Driver: San Fransisco
Genre: Racing
2011
Review
The Driver series has been around for years. The stories involved have always been fairly entertaining. This particular premise is intriguing. The player is a cop in San Fransisco and needs to capture a recently escaped convict. That part is not the intriguing part. No spoilers, but there is more to the story than just the typical 'cop chases bad guy' angle. The story though is rather short, which is pretty disappointing. The car selection is amazing in this game though. From the a Pacer to a Lamborghini. A major problem with the game is the need to buy online access for multiplayer if you are renting a copy. It has a two day free trial for online playing, but that does not seem like it is much time to actually get deep into the multiplayer. The limited capabilities to those who decide to rent the game is like cutting the game in half for many players.
6/10
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The Hangover: Part II
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Ken Jeong, Justin Bartha, Jeffery Tambor, Jamie Chung
2011
Review
This film may be one of the most anticipated if not the most anticipated film of the year. There have been a lot of negative things said about this movie. These negative comments seem to be overstated. Some of the criticism is that that Part II is too much like the first Hangover. If it was too different, people would complain about that. The movie did not have the initial greatness that the first one had, but some of that is because people expected greatness from this one more so than the original. It was still crude and funny. The mixed reviews make it a coin flip on whether or not it is a good movie to most people. If you liked the first then you should like the sequel, though some said it tried too hard and some scenes were disgusting. Though, people should have been aware of the type of movie when they bought their ticket. Admittedly, not a great as the original but better than what some people are giving credit to the film. If you liked the first one you should like Part II.
9/10
How Do You Know
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson, Jack Nicholson
2010
Review
Sometimes it hard to follow Paul Rudd on what sort of movie he is going to be in. He has made movies like Knocked Up and Anchorman, but then he makes movies like these. He can play the kind of humor required for both movies. Owen Wilson is always a decent choice for the carefree character in the movie too. So, the casting is pretty well done. There does seem to be a lot more going on than the love story of the movie. Sometimes there feels like there are too many things going on and they take away from the main plot. Overall, the movie is good and definitely recommended for guys and girls. It is not a chick flick but is a good movie to rent and watch with someone so you both enjoy it.
7/10
The Other Guys
Genre: Comedy, Action
Starring: Will Ferrell, Mark Walhberg, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton, Steve Coogan, Rob Riggle, Damon Wayans Jr.
2010
Review
This movie is literally laugh out loud funny, if you like Will Ferrell type of humor. Mark Wahlberg does a good job playing a balance of humor and his typical type of role of the tough guy. The supporting cast is excellent. Michael Keaton is great. Rob Riggle and Damon Wayans Jr. play the rival cops role perfectly. Numerous moments can cause a person to laugh out loud. Adam McKay and Will Ferrell make an excellent team as director and actor and it shows in this movie.
8.5/10
Splice
Genre: Sci-Fi, Horror
Starring: Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, Delphine Chanéac
2009
Review
Splice is a sci-fi/horror film, although, there are few scary parts in the movie. The special effects are impressive once they have an actress step into the role of "Dren." The film does a good job of making the viewer feel compassion for the spliced creature. However, that makes the film have some long periods without any scary scenes and takes away from the "horror" aspect of the movie. Also, this movie has one of the most disturbing sex scenes in recent memory. This film had some great potential, but fell to being mediocre. Perhaps, if the trailer would not have sold the movie as a high-paced thriller, viewers may have been a little less disappointed.
5.5/10
Resident Evil: Afterlife
Genre: Horror, Action, Sci-Fi
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Wentworth Miller, Shawn Roberts, Spencer Locke, Kim Coates, Boris Kodjoe
2010
Review
As one of the few video game to movie franchise to ever really amount to anything, Resident Evil films have a lot on their shoulders. Part of the issue with some of the video games that are made into movies is the execution. There is a line directors must balance between keeping the integrity of the game, while not cheapening the movie will pointless references to the game. Uwe Boll films are an example of what not do in game adaptations. Boll may have even had an impact on movies he did not have anything to do with, as well. The Resident Evil movies even got criticism as being bad by some. This may be a case of expecting a video game based film to be bad, and letting the expectations dictate the response to the film. The series has been constantly good, not amazing, but good enough to keep people interested in watching more.
7/10
Wristcutters: A Love Story
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Starring: Patrick Fugit, Shannyn Sossamon, Leslie Bibb, Tom Waits, Will Arnett
2006
Review
The premise of this movie is interesting. After committing suicide, Patrick Fugit's character finds himself in an afterlife that is very similar to the world of the living. The only difference is it is even more depressing than being alive. It is a fairly low budget film that was released at The Sundance Film Festival in 2006, and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize that year. There is dark humor to the movie and a romantic story as well, though, it is not really a romantic comedy. The humor is witty and clever for the most part. The movie is definitely worth watching.
7/10
