At The Movies

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH: Brenden Fraser stars in this remake/adaptation of the classic novel by Jules Verne. Fraser along with his nephew and a friendly mountain guide all stumble upon an earth shattering discovery - that the Verne novel is based on fact. The three retrace the steps of the novel's characters and they discover a lost world filled with prehistoric creatures and ancient flora and fauna. The movie looks great in hi-def, and I'm sure it looked even better in the theaters when it was presented in 3-D. But all the eye candy in the world can't help this joke of a movie. Fraser plays his usual adventurer/jokester persona. The same one that we've grown tired of in all the Mummy movies. His jokes are stale and they get old real fast. In all honesty there's nothing offensive at all here. There are some tense moments at times, but other than that the movie is very kid friendly. I could see Ben enjoying this one when he's 10 or so. As for me, I can certainly wait 6 more years before I catch this one again.

THE SOPRANOS: SEASON 3 - Jenny and I are now 3 seasons into The Sopranos saga. Again, I can't say enough how great this series is. Unlike other series that have some seasons better than others (Lost, 24,) The Sopranos seems to have a continuous flow from one season to the next. There never seems to be too much of a peak or drop off between each season. The greatness is always there and it's always consistent.

MADAGASCAR 2: ESCAPE TO AFRICA - Ben was never a huge fan of the original Madagascar movie that came out years ago. We took him to see it in the theaters when it first came out, but he was a little young back then. He enjoyed it, but it didn't blow him away or anything. As for Jenny and I, we thought the penguins were funny and that was about it. So here we have the sequel, Madagascar 2, Escape To Africa. All in all, Ben enjoyed this one and had fun watching it. Megan even sat through the entire first hour before she started to get squirmy. As for Jenny and I we both enjoyed it a lot more than the first one. This is still not a film we would ever see again, or purchase on DVD. But it was a fun movie to see with Ben and Megan, and it had enough laughs to make it tolerable for Jenny and I. Definately better than the first one.

QUANTUM OF SOLACE - The 007 saga continues with this straight sequel to CASINO ROYALE that came out a few years ago. I was completely blown away by ROYALE so I was really looking forward to seeing this installment. Daniel Craig is probably the best Bond since the days of Sean Connery. However, even Craig's action-packed antics can't save this mess of a script. Unlike the stop-and-go pace of ROYALE, SOLACE has a pace of "go...go...go." You're never allowed to catch your breath, take in the story, figure out who's who and what's going on, etc. Make no mistake, the action and stunts are as great as they were in ROYALE, so I guess I'd still recommend this one. Overall though it just wasn't as good as CASINO ROYALE. Still...I do like where this franchise is headed. It has a new look, fresh blood, and a new attitude.

IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH - Tommy Lee Jones stars in this great mystery drama about a father trying to find his son admist the Iraq War. Jones learns that his son has returned home from duty in Iraq, only to have suddenly turned up missing. His only ally is a New Mexico cop (Charlize Theron) who must fight off the stranglehold of the military police who might be trying to hide something. The story and pace of the film seems very familiar to anyone who saw NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. Jones once again plays the strong-silent-detective type as he inches closer and closer to solving the mystery. I did have reservations about seeing this one. I didn't want to be preached to about whether the Iraq war was right or wrong. However, the war is only a backdrop here and not the primary focus. I highly recommend this one, especially for anyone who loves Tommy Lee Jones. Definately one of his best.

WE OWN THE NIGHT - This is a story about two brothers on opposite sides of the law. Set in New York in the 80's, Joaquin Phoenix plays a nightclub owner who gets caught up in some criminal activity. His brother, Mark Wahlberg plays a New York cop and Robert Duvall plays his father and the chief of police. This movie moves at a snail's pace, and takes itself WAY too seriously. Looking back on it I don't know if I can even pinpoint what exactly is wrong with this one. I just found it to be uninteresting and dull. Somewhere around the half way point there's a great car chase that appears to be something out of the FRENCH CONNECTION. The scene is really well done and makes you ponder what could have been. Overall, this is a movie with a strong cast and high expectations, but it falls short and fails to deliver.

ALIENS VS. PREDATOR: REQUIEM - Oh what has become of two once proud franchises. Well...maybe not THAT proud. This is the sequel to the masterpiece ALIEN VS. PREDATOR that came out a few years ago. This franchise owes its foundation to the backstory of the ALIEN movies and the PREDATOR movies. In the AVP movies, the Predators hunt the Aliens for sport. Kind of like a right-of-passage for the Predators. In this installment we have a special added twist - an Alien-Predator hybrid. As you might have guessed already the story here is rediculous and laughable. There's a unique mixture of Aliens fighting Predators, sprinkled with a look-a-like cast from THE HILLS who all die in outlandish ways. Hopefully, this will be the last we see of this laughable franchise. Uh...I mean sub-franchise.