Tonight I saw the secret life of Walter Mitty and I have to tell you, I really liked it.

This was a movie that I was really on the fence about seeing only because I am a purest and I love the original. The original is from 1947 and stars Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, and Boris Karloff. 

The thing that I did like is that it followed the basic premise, but didn’t go too far. The original movie had Danny Kaye living with his overbearing mother, who will turn him over soon to an overbearing fiance. The one thing they had in common was that they both led very quiet, non-descript lives that no one seemed to notice them and they would daydream about great adventures they would take and always, there is a girl.

That’s pretty much how the movies are similar, except for the message, which i well get to soon.

This version has Walter working for Life Magazine, he is devoted to his mother,  who loves him very much, played by Shirley McClain and to his nutty sister, who determined make it on Broadway. There is a photographer, played by Sean Penn who sets things motion, so to speak.

I have to tell you, I’m not a huge Ben Stiller fan, but i love this story and let me say, well done! He directed and starred and it worked. Kristen Wigg is the woman who he thinks about and the woman who encourages and inspires him.

All of a sudden he puts one foot in front the other and he’s off on an adventure, some of the time you’re not sure if he’s daydreaming or not. When those he cares about are in trouble, he finds his footing and the courage.

This is a great quote from the movie:
“Life is about courage and going into the unknown.”

It’s incredibly true, you don’t know what you can do until you try…just put one foot in front of the other, you might surprise yourself.

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This movie was jacked up! There you have it.

This was Jason Statham’s latest action packed movie. The screenplay was written by Sylvester Stallone, adapted from a novel by Chuck Logan. Originally, Stallone was set to play the title role, but he had so many projects going for this year, the part went to Jason Statham not that I’m complaining. As you’re watching, you can see where this could have been a good vehicle for Stallone.

The story is about a former DEA agent living in Louisiana with his young daughter who crosses paths with a local bad dude/meth maker/distributor and as this is a Jason Statham movie, you can guess what happens next. Yup, you guessed it, violence, explosions, gunplay, protecting kids, smoldering looks, sorry, I digressed. (Sorry Statham droolers, he kept his shirt on the entire movie, oh well, can’t have everything!)

There was quite a cast in this movie. James Franco played Gator, the head bad dude in town, he was the meth maker/distributor and he was a really evil guy. Winona Ryder played his druggie on again/off again girlfriend and former “old lady” for a biker gang. Kate Bosworth plays Gator’s oh so charming addict sister. Clancy Brown plays the ‘look the other way’ sherif.

Things were going so well when they moved to this quaint little town, yeah right. Pretty much it all started with the sisters kid picking on Jason Statham’s daughter, she defends herself and the methed out sister wants Gator to do something about it, big mistake, right? Right!

There was good action in the movie, the bad part was that a lot of it took place at night, a lot harder to see the moves and blows, you could hear them though. And I have to say I really liked Izabela Vidovic, who played the daughter, Maddy, she had some moves, a good right hook and thinks on her feet. There were also some wonderfully clever concoctions and wiring, etc, very Statham/Macguyver, as he is apt to do in his movies.

Moral of the story, let people be, don’t mess with them and they won’t have to mess with you and, oh yeah…if Jason Statham has a kid in a movie or is assigned to protect a kid in a movie, then watch out and all I have to say is…don’t these bad guys ever learn?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2312718/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Go see this movie, that’s all go see it!

Alright, you win, I’ll give you more. GO SEE IT!

This was a laugh riot, feel good movies that leaves you with your face hurting from smiling and laughing so much and warm fuzzies, how can you beat that?

The exact description “Three sixty-something friends take a break from their day-to-day lives to throw a bachelor party in Las Vegas for their last remaining single pal.” And now for more details.

The four main guys have known each other since they were kids, about 12 years old and then takes us 58 years later to today, the kids are all grown up. You don’t mess with the Flatbush Four “You can’t call us names, only we can!” Their favorite names for each other? A$$hole! Pr%ck!

This movie has an all star A-List phenomenal leading cast. We start with the groom-to-be, Billy, played by Michael Douglas. He is the ‘youngest’ of the group, only because he chooses to be, dyes his hair, capped teeth, spray tan, that sort of thing. He is almost 70 and his wife is almost 33, and proposes to his girlfriend at a funeral, you can see where this is going, right?

Next is Morgan Freeman, who plays Archie, and you realize just how tall he is in this movie, 6’2″ towering over the rest of the cast. As soon as one of the guys calls with news “what is it? your prostate?” he lives with his son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter and feels like a prisoner, he is well taken care of, but feels lost, like he’s the child now. He sneaks out of the house to go to Las Vegas.

Kevin Kline plays Sam, who’s been with his wife for 40 years and is kind of lost. The movie opens the scene where we meet the guys today in a water aerobics class that Sam is participating in and just keeps looking around, checking the pulse of one guy, realizing that he’s around a bunch of old people and he doesn’t feel it.

Rounding out the merry band of misfits is Paddy, played perfectly by Robert De Niro, he was the one who married their childhood friend, Sophie, the only girl in the bunch. He is lonely and sad, widowed about a year and just doesn’t want to go out, see people, be social, he just wants to be left alone.

Paddy is very angry at Billy and the other two have to trick Paddy to get him to Las Vegas and it does take a while for the two to “kiss and make up”. Completing the group, when they are in Las Vegas, they meet Diana, a singer in one of Binions [remember, mecca for DCM] lounges, played by Mary Steenburgen. She is funny and charming and a fun addition, kind of like a Sophie for today.

The gang is back together and they’re going to raise some cain, it’s a bachelor’s weekend! They start to have fun and realize that they’re still alive; just because they’re older, ‘past their prime’, they still have a lot left in them and they need to get out there, live and enjoy life! And boy do they ever!

There you have it, go see it, you’ll laugh…a lot!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1204975/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Tonight we went to see Thor: The Dark World.

Just to start out…”Shirtless Thor Alert”, [I almost said ‘for the ladies’, but that wouldn’t be fair to any guys who that would target] there it’s out of the way, just in case a few of you needed a little push in the ‘seeing it’ direction.

The movie was epic, as expected, 90 percent took place on Asgard, as this was a Thor movie, and the balance took place in London. The supporting cast was great again, he didn’t spend as much time with his “band of merry mates” as in the first movie, but they did have some awesome fight scenes. The most memorable things is when they each threatened Loki, loyal and funny.

Odin was strong and Queen Frigga, wow! She had a fight scene that made you look at her a little differently and the only reference that comes to mind, which happened while I was watching, the fight scene in Star Wars: The Clone Wars between Yoda and Count Dooku, do you remember? Ah..mazing!

You knew that Natalie Portman was going to be back as Thor’s, love interest, Jane. Rounding out her band of merry mates, Darcy and Eric Selvig, although we saw a bit more of him than we probably wanted to, quite literally, you’ll know what I mean when you see it, brave man! Jane had a very pivotal role in this storyline, still ran around like a crazy person, but she got a few slaps in, oh! You could see how they really felt about each other, sigh.

Loki was in rare form, up to his tricks, as much as he could be locked in a dungeon, you almost had a moment of sympathy for him and then, just like that, it was gone. No surprise there, right? Related to Loki…what? A surprise appearance by an Avenger! (Not a spoiler alert, because I’m not telling who or when), but a great scene!

The villain, just plain bad, sacrificing his people so he could survive, bad juju, but not to worry…enough said.

Don’t blink or you’ll miss Stan Lee, hint…nut house, that’s all.

And lastly, please, please, please don’t forget to stay through the credits to see a sneak scene for the next movie, so important!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1981115/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Last night I went to see 2 Guns.

It stars Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington, isn’t that enough? Not a spoiler alert: a DEA agent and Navy intelligence officer are on the run after they screw up an attempt to infiltrate a drug cartel. The best part, they don’t know the other is in law enforcement, they have both been tasked with getting close with each other and then basically take the other out.

It’s funny and lots of good gunplay. Isn’t that funny when you can say “it’s funny and lots of good gunplay”. The only uncomfortable part, well for me (as DCM told me) was the chickens, so if you see the chickens, you’ll understand.

There was a good supporting cast, Bill Paxton plays a slimeball, James Marsden looks good in his Navy Officer whites and Edward James Olmos is the scuzzy head of a Mexican drug cartel.

Did you know that you don’t rob a bank across the street from a diner that has the best donuts for three counties? Well, ya do now!

As I said it was funny, the relationship between the two main characters, the way they interact, the way they play off each other, the way they are towards each other before they find out about the other and how they act towards each other after they find out and how the start building a different kind of relationship once the secret is out and they have to work together towards a common goal. And end up more than partners…they’re family.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1272878/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Charming, simply charming.

This was a movie based on a true story about a widower who decides it’s time for a change and moves out to the country and buys a house with a zoo attached, yeah, that’s about right.

The movie stars Matt Damon and Scarlet Johnsen, personally, and I know I’m going to get smacked, I don’t see what it is about Scarlet Johnsen, just my opinion (she filled her catsuit quite well in The Avengers, other than that…) I thought it was cast well and the actor who played Matt Damon’s son looked like him, good casting.

It was cowritten by Cameron Crowe, so you know it’s going to be good.

This was a story about love, loss, coping, not coping, hope, desperation, longing, adventure with some faith thrown in, faith each other and in yourself and twenty seconds of “insane courage, embarrassing bravery” after that, what could go wrong?

Matt Damon is the main character who just wants to make a life for his kids after his wife had passed and figure out how to go on, he has to, doesn’t have a choice. His kids are at interesting ages, the youngest is about six and just loves her daddy, his son is a teenager and living up to the title. It seems crazy to buy a zoo, but there are many lessons to be learned from the experience and the animals.

Never give up and life is the next big adventure, what will you do with yours?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1389137/?ref_=sr_1

Abra cadabra…I have to tell you, since this movie is about magic and there are twists and turns and surprises and it’s called “Now You
See Me” I almost left the post blank. Little play on the title, maybe some surrealism, but how fun would that be? Aside from to me anyway.

We absolutely loved this movie! We actually watched it before Redemption, I so wish we had watched in the other direction! But I digress.

As I said, we loved this movie. It has a great cast, with some serious heavy hitters. Mark Ruffalo plays the FBI agent tracking down “The Four Horsemen”, four magicians with different talents: Woody Harrelson plays a mentalist, someone who reads people and places suggestions in their subconscious made a great con artist. Jesse Eisenberg plays a straight up magician, card tricks, slight of hand. Isla Fisher played an illusionist, doing Harry Houdini type of escapes and Dave Franco rounded out the Four Horsemen, more of a street magician/hustler, not great, but with potential, he’s kind of the baby of the group.

Morgan Freeman plays a retired magician who has a show that exposes magicians, tells you how they did what they did. Michael Caine is the bankroll for the Four Horsemen, private planes, cart blanche.

Not a spoiler alert (from the previews), they are going to rob a bank, virtually and literally, from a Las Vegas theater, ooooh. As I said, Mark Ruffalo is the FBI agent convinced they did it and will stop at nothing to get them! Morgan Freeman keeps trying to figure out how they did it and the Four Horsemen are doing what they do best and having a good time.

Over the course of the movie, you watch them grow and hone their skills and work together, they weren’t totally on the same page when they got together initially, but someone knew what they were capable of and brought them together. You keep wondering who the guy in the blue sweatshirt is.

I really can’t give you much more than that because there are too many twists, turns and surprises, it really would be a spoiler alert. Bottom line, we recommend this movie!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1670345/?ref_=sr_1

As we know, I like my sisters in the world love Jason Statham, I believe I was disappointed for the first time in my life, sigh…

Friday night we watched Parker, with Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez, well that’s the way it was billed and on the cover, this was not really the case. Nick Nolte and Michael Chiklis (remember The Commish? He seems to be a bad guy in everything he’s done since!) and Patti Lupone were also a part of the cast, the more well known names that I could remember, sorry.

What’s the saying..honor among thieves? The story is that Jason Statham is a theif, there is a job that gets botched, but they get away with the take, $1M, he is done, just wants his take and he’s out. They have another job they want him to do with them, he says no, he just wants his money and he’s out of there. Apparently they don’t like his answer, so they try to kill him, nice.

The rest of the movie is kind of a revenge movie, he just wants his money, but in the process he is going to get back at the guys who did this to him. There’s also a hit man who is after him, of course one of the other bad guys is related to the mob in Chicago, go figure. Let’s just say, they got theirs. Jennifer Lopez did come into play, but not the way you are lead to believe by the jacket. She did get to kiss Jason Statham, lucky girl!

I will say that even though he gets revenge and justice, and his money, all he wanted was what he was owed, he had the crap kicked out of him left and right! Overall, not a bad movie, not the best, but not bad, definitely a Jason Statham vehicle.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1904996/?ref_=sr_2

Last night we decided to make pizza , yum! and watch some movies, I did some shopping and DCM picked the movies. First we watched Now You See Me, which we loved and I will review another night and I wish we had watched this movie second, I would have felt better.

The second movie we watched was Redemption , another Jason Statham movie. When do I get that 1.5 hours back? I know it was Jason Statham, but…(per Harry Potter, I don’t think there’s enough chocolate in the world to make me feel better!)

The description from imdb.com “Homeless and on the run from a military court martial, a damaged ex-special forces soldier navigating London’s criminal underworld seizes an opportunity to assume another man’s identity — transforming into an avenging angel in the process.”

This was pretty accurate, but overall depressing as hell. Yes, he was an avenging angel, but he was also a very bad man, one doesn’t seem to outweigh the other unfortunately. He was good to the other homeless men he knew, when he had money, he would order takeout for them, which was delivered to the soup kitchen where a particular sister worked. He tried to do good in things for her, she was incredibly conflicted. There was a girl that he shared a cardboard hut with, he looked out for her, I say girl, she was in her mid twenties, and he did what he could to protect her, in the end it wasn’t enough, but he found the guy and it was all over.

As the description says, he transforms himself, he cleans up, gets clean, does what he can to make things right, but it’s never just right. In the end, he falls back into oblivion, probably never to be seen again, I still don’t feel good after watching this.

So, as I said, was Parker redemption for Redemption? I guess not since Parker came out first! but did redemption even make it to the theater in the states?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1893256/?ref_=sr_1