True Grit

Who: Bill
What: True Grit
Where: Turner Classic Movies
Why: A classic John Wayne movie

No performer defined the western film genre better than John Wayne. One of his most defining performances is the character Rooster Cogburn in 1969's True Grit, which earned Wayne his only Oscar.

When her father Frank Ross is murdered, young Mattie (Kim Darby) embarks on a search to find his killer. She is smart, tough and emboldened with, well, "true grit". On her quest, she learns of the aging, tough and gritty U.S. Marshall named Cogburn. Mattie seeks his assistance, but Cogburn has doubts. Nonetheless, Mattie's determination and stubbornness impresses Cogburn who finds that Mattie reminds him a lot about himself. Also looking for Ross's killer is a Texas Ranger named Le Boeuf (Glen Campbell), who joins Cogburn and Mattie. He also hopes to collect a reward for capturing the outlaw named Tom Chaney (Jeff Corey), who had earlier killed a Texas Senator.

John Wayne excels as Rooster Cogburn in all the character's irritable, hard-drinking, unclean, patch-wearing, anti-hero glory. You simply DON'T MESS with Cogburn. He is one tough SOB. Period. This was a tailor-made role for Wayne, then at the pinnacle of an extremely successful career. Adding credibility to their roles are Kim Darby and Glen Campbell. Darby continues to occasionally appear in movies and on television as well as teach acting classes. Campbell of course is a popular Grammy-winning country singer and its been said that Wayne personally selected him for the part of La Boeuf. He also sings the film's title song. Other performers of note include Robert Duvall as Lucky Ned Pepper, Dennis Hopper as Moon, and John Fiedler as a lawyer named Daggett, whom Mattie references throughout the story.

Wayne would return to play Cogburn in 1975's aptly titled Rooster Cogburn with Katharine Hepburn. A TV movie with Warren Oates as Cogburn titled True Grit: A Further Adventure would follow in 1978, and in 2009 it was announced that Joel and Ethan Cohen are planning a remake of the original movie which would more closely follow the novel upon which it was based.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe

Who:LaRelle
What: X-Files: I Want to Believe
Where: my living room
Why: I love X-Files


Well I finally got around to watching this movie. I'm surprised it took me so long considering when the series was on tv it was practically my religion. Although I was kind of putting it off because I had heard very mixed reviews on it and that a lot of die hard fans were disappointed.
Well I wasn't disappointed at all. I thought the story was decent. Yes, it didn't really go too far into the supernatural stuff that the show used to....there were no ghosts, or monsters or anything like that......but the show wasn't always like that.
And the best part was just seeing Mulder and Scully on screen together again. David Duchovny (hottie!) and Gillian Anderson always had incredible chemistry together on the show, and they still have it. I wish that there would have been more "inside jokes", so to speak, related to the tv series. There were a couple of things at the very beginning related to Mulder's character, but it would have been more enjoyable if they had thrown more in throughout the movie.
I wasn't a huge fan when I had heard that Amanda Pete was going to be in this movie because she kind of annoys me...but she actually wasn't too bad. And Billy Connolly was very good in his role as a psychic priest.
So overall it was done pretty well. I'd definitely recommend it if you were a fan of the tv show at all. And even if you weren't it can stand alone, and is a decent thriller/drama type movie.

Zodiac

Who: Bill
What: Zodiac
Where: The Movie Channel-- offered free during January
Why: Portions of the movie were filmed near my hometown.

During the late 1960’s-early 1970’s, there were a series of unsolved murders in the San Francisco Bay Area. The suspect identified himself as the “Zodiac” through a number of taunting letters mailed to local police and area newspapers. To date, the case technically remains unsolved, although there is strong evidence of who was the actual culprit.

Zodiac follows the intense investigation by the police and newspaper reporters, focusing primarily on San Francisco Chronicle cartoonist Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), who takes an interest in the case after deciphering some of the cryptic codes in the killer‘s letters. Also covering the story is Chronicle writer Paul Avery (Robert Downey, Jr.). Early scenes alternate between the reporters and the investigators that include San Francisco police detectives Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) and Bill Armstrong (Anthony Edwards), Vallejo Police Officer Jack Mulanax (Elias Koteas) and Napa County Sheriff’s Officer Ken Narlow (Donal Logue). The latter half of the movie follows Graysmith’s near obsession with the “Zodiac” as he writes a book on the case, in which he concludes the killer was a man named Arthur Leigh Allen (played in the movie by John Carroll Lynch). Allen was identified as a suspect and interviewed by detectives in 1971, but despite strong circumstantial evidence, there was never enough physical evidence to charge him with the "Zodiac" crimes. Allen died in 1992.

At almost three hours, Zodiac covers a lot of detail and many years (1969 to 1991), but holds your attention. The period detail is impressive thanks to excellent digital photography and realistic computer-generated effects shots. There is some blood seen when three of the actual Zodiac murders are depicted early in the film, but these are more suspenseful than horribly graphic (it still may disturb some viewers). One way to approach the movie is by seeing it as an expanded R-rated version of Law and Order. So if you have the time and enjoy a good (true) mystery, Zodiac is highly recommended.

Halloween H20

Who:  Amber
What:  Halloween H20
Where:  @ home off cable
Why:  Happy Halloween!

Here's a great holiday classic huh?  Actually, I watched it the day after Halloween, and I'm finally movie yak-ing about it.

This is a great horror movie simply because Jamie Lee Curtis is in it.  

If you are unfamiliar with the original Halloween movie, it came out in 1978.  An unknown actress named Jamie Lee Curtis was the main star (as a teenager).  She is babysitting on Halloween, and all her friends are brutally murdered by Michael Myers, who happens to be Jamie Lee's brother.  

So big KUDOS for Jamie Lee Curtis to come back to the franchise 20 years later that originally made her a star!  You don't see Jennifer Aniston coming back to do any Leprechaun movies or Johnny Depp coming back to Nightmare on Elm Street (although, I think they killed him off).

Flashback 20 years later (this movie came out in 1998).  Jamie Lee (Laurie Strode) has a 17 year old son.  She is the head master of a luxury high school, where the kids live in dorms, and the entire high school has a fence around it.  Laurie is still freaked out by her brother Michael Myers.  She knows he will eventually hunt her down and find her.  Her son (Josh Hartnett - possibly one of his first movies) knows Laurie is messed up in the head b/c of all her horrible past.  He tries to help her, but it's getting old.  He's getting annoyed and tells her to, "get over it already!"

Unfortunately, this is the year Michael tracks Laurie down.  99% of the school is on a trip, but Laurie, her son, his girlfriend (Michelle Williams), 2 other slutty kids, and a school counselor are all at the school.  You know the slutty kids are easy kills ... but who else will die?

Will Laurie finally face Michael and kill him once and for all?  Or will Michael finally get what he's been after for 20 years, to kill his other sister?

Saw

Who:  Amber & Jaclyn
What:  Saw
Where:  @ Jaclyn's house
Why:  I made her watch it

I'm not sure how much Jaclyn (who also writes for Movie Yak) enjoyed Saw (she was a first timer.  I think I'm about a 6-timer!), but I absolutely love it!  I actually found it in the Walmart $5 bin the following day and finally bought it.

This is not your typical horror movie.  This movie really goes into some big time character development for every single character.  So you really know their back story, and you actually care about them.  It's also not a crazy, psycho super-power killer.

"Jigsaw" is just a regular guy (or girl - we have no clue who it is), who chooses people who take life for granted (drug addicts, people cheating on their spouses, etc.).  He sets up elaborate (almost unreal) traps for them.  If they can get out of the trap, they walk away unharmed.  Well, honestly, they are usually harmed and bleeding a little bit.  If they can't get out of the trap, the trap will kill them.

Dr. Gordon (Cary Elways - a cutie!) and Adam (one of the writers of the movie too) wake up from being knocked unconscious in a super gross bathroom.  They are chained by the ankle to the wall.  The game/trap is the Dr. Gordon has to kill Adam before 6pm.  If not, his family will die.  So it's a pretty tough game for Adam - he has to wait to die!  While Dr. Gordon and Adam try to figure out what's going on, they get to talking and figure out how they are connected to one another.  Jigsaw has left clues and props hidden around the room, to help them play the game.

One of the props are 2 saws.  Are they meant to saw thru the chains ... or saw thru something else?  (Ewwwww!)

During this time there are flashbacks to Adam and Dr. Gordon's lives.  We also see 2 cops (Danny Glover and another guy) who have been trying to capture Jigsaw for about 6 months now.  We also see some super gross victims of Jigsaw's games, who lost their 'games'.

I can't recommend this movie enough!  It's about 30% horror, 50% thriller and 20% drama.

And the ending is INSANE!  You will never, in a million years guess what happens!!!  And I truly mean that - it's nuts!  And, yes, there has been Saw 2, 3, 4 and 5.  And they are making Saw 6, and I believe Saw 7.  Saw 2, 3 and 4 are actually pretty decent movies.  But don't let all these other Saws scare you away.  The original movie is 1000X better than the sequels.  I highly recommend it!  I think it's in my "Top 5 favorite movies of all time" list, and that's really saying something.

The Ruins

Who: Jaclyn
What: The Ruins
Where: @ Home
Why: Didn't want to bother seeing it in the theater

The Ruins is about two couples of spring breakers in Mexico who are having a grand old time until a creepy (in my opinion) German guy asks if they want to go to a site where his brother is excavating.

The crazy kids, being up for adventure decide to go. When they get to the site, which turns out to be a Mayan temple, there are some local yokels that come out of the woods and start screaming at the tourists in a language they can't understand.

Something bad happens then, but I won't give it away. The kids retreat up the temple and worse things start to happen from there. Hallucinations, chaos and tons of bloodshed.

Overall, not bad for a rental, but glad I didn't waste time in the theater. I hear the book is better.

Judge Dredd

Who:  Amber
What:  Judge Dredd
Where:  @ home - off cable
Why:  Why not?

Diane Lane in an action cop movie?  Who knew!

This movie is set in the future.  Cops are now called "Judges".  They catch you committing a crime, they try you on the spot and sentence you.  The future is not a fun place to be.  There is crime everywhere, and the Judges are pretty cool people.

The coolest judge of all is Sly Stalone, or Judge Joseph Dredd.  He's a spandex wearing bad boy!  And by "bad", I mean really good.  He loves the law (almost a little too much), and loves upholding it.

Too bad his clone of a brother (seriously!) is a bad boy.  And by "bad", I mean really evil!  He commits a crime, and convinces everybody that Dredd is guilty.  Dredd and Rob Schnider (seriously!) are sent to jail.  Jail involved flying on a plane to some awful place.  A pack of crazy religious brothers shoot the plane down.  Dredd kicks some butt, and he and Rob Scheider escape.

Meantime, in the horrible future city, Diane Lane and the other Judges are being attacked by the clone brother.  The clone brother is trying to make more evil clones ...  Dredd comes in to save the day!

Did I mention the horrible graphics?

This movie wasn't all bad.  It was a bunch of cheesy lines and random action, but I enjoy random action!

Quantum of Solace

Who:  Amber & Jonathan
What:  Quantum of Solace - James Bond
Where:  AMC Pleasure Island
Why:  Jonathan likes James Bond

I might classify "action" as my favorite movie genre.  Although I don't like movies where I have to think really, really hard.

This movie was a little confusing, but I was able to follow it, which is kind-of a big deal.  I'm not a James Bond super fan, so I went to see this movie for a the action, no the James Bond-y stuff.

This movie starts where Casino Royal leaves off.  If you didn't see Casino Royal (the last James Bond movie), just know that James Bond is mad and wants revenge for something that happened in that movie.  I won't ruin the ending for you.

If you like car chases - check this out.  If you like boat chases - check this out.  If you like airplane chases - check this out.  If you like running chases - check this out!  We just needed a train chase of some kind, then this would've been the perfect storm.

Basically James Bond (Daniel Craig) jet sets around the globe (Russia, Italy, South America, etc...) trying to catch some bad guys.  There is a Bond girl (of course), but she's pretty tough too.  Both Bond and this girl are out for revenge.  Ironically, their revenges are different, but the involve the same group of bad guys.

There is a cheesy named other Bond girl as well.  Her last name in the movie is "Fields".  I'll let you guess what her fruity first name is.

Shutter

Who: Jaclyn
What: Shutter
Where: @ Home
Why: Who doesn't like a scary movie and Joshua Jackson?

I don't know what possessed me to rent this from Netflix, but I did. I think maybe I'm going through a Joshua Jackson phase since his new series "Fringe" started.

Anyhoo...this movie is about a newlywed couple, Ben and Jane (Joshua Jackson and Rachel Taylor). They go on their honeymoon in Japan since Ben is a photographer and has to go there for work.

On a dark and icy night, while driving in Japan, Jane hits a girl with their car. Freaked out by this, she drives Ben crazy since he didn't see anything and thinks she didn't see what she thought she did.

Later on, they start noticing weird images in the pictures they have been taking on their trip. Who is this mystery person? Further into the movie Jane finds out the woman is somehow connected to her new husband.

Even weirder things start to transpire as this girl haunts their lives. Will Ben ever be rid of his past?

This movie was a creepy concept for sure. Scary though? Not so much. Sure, it had its "EW!" moments, but nothing that would have any horror fan rattled.

The Last King of Scotland

Who: Jaclyn
What: The Last King of Scotland
Where: Home
Why: Netflix

I had never heard of this movie before but my friends swear by any and all things James McAvoy so into the Netflix queue it went.

It starts off in 1970 and is based on true events in Uganda. James McAvoy plays a doctor (Dr. Nicholas) who decides to get out of Scotland and travel to a place he pin points on a globe, which turns out to be Uganda. He ends up helping villagers and falling in love with another doctor's wife, which quickly fizzles when she turns him down.

The President of Uganda comes to speak to the people and then later requires the help of Dr. Nicholas when he has an accident and hurts his hand. Impressed by the way the doctor handled the situation, the President offers him to be his personal physician. At first, Dr. Nicholas says no but eventually takes the position...and in turn is his closest advisor as well.

The longer the doctor is with the president, he starts to see his dark side. Turns out, the president is an evil dictator who has thousands of people murdered. Including one of his wives that the doctor ended up sleeping with. (That was a gruesome scene).

Overall, it was an interesting movie but just a bit too long and bloody.

In Bruges

Who: Jaclyn
What: In Bruges
Where: At Home
Why: Netflix

I saw one preview for this movie back in the day and then I never saw it come to the theater. If it did, it must have been there for five minutes. It looked good or at least appealing from the trailer so I Netflixed it.

Ken and Ray are two hitmen who are hiding out in Bruges, which is in Belgium. Ken loves the sights and is trying to get Ray to enjoy the historical parts of the town, but Ray can only whine and complain about Bruges and how stupid it is. For instance:

Ken: Coming up?
Ray: What's up there?
Ken: The view.
Ray: The view of what? The view of down here? I can see that down here.
Ken: Ray, you are about the worst tourist in the whole world.
Ray: Ken, I grew up in Dublin. I love Dublin. If I grew up on a farm, and was retarded, Bruges might impress me but I didn't, so it doesn't.

This goes on forever...Ray knocking Bruges and everything in it. He insults just about everyone and is completely infatuated with a dwarf he sees on a movie set.

It's not clear (to begin with) as to why they're held up in Bruges, just that "Harry" who is apparently their hit boss, told them to be. It's revealed later that it's because Ray has to be punished for something he did and Harry believed he was doing something good for Ray before he's killed.

I guess I liked this movie. I had a hard time understanding it...I'm usually really good at understanding accents but I had captions on for the whole movie and it takes away from the film when you have to read everything. This movie has its funny parts but there's also a plethora of swearing...I've never heard so many F-bombs per sentence.