MacGruber Movie Review

MacGruber as a movie is less funny than all of the MacGruber skits combine. However, there is a bit of fun to be had with the overly crude film and in it Will Forte plays a MacGyver like character who creates deadly objects with improvised items. The funny parts of this movie occur when Forte plays up the idiosyncrasies of MacGruber such as his propensity to rip the throats out of enemies (Roadhouse style) and the loud disturbing noises that he makes while in the sack with women (Forest Gump style). The plot of the movie takes much from late 80s and early 90s films and Television, with the plot of Uncommon Valor to start of with then later takes on the commonly used Nuclear Bomb pointed at the Pentagon/D.C. thing to sort of keep the story going somewhere. Many of the jokes here are overused, like the how the last name of the villain Dieter Von Cunth’s also sounds like a curse word or how MacGruber always has to carry around his car stereo as an anti-theft method. These elements of the movie are tiresome, but among the few funny portions of this film one stands out. As a move to find out what is Cunth is up to MacGruber and company visit Cunth’s club while parking MacGruber is pissed off by another driver who cuts him off. In a strange turn MacGruber quickly memorizes the license plate of the offending car, but this later comes into play in an odd way after one of MacGruber’s team mates finds a booklet filled first with an unfilled list of clues then page after page of that car’s plate number, written in an increasingly disturbing manner leading up to drawn pages where you car see crude drawings of MacGruber hanging from something taking a shit on the offending car and the next drawing is of MacGruber shitting on the head of the car’s driver. It’s a completely unexpected thing to happen in the movie and is by far its’ funniest part. What that doesn’t sound funny to you?   

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World | If You Are Debating Seeing the Movie Here’s a Pros and Cons List That Could Sway You One Way Or Another

Why You Might Hate Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

You are unwilling to give the story large amounts of leeway in terms of believability.

You do not think that Canadian City should be featured in any film unless it’s in a negative light.

You hate Canadians.

You hated Arrested Development and its entire cast.

You have never played a video game.

You have never been in a band or have wanted to be in a band so that you would be cool.

You have never had a conversation with young hipsters about society, music, video games or comic books.

You have no tolerance for the abstract.
You are a lover of David Lynch films.

You can’t stand 8bit music.

You have never said while on a recreational drug: I wish there was a movie that could match my imagination or my ability to hallucinate.

You can’t stand dry humor matched with music and special effects.

Why You Might Love Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

You dig hot chicks dressed in Steampunk attire.

You have played the following video games: Zelda, Mario Bros., Final Fantasy, Tetris and any interactive arcade game that requires movement of the feet in a coordinated fashion. 

You have been in a relationship with a high school student while not in high school yourself.

You will watch anything with a backstory sequence that is drawn in Manga style where the moon is shot with supernatural vegan powers yielded by Superman himself.

You have always wanted to see a movie with scenes that fully utilize visual effects where they are usually never use.

You have seen (not liked) Brazil.

You have seen (not necessarily liked) The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

You have heard of the following bands: Wavves, Born Ruffians and Foals. 

You are ready for a new take on an old genre.

You have had a fantasy about Princess Zelda that you are not particularly proud of.

You simply can’t wait to see Michael Cera in the Arrested Development movie.

You like Youth in Revolt both as a film and as a general principle.

Batman: Under the Red Hood | Why DC Cartoon Movies Are Good

This Cartoon Movie Is Better Than Any Single Episode.

Batman aficionados should get their utility belts ready because DC has recently put out the latest installment of Batman. The story of Batman: Under the Red Hood follows Batman voiced by Bruce Greenwood (Start Trek, John From Cincinnati) in his investigation of a new criminal force in Gotham City called The Red Hood. The main story takes place 5 years after the brutal murder of Robin at the hands of The Joker. The Joker is voiced by John Di Maggio whose raspy voice you may recognize from Futurama as the lovable alcoholic robot Bender. The Red Hood is voiced by Jensen Ackles, that’s right one of the Winchester brothers from Supernatural. To top things off Neil Patrick Harris who was the voice of the short lived but very good Spider-man cartoon, he is filling in the voice for Nightwing. So, if there was ever a movie to have a cartoon nerdgasm over its Batman: Under the Red Hood.

It Is more Than Just The Voice Actors.

The story of this DC film is one of the best stand alone Batman cartoons movies ever made. It manages to play out one of those what if scenarios that comic book types love to concoct: What if Robin were murdered by The Joker? What would Batman do, would he break his moral code and kill The Joker to avenge his partner and friend? This movie also touches on another issue often brought up by Batman followers, what would Batman do if there were another vigilante in Gotham and he didn’t play by such noble rules? What if this protector of the city would kill? These are the scenarios that get to unfold in Batman: Under the Red Hood.

Batman: Under the Red Hood (The Story)

As a new power moves in on the Black Masks territory a red hooded (its more of a red helmet that covers the face), gun touting tough guy who calls a meeting with all of the head crime lords under the thumb of the Black Mask and shows them that he means business by giving them a duffle bag filled with the heads of their bosses. The Red Hood promises them all protection from Black Mask and Batman as long as he gets a 40% cut of the profits and they don’t push drugs on kids or innocents. This is the sort of moral relativism that Batman can’t stand so you can see that the two of them, both Batman and Red Hood are going to but heads down the line and Black Mask will be stuck in the middle.

The Dark Knight is called to a meeting with the Red Hood at the chemical factory where he accidentally created The Joker. Interestingly in this version of the Batman, Joker mythos The Joker had been one of the original Red Hoods and falls into a vat of chemicals as that persona. Batman admits to the latest Red Hood that this factory is the location of one of his greatest failures the other being the death of Robin. Batman at this point in the story already suspects that the Red Hood that his is dealing with now is Robin, as impossible as that might be. The two of them get into a bit of a pissing contest but end up having to fight together against a group of assassins sent by Black Mask. The only difference real difference between the two masked men is that Red Hood is more than willing to kill the assassins, demonstrated by the Red Hood’s unnecessary use of a powerful Taser which leaves on of the attackers with less weight on his shoulders.

Batman and The Red Hood part ways under poor conditions and Batman still not able to understand how his former partner can be alive and seemingly brutal. 

As a matter of self-preservation the Black Mask formulates a plan to recruit The Joker to take care of his new competition while employing an age old focusing technique, punching his lackies one after another. Very Zen. But things don’t go quiet the way the Black Mask thought it would. After busting The Joker out of Arkham Asylum in order to eliminate the underlings of Red Hood, Black Mask soon finds himself being deuced with gasoline right along side of the hoodlums he sent The Joker to kill. The cookout was being held atop of a turned over armored vehicle on one of Gotham’s bridges. The Joker’s plan to draw both Batman and Red Hood out happens just after The Joker ignites his passengers only to have them be put out by a Batwing moments later, but while Batman is playing fireman Red Hood captures The Joker.

What Happened to Jason Todd A.K.A. Robin?

Batman after digging up his former partner’s body discovers that his body has been replaced by a high quality silicon duplicate, which along with some DNA recovered from an encounter with Red Hood leads him to believe that Jason is in fact alive. But this begs the question who is capable of resurrection within the Batman universe. The answer, Ra's al Ghul leader of a secret league of assassins with the sole purpose of destroying civilization as we know it. It turns out that while Batman and Robin were investigation some of Ra’s exploits in eastern Europe, Ra’s hired The Joker to distract The Dark Knight by capturing his partner. But Ra’s found out just how unpredictable The Joker can be when he killed Robin. Since this was never the intention of Ra’s to kill the partner of a man he truly respects, he attempts to make amends by submerging Jason Todd’s body into the Lazarus Pit (the magical pool that Ra’s uses to rejuvenate his aging body). After Jason’s body has been resurrected he bursts out of the strangely coloured pool kills one of Ra’s al Ghul’s guards and dives off of a cliff.

Don’t Be A Kidder, Let’s All Die Together.

Batman, now fully apprised of the situation, sets out to find Jason/Red Hood and The Joker. Meanwhile, Red Hood and The Joker are getting reacquainted in a bit of a role reversal Jason begins to beat The Joker with a crowbar in the same fashion he was beaten nearly to death by The Joker. The Joker familiar with his own brand of cruelty realizes that he is being given beating by the boy wonder himself, not needing any rationalization for the very alive Robin, The Joker takes his beating in good humor.          

Batman and Red Hood get into a final battle that climaxes with a stand off between Batman, the now unmasked Jason Todd (Robin) and The Joker.  Jason can’t understand how he couldn’t kill The Joker after he murdered him and insists that if Batman were the one killed by The Joker, Jason would have killed The Joker without hesitation. Batman attempts an explanation for why he cannot kill The Joker even to save the people his might kill in the future and avenge those he has killed in the past. It would be too easy for him to kill The Joker, and that it is this difficult distinction that separates Batman from the people he puts in jail.    Now with a bomb ticking toward zero, Jason gives Batman an ultimatum: kill me or else I kill The Joker.  Batman firm in his belief that there is no justice is killing another person regardless of the circumstances simply turns and walks away. But in classic Batman style the world’s greatest detective manages to disable his former partner’s gun and defuse the stand off. The Joker having been locked up for the last couple of years can’t help but make a play to go out with his arch enemies in one big bang. He breaks free from Jason and pins Batman as the final second of the bombs timer countdown. The bomb goes off, both Batman and The Joker manage to survive (for some reason) but Jason is nowhere to be found.    

Good Movies That Went Straight-To-DVD in 2009

All of these movies made sense as a wide release film. They weren’t cheap like most straight to DVD movies and they were better than a lot of movies that have been released to theatres.

Balls Out: Gary the Tennis Coach

This is a surprisingly funny movie starring Sean William Scott as failed tennis player who becomes the coach of a High school tennis team. Scott is extremely funny in a weird way, portraying his strangest character yet. The only reason it would not have been given a proper release is because a tennis story didn’t seem marketable and Sean William Scott played it too dark, but that adds to its charm.

The Tournament

Assassins enter a completion where they must fight to the death to win the prize. This must be the most expensive looking film to go straight to DVD. It has a respectable cast: Ving Rhames, Kelly Hu. The strangest thing about it is it’s actually one of the best action movies of 2009. The story revolves around assassins who enter a competition where they have to kill each other. It has hand to hand fights, explosions, car chases, and some of the best parkour action ever.

Outlander

This one was probably shut down because it starred Jim Caviezel. It’s a sci-fi take on Beowulf. The special effects are too good for straight to DVD. It also stars Ron Pearlman (Hellboy, Sons of Anarchy). Although not the best and filled with its flaws, Outlander is one of the better sci-fi movies of 2009.

Top 10 Blu-ray Movies

This is a list of the best movies to watch on Blu-ray. Given that Blu-ray movies are very pricy and not all of them are going to be much of an upgrade from their DVD counterparts, it’s best to find the one’s that are really complimented by high-def. It’s best to stick to the movies that are improved or fantastic to watch in high-def. This list may seem biased towards sci-fi and comic book movies, but just remember this: If you didn’t plan on watching sci-fi, then why did you buy a Blu-ray player?

1. The Dark Knight

Filmed for IMAX and having many visuals and action you will want to see in high-def, The Dark Knight really tests out your Blu-ray player, which is why they are sometimes sold with The Dark Knight Included.

2. The Fifth Element

One word: colourful. The Fifth Element is the best worst movie ever made, and just happens to be great to look at.

3. Serenity

I don’t know why, but Serenity just looks great on Blu-ray, especially in the really bright scenes. The film itself is vastly improved by the video and sound quality.

4. Star Trek
The flashing lights that seem to beam into the viewer’s eyes in some scenes are perfect for high-def viewing. You can either watch star trek to see some great action and visuals, or to provoke a seizure.

5. Transformers

Transformers has some of the best CGI action to date, and great CGI looks fantastic
on Blu-ray.

6. Blade Runner

This is, hands down, the quintessential Blu-ray movie. It has received the best treatment of all Blu-rays. People say that Blade Runner on Blu-ray looks like it was made last year, not 1982. Best of all, you can get The Ultimate Collector’s Edition, which has five discs with every cut of the film (there are a few) and loads of special features. This Blu-ray is a leviathan.

7. Starship Troopers

It is the most ridiculous movie ever, but it has to be seen in high-def. Humans are at war with giant bugs. Enough said.

8. The Matrix Trilogy (The Ultimate Matrix Collection)

This is not a recommendation based on the value of the movies, the stories, or the video and audio quality, just the special features. The Matrix Trilogy on Blu-ray has 14 hours of special features, plus the movies look awesome in high-def. It’s good to have even if you only like the first movie.

9. Black Hawk Down

Black Hawk down is the best movie to get for the audio experience. The audio immerses you into the war zone. Constant explosions and gun fire are exactly what you want in Blu-ray movie, and Black Hawk down is probably the only movie that can deliver that.

10. Sin City

Sin City was filmed completely in digital, so on Blu-ray there are some definite improvements. This is exactly the type of movie to watch in high-def. There really is no other movie with this much visual appeal.

Keep Up Movie Tome’s Oscar Predictions (2010)

Here is Keep Up Movie Tome’s Oscar predictions of 2010, courtesy of this Blog’s contributors Lew and Bob.


Best Picture

Avatar


The Blind Side


District 9


An Education


The Hurt Locker


Inglourious Basterds


Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire


A Serious Man


Up


Up in the Air

Lew’s Pick

Avatar:
This movie has broken records and new ground in the film industry. James Cameron’s extended break from the movie business ended with Avatar a film which was as technically taxing as it was breathtaking to watch.

Bob’s Pick

The Hurt Locker:
The Hurt Locker is just the well rounded film that should win for best picture. It has the acting, the war setting, the message, and it’s well put together.

Best Directing

James Cameron - Avatar


Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker


Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds


Lee Daniels - Precious


Jason Reitman - Up in the Air

Lew's Pick

James Cameron, Avatar:
This goes along with what was said about Cameron and Avatar. You can’t overestimated the difficulty and innovation the director went through to make the movie. He literally had to rewrite the book on visual effects and their place in motion pictures.

Bob’s Pick

Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker:
The only movie that can compete with Avatar is The Hurt Locker, which might win because it is gritty war film while Avatar is sci-fi and the academy has a real bias against that particular genre. The directing was fantastic and it really shows in the way Bigelow’s direction makes you as the viewer have a sense of what it is that the soldiers of the film are going through. The direction is very thoughtful and in what some might otherwise consider overly long senses, Bigelow allows the viewer to take in what the characters of the film are feeling and does so with the subtlety that only a person with a true vision can do.

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart


George Clooney - Up in the Air


Colin Firth - A Single Man


Morgan Freeman - Invictus


Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

Lew’s Pick

Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker:
The Hurt Locker’s main character played by Renner is as complex as they come. Renner brings this character to life, with an emotional grittiness that most find hard to stomach. And that fact that the character is based on an actual solder’s experience as a IED explosive expert while in Iraq makes the story and portrayal of the solder played by Renner all the more compelling.

Bob’s Pick

Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart:
 Who ever thinks Renner is going to win has been huffing glue since they emerged from the womb! Bridges looks like he’ll take home the Oscar this year. Clooney is playing himself again, Freeman’s had his Oscar, and who is Colin Firth anyway. There is one thing that Jeff Bridges has over Jeremy Renner that give him the edge, it’s a music movie. He’ll win showcasing flashy talent on top of great acting. He did his singing. That’s an Oscar trump card. And it makes no sense that Renner could win for the Hurt Locker since it’s a grand scale movie that does not allow too much focus on the main character. That is definitely not true for Jeff Bridges.

Best Actress

Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia


Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side


Carey Mulligan, An Education


Helen Mirren, The Last Station


Gabourey Sidibe, Precious

Lew’s Pick

Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia:
 The academy loves to give Oscars to Meryl Steep. That is why she will win.

Bob’s Pick

Gabourey Sibide, Precious:
I have a feeling about this one. Precious probably won’t win anything but best actress, and maybe supporting actress.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Matt Damon- Invictus


Woody Harrelson - The Messenger


Christopher Plummer - The Last Station


Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones


Christoph Waltz - Inglorious Basterds

Lew’s Pick

Woody Harrelson, The Messenger:

Woody’s acting has been getting progressively better since he left Cheers, and is due for and Oscar win. He was nominated for the same category a few years ago for portraying a cowboy hat wearing middle man in No Country for Old Men and should have won for that role. In The Messenger Woody’s plays a soldier who informs the families of recently deceased solders that that their loved one have died serving his or her country. Harrelson plays the commanding somewhat jaded soldier that intends to teach his new underling how the business of being the bearer of bad news these but in the end is shown the grit and hardness of his vocation from his costar Ben Frost. There are other aspects of Harrelson’s character that makes him interesting but honestly out of those nominated for this category his performance was the most impressive.

Bob’s Pick

Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds:

His portrayal of the strangle crazed, Jew hunter Nazi stole the film from every other actor or actress he shared a scene with. Waltz had possibly one of the best performances of the year hands down.

Best Supporting Actress

Mo'Nique, Precious


Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air


Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air


Penelope Cruz (Nine)


Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart

Lew’s Pick

Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart:

She is due for an Oscar.

Bob’s Pick

Mo’N ique, Precious:

Two of the nominations are for actresses from Up In The Air, which didn’t have any memorable acting. Maggie Gyllenhaal is Maggie Gyllenhaal. Then you just have a song and dance performance by Cruz going up against a heavy drama performance by Mo’Nique, and dance never beats drama at the Oscars. That’s like bringing a knife to a gun fight.

Best Adapted Screenplay

An Education, Nick Hornby

District 9, Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell

Precious, Geoffrey Fletcher


Up in the Air, Jason Rietman and Sheldon Turner


In the Loop, Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Tony Roche

Lew’s Pick

In the Loop, Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Tony Roche:

The film is intricate in its social nuance and it’s wonderfully witty and cleaver. By far In The Loop is the best written screenplay in terms of dialogue, originality and social commentary.

Bob’s Pick

District 9, Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell:

Just give it to District 9. I didn’t like the other screenplays.

Best Original Screenplay

The Hurt Locker, Mark Boal


Inglorious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino


A Serious Man, Joel and Ethan Coen


Up, Bob Peterson and Pete Docter


The Messenger, Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman

Lew’s Pick

Inglorious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino:

Tarantino made a very original story, but that’s not the reason it will win. You can tell that a screenplay is well made when you incorporate language as an essential element of the story. This is hardly ever seen on film, the incorporation of lingual transitions into the story was done so naturally it makes those nonsensical and ridiculous transitions seen so many time in films where the Russian speaker mid sentence breaks into fluent English (with an accent, usually British). And who never wanted to assassinate Hitler that would be awesome and it was great to watch from Tarantino’s unique perspective.

Bob’s Pick

The Messenger, Bob Peterson and Pete Docter:

It’s probably going to be Inglorious Basterds, but let’s go for the underdog, which is The Messenger. It’s a great story, and it’s just the type of indie movie to get a best original screenplay award.

Best Animated Feature

Coraline


Fantastic Mr. Fox


The Princess and the Frog


The Secret of Kells


Up

Lew’s Pick

Up

Up is the most popular and best animated film of the year hands down. It had so much heart and was incredibly imaginative, the colours and grandeur of this child’s movie is so potent it is the Toy Story of this year.

Bob’s Pick

Up

It’s definitely going to be Up that wins. The other movies are too unpopular to have a chance.

The Wolfman Review - Don't Listen To Any Critic But Me

Don’t listen to the reviews for 2010's The Wolfman, the remake of the horror classic. It has received horrible reviews and a very low rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Having recently seen this movie, the negative reviews seem ridiculous. Yes, it’s not good as could have been, but it is a descent monster movie. In fact, the only conceivable reason for the negativity is a prejudice by those who loved the original and those who are used to the present gory, action filled werewolf films. Maybe they didn’t understand that it was a throwback to the old monster movies, where action and suspense weren’t as important as the monster itself. That’s exactly what they did with The Wolfman, and they did it well.

It’s also surprising that people were upset it didn’t have more horror or suspense, because you shouldn’t expect that from a movie like this. It’s not a suspense movie, it’s a monster movie. There is a difference. It was actually reminiscent of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Maybe because Anthony Hopkins is in it? Who knows. Speaking of which, he really added to the movie with his creepy and emotionless portrayal of the father of the wolfman, although the acting of the rest of the cast may have been a little too relaxed for the movie. Some advice for people who want to enjoy this movie: just take for what it is and don’t expect it to be a bloodbath like most werewolf movies.