HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA: FEARSOME FUN

I was fortunate to have the chance to see Bob Clampett speak years ago. Clampett was one of the men responsible for the classic Warner Brothers cartoons and helped create Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and later Beanie and Cecil. One thing he said always stuck with me. He said that during the censorship days of the Hayes Committee, the animators/writers would always sneak in jokes that would pass that adults would get and that children wouldn't understand. This made those cartoons something that adults as well as children could enjoy then. While not every animator these days follows that advice those behind HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA do and the result is a great movie that entertains children AND adults.

One hundred and eighteen years ago Count Dracula built a castle/hotel where monsters would find safe haven from the humans that hunted and tried to destroy them. Each year the monsters all gather to celebrate the birthday of Dracula's daughter Mavis. This year will be different though as Mavis' special gift is one left by her mother who died when she was born, to be opened on this particular birthday. Keep in mind 118 in Dracula years makes her in her late teens.

Mavis longs to leave the castle and roam the world to see what is out there. Inspired by a post card she found in her mother's belongings of Hawaii, she wants to see what her mother saw, to experience something behind the walls she's known all her life. Her father, knowing that humans would rather see her dead, wants her to say home though and will do everything in his power to insure she does so. He even goes so far as to allow her to visit a local village, not telling her something she'll only discover later about that village.

Mavis returns home and all seems to be going well until a stranger shows up. Jonathan is a backpacking teen on vacation roaming the countryside who accidentally stumbles upon the well hidden castle. He enters and finds everything he sees amazing until Dracula finds him. Trying to prevent him from being destroyed by the monsters (who think that all humans want to destroy them), Dracula puts Jonathan in make up and has him pose as a party planner there to help with Mavis birthday bash. When Mavis gets a glimpse of Jonathan, the first person she's ever seen close to her age, they both get a glazed look in their eyes and suffer a case of love at first sight.

But human and vampire have no chance for happiness in the eyes of good old dad, so he tries to keep the two apart. Dracula's parties have long since lost their luster and are boring even to the yearly attendees who include Frankenstein, the Mummy, Wolfman, Invisible Man and more. Jonathan livens this up with his youthful ways much to the chagrin of Dracula. Can the star crossed lovers make a go of it? Or will Dracula make sure that the Jonathan stays safe from the rest of the monsters who actually seem to like him almost better than Dracula?

It's a simple plot to begin with and ends up offering plenty of items that will inspire tons of laughter from young and old. The old versus new isn't played out to make one seem better than the other, just different. Dracula is not as bad as one would think watching this movie and his concern for his daughter and her happiness is the center piece to the film. The love between the two is one that should be a good point for families once you get past the whole vampire thing.

The visual gags here fill the film from start to finish. It's one of those movies that you'll probably want to watch more than once just to catch the jokes you missed the first time. The writing is well done and offers just as many jokes as the visuals.

The animation here is fantastic. It still amazes me to see individual hairs on something like Dracula or Mavis in bat form. The detail is crisp and clear and to think that technology has come this far is astounding. The voice work is done incredibly well with cast members like Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Kevin James, Selena Gomez, Fran Drescher and Steve Buscemi.

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA is a movie that the entire family can enjoy together. It offers plenty of laughs and a touching story of father and daughter. It also offers a great launch pad for parents who would like their kids to know what the classic monsters were like. Who knows, maybe it will even inspire some to get their kids to watch those classic Karloff and Lugosi films.

Click here to order.

SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN: DISCOVERING RODRIGUEZ

As I sit hear typing, the soundtrack to this week's best bet is playing, loudly, on my PC. When I finished the movie I found I wanted to listen to these songs again. I'm sure that this will wear off eventually as all music choices seem to do after a few days. But while the music may change, the amazement I felt at watching this story unfold will stay with me forever.

SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN is a documentary but please don't let that prevent you from watching this movie. So many are turned off to the term documentary and those that are lose so much by missing movies like this one. This is a story that will captivate you and uplift you by the end of the film. It's a story that begins sad and ends as story that inspires.

In 1970 Sixto Rodriguez released his first album. The producers of the album thought they had a hit. Here was someone from Detroit singing about the problems he saw, inspired by what was going on around him and they had helped make this album. With lyrics that brought Bob Dylan to mind, a voice that at times sounds like Phil Ochs, why wouldn't they expect great success. Unfortunately it never happened. Even when his second LP came out a year or so later, nothing. With those two albums released, Rodriguez disappeared.

Of course that was only in America. In other countries Rodriguez had a more interesting career and successful one. On South Africa this was when apartheid was going strong and young people were protesting against their government there. A bootleg of Rodriguez' album made its way to that country and spread like wildfire. In the songs found on the album a generation found a voice that spoke of things they were feeling. The government's response was to ban the playing of certain songs on the air which of course only made them that more popular.

That's a great story in itself. One would think it was enough. But that's just the first third of the story. That's how amazing this story is. Years go by and things change both in the US and in South Africa. When a CD reissue of Rodriguez' album was about to be released a record store owner was asked to write the liner notes. A questioned posed there inspired an investigative reporter to try and find out what happened to Rodriguez. Word was out that he had died. Stories ranged from him shooting himself onstage to lighting himself on fire before his audience. As the investigation continued, the writer was shocked to find that Rodriguez was still alive and well and living in Detroit.

Enough of a story right? But no! Found alive and well these same two men tried to let Rodriguez know just how influential his music had been to an entire generation. A record that sold so low as to make no notice in the states had sold over 500,000 in South Africa alone. So it was only natural that these same fans got Rodriguez to come to Cape Town to perform for those same fans. And perform he did...6 sold out shows to crowds to thousands of people.

The story of Rodriguez was interesting enough to inspire the director of this film. The success of the film was enough to interest the folks at 60 MINUTES who did a piece on his story, the only reason I didn't feel I was giving spoilers here in this review. But the truth is that just hearing the story, just knowing what happened, isn't near as interesting and amazing to learn as it is while watching this movie.

As with any musician there will be many who aren't crazy about each and every song but my guess is that when this movie is finished you'll be tapping your toe to several and more than likely be looking for a CD by Rodriguez. At the same time you'll wonder why his career didn't skyrocket here just like those who produced his albums thought.

The tale of Rodriguez is one that will touch your heart and have you amazed at this man as he is today. What he does with his newfound success is revealed at the end of the film. The saddest thing that could happen is for people to not discover the music of Rodriguez or the man behind it all. This is a beautiful film that tells the tale well and will hold your interest from start to finish.

Click here to order.

THE POSESSION: RAIMI PRODUCES SCARES

For those who aren't familiar with the name Sam Raimi my guess is you are aware of the movies he's made. Lately he's been associated with the first Spider-man trilogy starring Tobey McGuire. But long before that Raimi was a director whose first major film of note was THE EVIL DEAD, still one of the scariest movies ever made. That being said I guess it's no wonder that Raimi got into the producing side of the business. The latest film to find him in that seat is THE POSSESSION and it's one of the scariest movies I've seen in some time.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan stars as Clyde, a basketball coach recently divorced from his wife Stephanie (Kyra Sedgwick). The couple has two pre-teen children, Hannah (Madison Davenport) is the older of the two and of course the standard troubled pre-teen. Em (Natasha Calls) is the younger of the pair and still has high hopes of her parents reuniting.  With a new man in her life that's highly unlikely.

On a weekend when Clyde has the girls staying at his place they stop at a yard sale where Em's eye is attracted to what appears to be an antique box with some writings carved into it. Of course she's allowed to buy this and then takes it home. It seems like a puzzle box with no way of being opened, but eventually Em does get it open. And that's when things begin to happen.

Small things at first like a single moth in a room. But that escalates when during the night a bunch of these moths show up in the bathroom while Hannah is there which leads them to Em's room which is filled to the brim with them. A phone call to an exterminator and a trip him ends this visit.

As the story moves forward Em begins to show signs of becoming different. Her parents think it's nothing more than her reaction to their recent split. But there's more to it than that. A fight at school is described as more than a simple altercation with Em showing a substantial violent tendency that has he withdrawing from her friends as well.

Clyde begins to suspect it has something to do with the box and takes it to school with him to have a colleague look it over. The friend reads the inscription which is in Hebrew and says that the box contains a Dibbuk, an evil demon whose spirit is said to be contained therein. Clyde considers this the possible reason for Em's outbursts and throws it away. When Em finds out, she makes it appear he's hit her and runs to rescue the box from where Clyde threw it away. She also causes Clyde to lose any and all custody of the girls.

More strange things occur and Clyde continues to seek a way to save his little girl. With more research he travels to meet with a group of Hassidic Jews and shows them the box. They are the ones who finally give him the information he needs to know about what the box actually is. But will they help him rescue his daughter or is she condemned to whatever evil was contained inside the box?

The film could seemingly boil down to being called a Jewish EXORCIST. But it's not quite the same. How the case is handled is much different. Yes, there are some similarities but on the whole the story is handled at a slower pace with quite a bit less of the gore effects. This story is more a battle of good and evil. It also deals more with the question of how far a parent will go to fight for his or her child and just what they are willing to accept.

There isn't a bad performance in this film. I've become a big fan of Morgan since his days as the father of Sam and Dean Winchester on SUPERNATURAL. His portrayal of Clyde here shows the concern of a real parent for his child and the hopelessness he feels once he discovers what is causing the problem. Sedgwick does a great job as well although her time onscreen seems somewhat limited. What time she does have is well played. Both Davenport and Calls turn in great performances for actors so young. Calls especially stands out as Em, showing the two characters contained in one body convincingly.

It's obvious from the box art for this DVD as well as the commercials that ran when it was in theaters (the ones that showed fingers trying to work their way out of Em's throat when she looked in the mirror) that this is a movie intent on scaring the viewer. I've seen plenty of horror films and this one actually did give me a start now and then. But more than just offering a few jump scares, this movie had you in its grip from start to finish. It didn't feel like it had wasted space or time spans that made you want to reach for the fast forward button. This movie keeps your attention till the end. And if you get scared along the way on this trip, then that's just icing on the cake.

Click here to order.

AN APOLOGY

To all the regular readers of Digital Views online I'd like to offer a heartfelt apology. You'll notice that there hasn't been an update since the last part of November here online. While the reviews have continued to appear in The Decatur Daily Democrat, updates have not been found here. A drastic combination of events has caused that to happen, the biggest of which was being ill for about the past six weeks. I'm not sure if it was this flu that's going around or what but it caused plenty of coughing, sore throat and exhaustion. As an example one day I wrote a review to send to the newspaper and had to lay down afterwards because that simple task wore me out! I'm glad to say that I'm feeling much better now and hope to have this blog current for 2013. Thanks for sticking with me here and for letting others know that Digital Views exists. It's a grass roots effort to get the words out and it seems to be working when I look at the stats. Thanks once again and feel free to register to get updated faster.

DREDD: JUDGE, JURY AND EXECUTIONER

It seems that comics have become the mainstay in films these days. With the success of the film adaptations of Marvel characters and Batman, more comic book characters are making their way to the screen. Fans of the British comic 2000 A.D. are well acquainted with Judge Dredd. Not the one we saw years ago with Sylvester Stallone (not bad but no, not like the comic), but the comic character. Dredd is the quintessential tough guy. He takes no guff and deals out justice with extreme prejudice. So that makes him perfect for a new film, this time just known as DREDD.

In the future most of the world is a desolate wasteland. Only 2 cities remain the main one of which is Mega-City One. It is a city filled with people and that means plenty of crime. Crime is so rampant in fact that they've tossed aside the old ways of doing things and now have just one authority in this world: judges. Judges fit everything into one tight package: police officer, judge and executioner. There is no need for a trial, if you break the law the judge will arrest and sentence you on the spot. If you do something as extreme as murder, your execution will take place on the streets with clean up to follow.

One of the most extreme members of this police force is Judge Dredd (Karl Urban). He also happens to be the most effective officer they have. His day today will be different though as he's been assigned a special task: take a new recruit who barely passed the admissions test but has something special about her, telepathy, and rate her performance. If she's effective, she's in but if she fails, she's gone. Dredd meets up with new Judge Anderson (Olivia Thrilby) and off they go.

The film goes for the usual here with the gruff old timer giving the newbie a difficult time. Their first case results in a chase involving a group of drug users racing through town. While Dredd kills a few of these criminals, the rest escape into one of the skyscraper type neighborhoods.

The deaths of the criminals who escaped in a skyscraper type neighborhood leads the Judges to that building.  It turns out to be run by Ma-Ma (Lena Headey), one of the most vicious criminals and drug lords in Mega City One. Ma-Ma is in the process of promoting a new drug to the streets called Slo-mo, a drug that when taken makes the user experience the world in slow motion. When she learns that the Judges have entered the building, she immediately has it shut down and locked up tight and then offers a huge reward for the first person to bring both Judges to her.

This forces the Dredd and Anderson to work their way up the floors of the building in search of Ma-Ma before anyone can collect that reward. And along the way the body count rises as every criminal in the building, and there are plenty of them, tries to collect. Unfortunately for them they have yet to realize how resourceful and deadly Dredd truly is. To put it mildly, Dredd makes Dirty Harry look like a kindergarten cop.

Those of you who recall the review I wrote for a film called THE RAID might think this sounds vaguely familiar and in part it is. Both films have law enforcement officials trapped in a skyscraper filled with criminals out to collect a bounty on their heads. But this one does have a number of differences. While THE RAID had a tad more realism in how its heroes found a way to survive, DREDD has the title character who is the supreme tough guy. Dredd doesn't think twice about shooting someone, he just does it. Anderson also is a plus as her telepathic abilities help them to find out more about just where they're going when they question a captive drug dealer.

If you're an action fan you'll love this movie, the same for fans of the comic. Gone are the humorous touches found in the last version of Dredd, replaced by a performance that is more in line with the comic book. Urban does a fantastic job here, never once feeling the need to remove the classic helmet Dredd wears to show off his smile, grimace or anything else. This is what Dredd should look like and how he should be played. Thrilby does a nice job as well showing her frustration at being judged by someone who clearly has no use for her only to later be the sidekick that he needs.

The movie is filled to the brim with movie violence. Don't rent this one not having a clue about that. Just like the comic, the movie is filled with splatter moments and the blood gushes freely here. It's not a film for the squeamish. But for movie fans, comic fans and Dredd fans, you'll enjoy this movie much more than the Stallone version.

Click here to order.

TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE: OUR HEROES GROW OLD

Can Clint Eastwood actually make a bad movie? I'm beginning to think it's impossible. I went back to check out the list of movies he's starred in over the past several decades and while I found one or two that weren't my taste and maybe one other that was just different I couldn't actually find one I would say was terrible. Remarkably at 82 his record remains intact with the new release TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE.

Here Eastwood plays Gus, a baseball scout for the Atlanta Braves. Gus is getting older and beginning to have problems with his eyesight, something he needs to do his job. The franchise is looking for smarter ways to decide who to sign and Gus is in competition with Phillip (Matthew Lillard) and his computer stats style of knowing which players to sign.

Running along side this story is that of Gus' daughter Mickey (Amy Adams), a top notch lawyer who is on the fast track to partnership. If Mickey can win the latest case she's in charge of then she's almost guaranteed a partnership at the firm. But things with Gus will find these two crossing paths that are not well traveled between father and daughter.

The two have issues with one another that stem back from years before. When Gus' friend Pete (John Goodman) begins to think Gus might have a problem, he calls on Mickey to help him out and to make sure Gus is all right. While Gus doesn't want this so called babysitter with him on his latest trip to scout out a hot prospect, Mickey goes anyway hoping that perhaps she can get some answers to the questions she's had most of her life about her father.

Eastwood's Gus is a cantankerous sort who is unwilling to admit that there is something wrong. He does have the occasional moment when he lets down his guard to his daughter but he's determined to be on his own and do things his way like he always has. Adam's Mickey is just as stubborn as her father and attempts to give him plenty of opportunities to open up but those moments don't seem to be happening. How they resolve these problems that have developed over years on a three day road trip makes for interesting viewing and touches the heart as well.

Included in this mix is Justin Timberlake as Johnny, an ex-ball player that Gus signed up years before but whose career has changed over the years. Having thrown out his arm, he's now a talent scout as well. He still gets along great with Gus and as the days go by begins to develop some feelings for Mickey as well.

While the movie is centered around the world of baseball make no mistake, it's not baseball that is the film's focus. This film is about the lives of two people who should be connected from the start but whose lives have taken them down different paths away from one another. While they both should find comfort and ease with one another their lives offer little of either. It is this path that they've gone down for years that has driven them apart and has left them with emotional scars that they won't easily repair.

There isn't a bad piece of acting in this entire film. Adams does a great job as Mickey, trying to solve the problems that she's built up over the years. Timberlake has grown on me over the past few years showing that he can be a dynamite actor given the chance. The surprising thing for me in this film was Eastwood though. Always teased about a monotone delivery and for his use of silence more than speaking, the character of Gus is given plenty of life in Eastwood's performance here. One sequence involving him visiting his wife's grave was particularly touching and totally different than anything I've ever seen him do before.

When this film came out I wasn't sure that I actually wanted to see it. I held off on it even when it came out on DVD but thought finally why not. I'm glad I did. This was one of the most enjoyable dramas I've seen in some time. It also proves that while Eastwood is getting older, he's also still one of the best movie stars around today.

Click here to order.

HOUSE OF LIES SEASON ONE: AMAZING WRITING

I really wanted to hate this series. Honestly I did. Within seconds of the shows credits hitting the screen there it was, the first of many nude scenes. I've always felt that the inclusion of extreme nudity or language was the first sign of a poorly made show/special trying to aim for the lowest common denominator right out of the chute. There are even web sites dedicated to counting the seconds it takes for a made for cable series/special to include a nude scene. For once my theory was wrong. While I wanted to not like this series I found myself compelled to continue watching episode after episode and wondering what happened when season one ended.

HOUSE OF LIES is about Marty Kaan (Don Cheadle), a fast talking, fast thinking management consultant and his team. What do management consultants do? Watch and see as periodically everything on screen freezes with the exception of Marty who then talks to you, the viewer, to explain something going on. What a management consultant does is one of those times. Basically it boils down to telling the client what they want to hear, stroking their egos, taking what they want and filtering it through the company and then giving it right back to them while charging them for doing nothing more than telling them what they wanted to hear from the start. In essence they do little but get paid tremendous salaries for doing so.

Marty's team is a well oiled machine with each person knowing their job and doing it well. Second in command and possibly being groomed to take Marty's place one day is Jeanne Van Der Hooven (Kristin Bell), a smart young woman who knows how to put everything together to present to the client. She still has some rough edges yet and as the show begins is one of the few people with a tad left of her scruples but that could change at any time. Next is Clyde Oberholt (Ben Schwartz), a smooth talker who can put together a power point package like no one else. Last in line is Doug Guggenheim (Josh Lawson) the team geek. Lawson can gather information faster than anyone and assemble it in whatever form you need, making good numbers look bad and bad look good.

Marty and his team fly out from their main office throughout the week to meet with clients trying to find new ways to improve their companies, to filter through ideas they have to see if they might work and to bill those clients as much and as often as possible. At the same time there is competition from other management consultants, the worst of which is ranked above the company Marty works for and whose top consultant is Marty's ex-wife Monica Talbot (Dawn Olivieri). That would be bad enough but Monica also happens to be a tad insane and a cut throat competitor. To make it even more complicated, Monica and Marty occasionally still find themselves in bed together from the series opening sequence through several episodes.

If that wasn't enough story to hold your interest then put into play one more thing that is slowly making Marty insane, his home life. There you'll find Marty's son Roscoe (Donis Leonard Jr.), a cross dressing junior high student who's in the midst of discovering himself. Helping Marty raise his son is Marty's father and ex-psychiatrist Jeremiah (Glynn Turman), a man who doesn't hold back what's on his mind but who loves his son deeply.

Each episode finds the team trying to take on the problems of a different company and each challenge has them finding new ways to deal with the problems that come up in doing so. Some involve things as simple as the competitor arriving at the same time to dealing with a racist CEO who won't give Marty the time of day. A thread that runs through the whole season revolves around the CFO of a company that Marty and his team take on in the first episode and who he accidentally embarrasses when his wife has sex with Marty's date in the ladies room. The same character in trying to exact revenge convinces his bosses that buying out the company Marty works for would be to their advantage. The prospect of losing his job and his team's as well becomes one of the central focus points of nearly each episode.

There you have it, a rather lengthy description of what the basics of the show involve. So what makes it worth watching? Narrowing that down to one thing is impossible and to break it down to two is difficult but I'll try. First and foremost is the writing. This show has some of the most crisp dialogue I've ever seen. Not a word is wasted and the back and forth patter between characters as well as the revealing dialogues are amazing to listen to. Sure there are plenty of expletives uttered but between them coming out fast and furious and the amount of sexual activity on screen it becomes little more than background noise. The words used here are formed so well that it almost comes off like a song instead of just talking. There is a flow and pacing that makes each sentence something to listen to.

The second thing that stands out here is the acting. Cheadle has always been a favorite of mine doing some great work in the past. He shines here as Marty displaying not just the smooth talking conman of a consultant but offering up the unhappy and slowly unhinging person beneath that false face. The title of the show doesn't just sum up what their business is all about, it's a reference to the home life that Marty has, the place where he hopes he can be the best father and son possible but where he inevitably fails. Is there a possibility that Marty can turn his life around and be what he wants at home and still be successful at work? That's the main question posed from episode one to the last.

The supporting actors are just as amazing. Each one has their own quirks that they bring to the story and to the team. Best of all is Bell who shows that while her character may be one of the few with a conscious she's also falling into the same cesspool that her fellow co-workers seem to excel in. While she has the skills to possibly be the next Marty Kaan, does she really want to become that?

If you are easily offended then this series is not at all something you should watch. The scenes of sexually active characters starts seconds in the opening show and filters through each episode, some graphic and others not quite so. The language is always filled with expletives and the F bomb is dropped more than any ammo used in all world wars combined. If you can get past that though you'll find a series that is incredibly well written, acting that is the top of the heap and so interesting that you'll find yourself skipping the credits and cueing up the next episode as the one you're watching ends. The only problem here is waiting till season two comes out to see what happens next.

Click here to order.

LOOPER: ALTERING TIME

"Time travel has not yet been invented but 30 years from now, it will have been." Thus begins the movie LOOPER, a science fiction action film that takes on time travel in a different way than most. The movie starts just a few years from now and people from the future have become involved in the present. With no way for future gangsters to dispose of people they send them back in time to be killed and disposed of. The people in our time who do this job are known as loopers.

Loopers wait at a designated area and time. When the intended shows up, they shoot them, wrap them up and then take the body to a burning disposal unit. They are paid well to do the job and down the line must eventually kill their own future self with a higher paid out at that time.

Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is one of the best loopers. He follows instructions and never looks back, making plans to one day travel to France when he retires. His friend Seth (Paul Dano) isn't quite as well groomed for the job. Seth shows up at Joe's house one night on the run. It turns out that his latest victim was his future self and he let him escape. Now the gatmen (those armed with revolvers instead of the blunderbuss that Loopers use) are tracking him down to eliminate both him and his future self.

Joe gives them an assist rather than find himself on the bad end of a bullet and continues on his way. The victims keep coming back but then Joe finds himself in the same shoes as Seth. The future Joe (Bruce Willis) is now in his sites but he hesitates. That's all it takes for future Joe to make an escape and leave current Joe on the run for his life. Trying to set things straight by killing future Joe won't be easy since your current strategy is all past history to him.

Current and future Joes meet at a diner they both love to get things straight. For current Joe to survive he must kill his future self. But future Joe lets him know that things aren't what they seem. Not only will his life change for the better but someone close to him will die if he doesn't change the past. On top of that a crime boss in the future is having all the loopers disposed of from the future so he will stand unopposed. Only finding this man in the past and killing him will set things in the future right.

Both are bound and determined to get their own way. Future Joe wants to save the world and his true love. Current Joe doesn't care, he just wants to survive. But as the film progresses both men learn something about the world and about themselves.

As the gatmen try to track them both down they take two divergent paths to try and affect things. Future Joe is searching for the child who will become the future criminal mastermind. When he does he will kill him. But a part of the map he made ended in the hands of current Joe who sets out to protect the child and at the same time finish his looper contract.

The map leads him to a remote farmhouse where he finds Sara (Emily Blunt) and her son Cid (Pierce Gagnon). Could this be the threat to the world of the future? Joe doesn't know but he does know that his future self will eventually end up here with the intent to kill. And the only one Joe wants to see dead is his future self.

Don't let it fool you this isn't as complicated as it might seem. What it is is a dynamite sci-fi thriller that keeps you guessing from the start and doesn't let go until almost the last minute of the film. There are no easy answers here just as there are none in life. The story that seems simple yet becomes more complex with each passing minute is one that will hold your interest and never let go.

The acting here is amazing. Gordon-Levitt has the mannerisms of Willis down pat. He's become an actor that is bound for more amazing roles and performances and this one just adds to his list. Willis could perform this role without breaking a sweat and he does a great job here. Blunt is good as always, giving those subtle nuances a twist to make her character deeper than one would expect.

Some would say that this is nothing more than a TERMINATOR rehash without robots but they would be wrong. There is more going on with these characters than in that film. There is a deeper meaning to the lives being lived and changed here. And by the end of the film there will perhaps be just a touch of humanity worth saving.

 Click here to order.

TOTAL RECALL: REMAKE OF RECALL

Let it be known that I was a fan of the movie TOTAL RECALL that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger back in 1990. It was a great science fiction film filled with plenty of action, top notch special effects and of course the use of cute quips by Arnold. It's still a good movie to watch and enjoyed. So count me among the surprised to find that I actually enjoyed the remake that comes out this week on DVD as much as if not more than the original.

For those who don't know here's the story: The Earth is overrun with people and only two areas that are now able to support life, one in what we know of as England run by Cohaggen and another in what was once Australia. To get from one point to the other you board "The Fall", a skyscraper size ship that passes through a tunnel from one area to the other. The folks at the Aussie end are protesting their abuse at the hands of the others and use "The Fall" as a symbol of their life of servitude. Matthius (Bill Nighy) is their rebel leader, demanding a release by the people in the English area.

Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell) works in a factory that builds robot security troops for Cohaggen. He continues to have nightmares about a escaping the police with a woman he doesn't recognize (Jessica Biel). He wakes each night beside his wife Lori (Kate Beckinsale) unable to explain his dream other than to say it felt so real. Feeling as if something is missing in his life, he sees an ad for a company called Rekall.

Going to Rekall, Doug learns that it's a vacation that takes place in the brain. Rekall injects you with drugs and implants memories into your brain that make you feel as if you've experienced the travel dream of your choice, as long as you've never actually been involved in your choice in real life. Doug chooses the life of a spy but as he begins to go through the process the machines alerts the officials that he actually was a spy. Before he can argue the point the door burst in and a security team sweeps in killing the Rekall members and attempting to capture Doug. Except that his natural instincts kick in and he takes out the entire team and escapes.

Unaware of what is going on, Doug continues to try and escape the police and get home. Once there he is comforted by Lori who suddenly turns on him and tries to kill him. While they fight she lets him know this is not the happy home he though, that they were never married and that she was sent to watch him in case he remembered anything other than the implants the government placed in his brain. Doug escapes Lori and the chase is on. With little to go on and secretive clues that he apparently left himself, Doug is trying to find out first what is going on and second where he fits into the whole scheme of things.

So what makes this version different from the original? First off the amount of action involved. This film is an adrenaline rush from start to finish. At the same time it offers enough story to carry it along as well rather than opt for non-stop gunplay and running.  Most intriguing is the fact that you wonder till very near the end if this is all really happening or if it's all a part of the Rekall experience that Doug asked for. Is he really Doug or a double agent? And what about the girl in his dreams, where does she fit in to all of what is going on? If you've seen the original you know the answer, if not then you'll keep wondering until all is revealed.

Perhaps the biggest change from this movie to the original is the setting and motivation for the action being seen. It no longer takes place on Mars and doesn't revolve around generators that create an atmosphere there. Instead it sticks to this planet and problems between two areas that represent what is left of Earth. For me that didn't ruin the film at all. And perhaps that's why it didn't feel like so much of a complete remake and more like a re-imagining instead.

Ferrell does much better in this remake than last years FRIGHT NIGHT which missed completely. He does a great job as the confused Quaid. Beckinsale and Biel do tremendous as well moving from love interests to action stars in the blink of an eye. Having done so before my guess is both will continue to do so in the future and do it well.

It's been 20 years since the original film was released so I'm certain that there is a generation out there that's never seen that film who will enjoy this one on its own merits. Fans of the original, if they allow themselves to forget that film, will find this one entertaining as well. For me its one that I know I will have no problem pulling it out and watching again; it's that good. 

Click here to order.

MEN IN BLACK 3: MEN IN BLACK ARE BACK!

With so many remakes and sequels being made these days it's nice to have some being made that are actually well done. More often than not these types of films are rushed into production and rarely come close to being as original or fun as the first films. Such is not the case with MEN IN BLACK 3.

Believe it or not it's been 10 years since the last film in this series. Agents K (Tommy Lee Jones) and J (Will Smith) are still cleaning up alien disasters on Earth and saving mankind even though mankind has no clue that it's going on. The head of their organization, Zed, has passed away and the memorial for him is less than, well, memorable. J still can't get K to open up. And then a crisis happens.

At the prison facility on the moon, the worst scum of outer space has broken loose. Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement) has escaped. Captured and put in this prison as well as having his arm shot off by K 40 years ago, Boris wants nothing more than revenge. His plan is to escape, get back to Earth and go back in time to make sure K never gets past their original meeting.

All of this happens with the exception of J remembering K like nothing has changed. When he goes to work, no one there understands why he thinks K is his partner since K was killed 40 years earlier. That is until he talks to O (Emma Thompson). She realizes that time has been altered. When an attack on Earth by Boris and the rest of the group from his planet begins, J must go back in time to make sure that he doesn't have the chance to alter things thus saving not only the world by K as well.

The first thing that makes this work so well is the story. It's not a rehash of past films and gives us something new to consider. It also allows the closeness between the two partners be developed a little more. While K displays nothing, deep down you catch glimpses of his fondness for J.

The second thing that makes this movie click is the performance by Josh Brolin as the young K. Not only does his appearance almost uncannily like that of Jones, he has his mannerisms and speech patterns down to a T. At times you might find yourself thinking that this is indeed a young Tommy Lee Jones and wonder how they were actually able to go back in time to get him for this part. But the fact is it's just that great of a performance by Brolin.

Both Jones and Smith play their roles like there's been no time between the last film and this one. Jones continues to offer the most deadpan of stoic faces and Smith has the sarcastic quick wit of Agent J down like it's his normal way of behaving.

Once again the special effects are fantastic and will have you pausing the DVD to get a better glimpse of each and every alien. Some seem to look familiar and others new, but each one is original and helps to create a realistic look for the encounters they have with the agents.

More than anything this movie offers you a lot of fun. It's not as serious as the topic might sound even though any invasion of Earth by another life form from space would be quite serious. The laughs come easily and the drama that underlies the whole story, J's closeness and attachment to K, make it a complete story. If you want entertainment when renting, or buying, this week then you won't go wrong with this one. 

Click here to order.