Boston Legal Season 4 Premiere

Coming off one of the most impressive seasons ever, the premiere for Boston Legal season 4 was nothing short of spectacular. After watching this episode, it’s hard to imagine watching any other program on TV. Everything else just seems weak, un-original and totally mind numbing. Spader and Shatner were hysterical and brilliant. The other regulars, Williams, Bergen and Clemenson were also very good and highlighted the strengths of the show. The introduction of new characters such as Saffron Burrows (Lorraine) and John Larroquette (Carl) only added to the spunk of the show. The absent of Julie Brown (Denise) I felt was a plus. I find her role the most distracting but maybe she will grow on me this season.
James Spader recently won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead actor in a drama, upsetting the heavy favorite James Gandolfini of The Sopranos. After watching this episode it was clear that he deserved it. Boston Legal is probably one of the best shows on cable television today and I cannot wait for next week.

Boston Legal airs on Tuesday nights @ 10

A+

The Brave One

In “The Brave One”, Erica Bain, played by Jodie Foster, is the host on a local New York City radio station. While walking her dog through a park Erica and her fiancée (Andrews) are viciously attacked, putting Erica into a coma and killing her fiancée. For Erica her world is turned upside down. The fear inside her changes her view of the city she once loved, into a dark and ruthless place. Fear itself has changed Erica’s character to the point where buying a gun illegally is her only chance to combat the fear and stay alive. Throughout the movie, Erica is placed and places herself into very compromising situations. Erica’s actions not only evolve, but also digress. This digression from self-defense to straight up murder mirrors her emotions within. Evolving not all at once, but over time. After each incident, her emotions harden to the point where each killing becomes personal. By the end of the movie, the story truly morphs into what it was meant to be, a revenge story.
Terrance Howard is great, but it’s Jodie Foster’s Oscar worthy performance that pushes The Brave One to the level of a great film.

A-

Eastern Promises

Set in London, the story opens with a dead mother, a healthy newborn and a diary written in Russian. Anna (Watts) a mid-wife, searches for answers to the diary by going to a local restaurant, whose business card was in the diary, to have it translated. She inadvertently stumbles upon a world of criminal activity.
What I loved about this movie was the ease at which director David Cronenberg unites two very different worlds and also separates them. The first world includes Anna, her mother and Uncle and the other world, the criminal world, includes Nikolai (Mortensen), Kirill (Vincent Cassel) and Russian restaurant owner, Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl), who also is the boss of the family. At times, these two worlds converge, inviting great dialogue and connection. At other times they diverge, going their separate directions, inviting the brutal, violent, graphic scenes as well as the connections the characters within each world share.
Both Anna and Nikolai have a focus throughout the movie that seem to never fade or wonder (Much like the entire movie). We learn early on the focus of Anna but Mortensen’s character Nikolai and his rock like stature reveal nothing till the very end.
Eastern Promises is a brutal, deeply layered and elegant film. Nothing is out of place with each scene carrying a purpose. It’s the type of movie I long for but that not everyone can stand.

A

Good Luck Chuck

Good Luck Chuck is a "romantic comedy" about Charlie (Cook) who is crused at a young age while playing spin the bottle. Fast forword to the present, he becomes a "good luck" charm for the ladies. After he sleeps with a girl, the next guy she goes out with turns out to be her one true love. Charlie meets Cam (Alba) at a wedding and tries endlessly to break the curse.
Though funny at times, this movies lacks any real depth. Shallow and even degrading Good Luck Chuck was a new excusse to show breasts and to flaunt homophobic and fat jokes. The couple of minuets dedicated to Cook "testing" the curse was a shamefull copy of wedding crashers. Cook, who I don't find to be that funny, was, as it turns out, not that funny. Alba was chariming at times but the movie went nowhere. All around a waste of time.

D-

The Hills Have Eyes 2

Pretty dumb all around. Bloddy as hell though. I guess you don't see a movie like this for the quality but I would have liked to see a little more out of the script and maybe a little more ass kicking on the good guys part.

D-

Resident Evil: Extinction

Set in a post apocalyptic outbreak; Extinction places the audience into a world where the T-virus has not only consumed Raccoon city but the entire world. Rivers and lakes have dried up and the people who have survived are forced to keep moving, escaping the endless herds of undead. Alice (Jovovich) is on the road by herself for the simple reason that “people die when they’re around her”. The parallel story is a convoy of 30 survivors including Epps and Fehr (from the second movie) and Larter (T.V. show Heroes) in “upgraded” trucks, buses and a tanker truck that are heading, well who knows where. Alice saves them and they join forces headed for an isolated spot in Alaska where the infection has supposedly not reached. After the entertaining first movie and a creative and improved second, the third movie left me disappointed. Uncreative and almost boring at times, only one action scene and a few notches of development keep this movie from an overall flop. There is a definitive road warrior vibe to this movie. Gasoline being the only thing that keeps all of them on the move and alive. This movie seemed thrown together with no transitions and no real reason why anybody does anything. The acting from almost everybody is ridiculous. Characters seemed thrown in the movie with no real style or grace. The production crew on this movie had the chance to make a very good movie but instead wasted it on pretty faces and a mediocre plot.

D+

Introduction/ Best Films of 2007 (Too Date)

Hey everyone
This is a building process and it might take me a while to get this site the way I want it but this is a start. I love movies so this site is a tool for me to use to build up my writing ability and knowledge. To get this started is a list of the best movies to date of 2007

1. Sunshine (Boyle)- A visual masterpiece and all around great movie. Every cast member in this movie did an excellent job even Chris Evans but it was Boyles visuals (some of the best I have ever seen), his flawless editing with spliced in images and score that left an impression on me that few movies have. By Far the best movie of the year.

2. Sicko (Moore)- In his most mature and best film to date Michael Moore highlights the inherit problems with America’s health care system. The inherent problem that profit and health care do not mix. From the many examples of countries that have universal health care, to the stories of the ground zero workers unable to receive the care they need and more so disserve, this movie will not only leave your heart aching but your stomach too.

3. Black Snake Moan (Brewer)- In one of the most surprising movies of the year, Black Snake Moan is a brutal look into the world of addiction and the hard fought process of breaking it. Jackson gives by far his best performance since Pulp Fiction and, Christina Ricci and Justin Timberlake give equally great supporting roles.

4. Zodiac (Fincher)- great style and a great cast. Robert Downey Jr., Jake Gyllenhaal and especially Mark Ruffalo along with dam good CG make this film stand out.

5. Hot Fuzz (Wright)-In all around classic movie with a million laughs and a great story. Pegg and Frost are absolutely hilarious in this British cop comedy. In a summer that was full of crap after crap, this was a shinning light.

The Host (Bong)- This monster flick was something out of the blue. Entertaining and very well done this movie shows the breakdown of governmental and civil services when confusion, emotion and sheer lack of knowledge rule the scene. Yet this film highlights the true courage of human character and the family unit.