G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

This one is a simple affair; summer action blockbuster. It’s based on decades long toy line, G.I. Joe has an ensemble cast that blows shit up (or tries to keep shit from blowing up) around the world for an hour and 25 minutes.

It’s the classic tale of the good guys teaming up to stop the bad guys from taking over the world. And you know what? It works better than Transformers 2 despite it being just as outlandish at times. It’s CG overload, I think 90% of this movie is digital effects. It ranges from passable to very good and honestly I had a good time watching it. Don’t expect Die Hard in terms of quality and you’re good to go.

You can pretty much walk into any Pixar movie and expect to have a good time at the very least. Everyone rates the movies differently, but Pixar is pretty much the only studio on the planet that hits big with every single picture they make. Up doesn’t deviate from that historical line.

78 year old Carl is up for an adventure. Living his life with his beloved wife, she passes away without them going on the big life adventure they always intended to make since they met as kids. After being fed up with all the changes going around him, he decides to give a middle finger to the world and pack up and leave all the kids to ruin things the way they see fit. Except he takes everything that is his. With baloons tied to his house! Just after lift off he finds a stow away passanger, the neighborhood kid Russell. Russell meant well, he just wanted to help old man Carl so he could earn his last Wilderness Explorer badge.

So off the odd pair go, to land in the lost legendary lands somewhere in South America. Up is a touching adventure of two people who are worlds apart that soon discover they have more in common than they ever thought. The typical charm and magic of a Pixar movie is here. Great characters, a solid story, fun dialog and animation to die for. Things do get more juvenile and wacky closer to the end of the movie (dogs flying bi-planes? Okay, aerial dog fight but still) which is pretty rare for a Pixar movie. So while the action gets low brow the movie doesn’t really suffer for it. It’s a great flick for anyone to enjoy.

Watch in confidence. Pixar did make it you know.

Adventureland

Adventureland is your typical “The Summer That Changed My Life” movie. While it is a cookie cutter genre picture, I still liked it. Held down by Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart, Adventureland is the name of the amusement park that the kids work in.

It’s the late 80’s and James is just out of college when his European trip is cancelled due to his father losing his job and being relocated. Off to Pittsburgh, James gets a job at the amusement park to save up and move to NYC for graduate school when his friend gets back from Europe at the end of the summer.

Cue love triangle with the troubled girl and the douchebag guy, partying, fights and other such youthful trials and tribulations. The cast is great, the acting solid and the direction safe. The biggest knock against the movie is that it’s nothing special, but it isn’t a bad movie. It’s a solid story of growing up that’s entertaining enough to keep you for it’s hour and a half or so run time. It’s got some good laughs here and there making it a great movie for a rainy day.

Crank: High Voltage

Jason Statham returns for the second Crank film! While the first movie was goofy and dare I say original, this is a pointless movie. Much better off as a one, goofy, braindead movie, the creators of this borefest try to squeeze more excitement than God could even dream of.

Chev lives through the first movie and has his heart stolen and replaced by a battery operated one. He then runs around for the rest of the movie trying to get it back. I was willing to go for the ride in the first movie, but this is just more of the same, but none of it works. Amateur at best, from every angle Crank 2 is more annoying to watch than anything. Frantic shots and editing try to make everything exciting when there really isn’t a single good action set piece. What action there is is just ruined by the direction and editing. Every single character is irritating and more cartoon character than person. You don’t care what peoples names are, let alone if they live or die. More effort than it’s worth to watch, avoid at all costs.

The Girlfriend Experience

Stephen Soderberghs’ latest directorial, made controversial by casting adult film star Sasha Grey as the lead. Sasha plays Chelsea, a high end escort in NYC working during late 2008, when the economic crisis had everyone in a tizzy. Being that sort of working girl in Manhatten, Chelsea has a lot of financial clients.

A ‘GFE’ offers more of a full services than a hooker, these ladies act more like companions (hence the gf label). More than just a hook up that knows when to hit the bricks, she’s a true actress. And who knew, but Sasha can act! She more or less listens to her clients and nods a lot, but there are a few times (when she’s smiling actually) that she really comes across as a great actress. It’s a strange thing to see really. Considering Sasha’s day job, she does act. And her Chelsea character is in a similar position. She pretends to care, to listen, to be a real friend that shows up for love and not because the John made an appointment and she’s going to be paid four figures after an hour or two.

The movie is done out of order, it follows three timelines. Chelsea being interviewed by a journalist, Chelsea at work, and Chelsea’s personal life. The presentation makes things flow a little rough to follow, you shoot from each time line and have to kinda place what Chelsea did and when. But the core of it is seeing this girl juggle this bizarre life. She can front to her clients with no problem, most of them just want someone to talk to. Sex is just a bonus, hell some of them don’t even consummate the “relationship”. Her personal life is obviously a much harder job for her to get “right”. She’s got a boyfriend and she makes some stupid choices that show her she really doesn’t have it figured out. She may have a recession proof job, but her personal life is anything but secure.

The movie was done for cheap and it’s a short movie. There’s nothing really there to linger on, you follow Chelsea for a few days and then it just kinda ends with her trucking on. The life of a high class escort is really a mystery for everyone and the intricacies of her job really isn’t explored here. That could have made the movie more interesting, but I guess her job really isn’t the focal point, just the ends to a means. I’m sure there are some documentaries out there that delves into that better than this movie ever could.

Interesting flick, it didn’t really blow my mind (tee hee!) but I think it’s worth a watch.