MAN ON A LEDGE

SAM WORTHINGTON GOES OUT ON A LEDGE IN HIS LATEST FILM AND EVERYONE WILL YELL “JUMP!”

Sam Worthington (Avatar) plays Nick Cassidy, a New York cop turned criminal in his latest film “Man on a Ledge”. Cassidy working for the NYPD until he steals a diamond the size of a baseball from real estate tycoon and mob boss David Englander (Ed Harris). Nick pleaded his tale of innocence all the way to Rikers Island prison where he would serve his sentence and plot how to get even with Englander.

Get Even? You see Cassidy insists that he was framed and Englander kept the diamond and turned in a insurance claim on the supposed “robbery”. Following a failed parole hearing, Cassidy is taken out of jail to attend his father’s funeral. Following the service, Nick comes to blow with his younger brother Joey (Jamie Bell) that turns into a jail break as Nick escapes.

Nick makes his way to a storage vault where Nick had been storing evidence and planning payback with his brother against Englander. Next Nick checks into a hotel in Manhattan, has a lobster lunch, writes a note then goes out the window and becomes the film’s title character “Man on a Ledge”. Crowds form and NYPD comes to the scene led by lead negotiator Lydia Mercer (Elizabeth Banks) who has a less than glorious record with jumpers and is disliked more than Cassidy by the cops.

Man on a Ledge is a very good shell game. While everyone including David Englander is looking at Cassidy on the ledge, Joey and his girl are across the street in Englader’s high rise breaking in to the safe to get the diamond Nick supposedly stole years earlier!

Before you start screaming that I gave away the film…..You will see this on the trailer! And there is much more to this than the obvious. Like who was working with Englander to frame Nick and which members of the NYPD are dirty and plan to shoot nick off the ledge? You may also ask how does Nick get down…one giant step, or on the elevator in cuffs or in a body bag with a hole in his head? You will need to go see it to get those answers!

Ed Burns (Saving private Ryan) and Titus Welliver (Touch) are stellar in supporting roles as New York’s finest. I really liked the realism of having a typical NY crowd around the building yelling JUMP! at Worthington as he filmed on the ledge of the hotel.

I am Karl, the Flick Fanatic and Sam Worthington really went out on a ledge this time (literally) and will have everyone in the theater yelling JUMP! as they watch ‘Man on a Ledge’ trying to guess just where the rock is!

Rated PG (Language, Violence)

Running time: 102 mins.

HAYWIRE

Ever wonder what if Jason Bourne had been “born” a woman? 

Director Steven Soderbergh must have, so he made the new film “Haywire”. Another tale of an ex-marine turned black ops agent thrown under the bus by a dirty government employee, set up for a murder “she” didn’t commit. That is right, SHE! Soderbergh cast an unknown actress and kick boxer, Gina Carano, in the title role of Mallory, government gun for hire.

Haywire is exactly that from the very beginning of this film with Mallory sitting down to a nice cup of tea at a quiet diner when Channing Tatum walks in and things go nuts. After he asks Mallory to come in with him to headquarters she proceeds to kick his ass and break his arm! Then she bolts with another customer from the diner (Michael Angarano) who donates his new car to the escape and is entertained to the tale of how Mallory’s career went south.

The assignment, go to Barcelona and rescue a journalist held by some bad guys. Antonio Banderas and Michael Douglas are the high ranking officials requesting the service of the USA’s best agent only to have her boss, Kenneth (Ewan McGregor) serve her up and put Mallory in the middle of the chaos.  Mallory and her team (which includes Aaron played by Channing Tatum) are able to rescue the journalist and turn him over to Rodrigo (Bandaras). Mission Accomplished!

Mallory returns home to have Kenneth waiting in her house with another mission. This one is just suppose to be “cake” or a vacation for her with Mallory just posing as eye candy for an MI-5 British agent (Michael Fassbender).All seems to be going well again until Mallory discovers the journalist she just rescued under a bed with a bullet hole in his head! Upon examining the room, she discovers some of her things planted around it, realizing she was being framed for murder. Then Haywire delivers with a slobber-knocker with Carano and Fassbender leaving him under a pillow with a gunshot to his head.

That is when Haywire becomes payback and has Mallory following the clues that lead her back to the Government bad guys that set her up! Haywire is that non-stop action flick that is just edge of your seat fun. This is also a Soderbergh film so it is driven by action not words and has that quirky ending that you will have to go to the theater to see!  Carano isn’t awful and does well in her first feature, she reminds me of Ashley Judd with a wicked round-house kick! There is also a pleasant surprise…Bill Paxton! He plays ex-marine turned writer and Mallory’s dad.

I am Karl, the Flick Fanatic enjoying the way 2012 has started……ACTION PACKED!!!! And Haywire delivers on just what it promises!

Rated R (Violence, Language)

Running Time: 93 mins.

CONTRABAND

Hollywood managed to smuggle in a good action flick to start the year off right!

Mark Wahlberg is versatile! This guy has danced through soft core porn (Boogie Nights), arrested us with his comedic skill in the Other Guys, threw his hat in the ring on dramas (The Fighter) and now he is back in his wheel house, the action flick with his new film “Contraband”. Contraband has an A-list supporting cast featuring Ben Foster (The Mechanic), Kate Beckinsale (Underworld), J.K. Simmons (Spiderman) and the great Giovanni Ribisi (Gone in 60 Seconds) in a tale of how no matter how hard you try the criminal world has a way to drag you back in.

Chris Farraday (Wahlberg) is a happily married man, with 2 boys and a successful security system business. You couldn’t ask for a better life for an ex-master smuggler. Farraday is the all-pro in the smuggling world, until he walked away when he got married to Kate (Beckinsale) and his Dad got busted. He left the run-n –gun life behind, but Kate’s little brother didn’t. Andy (Caleb Landry Jones) is forced to dump 10 lbs of cocaine when customs boarded his boat. When drug kingpin Tim Biggs (Ribisi) finds out he tells Andy he gets him $700k or he will die.

Farraday meets with Biggs only to find out that the debt is on the family and each one of them will be killed until the debt is repaid. Chris gets his ex-partner Sebastian (Foster) to set up a run for some funny money to pay off the debt incurred by Andy. Sebastian is convinced that they need to bring in drugs and Chris won’t have it, he doesn’t want to do hard time next to his dad for drug smuggling. The plan, get on a freighter and cruise down to Panama, see Gonzalo (Diego Luna) and bring back a pallet of counterfeit money.

The best laid plans……

As soon as the anchor was raised, the issues began to arise. Farraday is stuck on a ship with Capt. Camp (J.K. Simmons), a man with a personal grudge against all the Farradays and immediately put chris on the clean up detail. After the boat crashes in Panama, the money turns out to be on bad paper and Andy disappears with the buy money! Leaving Farraday at the end of Gonzalo’s 44 “holding the bag”!

I’m not going to give away any spoilers and tell you how Wahlberg gets out of this and which of the Farraday Family members are killed by Briggs, nope. I’m also not going to give up the real mastermind behind the drug smuggling ring, this one will knock you off your chair!

Contraband isn’t “The Bourne Identity” but it is a good, exciting and FUN film. Contraband mirrors “Gone in 60 Seconds” in its plot, but I don’t hold that against them, I liked Gone in 60 seconds! Wahlberg and the gang managed to “smuggle” in a very good action film to start the year off right!

I am Karl the Flick Fanatic, telling you that the film to see this weekend is the one that has guns, drugs and violence in it….CONTRABAND!!!!!

Rated R (Violence, Language, Drugs)

Running Time: 110 minutes


JOYFUL NOISE

DOLLY PARTON AND QUEEN LATIFAH TEAM UP TO DO GLEE THE GOSPEL!

Hollywood must have thought “ It’s been 20 years since Sister Act, we need to dust off the gowns for another sappy sing along. I give you Joyful Noise!

When they blew off the dust, they had to use the dustbuster to get Dolly Parton out of the house and team her with “actress” Queen Latifah in a sappy story of a struggling church choir trying to win the national title. Sounds like a Gospel Glee! There is a Dawson’s Creek style love story with Keke Palmer and Jeremy Jordan who play the children of choir rivals G.G. (Parton) and Vi Rose (Latifah).

Is it completely predictable, sappy and have the worst dialogue in film……YES!

It isn’t completely horrible; there is a few good songs like a version of Paul McCartney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed”. The problem is you have to sit through a song by Queen Latifah where she just sings Jesus heal me 25 times…no other lyrics in the song…great songwriter!

I am Karl, the Flick Fanatic and the only thing “joyful was when this “noise” ended and the credits rolled. This one is an early front runner for the worst of 2013….

Rated PG-13 (Language)

Running Time: 117 mins

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

Pounding Music, wintery scene and hang-on to your seat mystery will have you asking Santa for tickets to the feel bad movie of the holiday season!

Since the younger generation and those too lazy to read sub-titles think the new release rack is the only one in the DVD store, Hollywood has decided to remake all the great foreign films with an American flair. The latest redux is the first installment in one of the best trilogies since Frodo left the shire, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. The film originally done in 2009 in Sweden starred new comer Noomi Rapace as hard-ass goth chick Lisbeth Salander in a thriller that had more twists and turns than the autobahn. So I was eager to see what director David Fincher (Social Network) would do with a recognizable cast starring Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig and if he would stick to the story as writer Stieg Larsson intended it to be.

For those new to the tale, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is about Lisbeth Salander (Mara), a computer hacker, investigator and tough gal. So when Mikael Blomkvist (Craig) is hired to investigate a girl who has been missing for 40 years and presumed dead, he is in need of an expert researcher and hires Lisbeth. Salander brings baggage to the equation. Lisbeth, who grew up in a government facility until she was an adult and then was forced to report to a disturbed probation officer for her monetary allowance in exchange for deviant sexual favors. So she is a loner and not able to trust anyone, but does taking a liking and interest in Blomkvist.

The two are hired by Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer) the family patriarch and business owner who had his daughter disappear 40 years ago. Every year on his birthday Vanger receives a framed plant just like the one his missing daughter had given him before her demise. Vanger believes someone in the family is toying with him and wants Blomkvist to find that person, and that person is the one who killed his little girl.

As Lisbeth and Blomkvist get closer to the truth, the investigation becomes even more deadly and they unearth a hidden secret no one in the Vanger family knew about one of their own.  If you don’t like to read films (subtitles) and can’t bring yourself to rent the original, go check out this version of Dragon Tattoo.

Fincher does a few things right in this remake, mainly the soundtrack that starts of the film with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ version of Led Zeppelin’s “The Immigrant Song” that gets your blood pumping from the very start. Fincher also has some great cinematography that will have you shivering from the cold or just plain scared from the suspense. But he doesn’t do it all right. Mara looks like a meek cancer patient as Salander compared to Rapace but does get the troubled character’s message across to the filmgoer. Finally this is a spoiler! I had a real problem with the new film being so sexist that Craig had to be the one to figure it all out instead of the strong independent female lead like they did with Noomi in the original. All that being said I liked the film, but it will never hold a flame to the original.

I am Karl, the Flick Fanatic letting you know that the feel bad movie for the holidays comes at Christmas and it is wearing black leather and some fresh ink…we call it “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”, get comfy in your seat this one goes for a while!

Rated R (Rape, Sex, Language,Violence)

Running Time: 158 minutes

 

 SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS

Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law are back to solve the mystery of a scholar who majors in murder…It’s Elementary and it’s Great!

OH How I have missed you Holmes!

Back in 2009, Sherlock Holmes was one of my favorite films. I loved the chemistry and wit shared between Downey and Law as the master detective and his partner in solving mysteries. Now, two years later we finally find out the identity of the man in the shadows….it’s none other than Holmes’ arch enemy Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris)!

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is a game of chess with Holmes and Moriarty trying to predict the other’s move while pawns on each side begin to fall by the wayside. One such pawn is the lovely Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), who out lived her usefulness as a henchman for Moriarty, and she is poisoned by the “good” professor.

Sherlock has spent his time tracking Moriarty and all the mischief he has caused with murder, extortion and bombings. Moriarty is just too good and never leaves any evidence to pin the crimes on him. When the master detective comes face to face with his foe, Sherlock discovers that Moriarty plans to make it personal by sending a “special” wedding gift to Dr. Watson and his new bride. Watson is recruited in order to avoid his wife or himself being murdered by Moriarty. The final part of the team comes in the form of a gypsy named Madam Simza (Noomi Rapace) who’s brother is a bomb maker being held by Moriarty.

Soon the team stumbles out of the woods and into the middle of Moriarty’s master plan. A Game of Shadows is just that, a brilliant shell game of a film. It’s fun and loaded with action with an end will knock you off your chair! I am not going to give anything away here, YOU NEED TO GO SEE THIS FILM!

I am Karl, the Flick Fanatic, letting you know this one was elementary my dear fanatics….Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is a must see flick this holiday season!

Rated PG-13 (Violence, smoking)

Running Time: 120 mins

 

NEW YEARS EVE


Break out the bubbly! New Years comes early this year and you will need to tie one on to get through it!

Director Garry Marshall successfully ruined one of the most romantic holidays last year when he put out his film “Valentine’s Day”. The film was loaded with A-list talent fighting for screen time like it was the royal rumble in the WWE! So when I saw the trailer for his latest attempt to honor another of our precious holidays, I got sick to my stomach, thinking here we go again trashing “New Years Eve”.

Marshall does know how to make money with these bad films….CASTING! He loads the films with every “name” in Hollywood and it’s no different with NYE. New Year’s Eve has a few different story lines that eventually become intertwined. The easiest way to do this is by groups…

My faves:

Zac Efron & Michelle Pfeiffer in the resolution guy. Pfeiffer is Ingrid, an assistant at a large recording label, she is sick of being taken advantage of at work and not out of work. So she quits her job on New Year’s Eve and strikes a bargain with a courier Paul (Efron), if he can make her laundry list of resolutions come true then he will get passes to an exclusive NYE party put on by the record label. This is the primary storyline in the film and by itself would have made a great film. Sadly the crap is coming….

Hillary Swank & Robert DeNiro in the ball still falls. Stan Harris (DeNiro) is in the final hours of his life (dying of cancer) and just wants to see the ball fall in Times Square one more time. But his doctor won’t let him go on the roof to see it. Claire Morgan (Swank) is Harris’ estranged daughter who is in charge of all the happenings at Times Square and is having a mini stroke of her own as the ball gets stuck and shorts out just hours before it should be coming down. Keep an eye out for Halle Berry and Allyssa Milano as nurses in the hospital. Again would have made a good film!

The rest….

Bon Jovi, Katherine Heigl, Lea Michelle and Ashton Kutcher in a sour note! Michelle is a budding back-up singer hoping to be noticed by Jensen (Bon Jovi) at the big concert at Times Square. That is until she gets stuck in an elevator with comicbook artist and holiday hater Randy (Kutcher). Jensen is about to set off on his big tour but still loves ex girlfriend and chef Laura (Heigl) and wants to win her back on this “magical” night.

Sarah Jessica Parker, Abigail Breslin and Josh Duhamel in dream date. Parker is Breslin’s mom and refuses to let her hang in the square with her boyfriend for “the first kiss of the year”. Breslin shows us how she has grown up in this film…..Duhamel son of the owner of the recording label goes on a journey to get to New York and the party in Times Square only to duck out for a secret rendezvous with a mystery woman.

There is also a baby race with Seth Myers, Jessica Beil, and Carla Gugino that falls flat on its face. I will say the bright spots in the film from cameo performance come from a tow truck driver (Larry Miller) and Heigl’s horney latino assistant played by Modern family’s Sofia Vergara. The best part of New Years Eve, just like the holiday is the end! It has hilarious outtakes and a kicking sound track featuring Lea Michelle singing with Bon Jovi.

New Years Eve will be the number one film at the box office this weekend, because it has Efron for the little girls, Lea Michelle for the Glee fans, and SJP, Heigl, Duhamel and kutcher to keep the women glued to the seats. In the end this is a rental at the dvd store if you have nothing better to do with your life!

I am Karl, the Flick Fanatic telling you to pop the corks, fill the glasses because New Year’s Eve is coming early this year….and we will need to be drunk to get through this one!

Rated PG-13 (Language, mature themes)

Running Time 118 mins.

HUGO

Scorsese shows his brilliance with his latest tale of an orphan on a quest of discovery in some of the best 3D ever!

Martin Scorsese, director best known for the mob classics Goodfellas, The Departed and the classic Taxi Driver, has changed gears and brought us an entertaining tale of an orphan on a quest to find answers about his father and a strange robot in the wonderful tale of “HUGO”. Scorsese is an amazing storyteller and this holds true with Hugo, but Marty goes on uncharted territory as he delivers this new film in breathtaking 3D!

Hugo (Asa Butterfield) is a boy who was orphaned when his father (cameo by Jude Law) was killed in a fire at the museum where he worked. Hugo is then passed to his alcoholic uncle and forced to live in the walls of the local train station. Hugo spend his days winding the clocks at the station while pilfering food, stealing small parts to help repair a robot left to him by his dad, all while eluding the clumsy station inspector (Sasha Baron Cohen) and his attack dog. On one such morning as he was procuring a sprocket at the toy shop he is caught by the owner Georges Melies (Ben Kingsley). Melies discovers Hugo’s manual which details the inner workings of the robot he is repairing and is shocked and accuses the boy of stealing and tells him to leave or be arrested.

Hugo facing the idea of not having a clue of how to repair the robot without his journal, recruits Melies granddaughter Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moritz) to help him get it back. Isabella, an avid reader and hungry for adventure, so she teams up with Hugo to find the answer to his quest of what his father’s death, the robot and Mr. Melies all have in common.

Hugo features a supporting cast of Harry Potter and Star Wars alums (Christopher Lee, Richard Griffiths and Frances de la Tour) that provide the background at the station while Hugo and Isabella race around eluding the Inspector. Cohen shines and once again proves he can act as he steps out of the personas he invented in his TV series.

I was eager to see Hugo ever since I saw the trailer thinking this was going to be one of those kid’s films that was enjoyable for the entire family, only to find out this is not a story for the very small children. Hugo is story driven and while it is very good, holding the attention of a small child, not likely. That being said, anyone over the age of 12 will enjoy this tale of an orphan, turned detective as he finds the truth about a mysterious toymaker through the drawing of a robot left to him by his late father.

I am Karl, the Flick Fanatic telling you to relax this holiday weekend after you battle on Black Friday at a wonderful 3D tale of mystery around an orphan named “HUGO”!

Rated PG (Violence,Alcohol)

Running Time: 127 mins.

 

JACK AND JILL

SANDLER IS NO DRAG WHEN HE DONS A DRESS WITH AL PACINO!

Everyone who reads my reviews regularly knows I am a big Sandler fan, having met him and the rest of the Happy Madison gang when they were in St. Louis a while back. So it won’t be a surprise when I say I really enjoyed his new film “Jack and Jill”. Sandle plays the dual role of identical twins Jack and Jill Sadelstein, and there is no amount of make-up that can make Sandler attractive in a dress……but he is funny! Director Dennis Dugan (Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy) seems to be able to bring the best out of Sandler.

Jack and Jill is the story of a successful advertising executive and family man who is struggling with the impending arrival of his twin sister that annually drives him crazy over the holidays. Elodie Tougue and Rohan Chad are gems as the Sadelstein kids and just like any Adam Sandler film he has a hot leading lady, this time its Katie Holmes playing his wife Erin. Jack is faced with the monumental task of getting the acting icon Al Pacino to do a Dunkin Donuts commercial in order to keep his biggest client.

Yes Al Pacino is in the film!

As with every Happy Madison film, they are like a fraternity and once you have acted with Sandler you are always welcome back in any film with him, so the cavalcade of co-stars included Michael Irvin, Dan Patrick, Alan Covert, Nick Swarsdon, David Spade, Peter Dante, Norm Mc Donald, Tim Meadows and Dana Carvey. With this many funny people, there is something that will touch your funny bone.

As each Hanukah candle burns, Jack blood pressure builds and can’t seem to get any time to talk to Pacino. That is until he and Jill run face to face with the Godfather himself courtside at a Lakers game. Instead of landing the donut deal Pacino sends Jill a message in a dog…a hot dog! Don’t toss your corn yet, but Al is smitten with Jill….that was even hard to type! Lol!!!!!

There is another special guest cameo during the Laker game that will please all the pirate fans out there.

Jack and Jill is a funny film and very cute as it wraps up with the typical warm and fuzzy ending. But it was nice to see the happy Madison boys tone it down for a family film but still maintain the humor. One of the best scenes comes toward the end of the film with the restroom attendant the helps Sandler as Jack and Jill adjust his “melons”! You just have to see it.

I am Karl, the flick fanatic and I am still chuckling following another Sandler hit comedy that should be on everyone’s list to see this weekend. Sandler is no “Drag” when he puts on a dress for Pacino! Stick around for the credit for the real twins telling stories, some are really funny.

Rated PG (Language, crude humor)

Running Time: 98 mins.

HAROLD & KUMAR'S A VERY 3D CHRISTMAS

DEAR SANTA,

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A CANDY CANE COLORED BONG, A WHITE CASTLE CRAVE CASE AND A WAFFLEBOT!

KUMAR

It’s been six years since our two favorite stoners escaped from prison in Cuba to vacation with their girlfriends in Amsterdam. Now Harold and Kumar (John Cho, Kal Penn) are estranged and moving on with their lives. Harold has married Maria (Paula Garces), has a great job and house in the burbs and now is planning the ultimate Christmas party to impress his new father-in-law (Danny Trejo).

Kumar has lost it all. He flunked out of medical school after failing a drug test, Vanessa (Danneel Harris) has broken up with him and Harold has left him to hang out with his nerdy neighbor Adrian (Amir Blumenfeld). That is until while on a serious high a mysterious package shows up at Kumar’s door addressed to Harold.

As we have seen twice before whenever Harold & Kumar get together all hell breaks loose (White Castle, Guantanamo Bay), So when Kumar and Adrian decide to deliver the box to Harold…….we know the film is about to get good! After an awkward intro Harold opens the box to find a gianormous joint in the box, which Kumar blazes up. The the pieces begin to fall as Kumar tosses the joint which ends up in Harolds Christmas Tree (a tree Mr. Perez, Harold’s father –in-law, grew for the last 8 years just for this event) and it goes up in flames!

Now the wild and crazy adventure begins! Instead of three men and a baby, we have 2 stoners, a virgin, the nerd and a baby. When Harold moved on he also replaced Kumar with a grown up friend Todd (Thomas Lennon). So now we are on the search for the perfect replacement Christmas tree..on Christmas eve! So it begins with a cloud of pot smoke with Todd’s infant daughter in tow with a serious cotact high from second hand smoke on a merry tour of New York with stops at White Castle, a party at the home of a Russian mobster and finally at a holiday show featuring the Rockettes and NPH! Yes Neil Patrick Harris returns from the dead to aid in the search for Harold’s tree and gives Kumar the best gift of the year, a wafflebot, a robot that makes waffles and serves them with warm syrup….I WANT ONE!!!!! NPH also gives a spoiler for the future when he tells the guys “See you in #4!” Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know what you want to know, is there sex, drugs and vulgar humor? This is Harold and Kumar smoking up Christmas…of course there is! The other thing this is in 3D, coming right at you 3D. They intentionally go over the top with all the 3D gags that make it a laugh riot to watch this tree hunt. Nothing is off limits in this one, we even have a coked out baby dancing on the ceiling!

Anyone who says anything bad about this film signs their name scrooge or they are just too damn old to see this film! Harold & Kumar’s A Very 3D Christmas is a fun film that is loaded with humor. Including a scene that pays homage to “A Christmas Story” with Harold & Kumar tied to a pole about to be killed by gangsters!  Personally I plan to add it to my holiday movie cavalcade after Christmas Vacation and just before Bad Santa! A tip to the movie goer….you will leave this film with a case of the munchies and thanks to the wafflebot you will be in search of that golden brown delight, so find a theater near a Waffle House! If you liked the trip to White castle and rolled in the aisles during Guantanamo, you will love the way these two do Christmas!

I am Karl, the Flick Fanatic and Santa I want a wafflebot for Christmas and Harold and Kumar’s A Very 3D Christmas on DVD!!!!! And I can’t wait for NPH and the boys in H&K 4!

Rated R (Sex, Drugs, Language, Fun)

Running Time: 93 mins

TOWER HEIST

FEELING CHEATED AND HAVE NOWHERE TO TURN?  WE HAVE JUST THE CREW FOR YOU!!!!!

Director Brett Ratner and producer Eddie Murphy have assembled an A-List of comedy stars that will steal laughs along with 20 million dollars in the new who-done-it film ‘Tower Heist’.

Heist stars Ben Stller and Casey Affleck as Josh and Charlie Kovack who work together at the prestigious “Tower Apartments” where all the well to do New Yorkers live. The rest of the staff includes a maid who is here working on an expired work visa (Gabby Sidibe), a door man with a very long career facing retirement (Stephan Henderson), a manager who is oblivious to the daily runnings of the building (Judd Hirsch) and and elevator operator trained at Burger King (Michael Pena).

Alan Alda plays Arthur Shaw, an Wall Street investor being investigated by the FBI stealing money from clients that turn out to be the very staff at the Tower where he lives! Charlie invested the Tower staff’s retirement account with Shaw and according to agent Denham (Tia Leoni) the fund is long gone.

This sends Lester, the doorman, to jump in front of a subway train to end it all. This has Charlie get a group together to take down Shaw and find the crews money. The problem is…….none of these people are criminals. So Charlie recruits his very vocal and gangster neighbor Slide (Eddie Murphy) to lead the raid on Shaw’s apartment.

Tower heist is a well done game of cat n mouse that becomes a shell game with a nut worth 20 million dollars! Stiller, Affleck, Leoni are all very good but Eddie Murphy is back to being Eddie! This is the best thing since he rolled into Beverly Hills in the beat up blue Nova! I was worried that this was one of those films that you saw all the funny moments in the trailers, not so with this film…there are enough laughs to go around.

I am Karl, the Flick Fanatic letting you know that stiller Murphy and the boys steal 20 million and a ton of laugh in the new film ‘Tower Heist’ and you need to head to the theater to be fleeced!

Rated PG13 (Language, violence)

Running Time: 100 mins

 

PUSS N BOOTS

HOLY FRIJOLES!!! PUSS N BOOTS IS GREAT!

I was a big Fan of the Shrek films and one of my favorite characters was Puss N Boots (voiced by Antonio Bandaras), So when I found out they were giving the fierce feline his own film, I was all for it. Puss N Boots is the origin story of how the cat earn his boots and swashbuckling style, before he ran into the Ogre and his donkey buddy.

Puss was abandoned as a kitten and grew up in a foster home. His only friend was an egg named Humpty Dumpty (Voiced by Zach Galafanakis) who was a little bit “scrambled” in the yoke! Puss wanted to do things for the town, its people and to make his momma proud and Humpty was just out to get his. This was true when Humpty tricked puss into helping him rob the town bank, which landed the egg in jail and puss on every wanted poster across the land.

Puss was desperate to make things right so he began to search for magic beans in order to steal some golden eggs (from the giant in Jack n the beanstalk) and restore his good name. Puss finds the magic beans being held by none other than the evil couple Jack and Jill (Billy Bob Thorton, Amy Sederis) and when he attempts to steal them another cat steps in and screws up the plan. Kitty soft paws (Salma Hayek), a thief who is working with Puss’ old nemesis, Humpty Dumpty!

The three get together and form a new partnership to help Humpty and Puss return home as Heroes again…but can the egg be trusted or is he still hard boiled from rotting in jail? You will have to see for yourself!

As Puss would say “Skip this film If you dare!” I say go get in line now and don’t miss a second of this great origin story.  Shrek may be done but I think our swashbuckling cat is just getting started!

I am Karl the flick Fanatic screaming “HOLY FRIJOLES!!! PUSS N BOOTS IS GREAT!”

Rated PG for animated violence

Running time 110 mins.

THE RUM DIARY

I AM NEVER GOING TO TOUCH ALCOHOL AGAIN!!!!!

Hunter S. Thompson reaches out to us from the grave as his novel “The Rum Diary” comes to the big screen. Johnny Depp once again (Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas) plays the title character and channels his inner “Thompson” playing a down on his luck journalist that surfaces in the Caribbean writing horoscopes at the local rag.

Kemp (Depp), a struggling novelist from New York, finds his only paying gig at a failing paper in Puerto Rico writing horoscopes. Kemp soon falls in with a drunken photographer Sala (Michael Rispoli) and a Nazi lover gonzo journalist named Moburg (Giovanni Ribisi) and begins to learn the do’s and don’ts of how things work on the island. Depp greeting every morning with a hangover and the mantra “I’m never touching alcohol again” only to get hammered again!

Soon Kemp is recruited by a group of American profiteers lead buy business man named Sanderson (Aaron Eckhardt) who plan to take advantage and turn the island into a rich American playground by buying up land for pennies and putting up luxury hotels. Kemp is recruited to write the brochure and get in on the scheme with the others. The problem is that Kemp has changed since moving to the island. Drugs and alcohol will do that to a person not to mention his two buddies!

So Kemp decides to “screw the bastards” and make the whole deal public and bring the whole island crashing down.

I am a Thompson fan and love the guy and all of his stories. But you don’t have to know Hunter to enjoy ‘The Rum Diary’, you just have to like a sarcastically funny well written story that features great performances by Depp and Ribisi. But those that chose to go to the movies and not use the 11 lb. paper weight on top of your shoulders, not to worry, there is another Twilight film coming next month!

I am Karl, the Flick Fanatic toasting my man Hunter with a glass of Capt. Morgan…CHEERS! And relaying a message from him…go see this film! If you like it I then command you to go to the store and rent the DVD ‘Gonzo’ and you will know the legend that was Hunter S. Thompson.

Rated R (Language, Drugs)

Running Time: 120 Mins

THE MIGHTY MACS

HOLY HOOSIERS!!!

Carla Gugino finally becomes a starter as she steps out in the spotlight with her new film “Mighty Macs”. Gugino plays Cathy Rush, coach of the first woman’s college basketball team to win the national championship.

Cathy Rush, a college basketball player whose career was cut short by a stubborn coach, finds herself the new head basketball coach at Immaculata, an all girl’s college outside Philadelphia. Immaculata is the “weak sisters of the poor” and the door mat of the NCAA. This all changed as Rush came in and brought a breath of fresh air into the program with hard fundamentals, team building and scrimmages with boys. All this paid off in the team’s collection plate as the wins began to pile up.

All was not easy for Rush. Cathy had to bump heads constantly with the head Nun Mother St. John (Ellen Burstyn) over equipment, transportation and the fundamentals things to run a collegiate athletic program. Immaculata was on life support and fielding offers to be bought out as the basketball team was being resurrected.

The team went on an amazing winning streak and adopted the name the “Mighty Macs” as they ended the season by securing an at large bid into the first National Championship tournaments for women’s basketball. The Mighty Macs is just like every other sports “underdog” story, with more than its fair share of sap, but it will also have you on the edge of your seat cheering on the girls as the clock ticks down to 0:00!

The Mighty Macs is a very good family film and Carla Gugino is the MVP! Go check out “Mighty Macs” and be sure to stick around for the credits to see what impact Cathy Rush had on her girls at Immaculata as you see what her team of girls did after they graduated from the Catholic College.

I am Karl, the Flick Fanatic posting up for a 3 point jump shot wondering why you aren’t checking out the new version we can only call “Holy Hoosiers!” in the MIGHTY MACS!

Rated G for GOOD!

Running Time: 102 minutes

REAL STEEL

ROCKEM SOCKEM ROBOTS: THE MOVIE!

Who would have thought that the toy I played with as a child would someday be developed into a major motion picture, not me. But that is exactly what happened this week when Hugh Jackman and Evangeline Lilly’s new film “Real Steel” opened and reminded every guy in the audience over the age of 40 of the toy “Rock’em Sock’em Robots” they played with decades ago.

Real Steel takes place in the not too distant future when the injury toll in boxing and the fan appeal of wrestling and robot wars has merged in to World Champion Robot Boxing battles that would impress Don King and Vince McMahon! Jackman plays Charlie Kenton, dead beat dad and washed up boxer turned loser robot warrior. Kenton, who goes from town to town trying to earn money fighting his robot while attempting to stay ahead of the bill collectors. Charlie lucks into a robot with a great fighting history and is ready to generate some real money when he sees his ‘bot its head ripped off. Charlie then must fine more money to keep doing what he loves to do.

Charlie finds a payday only it comes with a catch, a 13 year old boy…Charlie’s son. Kenton isn’t going to win any father of the year awards since he went to his kids custody hearing to sell custody to his dead wife’s sister. The condition of the deal is that Charlie has to watch Max (Dakota Koyo) for the summer while his sister and law and her rich husband vacation in Italy. Not the bonding experience you would expect. Max wants cash to go away and Charlie already spent it on another robot. Max witnesses his father’s futility first hand as he has another robot get destroyed and is forced to break into a junkyard for parts. Max stumbles across an early model sparing bot that has special features not equipped in the modern versions.

So Charlie, an ex boxer himself, begins to train Max’s bot ”Atom” to begin fighting the world’s best robots. Real Steel is less of a buddy picture and more like Rocky with robots. Jackman gives a good performance and Evangeline Lilly isn’t bad to look at in the role of Kenton’s girl Friday. My only issue is that there isn’t enough robot boxing in the film, too much humanity!

I am Karl, the Flick Fanatic, saying put up your dukes and get out the bucks and go a few rounds with Jackman and the new film Real Steel!

Rated PG-13 (Language, violence)

Running Time: 127 mins.

 

IDES OF MARCH

YOU CAN DECLARE WAR, YOU CAN BANKRUPT THE COUNTRY, BUT YOU CAN’T F**K THE INTERNS!

Clooney does it all this time as he stars, writes and directs his new political drama “The Ides of March”. Clooney might also get his co-star Ryan Gosling an Oscar nomination for his role as Stephan Meyers, an up and coming campaign manager.

Ides of March give the audience a peek into the back room politics, shady deals and under the table promises as Governor Mike Morris fights for every vote to win the Democratic primary in Ohio on his way to the White House. Stephan knows everything it takes to make the public love his “guy” even down to raising Gov. Morris’ podium at a debate to make Sen. Pullman look short. The other camp has also noticed Meyers’ skill and the campaign manager for the Pullman camp, Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti) makes a pitch to lure Stephan away to Pullman. Meyers has to choose the right horse in this political race to get the gravy job at the White House or end up at as a consultant for the next 4 years until the next Presidential race get started.

Meyers finds himself in a mess when he has to handle an intern’s abortion after she had a “private meeting” with Gov. Morris and finds out that a reporter (Marissa Tomei) is going to leak the story he is meeting with Duffy and the enemy camp. Then Meyers is out to get everyone who stabbed him in the back…Duffy, the reporter and mostly Gov. Morris!

Ides is a political drama that will thrill fans of “Meet the Press”, fans of politicians debating or just a wordy film. Ides of March is a very good film loaded with A-List actors that give excellent performances, but there is something to be said about entertaining the audience. I feel unless you are a politico or a huge Clooney fan you may just be yawning 30 minutes into this one. Ides has one of my favorite lines of the year when Gosling shows down with Clooney in the “cards on the table” climax when Meyers explains “You (Morris as president) can declare war, bankrupt the country but you can’t F**K the interns!”

I am Karl, the Flick Fanatic and I am not running to the polls to vote for Ides of March but after the weekend crowds may demand a recount!

Rated PG-13 (Language, partial nudity, drugs and abortion)

Running Time: 101 mins.

WHAT'S YOUR NUMBER?

ANNA FARIS’ NEW COMEDY ASKS FOR A NUMBER BUT THE ONLY “ONE” THAT COMES TO MIND IS   0!

Let me say that I am a HUGE fan of Anna Faris. I have seen everything she has done and own most of them on DVD. Her comedy House Bunny is my favorite and I can watch it whenever it is on. So when I see the trailers of her new romantic comedy “What’s your Number?”, I am running to the theater expecting to laugh my head off only to leave yawning from being bored for 106 minutes.

Alley Darling (Faris) is a party gal, always on the lookout for “the guy”. The problem is she ends up drunk and waking up in bed next to “the wrong guy”. So when playing a drinking game during her sister’s bachelorette party, everyone put down their “number” aka the number of men they have had sex with only to find out Ally is at an eye popping 20! Drunk and embarrassed, Ally vows to not have sex with anyone until she find the guy she will wed. The next morning she wakes up naked next to her ex-boss, the finger sniffing creep Roger (Joel McHale). The thought of marriage to Roger is revolting so Ally decides to revisit her past male accomplishments in order to see if any of them might be the one.

If one of her exes was the right guy they wouldn’t be exes would they? So in comes half naked neighbor Colin Shea (Chris Evans) who agrees to help Ally track down her old boyfriend in exchange for a place to hide from the girls he brings home after he sleeps with them. Ally agrees, but tells him she is only going to sleep with the man she will marry. Then the who’s who of Ally’s past begins as boy friend after boyfriend surface only to be set adrift again once Ally realizes that they haven’t changed since the last time they were together. One laugh in this yawn fest is when she goes to Washington to see Tom Piper (Anthony Mackie), a senator’s aide, only to find out she turned him GAY!

Once the boyfriend hunt ends, and it is time for her sister’s wedding “What’s Your Number?” gets very predictable. “Number” also does something I have never seen done before, they made Anna Faris look ugly in a film! During the wedding with the way her hair was, the dress she was wearing…Anna just looked BAD! Anna did manage to show off her great tush when she and Evans took a skinny dip in the river though. But in the end, what you think will happen, Does!!!! Go figure. The real crime that occurs is that some of the funny scenes are not even in the film as they left all the Andy Samburg scenes out except a muppet make out session with Faris.

I am Karl, the Flick Fanatic and my number I would give to this film is 1, because it is barely worth $1 to rent from the DVD machine!

Rated R (Language, partial nudity, sexual situations)

Running Time: 106 mins.

MONEYBALL

BRAD PITT HITS A HOME RUN WITH HIS NEW FILM “MONEYBALL"

Pro sports are played by millionaires, funded by owners who are billionaires. In 2002, the Oakland A’s attempted to change that. The new film “Moneyball” tells the story of Billy Bean, A’s general manager who was forced to reinvent the way baseball would assemble a roster and win the pennant on a shoestring payroll. Moneyball stars Brad Pitt in the title role of a once prominent ballplayer who never panned out only to become the general manager of a pro baseball franchise, Billy Bean.

It’s 2001 and the A’s have lost the pennant and a trip to the World Series in a crushing elimination game with the Yankees. The Yankees loaded with superstars and has a payroll triple that of the upstart A’s. So during the post season meeting with ownership, Bean (Pitt) pleads for more money to keep some key free agents on the team (Isringhausen, Giambi and Johnny Damon) only to be told to do the best he can with the money they had.

Hat in hand, Bean had to travel around the league to try to land some cheap free agents to fill holes left by the superstars that left. During one of these visits in Cleveland, Bean met Peter Brand (Jonah Hill). Brand was fresh out of Yale and an assistant scout for the Indians that had a different way of evaluating baseball talent based on mathematics and formulas. This impressed bean, so he bought his contract.

Bean and Brand then proceed to bring in an adult version of the “Bad News Bears” to play for the Oakland A’s! This doesn’t go over well with the fans, the media or the coaches! Bean proceeds to clean house and try to unite this rag tag team of misfits into a contender or face unemployment himself!

Moneyball is based on the bestselling novel by the same name written by Michael Lewis. But this is not “The Natural”, Moneyball deal with more of the front office of baseball and less with the on the field activities. That being said, the film directed by Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network), is a wonderfully told story of America’s pastime that will entertain, instruct and mesmerize even the most novice fan in the audience. Moneyball is the Grand Slam of 2011 and should not be missed.

I am Karl, The Flick Fanatic calling my shot and sending the runner to go see Moneyball! If you miss it I will have to call you out on Strikes!!!!

Rated PG-13 (Language, Alcohol)

Running Time: 133 mins

DRIVE

RYAN GOSLING PUTS HIS FOOT THROUGH THE FLOOR AND A FEW GUY’S FACES IN THE NEW CRIME DRAMA DRIVE!

Ryan Gosling once again shows his terrific range as an actor as he takes on the role of a Hollywood stunt driver by day and a getaway driver by night in the new film “Drive”. Drive also features a superb supporting cast featuring Carey Mulligan and Bryan Cranston in one of those “different” films that incorporates a great story and graphic violence.

Gosling, whose character’s name is never given, is just referred to as either kid or Driver throughout the entire film. We don’t learn too much about him except he is a mechanic who spends time doing stunts in the movies. Oh yeah he also moonlights as a wheelman in heists around Los Angeles for a couple of mob guys. Driver gave each job just 5 minutes, no more no less, then he is history. Like the name, this guy can drive losing cops chasing him and even a chopper overhead as he has some genius getaways in the film.

Cranston plays Shannon, Driver’s boss/partner who arranges the night jobs and has plans to get Driver behind the wheel of a stock car on the circuit. There is one small issue, the money isn’t rolling in fast enough, so Shannon goes to a pair of loan shark gangsters (Ron Pearlman and the great Albert Brooks) to borrow $300,000 to start racing. This would all be fine, except for the girl. Driver has the beautiful Carey Milligan living in his building.

Irene (Mulligan) is raising her son on tips she makes at the diner while her scumbag husband rots in jail. After a chance meeting at the store and a blown radiator Driver and Irene begin to get close. In the movies, this is the disaster point….It is also the time that Drive goes into overdrive!

The drama becomes a graphic violent rush when Driver gets stuck in the middle of a gangster power struggle and is forced to fight, stomp and drive his way out of it! I do mean graphic, the beatings in this film would make Saw fans squeamish! Drive is also one of those films that refuses to tie things up in a nice bow for you in the end, I loved it! Another delight was Albert Brooks as the kinder gangster that didn’t like to get his hands dirty until he is forced to clean up his partner’s messes, a unique role for Brooks.

Drive is a film for Adults that don’t mind some blood on the screen. If you can make it through the first 25 minutes as Drive gains momentum, you will love the payoff as Gosling puts his foot through the floor and a few guy’s faces!

I am Karl, the Flick Fanatic and I am a huge fan of Gosling and enjoy it when he moves out the box in these “different” roles, he is the new Brando for this generation. So get the keys and go catch DRIVE!

Rated R (Violence, nudity, blood)

Running Time: 100 mins

STRAW DOGS

REDNECKS ARE REVOLTING IN MORE WAYS THE ONE IN THE REMAKE OF THE TV MOVIE “STRAW DOGS”

There is a cavalcade of TV series stars that show up in the retooling of the television film Straw Dogs. Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood), Dominic Purcell (Prison Break), James Woods (Shark), Billy Lush (Chicago Code) and Rhys Coiro (Entourage) all team up to make James Marsden and Kate Bosworth’s lives hell in this film that is like a mash up of “I Spit on Your Grave” meets “Saw”.

Amy Sumner (Bosworth) and her new husband David (Marsden) travel back home to rural Mississippi to get her family’s affairs in order and repair damage to the old homestead from Hurricane Katrina. David sees a cool place to finish writing his new movie script, while Amy just sees bad memories in the body of old flame Charlie (Skarsgard).

Charlie and his gang of drunken redneck idiots slither their way into the Sumners lives and even their house as they get hired to do some repairs around the house. After a few weeks and a few cases of beer, Charlie and the boys want more than beer and cash for the work they put in, they want Amy!

Straw Dogs is a vicious tale that features stereotypical cruelty and rape as the redneck hoosiers try to take it out on the city slickers, only to see that they have a lot more fight in them than they were ready for. A horrible accident by the mentally disturbed guy in town (Purcell), followed by a vehicle collision turns into the second Civil War as Amy and David have to fight for their lives as Charlie and the boys come to kill them!

Straw Dogs was an average film in 1971 and did not need to be remade. The film is slow and suffers from poor tempo, feeling like forever until the action starts. There is also a rape scene in the film so leave the kids at home for this one. Finally, Straw Dogs is very predictable, nothing comes as a surprise even the strange way they use a bear trap in the film!

I am Karl, the Flick Fanatic and I am here to report that this dog, Straw Dogs just wont hunt and should be sent away to the pound! At most I can maybe recommend it on video for a buck just to see the final 30 minutes of the movie!

Rated R (Rape, Violence, Language)

Running Time: 110 mins

THE DEBT

PAY BACK IS A BITCH!

Helen Mirren, Sam Worthington and Tom Wilkinson star in a new thriller about some Israeli Jews that set off to enact some payback on a Nazi war criminal hiding in Germany. “The Debt”, a story driven film that will have you glued to the screen for 90 minutes.

1965, Germany is separated by a wall and many Nazi war criminals are hinging out around the globe. Israel has a plan to get some revenge for the horror bestowed upon Jewish people during WWII. So they send in a group of three spies Rachel Singer (Jessica Chastain-young, Helen Mirren-older), Stephan Gold (Martin Csokas-young, Tom Wilkinson-older) and David Peretz (Sam Worthington-young, Ciaran Hinds-older) into East Berlin to find and capture an infamous Nazi, Dr. Bernhardt (Jesper Christensen), “a butcher” who performed horrific experiments on the Jews in the Nazi concentration camps.

The plan to find the doctor, get close to him with Rachel posing as a patient, drug him and bring him back to Israel to stand trial and pay for his crimes. Things seem to be going according to plan until it was time to get the doctor on a train out of Germany and border crossing complicates things and bullets fly only to have our three patriots having to hold the doctor hostage in a safe house until another plan can be formulated.

Tensions begin to rise and the Doctor is able to free himself, subdue his captor, and make a break for it only to have a bloody and beaten Rachel shoot him in the back. Then the three return home to Israel as heroes, having slain the monster. Or did they?

30 years pass by quickly and parents become grandparents and our three agents have moved on with their lives. But they all have a debt to pay. You see they are harboring guilt because the good doctor actually made is escape only to go underground again and to completely disappear. David, Rachel and Stephan come up with the story of the shooting to avoid humiliation and failure from their country. Only to have Dr. Bernhaerdt re-appear as a dying old man wanting to spill his guts to the papers and blow the story of the Jewish Spies that supposedly killed him 30 years earlier!

The Debt reminds me of a very good episode of Mission Impossible that weaves a great story together with suspense and intrigue culminating to a great ending. The Debt has all that up to the ending which for me was disappointing. But I do recommend a matinee viewing of the Debt, a good film and worthy of a trip to the theater!

I am Karl, the Flick Fanatic, and I am always good to go for a WWII film with Nazis and some payback laid on Hitler’s boys!

Rated R (Language, Violence)

Running Time: 114 mins

 

FRIGHT NIGHT

SINK YOUR TEETH INTO COLIN FARRELL AS A LECHEROUS VAMPIRE FEEDING ON A VEGAS ALL U CAN EAT HUMAN BUFFET!

Hollywood is all about the remake now a days. This time it is the 1985 vampire classic, “Fright Night”. The 80’s version starred Roddy McDowell as the wacky vampire hunter that finds himself knee deep in blood suckers. A short 26 years later and we trade in Mc Dowell for Irish action star and A-Lister Colin Farrell as a blood-sucker moving into the Las Vegas suburbs to feast!

Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) has it made his senior year in high school. He is popular and is dating Amy (Imogen Poots) the hot girl in school. Charlie is so busy impressing his girl that he failed to notice that kids around his school are disappearing. Charlie’s childhood friend, Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), who is too nerdy to hang with now that they are ready to graduate realizes exactly what is going on. Charlie’s next door neighbor is a vampire!

Charlie lives with his mom Jane (Toni Collette) and now next door to Jerry (Colin Farrell) the vampire. Charlie not buying into the story because really what kind of vampire has a name like Jerry? Charlie the guy next door is just the kind! Jerry is slowly picking off kids and hot chicks around the neighborhood as he pretends to work construction on the Vegas strip at night.

While investigating the missing kids, Ed comes face to face with Jerry and only holding a little cross. Ed falls into a pool and ends up being soup for Jerry. The next day at school when Ed is absent, Charlie starts to believe. He tries to protect his Mom and Amy from the lecherous fanger next door. Jerry can come into the house unless he is invited. So if you can’t come in, get the meat to run out…by blowing up the house!

Charlie understands he is outmatched and goes into town and recruits the famous vampire hunter and showman extraordinaire Peter Vincent (David Tennant). Charlie, Peter and Amy head back to the hood, pack with stakes, holy water and fire in order to kill all the undead classmates waiting to eat them. This could be called the Vegas Blood Bowl with all the plasma flowing and flesh flying.

It is refreshing in the days of Twilight to get a vampire film that sticks to the origins. One of the best scenes in the film has Charlie rescuing a hot Vegas showgirl from Jerry’s basement, only to have her burst into flames as she hits the sunlight! AWESOME!!! Fright Night 2011 is a bloody, sexy funny true vampire movie. Fans of the original will recognize a few familiar faces in cameos in the new film (William Ragsdale, Chris Sarandon). Ladies you won’t be able to wait to sink your teeth into Colin Farrell as the lecherous vampire feeding on a Vegas all-u-can eat human buffet! The only thing that is depressing is we don’t have enough C M Plasse in the film. McLovin is funny and is gone way to soon in the film.

I am Karl, the Flick Fanatic telling you that Fright Night is a “winner” if you are looking for that late night thriller to thoroughly entertain you, and winners aren’t easy to come by in Vegas!

Rated R (Language, Sexual Content, Gore)

Running Time: 106 mins

 

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

SAN FRANCISCO IS GOING TO THE APES, AND ALL I WANT TO KNOW IS HOW I CAN GET THERE!

If you are old enough to remember the rubber faced chimps played by Paul Williams and Roddy McDowell who came to Earth to warn us what path of destruction we were on and how they would eventually take over. That was back in the 70’s before the age of computer CGI. So the new version “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” is similar to the Battle in 1973, but shows how Ape City comes to be and how the Apes learned to speak.

James Franco (127 hours) stars as scientist Will Rodman, who with his team is developing a drug that can cure Alzheimer’s. Without FDA approval the team is forced to test the drug on animals and you guessed it they are using apes. Rodman has an ulterior motive behind his research, his father (John Lithgow) is suffering from the disease. The drug takes a giant step back when the test chimp, bright eyes, goes crazy before she was to do a test for a group of investors and was put down.

Steve Jacobs, head of the company kills the drug and orders all the test chimps that have been using the drug killed. As they exterminate the apes Rodman discovers it wasn’t the drug that caused Bright Eyes to revolt, she was protecting her new born chimp. Rodman takes the baby chimp home where his dad, Charles, bonds with it and names it Cesar. Cesar carries the drug in his blood and develops quickly into an intelligent species, so much that Will wants to test it on his father without government approval.

After one dose, Charles is playing classical piano and is better than normal! Cesar is excelling and now is signing and communicating like a human. Unfortunately Cesar doesn’t understand like a human. When Charles has a relapse and is driving the neighbor’s Mustang into parked cars and as he is being accosted Cesar comes to his rescue and beats the man severely. Then Cesar is taken to ape jail, a ape habitat run by some hicks that mistreat the chimps. Soon Cesar has enough and finds a way to break out and make his way to the lab so he can steal the drug and wise up his fellow captives.

The new smarter apes led by Cesar, first take over the habitat by dispatching the owners with ease. Then they set their eyes for the city of San Francisco. All this leads to a battle for superiority in the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge!

This “ape” film is much better in story and effects than the Mark Wahlberg film back in 2001. This go around the CGI chimps have realistic looks and movement. Classic fans will enjoy the homage to the original with lines like “you damn dirty ape” and the chimps watching a Charleton Heston film on TV. Rise of the Planet of the Apes is back loaded with action but has a good enough storyline to get you there. San Francisco is going to the Apes and the only thing I can say is “How do I get there!”

I am Karl the Flick Fanatic, a huge primate film fan and letting you know this is one of the best in the series and I just can’t wait for the sequel!

Rated PG-13 (Violence, Language)

Running Time 105 mins

COWBOYS AND ALIENS

FAVREAU MIXES CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH GUNSMOKE AND TURNS OUT A MASTERPIECE!

Who would have thought it???? Mixing a western storyline and sci-fi action….comic books and Jon Favreau! As a director, Favreau has the Midas touch; everything he does is awesome (Elf, Ironman 1 & 2) and his new film ‘Cowboys & Aliens’ is going to keep the streak alive! Teaming up with Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg doesn’t hurt either.

‘Cowboys & Aliens’ takes place in Arizona during the gold rush days of the 1800’s. Back then the normal thing you might see are Indians, cowboys and horses, certainly not an extraterrestrials! So when gunfighter Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) wakes up in the desert with no memory of what happened or even who he is, Jake must start putting the pieces together. The first one is one his wrist in the form of a large metallic wristband. Some poachers come across Jake and intend to turn him in for a reward, big mistake! Instantly Jake kills the three riders and claims some new clothing and a horse so he can make his way into town.

Absolution is an Arizona town that hasn’t had the population boom of the gold rush yet and is basically run by a ruthless cattle rancher Colonel Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford). So when his drunken son, Percy (Paul Dano) accidentally shoots a deputy, the colonel has to come into town and force sheriff Taggart (Keith Carradine) to release him. Until Jake gets involved and apprehends the kid, then is recognized and winds up sharing a cell next to the boy. Just as Dolarhyde shows up…SO DO THE ALIENS! All hell breaks loose as lasers are blowing buildings into cinders as the alien spaceships, while cruising at a low altitude, begin to rope the humans like they were cattle and take them away.

Lonergan, Dolarhyde and a mysterious woman named Ella Swenson (Olivia Wilde) lead a posse of town folk into the desert to hunt down the aliens and rescue their loved ones. Sam Rockwell shows up as Doc, and former healer turned bartender in Absolution. Along the way the group meets up with Lonergan’s gang and a bunch of Indians…now they have the numbers to take on these slimy beings. Once the bullets start flying we discover how Jake ended up in the desert with the laser gun on his wrist and just why the aliens stop in the old west. There is also a secret being concealed by Ella that will blow your mind and please the eyes.

Word out of Comic-con was this was a film that would blow your mind and they were right! I love the idea of mixing genres, like this. The story is well written, cast is A-List and the scenery is awesome. Yes C&A does have its hokey moments, it is based on a comic book…uh….. Graphic novel, but is tolerable when it is surrounded by such a great film.

I am Karl, the Flick Fanatic saying saddle up little doggies and let’s ride, all the way to the theater and check out ‘Cowboys & Aliens’ on the big screen!

Rated PG-13 (Sci-Fi violence, Language, Partial Nudity)

Running Time:118 minutes

CRAZY STUPID LOVE

STEVE CARRELL A DIVORECED MAN AND A CHICK MAGNET IS SO STUPID IT’S CRAZY!

They have been previewing the new romantic comedy ‘Crazy Stupid Love’ for the last 6 months and I remember thinking “WOW what a cast, I can’t wait for this one!” Be careful what you wish for people.

Steve Carrell is Cal, whose marriage to Emily (Julianne Moore) has hit a rut the size of the Grand Canyon. On the way home from a “nice” dinner where Emily announced during dessert that she wanted a divorce in lieu of the Crème Brule! Cal then heads straight to the local lounge to drown his anger in a vodka cranberry. This is where Cal meets Jacob (Ryan Goessling).

Jacob is the slick single ladies guy who is all about himself and refuses to get tied down, the king of the one night stand. That is until he meets Hannah (Emma Stone), a law school student looking for a career not a relationship, when she deals Jacob something he has never heard before…..a rejection! When the flames went out after Jacob crashed and burned, he noticed a drunken Cal at the bar and decided to be his manly guru and help him restore his manhood!

What ensued was a manly version of the ‘Pretty Woman’ shopping spree with Carrell changing his look from nerdy husband into a slick lounge gigolo. All this so he can show his ex-wife what she is missing! Cal’s first girl is Marisa Tomei and a wild night of drinks and sex followed.

The final hook up in this complex relationship film is the affair partner that Emily slept with behind Cal’s back. David Lindhagen (Kevin Bacon) is Emily’s co-worker and the other man she slept with. Now that you know the players, I am going to let you know there is another twist that will tie this film into a very tricky knot! I am not going to give it up here; I am just going to tell you to go see the film. I would save some cash a catch it at an early show or wait for DVD! All the real funny scenes are the ones you saw on the TV trailers and the film features a depressing soundtrack that give the film the feel of a funeral.

I am Karl, the Flick Fanatic Crazy- for Emma Stone, Stupid- for believing the hype and Loving Marisa Tomei as the funniest person in the film!

Rated R (Sexual Situations, Language)

Running Time:118 minutes

TERRI

IN THE WORLD OF THE “HIGH SCHOOL” MOVIE, TERRI CAN HOLD HIS OWN WEIGHT!

I am a big John C. Reilly, so when I hear his name mentioned in the same sentence as the word comedy I am usually the first one in line to see the film.  In his new film ‘Terri’, Reilly is a compassionate high school principle who identifies with the “loser” students in attempt to help them fit in. With the title character, Terri, the “fit” is a snug one! This one of the elusive comedies that has a few chuckles and isn’t all that funny. That being said, I am not saying this is a bad film. On the other hand it isn’t the best thing I have seen this year.

Terri (Jacob Wysocki) is the overweight kid in school that everyone picked on. He doesn’t help his case by showing up late daily wearing his pajamas. When he is sent to the principal’s office to see Mr. Fitzgerald (Reilly), Terri understands that he does have a friend in the school.  We find out that Terri has a secret; he has to balance the stress of high school with the daily routine of taking care of a disabled uncle suffering from severe Alzheimer’s.  Terri has a tender side and is not afraid to come to the aid of a fellow student being vilified. So when a girl he had a crush on is being kicked out of school for a sexual misconduct during a class, Terri comes to her defense and is able to convince Mr. Fitzgerald of her innocence.

Terri is a very complex film and is slower than his 40 yard dash! Where I really appreciated the caring and passionate side of the character that was devoted to his uncle, I was sorely missing any laughter in this “comedy”. In the realm of high school films like Fast Times, Ferris Bueller, Breakfast Club and Say Anything, Terri fails to hold his own weight. I can recommend that if you like John C Reilly and want to see all his films, wait for this one to hit the DVD shelves in the next few months!

I am Kar