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I went into this film with the lowest of expectations. Honestly, the only reason I even went was because otherwise I would not have left the house between work on Fri and work on Mon. I used to love Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, but over time their schtick grew old. What used to be charming became annoying. What was exciting and original became hackneyed and repetitive. Yet they're still at it. And for lack of anything better to do, I still followed.

It took me a while to get into it. Much of the early scenes were that same that I was dreading. I was getting frustrated not being able to even get a thought in edgewise between all of Vaughn's fast talking. Wilson appeared to me as a helpless puppy. They eventually get to Google and things are proceeding along the path of predictability. At least, with the Google setting, there was the occasional flash of nerd humor that I could very much appreciate. Hell, I even laughed at a few of them.

But then, something happened. I found myself connecting with and relating to the supporting characters. I was drawn in to the emotional arc of our leads (as basic as it may have been). I started rooting for these guys. I knew how things would eventually play out, but I really wanted them to do well. Then there was a scene with Vaughn and an unrecognizable Josh Gad (honestly, I thought they'd hired an actor who actually had Aspergers or something) and I noticed I had the biggest doofiest smile on my face. By then I was all in.

True, there may not have been anything particularly innovative about this film, but it was enjoyable. Or at least it was once it got going. Not something I'd have been willing to go out of my way to see, but a perfectly acceptable stop on the path of convenient entertainment.

The Internship - \m/ \m/ \n

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Some time ago, I was going thru the list of upcoming movies on IMDB. Hafta do that every couple weeks to update the movie calendar, of course! I'm not even joking. Anyways, the one sentence summary for this one sounded really intriguing, so I put it on the list. I figured I'd hear more about it as it got loser. But I never really did. So we get to this weekend, where I have zero to do, and the movie offerings are slim. That means I did what I very rarely do. I watched the trailer online. With as often as I'm at the theater, I tend to see all the important trailers repeatedly, so I almost never bother watching them at home. To the top of this week's must list it went.

If you've heard of this movie, you've heard the concept. For those of you who haven't, it's about a decade into the feature. Crime and unemployment and other such badness are pretty much wiped. Why? Because one night a year, all crime is legalized. You've got one night to get it out of your system without consequence and then the rest of the year goes by wonderfully. Whoa.

Before even getting to the Common my mind was racing with thoughts on the scenario, and I expected to leave there with my head swimming. The film did take some different approaches on the philosophy than I would have expected, and of course didn't go too deep into it, but it did raise some new considerations.

I guess I took a more logical approach to the set up. In my head, crime essentially got scheduled. Steal what you need, kill who you gotta kill, settle your scores, then go about your life for the next 364. Here it was more of a release that some people just needed. While many people would just hide in their fortified homes and wait out the night, others would plan and hunt or party or otherwise enjoy themselves. The film focused primarily on murder instead of the myriad of other crimes that could be freely commited. Makes perfect sense for streamlining the film, but leaves so much unexplored. The movie also raised questions about class division and the importance of the illusion of security over security itself.

As a horror/suspense I think it was absolutely on point. While some was predictable, there was always a sense of unease and expectation. I certainly felt my heart beating rapidly in my chest. I did take some issue with a couple parts of the set up. A few moments of "really?! How could be so stupid as to ", but I could follow those up with "because otherwise we wouldn't have a movie" and be satisfied with that. While I consider this more a suspense than a horror film (mostly because it didn't feel like the prime directive was to scare) I was sufficiently creeped out by some of the characters. Those masks and the cheerful leader guy *shudder* I gotta say, Ethan Hawke certainly has a knack for picking these under the radar, criminally under appreciated films.

On the T ride over, I ran into a friend and we chatted briefly about the concept. He commented that he'd be much more interested to read a book about t

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Okay, let's try this one again. After a fantastic and long overdue NYC trip yesterday, today was all about being lazy. Just one quick movie to bask in the air conditioning, then back home to do pretty much nothing. Given the way that events turned out on Fri, that meant the movie du jour was After Earth.

Before even talking about the film itself, there's a few things I find interesting. This was directed by M. Night Shyamalan, and he shares a writing credit on it too. If you just read that and went "Whaaa?" then you had pretty much the same reaction I did, well after seeing this movie publicized all over the place. Has the mighty really fallen so hard that they don't dare even mention his name? I still recall multiple occassions where an auditorium would bust into laughter when his name splashed on the screen during the Devil trailer. As it turns out, much of the work was actually done by Will Smith. He came up with the concept and took on some of the directing duties. He just wanted a chance to collaborate with Shyamalan.

But on the subject of Smith, I also find it interesting for a film that was conceived as an opportunity for him to work with his son, Jaden, the two don't really share a lot of screen time. The majority of the film involves Jaden wandering the violent planet on a mission to save him and his father, who is immobilized on part of their crash landed vehicle. They're in communication, but not necessarily together the whole time.

Unfortunately, those points are about as interesting as it gets. Well, okay, there were a couple of interesting concepts. With futuristic scifi, there's always room for inventive gadgets, but I wasn't particularly impressed with them. The main villain, besides the elements and terrain, were these species of alien creatures that sensed humans by their fear. You could make yourself invisible to them if you were fearless. The theme of fear being a choice ran throughout the entire film. Kinda ironic when you realize again that this is being helmed by a man whose most famous works are within the horror genre. Or maybe someone had just been reading a lot of Green Lantern lately.

While that may have been a cool theme to run with, it made the film completely dry. What I love about Will Smith is his charm, a trait that his son showed he inherited in Karate Kid. However, in trying to play fearless, he instead came off as emotionless. All lines were delivered very direct and dry, and Jaden didn't fare much better either. Except for a few moments of rageful rebellion, that scowl that he seems to have adopted lately was constantly plastered on his face. The best actor in the lot was the big CGI bird. He actually did have a moment that I found incredibly touching.

There were so many flaws in the story. Oh really, it happened to be just these two that survived? Oh you said this piece of equipment was vital? How long until it breaks? Oh you're making a point to say how dangerous one aspect of the terrain is? How long until that's an issue? Oh your transport just happens to be carrying one of those alien critters that kills people? Now, I'm usually the first to overlook such things if I'm really into it. If the ride is a fun one, I don't care too much about the details. But when it's so dry and predictable, each offense feels even worse than the last.

At least there was air conditioning there.

After Earth - \m/ \n

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You know it's really summer when my main motivation for catching a movie is to spend a couple hours in air conditioning. I kinda wanted to just go home and rest up before my NYC trip tomorrow, but there was no way I'd survive the 90 degree weather in my fourth floor apartment. This week's movie must list was Now You See Me and After Earth. I'd actually planned on seeing Earth because the timing worked out better, even though I was a bit more excited for Now. But, as luck would have it, the Earth projector broke so I soon found myself with a freebie return pass, sitting in the air conditioning for an extra hour, reading the newest True Blood and waiting for Now You See Me. Okay so I wasn't sitting there for an hour but the start time was later than the first choice film. But I am so not complaining.

Such an incredibly fun movie. Really, this is the kind of thing that I love going to the movies for. And it's what summer movies tend to be all about, which is why it's my favorite movie season. Oh and that other magician movie that came out earlier this year is not anywhere near the same level as this one was.

First of all, absolutely fantastic cast. Jesse Eisenberg being all smug and smart, Mark Ruffalo our trusty everyman, Woody Harrelson with that twinkle of mischief, Isla Fisher the cute lil bombshell, Dave Franco and the charm that runs in his family, Mélanie Laurent beautiful as ever, Morgan Freeman just being his bad ass self, Michael Caine whose presence I should not have to justify. Every second of screen time had at least one of those awesome peeps being awesome. Oh and I also loved how Freeman was finally wearing his earrings on screen. They're pretty much his signature thing IRL, but we never really get to see them on film.

So our story is that we've got some magicians that somehow manage to rob a bank during their show, and give the money back to their audience. The feds step in to try and stop them, and the fun chase begins! I have a strange appreciation for magic. I don't know that I would ever really wanna go to a magic show (I'd rather see something with narrative) but I do enjoy it. And I would have wanted to go to these guys shows. There's two things I like about watching magic. One, I like to be surprised. New and creative tricks peak my interest, not knowing where it's going next. The other is that I like to figure it out. Guess at what the secret is. What's frustrating about magic in movies is that there's usually a lot of "movie magic" involved, which is completely cheating. It was about 50/50 on the actually achievable/yeah right split, but the tricks and set ups were a blast to watch unravel.

Yeah I saw some twists coming, and a few things were contrived, but I still left there a very happy movie goer.

Now You see Me - \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/

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I rewatched the first Hangover a couple months ago on the plane to Vegas. It happened to be on my ipod, and it seemed appropriate. That movie is comedy gold, partly because it was unexpected. The second was almost a carbon copy. Details were changed, but the magic was lost. Now we've got one more chance, and we land somewhere in between.

First off, the formula was completely gone. No actual hangover in sight, no piecing together lost memories. It did feel a little off, but I think it was the right choice. You could argue that this was the hangover of their hangovers, trying to end the whole thing for once and for all. In that, they were successful. There was good closure to the series. We got to check in with most of the major characters, things got wrapped up, all is well in the world. Yes, there is still possibility for another, but I'd like to think that the Wolf Pack really is all growed up, and doesn't decide to continue.

Purely as a comedy, the movie was okay. Again, nothing like the genius of the first. The gags I enjoyed most were the ones where I felt in on the joke from having been along for the ride before. If I didn't already love these characters, I don't know how much I would have cared about what was going on. Nothing was particularly inventive, but there's still a comfort in playing it safe-ish.

This was also the first Vegas-set movie I've seen since my bday trip, so I did rather enjoy recognizing the sights. Lots of places I visited, and some good shots of the Stratosphere, the hotel I stayed at. No sign of the Goretorium, but I did catch Planet Hollywood right next door.

The Hangover Part III - \m/ \m/ \n

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I am such a sucker for a cheesy action movie, and there's nothing like the Fast franchise. I'm actually _really_ glad I thought to marathon it's predecessors over the past week. A little context goes a long way. I'm still so impressed at what good cast retention there's been in this half of the series, and the team keeps growing. I love that they each maintain an important role and express some fun individuality. No one really fades into the background.

The new recruit I was really excited for was Gina Carano who steps in as Riley, Hobbs' (Dwayne Johnson) new sidekick. Til now the real muscle has mostly been in the cars, so throwing in an MMA trained fighter was really gonna pick things up a notch. I was just waiting on edge for the inevitable girl fight with Michelle Rodriguez, which did not disappoint.

The rest of the action was far from disappointing as well. They still find ways to make the chases bigger and better. Usually the answer is to think outside the car, bring in some new vehicles. I will say no more.

Some of the story seemed a lil forced to me (amnesia, really?) but there's a lot that's really starting to come together. I'm mostly impressed at how relevant they're still managing to keep Tokyo Drift. Even though I just rewatched it earlier this week, I'm feeling like I need to rewatch it yet again.

Alas, what I really want to talk about is the end set up for the next movie, but I play by the rules. Keeping my mouth shut. But holy \m/ I very loudly gasped. Twice in a row because once just wasn't enough. I both love and hate that they do this to me.

Fast & Furious 6 - \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/

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If this were any other franchise, it would have died after 3: the random death rattle that was more stretched spin off than sequel. But that didn't happen. Instead, not only was new life breathed into this vehicle, but we got what was arguably the best installment thus far.

I'd already written off the Fast movies. The idea of them putting another one together seemed a lil desperate. Since the original had come out, Diesel had two non-starters that were expected to be big series. Walker's career, well, what career? The whole thing screamed paycheck. And maybe that was some of the motivation, but the entire team certainly give it their all and the payoff was fantastic. This is the one that made me a fan.

I'd complained with some of the earlier ones that I'd expected these to be action movies. Fast & Furious finally realized that potential. Sure, the plot's thin as ever, but the action permeates the whole thing. And it's action based almost exclusively on the vehicles, making it unique to the genre. Trust me, I know. No more quick races down the closed off street. Oh no. Racing thru the busy populated city or thru tunnels at the border. And what about that opening sequence? The first trailer highlighted that, and even after several views, when I'd catch the trailer I'd forget that it was a Fast movie.

Oh and because we've already bought up the subject of silly sequel names, is it really that much different to just drop the The's from the title? Everyone's gonna refer to it as 4 anyways. Then again, this was the year of the simple naming conventions. Final Destination did the same thing with The Final Destination (or I guess they technically did the opposite). And all of the reboots went simple too: Star Trek, Sherlock Holmes, Friday the 13th...

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The EW series summary of the Fast franchise referred to this as the car-ate kid. Quite fitting actually.

So this movie had disaster written all over it. Three-quel. None of the original stars (as least not from the initial look at it). Completely new setting. Introducing a new concept, drifting. That all usually spells straight to DVD bargain bin. But yet, it was given a summer release in 2006. The theaters were flooded with the trailer. For months leading up, I don't think I could go see a movie and not catch this trailer. My thoughts went from "oh God another one" to "actually that looks kinda cool" to "geez, enough already make it stop". I resisted then, but eventually a Black Friday sale offered it to me for five bucks and I caved. Incidentally, this is the only one I don't own on BluRay, since I bought it first. I got 1 and 2 on sale when 4 came out and then 5 upon its release as well.

For a five dollar DVD, this one is actually pretty fun. Yeah, until those last two minutes, it's kind of a stretch tying it into the franchise other than "oooh look cars!". Knowing what I know now, that 4-6 are meant to take place before Tokyo Drift, it really was interesting to see and understand that connection. They really did keep the best character, Han, to incorporate back into the fold when 4 happened. But we'll get there later. Tomorrow prolly.

For the rest of Tokyo Drift, nothing too remarkable. Plot, thin as ever. Cars, hot and fast. Pretty boy outsider in the drivers seat. A little more juvenile in the story line since these were high school kids instead of cops and maladjusted young adults. And it being Tokyo, there's some Yakuza thrown in too, like ya do. Were this not a Fast movie, I find it hard to imagine anyone would have ever cared about it. As it is, it's sort of the step child of the series.

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Yes, one of the worst sequel names ever. But I do kinda like their don't-give-a-\m/ inconsistent naming convention throughout the franchise. It amuses me. Sometimes they try, sometimes they dont, sometimes they shouldn't have.

It's now 2003. I first saw this one in Hawaii. As a graduation present, I got to go meet up with some friends from the summer program I did the year before. One night, the guys wanted to catch a movie. This was it. We certainly left there laughing for all the wrong reasons. Yes, it is one of the weaker links in the flimsy but fun franchise. However, putting it in context, it's not too bad.

This one tried to do what the first one didn't: bring the action. Very thin cop drama with lots and lots and LOTS of fast cars. They certainly stepped up their game as far as quantity and, well I don't know if I wanna say quality, but certainly creativity and density. More cars. More chases. More speed. And a boat.

Something else I hadn't really appreciated until watching them in succession is that this does give us a chance to see some of Brian's backstory. The first movie was all about Toretto's crew. Brian was the outsider. We knew how Dom and his gang got together, but knew little about Brian. Here he gets to be reunited with his homeboy and we hear some of how he grew up. He's with his team, who's got his back. And Tyrese's Roman certainly is no replacement for Toretto, but he's an interesting counter character.

Yes it is a bit of a surprise that the franchise managed to continue after this clunker, but I think we're all glad it did.

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I realized the other day that I've got a pretty clear week leading up to a pretty clear memorial day weekend. Lots of extra time tends to mean lots of extra movies. While reading EW's write up of the Fast & Furious franchise, it occurred to me that other than keeping up with the newer releases (only one of which I had previously written up), I hadn't really visited it in a while. Thought it would make a fast and fun mini project. I'm mostly interested to see the entire story pieced together.

It all started back in 2001. Paul Walker was coming off a string of teeny bopper hits (by which I mean She's All That), so he was brought in to lead fun little crime thriller posing as an action movie. It ended up launching a pretty successful franchise. However, the name that became most associated with it wasn't Walker. It was Diesel. Vin Diesel. After a few small roles and not widely seen films, this is what shot him to the A list and made him a star.

As per usual when writing up older films (by which I just mean not new releases), you're gonna get the story of when I first watched it. Just part of the ExpDel deal. So I think it was back in high school that I rented it. It was during the point in time when my Daddy and I would raid Blockbuster weekly, each of us picking a movie or two that we'd watch together over the next few days. The Fast and the Furious was one of my picks. I thought it'd be a fun, high paced action movie. Now while that's what the franchise has evolved into over time, the original started off as more drama than action. At the time it was a disappointment. But with the right context and perspective, I grew to appreciate and even love it.

This is our first introduction to Brian O'Connor and Dominic Toretto, as well as Letty and Mia. For now, they're just big ambitious fish in a small pond they are quickly outgrowing. The film promises fast cars and climactic chases, but there's more to it than that. There's the drama of Brian figuring out if he's more loyal to his badge or his newfound friends as he tries to figure out who's behind some rather sophisticated highway thefts. As the franchise grew, it did pay more attention to the cars, but for now, they ended up being just a small piece.

But even if they weren't as much of the focus as the film as I originally expected back then, they're still pretty sweet. You know that your movie is on some level successful if it introduces subject matter that you find yourself wishing you knew much more about. I watch this and want to know all there is to know about cars. Now of course, that feeling will fade over the next few hours and it will fade into no more than a quick thought. But while you're immersed in the world of the movie, you just want to be deeper in it. And that is why this small time movie turned into a major Hollywood franchise.

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