Crazy Heart (2009)

Posted by Jay Philips | Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Crazy Heart is an intimate look at a Country singer on his last legs. In many respects this movie has a strong parallel to Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler". In both cases the hero of the movie is in the twilight of their career, both want to achieve more but don't take care of themselves, both find a love in their life. The details are different and the endings are not alike but the flavor of the movie is the same. There is wry humor that makes you laugh out loud in the theatre but basically it is an excellent story with great acting...especially by Jeff Bridges. He deserves his oscar shot with this performance.

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Avatar (2009) - ONE OF THE BEST!

Posted by Jay Philips | Tuesday, December 29, 2009

DESCRIPTION: AVATAR takes us to a spectacular world beyond imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on an epic adventure, ultimately fighting to save the alien world he has learned to call home. James Cameron, the Oscar-winning director of "Titanic," first conceived the film 15 years ago, when the means to realize his vision did not exist yet. Now, after four years of production, AVATAR, a live action film with a new generation of special effects, delivers a fully immersive cinematic experience of a new kind, where the revolutionary technology invented to make the film disappears into the emotion of the characters and the sweep of the story.

We enter the alien world through the eyes of Jake Sully, a former Marine confined to a wheelchair. But despite his broken body, Jake is still a warrior at heart. He is recruited to travel light years to the human outpost on Pandora, where corporations are mining a rare mineral that is the key to solving Earth's energy crisis. Because the atmosphere of Pandora is toxic, they have created the Avatar Program, in which human "drivers" have their consciousness linked to an avatar, a remotely-controlled biological body that can survive in the lethal air. These avatars are genetically engineered hybrids of human DNA mixed with DNA from the natives of Pandora... the Na'vi.

Reborn in his avatar form, Jake can walk again. He is given a mission to infiltrate the Na'vi, who have become a major obstacle to mining the precious ore. But a beautiful Na'vi female, Neytiri, saves Jake's life, and this changes everything. Jake is taken in by her clan, and learns to become one of them, which involves many tests and adventures. As Jake's relationship with his reluctant teacher Neytiri deepens, he learns to respect the Na'vi way and finally takes his place among them. Soon he will face the ultimate test as he leads them in an epic battle that will decide nothing less than the fate of an entire world.

MOVIE REVIEW: With Avatar, James Cameron has created a cinematic journey that movie goers have never experienced! It is that good!

The visual effects are spectacular! The movie stills of the CGI characters do not do them justice. Simply put, you have to experience them in action, at the movie theater. You will never look at other CGI characters the same again. They will seem amateurish. Cameron breathes life into his generated actors. You will witness facial muscles twitching, skin around eyes stretching, and facial expressions that look 100% authentic.

The world we are taken to shines with life and realism. One side of the film puts us into the real world, where the 3D never seems forced. The other side of the film is done almost completely with special effects, CGI, real life actors, and green screen. The thing is, after viewing this world for a few seconds, you will completely forget that it is computer generated. Oh yeah, I'm serious.

All I can say is wow, wow, wow!!!

The story is good. It's not the greatest story ever to shine on the screen, but it's still good. Plain and simple. Some say it is a little preachy.... that it deals too much with hot button topics, like the environment. Well, while it may not be your cup of tea, remember that it's just a story. Dive into it! A film's story has to deal with some sort of topic, right? This movie's story did not seem forced at all to me. It fit very well and flowed seamlessly.

That's about all I have to say about the story. You can read all about it in other reviews.

Finally... and this is VERY IMPORTANT! 1) You have to experience this film in a theater. 2) And, in the theater, you must see this film in 3D. If you don't, you will be doing yourself a severe disservice. 3) And, on top of that, if you can see it in IMAX, DO IT! It's worth the extra distance driving and also worth spending a couple of extra bucks at the ticket stand. Believe it! Also, get there early and sit in the Middle-Middle of the theater. If you can't get that, sit further back. If you are forced to sit in the front, do yourself a favor.... walk out, go to the ticket booth, and exchange your ticket for the next showing. You do not want to waste your experience squished at the front. You will miss too much, and that's just a waste. Come on, you can do better then that! You know it!

Go see it. Now! Go ahead. I'm serious! Why not? You will be taken to a world that will knock your socks off! ....Wait..... What are you doing still reading this? For real! Get up... now! Find out where the closest IMAX 3D theater is and go. NOW! Bring your significant other, if you have one. If not, go by yourself. That way, you can put a jacket on either side of you and have extra leg and arm wiggle room! If you're reading this in the wee hours of the A.M., that's fine. Don't stress out, home-slice. Drive to the theater and wait out front for the doors to open. You'll be first in line. Get it? Ah-Hah! You'll get your choice of the very best seats!

Go! Now! Tell the ticket dude that I said hello. Snag your 3D glasses as a souvenir, even though they ask you to return them. That way, you can show them to your friends or family many years from now, and say, "Hey, these are the glasses that I wore when I saw that amazing movie Avatar! I saw it, because I read this stupid review on yahoo. It wasn't even that great of a review, but it made me go see it! And now, my friend... I give these 3D glasses... to you!"

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Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li

Posted by Jay Philips | Sunday, December 27, 2009

Warriors converge on the streets of Bangkok, preparing for the ultimate battle of terror versus beauty, light versus darkness and good versus evil.

Part 1 of 2

Part 2 of 2

This historical telling of the awesome Chun-Li is a must see for any Street Fighter fan. The action is good and the film makers do a good job showing her signature moves without making it seem corny or unbelievable. I concur with other reviews in stating that Chris Klein's Europol character should have been left on the cutting room floor.

The two main villains in this movie are M. Bison, portrayed by Neal McDonough, and Balrog, portrayed by Michael Clark Duncan. Let's start off with M. Bison. Neal McDonough did an excellent job portraying the the movie's main villain, a sadistic and cruel businessman who runs a crime syndicate called Shadoloo. McDonough perfectly captured Bison's cruelty and evil in this movie, and it could be clearly seen throughout many parts of this movie, be it eating dinner calmly while his business partners are hacked to pieces by his henchman Vega, or when he snaps Chun Li's father's neck without so much as a moment's hesitation. Bison is the epitome of evil in this movie, and what is perhaps most creepy is how calm and polite he is when he commits such atrocities. Too bad in this movie that he DIES, which annoyed me, as it goes against the whole plot of the Street Fighter video game storyline. Also, don't expect Bison to do any Psycho Crusher moves or Knee presses, the only person in the movie who has special moves is Chun Li (too bad). Bison fights with his bare fists and fights with moves that resemble Karate with some good old street fighting. Too bad there is no mention of Bison's Psycho-Drive or psychic power.

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Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009)

Posted by Jay Philips | Saturday, December 26, 2009

DESCRIPTION: America's favorite furry brothers Alvin, Simon and Theodore are back. Because of a freak accident involving Alvin and Dave Seville, they go to live with Dave's cool cousin, Toby and they have to enroll in school like every other kid. School presents new challenges to these rock stars like dealing with peer pressure, football and of course, girls. By "girls" we mean the Chipettes who are managed by Ian Hawke, the Chipmunks greedy former manager who wants to turn them into the next big thing. There is rivalry between the Chipettes and the Chipmunks at first, but in the end they realize that they make great friends and a great musical team.

MOVIE REVIEW: The first one was really good and when I saw the previews for this, it looked like it would blow the first one out of the water and it did. The film is awesome, very funny and very cute. It's better than the first by far and I am definitely going to buy it. There goes another awesome movie from 2009! God, 2009 is the best year for movies, in my oponion. Well, I love every minute of it and it's definitely worth seeing at the movies with your kids! Merry Christmas! :) Thanks for reading!

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Quantum Of Solace - Movie Review

Posted by Jay Philips | Thursday, December 24, 2009

The new James Bond movie was a very strong in the action scenes and visual effects, so it makes the audience very hyper during the movie. The storyline was really good and it is related to the Casino Royale. Being a Bond fanatic myself, it's also quite hard not to compare this and its predecessor, Casino Royale, to the Bond of old. But one must remember, this is a fast track to the younger days of Bond, However if you are a devote older bond movie lover, then this will disappoint. There are no romance, no new gadgets, the pretty girls with cute names are missing, and the trade-mark grin of Bond doing a dirty trick on someone is missing, No gleam in his eye and not once did he say the famous line "MY NAME IS BOND JAMES BOND". James Bond normally goes his thing with intelligence, competance, wit, charm, cool gadgets, and the occasion fist fight. In this movie "James Bond" wins mainly through straight violence. This James Bond is more like any old action hero, then the smooth and cool spy we used to know and love.

So I suggest you to watch Casino Royal before this movie because it's related to the Casino Royale. With no doubt, Daniel Craig is the toughest James Bond, and his fighting skills are unique and better than others. He is very serious and does his best to finish his works well.

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