Looking for a great buddy movie? Don't miss this one!

We got word of the "The Hangover" a few months ago and the release date is fast approaching on this one. If you've been looking for a great buddy comedy movie like "Old School" but felt that while "Wedding Crashers" was good, it just wasn't close enough, this may be your movie.

On June 5th you can bet we'll be in the audience for this one. Feel free to join us, just stay away from the dark corner and the guy in the trench coat.

I'm just saying,

Elijah

Whadd'ya know? It's "That" time of year again.

As you well know, May officially starts the “movie viewing season.” As these movies start to arrive in theaters the public begins to look at the openings and gets excited for favorite franchise releases or an adaptation that they’ve been waiting years to see transformed to a movie.

It’s around this time of year that we see our influence wane a bit as you pick the movies you’re going to see. The fact of the matter is, you’ve picked your movies to see back in January or February, and you’ve been gearing up to finally see them for months.

For this reason we’re going to scale back our reviews on the big movies. Last year we disappeared until the season was over. We’re not going full radio silent this year; we’ll just give a few quick paragraphs and our overall ratings. These movies and their subsequent water cooler talk have the potential to get peoples blood to boil, so we are looking forward to commentary.

Our true strength lies in taking a look at films that are just off the radar, or maybe you wouldn’t normally make time to catch that unfamiliar title. We’re going to stick with those movies that interest us but may escape your attention.

Look for smaller posts from us in the next few months before the September/October dramas begin again, but always look here for the sneaker film that you may have missed.

I’m just saying,

Elijah

Star Trek: The New, New Generation

Blockbuster season may have began with "Wolverine" last weekend, but it got off to a roaring start this weekend with the reimagining of Star Trek. I saw this film on opening day, and immediately knew this was a winner, but I had know idea if word of mouth would carry this movie to the success it probably deserved.


Then I came to work on Monday. While waiting for an elevator at about midday, I happened to overhear 4 ladies from one of the law firms in our building having a lively discussion of the film. Now, these women looked like any other women you'd run into in an office building. I didn't notice any of them wearing fake pointy ears or a Klingon headpiece, so I assume that they were dragged to this film by a significant other. Not a one of them said a bad word while I waited and consequently rode the elevator down with them. That's when I realized that this movie may have some serious crossover and even better staying power through this week and into the coming weekend. At least until "Terminator: Salvation" hits on the 21st.

Personally, I found Star Trek to be a fun and exciting Sci-Fi adventure flick. Did it have it's plot holes? Sure, plenty of them, but not enough to distract the viewing at the time. The movie is a mile-a-minute romp and only slows down to throw a little levity at you. I caught so many nods to the past iterations of the series that it blew my mind. I wonder how many I didn't catch as I now know for certain that there was a tribble in there that I didn't see!

As for the new cast members, I loved the fit for many of them. Oddly, the two new actors I didn't immediately warm too were the Kirk and Spock actors, Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto respectively. Chris Pine makes a fine, brash, young James T. Kirk with just enough desire to get himself into all kinds of trouble. The thing that creeped up on me about him was this little twang in his voice that reminded me of Christian Slater and kept taking me out of the movie. Side note: Slater is a trek fan and was given a cameo in Star Trek VI. Quinto on the other hand looks so much the part that it's nearly impossible to separate him from the role. For me the only problem was the fact that it wasn't Leonard Nimoy. I think that was compounded by the fact that Nimoy makes an appearance in this film.


The two that stood out the most for me were Dr. McCoy and Scottie. With very little screen time dedicated to those characters, Karl Urban and Simon Pegg made a big impression. Hilarious, and absolutely spot on. I can only hope that future sequels will highlight those two a bit more.


The Star Trek reboot gets 4 Green Chicks in Lingerie out of a possible 5 Green Chicks in Lingerie. For pure fun and adrenaline, this movie should be seen if you like science-fiction at all. Of course, there are some big plot holes, but if you're going to this movie and letting that trouble you, then why bother seeing it at all? But if there is one thing that you shake your head at and it just seems like pandering to "Star Wars" fans, well, I'll let that go. I'm looking at you, giant ice planet creatures.


I'm just saying,


Elijah

X-men Origins: Wolverine. A Wolverine for a kinder, more emotional generation.

Why, you ask, do we head the post with a picture not of Hugh Jackman's Wolverine character? Rather, we are showing you someone who the comic book geeks (I include myself) will instantly recognize, but a person whom the public in general would scratch their collective heads at? Even after watching, they're still saying, "Who?"

The point is to illustrate the reason why this film is going to be watched despite the horrible reviews it received from the critics. There are two reasons, really. One, it's the first real "blockbuster" film to be released of the season. Secondly and more importantly, this film has the promise of showing a huge amount of never-before-seen reader favorites. That's right. The people who are going to put this film into the right money range are the people who have every hope that their favorite mutant from their childhood will make an appearance. Maybe not even childhood, maybe they are in their 30's and they have the coveted "disposable income." Geeks. God love us.

X-men Origins is the film version of the popular Marvel comic book that does just what the title suggests: it fills in the background we and indeed, he, himself never knew before Wolverine sauntered on to the screen 9 years ago, chomping a cigar with amnesia fully intact.

Hugh Jackman hits the sound stage for his 4th turn as the antihero Logan, codename: Wolverine. At this point is there a person alive who thinks anybody else could do a better job than Hugh Jackman in this role? It's gotten to the point for this reviewer, that when I see any other film starring Mr. Jackman, I can't help but think, "Hey, Wolverine is a magician too!" or "Hey, Wolverine kills vampires too!" In my opinion, Jackman is infallible in this role/film as an actor. He inhabits the role and we have no idea what else could be done because he has convinced us that this is Wolverine, take or leave it. Much like the people who refuse to acknowledge anyone other than Sean Connery as "Bond," no one could come in and change Wolverine. The public wouldn't allow it.

On the other hand, Liev Schreiber comes in and takes over the role of Victor Creed, a.k.a. Sabretooth. The original X-Men movie provided our first glimpse of the hulking Sabretooth, though that was a much more beastly, growling version played by wrestler turned actor Tyler Mane. Here we have a much more fleshed out Victor. In discovering the background of the most popular mutant, we also learn the influences and history of his arch nemesis. The reason for the differences in their personalities and what ultimately drives them. Schreiber is wonderful here and makes this character his own as well. His Sabretooth is much more evil and malevolent in intent; you feel that he could really be the death threat that you never saw in the hulked up, dumbed down version we saw previously. Liev Schrieber is a wonderfully capable actor and was the perfect choice to help hold this film together along side Jackman.

Like all summer popcorn films, there are problems with a couple plot holes and dialog for the sake of trying to be funny or witty. I always used to turn a blind eye to these moments in films; now that I write about them I find myself wincing when it occurs. I know I'm going to have to allude to them at some point. The fact of the matter is, these movies try to be fun and exciting. In doing so, sometimes the cheap lines are the easiest to go with, I acknowledge that. I don't always like it, but I understand. What really gets me though, is action for no conceivable reason. There is an action taken by one of the most anticipated characters that just begs for an explanation. We don't and won't get one. It is now three days later and it's still driving me insane. One inserted line of dialog could have changed my feelings, but they let it go. I know the real reason (the writers had painted themselves in a corner during a fight scene and needed a way out), but it is so suddenly inexplicable that I honestly dropped my popcorn on the floor when it happened.

As I said in my opening points, the factor that is going to bring the fans back to the theater for a second showing is the possibility of seeing their favorite mutant. This movie is just as full of them as the last entry in the franchise. Click on the links to see who played each. For me personally, seeing Emma Frost on the screen was enough to bring me to the theater. But how about some of the others that you readers may remember from your childhood? Silverfox? Yeah. Kestrel? Oh yeah. True fan favorites, Deadpool and Gambit? You better believe it! What about Bolt, The Blob, Zero, Cyclops? All there! Even Weapon XI, though with a different twist then in the books, but still fairly cool.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine garners 3.5 diamond hardened bodies out of a possible 5 diamond hardened bodies from me. Sure it's got it's weak points, but that's no reason to miss a fun, adventurous popcorn flick that just might take you back to your childhood again. Besides, did I mention Emma Frost?

I'm just saying,

Elijah