THE SHIELD: SEASON 3 - This show follows a police department in Los Angeles. Some of the cops are good, and some are corrupt. All in all this is a show that just gets better and better. I would say Jenny and I are fully invested in this show now. Can't wait for Season 4.
FRINGE: SEASON 1 - I rented the first season of this show based on a "high" recommendation. This show follows a FBI team that investigates paranormal phenomena. The show has often been compared to THE X-FILES, and with good reason. Both feature agents investigating the unknown. But this show focuses more on fringe science rather than ghosts and aliens. Here you'll find lots of "mad scientists" doing mad things. Anyway, about half way through I was ready to give up on the show...but then I started to come around to it. The show tries so hard to be smarter than it really is, but it's still entertaining. I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm thinking about checking out Season 2. We'll see.
DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS - Paul Rudd plays Tim, a budding executive who works for a company that has a little secret - the executives of this company all get together for dinner and invite strange guests who they make fun of. So Tim decides to invite Barry, played by Steve Carell. The two spend a lot of time together despite the fact that Barry doesn't realize the friendship isn't genuine. The jokes are not funny, and there's a definite mean side to this film that doesn't sit well. The only thing worth seeing here are the performances by Zach Galifianakis and Jemaine Clement. Both are very funny here. But overall the movie falls flat. I couldn't wait for it to be over. Boy...Steve Carell is on a streak of misses lately.
PRECIOUS - In Harlem an overweight, illiterate teen (who is pregnant with her second child) tries to turn her life around. Sounds inspirational huh? Sounds like something out of the 1995 film DANGEROUS MINDS. That's what Jenny and I thought at least. Oh...how we were wrong. I could go into all the dark things in this movie that the main character gets hit with, but then you would probably stop reading. This movie left a very bad taste in my mouth when it was all over. I mean Jenny and I were depressed for days after watching this. I never want to see this movie again. I don't even want to talk about it anymore. I'm just going to stop writing about it. I'm starting to get angry again.
GREEN ZONE - Matt Damon plays Roy Miller, a U.S. officer whose team is charged with finding "weapons of mass-destruction" in Iraq. When none turn up Miller starts to question the intelligence gatherers, and soon discovers a much larger conspiracy. This movie was such a nice surprise. I wasn't expecting much because I'm not a Matt Damon fan. But this movie was very good. Probably one of the best things I've seen from Damon. Very good movie.
REPO MEN - It is the future, and humans are able to purchase any organ they want in order to prolong their life. But when they can no longer make the payments the "repo men" come to reclaim it - right out of your body. Jude Law and Forest Whitaker play Remy and Jake...the repo men who work for THE UNION, a "mechanical organs" company. I really enjoyed the first 30 minutes. The movie has a futuristic style that is right out of BLADE RUNNER (one of my all-time favorite films.) But then somewhere around the 1 hour mark the movie takes a turn for the worst. The action sequences become insanely over-the-top, and the dialogue turns campy at times (almost like the filmmakers just ran out of steam and just gave up at the end.) Anyway, this was a valiant effort, but overall I didn't care for it.
VANISHING ON 7TH STREET - Most of you have probably not even heard of this movie. The state of Michigan is trying to lure Hollywood filmmakers to make their movies in Michigan and Detroit by offering all kinds of tax incentives. This movie is one of those made using this program. So that's really the only reason I was interested in watching this one. In the movie a blackout occurs and almost everyone vanishes except for a select few. One of the survivors is Hayden Christensen, who plays a TV reporter (ironically named "Luke"). He finds a few more survivors and the group battle "ghostly shadows" who are responsible for the vanishings. The movie is very poor in every aspect. Hopefully Detroit will give us more movies like GRAN TORINO, and less ones like this one.
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