Scoop
Written and Directed by: Woody Allen
Starring: Woody Allen, Scarlett Johansson, Hugh Jackman, Ian McShane

If there’s one thing I can look forward to every year it’s a new Woody Allen film. He’s been churning out a film every year since the early eighties, and although a few have disappointed me over the years, I am still usually entertained. Scoop is the second film that Allen has shot in England, the first one being last year’s fantastic Match Point. Apparently he couldn’t get funding in the States so he picked up and left.

Scoop also sees the return of Allen in a starring role. He plays the same character he plays in all his films, the quirky narcissistic funnyman, this time in the form of a magician named Sid Waterman. Sid is touring England and performing his show to pretty much anyone who will watch. Along the way he meets a young journalism student named Sondra Pransky, played by Scarlett Johansson. She is in the audience one night and is asked to be a part of one of his tricks. The same old trick where you enter a box and you disappear (or as Sid calls it, de-scrambling your molecules). While in the box, the ghost of famous reporter Joe Strombel, played by Ian McShane, appears and tells her he has the biggest scoop of the decade, something he has learned from beyond the grave. He knows the identity of the tarot card killer, a serial killer who has been terrorizing the streets of London. His suspect is a famous aristocrat named Peter Lyman, played by Hugh Jackman. Now it’s up to Sid and Sondra to solve the case. So the plot is kind of out there, but it does work for the type of film that it is.

All the usual good things from a Woody Allen film are present in Scoop: the great music, wonderful performances and great writing. Woody Allen and Scarlett Johansson work great together. They play off one another perfectly, and if it weren’t for these two characters bickering at each other the film would have been a real disappointment. Johansson is playing a similar type of character to Allen’s and although I’m not quite sure why Allen’s character is helping Johansson’s, it does makes for some memorable scenes. This is the second time Johansson has worked with Allen and I hope they continue to make films together. Allen’s sense of humour is great and although I’ve seen this character many times before, and at times even seemed like I was hearing the same jokes, I still enjoyed watching him on screen. Allen seems like the only filmmaker that can get away with playing pretty much the same guy in most of his films.

I didn’t really have too many problems with this film, but the problems I did have stayed with me after I left the theatre, which is never good. The film’s “mystery” is pretty weak. The cards are pretty much laid out for you right away, which I guess is what Allen intended. However it would have been nice to leave some things to the imagination. Another problem I had with the film was Hugh Jackman. For most of the film it seemed like he wasn’t even there. You would think being in a Woody Allen film would give you the motivation to give a great performance but I guess Wolverine isn’t cut out to play a famous aristocrat. I might be a little too harsh on this performance, and maybe its because I enjoyed Allen’s and Johansson’s a lot more, but it did kind of pull me out of the movie every time he was on screen.

Overall, Scoop was a fun time at the movies, and with some real disappointments this summer it was nice to actually come away from the theatre happy. With that being said, it’s not for everyone, but if you enjoy Woody Allen’s type of comedy then you’ll probably really enjoy this. — James

Poseidon
Directed by: Wolfgang Petersen
Written by: Mark Protosevich (screenplay), Paul Gallico (novel)
Starring: Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell, Richard Dreyfuss, Emmy Rossum, Mike Vogel, Jacinda Barrett

My expectations for this movie were pretty weird. At first I thought Poseidon looked like utter garbage, just a special effects heavy film with nothing to offer. Then my expectations started to go up once the film was getting closer to its release date, something about the trailers and TV spots. I guess the power of marketing got to me. It then started getting some bad reviews and my expectations went down again. I still wanted to give the movie a shot. I mean it could be some summer fun, couldn’t it?

Unfortunately the answer is no, Poseidon was not fun, not fun at all. The film opens with a huge scope shot of the epic ship. It’s a big tracking shot while the titles roll. It’s two minutes into the film and already I’m scared. The ship just doesn’t look right, the effects look half done. It looks fake and out of place. We then move into the ship and it’s New Year’s Eve. We start to get to know the major players… well sort of. Poseidon never really fills us in on any of the main characters. We just get little pieces here and there, and it’s a problem.

Kurt Russell plays Robert Ramsey, a former firefighter and former mayor of New York City. He’s there with his daughter and her fiancé, played by Emily Rossum and Mike Vogel. Russell doesn’t really like her fiancé, for whatever reason I don’t know, it’s never explained. We then have Richard Dreyfuss who plays Richard Nelson, an architect who has apparently just gone through an emotional breakup with his boyfriend. Then we have the hero, Josh Lucas plays Dylan Johns. We know nothing about Dylan and I mean nothing, we get a little glimmer into his life. I think he’s a professional gambler but I’m not sure. A single mom played by Jacinda Barrett, and her annoying kid round out the list of the people fighting for their lives.

What Poseidon really needed was some sort of story. Just give me something to work with. The wave hits pretty much ten minutes into the film, and that’s not an exaggeration. It seemed at times they were trying to start some sort of storyline, and just when you think its going somewhere it ends. Kurt Russell needs to find his daughter, okay cool. Two minutes later she’s found and we’re onto the next thing.

There also needed to be some kind of antagonist in this group of survivors. Again there was at the beginning but he gets killed off right away, and then they’re back to being one big happy family. Why couldn’t Kurt Russell and Josh Lucas hate each other, it would have been a lot more interesting than them patting each other on the back the whole time. It’s not like it’s hard to have an effects-driven movie with a story, it can be done. Even look at The Perfect Storm, directed by Wolfgang Peterson. It’s not the greatest movie in the world but at least there was a story there, and there was also another giant wave. They could have done it as well, I mean the movie is only 90 minutes, throw on another 30. They could have added a cool story and given some more character development. Too much work I guess.

Now I’m assuming that the people who made this movie were relying on the effects to do all of the work, because they were obviously not interested in any story. The thing is the effects aren’t even that great and there aren’t any really big effects moments, just a couple. Most of the time the people are just swimming through crap under water, not that impressive. You have the boat flipping over, which is kind of cool, you then have Josh Lucas doing a nose dive into some fiery water, and a cool little elevator scene, that’s about it. If you’re going to throw the story out the window, than hit me with huge effects sequences and tons of action — at least that way I’m somewhat entertained.

Overall, Poseidon let me down. The potential was there for a cool summer flick, but nothing ever materialized. It’s mediocre at best and easily forgettable. Maybe on a rainy day it would be a decent rental. I don’t know, there isn’t much there. People may be entertained with some of the effects, but that’s a stretch. — James

Mission: Impossible 3
Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Written by: J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci
Starring: Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Maggie Q, Laurence Fishburne, Simon Pegg

Well I guess summer is officially here, with the first big budget blockbuster flick out of the gates. With a stop and start production, changes in cast and director, Mission: Impossible 3 finally makes it to the screen, and the wait was worth it.

When Mission: Impossible 3 was first announced and Joe Carnahan was going to direct I was very excited. I thought he was the right guy for the job and could really make a cool, action-packed film. Then he left over ‘creative differences’ and J.J Abrams was hired as his replacement. My excitement level went down, I mean he hadn’t directed a movie before and I was a little nervous. I wasn’t sure if this Abrams guy would be up to the challenge. Then I started to see trailers and TV spots and I was once excited again. Very excited. J.J Abrams was up to the challenge. He actually destroyed any challenge that was set for him and made one sweet movie.

This time around we find Ethan Hunt living the good life in suburbia. He’s retired from being a field agent, and now just trains new ones. He’s got a woman in his life, and he’s about to start a family. Heck, he even drives a Volvo. At first glance this doesn’t seem to be the same Ethan who weaved through a bunch of lasers or scaled a mountain… oh but wait, he then gets a phone call and we find him in a 7-11 getting the rundown on his next mission from some guy in a suit. Yep this is the Ethan I remember.

Ethan is recruited to save an agent in the field, someone who has been taken hostage while on a mission. He agrees and he is assigned a team of super cool agents that will help him out, all played by Ving Rhames, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and Maggie Q. While on his agent-saving mission, Ethan learns of a bigger plot that he must try and stop. It seems some rich dude named Owen Davian, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, is planning on selling some biological weapon that could destroy the world. It seems Owen Davian has also kidnapped Ethan’s new wife. Now Ethan’s got to save his wife as well. Jeez.

The action in Mission: Impossible 3 is top notch. Abrams has clearly watched some action movies in his lifetime and it shows. The man knows how to direct an action scene, and if there’s one thing the movie has lots of, it’s action. You’re pretty much pulled into action scene after action scene from the very beginning, and hey there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. I paid for an action movie and I got one. The script is also solid and it stems from the guys that do Alias. It takes you all over the world and we get to see Ethan in some really beautiful locations, and then blowing those locations up. I’m happy.

You have a great bunch of characters spanning from the straight faced boss played by Laurence Fishburne to the goofy tech guy played by Simon Pegg, and of course Ving Rhames has his share of quick one-liner jokes. Everyone plays well off of each other and all are entertaining to watch. I would have liked to see more of super villain Philip Seymour Hoffman. If there’s one thing I had a problem with, it was that you have this great character but you don’t really understand his motive for all this chaos. I wanted a cool super villain world takeover plot and it just wasn’t there.

Mission: Impossible 3 is a great summer movie that will entertain you and isn’t that forgettable like some other summer movies are. It has a great cast, great action, and a great story. — James

Brick
Written and Directed by: Rian Johnson
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lukas Haas, Noah Segan, Emilie de Ravin, Matt O’Leary

Going to see Brick, I had known very little about the film. I hadn’t even seen the trailer, and I wasn’t really aware that the film had been released. I only knew of a couple positive reviews I saw on the Internet, but really didn’t think much of them. Seeing Brick without knowing anything about it was the best thing I could have done. I had no expectations for the film. This allowed me to sit back and just enjoy the film, and enjoy it I did.

The film centres on Brendan Frye, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It didn’t even dawn on me that this was the same guy who was in Third Rock from the Sun, and Ten Things I Hate About You. Brendan looks like your typical high school student but there seems to be a lot more there. He has just received a phone call from his ex-girlfriend, Emily, played by Emilie de Ravin, who is in need of his help. She is panicked and doesn’t tell Brendan a lot before she hangs up. This phone call leads Brendan on a hunt to find Emily and find out what’s going on. Brendan enlists the help of his only friend, The Brain, played by Matt O’Leary. The Brain is Brendan’s inside man, the guy who knows whats going on with all the major players of the high school. Brendan’s investigation soon finds him in the middle of an underground drug operation run by The Pin, played by Lukas Haas. The Pin is the godfather of the school. He’s running the show. Brendan works his way into The Pin’s inner circle of friends in order to find out what happened to Emily.

The film is essentially your basic detective story set in the world of a high school. You really don’t get the feel that these characters are in school though. You have Brendan as the detective, The Brain has his loyal informant, The Pin has the local crime boss, and you even have the vice principal acting as the police chief. This is what makes Brick so good: the cool world that the story is taking place in. It doesn’t feel like anything you’ve really seen before.

The acting in the film is top notch. Levitt owns this film. His performance is one of the best I’ve seen all year. His quick answers and cool dialogue make it hard not to enjoy him while he’s on screen. The supporting cast is also excellent, with great performance by Lukas Haas as the Pin and Matt O’Leary as the Brain.

First time writer/director Rian Johnson also shines, the script and the direction are excellent. He has crafted a brilliant noir-esque thriller that pays homage to some of the great 40’s and 50’s crime films. At times the dialogue can become a bit confusing and you can get lost with the plot, but it’s a film that never loses your attention as you are just swept away into this crazy world, and trying to put the puzzle together. It’s also a film that people might need to watch a few times before really appreciating it, but there’s nothing really wrong with that. I’m more than ready to give Brick another viewing, and that’s more than I can say about most of the films playing in theatres right now. My only real complaint with Brick was that it tried to wrap a lot up with the ending. It started to throw a lot at you in the last ten minutes and threw in one last twist that really wasn’t necessary.

Overall Brick is one of the films playing in theatres right now that you shouldn’t miss. However it’s a shame that it isn’t playing in more theatres because most people won’t get a chance to see it. Once it hits the DVD shelves I encourage everyone to see it. — James

Lucky Number Slevin
Directed By: Paul McGuigan
Written By: Jason Smilovic
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley, Lucy Liu

I walked into the theatre expecting to see a cool stylized thriller. The trailers for the film would lead people to this expectation. I left the theatre disappointed and bitter.

The film centers around a character named Slevin (Hartnett), who is in town to see his old buddy Nick. Nick owed some money to the city’s biggest mob bosses. Nick isn’t around and Slevin is mistaken for him and must somehow repay the debt. The gangsters are The Boss (Freeman) and The Rabbi (Kingsley). They’re two men who once worked with each other but have now become rivals. Lucy Liu plays Lindsay, Slevin’s quirky love interest who has some weird fascination with the TV show Columbo, and wants help Slevin deal with his new found problem.

The major problem I found with this film was the script. It’s obvious that writer Jason Smilovic has watched the complete Quentin Tarantino library. The film is filled with each character delivering their own Quentin monologue, and long discussions revolving around old movies and other pop culture references. It gets to the point where the film is basically saying, “hey look at me, look at my cool dialogue, isn’t it so cool?” That’s another major downfall. Lucky Number Slevin is just trying to be so cool, and it simply comes off as a ridiculous poser. The plot of the film is also very easy to figure out, and when its time for the big reveal you already know what’s going on, and the film makes sure you know what’s going on by beating you over the head with the answer. It makes sure everything is wrapped up.

The performances in the film aren’t the greatest either. The thought of Morgan Freeman as a mob boss sounds pretty cool, but something just didn’t translate to the screen. He wasn’t scary enough, I found myself lost in his soothing voice, which usually happens when he gives speeches. Josh Hartnett was again someone I had a hard time watching in this film. He’s so cocky at times that I just wanted to punch him in the face. Lucy Liu gives a decent performance and Ben Kingsley’s portrayal of the Rabbi was the one thing that I truly enjoyed in Lucky Number Slevin. Bruce Willis was playing his deadpan cool guy character that we’ve seen before, and in this film I didn’t really like it. This may come from some poor direction or maybe it’s just time Bruce Willis had a different role.

The action scenes in the film are fairly well done, they have that Guy Ritchie feel to them, but something is still missing. The film’s production design also really bugged me, some of the sets seemed to be straight out of a Tim Burton film, and they just didn’t belong.

Overall Lucky Number Slevin didn’t have me tearing my hair out, but it was also a film that I had high hopes for and it just didn’t deliver. The film tried to take elements from some really great films, and it just didn’t translate here. Although if you’re in for a few cool gun fights and a thriller that you don’t have to concentrate too hard on, then you might enjoy Lucky Number Slevin. — James

Bloodrayne
Directed By: Uwe Boll
Written By: Guinevere Turner
Starring: Kristanna Loken, Michael Madsen, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Rodriguez

If there’s one thing to do with filmmaking that I can’t seem to grasp, it’s how Uwe Boll continues to find work. He also continues to blow people’s minds. With the release of Bloodrayne, Boll has solidified his mark in Hollywood as the modern Ed Wood. With that being said, I can truly say that Bloodrayne is his best film to date. But honestly, what does that even mean??

Now with a normal review I would give an overview of the plot, the characters and then go into what worked and what didn’t. However with this being a review of a Boll film I will speed this process up. The movie is about a half-human/half-vampire who is avenging her mother’s death. Watching Kristanna Loken in a skimpy costume for 90 minutes is the only thing that worked.

Now onto what didn’t work. Where do I even begin? The acting in the film is horrible. It’s painful to watch, and yet also very hilarious. I missed a lot of the dialogue in this film because I was laughing so hard at the performances. First we have the lovely Kristanna Loken, who in T3 had practically no lines. I understand why now. Then we have Michael Madsen. Madsen is pretty hit and miss for me, I sometimes really enjoy him, and then I see him in something like Bloodrayne and I want to pull my hair out. He delivers his lines in such a monotone voice and absolutely no expression, you have to just sit back and think to yourself that the guy realizes he’s making the worst movie and just doesn’t care. Michelle Rodriguez is a pretty horrible actress as is. She’s no different in Bloodrayne and her pathetic attempt at a British accent is completely mind-blowing. To wrap up the acting in this film, Ben Kingsley is also really bad.

To be fair the actors didn’t have much to work with, the script is ridiculous. How does this script get greenlit? Someone explain this to me. It’s just one big mess of a really bad line followed by a worse one. This film also has no direction, this kind of goes without saying. The fight scenes are some of the worst I have ever seen in a film. The choreography is unbelievable. Actually I’m pretty sure there wasn’t any choreography. Every once and a while Boll will throw in his Lord of the Rings shot of people riding on horseback across huge landscapes… I’m not one hundred percent sure but some might have even been identical. If this is the case then congratulations Boll, you’ve managed to watch a real film and recreate a shot from it without screwing it up.

All in all, Bloodrayne is utter garbage. I can’t even recommend it as a goof film, because once you’re twenty minutes in you’ll want to shoot yourself. I can only hope that the upcoming film In the Name of the King will be Uwe Boll’s last film. Something tells me that it won’t be. — James

I’ve been a fan of the lonely Island guys for a few months, and I think there some of the smartest and funniest guys in Hollywood right now, and they are single handily saving Saturday Night Live. So this news doesn’t really surprise me. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone have signed on to star in the new film Hot Rod, with Akiva Schaffer directing. Its about an accident-prone daredevil who plans to jump the Snake River to emulate his hero Evel Knievel in order to win over his hard-to-please stepfather. The film is set up at Paramount and was written by Pam Brady, one of the writers of Team America: World Police. If the film is like any of the guys other projects then it will no doubt be hilarious. It will be interesting to see if they translate well over to the big screen. One thing’s for sure I’m excited.

Inside Man
Directed by: Spike Lee
Written by: Russell Gewirtz
Starring: Clive Owen, Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer

Before I begin this review, I have to say that I am not at all a die hard Spike Lee fan. In fact I’ve probably only seen about a handful of his films, and of the ones I’ve seen I have only really enjoyed one of them. With that being said I found my self knowing little about Inside Man before going to see it. I knew it was a heist movie, a type of movie that I tend to enjoy, and I knew it starred Clive Owen, an actor I also enjoy. So I would say I was a little skeptical about whether or not I would enjoy it. So what is the movie actually about?

The movie centers around three characters Dalton Russell (Owen), Detective Keith Frazier (Washington) and Madeline White (Foster). These characters are all different in ways and they all have their own problems that they have to deal with. Clive Owen is a bank robber who thinks very highly of himself for planning what he thinks to be the perfect bank robbery. Then we have Denzel’s character. A typical beat up New York City detective who’s had problems in the past. Jodie Foster plays the shady business woman who has her own agenda and is there to protect a client who has something valuable in one of the bank’s safety deposit boxes.

The best thing that Inside Man has going for it is the script. First time screenwriter Russell Gewirtz, has crafted together a very interesting story that will grab your attention from the very beginning. It’s very well written and very entertaining. All three characters are great to watch and everyone gives a solid performance. I find it sometimes hard to watch Denzel Washington in films these days, as he tends to bring nothing new to his characters. He usually just plays the same guy from film to film and it’s getting very annoying. While watching Inside Man I found Denzel not blowing me away, but that I wasn’t annoyed also. He delivers a solid performance. The real treat is Clive Owen. He’s the kind of bank robber you root for. Jodie Foster also delivers a great performance and it’s a different kind of role for her. Simply put, she plays a bitch. Christopher Plummer and Willem Dafoe also lend great supporting roles.

The film is set up with the bank robbery, and jumps back and forth in time to after the robbery. What this does is allow the audience to piece together the story as the police are doing the same thing. It’s a heist movie, and when a film is labeled with that you kind of expect the typical clichés that go along with that label, however Inside Man is not your typical heist movie. It spices this genre up, because of excellent direction and an excellent script. Spike Lee has managed to craft together a fun and smart bank robbery film that will have people on the edge of their seats.

Where Inside Man falls flat is the end. The film does such a great job at bringing you on a great journey to the end, and when it gets there it fall shorts of what you were expecting. This is unfortunate because Inside Man could have been that much of a better film.

Overall Inside Man is one of the good movies playing in theatres right now. If you’re into heist movies, and great acting and a good script then Inside Man is for you. — James