Reviews by Matt

If you are going to bring your kid to a movie theater, then keep them under control. Do not let them blather on loudly. Do not let them run up and down the aisles with reckless abandon. It is annoying and rude. There are movies to take your kids to and movies not to take your kids to. Any Disney movie is perfect. Take them to that Hanna Montana movie, or some other movie I am not going to see.


Granted I had no right to complain, it is not like I was dying to see “Jumper.” To be honest, it has been a very long time since I have had the chance to rip a movie apart and I was hoping that this would be my chance to have some fun when writing the review. It is easier to trash a movie then it is to praise it. I wanted to hate “Jumper,” but I just could not. That is not to say that it was good, I just did not hate it.

When David Rice (Hayden Christiansen) discovers he has the power to transport himself anywhere he wants his life changes. He leaves his father and lives on his own by robbing banks, but always promises himself that he will pay it back (how

I do not know, all he does is rob banks so he owes a lot of people a lot of money). One day he finds that he is being pursued by an organization sworn to kill him and others like him. Lead by Roland (Samuel L. Jackson) this group stops at nothing to make sure these “jumpers” are stopped and killed before they become dangerous.



As far as plot goes, that is really all that matters. There is some little thing about a girl he likes (Rachel Bilson) who you know is going to become bait/ used against him at some point, otherwise why else is she there?

If you are among the few who find themselves thinking that it was just the bad script/ dialogue that made Christianson’s Anakin Skywalker so boring and bad, let me assure you, it was not just that. He gives the same bad, emotionless performance here that he did in the movies that made him famous.

It is like watching paint dry when he is on screen. He shows the emotional range of a moss-covered rock sitting at the bottom of a muck filled pond. Happy, angry, sad, hungry, tired; it is all the same. Quite frankly it is a mystery why he keeps getting cast in movies. If only someone would put me in charge, I could end the misery that is watching Senior Dull on screen.

I will skip Rachel Bilson because we all know she cannot act and was there purely for the sex appeal.

With the small exception of Samuel L Jackson being a bad ass, but then again when is he not and the other jumper, Jamie Bell, the movie was a waste of time. At it’s best it is only mildly entertaining. The science fiction elements are cool and had potential to be good, but the lackluster acting, first and foremost from Christiansen, makes the thing hard to watch and not worth the short running time.

5 our of 10
Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense action violence, some language and brief sexuality.
90 min

The DVR is the best invention ever. On Sunday night I found myself in a tough spot. I had not seen a movie to review yet and I felt that I should do something with the Grammys for the paper.

So when I returned from seeing the movie (see review on other page), I grabbed my laptop, sat on the couch in the living room, fired up the DVR and began taking notes. I could do a recap, but not only is that boring to read, but boring to write. What you see below is, in essence, an organized stream of consciousness. So if you have ever found yourself thinking, “I wonder what Matt thinks?” here is you chance.

The show opened with Alicia Keys singing a duet with Frank Sinatra then she gave some spiel about it being the 50th Anniversary of the Grammys.

Carrie Underwood was the first performance of the night. She performed with what I figure was the cast of “Stomp” prancing around and banging on items in a junkyard set. I do not know if they were going for the “white trash” imagery, but that is what they got. The last full season of American Idol I watched was season one, (wow, I cannot believe I just admitted that), so I was impressed with Underwood having not followed her career besides knowing that she dated Tony Romo.

The first award of the night was Best R& B performance. It went to Alicia Keys for “No One”

The Time sang “Jungle Love” and Rihanna came out and sung “Umbrella” Complete with dancers opening umbrellas, I guess that means they get seven years of bad luck.

Tom Hanks came out for the lifetime achievement award for The Band and a tribute to The Beatles (only Ringo and Yoko were in attendance) with Cirque Di Sole, which, by the way is so much cooler when in fast-forward.


Miley Cirus and Cindy Lauper, who may have been intoxicated because she had trouble forming a coherent sentence came and presented the Best New Artist award to Amy Winehouse, who was not in attendance, but more on her later.

Then the Grammys turned into American Idol when Jason Batemen told the audience to text their vote for one of the three finalists in the My Grammy Moment contest.

Kanye came out wearing a lighted coat and glasses and sang. I think Kanye might have a tail; something was swinging out from his coat during the whole time. The highlight was the two “Tron” characters playing computer screen piano

Fergie and John Legend preformed and presented. I was impressed that Stacy Ferguson can actually sing. The best soundtrack went to “Love”

Cher came out all I have to say about that is: Botox does wonders.

Beyonce did a little def poetry jam/ dance party tribute to famous female singers before singing with Tina Turner

There was a tribute to Bert Backarack who also received a lifetime achievement award.

The winner of American Idol…I mean My Grammy Moment is…well you don’t care and neither do I. Then they performed with the Foo Fighters.

Then George Lopez came on screen and my finger instinctively went to the fast forward button. Then I realized he had introduced Brad Paisley. Nope, still not a fan of country.

The best rap album went to Kanye and his oversized glasses.

Ludacris presented the lifetime achievement award to Cab Calloway. It took way to long for a performer like Calloway to win that

Feist preformed that song from the iPod commercial, you know…“1 2 3 4 Tell me that you love me more”. Yeah, the one that was stuck in your head for months.

Best Rock album went to the Foo Fighters

Alicia Keys preformed again, great voice and performer, but I don’t care anymore, GO GO GADGET DVR!!!

Look kids it is John Mayer.

Ringo came out and talked, I wanted to tell him that no one cares what he has to say. Just present the damn award: which was best county album and that went to Vince Gill

Itzhak Perlman and Max Roch got lifetime achievement awards.

Then George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue was performed by Lang Lang and Herbie Hancock. These guys are real talent, not like most of the crap on the radio.

A Mexican “Colin Ferrell” (did not catch his name and too lazy to rewind) and Taylor Swift presented the Rap Collaboration to Umbrella.” I cannot tell you how happy that makes me. It is harder to translate sarcasm in writing then you think. I mean wit and humor is one thing, but this is a whole different beast.

As punishment for “Daddy Day Camp” Cuba Gooding Jr. was only allowed to attend the event by satellite in London

Amy Winehouse took a break from rehab to perform. I still don’t see what all the fuss is about her, there are much better singers at an American Idol reject party. She actually sang the rehab song, which to me is kind of contradictory now.

Tony Bennett and Nat Cole came out for Doris Day’s lifetime achievement award and Bennett had real trouble reading the cue cards.

The record of the year went to Amy Whinehouse, who, I do not think she knew the camera was on her. When she finally went to the microphone she was either drunk off her ass or is the worst public speaker ever.

Some boring stuff about the academy. DVR won again, fast forward it is.

Then came slide show of people who died? I don’t know for sure, they never explained, but some are dead, so it is a safe assumption.

During the Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis performance I find out that there is a wind chill advisory and seriously debate walking to school the following morning.

Then there was a moment of pure happiness. Not in the ceremony, but for me because I checked and there are only 10 minuets left according to the DVR.

Will. i. am. came and sang a lot of different songs and I was not sure why

Usher and Quincy Jones presented the coveted album of the year award. Usher makes fun of Kanye by saying “there are no losers in this category” before giving it to Herbie Hancock

Then the DVR cuts off so I do not even get to see a speech I actually wanted to see, but at least it is over

Wow.

Movies these days suck.

This past weekend I had the choice of seeing “Fools Gold” or “Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins.” I am not paid enough to see Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson fall in and out of love or Martin Lawrence be “funny.” I chose the other alternative, or at least the one that was mildly interesting. That happened to be “Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights-Hollywood to the Heartland.” A movie with a title so long it takes longer to order the ticket then it does to watch the movie.

“Wild West” is a documentary about four comedians (Ahmed Ahmed, John Caparulo, Bret Ernst and Sebastian Maniscalco) as they Vaughn and special guests do 30 shows in 30 days and travel across the country.

For being a movie about comedians, there is very little time devoted to stage performances. The real focus is on these four guys and their lives in and out of comedy. Each comedian is given a segment to talk about themselves, their comedy, where they get their material and their struggles, both personal and professional.

Some of the most interesting parts were not even about the comedians. The tour took place in mid-2005, just before Katrina hit Louisiana. They had to cancel a few shows in the devastated part of Louisiana and moved them to a different state (Kentucky, I think). Vaughn set aside 250 tickets and told the comedians to go to a national park where some of those displaced by the storm were staying. They even offered to provide busses to and from the show.

After the show Vaughn talked to a few of the people who came to see them. They were extremely grateful and where happy to get away from all the pain and heartache for a while and just laugh.

From a comedy standpoint the movie had a lot of really good laughs. The one who stood out was Caparulo. He sounds a lot like Larry the Cable Guy, but is smarter and funnier.

The human look at these guys made their material funnier. It gave the audience a look into who they were and what go them to that point. It was a nice change of pace to the what I usually see each weekend.

7 out of 10
Rated R for pervasive language and some sex-related humor.
1 hr 40 mins

Viral marketing, for those who do not know, is when fans of a director, actor or just about anything flood the Internet with information or propaganda to drum up hype for a particular passion. In the case of “Snakes on a Plane,” it was the death of the movie. People were so burned out with the stupid parody videos and other fan made material that the movie flopped.

Now we have “Cloverfield.” The hype really began when before “Transformers” there was a trailer for a movie. It was all handheld video camera footage and there was some sort of attack on New York City. At the time, only a date, “1-18-08,” and a name, J.J Abrams (“Lost,” “Alias”), was given. No title, no idea of what the movie was really about. Then the hype was out of control. Dozens of official and unofficial (but looked official) sites popped up on the web. Finally January 18, 2008 came and it was time to see just what this mystery was.

The mystery of “Cloverfield” turned out to be, as most suspected, a monster movie.

What starts as a good-bye party for Rob (Michael Stahl-David) turns into a terrifying night for the city. Rob’s friend, Hud (T.J Miller) gets the job of filming the party and getting good-byes from Rob’s friends. When an oil tanker is destroyed near the Statue Of Liberty, the party turns into a mad dash to escape the city and the monster that is attacking. Hud keeps filming because, as he puts it, “people are going to want to know how it all went down.” The movie follows Rob, Hud, Lily (Jessica Lucas) and Marlena (Lilly Caplan) as they make their way to rescue Beth (Odette Yustman) and get out of the city.

If there are two things I keep hearing over and over about why some dislike this movie, it is the camera work and the fact that no questions seem to be answered. I will now address both of these seemingly movie-ruining issues.

First and foremost, the camera work seems to be a bone of contention with a lot of people who have seen it. Some say they felt nauseated; I did not. I did find myself straining my neck as the camera moved, something I have not fully recovered from three days later, but I never felt sick. While I agree that it is tough to watch at times, I also know it would have been a completely different movie without it.

The shaky camera work is what makes the movie scary and suspenseful. If it were shot like every other movie, there would have been something lost. To only catch a glimpse of things, like the monster, made it more suspenseful. It allowed the viewer to discover things as the characters did. As an audience, we know what they know, we see that they see and we do what they do. Keeping the viewer in the dark made the movie that much scarier and dramatic.

The second thing that most were angered by was the lack of answers. Most of the questions you could have come up with are answered within the movie; all you have to do is pay attention to what is being said. It is just as simple as that.

True, there were a few things that remain unanswered, but as a huge fan of producer J.J. Abrams’ show, “Lost,” I have become used to not getting the answers I want when I want them, so maybe that is why I was not a bothered as many others.

The story is not about the monster; it is all about the people dealing with the events that are unfolding. Rob is trying to get to his friend’s apartment and get her out. He and his friends go into the heart of the city and find themselves caught between the army and the monster.

With all that people seem to hate about the movie, I thought it was great. It is not what one expects when paying to see a movie these days. Some have said the movie has revolutionized filmmaking-- that is a stretch. It is still a good movie that is enjoyable, especially if you are not prone to motion sickness.

8 out of 10
Rated PG-13or violence, terror and disturbing images
85 min

Maybe I am a glutton for punishment, but I absolutely love “Lost.” Each new episode brings about the same thing for me. Sitting in my favorite chair, eyes glued to the screen, silently theorizing and waiting for answers. Each week questions are answered, but more are brought up. Without fail each week when the credits roll I get mad that I have more questions than answers, but come the next week I am back in that chair doing the same thing.

Season four picks up right where season three left off. The survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 had finally made contact with a freighter off shore. They were mere hours from being rescued from the mysterious island, but nothing has ever been that simple for the “Losties.”

The episode focused on Hugo “Hurley” Reyes (Jorge Garcia). He discovered his best friend, Charlie Pace (Dominic Monaghan) had drowned turning off the jamming equipment that blocked them from sending signals off the island.

In a flash-forward, Hurley’s life is unraveling. After leading the police on a car chase, he is arrested and when he begins seeing things, is put in a mental institution.

For those who have not been keeping up with the show, you may need a little background. For three seasons, the show has used flashbacks to show the main characters and their lives before the crash. In the final episode of the season, for the first time, a flash-forward was used. This provides the viewer with what has happened since they left the island.

The star of the episode has to be Reyes. Hurley has always been a happy go-lucky guy. He never has lost hope and, while others hunt for food and make sure the survivors are physically taken care of, Hurley likes to make sure they are happy. He built a golf course on the island, found and fixed an old van found in the jungle (long story).

In this episode, he is grief-stricken at the loss of his friend. He goes from doing a cannon ball into the ocean at the start of the episode, to depressed and adamant that they listen to Charlie’s message that the people coming to rescue them are not who they say they are. He takes it upon himself to tell Claire (Emily de Ravin), Charlie’s island gal pal, that he was dead. He makes a speech saying that they should listen to Charlie because he gave his life for them.

It is a new side of Hurley that has not been shown before. In this one episode he goes from funny sidekick to decision maker.

“Lost” is still one of the best-written, acted, developed and produced shows on television. It may be frustrating to watch, but as with any abusive relationship, you always go back for more.

Some have said that the lack of answers has hurt the show, and I agree. Now that there is an end date for the show (47 episodes left), things look to get going. The writers can end it on their terms and the way they want it. There is a story they want to tell and now they can tell it.

If you are not watching, you are missing out. If you are worried that you will be left out in the cold when it comes to the story, go to iTunes and download the free recap episode and that will give you a great starting point

Before you say anything, I am well aware that the following is not a new movie. Hell, it was not even released in the current year. Here is the thing, if you want to see the crap in the theater and review it for the paper, be my guest.
In fact, I welcome any review, so please do.

(fishing for submissions, no longer reserved for those gray boxes we pepper the paper with)

Any whoo, back to the review.

“National Treasure: Book of Secrets” is the follow up to the 2004 hit ““National Treasure.” This time, Ben Gates (Nicholas Cage) is faced with clearing his great grandfather’s name. Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris) has a piece of the diary of John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated President Lincoln, claiming that Ben’s great grandfather, Thomas Gates, was the mastermind behind the plot to kill the president.

Ben is determined to make sure his great grandfather was not forever remembered for killing one of the greatest men in America’s history. With the help of his friend Riley (Justin Bartha), ex-girlfriend Abigail (Diane Kruger) and his father (Jon Voight), he sets out to clear the Gates’ family name.

When faced with the dilemma of seeing a new movie that is going to make me plow my head through a window when the credits rolled or see a older movie that I know will be nothing special, but not be a waste of time, I will always choose the latter.

When I saw the first movie, I was pleasantly surprised. The idea of the founding fathers hiding clues in historical landmarks and historical documents was an interesting. That is part of the reason why I like the first one, but this one looked less at the history and was more about the treasure hunting. The basic elements were still there, but the history seemed secondary to the rest of the movie.



Overall the movie is nothing more then a popcorn flick. Little more is asked of the audience than to show up and sit down. It is mindless entertainment that can be a welcome escape from everyday life.



That being said, it is mediocre at best. The plot is shaky and some of the new characters are not completely developed, not that I went in expecting incredible character development. It had it comedic moments, dramatic moments and even a few “wow” moments, but it failed to impress.

If the Oscar contenders do not strike your fancy, or in my case, you are hard pressed to find a local theater playing the Oscar nominated movies you actually want to see, then this is a worthy substitute.

7 out of 10
Rated PG for some violence and action.
2 hrs 4 mins