“My name is Chev Chelios and today is the day I die.” Thus begins the trailer for “Crank.” Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) is a hit man who, after a hit, is injected by Verona (Jose Pablo Cantillo,) with a substance that will kill him, if his heart rate drops. The only way to slow the effect is to keep his adrenaline up. Now he is on a mission to find Verona and kill him before the poison gets to him. He must find ways to keep his adrenaline up so that he can complete one last task.
“Crank” is non-stop action. From the moment he smashes a television, until the moment of his death, this movie does not stop for more then a few seconds. One of the major plot points is his need to keep his adrenaline up. He steals Red Bull (an energy drink) from a store, gets zapped with a defibrillator, slams his hand in a hot waffle iron, just to name a few. The entire movie is just him keeping up his heart rate and then getting to Verona before he dies. Its not a strong plot, but it manages to keep up it’s energy until the end credits. 
This movie is basically a video game. The opening title looks like it would be in an old-school video game. Taking that into consideration I can see how it is. If you look at is as a video game, him needing to keep his adrenaline up is just like getting extra lives in a game.
Many people talk about “the movie going experience,” but never have I seen it as much as I did in this movie. The audience was laughing, wincing, cheering, oooing and awing through the entire movie. Much like SoaP, it’s a fun movie to see
6 out of 10
Rated R for strong violence, pervasive language, sexuality, nudity and drug use.
Runtime: 87 min
You wake up one day and realize that your life has no more surprises and has become more or less pre-planned. This is exactly how Michael (Zach Braff) feels as “The Last Kiss” begins. His girlfriend Jenna (Jacinda Barrett) is pregnant and she is the person he wants to spend the rest of his life with. He sees his future unfolding and it scares him. Enter Kim (Rachel Bilson,) a woman he meets at a wedding. She is spontaneous and everything he wishes he had. As their relationship grows, Michael’s relationship with Jenna grows more strained.
There are a lot of people who are going to compare this to Braff’s last film “Garden State.” Sure there are similarities to “Garden State,” but this is a more grown up version. The movie is about being ready to grow up and accepting the responsibilities and the struggles to face the future; it’s a scary thing to be forced to do (take it from a college student.) The movie is about confronting that future and taking it on.
Zach Braff is a great comedic actor and it’s good to see him doing something more serious then “scrubs.” He did a good job in “Garden State,” but here we get to see a lot more emotion and a wider range. There are some very powerful scenes involving Braff that speak to the talent he has as an actor. We see him struggle with his love of his wife, while wondering “what if” he took a chance on Kim. We see him make the mistake and realize what he had to begin with and do whatever it takes to get Jenna back. 
One of the strengths of this movie is the supporting cast. All have similar problems. Jenna’s parents, Anna (Blythe Danner) and Stephen (Tom Wilkinson,) who have been married 30 years, face an uncertain future of their own. They are growing apart and Anna feels that she has to leave her husband. Michael’s friend Chris (Casey Affleck) is having trouble in his marriage as well. As hard as he tries to help with his son, nothing is good enough for his wife. Michael’s other friends Kenny (Eric Christian Olsen) and Izzy (Michael Weston) face the realization that they have not done much with their lives. The supporting cast delivers some amazing performances and all of their story lines help to make the main one all the more powerful. Michael doesn’t want to get married because he doesn’t know any couples that stay together forever. Jenna offers her parents as an example and to see a strong 30-year marriage fall apart, only makes Jenna worry more.
Of these the best performance is Tom Wilkinson. Stephen loves his wife, but doesn’t pay as much attention to her as she would like. When she talks to him about it, he makes jokes and she feels that the love is gone from their marriage. He seems like this person who is unaffected by the threats, but when she leaves, he is devastated. One of the most poignant scenes of the movie is when we see him sitting on the couch heartbroken that his wife is gone. She is outside watching and sees the pain he is in. No words are spoken in this scene, but it is one of the most powerful and moving scenes in the entire movie.
The past few movies I have gone to see (Snakes on a Plane, Crank,) have been just plain fun movies. Nothing spectacular and nothing to take too seriously, but “The Last Kiss” is just the opposite. It made me think and reflect on my fast approaching future. It is a great movie that takes a look at growing up.
8 out of 10
Rated R for sexuality, nudity and language.
Runtime: 115 min
Never have I gone to see a movie purely for the novelty of the title. So, going to see “Snakes on a Plane” was a different movie going experience. For those who don’t know, “Snakes on a Plane” is about… well, snakes on a plane. There is more to the story, but not much. Samuel L. Jackson plays Agent Neville Flynn. He is escorting Sean Jones (Nathan Phillips) back to California to testify against Chen Leong (Terry Chen,) a mobster in Hawaii who Flynn has been trying to get for a long time. Chen is known for doing all sorts of horrible things to those who are going to testify against him. So in order to get to Sean before he can get back to California, guess what Chen does? That’s right he puts snakes on a plane.
“Snakes on a Plane is, at heart, a B movie. It has everything that made the other movies like “Evil Dead” so great. Sure it’s got the “cheese factor” and there are times the plot is kind of far-fetched, but that's what makes it enjoyable. How can you not enjoy the poetic justice when the man who feeds a small dog to a boa constrictor, gets eaten just moments later. It’s a change from other movies that try so hard to be good and fail. This movie knows it’s cheesy and it embraces that. It never takes itself seriously. This is a refreshing new take that allows the viewer to enjoy it for what it is because it doesn’t try to be anything more.
Never has a movie generated so much hype purely based on the title. The producers wanted to call the movie Pacific Air 121, but Sam Jackson’s agent insisted that it be changed back to the original. Once the title was announced, the mania started. All over the Internet, videos started popping up parodying the idea of snakes on a plane. All the hype lead the studio to not show the movie to critics, they said they wanted to let the fans see it first.
There was just something about this movie. As soon as I heard about it I knew I had to see it. I was not expecting anything and I left pleasantly surprised. Sure, it was cheesy, but it was also very creative. At one point they use the life raft to close off first class from the rest of the plane. There are not many ways to kill a snake, but they do come up with a few interesting ideas, like taping a lighter to an aerosol can and using it as a home…plane-made flamethrower. So the movie is not going to win any Oscars, and it sure isn’t trying to. It is just a fun movie and chances are you will leave satisfied with it.
6 out of 10
Rated R for language, a scene of sexuality and drug use, and intense sequences of terror and violence.
Runtime:105 min
Life in South Philly in 1976 was hard on a lot of people. Vince Papale (Mark Walburg) was an out of work substitute teacher turned bartender and a diehard Eagles fan. In a time of hardships, the entire town turned to the Eagles for relief from the struggles of everyday life. As of late, their beloved Eagles were letting them down by having losing season after losing season. When new coach Dick Vermeil (Greg Kenner) is hired, he decides to hold open tryouts. Anyone is Philly can become an Eagle. Through much pressure from his friends, Vince goes to the tryout and actually makes the team. As he begins tryouts he begins to doubt that he will make the team. The rest of the team, who see him as a publicity stunt that has gone on too long, hate him. He talks to his pseudo-girlfriend Janet (Elizabeth Banks) and she helps him to keep it up. When he eventually makes the team, he doesn’t perform well and again has thoughts of quitting, but it becomes evident to him that he is not just playing for himself but for the entire city of Philadelphia.
“Invincible” is based on the true story of Vince Papale, who tried out for and became a Philadelphia Eagle in 1976. The movie follows the same pattern as movies like “Rocky,” “The Rookie,” and “The Natural.” Ordinary man becomes a pro athlete and rises up to meet the challenge. As inspirational sports movies go, this ranks in the middle of the pack. It’s a fun, uplifting story that is very entertaining. The only thing that makes this movie stand out from its predecessors is the camera work used in the games. The camera is in the middle of the action. It is the as close you can get to playing with out having to actually put on pads. 
Everyone knows that Mark Walburg and Greg Kenner are both great actors, and I’m sure in other reviews you have heard all about their performances. One actress who is also getting a lot of press is Elizabeth Banks. She plays Janet Cantrell, a fellow bartender in the bar where Vince works. She befriends him and the rest of the patrons and becomes one of the guys. She can talk football with the best of them and they come to accept her as on of them. She ends up becoming involved with Vince. Her performance is one of the best in the movie. She has had only small roles supporting roles in movies up until the 
last year or so. She takes a semi-leading role and does a great job. Look for her to become a bigger star in the coming year.
So what if “Invincible” isn’t the most original sports movie. It’s still a very good movie. The movie had chances to be cheesy, but manages to keep it to a minimum. Although it does take liberties with what happened, it does so for dramatic effect and that is acceptable. It doesn’t match up to the best Disney sports movie, “Remember The Titans,” but it is still a very good movie that is worth the price of admission.
Rated PG for sports action and some mild language.
Runtime: 105 min
8 out of 10
Last night, Fox got the new television season started early. Last night was the season premiere of “Prison Break.” Last season the show was all about escape from prison, this season is about the cons on the run. The big challenge for the show this year, is to keep the show as interesting as it was last year and so far, so good. 
Last season Michel Scofield (Wentworth Miller,) robbed a bank and was sent to prison, but it was just the first part of his plan. He requested to be sent to Fox River Penitentiary, where, unknown to the judge, Michael’s older brother Lincoln Burrows was being held. Burrows was on death row for the murder of Terrence Stedman, the vice president’s brother. He didn’t do it (in fact Stedman is still alive), but there is no proof. Michael has a plan to get his brother out. Using his elaborate tattoo and some other convicts he is able to break out him, his brother as well as six others who get involved in the process.
The eight cons that escaped have been split up. “T-Bag” (Robert Knepper,) “Tweener” (Lane Garrison,) and “Haywire” (Silas Wier Mitchell) have been left to fend for themselves. Michael Scofield, Lincoln Burrows, “C-Note” (Rockmand Dunbar,) Fernando Sucre (Amaury Nolasco,) and John Abruzzi (Peter Stormare) are on the run together going through Michael’s Plan B (Plan A was to get on a plane after escaping, but the plane took off as they got to the airfield and that’s why they are on the run.) The new member to the cast is William Fichtner he plays Special Agent Alexander Mahone, who has been assigned by the FBI to track the escapees.
The real challenge for the creators was to keep this show interesting. Last season we saw Michael use his elaborate tattoo to help them escape. Each part of the tattoo had bits of information hidden within it to help them escape. (Ex. The path of pipes under the psych ward, size screw needed to unscrew the toilet so that they can move it and get through the wall of the cell) This season is not going to rely on the tattoo as much (though there was some use last night.) Keeping the show intriguing will be harder.
The first episode of season two was just as riveting as the best episode of season one. The introduction of Agent Mahone was the best thing the show could have done. Mahone is as smart as Michel and has already figured out that he had the map of the prison tattooed on his body. He will be the one this season to match wits with Michael. It was made clear last night that making it out of prison was the easy part, with Mahone looking for them, it’s going to be hard to stay a head of him.
“Escape is only the beginning.” That was the tagline for season one and it was, but now things are just picking up. The challenges of life on the run have the potential to be more interesting then the plan to escape was. I had my doubts when season two began, but if last night was any indication, this should shape up to be a very good season.
Fox Monday’s 8:00/ 7:00 Central
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