Back in the 1980’s there was a show, like so many others back then, that was basically a half hour commercial for a toy. Now there is a movie that, from a cynical view, was made for the same reason. I never really watched the show until later on in life and have only recently watched the original cartoon movie. Still “Transformers” is still a part of my childhood because the merchandise was everywhere when I was growing up. So it was inevitable that there would, one day, be a live action movie and I would see it.
When a military base is attacked by a helicopter that transformed into something more and went after military information, Defense Secretary John Keller (Jon Voight) and the entire defense department begins desperately to find out what attacked them and what it wanted.
Meanwhile, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBouf) is desperate for a car. When he reaches his father's terms ($4000 and 3 A’s) he takes Sam to a used car lot to get a car where he picks an old, beat up, Camero. One night he finds out that, when it comes to his car, there is “more than meets the eye.” His car is, in reality, a cybernetic alien named Bumblebee that can take the form of whatever it chooses and he has just summoned more of his kind to come to Earth.
When they arrive their leader Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen), who takes the form of a semi truck, tells Sam that many years ago on a planet called Cybertron, a war raged between the Autobots and the Decepticons for control of the All Spark, a device used to make life on their planet. The Autobots wanted to use it for good, but Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons wanted to use it to make an army to take over the universe. During the battle the All Spark was lost and it ended up on Earth. Now the Decepticons are on Earth to find the All Spark as well as Megatron who was lost on Earth while searching for the All Spark. Sam and Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox) agree to help Optimus and the rest of the Autobots get to the All Spark before Megatron can.
It really doesn’t take much to watch “Transformers.” It is one of those summer movies that you can sit back and enjoy. You can tell who the good robots are because they are the ones that are not attacking the humans. It is that simple. Other than that, it is just a matter of enjoying the special effects.
Shia LaBouf is really good in this movie. He handles the action as well as the comedic dialogue with ease and proves why he is becoming the go-to guy in Hollywood. Sam wants a car so that he can get the girl, but when he finally does get the car, he becomes a bumbling mess. He is thrust into the middle of the war and shows his true worth and bravery when it counts.
The special effects in this movie are the true stars of this movie. Not once did I think, “That’s CG (computer generated), that’s not.” It was as good as if there were actual transforming robots in the movie. The way the Transformers looked was amazing and it added to the movie and was made it better.
The summer is a time when, as a student, you can give your brain a rest and not have to worry about learning all that you are forced to in school. As an avid movie fan, sitting in a dark, cold theater on a hot summer day is the best possible way to spend an afternoon. A movie like “Transformers” is one that is easy to just enjoy. The plot is simple and knowing who is who is not that hard. The special effects are amazing and are worth the price of admission.
8 out of 10
Rated PG-13
2 hrs 24 mins
As a guy, I’m not supposed to like musicals. Wait…that sounds really familiar, I remember now. It was the first like of my review of “Rent”. It is as true now as it was then. As I sat in the theater I got the impression that I was going to lose a few “man cards.” Here I was about to watch “Hairspray,” the movie of a musical I had actually seen and to top it all off, I was sitting next to my mother (no offense ma, it’s all about making the review riveting). So imagine my surprise when, yet again, I actually enjoyed it.
It is the 1960’s in Baltimore and everyday after school Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) and her best friend Penny (Amanda Bynes) run home to watch the popular dance show The Corny Collins Show. It has always been Tracy’s dream to dance on the show even though her weight does not meet the shows standards When Corny Collins (James Marsden) holds auditions for a new cast member Tracy goes to the try out and ends up getting the part. Amber Von Tussle (Brittany Snow) and her mother Velma (Michelle Pfieffer) want to keep the show full of skinny, good looking white kids and do their best to keep it that way. With the help of her friends Seaweed (Elijah Kelly), Penny and Tracy’s parents (Christopher Walken and John Travolta) she vows to integrate the show.
I was really impressed with all the performances in this movie, except one. John Travolta. When he was cast as Edna Turnblad, I was skeptical. From what I know, only men have played the role. What it was the bothered me was he did not really sing. He spoke the lines he was supposed to be singing. It’s not that he cannot sing, anyone who has seen “Grease” knows he has a really good voice (there goes another one of my “man cards”). In the play the actors who played Edna at times sung in a low register adding a little more humor to the role. Travolta stayed in the fake female voice for the entire movie and that took away from what the character could have been.
Other than that, everyone was really good in the roles they played. Christopher Walken did a really good job as the odd father. Having ignored Amanda Bynes since I stopped watching “All That” when I was 11 or 12, I was really impressed with her singing ability and to my surprise she can actually act. Queen Latifah was perfect as Motormouth Maybelle and no one else could have played the character any better. I was even impressed with Zac Efron as heartthrob Link Larkin.
The one actress who out shines all of her many and well cast costars is Nikki Blonsky. This is not only her first big movie, but it is also her first movie ever. She does a great job and is, as cliché as it sounds, a star in the making. She has a really good voice and a fairly decent actor. She had a lot to do in this movie. She had to sing, dance and act and did them all very well. “Hairspray” in all of its many incarnations has cast an unknown in the role of Tracy (Ricki Lake in the original movie and Marissa Jaret Winokur in the musical) and they continued that tradition in the movie musical. (Also stay tuned for the credits and you can hear all three original Tracys sing “Mamma I’m A Big Girl Now.”)
While it does stray a little from the musical, “Hairspray” is still a decent adaptation of the musical. It was fun, light-hearted (besides the theme of racism) and an easy movie to enjoy. The music is catchy and don’t be surprised if you find yourself singing it days after seeing the movie.
7 out of 10
Rated PG
1 hr 47 mins
I can remember the first time I had a favorite movie. It was Die Hard. I watched it every time I saw it on TV and eventually got the series on VHS (that’s right folks we are going WAY back). John McClane was the embodiment of the action hero. He always seemed to be in the right place at the wrong time. He was witty, sarcastic and tough. He did what he had to do, not because he wanted to, but because he has to. It is for those reasons I was both excited and worried when I learned that there was going to be a fourth Die Hard movie.
“Live Free or Die Hard,” or “Die Hard 4.0” depending to whom you talk, is the fourth installment in the “Die Hard” series. This time John McClane (Bruce Willis) has been asked to transport computer hacker Matt Farrell (Justin Long) from New York City to Washington D.C to be questioned on some recent suspicious activity that the government noticed on the internet. The terrorists responsible try to kill Farrell before he can get there. When McClane gets him to the government, he becomes a target and the leader Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) will stop at nothing, including kidnapping John’s estranged daughter Lucy (Mary Elizabeth Winsted) to keep McClane from stopping him from shutting down America.
I heard about this movie years ago and over that time I have been both looking forward to and dreading the release. While a part of me really wanted another movie, the other part of me was convinced that it would destroy the franchise that redefined the action hero. I knew that no matter what I was going to see this movie and I had to prepare myself for a major disappointment.
I was so very wrong. I loved this movie. It kept all the things that made the originals good and did not try to reinvent the franchise. McClane is still the reluctant hero who always has a wise remark for the bad guy he is after. He keeps fighting even when the odds are stacked against him. It was everything I thought it was not going to be.
Bruce Willis delivers an aging John McClane. He is getting too old for the job and just wants to do his job and get home. When he is told that he has to take Farrell to D.C, he does it begrudgingly. When he finds himself once again as the hero he does so only because he has to. What struck me the most was we get another side of McClane in this movie. When, in a quiet moment, Ferrell asks him why he does it, McClane says “because there is no one else to do it right now.” It is a nice moment that gives an insight into the character.
Justin “I’m A Mac” Long plays off Willis very well. McClane is, for the most part, serious and battle hardened. Farrell on the other hand is not. He has never seen shootouts, bullets flying and explosions like this before. His inexperience in dangerous situations makes for some very funny lines as he gazes in disbelief at what he sees.
Even as a PG-13 movie, “Live Free or Die Hard” is still worthy of the “Die Hard” title, despite less gore, swearing and, the famous line being edited. The movie still delivers on what an action movie should be and I for one, would be happy to see another sequel if they could make it this good.
8 out of 10
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, language and a brief sexual situation.
2 hrs 10 mins
After more then a month, I finally got the chance to go see a movie. It was not one this summer’s blockbusters with pirates or robots that turn into cars. It was not one of the multitudes of animated children’s movies or one of the endless sequels. It was the simple story of a waitress.
In “Waitress,” Jenna (Keri Russell) works at a restaurant in the South. She has an amazing ability to invent pies and loves her job. She is unhappily married to Earl (Jeremy Sisto) who is very controlling and takes all her money. She hides away as much money as she can so that one day she will have enough to get away from her controlling husband. She dreams of entering and winning a pie baking competition, but Earl refuses to let her leave.
One day she finds that, much to her dismay, she is pregnant. She decides to keep this from her husband and only lets her fellow co-workers, Becky (Cheryl Hines) and Dawn (Adrienne Shelly), know her little secret. As she goes in for her checkups she begins to fall in love with and eventually has an affair with Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion).
Keri Russell is really good and gives the best performance of the movie. Jenna is a good person who is dealing with unfortunate circumstances. Her husband treats her with no respect and feels like she cannot fend for herself. Russell plays Jenna as both weak and strong at the same time. Jenna is strong in every other aspect of her life and has hopes and dreams, but in her marriage she becomes submissive and almost afraid of her husband.
The surprise performance of this movie is Andy Griffith as Old Joe the owner of the restaurant where Jenna works. The other waitresses dislike him because he is demanding and can be somewhat mean towards them. Jenna does not see him this way, she befriends him and they become close over the course of the film. He knows all about her situation and he tells her that it is never too late to start over. He is the one who gives her the motivation to keep on trying. Griffith plays Joe as both funny and poignant. Joe is a man who knows what he wants and demands that it that way, but he also is a genuine, caring person who wants what is best for Jenna.
“Waitress” is writer/director Adrienne Shelly’s last movie before she was murdered in her New York City apartment. Even with that looming in the back of the mind, this movie is still very good. Shelly wrote some really great and loveable characters. None of the characters slow the movie down, they each have their parts to play and keep the story going. All signs point to this being Shelly’s breakout movie. Sadly, she never got to see the success this movie has been. It spent three weeks in the top 10 peaking at number five. 
“Waitress” is an original, funny, genuine and touching movie. It doesn’t have any of the Hollywood big shots or huge special effects. It is a movie that is driven by a story and by the characters. All the performances are really good and make this movie what it is.
8 our of 10
Rated PG-13 for sexual content, language and thematic elements.
Runtime: 107 min
