Brothers' poses the 'what would you do..' or 'how would you react..' type situations. The three main characters (Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhal, Natalie Portman) all do a great job of embodying these situational emotions. I can't tell you what those situations are, as to avoid spoiler alerts galore, but you'll know what I'm talking about when you see it.

Wait. Rewind. You may not know what this movie is about. My bad.

'Brothers' is about a family with ties in the war. Sam Cahill (Maguire) ships off to war and leaves his wife (Portman), kids, parents, and slumping brother (Gyllenhal) behind. Once the family learns that sam was 'killed', Gyllenhal steps in to ease the grieving. But Sam isn't really dead we come to learn. He's been captured. He eventually returns home, but nothing is the same. He can't relax or take a joke, and now he has suspicions that Gyllenhal's character slept with his wife. This obviously draws a huge division amongst the family, and eventually tempers come to a boil as things reach their ultimate level of secrecy.

This movie kind of ends on a flat note for me, but for most of the movie I was very much into everything that was going on, because of the emotions that this movie drew out of me. The frontline acting was very good and it really made me believe that this may actually happen in some homes across the world. The acting enough is worth seeing, but the story has more to it then you may expect. Go see it if you haven't already

Rating: 3 out of 4 stars

What's coming in 2010?

This monkey's face says it all. Utter confusion. He or she is clearly confused about what movies are coming up this spring, summer, fall, and winter. Luckily, I contain that information...or the internet does-something like that. Well here are some movies that I'm looking forward to in the upcoming calendar year ( early april and beyond).

Date Night- This literally came out a few days ago, but I'm interested in seeing how well Steve Carell and Tina Fey can do off the television screen. They're both hella funny, so I hope all works out well. This movie is directed by Shawn Levy though, and he sucks at directing. Not really, but his track record isn't very good.

Kick-Ass (4/15)- Ok, I'm not exactly pumped to see this, but it's gotten good reviews so far. It could be Tarantino-esque, or it could be total shit. There's a little bit of mystery as to how it will be recieved, but it should be entertaining nonetheless.

The Losers (4/23)- I'm not excited to see this. It looks annoying--check out the trailer

A Nightmare on Elm Street (4/30)- A remake of a classic horror pick. However, it's directed by Michael Bay. That's reason enough for me to not see it (he directed Transformers 2, which was just loud as hell).

Iron Man 2 (5/7)- I'm just not sure if anyone is excited to see this. I've tried watching the first Iron Man about six times now, and I have not made it through yet. I'm just not sure this sequel will be any better.

Robin Hood (5/14)- Again another reamake. This one is led by Russell Crowe and directed by Ridley Scott. This looks like it is more violent than a Robin Hood should be, but it could be a real good movie, if done right. I can only hope.

MacGruber (5/21)- Coming from the maybe popular SNL skits with the same title. It should be funny. I'm not sure the critics will like it, but it may be good for a zone-out movie.

Shrek: Forever After (5/21)- The last movie in the Shrek series? Who knows. I've stopped watching them, but hopefully the small lapse in release times for this series won't affect its fan base at all.

Sex and the City 2 (5/27)- Don't go.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (5/28)- Beefed up Jake Gyllenhal! Oh joy! Can't wait! No seriously, I have mixed feelings. It'll probably suck, but who ever knows when Jerry Bruckheimer is directing. It's also a Disney movie, which could make it less intense than it could be.

Get Him to the Greek (6/4)- The 'sequel' to Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It looks to be incredibly funny. I'm excited.

Marmaduke (6/4)- Cartoon dog voiced by Owen Wilson? yes, please!

The A-Team (6/11)- Bradley Cooper, Liam Neeson, Quentin 'Rampage' Jackson, and Sharlto Copley relive this oldie but goodie. I'm super pumped to see this!

The Karate Kid (6/11)- Jackie Chan and Will Smith's little youngin'. I didn't take this seriously at first, but it looks kind of sweet. I may actually check this out.

Toy Story 3 (6/18)- Why wouldn't anyone want to come see this? It's Toy Story!!! This has to be one of the most anticipated movies of 2010.

NOT TWILIGHT'S ECLIPSE!! HA!!

The Last Airbender (7/2) Not is this only my birthday, but this movie seems to be gaining a lot of hype. M. Night Shamyayay.aylayalalan is taking another chance at making a good movie, let's hope it works out.

Predators (7/7)- This looks to be super intense. It's led by Adrian Brody and Laurence Fishbourne. Check out the trailer if you already haven't, cause this could be a goodie.

Despicable Me (7/9)- This is my pick for best animated pick of the year. This should be a great comedy with a loaded cast. Absolutely loaded. Cannot wait till I get to see it.

Inception (7/16)- I don't know if you've seen trailers for this, but it looks to be one hell of a mental thriller. It has Leo Dicaprio and Ellen Page and little itty-bitty Joseph Gordon-Levitt. This cast is directed by Christopher Nolan. Should be a doozy.

Dinner for Schmucks (7/23)- This should be a solid comedy with Steve Carell and Paul Rudd. Those two alone are reason enough to see it.

Salt (7/23)- All I know about it is that it stars Angelina Jolie, and I think it's a superhero-ish movie. It seems to be good though from what I've heard.

The Adjustment Bureau (7/30)- I hadn't heard of this until I wrote this, but apparently it stars Matt Damon and he gets a glimpse into his future and wants something else. It also stars Anthony Mackie and Emily Blunt. Seems pretty good.

I Love You Philip Morris (7/30)-If you want to see a different Jim Carrey; here ya go. This was supposed to come out in February.

The Other Guys (8/6)- The next in line for Will Ferrell and his entourage, if you will. I just checked out the trailer, and it looks pretty funny. Hopefully Will doesn't stink it up as he did in Land of the Lost.

...apparently there is a Step Up coming in 3d on 8/6

Eat, Pray, Love (8/13)- Seems really interesting, check it out. It has that 'Into the Wild' feel to it.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (8/13)- Michael Cera's next movie. I think it's some type of blend of awkward annoying Michael Cera and action star Michael Cera. Could be a good one. You definitely get the video game vibe just by watching the trailer. Check it out.

The Switch (8/20)- This one stars Jason Bateman and Jennifer Aniston. Apparently it involved Bateman's character swapping sperm with another guy? Something like that? Hopefully it's funny.

The American (9/1)-An apparent suspense thriller starring Geroge Clooney. Sounds interesting already.

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (9/24)- This looks super sweet. An animated flick about owls. Not just regular ones, some pretty badass owls. Good song in the trailer as well.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (9/24)- This looks to be pretty interesting. It stars Shia LaBeouf, Carey Mulligan, Michael Douglas, and Josh Brolin. Directed by Oliver Stone.

The Social Network (10/1)- Drama starring Jesse Eisenberg and yes, Justin Timberlake. We'll see how that goes.

Your Highness (10/1)- Adventure comedy starring Danny McBride, Zooey Deschanel, and James Franco. By the looks of it, it should be pretty funny.

The Zookeeper (10/8)- Comedy starring Kevin James and Rosario Dawson. Let's hope it's not anything like Paul Blart

apparently around the 15th or 22nd of October there will be a jackass 3D movie and a sequel to Paranormal Activity.

AND A SAW 7! IN 3D!. That should suck.

Due Date (11/5)- Comedy starring Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis about a first-time father being stuck on a plane with a complete idiot.

Megamind (11/5)- Big time animated flick starring Will Ferrell.

Unstoppable (11/12)- Another train thriller with Denzel Washington and Chris Pine. Hopefully it's not like Pelham at all.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (11/19)- The beginning of the end.

These Next Three Days (11/19)-Thriller starring Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks.

Tron Legacy (12/17)- Animated feature featuring Jeff Bridges that's supposed to be unlike anything we've seen yet.

Yogi Bear (12/17)- I can't believe this is coming out, let's hope it's good.

The Green Hornet (12/22)- Seth Rogen as an action hero? I'm pumped to see how it plays out.

Little Fockers (12/22)- The third in this line of pretty funny movies.

Gulliver's Travels (12/22)- Animated movie featuring Jack Black and Jason Segel.

True Grit (12/25)- Drama/Western starring Matt Damon, Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin and directed by the Coen Brothers, whose last western won them an oscar (No Country For Old Men).

IT'S OVER!! Finally! There ya have it, though. That should be all that's new and good in movies this upcoming calendar year. If you've made it this far in the article, I applaud you. You truly do care about what I'm writing. Thank you.

How to Train Your Dragon

I'm not the first one to say it, but I'm really hopeful that every movie does not take it's turn at trying 3-D. It's really annoying seeing all these really cool movie trailers and then realizing that it'll be in 3-d and you'll have to pay extra. Sometimes the use of it isn't even that effective. However, 'How to Train Your Dragon' gets it right on all levels.

The latest production from DreamWorks Animation (Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar) follows a viking colony named Berk. Basically all they do is fight dragons. The people of Berk see the dragons as nothing more than the enemy. There are all different types of them, but none of them are good; especially the Night Fury. Nobody has ever seen a Night Fury, let alone had the chance to catch one. So when the dragon attack in the beginning is happening, the clumsy, nerdy protagonist of the story, Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel), decides that this will be his platform to the real world; the world of the viking men. He is clearly ill-equipped for the task but somehow manages to hit the Night Fury and send it falling to the other side of the island. He sets out to go find out what he exactly hit, and finds himself with the chance of killing this prestigious dragon. However, he can not. He can't bring himself to harm the dragon at all. He decides to keep this whole ' I caught a night-fury' thing to himself, because he is afraid of what his village mates might do to it. He then has to decide what is right; whether he should tell the people back home about what he has done in order to gain acceptance from them; more importantly his father (Gerard Butler), or to save this dragon's life and maybe set a new example of how they should treat people or beings that are unknown to them.

I can usually catch on to this kind of story pretty quickly. It's your typical " oh be nice to everyone and nothing bad will happen from it" message, but it's so amazing to watch the growing process between Hiccup and the dragon (named Toothless by Hiccup). I also must add that the 3-d really indeed does help this movie. It is especially evident in the flying scenes with Hiccup and Toothless. I don't know, there's something really cool about the fast paced movement of flying, but also the beauty and innocence of it as well. Having those scenes in 3-d really captured both sides of it, and made to become what I think is the best movie of 2010 so far.

Rating: 4 out of 4 stars

P.S.-There are tons of recognizable voices in this movie--Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Kristien Wiig, T.J. Miller, and Craig Ferguson

Hot Tub Time Machine

It's been a while.

From director Steve Pink, possibly known for his directing roles in 'High Fidelity' and 'Accepted' comes 'Hot Tub Time Machine'. Despite not having an attractive title, the movie got a ton of pre-release press. There were tons of mixed feelings in anticipation for this movie, and tons after watching it.

'Hot Tub Time Machine', if you're looking for a theme, is about how you could change your past if you had the chance. But that is at it's most deep level. This obvious deadpan comedy flick stars John Cusack ('2012', 'High Fidelity'), Clark Duke ('Sex Drive'), Craig Robinson (The Office), and Rob Corddry ('What Happens in Vegas', 'Blades of Glory'). After Corddry's character is believed to have attempted suicide, Cusack and Robinson's characters decide to take him to Kodiak Mountain to rehash old memories from when they visited the same place back in college. They bring along Duke, who plays Cusack's nephew. After a awkward car drive and a night of partying in their hotel's hot tub, the tub short circuits and somehow manages to send them back to 1986. I don't want to give any of the movie away but it pretty much reminded me of 'The Hangover', with it's 'what the hell is going on' type of mystery.

This isn't full of the laugh out loud moments I was expecting, but it's still very funny. Corddry is very unique in his delivery and it was refreshing seeing new faces in comedies of late. Overall, if you're looking to mentally check out and have fun, this is your movie.

Rating: 2.5 out of 4 stars