Every good movie carries a secret

Acting: 4.5/5
Story: 4/5
Perception: 4/5
Rating: 4/5


....this one has plenty.
If you think your family is weird, check this one out: a corrections officer father, a secretary mother, a teen son, a college daughter, a special guest and an acquaintance. And each one has a hidden secret...well, it is time to share!
The whole idea was cool, and the combination of the characters' various traits made it even better.
First of all Andy Garcia was brilliant, I'd watch the movie just for his performance. He might have Hispanic blood but he pulls out a true Italian. All the other characters revolve around him and fill in the story when needed in a very good way.
The setting completed the picture just enough, since not much was needed; all that counts are the people.
There are a couple of slight plot holes but that wouldn't change the flow of the story.
In the end, it's simply a good chill-out movie...just like the scape of City Island.










Stuff - Spoiler Alert!!!

Favorite scenes: the audition, this shows Garcia's skill, going from a disoriented prison guard to an out-of-his-minds bully back-and-forth in a matter of seconds, and of course the final act.
Personal opinion: the kid was pretty deranged...
The college paying stripper myth employed once more.
There are moments when time flies really fast, like when Vivian got out of the club in her robe...
Tony seems to be The One who makes everything fall into place, with some help from Molly's intrusions.

900 Eclipses

After a week of inactivity I return with a music related post, because today A Thousand Suns, the new Linkin Park album, is out.

I noticed some evolution in their sound, it's got a more emotional touch to it, but that doesn't mean this is an improvement.
Actually from the 10-12 real tracks, 2-3 are bearable, the rest is borderline wimping. It is sad when you think that the best album of a quite famous band, with a 10 years plus career,  is their first one, but that's the truth. Hybrid Theory was good, the others had respectful parts but never reached the initial force. This one is almost useless in my tracklist, since it lacks the original punch; because the purpose of LP in my music collection was to blow off steam after a long day...well, can't do that anymore, can I.

Disappointment!

Logic defing action story aka Cold-War Reloaded

Acting: 3/5
Story: 3.5/5
Perception: 2.5/5
Rating: 3/5

I went to see this movie with the hope that it would be different from what it seemed to be...and it was but not by much.
Being one of the most bombarding trailers out there, I guess you know what's supposed to be about. In short, some Russian spy points out an American agent, Evelyn Salt, to be in fact one of his fellow spies who would kill some president. After that we're dragged into a 1h+ action sequence consisting in chases, explosions, shoot-outs, infiltrations...
The double-agent mystery idea was quite a good one, and the there are some unpredictable twists in the plot, but it kinda ends up there. In addition, there's also a Cold War shiver that comes and goes that I find somewhat worn-out after two decades of Russian-American accords. 
I'm am not an Angelina fan so I can't say that I was impressed by her acting; for me she's a good support actress (Wanted, Mr. & Mrs/ Smith - yes Brad was the lead, she just followed up) not more (never seen Changeling and never will). On the other side Sabertooth was more convincing, not that he had tons of stuff to do.
Now comes the part that should have vouched for the movie, the action sequences, and, sadly, they were pretty disappointing, luckily with some exceptions. I get that she was a super-spy but there are laws that could never be broken and those are physics and common sense. The almost Matrix-like flying around or falling all over the places and getting up afterwards aren't good examples of obeying those two.
So, for me it isn't worth more than a movie night on the couch between friends.       









Noticed Facts - Spoiler Alert!!!

The Taser induced acceleration was almost hilarious. And so was the whole elevator shaft scene.
I noticed that she didn't need to much makeup to look like a guy :p
Who come that when they run in some subway station the escalator is never crowded so they can slalom easily?
If they're pulling a sequel after the more than exaggerated final scene, it is pure BS...
 I'm no biology expert, but I'm not so sure that one can extract the spider venom with a common syringe...
A highly dangerous suspect kept in a SUV with just two clumsy guard, instead of a full-packed van looks more like a joke.
Couldn't they get a real Russian to play the president?
...and this is just a short list of what I could remember. 

Castle

Here I go writing about another series: Castle

 
It is a police investigation series which started in 2009. But just as for The Mentalist, the action revolves around one non-police character, armed with a sky-high ego. In this case, it is a successful mystery author who goes by the name of Richard Castle. After deciding to kill he's star hero, he strikes a slightly writer's block. That's when he meets his new muse Detective Kate Beckett, and pulls up some strings to follow her around  for her cases.
The essence of the investigations is not extremely developed: some interrogations, few forensic scenes (but I don't miss that), a chase or two; and the solution of the cases usually comes on the spur of the moment.
But what holds everything together is the chemistry between Castle and Beckett, their small confrontations being delightful.
So if you enjoy slightly immature, egocentric, narcissistic, stubborn and big-mouthed characters, this is your thing.

Great vintage-looking animal adventures animation

Wits: 4/5 (of the characters, no real acting in an animation)
Story: 4/5
Perception: 4.5/5
Rating: 4/5

Mr. Fox was a very talented thief, but Mrs. Fox made him promise to give up this way of life. Now they've got a cub, and Mr. Fox writes a column in the Gazette but he still wants to pull up his final grand act. So he takes on the three sites neighboring his house.
Since their owners did not enjoy this and also being very mean, revenge came shortly after; the whole animal community getting affected and the situation becoming pretty complicated.
It is an animation movie, but a quite special one, the props being real puppets and thus creating a somewhat vintage look. Also the music is brilliantly chosen having its own charm.
The main character really fits Clooney like a glove, a talented action planner capable of evading impossible situations led by a strong ego (a Danny Ocean of the animal kingdom). But the most powerful character is Mrs. Fox, who influences her husband through the excellent voice of Meryl Streep.
I particularity enjoyed the opossum and his black-out sessions.
One tiny drawback from my point of view was the 100% anthropomorphism, but this didn't affect the movie as a whole. 
All in all, it is a very good pass-time picture, to be enjoyed in any situation.















Thoughts - Spoiler Alert!!!


Another drawback was the transvestite Ash (the son) at the end, the rest of the idea of a troubled teenager was ok in my book, but this was dumb.
All the animals had jobs, but what were they working for? The community? because I didn't catch any reference to some kind of currency, but the opossum did have a Titanium Card.
That rat was really creepy.
 The dead-eyes looked like XBox logos.

$$$-madness

The biggest and greediest movie BS in history. I didn't think much of Cameron's originality but he sewed all the stolen concepts pretty well to make the blockbuster Pandorean story.
So after that well molded forgery, he got to the next level: bloody highway theft. Not only that he has the first 2 Box-Office pictures, but also wants to rip-off everyone by releasing a long version of Avatar in theaters. 8 minutes were added to the film, and the price is even higher that a normal 3D movie (ex. in France it's about 15€ - full price) because it is only IMAX 3D.
I find this outrageous for all the people who bought the DVD, one of its purposes being to reveal the director cuts. There are 3D TVs now; it's almost as real as in cinema! These people should ask to pay only the IMAX extra, because 8 min on a 160 min movie is 5%, that means almost nothing, there are no changes in the story whatsoever.
I wonder if the guys who came with the idea were stuck that much in financial fertilizer that they wanted to suck every cent they could from the franchise. They have invented the infinite sequel (the infiniquel): let's add the time the actors spent in the bathroom and make a big campaign about it...
Also I heard that a real sequel might see the light of day, and that's just another BS. It took him 15 years to come up with unobtainium what will there be after only a couple more?!?!. This story has been told, Jakesully has nothing more to say, not that he had much to say in general, use the technology to create something new, and original this time; change the color theme for instance!