Wild Cherry

An average movie about again losing one's virginity. At clocking in at 80 minutes it won't take up too much of your time. Starring a lot of young up and coming actors (Rumer Willis, Kristin Cavallari, Tania Raymonde and Ryan Merriman) and a pretty good turn from Rob Schneider as the dad to Helen (Raymonde). All do a good job but they are ultimately let down by the script that seems to be a little uninspired. I can't say the film doesn't have its merits however mainly because of the scenes with Schneider. I have to say that his performance was the best among all of these. The three main girls were also much better than the guys but that's probably because the script didn't really have anything for the male leads to do throughout the film so you didn't really have a connection with any of them. It is mainly from the three girls' perspectives, specifically from Helen's. Directed but without any real flair by Dana Lustig (Kill Me Later, Wedding Bell Blues) this film had me thinking about how good a comedy it could have been. Average at best.

Machete

A ridiculously over the top movie that pulls no punches on the gore, nudity and despicable characters that only a tribute to exploitation movies can do. Expertly directed by Robert Rodriguez this is exactly what you think it is. Look at the cast!: Besides Danny Trejo in the title role we have Robert De Niro as Sen. McLaughlin, Steven Seagal as Torrez (a truly horrible man), Doc Johnson as Von (equally horrible), Jeff Fahey as Booth (ditto) and let's not forget the women in this movie, Jessica Alba as Sartana, an immigration cop, Michelle Rodriguez as Luz who may or may not be the underground resistance leader She (and who hasn't looked better), and Lindsay Lohan as Booth's daughter April. Add to that Tom Savini, Daryl Sabara, and Cheech Marin! Never mind the plot! You don't see this movie for the plot, you see it for the crazy action, stunts, gore, babes, etc. A true grindhouse film I do hope these guys (Rodriguez, Roth, Tarantino) continue to do this kind of film besides their other films once in a while. They have all captured the look and feel of an era that was the 70's exploitation film. A fun time! Recommended!

Welcome To The Rileys

Doug Riley (James Gandolfini in a terrific role) is a man who's lost right now. He's in an unloving marriage to his wife Lois (Melissa Leo is equally great). We can see it wasn't always like this and we learn that they haven't really dealt with the death of their only daughter. Lois is basically house bound since the event while Doug goes to poker games and visits an all nite diner striking up a conversation with the waitress Vivian (Elsa Davis). Doug has to go to a convention in New Orleans where he ends up going to a seedy strip club. It is there where he meets Mallory (Kristen Stewart) a girl who is teetering on the brink of no return. After an altercation with him at the club they end up accidentally meeting again. He's nice to her and she doesn't understand why he is. When she asks him what he wants he says he wants nothing from her. I don't want to say anymore than that as to what happens but we're asking ourselves why does Doug do this? Does he miss his daughter so much that he wants to help Mallory? Is he trying to find a purpose in his life since Lois isn't there for him anymore? Or is it for other reasons? From what I've said you would think this is nothing but a bleak situation. Well yes, if you're looking at Mallory's life it pretty much is. But then this man comes into her life who wants nothing but to help and she has a hard time with that since she's used to all men wanting something from her. But believe me there is love, friendship, hope and rebirth that makes this movie so enriching and rewarding to watch. Gandolfini, Leo, and Stewart all do an amazing job with Jake Scott's (Ridley's son and Tony Scott's nephew) direction written by Ken Hixon. It is a great drama that is worth your time. Recommended.

Red Road

Jackie is a cctv operator living in Glasgow (Scotland). She is living a rather humdrum life going to work and then going home. She is distant with what looks like to be relatives of her but we don't know why. One night she is at work looking at the various cameras set up throughout the city when she suddenly is visibly shaken at who she sees on camera. She doesn't believe it at first but she confirms what and who she saw that night. She calls the police department and asks a few questions about "it being too soon isn't it". She then starts following the man and basically observing him at work and away from work. We don't know at this point why....yet but we will. This is a slow moving but ultimately satisfying film to watch. All the questions will be answered as to why this woman is doing the things she does in the film. However I saw this on Netflix streaming and it would have been nice to see some subtitles a few times because sometimes a certain character would appear and I couldn't understand what the character was saying because of the thick Scottish accent. Also if you've seen the wonderful film Mister Foe then this is definitely a different Glasgow than what's shown in that film. In this film it's messy and dirty a lot of the times because one of the main characters lives in what looks like to be a projects apartment type complex with many many floors. Obviously the look of the film is up and down since a lot of it is shown through lots of tv monitors so when you're watching that the picture suffers somewhat. At almost 2 hours the film does develop slowly but I think if you're patient enough it might be a rewarding viewing experience for you. Kate Dickie as the main character Jackie was very good as were Tony Curran (Marcus in Underworld:Evolution) and Martin Compston (Disappearance of Alice Creed). Reservedly recommend to people with patience for these kinds of films.

Fingerprints

A kind of a throwback to the ghost story with a little horror thrown in. You could do a lot worse that this believe me. Melanie (Leah Pipes who played a great bitch in Sorority Row a few years ago) has just gotten out of rehab and is picked up by her sister Crystal (Kristen Cavallari who did a good job here) and is taking her home. It's a new town and a new school so Crystal tells her about the town story about the train that killed a busload of children and now if you go to the tracks and park your car in neutral the ghosts of all the children will push you too safety. And guess where they end up at? Why it's the train track! I won't tell you what happened but as they arrive at their home we meet their dad (who obviously loves his daughters) and their mom (who has a major problem with Melanie and is an unsympathetic bitch to her). There are some creepy moments but not a lot. Leah Pipes and Kristen Cavallari do a very believable job as sisters. You can really see some chemistry between the two to make you believe yes these two girls are siblings. Also, Josh Henderson does a good job as Penn who Melanie befriends. It's nice to see a horror movie where all the young leads were actually good believable actors and not acting like some morons (exception being Andrew Lawrence who was kind of a stereotype). We even have Geoffrey Lewis as the town drunk and Lou Diamond Phillips as the school counselor in the film. So if you're wanting to see something a little creepy and not asking for a lot in return but want to see some solid acting from the leads in a horror movie then this might be the one for you. Recommended.

Assassin In Love

Here's the main reason that I like Netflix instant streaming. I would never have watched or rented this if I had seen it anywhere but on Netflix. In fact I remember looking at reviews of this when it came out on dvd but I decided against putting it in my Netflix rental queue. But then I saw it on the instant list and I decided to try it out. And I must say I'm glad I did. A nice amusing little UK film about a hit man who's looking to get out of the business. Unfortunately his bosses have other plans for him and soon he is being shot at in his flat. Soon after he flees the city and takes a drive out to the country where he finds a small little town. The town mistakes him for the new baker and so he decides he WILL be the new baker to stay hidden from his former employers. Unbeknownst to him the town figures out he's a hitman and they think he's using the bakery as a front to provide a service for the community for anybody that wants to use him for a gun for hire. Damian Lewis plays the hitman/baker with a nice flair while Kate Ashfield plays a girl he's soon smitten with but it's all the other characters in the town that makes this movie so much fun to watch. Some funny characters round out the movie, even Michael Gambon (Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies) makes an appearance or two in the movie. A funny little British film that I recommend to anybody who likes their characters just a little odd!

Suck

Rob Stefaniuk writes, directs, and stars in this sometimes humorous movie about a band's tour going nowhere until the bassist becomes a member of the undead (vampire). With a pretty good soundtrack and some fun co-stars this movie might be worth your time. Alice Cooper plays a bartender who might be much more then that, while Dave Foley (Kids In The Hall) plays the band's manager not too efficiently. Also there's Malcolm McDowell as Eddie Van Helsing who's after the vampire and his lair. The band's bassist is played by Jessica Pare (smaller roles in Hot Tub Time Machine, The Trotsky, Wicker Park) and does a good job looking hot and a little scary at the same time. We also get to see Henry Rollins (well at least his face) playing rocker dj Rockin' Roger and Iggy Pop as Victor who has a studio that the band uses. There seems to be a few more music icons in the movie besides these so keep your eyes out for a few more you might recognise. All in all a decent movie that really could have used a stronger lead man (the weakest link by far-he also directed and starred in a movie called Phil The Alien as well) but still I would recommend it to you when you're looking for something to watch. It won't hurt you too much.

The Virginity Hit

A hilariously crude movie about 4 high school guys that are all losing their virginity. When one guy loses his out comes this special bong and the devirginised one takes a hit (hence a Virginity Hit) off the bong. Then they put it away until the next one loses hit. Eventually 3 out of the 4 boys have taken a "hit" and now they're all still waiting for Matt (Matt Bennett). But Matt seems to be approaching that special day with Nicole (Nicole Weaver) so Matt should be sitting down for a hit soon. Shot in the popular "mockumentary" style like so many movies are nowadays this makes you think that you are actually looking at real people just being filmed. All four guys and all the girls make it look effortless on the screen to suck you in to the story. This is a crude affair as I said. I'd put it up there close to Superbad territory for crudeness. The characters are genuine and the story keeps moving along without really any letups. Running in at a little under 90 minutes it's over before you know it. All the actors do a fine job but especially Matt's friend Zack (Zack Pearlman) who's basically the ringleader amongst the guys and Zack's sister Krysta (Krysta Rodriguez-her only film credit so far). Matt Bennett played the shy geeky kid who's head over heels in love with his girl convincingly. All these young actors could have a bright future if they want to pursue that. A fun and funny time. Recommended.

Twelve

The newest movie from director Joel Schmacher (Batman and Robin, Batman Forever, 8mm, Flatliners, Falling Down, the list goes on and on). Twelve is the newest drug that's the hottest thing for all the super rich kids throwing crazy parties but White Mike (Chace Crawford-The Covenant) doesn't want anything to do with it, he'll stick to just selling weed to all of his ex school buddies and let Lionel (Curtis Jackson aka 50 cent) corner the market on the other stuff. He's this drug dealer that doesn't party himself and doesn't like guns but to his childhood friend Molly (Emma Roberts) he tells her he's working for his dad and doesn't really have a lot of time to do much of anything else but work. Molly has never told him how much she cares for him. Meanwhile Chris (Rory Culkin-these guys are like the new Baldwins!) has these parties for his friends and so-called friends when his wayward brother out of rehab shows up. Chris is in love with Sara Ludlow who's soon to have her birthday. Meanwhile rich kid Hunter is having a few problems of his own. And White Mike is wondering where's Hunter at and better yet what is his cousin up to? This all happens in a span of only 2 or 3 days. All throughout the movie there are passages of narration by Kiefer Sutherland which in my opinion really works and makes the movie better. There are a few other characters that come into play besides the ones mentioned so definitely check it out for this was a much better movie that I would have thought it would be. A pleasant surprise that I recommend.

Nowhere Boy

A solid 3 1/2 star affair from director Sam Taylor Wood (only her second feature length film) starring Aaron Johnson (who I didn't even know he was British) who played Kick-Ass in the great film of the same name. In this he stars as a Beatle himself John Lennon who we see in his younger years when he was brought up by his aunt Mimi (played excellently by Kristin Scott Thomas). Apparently overseen by Yoko herself we can assume that most of this story is true. I don't know about you but I never really knew about Lennon's upbringing and his relationship with his mother (played by Anne-Marie Duff). The film also captures the time where apparently before lung cancer since everybody and his dog was smoking cigarettes in this film! In this kind of a biopic you need a strong lead playing a real person and I believe Aaron Johnson shows he was up for the job. We saw him do a great job in Kick-Ass but here he was asked to show a lot more range in this film. The director said in the extras on the dvd that you can do a film like this in two ways; try to make the actors look as close to the real people they are portraying or not worrying so much about exact matches and just get good actors who don't necessarily look so much like their real life counterparts but get actors that will bring to the screen the subtle nuances and actions that the person they are portraying do and for that I would have to say they got it right in this one. A nice one all around for you to check out. Recommended.