Movie Reviews: Role Models, King Arthur, and Othello

Role Models (2008) is one of the funniest movies I've watched in a long time. I was laughing out loud throughout the whole movie, which is something I normally don't do. Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott play two energy drink salesmen who are sentenced to community service to avoid jail time, and end up in a mentoring program with two young misfits. One is the shy, nerdy Auggie who's overly involved in a live action role playing game, and the other is sassy, potty-mouthed Ronnie who has most of the best lines in the movie. I don't want to say any more so I don't ruin the laughs for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. If you haven't, rent it very soon.

King Arthur (2004), starring Clive Owen and Kiera Knightly, is a movie that explores who Arthur would have been if he were a real historical figure. In this adaptation, he's a knight of the Roman empire as it is falling and the Roman armies are fleeing the British isles. Lawlessness erupts and Arthur stays in England to fight in hopes of restoring order. It's a well done movie, but Blockbuster sent me the "directors cut" which means it was overly long. However, it was a nice surprise to see Ray Stevenson as one of Arthur's knights. Stevenson was one of the stars in the HBO series Rome which totally rocked. I recommend both this movie and HBO's Rome.

Othello (1995) was surprisingly enjoyable to watch. I'm not a Shakespeare buff by any means, but I think I was able to enjoy it because they cut out about half of the original text (and let's face it, that's where we all lose interest after a while). I couldn't understand the meaning every single spoken line, but I was able to follow the story very easily. It stars Laurence Fishburne as the jealous and untrusting Othello and Kenneth Branagh as the dastardly Iago. Rent this if you're in the mood to try out a Shakespeare flick.

Movie Reviews: Wilde and The Four Feathers

I've been working my way through my huge backlog of older movies and recently rented a couple movies that can both be described in the same way: well made, well acted, but too long and therefore a smidge boring. Wilde (1997) is the biopic of poet and playwright Oscar Wilde staring Stephen Fry and Jude Law. Wilde lived in Victorian England with a wife and two children - and a male lover. His homosexuality was discovered and exposed, but his refusal to leave the country led to a court trial and he was sentenced to two years hard labor. Only pick this one up if you're specifically interested in learning more about the life of Oscar Wilde. (Note that his writing isn't really addressed or discussed in this movie.)

The Four Feathers (2002) is a remake of an old 1915 movie set in 1884 Sudan about a man who resigns his enlistment in the British army right before his regiments ships out for battle. He receives four white feathers from his friends and fiancee as symbols of his cowardice. To redeem his honor, he spends the rest of the movie undercover helping his army regiment during and after the battle. It stars Heath Ledger and Djimon Hounsou and, again, it's well made but long and slow. I only recommend this movie if you've dedicated yourself to watching all of Heath Ledger's movies.

Movie Reviews: Duplicity, Timeline & Undercover Blues

Duplicity was the most fun I've had at a movie in a while, but I'm sure that has a lot to do with all those overly-serious Oscar nominated flicks I've seen lately. This movie has the audience constantly guessing at whose side everyone is on and where everyone's allegiances really lie. Clive Owen and Julia Roberts play ex-MI-6 and ex-CIA agents, respectively, who have teamed up to pull their own scam - or have they? Can they possibly trust each other long enough to pull off their plan, or are they playing each other (along with everyone else)? I'm not a Julia Roberts fan (she freaks me out if I look at her odd face for too long), but if you're like me I say suck it up for two hours because this movie is too fun to miss.

I rented Timeline (2003) based on the Michael Crichton book of the same name. I remember this movie getting trashed in the reviews when it first came out. I think I may have enjoyed it more because my expectations were low and I was able to watch it in the comfort of my own home. Starring Gerard Butler, Michael Sheen and David Thewlis, among others, it's about a group of archeology students who travel back in time via a wormhole to 14th century France to save their professor who gets trapped in the past. It's overly sensational and cheesy, but so was Michael Crichton's book. If you're looking for something fun and light check this one out, but it's definitely not a must-see movie.

I also watched Undercover Blues (1993) at the recommendation of my back therapist. This is a zany family romp about a couple with a baby who happen to be former spies that get lured out of retirement to catch a dangerous arms embezzler. Hilarity ensues as Dennis Quaid and Kathleen Turner multi-task their way through this action comedy. It's dated, lame, and way too cheesy. I'm definitely not recommending this one.

Hunted

Hunted is the fifth installment of the House of Night series written by P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast. The story continues to follow Zoey Redbird, a vampyre fledgling blessed by the goddess Nyx, and her small band of friends. In this latest story, they have to defeat Kalona, a fallen angel turned to darkness, and Neferet, the high priestess of the school who has turned her back on Nyx in her quest for power and domination.

Overall, I like the world the authors have created where vampyres are known and exist along side humans though not quite peacefully. I also like the overall story where a small band of good guys are trying to overthrow the more powerful bad guys - having been raised on Star Wars movies and Lord of the Rings books this is exactly why I started this series. However, I wish the authors would stop trying so hard to make trendy teen-talk and spend more time on the quality of the writing.

I recommend this series if you're into action/sci-fi books. Start with the first one in this series, Marked, in which Zoey first gets introduced to the vampyre world. Starting with Hunted would leave you lost as to what is going on in the story overall.

Music Within and Forgetting Sarah Marshall

I took a chance on a movie I never heard of before, Music Within, and was pleasantly surprised. It's a true story about Richard Pimentel who came back from Vietnam legally deaf, being able to only hear vowel sounds but not consonants. He befriends Art, a very smart writer with cerebral palsy, primarily because Richard can understand the way Art speaks (when no one else can). The movie explores Richard's life after the war, focusing on his achievements on behalf of Americans with disabilities. I definitely recommend this movie.

Also watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which was funnier than I thought it would be. As you can tell from the title, it's about a guy trying to get over the girl who dumped him. He decides to go to Hawaii, but ends up at the same resort with Sarah and her new British rocker boyfriend. Hilarity ensues, but my favorite part was the end (**spoiler alert**) because he doesn't get back with Sarah but ends up with someone better for him. Rent this one when you want a laugh.

Into the Wild and Jumper

I rented two non-recommendable movies this weekend. The first one I suffered through was Jumper, which is about a few guys who can teleport to anywhere in the world any time they want. Sounds like a cool premise, but there wasn't much of a plot and the girl that was supposed to be the love interest was exceptionally annoying; I couldn't help but want the bad guy, played by Samuel L. Jackson, to kill her. He didn't.

The other movie was an artsy-fartsy movie directed by Sean Penn called Into The Wild. It's based on a true story about a kid who left to go to Alaska to live alone in the wilderness away from all society. It was really long (2 1/2 hours) and was really boring. I think if it had been condensed into an hour and a half I would have enjoyed it more, but then it wouldn't have been the self-indulgent indy film Sean Penn wanted to make. Needless to say, I can't recommend either of these movies.

Book Reviews

Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain is a good follow up to her first book, Heart Sick. Both stories center around a police detective who was nearly tortured to death by a female serial killer, with whom he now needs to have a very sick and unhealthy relationship. In Heart Sick the serial killer is in prison but in Sweetheart she escapes. These are both really good books. You should read them both, starting with Heart Sick. They're fun, twisted reads.

And now, I'll cover the three Christopher Moore books I just read: Coyote Blue, A Dirty Job, and The Stupidest Angel. Coyote Blue is about love and redemption. A Native American who has been hiding from his past when an ancient tribal god named Coyote the Trickster offers him the dangerous gift of love and totally screws up his life. A Dirty Job is about death and dying, but it's wrapped up in a hilarious and heartwarming story. The main character discovers that he has a new and bazaar "second job" of collecting soul vessels - objects that hold a person's soul after death.

The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror was such a joy to read. It takes place in Pine Cove, the same location as his book Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove with all those same wacky characters. It also has Tucker Case and Roberto the talking fruit bat from Island of the Sequined Love Nun, and Raziel (the aforementioned stupid angel) from Lamb. You don't need to read all those other books first, but you do need to read this one. It was hilarious and crazy and so much fun. In fact, read all of his books - I have!

Movie Reviews

I've been busy watching movies but not busy posting them here on my blog. I'm just going to do them all at once and give just a quick review.

The Wrestler with Micky Rourke and Marissa Tomei is great but it's probably the saddest movie I've ever seen - not in a tear-jerker kind of way, but it's just flat out depressing. I would have given Micky Rourke the Oscar for this performance. You should see this one.

The International with Clive Owen is just OK. I think this film is lucky it had Clive Owen to carry the movie. There's nothing unpredictable in this one. If you have any interest you can wait for the DVD.

What Just Happened with Robert DeNiro leading an all-star cast is an indy movie that I think only Hollywood insiders would enjoy. Skip this one.

Driving Lessons is a coming of age story staring Rupert Grint as a teen who starts working for Julie Walters' free spirit aging actress to get away from his over-bearing mother played by Laura Linney. This was much better than I thought it was. Rent this one.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang starring Robert Downey Jr. was also better than I thought it would be. It's a funny, twisty murder mystery with Val Kilmer as a gay private detective. Rent this one.

Dirty Filthy Love starring Michael Sheen is about a guy who has Tourette's and OCD (!what a combo!). It's an incredible movie; very well acted. Definitely rent this one.

Heartlands is a little British movie about a dorky guy whose wife leaves him. He goes on a trip across England to track her down and win her back, but on his journey he comes into his own. I liked that when he finds her he has enough self confidence to leave her. This movie is slow so I wouldn't recommend it.

Laws of Attraction with Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore was better than I thought. I didn't realize this movie was in my queue but I'm glad it was because I enjoyed it. Rent this one on a rainy day.

Last and least is The Rocker with Rainn Wilson. This was just bad. Skip it.