Tonight DCM and I went to see the family, once we saw the preview we knew we needed to see this movie, it had all the elements, gangsters, explosions, intimidation, guns, family, Robert De Niro , Michelle Pfieffer and Tommy Lee Jones.

It was written and directed by Luc Besson, which I didn’t know until they rolled the credits, but it made things fall into place after that. Luc Besson is best known for The Fifth Element [I need to review this, I could go on for hours!], The Messenger, The Transporter [OMG! IMDB.com is showing Transporter 4, 5, 6, WHAT? well, as long as Jason Statham is in it, I’m good with that, right ladies?].

I have to admit that we both walked away from this movie kind of adrift. It was ok, but it wasn’t that good, the trailers really had the best parts in it.

The family was in interesting dynamic. Dad, who was the former head of the family who testified against the family and has been on the run in the witness protection program for about ten years. The reason they are on the run is that something always happens, they kill someone, blow something up, potentially blow their cover. I say they because the entire family is suited for this lifestyle.

It was kind of fun, well, there were aspects of fun to De Niro’s character’s handle when he was aggravated or crossed, he took some things to extreme measures, others to extreme and final measures and then the fun ones were when he got angry and imagined what he would do those who offended.

Michelle Pfeiffer plays the mom, and she will put up with only so much before she might blow up a building [not a spoiler, it’s in the preview]. Diana Argon, Quinn from Glee is the daughter, a 17 year old who finds love, but has a serious problem with anger management, WOW! She gets her heart broken, but doesn’t actually cry until she kills some hit men, interesting. More interesting, she was wearing a white dress and pearls, so put together wielding firearms and killing the bad guys after her family.

John D’Leo is the son and he is the stereotypical mobsters kid, like you’ve seen in the movies. He goes to school the first day and gets the lay of the land, so to speak, he knows who is who and who is what and what he would need to do to get by and ahead. A little bit con artist, extortionist, enforcer, he runs away from home at one point because he was afraid the FBI would blame the family for his indiscretions.

Tommy Lee Jones is the FBI agent in charge of keeping the family alive because the entire organized crime syndicate wants them dead, you can tell he’s a little tired of the job, especially when they keep moving around ever nine months!

There were some good scenes in the beginning, a few in the middle and then there was action at the end. As I mentioned, it was ok, just not that great. I can tell you we liked it, but won’t be adding it to the collection.

Oh, and the dog lived! you know that’s all I really cared about!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2404311/?ref_=sr_1

Today, while I was I the phone with CKM talking about my review of Riddick and DCM was laughing listening to me go on my rant, carried on from last night, he made an executive decision, he found Pitch Black on On Demand.

(I have to tell you, when I started working for Descartes, they have a routing application called On Demand, I was very confused!)

So, DCM and I watched Pitch Black, the first in the Riddick series. I didn’t see it at the time (2000), wasn’t interested, in the movie or Vin Diesel and it may not have looked like my kind of movie at the time.

The story is “A prisoner transport ship and its crew are marooned on a planet full of bloodthirsty creatures that only come out to feast at night. But then, they learn that a month-long eclipse is about to occur.”

They start off with about 11 people, lets just say, not that many left the planet at the end MF the movie.

DCM said it was similar to Riddick and it was, one movie had creatures in the earth and this one had creatures that come out at night. I can tell you there is a consistency, there were 11 mercenaries and Riddick and the same number left that planet as in the one last might, is there a theme here?

In this movie we are introduced to Riddick for the first time. You find out he’s a convict, you don’t really know why he’s been in “the slam” so many times, you do find out that he’s killed, and is ok with it. One thing you notice about Riddick is that he doesn’t kill for no reason and he has a conscious, sometimes. A very interesting character, remember, we’re rooting for the bad guy!

I liked it, I think I liked last night’s better, only because the effects were better and lines were cleaner, but…this movie was made 13 years ago, so it makes sense. DCM said Pitch Black was better, agree to disagree.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0134847/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

An Oscar contender this is not. It was awful, but I LOVED it!

If you are looking for great cinema, I know there is some out there somewhere, maybe in the next screening room, same theater. But…if you are looking for action, bad dialog, slashing, shooting, creatures, weird dogs /dingo-dongy thingies, some gratuitous nudity, Riddick kicking alien and human arse, then this is the movie for you!

Riddick is played by Vin Diesel, this being the third installment of the Riddick series: Pitch Black, Chronicles of Riddick and now , Riddick. He played the role like it was written with him in mind, not sure if it was, but it fit. His eyes are one of the coolest feature about this character, apparently he had his eyes “adjusted” when he was in prison, the effect: they have a violet starburst in the center, this allows him to see in the…c’mon, you know…pitch black!

The movie opens with Riddick being stranded on a barren, hot planet, not where he expected to be.  There are alien creatures that resemble scorpions on crack, I think that’s a good way to put it. There is a dog-like creature, the dingo-dongy thing referred to that honestly looks like a cross between a zebra, hyena, cheetah, greyhound with the coolest ears. Riddick finds a puppy, his siblings are dead and he takes it with him, after fighting and killing one in the beginning of the movie, this one he raises from a pup, you can guess what happens.

Riddick realizes that he needs to get off this planet, he finds an outpost and signals some bounty hunters who come after him, two different teams; one that looks like they are homeless mercenaries that might sell each other out and the other, a polished, together team that has each others back. It’s one Riddick against eleven bounty hunters, hmmm, I wonder who’s going to come out on top.

Here’s what’s interesting about this movie. Riddick is a criminal, a convict and has been nothing else, with a bounty on his head, but…we are rooting for him, he’s the bad good guy in all this, how about them apples? The cool thing about Riddick is watching his mind work, watch him calculate, rationalize, strategize, there is a MacGuyver-esq quality to what he does, what I mean is that he looks at what’s around so that he can get himself out of whatever situation he is in that will probably save his life.

I almost said for the ladies for this comment, but I don’t want to discriminate…there is a scene where Riddick is, well, let’s just say you won’t be complaining, ok, I wasn’t complaining; there are also some gratuitous nekkid female shots. It’s interesting because these shots affected me in different ways; I am all for gratuitous violence or nudity if it’s warranted and here’s what I mean. There is a silhouette of Riddick on top of a rock, you can tell he’s in the all together, it makes sense [and no, this is not just because i think he’s hot], it makes sense because it is a beginning, almost a rebirth as he starts over, finding himself and his strengths and moving forward. There is a scene, it’s actually a flashback, to Riddick, when he was in a position of power, in his bedroom and there are four nude women, his concubines in his bed. This nudity makes sense, he is the man in charge, they are there to please him, in context, acceptable. Later, the only living female on the barren wasteland of a planet, she is washing up in the sink, topless. Here’s where I have issue…she was only washing her face and armpits and she was wearing a tank top for most of the movie, why does she need to take her top off to wash her face? Also, there are bad things outside the building, she’s supposed to be on her guard and here she is sponge bathing in the sink topless? There is one line that Riddick makes reference to this scene, but was it really necessary? Pointless nudity, see what I’m saying?

Another thing that got me…the language. This is a different race of beings, they are not human, they are not from earth. I get that the movie is in English so we can all understand it, but there were signs and posters like you would find here on earth and the cussing, it’s another solar system, planets and they’re using the same words we use, the f-bomb was dropped a few times, not an uncomfortable amount for anyone, I just want to know why they aren’t using made up words, just like they do in other shows/movies [frack, frail, anything!] I have to tell you, I was going on and on about some of these things and i had DCM in stitches he was laughing so hard!

I will tell you that for a good bit of the beginning of the movie, I was beginning to wonder if there would be any other humans in the movie! just be prepared, the others are coming, we have to build up to it and watch Riddick do his thing, with the jacked up scorpions and the puppy, it’s all setting the stage for the rest of the movie.

Overall, I really liked this movie; I laughed, I gasped, I cringed, i hid my eyes and covered my ears [who wants to hear the screaming!] and i recommend it for anyone who’s into these kinds of movies.

Daddy – go for it! [but, I don’t think that LD will enjoy it!]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1411250/

For the first time ever, at least I think it’s the first time ever, I cannot for the life of me remember the full name of this movie! DCM and I keep wanting to say Immortal instead of mortal and I cannot remember the word instruments when it comes to this movie!

The worst part…I really did like this movie, we both did I’m just having a moment with the title! Oh brother!

The movie is definitely fantasy, based on a series of books, “The Mortal Instruments is a series of six young adult fantasy novels written by Cassandra Clare, of which five have been published so far. Wikipedia”
http://www.shadowhunters.com/mortalinstruments/

Clery is your typical teenager in NYC, she lives with her mom, who is an artist, she inherited that talent and seems to have the same teen angst as every other teenage girl, but you can tell there is something that her mom is not telling her, especially since she starts seeing certain things she can’t explain.

When Clery’s mom disappears, she finds out she is from a long line of warriors to protect mundanes, non magical folk, you know, you and me, from the mythical creatures. Someone says, you know all those creatures under the bed from the stories when you were a kid, they are real.

Werewolves, demons, vampires, warlocks, witches, just some of the creatures that Clery learns about when her eyes are opened. Clery is played by Lily Collins, who I first remember from Mirror Mirror, she was good in the role; questioning, confused, vulnerable, strong, even kick-ass now and then, brave and true and steadfast to those she cared about.

You felt like you were with her through the entire journey and since she didn’t know who or what she really was, and neither did we in the audience, we experienced everything with her. Well, except for the fighting and bruising first hand, but that’s ok, I’ll watch her do it, she can represent.

There were some things, twists and turns that I can’t tell you about, because it might give major plot lines away, but I did have a Luke and Leia moment. You can’t make judgements about whether someone is good, only because what you thought is probably wrong and don’t forget the teenage love triangle, he loves her, she thinks of him and a brother, she finds someone she thinks she loves and his best friend is in love with him and hates her, like I said, teenage angst!

I have to admit, the very last scene we were like, huh? And, it was a touch too long, but…

All in all, we both enjoyed the movie and we’re looking forward to the next one when there is one.

I know that it is based on a series of books, number six just being published. DCM said he wants to read the series and I think it might be good, but I’m also afraid that if I read it, it might be so different, like so many adaptations are, I will be disappointed. (The Davinici Code was a big one, so much so, that I didn’t read Angels and Demons, I only went to see the movie, I also remember the uproar when people went to see Eargon, I didn’t read the book, so I was happy with the movie)

If anyone has read the books and goes to see the movie, please let me know if they are close.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1538403/?ref_=sr_1

Sunday we went to see a matinee of The World’s End.

As I la la la love Simon Pegg, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0670408/?ref_=tt_cl_t15, we were going to see this movie!

I also love Nick Frost, his best mate and co-writing partner. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0296545/?ref_=sr_1

If you’re not sure who Simon Pegg is, he wrote Shawn of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Paul, just to name a few. If that still hasn’t jogged your memory, he’s played Scotty in the two new Star Trek movies, that help?

So, if you’ve seen the previews anywhere, this won’t be a spoiler, if you haven’t, it will be. Five childhood friends reunite 20 years later, back in their hometown, to complete an infamous pub crawl, twelve pubs, twelve pints, ending at, you guessed it because you’re so smart, The World’s End pub. The goal is to make it to the end, beat their record of eight or nine. Then somewhere along the line (here comes the spoiler alert) they encounter robots.

Ok, so this was Hot Fuzz, Stepford Wives, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, any stupid drinking movie and a few others I can’t think of, all rolled into one.

I knew when is saw the preview it was not going to be an Oscar winner, but I knew there would be funny parts, there would be odd parts, there would be parts we would look at each other “huh?”, there would be really stupid parts and there would be parts that drop your jaw. And you know what, we weren’t disappointed! Did I mention, it had Simon Pegg?

I will say that the end didn’t make sense to either of us, we were talking about it for most of the night! When you see it, you will probably agree and if you understand the ending, please explain it to me!

One of the things that I really like is, like many writer/actor/stars, Simon Pegg puts a lot of the same actors in their movies. Think Kevin Smith, Adam Sandler, Christopher Guest. In Simon Pegg movies, you might see Bill Nighy, David Bradley, Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, just to name a few.

I don’t think this movie is going to be in the theater for very long, but that wouldn’t stop me from seeing it! Wait, I did see it! If you’re up for a mindless good time, a few laughs and beer? Go for it!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1213663/?ref_=sr_1

I know I’m way behind, but today, I finally saw Hitch.

One of the things I like about having access to cable again, is the possibility that an older movie might be on and Hitch it was.

Overall, I enjoyed this movie. Will Smith plays Hitch, a consultant who helps his clients get over their fears and bring out who they are to help find the love of their lives or if they are already in love, the courage to be with their love, help her see him for who he is.

His methods seem to help all of his clients, but as you can imagine, they don’t work for himself, when he meets a skeptical reporter in Eva Mendes. He has to face certain things and others as they come to light, after he breaks a lot of his own rules.

I will give you a hint…there is a happy ending!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386588/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1y

Tonight DCM and I decided to go to see Kick-Ass 2.

If you’re not looking for an Oscar winning movie or Oscar worthy performances, then Kick-Ass 2 might just be for you.

I have to tell you, when I saw Kick-Ass, I had certain ideas of what it would be like, a fun, human/real people turned superhero, yes, but no. I was not quite prepared for the level of violence, mayhem, destruction, blood and gore that the first movie had to offer. I was incredibly upset after I watched it, glad it was a Red box pic.

Now, remember, I am all about gratuitous violence if it works for the movie, if you’ve ever heard me talk about Machete, I la-la-la loved it! And that movie had some awful, disgusting, grody and awesome slashing and hacking, but I knew what I was getting in to when I went to see it and I wasn’t disappointed! So much so that I sat through it twice! (And the sequel, Machete Kills is coming out in October, you can bet your sweet machete I’ll be there opening night!) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0985694/?ref_=sr_2

At least this time, I was prepared, I knew there would be a lot of slashing and hacking and blood, punching, kicking, pain. There were two serious gross out scenes, totally not necessary, I believe it was just put in for that purpose, to gross you out. I am afraid I’m going to have that scene going through my head more than once, maybe not, a girl can hope.

All in all, if you’re looking for a movie with a lot of arse-kicking, mean girls, regular people standing up for themselves with and without masks (that could be the message, you don’t have to wear a mask to be a hero, it’s inside each of us) and a good old fashioned melee, this movie is for you.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1093951/?ref_=tt_cl_t1