Sensory Overload

Every now and then a documentary comes along that not only educates you, but perhaps changes your perspective on something, and consequently changes yourself. I believe Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 and Sicko were both these types of films. As were Alex Gibney's Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and Taxi to the Dark Side. And after watching Jessica Baker's 25-minute documentary on the rising incidence autism, I can happily add Sensory Overload to that list.

As mentioned, the film which recently aired on PBS, talks about the rising incidence of autism, but instead of going the stereotypical route as most documentaries on that subject, Sensory Overload emphasizes on the families and friends coping with autism in their family, their highs and lows, and their joys and sorrows. The documentary is exceptionally well made, especially for a low budget student film, and while it educates (it did me:)) it also delivers a strong and thought provoking message on the lives of people both directly and indirectly affected by autism.

Even though the sound editing could have been reworked, I believe Sensory Overload to be a very well made film. And while it delivers a strong message, perhaps most importantly it showcases that you don't need a million dollar budget and an HD cam to make a point. All you really need is a thought provoking thesis and of course some raw talent. 5 out of 5!!


V.


Images courtesy of Jessica Baker
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Notorious

The most anti-climatic film of 2009!!

I must say that Notorious was one of the worst and definitely the most anti-climatic films I have seen this year. It pretty much flatlines throughout the entire feature (122 minutes of this shit), and is filled with numerous plot holes and sub par acting on behalf of pretty much everyone. I mean, the Academy Award nominee Angela Bassett was solid as Voletta Wallace, but her semi decent performance made everyone else look even worse...

The newcomer Jamal Woolard (as Christopher Wallace AKA Biggie) was simply terrible, and not only that he made Biggie look like a 1-dimensional fat bloke, he also made the man appear slightly stupid. I think it is safe to say that Jamal Woolard has ended his brief acting career. Another one was Derek Luke as P. Diddy (or Puff Daddy). His performance was equally as bad, and unfortunately did not resemble Puffy one bit. But the worst performer trophy goes to Anthony Mackie's Tupac Shakur. For those who don't know, Anthony Mackie is actually a decent actor. Just watch The Hurt Locker! So it took me by surprise to see him perform so terribly. Of course part of the blame lies in the hands of the screenwriters who have managed to write terrible characters for everyone in this film, but still...Mackie manages to make a complete joke out of both himself and Pac.

Okay, enough of the bad acting. Did I mention the anachronisms?? Maybe it's a guy thing, but I counted at least 4 automobiles that were not even produced during the time Biggie (and Pac) were around -- the 7th generation (current model) Mercedes-Benz E-Class, a Corvette C6 (current model), a stretched Ford Crown Vic taxi cab (roled off the assembly line in '02), and a 7th generation Honda Accord (previous model). Terrible goofs of behalf of the film makers...

Overall, Notorious must be one of the worse (if not the worst) biographical dramas I have ever seen. Hence my rating -- 1 out of 5 stars! And this is coming from a guy who actually digs Biggie's music.

V.

Oh yes...this film was produced by P. Diddy himself. Clearly he should stick to making music.


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Viira is back...

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, playaz and playa hataz...

The aspiring film critic "Viira" is finally back from summer break and ready to bring on more of his personalized views and movie reviews!!


Keep checking back for upcoming reviews on Notorious, District 9, The Hurt Locker, Max Payne, Public Enemies, etc.

V.

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Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

The worst blockbuster of the decade -- bar none!!

* * * WARNING: mild spoilers ahead * * *

All I can say is that Michael Bay’s (Bad Boys, Armageddon) latest Transformers film is so terrible that at one point I walked out of this near 3 hour feature in need of a smoke break. I couldn’t take it anymore after the main characters were somehow teleported (WTF??) from some sort of an airfield in the US, into a desert in Egypt…

While the CGI is quite impressive, the action sequences themselves are garbage, and a repeat of Michael Bay’s previous films, which obviously takes out the "originality factor". The plot is just utter shit, and the acting on behalf of pretty much everyone, is just appalling, even for a summer blockbuster action film.

What makes it worse is Michael Bay. I truly believe that this 44-year-old man has the brain capacity and the IQ of a 13-year-old boy. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is filled with immature jokes that only 13-year-old boys would appreciate -- a Chihuahua humping a Pug (twice in less than 5 minutes), a robot humping Megan Fox’ leg, two wannabe gangsta robots, an aging transformer with a crutch and a (steel) beard, and lastly the huge robotic nut sack!? Instead of a PG-13 rating, this movie should be advertised as not suitable for anyone above the age of 13.

Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once said, “Pornography is hard to define, but I know it when I see it”. After spending $7.50 on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, I think I have now seen pornography in it’s most vivid form.

* (one out of five) -- an appalling film. Nowhere near as thrilling, exciting, and cool, as the first one. I actually liked the first film, and though corny at times, found it quite entertaining. This one -- not so much!


V.


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Transsiberian

You can't escape your lies.

Plot: An American couple (Woody Harrelson and Emily Mortimer) seeking to smooth out their rough marriage buys a ticket on the legendary Trans-Siberian Railway (a railroad from Beijing, China to Moscow, Russia). But a chance meeting with two mysterious passengers becomes a thrilling chase of deception and murder.

For a low-budget indie film, Transsiberian wasn't too bad. The plot is well constructed and quite suspense. Cinematography and editing is also prime (contrary to many indie-films having that Lifetime-movie-like quality). Woody Harrelson does seem a bit out of character and a little "slow" at times, but Emily Mortimer makes up for all of Woody's shortcomings in this thrilling and gritty train ride. Ben Kingsley, Eduardo Noriega, and always-smoking-hot Kate Mara costar.

* * * (three out of five) -- Decent indie thriller worth watching!!


V.

Enjoyed Transsiberian? Viira recommends: The Dead Girl, Brick, The Lookout.


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Terminator Salvation

The End Begins

The latest Terminator installment, Salvation, certainly beat my expectations, but was nowhere near as good as the original or shall we say the first two.
First off let me just say that T2: Judgment Day is one of my all time favorite films. And I didn’t expect Salvation to beat it. I did expect Salvation to beat T3: Rise of the Machines and it did…by a long shot.

Plot: After Skynet has destroyed much of humanity in a nuclear holocaust, a group of survivors led by John Connor struggles to keep the mankind from total annihilation.

I suppose Salvation is a Terminator film for the new generation. It’s not a bad Terminator film; it’s a different breed of Terminator films. I remember the first time I saw T2: Judgment Day, I was a little kid (11 or 12). And that film blew me away. It was so intense that I was practically shaking in my chair, especially because I could sympathize with the young John Connor (played by Edward Furlong). Ever since then I wondered and hoped that one day they would make a sequel to T2, a sequel that would take place in the future, in the future where the terminators have annihilated much of the human race and John Connor leads the fight against the machines. I think my childhood wish has finally come true, because Terminator Salvation is that film! What else could I really expect? Perhaps a better constructed plot with more character development, less cheese (yes, there were some poor lines), and more unique action scenes that seem less like a copy of the past films, but overall the film was spot on!! Metal pounding action with lots of gunfire and explosions. And guess what? The infamous T-800 makes a nice cameo comeback:)

Salvation explains what happens after the Judgment Day. And it goes into great detail on explaining the role of John Connor and the Resistance. Does anyone remember those nasty scars on (old) John Connor’s face at the beginning of T2? Salvation explains how he gets those.

* * * (three out of five) -- A decent post-apocalyptic sci-fi action film, and worthy of the Terminator name. I would only hope to see T5 one day.


V.

Enjoyed Terminator Salvation? Viira recommends: T1, T2, T3.



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Body of Lies

Trust no one. Deceive everyone.

Ridley Scott (American Gangster, Black Hawk Down) makes an attempt to take on a Middle Eastern themed action-thriller but fails in execution...

Plot: An idealistic CIA agent Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) teams up with veteran operative Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) and the head of Jordanian intelligence to infiltrate an underground network of terrorists and locate a criminal mastermind/jihadist responsible for several terrorist attacks all over the Middle East and Europe.

* * * WARNING: mild spoilers ahead * * *

The plot sounds intriguing, right? So does the cast, right? If so, then what went wrong with this film? I think the answer lies in execution. Indeed, the story itself is quite interesting, but the character’s are poorly developed. Russell Crowe as a veteran CIA operative is a great anti-hero yet he lacks the edge. We all know that he is an asshole yet his draconian methods, well associated with the present day CIA, don’t really bother us all that much. Could it be because we hear so much negative publicity about the CIA on the media that we’ve become accustomed to it?? Then there’s Leonardo DiCaprio -- a CIA field operative who reminds us of a young and unseasoned Jason Bourne who at one point falls in love with a young Iranian-Jordanian nurse. WTF!?

There are some violent scenes of torture, and one decent car VS car VS helicopter chase in the middle of a desert, but overall the film lacks suspense. It pretty much flat lines through out the entire feature. I’d say it was a bit boring and disappointing.

On a good note, Body of Lies brings up some valid points and arguments on the war on terror and shows how easily, with modern day electronics and equipment, one can frame another for a jihadist. Now that is SCARY!!

* * (two out of five) -- Interesting subject matter, poor execution. Instead of watching the film, try reading David Ignatius’ novel "Body of Lies", which this film is based on.


V.

Enjoyed Body of Lies? Viira recommends: The Kingdom, Traitor, Black Hawk Down.

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Frost/Nixon

An epic battle for the truth

Plot: adaptation of Peter Morgan's popular Broadway play centered on a series of revelatory TV interviews former President Richard Nixon granted British talk show host David Frost in 1977.

I think the slogan "An epic battle for the truth" sums up the film quite well. Ron Howard's (Apollo 13) Best Picture Oscar nominee Frost/Nixon is not your average political thriller in the sense of The West Wing or Charlie Wilson’s War. Frost/Nixon is much more than that. It is in-depth look into the TV news business as well as into Richard Nixon himself.

The performances on behalf of both Frank Langella (Richard Nixon) and Michael Sheen (David Frost) are outstanding. Langella’s Oscar nomination was well deserved. Sheen is just as admirable and charismatic as David Frost. Other notable cast include Kevin Bacon, Sam Rockwell, Toby Jones, and Oliver Platt.

The only thing I could not figure out was why did the MPAA give Frost/Nixon an "R" rating!? Richard Nixon drops a couple of F-bombs, so fucking what?

* * * * (four out of five) -- A really good film. Well written and very well acted. And most importantly it will teach us a lesson in the U.S. history.


V.

Enjoyed Frost/Nixon? Viira recommends: The Queen, All the President's Men, Charlie Wilson's War.


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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Life isn't measured in minutes, but in moments

While The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was not the best film of 2008, it was certainly one of the most beautifully crafted films of 2008. So the 3 Oscar’s for Art Direction, Makeup, and Visual Effects were all well deserved.

Plot: A man’s life from the perspective of a character living under incredibly unique -- and unexpectedly difficult -- circumstances. Adapted from the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

* * * WARNING: mild spoilers ahead * * *

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was last year’s big budget Oscar nominee. It was well crafted, well written (for the most part), and well acted. Especially on Brad Pitt’s and Taraji P. Henson’s part. The story was both intriguing and compelling. However, there were a few elements that I particularly did not care for...

Cate Blanchett's character. First of all let me just say that I’m not too crazy about Cate Blanchett to begin with, and therefore I don’t think she was the best pick for that role. And since her role as Daisy, Benjamin's love interest, was one of the backbones of the story, I felt like her character was both somewhat poorly developed and poorly acted. Simply put -- I did not feel the sparks between Benjamin and Daisy. Cate Blanchett’s "Daisy" reminded me of a snobby and watered down version of Robin Wright Penn’s "Jenny" from Forrest Gump. I think Benjamin’s earlier love interest Elizabeth (Tilda Swinton) had more depth in her brief cameo. On that note, I believe the critics agree with me because Cate Blanchett did not recieve an Academy Award or a Golden Globe nomination either.

Hurricane Katrina. Another element that bothered me was hurricane Katrina. Why did screenwriter Eric Roth (whose other works include Munich and Forrest Gump) choose to add hurricane Katrina to the story? What was that all about? I got the feeling that he initially wanted it to lead somewhere but then decided to rewrite the ending and remove it from the story. Did anyone else get that idea? I had expected something to come out of it? Unfortunately nothing ever did.

"Getting struck by lightning" stories. Did anyone figure out the meaning and the purpose of Mr. Daws’ character’s “getting struck by lightning” stories? Could it be that even though he got struck by lightning seven times, he still lived and cherished (his) life? But what did that have to do with the curious case of Benjamin Button?!

167 min. And lastly...I did not care for the nearly 3 hour length of the feature. Rarely I enjoy 3-hour-films. They must really be something, for me to sit still for 3 hours and not lose attention. Scorcese's Casino was great, so was Coppola's The Godfather. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, however, could have easily been edited into 2 hours. Less inane love story, please!!

* * * * (four out of five) -- Far from flawless and not as good as Forrest Gump, but definitely worth watching! Great visual effects, makeup, and acting on behalf of Taraji P. Henson and Brad Pitt.


V.

Enjoyed The Curious Case of Benjamin Button? Viira recommends: Forrest Gump, Gone with the Wind, and Titanic.


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The Reader

Behind the mystery lies a truth that will make you question everything you know.

Plot: Post-WWII Germany: Nearly a decade after his affair with an older woman came to a mysterious end, law student Michael Berg re-encounters his former lover as she defends herself in a Nazi war-crime trial.

Stephen Daldry’s (The Hours) latest work -- The Reader is on the heavy side. Perhaps the heaviest and most difficult film of 2008. I’d say it was a great film. A thought provoking film. A film of many layers and nuances. But most importantly, it was a film that makes you reevaluate history and humanity in its most basic levels. In my opinion, The Reader should be a requirement in senior level undergrad social studies across all universities.

Outstanding and beautifully crafted performances by Kate Winslet and David Kross (young Michael Berg). Winslet’s Oscar was well deserved!!

* * * * * (five out of five) -- A powerful challenge for humanity.


V.


Enjoyed The Reader? Viira recommends: Little Children, The Constant Gardner, Schindler's List.

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The Wrestler

Love. Pain. Glory.

Let me just say something before I begin -- I had never in my life imagined that I would feel so much compassion for a wrestler!

The plot: a washed up professional wrestler Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Mickey Rourke) is trying to cope with life outside the ring, and reconnect with his long lost daughter Stephanie, while exploring a relationship with a stripper named Cassidy (Marissa Tomei).

Darren Aronofsky’s (Requiem for a Dream) The Wrestler is hands down one of the better films of 2008. Phenomenally acted on behalf of both Mickey Rourke, and my all time favorite female actress, Marisa Tomei. Both righteously earned their Oscar nominations. The film itself delivers a powerful and gloomy message about life, and the consequences of living hard, playing hard and burning the candle at both ends. A compassionate and vivid story of a man slowly fading away from his dreams. I cannot remember that last time I saw so much pain and sorrow in a character as I saw it in Mickey Rourke’s Randy “The Ram” Robinson.

And this beautifully crafted story of faded glory and sorrow is backed by an amazing 1980’s heavy metal soundtrack along with Bruce Springsteen’s latest Golden Globe winning single The Wrestler.

* * * * * (five out of five) -- Powerful!! If not the best, then definitely one of the better films of 2008. Outstanding performances by Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei.


V.


Enjoyed The Wrestler? Viira recommends: Requiem for a Dream, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Bullet.


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Doubt

Gossip. Intolerance. Doubt.

Very well composed and phenomenally acted drama. Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, are all equally great. The plot (Roman Catholisism and child molestation by Catholic priests during the 60's) is also quite intriguing and very well written by writer/director John Patrick Shanley. The only character that I though was mediocre was Viola Davis as the boy’s mother. I’m not quite sure why she earned the Oscar nomination.
* * * * (four out of five) -- Definitely worth watching!! One of the better character dramas of 2008.


V.


Enjoyed Doubt? Viira recommends: Basic Instinct, The Hours, and anything with Philip Seymour Hoffman.


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Slumdog Millionaire

Who wants to be a millionaire?

Cute film with a well-written story. Not worthy of an Oscar though! Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad film. No, not at all. But I had expected more from an Oscar winner.

Was my disappointment due to the hype? I think it was partially the hype. In my opinion, the film, which was mediocre at best, got all the hype due to the extraordinary location (Mumbai, India) of where the story took place. I think it was the location that made the film so famous. Had it been Detroit, Michigan, Newark, New Jersey, Cleveland, Ohio or Miami, Florida (all reasonably large cities with extremely high poverty rates), I bet both the critics and the audiences would have perceived it much differently. After all, the whole rags to riches love story with the emphasis on honesty and truth is quite clichéish.

* * * WARNING: mild spoilers ahead * * *

Here’s something I found quite intriguing -- at one point in the film, Latika refuses to run away with Jamal since she cannot solely “feed off of love”. Later on, at the end of the film, when Jamal is moments away from winning 20 million rupees, she tells him (over the phone) “I’m yours”.

Could the street kid turned hustler turned prostitute be really in love with him? Could it be that she was always in love with him, yet she chose to be a prostitute for a wealthy crime lord only because she could enjoy the finer things in life? Could Latika's love for the money be stronger than her feelings toward Jamal? Perhaps I’m not supposed to analyze that. I’ll let you decide…

* * * (three out of five) -- Cute film. Original in it's concept? Yes. Worthy of a Best Picture Oscar? Not really. Merely my opinion.

V.


Enjoyed Slumdog Millionaire? Viira recommends: Trainspotting, The Beach, City of God.


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Twilight

When you can live forever what do you live for?

I’ve been debating for the past hour and a half trying to figure out whether I’d give this film a 2 or a 3 star rating. It wasn’t bad. But it certainly wasn’t all that good either. Bottom line -- I wasn’t impressed. Would I have liked it 10 times more if I was 10 years younger? Maybe…

Let me begin this by saying that I didn’t expect much from Twilight; I knew it was going to be a fantasy-vampire-romance-teen-flick. Truthfully, the concept, or the story, sounded intriguing and teen flicks are oftentimes underrated (e.g. Thirteen, The Lookout). After all, I was a teen once, long time ago…

What I did like, and thought was actually kind of cool, were the costumes, the cars (blood red CLK and the pitch black S550), and the post-modern luxury residence of the Cullen vampire coven, which made the Cullens look like the uber-cool Valmonts from Cruel Intentions.

Nonetheless, what bothered me about the film, was the lack of character development. Even though the characters were well acted on behalf of Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, I wasn’t buying the romance. Bottom line -- it lacked depth. I have not read Stephanie Meyer’s bestselling novel, maybe I should, but I’m afraid I would have disliked the film more had I actually read the novel. I simply did not feel the love.

Another downside of the film was the Lifetime-B-Movie-like cinematography. Did anyone notice that? The sound was okay, and the performances by the leading actors were decent, but some scenes we’re a bit too Lifetime-movie-like for me. And lastly, Billy Burke as Bella’s father resembled more of a drunken lowlife than the Chief of Police. WTF!? Could they have picked any worse actor for that role?? I guess Gary Busey was in the rehab so they really had no other choice…


Twilight had a unique and interesting concept, but it was poorly executed.

* * (two out of five) -- Not impressed.


V.


Enjoyed Twilight? Viira recommends: Interview with the Vampire, Jumper, The Messengers.


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Qwik critique...

Selection of recently watched films in a nutshell...

Hostel: Part II
"Mediocre sequel to a cult classic. The twist at the end added some edge"












Traitor
"Decent spy drama with an unexpected ending."












Pineapple Express
"Other than Franco's performance, I thought this film was downright garbage. Disappointed to say the least"












Pride and Glory
"Decent cop drama with a phenomenal cast. Nothing spectacular, but worth watching"












Never Back Down
"A modern day version of the 80's Karate Kid; poor acting, but good fight scenes"












Eagle Eye
"Entertaining but forgettable. Michelle Monaghan and Shia LaBeouf aren't exactly the best on-screen duo"












Rescue Dawn
"Christian Bale is brilliant, yet the film falls short on the drama factor"












The Descent
"Surprisingly decent. I guess the Brits know how to make a horror flick after all"













V.

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Viira is back...

After finally graduating with Bachelor of Science in Business (magna cum laude), Viira is back and better than ever to post more film reviews. Let's hope I haven't lost my fan base...

More to come...

V.


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300 (Blu-ray)

Visionary film making at its finest.

This is how I would sum up Frank Miller’s 300. The story itself is not 100% historically accurate, and nor does it proclaim to be. 300 is based on Frank Miller’s comic book series of the same name, and has been brought to film as even more vibrant and graphic than the actual graphic novel itself.

As far as the proclaimed “anti-Iranian propaganda” and “psychological warfare against Iran” goes, I didn’t see it. Maybe if I were to watch it again and purposely seek for it, I would find it. Just as the individuals who purposely seek anti-Semitism found it in Passion of the Christ and racism in Apocalypto.

Here’s my recommendation -- if you enjoy beautiful scenery and don't mind violence and excessive CGI, go ahead and watch 300 on Blu-ray. You will enjoy it! It’s not one of the greatest epics of all time, and certainly not as good as the Gladiator, but it is definitely a memorable and visually very stunning feature.

* * * (three out of five) -- enjoyable, entertaining, and very cool! As I said before -- visionary film making at its finest.


V.

Enjoyed 300? Viira recommends: Sin City, all Lord of the Rings films, and Gladiator.

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Wanted

"A Loom of Fate" – quite literally:)

I recently saw the acclaimed film Wanted. What can I say? What should I say? Is it better than the latest Bond feature? Uhm…this is a tough one since the two are completely different genres, but I must say that the two come close in being the crappiest action flicks of the late 2008.

Wanted is directed by the visionary Timur Bekmambetov (yeah…try pronouncing that name) who has brought us the vampire fantasy flicks Night Watch and Day Watch, and put Russian film-making back on the map. So I must give him and his team a lot of credit for finally making it to Hollywood.

Plot: a frustrated office worker (James McAvoy) is approached by a mysterious woman named Fox (Angelina Jolie) only to learn that he is the son of a late assassin who worked for a thousand-year-old secret society of professional hitmen known as the Fraternity…

* * * WARNING: mild spoilers ahead * * *

Wanted is filled with lots of graphic violence, decent action, and really good CGI, but the plot is very predictable and quite bad. Especially the concept of using a loom and a binary code in determining the Fraternity’s targets – I could not believe that the protagonist Wesley actually fell for this kind of absurdity. In case if you didn’t know -- the binary numeral system was not invented up until the 17th century, so how could the Fraternity have used it for over a thousand years? And how on earth did they know that the person’s names “spelled out” by the code must be assassinated? I think I’ll rest my case here. The acting on behalf of James McAvoy is okay, but Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman perform a bit below average. Almost as if they were cast only to gain more publicity for the film. Morgan's "Shoot that motherfucker!" line almost made me cringe. After all, he is Morgan Freeman, not Samuel L. Jackson!


* * (two out of five) – mildly entertaining, but the moment you start analyzing the concept of the loom and the binary code you’d probably want to turn it off. I’ll add another star here just for the international breakthrough of Timur and his team of visionary film-makers.


V.

Enjoyed Wanted? Viira recommends: Night Watch, Day Watch, and the Matrix trilogy.

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Meet Bill

"So not matter what you do, you make sure you make a lot of money doing it because it all sucks!"

This is what Meet Bill is all about. It is about a guy in his forties who has come to realize that his career and his personal life is a waste. Meet Bill is (in my opinion) a good independent drama/comedy that is both entertaining and perhaps even a little thought provoking.

Plot: Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight) stars as Bill, a middle aged guy fed up with his life, job, body, hair, in-laws, cheating wife, etc. is coerced to mentor a witty teenage prep-school student (Logan Lerman from 3:10 to Yuma), who ultimately ends up mentoring Bill himself.

The plot is not all that original, but the chemistry between Aaron Eckhart and Logan Lerman’s characters is the real backbone of the feature. In my opinion they’re both sensational. Meet Bill also has a great ensemble of supporting characters including: Elizabeth Banks, Timothy Olyphant, Craig Bierko, and Jessica Alba (perhaps one of her better roles yet).

Is Meet Bill one of the better drama/comedies I have seen? Probably not, but it is entertaining and fun in its own peculiar way. And it is backed up by a great cast and a really good soundtrack.


* * * (three out of five) – maybe not worth $9.50 in a theater, but definitely enjoyable and entertaining in your own living room. Recommended for anyone who enjoys good old-fashioned independent drama/comedies.


V.

Enjoyed Meet Bill? Viira recommends: American Beauty and Little Miss Sunshine.

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