Bdub's Film Reviews

[BWilli]

I watched “Casualties of War” on DVD over the weekend.

The film stars Michael J. Fox, Sean Penn, Don Harvey, John C. Reilly, John Leguizamo and Ving Rhames and is directed by Brian De Palma.

A five-man patrol of American soldiers, led by Sgt. Meserve (Penn), in Vietnam kidnapped a young woman from her village, forced her to march with them, and then raped her and killed her. One of the five, Pfc. Erikkson (Fox) refused to participate in the rape and murder, and it was his testimony that eventually brought the others to a military court martial and prison sentences.

The movie is not so much about the event as about the atmosphere leading up to it - the dehumanizing reality of combat, the way it justifies brute force and penalizes those who would try to live by a higher standard.

This is an excellent movie.  It is well directed by De Palma and well acted (for the most part).

Michael J. Fox gives his best performance in this film.  Sure he was good in Back to the Future, but he was amazing in CoW.  Very strong acting in this film.

Sean Penn has become one of my favorite actors, but he over did it here with his over-the-top New York accent.  He acted well in the film, but I was hoping he’d shut up sometimes.  The accent got kind of annoying after awhile.

John C. Reilly has become one of the best supporting actors.  He’s never really taken a leading role.  He was great in his supporting role here.  He played the “follower” role perfectly.  He was the guy who did things to fit in.  Great actor, who has been nominated for an Oscar already, and I think will win one eventually.

Overall a great movie.  If you haven’t seen it, it’s real cheap on DVD now.  Pick it up for your collection.

[BWilli]

I watched “Dark Blue” this weekend.  The film stars Kurt Russell, Ving Rhames and Scott Speedman.

Set in the Los Angeles Police Department in April 1992, Dark Blue is a dramatic thriller that takes place just days before the acquittal of four white officers in the beating Rodney King and the subsequent L.A. riots. In this racially-charged climate, the LAPD's elite Special Investigations Squad (SIS) is assigned a high-profile quadruple homicide. As they work the case, veteran detective Eldon Perry (Russell), known for his tough street tactics and fiery temper, tutors SIS rookie Bobby Keough (Speedman) in the grim realities of police intimidation and corruption. Meanwhile, Assistant Chief Holland (Rhames), the only man in the department willing to stand up to the SIS, threatens to end Perry's brand of single-handed "justice" on the Los Angeles streets. While navigating through the tumultuous neighborhoods of South Central L.A., Perry and Keough must track down cold-blooded killers and face their own demons, which prove to be more ruthless than the criminals they pursue.

This film does lack some originality in that it’s your basic corrupt cop and rookie cop in training (think Training Day [in fact both films are written by the same dude]), however slightly different as well.

I liked the film, especially because of Kurt Russell’s performance.  He is at the top of his game as the corrupt cop, who is too busy hating criminals, that he can’t show love for his own wife and son.  

Scott Speedman does a solid job as the rookie cop.  I wasn’t blown away by his performance.  Any other young actor could’ve played it, but still a good job.

Ving Rhames was under-used I feel.  He’s a cool actor and played kind a central role, but was only in about 5 or 6 scenes.  Good actor and plays the perfect good cop in this film.

Worth at least the rental fee, however it’s probably pretty cheap at Wal-Mart.

I’ll give this a

[BWilli]

I went and saw “Hide and Seek” starring Robert DeNiro, Dakota Fanning, Elisabeth Shue, and Famke Janssen this weekend.

After the death of his wife, Dr. David Calloway (DeNiro) decides to pack up and move with his daughter Emily (Fanning) to the country (after all, that’s what they all do in horror/thriller movies).  Once they’re all settled in, Emily becomes friends with Charlie, whom David thinks is her new imaginary friend.  That thought begins to change when strange things and murders start to happen, Emily blames them on Charlie.

I liked the way this film was working throughout the first two acts.  It kind of kept me guessing.  I like films like that…the kind the messes with your head a little bit.  But then, it fell apart a little bit…I ended up guessing the ending before it ended…and it didn’t end how I wished it would have.  I think this may be in part of the TV trailer.  After the film was released, they showed a different trailer that gives the film away little bit.  I hate when they do that.

On the plus side, the acting was really good.  DeNiro hasn’t taken the roles like he used to, but it doesn’t really matter because he’s such a great actor. He was very subtle and controlled in this film.  Excellent stuff.

Fanning is definitely going win some awards some day.  Sure, it wont be for this film, (or even War of the Worlds which comes out this summer), but some day, for some great role she chooses, she’ll win an award. She’s probably the best young actress of her age group, or even best actress under the age of 20.  She played the perfect freaky looking kid, and worked very well with DeNiro.

I wouldn’t call this film “horror”.  It was Rated R, but wasn’t as scary as something like The Grudge or The Ring.  But it was also a different type of movie then those.  Not quite sure why it was rated R…my guess if for the blood use though.

Anywho…the movie was decent, but a little disappointing as well.


for the acting.

for the first two acts.

for the final act.

[BWilli]

I finally watched “Ray” this weekend.  The film stars Oscar Nominee Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles.  The film also stars Kerry Washington as Della Bea Robinson (Ray’s wife), Regina King as Margie (a back-up singer, and one of Ray’s lovers), Bokeem Woodbine as Fathead Newman, Curtis Armstrong as Ahmet Ertegun and Richard Schiff as Jerry Wexler.

Born in Georgia in 1930 (shortly after his family moved to Florida), Ray Charles went blind at around the age of 7. With the staunch support of his determined single mother, he developed the fierce resolve, wit and incredible talent that would eventually enable him to overcome not only Jim Crow Racism and the cruel prejudices against the blind, but also discover his own sound which revolutionized American popular music. Nonetheless, as Ray's unprecedented fame grew, so did his weakness for drugs and women, until they threatened to strip away the very things he held most dear.  The movie follows Charles from his birth in 1930 until 1966, when he finally defeats his heroin addiction. This little known story of Ray Charles' meteoric rise from humble beginnings, his successful struggle to excel in a sighted world and his eventual defeat of his own personal demons make for an inspiring and unforgettable true story of human triumph.

Whether or not you like Ray Charles’ music, I recommend this movie for everyone to see.  This is a great movie and definitely deserves its Oscar nomination.  

Bravo to Jaime Foxx for his perfect portrayal of Ray Charles.  Here’s a guy that, before 2004 (with the exception of his role in “Ali”) we’d normally see in movies like “Booty Call” or some cheesy crap comedy like that, but he gave the performance of the year, and probably the performance of his career in this film.  He’s my pick to win Best Actor at the end of this month at the Oscars and I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t win it.

Kerry Washington and Regina King were both amazing.  I would’ve liked to see both of them get an Oscar nomination, but there was just too much competition this year I guess.  

The entire supporting cast was phenomenal.  The music was just awesome.  There was nothing bad about this film at all.  It’s a long movie, about 2 ½ hours (closer to 3 hours if you watch the extended version, which I did), but well worth sitting through it.

A note about the Extended version:  Throughout the movie, there is about a 3-4 second pause between the scenes that were cut it.  It’s a little distracting, but it’s always nice to see the stuff that was cut out.  Another scene seemed a little messed up, where the DVD actually plays an outtake instead of the film.  Annoying, yes, but the film picks up right after that.  If you don’t want to be distracted, watch the standard version.  It’s just as good.

[BWilli]

I  watched “The Cell” on DVD.  The film stars Jennifer Lopez, Vince Vaughn, and Vincent D’onofrio.

When serial killer Karl Stargher (D’onofrio) falls into a coma before his last victim can be found, child therapist Catherine Deane (Lopez) must use an experimental treatment to enter his mind and learn his secrets before the victim is killed.  The visually haunting world she enters, threatens her own existence when she becomes trapped by the terror in Karl’s mind.  FBI Agent Novak (Vaughn) believes the killer has a ritual he goes through--a ritual that means his latest victim has only hours to live before a clockwork mechanism brings about her death.

Visually, this is one of the coolest movies I’ve ever seen.  The sets used by the director Tarsem Singh, are just unbelievable.  The film starts off in the desert.  I believe the scene was shot in a desert in Namibia.  This was the beginning of the extraordinary visuals that followed throughout this film.

The story, written by Mark Protosevich, is really original.  Not many psychological thrillers/sci-fi movies literally show us the inside of a serial killers head.  A+ for the screenplay.

Lopez needs to come back to these types of films.  She was not the best actress, but I’d rather see her in action/sci-fi genre, rather than the romantic comedy genre that’s she’s been doing the past few years.   She had a strong performance in “The Cell”, probably her best film ever (in my opinion).

Vaughn, before he switched over to his brilliant hilariousness, was very good as well. He’s a good actor, and also works well in this type of genre.  I hope he’ll come back to it from time to time, but still make movies like Old School and Dodgeball as well.

D’onofrio was excellent as the disturbed serial killer.  Singh dressed him in some wicked costumes and make up for a lot of his scenes.  He’s a great actor, although I haven’t seen him in many films lately, nor do I watch the “Lay & Order” show he’s on.  Perfect choice to play the character of Karl.

Great movie, excellent story, and good acting. The movie has been around for 5 years now.  If you haven’t seen it, take a look.  It’s cool stuff.

 :thumbsup:  :thumbsup:

[BWilli]

Went and saw “Constantine” on Saturday.  The film stars Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Djimon Hounsou, Shia LaBeouf and Gavin Rossdale.

Based on the DC/Vertigo comic book “Hellblazer”, “Constantine” tells the story of irreverent supernatural detective John Constantine (Reeves), who has literally been to hell and back. When Constantine teams up with skeptical policewoman Angela Dodson (Weisz) to solve the mysterious suicide of her twin sister (also played by Weisz), their investigation takes them through the world of demons and angels that exists just beneath the landscape of contemporary Los Angeles. Caught in a catastrophic series of otherworldly events, the two become inextricably involved and seek to find their own peace at whatever cost.

I had never been the DC/Vertigo comic reader.  I stuck more to Marvel Comics, so I didn’t really know the whole story behind Hellblazer when I went to see the movie.

I thought the story was pretty good.  It’s a little different than the Spider-man, X-men, Batman etc. movies, it’s also a lot darker.  The film is rated R, I’m guessing mainly for it’s theme of demon’s and hell.  It was actually kind of a tame R rating I think.  Not too much cursing, no sexual situations; but I guess the MPAA thought the violence was enough to give it a harsher rating.  Regardless of that though, it’s nice seeing an R rating, seeming how most films have been getting the PG-13 push.  Anyways…

Reeves was his cool normal self here, like his role in the Matrix trilogy.  Good performance.

Weisz is extremely hot in this film.  She looks great.  She also gives a solid acting job.

Hounsou was probably the coolest character in the film.  He’s a really good actor, and shows that in this film.

I wish Shia LaBeouf wasn’t in this film.  His character was very annoying and only served the purpose of being Constantine’s sidekick.  Not all protagonists need a sidekick.

Interesting to see Rossdale in a film.  Pretty cool as one of the antagonists of the film.

I enjoyed this film.  It was a lot of fun; not the best “based-on-a-comic book” film, but pretty damn good.

 :thumbsup:  :thumbsup:

[BWilli]

Watched “Saw” on DVD.  The film stars Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Leigh Whannel, and Monica Potter.

With a body lying between them, two men wake up in the secure lair of a serial killer who's been nicknamed "Jigsaw" by the police because of his unusual calling card.  Adam (Whannel) and Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Elwes) soon learn that they have become the victims of the Jigsaw, a serial killer who devises intricate situations to get his victims to kill each other. Pitted against the clock and each other, the two must work to outwit their captor and save Gordon's family, who has been taken hostage.

EASILY THE BEST HORROR FILM OF 2004!  It’s definitely a different type of horror movie than both “The Grudge” and “Darkness” (both of which were among my least favorite films of 2004).  When I finished watching “Saw”, I at least knew the point of the movie.  I found the film to be very intense, and that’s how horror/slasher movies need to be.  I was pretty surprised at the end too.  Great way to end the film.  A+ in that department.

Leigh Whannel co-wrote the film with director James Wan.  These two dudes must be a little disturbed.  Some of the contraption that they make Jigsaw think up for his victims; dayam.  Cool stuff though.

Whannel was perfect as Adam.  He’s relatively new to the film biz, but he’ll fit right in.  Good acting on his part.

Elwes is a great actor, under-rated if you ask me, but he over did it in a few scenes.  I liked his character and his portrayal of Dr. Gordon though.

I read another reviewer, who wrote that Danny Glover stole the movie, and I began thinking back to his scenes, and I agree.  Glover was excellent as the cop hell-bent on catching this sick mofo.  Extremely great acting.

I’m sorry that I had missed this while it was in theaters.  I love watching horror on the big screen.  After reading so much about the film before it came out, it had become one of my most anticipated films from last year.  I was excited to see it, and I can’t wait to watch it again.

Excellent movie.  Look for Saw 2, hopefully coming out around this Halloween.

 :thumbsup:  :thumbsup:

[BWilli]

Watched “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” tonight.  The film stars Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro, with some appearances by Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Gary Busy, and Cameron Diaz.  It’s directed by Terry Gilliam, and based on the novel of the same name by Hunter S. Thompson.

In 1971, journalist Raoul Duke, a.k.a Hunter S. Thompson (Depp), heads towards Vegas to cover a motorcycle race, accompanied by a trunk full of drugs and his Samoan attorney, Dr. Gonzo (Del Toro).  However, what is seemingly a cut-and-dried journalistic endeavor quickly descends into a feverish psychedelic odyssey and en excoriating dissection of the American way of life.

I’ve heard that people get high as a kite before watching this film; and I can understand why.  The entire film is just one big acid trip, and it doesn’t stop until the film ends.  There are some excellent visuals in some of the oddest scenes I’ve ever seen in a movie.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Depp is a great actor.  He didn’t win an Oscar last year, and he probably won’t win one this year either, but someday, the Academy will give this man the award he deserves.  He was excellent in this film.  I never read any of Hunter Thompson’s books, so I really don’t know too much about his journalistic adventure, but Depp played the part well.

Del Toro’s transformation into Dr. Gonzo was unreal.  There were reports that he gain nearly 40 pounds for this part.  For the first part of the movie, I found it hard to understand what the hell he was saying, but the guy was all hyped up on all sorts of drugs…so I guess that’s to be expected.  Del Toro is an excellent actor, and keeps on showing that with every role he takes.

This is no doubt one of the strangest and trippiest movies ever made.  Good movie.

 :thumbsup:  :thumbsup:

RIP Hunter S. Thompson 1937-2005.  Last weekend he committed suicide.  I don’t think there was a note left, but I guess he just had personal demons that he felt were to hard to deal with.

[BWilli]

I went to see “Hitch” tonight, starring Will Smith, Eva Mendes, Kevin James, and Amber Valletta.

A highly successful and secretive “date doctor” named Hitch (Smith) is hired by men from all levels of dating incompetence in the hopes of improving their chances of getting with women with whom they are in love. The doc’s latest project is an awkward fat man, Albert (James) in love with a multi-millionaire hottie Alegra (Valletta). At the same time, cupid himself is smitten by a tabloid news reporter, Sara (Mendes).

The movie is your basic romantic comedy with a tad bit of its own originality as well.  It’s one of the better romantic comedies I’ve seen in a while.  The story was really good and pretty damn funny.  The chemistry between all of the characters was just great.  Without spoiling anything, lemme just say that probably my favorite scene is when Hitch first meets Sara.  That’s the best example of on-screen chemistry.  Great scene.  The great scenes continued throughout the entire film.

Smith was good in this role.  He wasn’t over-the-top at all.  He played it straightforward all the way through.

James is hilarious.  I don’t watch his TV show “The King of Queens”, but I’ve heard it’s funny.  After seeing how funny he can be, I think I’ll be checking the show out.  He’s really funny in this film as the shy guy who’s in love with the rich hot chick.

Mendes was good in this comedy.  The last comedy she did, I believe, was “Stuck on You” and I didn’t really like her role that one, however here she was flawless.  Great job.

The film was written great.  The film was funny in all the right places and dramatic in all the right places.  Best date movie I’ve seen in awhile.  Grab your loved-one and check this movie out.

 :thumbsup:  :thumbsup:

[BWilli]

I watched “Bubba Ho-Tep” today, starring Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis.

Based on the Bram Stoker Award nominee short story by cult author Joe R. Lansdale, Bubba Ho-Tep tells the "true" story of what really did become of Elvis Presley, with a tad bit of horror involved. We find Elvis (Campbell) as an elderly resident in an East Texas rest home, who switched identities with an Elvis impersonator years before his "death", then missed his chance to switch back. Elvis teams up with Jack (Ossie Davis), a fellow nursing home resident who thinks that he is actually President John F. Kennedy. The two valiant old codgers go forth to battle an evil Egyptian entity that has chosen their long-term care facility as his happy hunting grounds.

First off, the whole Elvis switching with an impersonator could be entirely brilliant film of its own.  What a concept.  The fact that it was used in a horror film is really quite odd, but so funny as well.  The film is meant to be a horror comedy, and that it was.  More comedy than horror though.  The lines that these two characters spit out in this movie are really quite funny.  The film was definitely well written.  I liked the originality of this film.  Sure we’ve had films about mummies before, but not ones involving Elvis and “JFK”.

Campbell was surprisingly great as Elvis.  This was his best acting job since the cult classic “Evil Dead” trilogy.  He always takes these kind of quirky, weird roles and he plays them perfectly.

The late Ossie Davis was also really good in this film.  This movie is a little different than films I’ve seen of his in the past, although I haven’t seen much of his classic films.  Other than the TV mini-series “The Stand” I’m not too sure of any other horror films he’s done.  He was the perfect choice to play the role of Jack, a.k.a “JFK”.  He was always a great actor in all of his films.  It was sad to hear of his passing away a few weeks ago.  Great actor, and very good in this film.

This film is definitely going to become a cult classic.  The acting was great; the story was really good and original.  It’s definitely worth at least the rental fee.
 :thumbsup:   :thumbsup:

[BWilli]

I watched “The Talented Mr. Ripley” starring Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett and Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

The 1950s. Manhattan lavatory attendant, Tom Ripley (Damon), borrows a Princeton jacket to play piano at a garden party. When the wealthy father of a recent Princeton grad chats Tom up, Tom pretends to know the son and is soon offered $1,000 to go to Italy to convince Dickie Greenleaf (Law) to return home. In Italy, Tom attaches himself to Dickie and to Marge (Paltrow), Dickie's cultured fiancée, pretending to love jazz and harboring homoerotic hopes as he soaks in luxury. Besides lying, Tom's talents include impressions and forgery, so when the handsome and confident Dickie tires of Tom, dismissing him as a bore, Tom goes to extreme lengths to make Greenleaf's privileges his own.

I first saw this film early morning Christmas Day when it was released in 1999.  That had been the last time I saw it until this past weekend.  I had forgotten how good of a film this is.  It is based on a book of the same name and is also a remake of the original film entitled “Purple Noon” from back in the ‘60s.  The screenplay was well written by Anthony Minghella, and brilliantly directed by him as well.

Damon gives his most chilling and outstanding performance in this film.  I really think this is one of his best because he hasn’t played the “bad” guy all that much.  Really incredible job by Damon.

Law is excellent as well.  He was up for Best Supporting Actor at the 2000 Oscars.  Very strong and solid job.

Paltrow is also good in her role and Blanchett shines in her small part as well.

All around great acting by everyone in this film, with great directing and perfect story.

 :thumbsup:  :thumbsup:

[BWilli]

Snowy afternoon so I left work early, came home and popped in a DVD.

I watched the thriller “Stigmata” starring Patricia Arquette and Gabrielle Byrne.

Frankie Paige (Arquette) has absolutely no faith in God.  All of that changes when she suddenly begins to suffer the Stigmata – the living wounds of the crucified Christ.  Frankie’s miraculous bleeding comes to the attention of the Vatican’s top investigator, Father Kiernan (Byrne).  However, when Cardinal Houseman (Jonathan Pryce) discovers that Frankie is actually channeling an extraordinary and provocative message that could destroy the church, he’s convinced that she and the possessing force must be silenced forever.  Determined to stop this deadly conspiracy, Kiernan risks his faith and his life to saver her and the message that will change the destiny of mankind forever.

This is kind a fun film to watch.  Sure it not “true” in some senses.  In the film, Frankie gets The Stigmata after receiving a rosary that belonged to a priest (who also suffered The Stigmata) before his death.  It’s not just passed on like that.  But you know what.  It’s a movie…and it wasn’t a great one, but it sure as hell wasn’t a bad one either.  The premise was definitely original, and that’s always a big plus when it comes to making a film.

I liked Arquette’s performance in this film.  She isn’t the greatest actress, but she often gives us solid stuff, and this was one of them.

Byrne was really cool in this film.  In fact, he’s pretty cool in most of his films.  He can play good guys and bad guys and he always plays them perfectly.  Great job.

So the film was decent.  I wouldn’t consider it so much a “horror” film, but more a thriller.  It’s decent enough for a rental.  
 :thumbsup:

[BWilli]

I went and saw “Cursed” tonight.  The film stars Cristina Ricci, Jesse Eisenberg, Joshua Jackson, Judy Greer, Mya, Shannon Elizabeth and Scott Baio (the has-been) playing himself.

The best sorta-plot description I found for this film was over at Joblo.com.  He put it perfect:  A very cute girl (Ricci), with a giant forehead, and her nerdy brother (Eisenberg), with stutter in tow, get bit by an animal of sorts, and try to figure out what’s happening to them for the rest of the movie. Are they becoming werewolves? Who or what bit them? How does Chachi fit into all this? Why does this movie suck?

What the hell is happening to the horror genre?  Especially the “monster” horror films  They just don’t make them like they used to; The Lost Boys, An American Werewolf in London, and even the Monster Squad (a great cheesy monster flick from the ‘80s).

Wes Craven is seriously losing his touch.  There really wasn’t much to the plot.  There were a few cheap scares here and there with the animal coming right at the camera (basic horror “trick” there), but that’s about it.  There was a whole lot of cheesy dialogue and scenes here, that just made me laugh and want to walk out.  However, being the movie fanatic I am, I’ll give any movie a chance, so I hung in there.  I’m kinna sorry that I did, but I can’t really change that now can I?

I was extremely disappointed with the film.  It had potential, but nothing came out of it.

A short and sweet review here…wanna see a good werewolf movie?  Rent “An American Werewolf in London”.  It’s a classic, and shitload better than “Cursed”.

 :thumbsdown: (hmm....we're not used to seeing this one are we  :razz: )

[BWilli]

To make up for the crap film “Cursed” that I saw earlier in the day, I wanted to see something good.  I had heard great things about “The Girl Next Door”, so I popped the DVD into the PS2, sat there, and tried to forget that I had seen “Cursed” just two hours before it.

The film stars Elisha Cuthbert, Emile Hirsch, Timothy Olyphant, Chris Marquette, and Paul Dano.

Eighteen-year old Matthew Kidman (Hirsch) is a straight-laced overachiever who has never lived life.  That is until he meets his new neighbor, Danielle (Cuthbert).   Matt’s life, up to this point, has been preparing for his future of attending Georgetown University and eventually following his dream of becoming president. Although he is happy for being accepted to the school of his dreams, he feels unfulfilled and longs to do or achieve something outrageous as he sees his fellow students doing.  Matt and Danielle click the second they meet, and pretty much fall in love instantly.  When Matt discovers that Danielle is a former porn star, things begin to get out of hand just as quick as they fell in love.

This was a better movie than I was expecting.  I was kind of thinking it would be too much like American Pie, and it wasn’t.  It had it’s own originality to it.  Gotta love that. Chemistry between characters can make or break a movie.  Cuthbert and Hirsch were perfect on screen together.  They meshed well and it just worked out great.

Cuthbert was great in what was pretty much her first leading role.  She played the part flawlessly.  Although her character is a former porn star, she doesn’t play some slutty chick who wants to sleep with every guy she comes across.  She’s a smart girl, who wants to change her life, and Cuthbert shows that just major justice.

Hirsch was also very surprising in one of his first leading roles.  He showed some great acting ability and, as I stated above, worked very well on screen with Cuthbert.  A+ performance.

Olyphant was brilliantly and charismatically hilarious in his role as Kelly, Danielle's porn producer.  He delivered a lot of funny moments in the film.

Many of the other comedic scenes belonged to Marquette (who played Eli) and Dano (who played Klitz), the two geeky friends of Matthew.  Marquette was the sex crazed one, addicted to porn, while Dano was the true nerd, insecure of himself most of the way through the film.  Both characters were basically the perfect friends, helping Matt out in every way possible.  

I was generally surprised with the movie.  There was your normal gratuitous T&A, but it was all in the right parts of the film.  Everyone acted well, portraying this romantic, yet different love story.

Trust me on this...the juice is definately worth the squeeze.
:thumbsup:  :thumbsup:

[BWilli]

Went and saw “Be Cool”, the sequel to the 1995 hit film “Get Shorty”.  “Be Cool” has an all-star A-list cast of John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Vince Vaughn, Harvey Keitel, Danny DeVito, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Christina Milian, Cedric The Entertainer, Andre 3000, Steven Tyler, James Woods and Robert Pastorelli (in his final role before his untimely death just about a year ago).

In “Get Shorty”, shylock Chili Palmer (Travolta) left the loan shark biz, for the movie biz.  Ten years later, here in “Be Cool”, he’s thinking about returning to his old lifestyle.  
While meeting with record exec Tommy Athens (Woods) and discussing the possibility of Palmer producing a movie based on Athens promoting the new music sensation Linda Moon (Milian), Athens is shot and killed by the Russian mafia.  After this, Palmer decides to check out Moon for himself, and see how good she really is.  After meeting her, he decides to become her manager and produce her record with Tommy Athens widow Edie (Thurman), who now runs the record label. This whole deal doesn’t bode well with her current manager Raji (Vaughn), the homosexual bodyguard Elliot (The Rock) and promoter Nick Carr (Keitel).  When another record producer, Sin LaSalle (Cedric the Entertainer) finds out the Tommy was killed before he could pay off a $300,000 loan, he also goes after Chili and Edie for the money.

It’s been awhile since I’ve seen “Get Shorty” but I remember liking it a lot (me thinks I’m gonna pick up the new Special Edition DVD soon), and I was hoping that “Be Cool’ would be just as good.  I was let down a little.   It wasn’t as good as, but it was pretty close.  I still enjoyed the movie, but didn’t laugh as much as I thought I would.  The story didn’t seem too close to the first film, so that was good.  You could probably see this without seeing “Get Shorty”, although I’d recommend seeing Shorty first.

Travolta is definitely cool in this movie; of course that is what the part calls for.  He picks up the role right where he left of in “Get Shorty”.  

Thurman wasn’t at her best here.  Kind of a dull performance, not too exciting.

Vaughn was funny and entertaining, but the whole “white guy acting black” thing should be over by now.  It’s not original anymore.  But he pulled it off, and added a lot of humor to the movie.

Keitel has always been a good actor.  He was decent here.  Not his best performance, but okay.

Milian was pretty good.  With time, she can become a good actress.

Pastorelli had a small role in the film, playing the hitman hired by Nick Carr to kill Palmer.  He was good in the small role, playing up the tough guy image.  Sadly he didn’t get to see his own performance. A year ago tomorrow, Pastorelli died from an apparent overdose.

The Rock stole the movie, with out a doubt.  He had a small role, but lit up the screen and made the audience burst out in laughter in all of his scenes.  I’ve been a fan of his since wrestling, so it’s cool to see him breaking into Hollywood so easily.  He brings a lot of charisma to this movie.  So many funny scenes, especially the “monologue” one.  Hilarious.  It shows that he may not just be the “next big action star”, but can master comedy as well.

Cedric The Entertainer was very funny as well.  I’m not a huge fan of him, and I’m a little angry about “The Honeymooner” movie that he’ll be starring in later this year, but he was perfect in this film.

Andre 3000 was a big surprise in this film, playing Dabu, one of Sin LaSalles’ gangstas.  He, like The Rock, stole many of his scenes.  Very funny guy and perfect in the film.

Overall, I was a tad disappointed here and there, but I still enjoyed the film.  Without The Rock and Andre 3000 in this movie, I probably would’ve hated it.  Like I said, it doesn’t rank up to the first film, but it comes close.
 :thumbsup: