The Invention of Lying (2009)

The Invention of Lying
2009
Comedy
Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner

While watching "The Invention of Lying" I did not laugh once. This is a problem because it is suppose to be a comedy. I think the idea itself is a good one but it just doesn't pan out here. For those that don't know the movie is about a world where no one has ever lied, until one guy figures out how to. I like Ricky Gervais in other stuff and he is probably the only good thing about this movie (even though he wrote and directed it so he is technically the worst thing about it as well), because there were a few times where he was doing his nervous rambling schtick where I smiled and almost laughed. I usually enjoy Jennifer Garner because she can pull of a very cute character rather well, but here she is mostly just eye candy (which she succeeds at). Then again it probably didn't matter who was cast in it, because the writing just falls so flat the entire time. I want to interview Gervais where he can't lie to ask him if he actually thought most of it was funny while filming to see what he would actually say.

One thing that bothered me was before lying is invented the people in this world don't just tell the truth, they go out of their way to say everything they are thinking. That is not the same thing as telling the truth. It reminded me a lot of "What Women Want" but with everybody saying their thoughts out loud instead of just one guy hearing them. So when a when two people meet instead of just saying "Hello" they say something like "Hello, I find you rather attractive and hope to have sex with you later." It is a lame joke that gets really old really fast, like in the first minute, and that is basically the only joke for the first half of the movie. The second half of the movie basically just makes fun of Christianity, which doesn't even bother me as Christian, it only bothers me because it wasn't funny. Watching Gervais trying to explain the 10 Commandments he makes up out of nowhere is about as close as this whole thing gets to funny, but it's not that close. The last 30 minutes drag on for way too long before coming to the completely predictable "happy" ending, but I don't really see many people caring what happens by that point.

Nice idea with great possibilities, but horribly executed. Maybe in a few decades a writer or director that can actually inject some humor into the outline can remake this movie and make a version worth seeing.

2 out of 5 Stars
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Law Abiding Citizen (2009)

Law Abiding Citizen
2009
Thriller
Gerard Butler, Jaime Foxx

I like things where people take the law into their own hands, like The Punisher or the Death Wish movies. So it is no real surprise that I was very excited to see Law Abiding Citizen. In it Gerard Butler's character's family is killed and even though the guys who did it are caught, Jaimee Foxx and the rest of the District Attorney Office gives a plea deal to one of the guys (he is out in 3 years). This pisses Butler off so much he decides to not only go after the criminals responsible but instead turn his rage towards the entire justice system itself for making deals with murderers. Even after he is caught and locked in prison the killings somehow continue to occure and escalate. It is revealed that Butler used to work for the military and is really a tactical genius. Soon the question is not only who he might kill next, but how exactly he is doing it. I also liked that he turned from a vigilante killing "bad" people to a total murderous psychopath killing only to serve his own purpose, it made the audience root for him in the beginning then have to re-analyze how they felt about what he was doing later in the movie.The two big names in this are Gerard Butler and Jaime Foxx, and without them I don't think it would have been as good. This movie's topic isn't Oscar material, but they still turn in top level performances. Their characters are at odds the whole time, but you can tell they respect in some way where the other is coming from. But when you have to strong characters like that going head to head one of them eventually has to flinch.

The first 2/3 of the movie are pretty sweet. It is great to watch the battle of wits between the two main characters. You constantly have to adjust who you are "rooting" for. When the killings take place they happen in such unexpected ways and places you are never really sure when they might go down. The escalated attacks build a great cycle of tension and release. The action scense last anywhere from 1 second to several minutes but each one is shot well and gets your heart beating a little faster.

The movie takes a downturn in the last third, but keeps being entertaining on certain levels. The last third of the movie is discussed below, but it contains plot spoilers for those who have seen the movie already...

*Spoilers*
I don't normally like to give away plot spoilers on here, but I feel the need to discuss the movie and the ending (and since its been out awhile), I will talk about some things that might spoil the plot below.


How Butler's character continues to carry out murders while being in solitary confinement is interesting until you actually find out how he is doing it, by sneaking out of prison for each attack. Because it is really one of the dumbest things I have seen in a movie in recent years. It is just so stupid and idiotic. If a genius was somehow carrying out attacks from inside prison I feel like they would probably monitor him 24/7, or at the very least look at him every few hours, but apparently the warden of the prison felt like helping out the plot of the movie by making an opening for this stupid twist. During the movie they wonder if he has an accomplice on the outside helping him, I don't know if that would have been the best possible idea, but I think an accomplice would have made things better, and more importantly believable. Not to mention he is the most famous man in the city, the whole city is on lockdown because of him, yet nobody notices him when he walks into city hall.

Other people had a problem with the end, but I didn't. He didn't even seem to mind dying, he knew it was going to happen eventually, he wanted people like him to be dealt with harshly. All he wanted to do was make people in the justice system think about some of the things they do when prosecuting criminals, and he accomplished that. His goal was never to kill a bunch of people then get away, because he could have done that.

*End of Spoilers*


I definately recommend checking out Law Abiding Citizen. It is a fun ride with two good performances by the leads. There is a pretty stupid twist towards the end, but it doesn't ruin the enjoyment I had with the rest of the movie. More than a the vigilante movie I was expecting it is more a character study of two men who have more in common than they think, and it looks to see how far those characters will go to stand up for the principles they hold dear.

3 out of 5 Stars
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Edgeplay: A Film About The Runaways (2004)

Edgeplay: A Film About The Runaways
2004
Documentary
Joan Jett, Lita Ford, Cherie Curry

I figured it was about time I watch a documentary, so I decided on Edgeplay: A Film About The Runaways. The Runaways were an all girl rock group in the late 70s and early 80s, featring Joan Jett and Lita Ford among others. There is a new movie coming out called The Runaways about the band starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning, so I figured I might as well learn more about this band before I see that movie. I should preface this review with saying that I was alread a fan of their music before watching this documentary. The story of the band is actually pretty interesting. Most of the girls were only 15 or 16 when they got together to form the band, and weren't much older than that when they first became popular. Sometimes they are referred to as "jailbait rockers" which is probably a pretty acurate term considering their age and the provocative clothing worn by lead singer Cherie Curry. You learn a lot about them in the documentary, how much they didn't really like each other, how much their manager abused all of them, and what utlimately led to several of the members leaving the band. Or how their first big hit "Cherry Bomb" was written in about 15 minutes as a song for singer Cherie Curry to audition for the band with.

Technically, this isn't really a good documentary at all. It is almost entirely shaky camera interviews and blurry old concert footage, and barely any music. There are not old interviews, or live appearances. All of the members give new interviews except for Joan Jett who does not appear in the documentary at all. The documentary was also made by the band's second bassist Vicki Blue, which annoyed me a little, because I know her personal invovlement greatly affected the end product.

If you are excited to see the new scripted Runaways movie check this out first. You can learn the "true story" before seeing the retelling of it. Or watch this if you feel like watching a documentary about the rise and fall of a rock and roll group,and Behind the Music isn't on. I suggest checking out their first album, "The Runaways" too, it is my favorite by them.

3 out of 5 Stars

Here is a fan made video of The Runaways featuring my favorite song by them "Dead End Justice"



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New Found Glory 10 Anniversary Tour

Saturday night the New Found Glory 10th Anniversary Tour came to town. It is the tour celebrating the 10th Anniversay of the release of New Found Glory's self titled album, which most of their fans call their favorite. Besides New Found Glory the other bands at the show were Saves the Day, hellogoodbye, and Fireworks. NFG is probably in my top 2 favorite bands of all time, and I love Saves the Day so I was very excited to go see this show. NFG and STD were two bands I listened to all the time when I was in high school, and both have a special place in my heart. I have seeen NFG live several times before, but somehow I had never seen STD live until that night.

Fireworks was the first band to play. I had actually seen them like a month earlier with Hit the Lights. It seemed like most people had no idea who they were or didn't care which sucked because they have great songs and put on a good show. The only time people got really into them was when they played "Detroit" their most popular song. It was good to see them live again.

hellogoodbye was next. I am not a fan of theirs at all but after this show I might be, nothing to do with their music though. I somehow managed to be standing next to like 4 douchebags who were flicking them off and yelling obscenities the whole time. Thankfully the band called them out on being idiots which I loved. Security came twice to tell them to knock it off which they finally did partly because the one dude hid like a little girl when security came around. So I thank the band for making the part of the show I was looking forward to the least somewhat interesting. And even though I don't like their music I have to say their new songs sounded better than their old ones.

Saves the Day was next and they killed it, really blew me away with how good they were. They just came out and played like 3 straight songs before saying anything, and really didn't take any other breaks their whole set. Somehow this was the first time I had seen STD live, but now I want to see them on a headlining tour asap. The highlight was probably when they played "At Your Funeral" probably their most popular song. The lyrics start out "this song will become an anthem for your underground" and I don't know what but I think it really connected live with the whole place sing along. When they were done a lot of people were actually cheering for an encore, I don't think I have ever seen that for a non headlining band before. I didn't take my video camera with me but here is a video someone else took of them playing "At Your Funeral" live



Here is a picture I did take of them playing though


New Found Glory was the headliner and up last. This tour was to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their self titled album so they played that straight through. Basically due to how much NFG rocked I am now considering this one of the best concerts I have ever been too. For like half their set I felt like I was going to pass out from singing along so loudly while jumping and dancing around to every song. The whole crowd was so into in there was a crazy amount of energy on the floor, it was great, and best of all nobody in the crowd was acting like a douche. And because they played the self titled album everybody knew all the songs and screamed their lungs out right along with the band. After playing the self titled album they played like 6 other songs from their other albums, all fan favorites.
Somehow, probably while catching my breath I did have a second to snap this picture of NFG.


I did laugh a few times while NFG were playing because some annoying coupole next to me were looking into each other's eyes and kissing during the songs "My Friends Over You" and "Don't Let Her Pull You Down" because those songs are both about not getting too wrapped up with girls and relationships. I guess the message was long on them. So basically the NFG set just had a bunch of great energy and songs I love so it was awesome. Here is a video somebody else took from the tour the show before in Pittsburg.



Basically, if this tour is coming anywhere near you, you should probably go. If you are a fan of New Found Glory or Saves the Day it is a "must-go" situation, because it just might end up being one of the best shows you have ever been to (like it was for me). I had a blast.
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Camp Rock (2008)

Camp Rock
2008
Musical
Demi Lovato, The Jonas Brothers

Yes I did just watch Camp Rock. Why? You may ask. Because I really like Demi Lovato and probably have a crush on her (I know how old she is, I don't care). I had this on my DVR for a long time but finally decided to watch it last night. Now I have a feeling it's because I am not really their target audience, but I really didn't like it quite much. I really only watched it to hear what songs Demi Lovato sings in it, but she really only sang one song the whole (I actually did like that song though). The plot was extremely predictable, in a bad way. A bunch of random minor characters had singing and dancing numbers but I fastforwarded through almost all of those because they sucked and I didn't care. The Jonas Brothers did an okay job acting except for the oldest one. He was playing like a spaced out rocker and was really awful. Thankfully he only had a minor role and Joe Jonas had the larger role and did a fine job. I would say the only real positives of the whole movie was Toledo's own Allyson Stoner who did a great job, and Demi Lovato because her character was very adorable.

There were two minor things that made me go WTF a little bit.
1. Demi Lovato's characters name is "Mitchie." What the hell kind of name for a girl is Mitchie?
2. Her characters mom is a caterer and decides to work for Camp Rock (so her daughter can go) because she said "summer is always slow for business." As someone who works for a catering company I can tell you that is basically the complete opposite of the truth.

The thing I find most shocking about Camp Rock is that Disney hasn't bought an actual camp and made a real life "Camp Rock" yet. With how popular this movie is with young teen girls it would basically be a money making monster. I believe they just finished making Camp Rock 2, but unless it has a better plot, some better supporting actors, and I hear that it features a couple of new Demi Lovato songs, I probably won't go out of my way to watch it.

2 out of 5 Stars
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Dead Snow (2009)

Dead Snow
2009
Horor/Foreign

Nazi Zombies! You heard me right, this movie is about Nazi Zombies. Do I really need to say anything else? Doesn't that tell you all you really need to know about it? Nazis are really the go to villian in a lot of cases where they couldn't come up with a better idea, and zombies are the go to villian for horror movies where they couldn't come up with a better idea. Combine the two and you have a perfect nemesis for a horror movie, an evil villian who is already dead but just won't die. Dead Snow is actually a Norwegian film. It is about a young adults who go away to a secluded cabin for a weekend (what horror film doesn't start that way) but run into the area's current inhabitants, Nazis who were stationed there during World War II but were killed by some angry villagers and never really left.

Dead Snow isn't one of the best zombie movies I have seen, but it is a good one. This is noteworthy since most recent lower budget zombie movies that have come out have been garbage. People are just trying to cash in on the zombie craze by turning out crap cheap and fast, regardless of good it actually is. Some of the characters in the movie actually talk about Evil Dead 1 and 2 which makes a lot of sense because Dead Snow reminded me a lot of the works of Sam Raimi. I say that because of the excessive use of blood and gore, to the extent that it's not even gross, just hilarious.
I mean just look at these examples of what the zombies in Dead Snow do to some of the people:
1. Grab him by the head and pull it apart down the middle so his brain falls out onto the floor.
2. A guy hangs off the side of a cliff by holding onto the intestines of one of the zombies.
3. Five zombies grab a guy then all at once, rip off all of his limbs from his torso.

Zombie and over the top horror movies aren't for everyone. But if you do like movies like Evil Dead, Drag Me To Hell, or Hatchet, then definately check out Dead Snow. I mean how can you really go wrong with Nazi zombies eating Norwegian co-eds?

3 out 5 Stars

Below is the trailer for Dead Snow

The Donner Party (2009)

The Donner Party
2009
Drama
Crispin Glover, Alison Haislip

I know this is why you guys come to this blog, to read me ramble on about movies you never heard of and will probably never see, okay actually I know that's not true at all, but this is one of those times. I doubt many of you heard about The Donner Party (the movie, not the actual party) until right now. In real life the Donner party was an infamou group of pioneers traveling to California in the winter of 1846-47 who become stranded by a snowstorm in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and who are then forced to resort to cannibalism to stay alive. In this movie we follow a small group of that party, none with the last name Donner, as they deal with being stuck in the frozen Sierra Nevada mountains with no food.

I only saw this movie because Alison Haislip is in it. For those who don't know who Alison Haislip is she is one the hosts of the TV show "Attack of the Show" on G4. It is basically a news show about video games, comic books, movies, and TV with a bunch of random jokes and skits thrown in for good measure. I personally love the show, so I rented The Donner Party to support Alison Haislip as an actress.

Sadly, this movie was pretty boring. I guess being starving and freezing really doesn't leave the oppurtunity for much to happen between the characters. The characters are either just sitting around in snow, walking around in snow, or sitting around in snow eating a body part of somebody they had to kill. I realize that they have no food the entire time but it seems like they go from eating the last of their food to eating one of their friends pretty quickly. There wasn't enough debating on whether that was really the best course of action to take.

Crispin Glover is the biggest name actor in the movie. He really did a great job playing the religious but selfish father figure from the one family. He is pretty well known as being a rather crazy person in real life who really becomes the character so I really wonder what he was like on the set of a movie about cannibalism. In case you were wondering, Alison Haislip did a fine job, but she only had like 5 lines so she really didn't get a chance to show off her acting chops. Half the time there is no soundtrack, and what is there is very miminalist. I have a feeling this was done on purpose, but I think a little more obtruse soundtrack could have improved things a little. I don't know where they actually filmed this movie, but I would be remissed if I did not mention how beautiful the scenery is. Though it would probably seem a lot less pretty if I was starving to death in it.

There is really no need to see this movie unless, you are a big Crispin Glover fan (or Alison Haislip fan like me) or interested in the Donner Party from a historical perspective. You won't be missing out on much if you don't see it.

2 out of 5 Stars

Read more about what actually happened to the real life Donner Party (it's quite interesting) at wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donner_Party
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