Brad Pitt steps into Billy Beane’s shoes as the GM and is faced with the task of rebuilding his team after three of his best players are traded following a disappointing loss in the 2001 playoffs. As one of the poorest teams in baseball (one player quickly points out that he’s never had to pay for soda in the clubhouse before), Billy is consistently frustrated when his efforts to replace his heavy hitters are thwarted or laughed at by other ball clubs. During a meeting with the Cleveland Indians, Billy meets young assistant Peter (Jonah Hill), a baseball fanatic and mathematical whiz kid, who shows Billy a new way of evaluating statistics to earn wins with mediocre players. Billy immediately poaches Peter for his own assistant, and thus begins an uphill battle to achieve the seemingly impossible.
It is a film adaptation of a book based on statistics (penned by Michael Lewis) may not sound like a laugh riot, but the sharp screenplay (written by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin) lets Pitt and Jonah Hill shine as an often-hilarious duo. Pitt’s Billy Beane is charming, if not a bit arrogant, and Hill’s straight-faced Peter is Billy’s perfect counterpart. Moneyball marks Hill’s first foray into drama, but his comedic timing is his biggest asset here, as Billy throws timid Peter right into the big leagues (pun intended) of their business behind the scenes. As Billy teaches Peter the ropes of hiring and firing in exchange for Peter’s knowledge of statistics, the symbiotic relationship creates the film’s most memorable scenes.
Sam Childers (Gerard Butler) was a drug-dealing ex-con who found God after he seemingly hit rock bottom. As a result he established a church in his hometown and, as fate would have it, made his way to East Africa. There he would eventually set up the Angels of East Africa rescue organization where he rescued hundreds of orphaned children and established his own militia to help fight against Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Machine Gun Preacher adopts Childers’ nickname and sets out to tell his story in what ends up being an emotionally impactful, somewhat manipulative and quite scattered movie.
Attempting to tell all stories at once and frequently going into traditional storytelling elements, Machine Gun Preacher bounces back and forth between Sam’s plight in East Africa, to his wife (Michelle Monahan) and daughter (Madeline Carroll) back home and the cliched and entirely unnecessary story of his drug-addict friend (Michael Shannon). Of the three stories the only one that feels at all authentic is Sam’s time in Africa and the way screenwriter Jason Keller chose to tell the story here is a bit curious.
The unforgivable acts seen on screen are heart-wrenching as a young boy is forced to kill his own mother, another is killed by a hidden land mine and more find their demise in other horrible ways. So it goes without saying that you’ll be moved when you see the effort put forth by Childers as he takes on their struggle as his own. The biggest problem I had, though, is when the audience is made to witness one terrible act of violence on a group of children only to prove a point at the end of the film. Let’s just say, you won’t expect Sam to ever leave a group of 20 or so children alone in the desert in the middle of the night ever again, but maybe that calls into question… Why would he ever do so in the first place? To prove a point silly.
Killer Elite wants to be two different movies in one – a tense, calculating thriller purportedly based on a true story; and an outrageous action extravaganza with all the usual (and expensive) bells and whistles, from explosions and shoot-outs to car chases and death-defying stunts . Both movies can be believable in their own worlds, but trying to mix them proves problematic and yields a mostly generic experience, one that doesn’t give us much to care for or get excited about.
Jason Statham and Robert De Niro play Danny and Hunter, a pair of highly-trained, covert operatives who take various assassination jobs around the world. The opening finds them in Mexico, where with the rest of their killing team – Davies (Dominic Purcell) and Meier (Aden Young) – they’re about to take out a Mexican politician. All goes according to plan until Danny sees a young boy riding in the same car as the target, which suddenly has him questioning his career and lifestyle. He takes a bullet to the arm before telling Hunter he wants out of the business.
“Killer Elite” was fun and has a good cast, with very satisfying performances. Although it’s not quite what you would call “original” in its story line area, (not that every movie we see has to be completely “original”) Killer Elite keeps your attention. “It is a movie with the “Punch First Think Later” action formula that we all know. It’s fun to see action veterans De Niro, Staham, and Owen jumping into the screen shooting and fighting each other, but their all kinda….outdated. You would watch it with your friends or yourself for manliness.
Drive is the story of a Hollywood stunt driver by day, a loner by nature, who moonlights as a top-notch getaway driver-for-hire in the criminal underworld. He finds himself a target for some of LA’s most dangerous men after agreeing to aid the husband of his beautiful neighbor, Irene. When the job goes dangerously awry, the only way he can keep Irene and her son alive is to do what he does best—Drive.
However, I don’t understand why this movie has so many haters. The movie’s remarkable and I’ve watched it with pleasure. Every take was well thought out. Play of lights, positions of actors, their gestures and facial expressions where charming. Someone said there is lack of dialogs. I don’t agree – the action was focused on a driver who has been played rather as a silent person but with strong personality. These tricks I mentioned above were enough to tell me a full plot. And the storyline was really absorbing.
I’m getting sick of these near-silent movies punctuated with 4 minutes of dialogue every 15 minutes. And Drive falls into this category. Why doesn’t anyone really talk unless they are getting beaten or shot. The premise of the movie is great, but the the screenplay is lacking and what you remain with is an empty movie with a few outstanding moments. All in all, Drive is better watched on a sick day..when u are actually sick and could care less what happens!
“Abduction” focuses on a youth who discovers the parents who raised him aren’t his real folks, a revelation that triggers events and leaves him running for his life.
Sure, Taylor Lautner (2010′s “Eclipse”) looks good when he’s ripping off his shirt and turning into a werewolf, but does he have what it takes to carry an entire film? “Abduction,” his first solo headlining gig since hitting it big with the “Twilight” series, answers this question with a doubtful shrug. Granted, few actors (if any) could make this particular project work—as disquietingly directed by John Singleton (2003′s “2 Fast 2 Furious”) and inanely written by musician Shawn Christensen, it’s increasingly dopey—but Lautner isn’t exactly a master thespian, either. He’s not hopeless like Alex Pettyfer—at least there’s a sliver of charisma in what he does—but as a performer he has the complexity of a Tinker Toy.
Abduction” has its unintentionally amusing pleasures, but they aren’t enough to overcome how decidedly pedestrian the film is as a thriller. Cobbled together with a preponderance of dumb ideas, the only fun comes in guessing what clichéd howler will escape the actors’ mouths next. When Nathan asks Dr. Bennett what’s going on, she actually replies, “There’s no time to explain.” When he presses her further, she hastily exclaims, “There’s no time!” And so it goes.
Of the titles from its animated library that Disney previously has selected to present on the giant screen–”Fantasia 2000,” “Beauty and the Beast”–”The Lion King,” along with Thanksgiving’s “Treasure Planet,” is particularly suited to the format. The film is replete with the grand vistas that are already a mainstay of large-format filmmaking and an enveloping audio mix that includes not only its award-winning score and songs but nature noises as well. (The roars, especially, demonstrate the format’s amazing sound capability.)
In addition, the tale, about a lion cub who is deceived into thinking that he is the cause of his father’s death and so forsakes his rightful place as king, is epic in nature, and the giant screen serves to only further the emotional wallop. After the movie’s operatic wildebeest stampede, a scene of cinematic magnificence, the gorge lies empty, and the size of the picture is such that one painfully feels right there with Simba as he nuzzles the corpse of his father.
1hr 29min – Rated G – Animation. Director: Rob Minkoff – Cast: Matthew Broderick, Niketa Calame, Jim Cummings, James Earl Jones, Nathan Lane.
I am sure this would be well-loved by those who are fond of going to movies. Great and sought-after scenes will be remembered because of the great filmmaking.
It’s complicated making a movie like 50/50, which was written by Will Reiser based on his own early-twenties experience with a tumor on his spine. That scene, and the whole film really, intermingles anonymous tragedy with blunt comedy, but uneasily—in a way that suggests that though it’s OK to laugh, we shouldn’t exactly feel good about it. (Indeed, moments later, Adam doesn’t feel too good either, barfing miserably as the chemo’s side effects kick in.)
The anger in 50/50 is often so intensely focused that we can only presume Reiser’s targeting individuals from his own experience: a doctor, perhaps, who delivered a cancer diagnosis into a tape recorder as if he weren’t even there and then described his shattering condition as “really quite fascinating.” The script is particularly sharp on the ways that cancer paints other people into behavioral corners, as when Rachael faces the choice of swallowing her doubts about her relationship with Adam or being The Girl Who Ditched Her Brave Cancer Boyfriend.
Dear moviegoers, we have another reason to stay long inside the movie house because we have another breed of film made by a great film maker. The movie entitled “What’s Your Number” swipes off all the timidity and indolence you feel this weekend.
f pop culture is any guidepost, the current crop of under-30 females are an obtuse combination of determined moralists and brazen harlots. While disgusted with labels that legitimize their bed-hopping reputations, they simultaneously see easy sex as a hide and seek game toward a lasting relationship. At least, that’s the peculiar premise behind the latest stab at a romantic (?) comedy (??) entitled What’s Your Number? Starring the misbegotten Anna Faris and focusing on her unwed obsession with her 20 ex-lovers, we are supposed to experience a frazzled, unfocused young woman coming to terms with her slutty past while avoiding a spinster present. In fact, all we get are the frenzied and fuzzy parts.
This is a 1hr and 46min. Rated R – Romance/Comedy
Director: Mark Mylod – Cast: Anna Faris, Chris Evans, Zachary Quinto, Andy Samberg, Ari Graynor.
The demand for the payday loan lenders nowadays is high. One reason of this is because there is also a high demand for coping with the high price of all basic commodities. Sometimes, the need to patch up necessary expenses is inevitable that is why many resort with payday cash advance.
However, the government and other concerned groups try to tell us how important to become vigilant and aware of those various scams that happen. In fact one very common form of scam is explained in the following paragraph.
The lender will charge the client at an abnormally low interest. If we are going to examine the background of the lenders, we will find out that the lender has no phone number or address on the website and also asks you to send more information than is actually necessary. There are also loan companies that are considered scammers because they will not send you any money. They would just tell you that your loan has not been approved after you had applied for certain cash advance loans.
It is then our responsibility to defend and protect ourselves from these scammers. Most of them only have the interest in getting information about our identity like our credit card number, passport and social security number and various other forms of personal information. From these pieces of warnings, we should be very aware that the main aim of scammers is identity theft.
Musical scorings in any show is very important for it will give or add liveliness to the whole film or even TV show. Theme songs in other words can brighten some literary pieces for they affect the viewers’ moods by merely deciding on the real purpose of the said TV show.
The following words give tribute to the top five theme songs ever. Here they are:
a. “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” from Cheers (Gary Portnoy). This one has something special working for it. There’s that rich piano, reminding you of the Boston bar scene. A simple melody; you can sing it after a few beers. Warm, cozy lyrics, welcoming you to the comforting embrace of your corner pub.
b. “The Fishin’ Hole” from The Andy Griffith Show (Earle Hagen). It’s a common cliche to say that The Andy Griffith Show represents a simpler time in America. While that may be where the show was set, it’s easy to forget that it was first produced and broadcast during the turbulent ’60s – nearly the whole decade (the entire original Star Trek series aired during its run).
c. “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)” from Soul Train (MFSB featuring The Three Degrees). At a run of 35 seasons and an episode count of 1,117, Soul Train deserves to be called more than just a TV series. It is an institution, a monolith, a mainstay – practically its own media corporation.
d. “Suicide Is Painless” from M*A*S*H (Johnny Mandel). Another legendary TV theme song, just the first few notes conjure the image of choppers flying over the 4077th in the mind of anyone who’s owned a TV set from 1972 onwards.
e. “Movin’ On Up” from The Jeffersons (Ja’net Dubois and Oren Waters). The Jeffersons is more of a landmark than many in today’s audience may realize – it was the longest running TV series carrying a predominantly African-American cast in the history of American television.