WALL-E

Release Date - June 2008
Rating - 4 Stars

WALL-E the new pixar movie directed by Andrew Stanton (Toy Story, A Bugs Life, Monsters Inc.) is the story of a robot that was created to compact and organize trash on Earth. After Earth was abandoned, WALL-E was left to clean all alone, except for the company of a brave cockroach. He spends his time collecting things that catch his interest and watching Hello Dolly. WALL-E longs for a companion and someone he can love and hold hands with, this of course comes from watching to much Hello Dolly. When the sleek and beautiful robot EVE comes to earth searching for plant life its love at first sight for WALL-E. The rest of the movie portrays the adventure he has as he follows her to the space station.

I was very hesitant to see this movie but in the end I loved it. WALL-E was the best Pixar movie since Toy Story 1 and 2. The story is so heart warming and full of emotion, and the integration of animation and real humans was done superbly and not in a cheesy way like Who Framed Rodger Rabbit or Cool World. There is not much talking the first 30 minutes of the movie which is fine because the visual effects are amazing! I thought there is no way pixar could ever get better at their animation but I was very wrong, this is easily the best animated movie ever made in any class of animation.

WALL-E is rated G and has nothing offensive in it, although it is not as much of a kids movie as other Pixar films. The 4-6 year old's we went with enjoyed it but I know they did not understand the plot or the message of it, and the kids under 4 had a hard time staying focused and attentive. If your a parent taking a child to a movie, I would not recommend this, unless you feel like taking a chance. It will worth it for you because it's an incredible movie, one you can see more than once in the theatre.

Hancock

Release Date - July 2008
Rating - 2 1/2 Stars

Will Smith Stars as the unlovable and often hated superhero Hancock. The movie opens with a great scene of him chasing down a few bad guys while destroying parts of LA, and if you have been to LA or spent time there it makes it even funner to watch him destroy the landmarks. Hancock is a depressed, alcoholic man with super human abilities that helps stop crime but no one appreciates his help because he is rude, brash, selfish, and destroys things whenever he is around that is until he meets Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman, Arrested Development, Juno) a young PR rep who wants to help Hancock change his image and become happier. The plot felt lacking at times while we watched Hancock go from the change of worthless to worthwhile, and at times I was very annoyed at why Rays wife Mary (Charlize Theron, Monster, The Italian Job) acted so strange around Hancock, they do not tell you until almost the end of the movie. The movie revolves around Rays family and Hancock so there are no other characters that play big roles but when Will Smith is in a movie who needs any other big actors because he steals the screen, this is one of his best performances in any movie he has made. He does a fantastic job at making the character believable and you almost feel he is depressed in real life and has forgot what its like to be happy and treat people decently. It is fun to watch his transformation and his life change, event thought this movie has an original plot and idea this movie never could have worked without Smith. Hancock is rated PG-13 but is very much a border line R. There is a lot of swearing with constant use of the word a-hole and use of the f-word. There are some violent scenes that get intense at times and violent beating scene at the end of the movie. I like this movie very much but would not recommend it to people because of the content and what I feel is a deceitful rating. If your a Will Smith fan you will probably enjoy this movie.

Wanted

Release Date: June 2008
Rating: 3 stars

Wanted falls into the category of summer blockbuster and if you want a quick movie fix this is the film for you. Wanted sastifies all those movie cravings including action, and incredible special effects sequences.
The film stars veteran actor Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie, and my favorite up-and-coming new star James McAvoy. Wanted is adapted from a comic book mini series which explains the fantasy spin on the age old assassin tale.
McAvoy plays Wesley Gibbs, just your average joe, although he can be a little neurotic at times; taking pills for his anxiety problems. Wesley has a crappy job, a girlfriend and best friend who walk all over him, and no hope for escaping his dull existence, that is until he meets Fox (Angelina Jolie).
Fox introduces Wesley to The Fraternity, a society of assassins that has been around for 1,000 years protecting society by keeping things in balance. From then on Wesley is swept up in a whirlwind lifestyle he never though possible.
The movie has great special effects and some really great action scenes, including someone jumping from a building as he shoots people on the next rooftop.
The plot is a bit sketchy but the action and cinematography more than make up for it. Jolie as usual gives a stiff performance, and the chemistry between Jolie and McAvoy is seriously lacking.
Wanted is rated R for sexual content, language, and extreme violence. There are a couple of sex scenes with rear male nudity, and a scene in which Jolie gets out of a bath tub and we see a shot of her naked backside (which isn't so great because she's scary skinny!) There is a heavy usage of the F word, most of which are unnecsessary and add bulk to an otherwise good film. The violence in the film is very heavy and graphic. If you don't like seeing bullets go through people's heads then this isn't a film for you.
I thought the film was fun and a good story with a stellar performance from rising star McAvoy, and as usual the token villain that is filled by Samuel L. Jackson or Morgan Freeman, in this case its Freeman.
Wanted is filled with some great action sequences and awesome special effects. I would recommend this movie for people who are fans of films like Sin City, Underworld, or Pulp Fiction.
Its definitely not a movie for anyone who is squemish!

Get Smart

Release Date - June 2008
Rating - 3 Stars

A remake of the Mel Brooks 1960's TV show starring Don Adams is surprisingly funny yet not quite refreshing. Steve Carrell (The Office) plays Maxwell Smart an hopeful office agent who gains status as a field agent when the organization becomes compromised. There is not much to write about the plot. It is your typical save-the-day story with lots of action, but it also ends with a little bit of surprise. Carell has a different take on the Smart charactor then Adams did. He seems to play Smart more like Micheal from the office, nevertheless Carrell does it well and makes it much more enjoyable and funnier than Adams (that is if you are an office fan and enjoy and understand the comedy style of Carell). You can always tell he puts a lot of thought, work, and heart into his characters, and Maxwell Smart is no exeception. Anne Hathaway (Ella Enchanted, Becoming Jane) also did a surprisingly fantastic job and was quite the scene stealer at times. When she tried to breakaway from the Princess roles by doing Broke Back Mountain I was very disappointed but she very well may have redeemed herself with this role because she has so much more personality than the boring Barbara Feldon from the Get Smart TV series.

I found myself constantly rooting for Smart as he learned to be a field agent which helped keep me riveted to the screen, along with the fact I was laughing every few minutes. There were times when I was the only one laughing and I wondered if it wasn't funny or if the people in the audience just didn't the jokes. Get Smart is rated PG-13 for action style violence and some, what we call, adult language (even though I think kids use it more now, but that's a whole different blog). There are only two sexual jokes, the worst of them is when Smart is trying to pick up a enormous unconsciences man who. From the camera angle it gives the appearance of Smart getting fresh with the man. The other is a dialog between a women at the bakery who mistakes Smart for trying to hit on her but it is done very tastefully and is not crude. I would recommend this movie to people 11 and older. So if your choice comes down to seeing this or the Love Guru -- even though I have not seen that and will not -- choose Get Smart it is well worth the full ticket price.

Thank You For Smoking

Release Date - April 2006
Rating - 4 Stars

Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight, No Reservations) stars as Nick Naylor, the smooth talking big tobacco mans go to guy. Naylor defends the tobacco company's any time they are under any scrutiny and he is the best in the business, even the senator who lobby's against big tobacco is afraid of him. Nick has to battle with his morals constantly while raising his son and teach him about what he does. The story revolves around Senator Finistirre, played by William H. Macy(Mystery Men), trying to get an evil looking skull and cross bones put onto every pack of cigarettes. There are a lot of good scenes that simply make you think and at times make you amazed and wonder if Eckhart is good at talking in real life. The end moral of the story is that it is up to the family to teach what is right and wrong. It is somewhat hard to explain this movie to make it sound good because there are so many sub plots in the movie, which make it hard to follow along at times. There were moments when I forgot what the main plot was but it kept me on my toes so I suppose that is good. I highly recommend seeing this movie for the sheer brilliance of it and how original the script and dialog are. This movie is rated R for adult language, the F-word is pretty frequent. It is spoken at least 10-20 times. Sexual content, there is a brief 30 second sex scene with Eckhart and Katie Holmes (who plays the two-faced reporter) which has no nudity but shows them having simulated sex, the scene is very crucial to the movie because in a Hollywood way it shows the dangers of sleeping around with random people but I still wish they would have done the scene more tasteful and just implied it more, there is also some sexual dialog once or twice. Mild violence, a kidnapping scene. One other interesting point of the movie it never shows any of the actors smoking. The only smoking scene is when he is watching an old western movie on TV and it shows a clip of it. The movie is neither anti or pro smoking but I would highly recommend not taking anyone under the age of 18 to this moving. The content is for a muture audience and the story is for a more matured audience with a greater capacity to think. So go out and rent this tonight!

The Incredible Hulk

Release Date - June 2008
Rating - 4 Stars

The Incredible Hulk starring Edward Norton(Fight Club) and Liv Tyler( TLOTR) is a follow up to the Eric Bana Hulk. I found this movie very exhilarating, much better quality than the first. However I did like Jennifer Conley as the love interest better in the first Hulk movie but Liv kept me fastened to my seat with a performance that was not to dramatic or whiny as in some of her other roles. In a consistent fashion, Edward Norton gives a stunning performance that makes the character believable. I would even dare say no other hulk actor could top his performance. The movie begins with the Hulk already going through his radiation treatment so for one who does not know the story you may be a little lost. My fiance was not quite sure what was going on, but I explained to her how he became the Hulk and she followed very quickly. I found there where no boring segments during the movie and was constantly entertained with the visual effects and most of the story. I liked this better than Ironman for the fact it was not as long and there was more action, but I would say Ironman has more substance and plot. The movie ends with Tony Stark tying the two movies together, which I enjoyed for the fact it made me excited to see what Marvel will do next. The Hulk is rated PG-13 for typical comic style violence all though the movie does not look quite as comicy as Hellboy or Sin City. There are a lot of explosions and scenes were the Hulk is being plummeted by a barrage of bullets. The most graphic scene is when one of the CGI characters is getting choked with a giant chain. Since it is CGI it does not seem as intense as the choking scene in TLOTR. This movie is f-word free which is a relief for a PG-13 movie and some mild swearing and a few times where the Lords name is taken in vain. There is mild sexual content. A scene where the Tyler and Norton are making out with some of their clothes off and briefly talk about having sex in an innuendo fashion but they stop because his pulse gets too high. I would highly recommend not taking any child under 14 to this movie because of the many violent scenes that might be too intense for children even up to age 16.