Casino Jack

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What happens when you mix greed, a few lobbyists, tribal gaming, greek off-shore gambling, one very pissed off ex-wife, and politics? One big disaster for the Elephant (Republican) Party. This follows the true story of Jack Abramoff, a DC lobbyist with the idea of grandeur.  After losing his job he takes on the task of continuing lobbying to create what he what he wanted to create.

This was the last film by director George Hickenlooper-he died shortly before this film's release. He did a great job with editing, and creating a presentation for the film. The opening sequence of Jack arguing with himself show's his character, and it also establishes the basic style of the film. If your a tribal person, or a very political person, then this film will just piss you off from the start. The script, by Norman Snider, is very financial and political based. So it's fast and fun to keep up with. Kevin Spacey, Jack Abramoff, has made a re-appearance in popular films. He does a great job creating the characters that people despise. Here is the Jewish lobbyist who believed that by stealing money, from tribal gaming and the greek gambling, to fund politicians being in office and open luxurious Jewish based business. His control over government placed the congress, and senate, in a hot situation. Naturally, they had power and he took the fall in the end. Barry Pepper plays the role of the slimy lobbyist Michael Scanlon. He's not only the one who cheats on his wife-making her reveal everything, but he also betrays all his friends. Jon Lovitz makes a return to film in this one creating a unique character, Adam Kidan. All these conspire together to steal vast amounts of money quickly. I was surprised to see Graham Greene in this film, but it was unfortunate that he is type-casted in Native American roles. He does a great job in this role. Rachelle Lefevre plays the role of Emily J. Miller, the pissed off wife. They all work together to tell a story of this corruption.

I give this film a 9 out of 10 stars! It's a great story, a great cast, and is well directed. However, its hard to find any protagonist in this film that audience's can easily cheer for. The script moves fast, and explains the financial aspects of this situation. It does apply to a certain film audience.

Answer to last blog: Director Robert Schwentke also directed the film The Tim Traveler's Wife.

Que: What other popular film featured both Graham Greene and Rachelle Lefevre starring in the same film?

Maverick
The Green Mile
New Moon
The Pool Boys

Red

Caution: This Might Contain Spoilers!


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This film adaptation, from a comic mini-series written by Warren Ellis and drawn by Cully Hamner, begins with a man, Frank Moses, who is having trouble living his current life. To feel as if he belongs he constantly calls a woman, Sarah Ross, who is also living a life she hates. After a quick phone call to Sarah, Frank finds himself the center of an attack. Being a well skilled fighter he is able to take them out easily. This leads him on a mission to figure out the reason for his execution, and to keep Sarah alive. 


This is a great Bruce Willis film. If you've been following his previous films then you'll enjoy this one. Director Robert Schwentke has really come into his own as a director over the past couple of years. I haven't read the actual series, but I have heard that this film isn't too loyal to the series. There was a need to add more material to the story, and their humour replaces the serious tone of the comic series. Bruce Willis plays the role of Frank Moses who is a bad-ass agent. He plays his usual role, and does good in his style. Karl Urban plays Frank's counterpart, William Cooper-who is the agent sent to murder Moses. He does a great job creating a character who is believable. Morgan Freeman does perform his general role, but with a slight twist of lime. He is a bad-ass in his own right, but is still very respectable. Mary-Louise Parker plays the role of Sarah Ross. Essentially she is performing her general character type. Highly neurotic, and slightly gullible. John Malkovich plays a very paranoid nut named Marvin Boggs. Brain Cox plays the role of Russian agent Ivan Simanov. He does a great job creating a character that you suspect, but just love to watch. It's quickly seen that he's not a villain, but  a companion. Helen Mirren plays the role of Victoria. She's not only an older woman, but she kicks-ass with a gun. 


This is a rare film, because even if it's not loyal to the comic series its still a popular film. The humour in this film, and the likability of the characters is apparent. This film is great to watch for older, and younger, audience's alike. The creativity of the film photography is brilliant-showing location through post cards. It has slow-paced action that aids in telling the story better. It's only really fault is that most of the most of the actors are playing the familiars roles that they're known for. The action fits for the age of the actors, and the moderate-pace of the story. So, it doesn't have the fast paced action of most action films, and it doesn't rely on too many special effects. It's humour also isn't side splitting hilarious-its more for a good chuckle. 


I give this film a 10 out of 10 stars! It has a great plot, and a great storyline. The actors may perform the roles their known for, but it adds to their performances. The action is slow, but it fits with the film in general. 


Answer to last blog:


Que: What other popular film has director Robert Schwentke directed?


The Time Traveler's Wife
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
The Notebook
Dear John

The Conspirator

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This is a historical film that follows the story of Mary Surratt-the first woman to be executed by the United States federal government. Mary Surratt was accused as a conspirator in the assassination plot against president Abraham Lincoln.

This film was created by The American Film Company. They create historical films, with as much accuracy as possible, to tell the history of the United States. It is unfortunate that not too many people enjoyed the film, but it does have a style unique to most modern films-it's set like a stageplay. Unlike most modern films, this film doesn't rely on fancy special effects. That also means that this films plays to a select audience. It tells a unique version of Lincoln's assassination.  This story is a good story to tell, and its well written with a great cast. However, its script is set around a court case, so at moments it can kind of lag. Visually its good, very luminescent backdrop (fitting for the era).

Director Robert Redford took a chance on this film. His experience in acting has lead him to begin directing. I believe that the historical honesty of this film does hurt it, but it also makes it a great story. Robin Wright (Penn) does a great job in the role of Mary Surratt. She creates a character that you can never fully know her guilt, or innocence, until the end. She shows a character who places family above herself. James McAvoy has begun to establish his acting name in several genre's of film. This is a different film that will establish him among dramatic audience's. In this film he does a great job presenting a conflicted Union soldier representing a Confederate woman in a court case. He is torn between the law, and his loyalties in war. I was also surprised to Evan Rachel Wood (Anna Surratt) and Justin Long (Nicholas Baker) in this film. Justin Long is beginning to change his acting persona around to be a serious actor. Wood is established as an actress, but isn't quite mainstream yet.

I give this film a 9 out of 10 stars! It's a great story, with a phenomenal cast. However, the script dragged in points. The honesty of this film is a slight hinderance.

Answer to last blog: Natalie Portman stared in the Renaissance film The Other Boleyn Girl (as Anne Boleyn).

Que: What film cemented James McAvoy, as an actor, to popular film audiences?

Eagle Eye
Live Free or Die Hard
Wanted
Across the Universe

Your Highness

Caution: This Might Contain Spoilers! This Also Contains Som Adult Content!


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This story follows Prince Thadeous, who is second in line to become a king. He is forced to quest with his brother, Prince Fabious, after Fabious' bride-to-be is reclaimed by an evil wizard known as Leezar. Together they must prevent the Fuckening (that is what it's called) when the two moons are going to combine and allow Leezar to impregnate Fabious' bride with a powerful dragon. 


Did the story tell you what this film mainly jokes about? Weed isn't the primary humour-this focus' more on sex. I shouldn't have to say this, but this film isn't for children-Rated or Unrated. Okay, this film makes fun of sex and epic renaissance tales-it's an odd mix for most audiences. The opening credit sequence was hilarious and really opened the characters Prince Thadeous and Courtney (his personal slave). The special effects are good, but often become too cheesy. It works for this satire though. The sex jokes quickly become repetitive, but are pretty funny. There is physical humour, and there are those moments of did they go there? One major moment was the trophy choice Prince Thadeous claims from the minotaur. I can't see very many people walking around with a minotaur's dick as a necklace. The entire film sequence with Marteetee, John Fricker, is very disturbing, and weird, and yet kind of funny. Director David Gordon Green didn't do too bad with this film in general. He has worked with most of the actors in other films. The editing of this film adds to the unconventional dark humour.


Danny McBride stars as Prince Thadeous. He does a great job bringing the humour to a renaissance character. There is some heart in his acting, but you have to sort through his ignorance first. This is a good way for actor Rasmus Hardiker to become better established among popular film audience's. James Franco performs the role of Prince Fabious. He really pokes fun at the ideal prince who could possibly be gay, but has a gullible honor to his character. Natalie Portman plays the role of Isabel, a bloodthirsty vengeance seeker. She kind of goes a bit overboard with the character a few times, but is able to tail it before it goes to far. Zooey Deschanel plays the role of Belladonna, Prince Fabious' Bride-to-be. She is the typical damsel in distress eager for sex, and naive in the ways of popular culture. She does good at some moments, but at some moments looses the mark. Justin Theroux plays the role of the evil sorcerer Leezar. He's a villain who is still a virgin, and is highly dependent on his three mother's assistance. He oddly does a great job as the villain-he's fun to watch. 


I give this film a 7 out of 10 stars! It's funny to watch for its shock moments, but it does play to a specific comedic audience. Sometimes the actors go overboard with their characters, but manage to pull back before going too over the top. Its also very adult in humour.


Answer to last blog: Brad Dourif is infamous for voicing the character Chucky/Ray Charles in the Child's Play franchise.


Que: In what other renaissance film has Natalie Portman stared in?

Elizabeth
The Duchess
Marie Antoinette
The Other Boleyn Girl

Priest

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This film has a simple intricate plot. This is a loose film adaptation from a Korean comic series Priest, or Manhwa, originally created by Hyung Min-woo. It follows the story of Priest, portrayed by Paul Bettany, who was once a man called to help the Catholic cause. For centuries mankind had fought against a massive horde of vampires, and even with the sunlight millions of humans perished in the war. In the end the church built protected cities for the remaining human population to survive. Years later, to better fight the war the Catholic church made warriors who were forced to sacrifice everything for this war. They managed to destroy most all of the vampires, and their hives, but the warriors were forced to rejoin society as normal citizens who must obey the church.  


This is a unique film that has the more animalistic version of vampires-another words, not Twilight! They are eyeless, soulless, beasts that tear humans apart. There is some gore in this film, but its not overplayed. Religious persons probably won't enjoy the idea's that can become associated with this 87 minute film. It's a very fast paced action science fiction horror-thriller film. There is some basic story, but its kept to a minimum. Some things aren't fully explained, but can easily be figured out if you pay attention. Familiars (I'm not a 100% on this but from what I gathered) are humans who became infected, either by choice or by force, with the vampire venom. This is the start of their mutation into vampirism. If vampires had venom it wasn't really explained-it's my assumption-as is the idea of what a Familiar actually is. I can't say how loyal it is to the comics-I can only go off of what I heard. Paul Bettany does a good job in this role, but I think he could've gone a bit more with it. For some reason I found it hard to relate with his emotions. However, he is awesome in the fighting sequences-which is most of the film anyway. Karl Urban, portraying the role of Black Hat (guy), does a great job as a villain. He is kind of a sly sinner type which works for this film. Cam Gigandet is a great supporting actor in the role of Hicks. He's really beginning to establish his career quite rapidly in Hollywood. He really pulls out the emotion from Bettany even if he it isn't much. Maggie Q is rather interesting. She only has one real fight scene, and in it she's pretty bad-ass. I really loved her character's weapon choice-it's sexy. She does a good job in this role-oddly, I felt more emotion from her than I did from Bettany. I don't know how other audience's feel about it. I was surprised to see Brad Dourif in this film. I think this film was a little too rushed, and could've been explored more in depth.


I give this film a 7 out of 10 stars! It had a really good basis, good action, but it was too rushed. Aesthetically it's kewl, but some of the emotion was lost.


Answer to last blog: Cesar Millan made a special guest appearance in the film The Back-Up Plan.


Que: What popular horror icon is Brad Dourif famous for?

Freddy Krueger
Leprechaun
Chucky
Candyman

The Back-Up Plan

Caution: This Might Contain Spoilers! This Might also Contain some Adult Language.


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This film follows Zoe, a female New Yorker who has one thing on her mind. It's not falling in love-it's having a baby. Shortly, after having been artificially inseminationed, she meets the man of her dreams in a fight for a taxi cab. They must build up their new relationship while preparing for twin babies. 


This film was written by Kate Angelo, most known for television, while she was out on maternity leave. So, that should give you an idea of how honest this film is about pregnancy. The script had an instant pull for producer/director Alan Poul, and actress/singer Jennifer Lopez. This is a great come-back film for Jennifer Lopez, because she had just recently returned to work after having taken some time off to be with her own twin children. It also is a romantic comedy which is was well known for (Maid in Manhattan & The Wedding Planner). She does a great job bringing out the realness of the character in this film, and making you feel for her plight of love. Alex O'Loughlin, is beginning to be a more well known actor for film audience's. He does a great job playing the role of the man who is madly in love with a woman (not a stalker), and a man dealing with the idea of being an expectant father. Michaela Watkins is great in the role of supporting best friend without a filter. She is beautiful, and very open about everything, and everyone, around her. Anthony Anderson does a great job making the playground dad role into a memorable role. He comes in to be the voice of reason for O'Loughlin's character, Stan, but in some ways quickly becomes more entertaining to watch. I was also glade to see Linda Lavin and Tom Bosley showing that you don't have to be young to find love. Nuts, a really odd name I know, was an adorable handicapped dog. 

This is pretty obvious in plot design, with an obvious romantic happy ending. There is a lot of realism mentioned in this film when it comes to pregnancy. Since their is a lot of realism-there is a lot of mention of the word vagina in it. That might disturb some audience's if your not prepared for it-other audience's will just find it hilariously funny. So, yes it is for a special audience-new parents. I liked how they presented the New York attitude in this film as more of a side-note. There is also some other emotional problems in this film that the characters are forced to face-apart from just being pregnant. The chemistry worked well together in this film. There are some really weird moments in this film, which is mainly established from the weird persona's in this film, but that's where a lot of the humor comes from.

I give this film a 10 out of 10 stars! The characters are very relatable; even if the situation isn't. It's a film that a group of new mothers can enjoy, or even those women who are hoping to become pregnant soon.

Answer to last blog: The last popular film that Simon Pegg and Nick Frost worked together on was Hot Fuzz.


Que: Who made a special short cameo appearance in the film?

Victoria Stilwell
John Grogan
Jackson Galaxy
Cesar Millan

Paul

Caution: This Might Contain Spoilers!


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This film follows the mishap adventure of two nerds, Graeme Willy and Clive Gollings. To commemorate their holiday for comic con, they set out traveling along the back roads of America's midwest to visit historic alien locations (Like, Area 51 and Roswell).  On their way, after upsetting two rednecks, they come across Paul. They decide to aid him in his quest to go North. Along the way they are pursued by the Big Man, and a very angry father. 


Okay, this is a funny film, but it's funnier if you know what their making fun of. In the first twenty-thirty minutes of films-they make several reference's to other popular science fiction films an television shows. This ranges from Klingon to E.T. If your not a science fiction nut, then you won't enjoy this comedy. In contrast, I enjoyed seeing an alien comedy versus all the horror/drama alien films that have been coming to theaters-a great change of pace. I was also glade to see Simon Pegg and Nick Frost working together again. They make a great team for comedy. Seth Rogen was a surprisingly good choice for the voice of Paul. He just fit well amongst the duo. They had two actors from Arrested Development appear in this film; Jeffrey Tambor and Jason Bateman. Which isn't to surprising since they had previously worked with director Greg Mottola. Kristen Wiig was also featured in this film. She has a great unconventional comic presence. She played the role of a shaken religious nut well. Sigourney Weaver made a surprising appearance. In this film she kind of makes fun of herself-which is good. It's great watching her star in various types of films. The animation of Paul was well done. There are some adult jokes in this film. Sometimes it got repetitive, and the ending was fairly predictable. 


I give this film a 10 out of 10 stars! It's great seeing Frost and Pegg working together once again. It's also pretty hilarious if you know what their making fun of. 


Answer to Last Blog: Keanu Reeves attempted to pursue the role of Dr. Manhattan. (I think they made the correct choice with Billy Crudup.)


Que: What was the last film actors Frost and Pegg worked on together before Paul?


Shaun of the Dead
Run Fatboy Run
Hot Fuzz
Pirate Radio