The Informant!

This past week was busy as usual, not unlike the last few months. My company has been non-stop busy with all of the product we have out in the field. Between Michael Moore and George Clooney flicks things are finally starting to slow up just enough for me to get another post in. Tamar intimated to me that she wanted to see the Informant! But when push came to shove to actually go to the theater she decided that sewing and knitting was the plan of action for the day. No biggie, I really wanted to see this movie anyway, so I hit the Mega Movies Theatre by myself to catch it. I'm glad I did too it was a fun little movie. Matt Damon, as always, is great as the seemingly hapless/pathological liar Mark Whitacre. It can be frustrating to watch because this guy is all over the place with his tall tales. He's almost a recreation of Damon's Tom Ripley without the homicidal tendencies. Director Soderburgh shows again, that given the right material, he can put together a grade A movie. While Damon has again proved why he's worth every penny the studios throw at him.It starts out simply enough, Bio-Chemist Mark Whitacre works for an Agri-Corporation. He is struggling to discover the cause of a virus in their corn that is hurting profits. Whitacre claims to his bosses that a rival Japanese firm is sabotaging the supply. Instead of dealing with it internally they decide to go to the FBI which causes Whitacre to alter his story to price fixing. Thus begins his downward spiral toward ruin. The film is based on the true story and as the story unfolds, you start to see that the truth is stranger than fiction. Whitacre narrates the film and we get an insight into his thought process. On the surface he appears to be a genuinely affable guy, he tries to pull of this Clark Kent thing, smart yet naive. He also has this quirk, where he thinks he is living in a movie. When he turns undercover informer for the FBI he revels in his new task as corporate spy. He constantly compares his situation to those in James Bond and the movie the Firm. It's pretty amazing what this guy gets away with. It's also insanely hilarious watching him Michael Scott his way through the sting operation. It's almost painful watching his lies come back on him putting him on the spot so he can dig the hole even deeper.
This flick may not be for everybody it works on it's own slow pace and if you can appreciate good writing and an interesting lead then you should have no trouble sitting through this. But if you haven't got much of an attention span or if you can't handle a comedy that doesn't deal in dick and fart jokes than this isn't your movie. Whitacre is a pretty complex guy you think you get him pegged about half way through the film and then he surprises you again. Is he truly a master manipulator or is he just a fool getting lucky, it's hard to say. Other than Damon this flick isn't chock full of A-listers which I think really grounds the movie, honestly. It's good to see Scott Bakula get some work. I've always liked the guy from Quantum Leap and when he guest starred on Chuck and he does a good job again playing an empathetic FBI Agent who gets taken for a ride by Mark Whitacre and his antics. Another fun actor from the 80's Thomas "Biff" Wilson also had a nice little role in the flick unfortunately they didn't give him much to do, the guy can bring the funny and it's unfortunate that they couldn't have given him a funnier role. And I'm still not sure why Joel McHale was in this movie. The guy is hilarious on the Soup and he's pretty funny on his new show Community but they don't let him do his snarky thing here, they sort of Mormoned him up or something. That was a bit of a waste.
Other than the wonky soundtrack that sounded like it belonged in Ocean's 11, this was an enjoyable little movie and I suggest you check it out now before the onslaught of October films flood it out of the marketplace.

Grade 4 Buckets

Zombieland

This will be in my DVD collection as soon as possible. A fantastic, fun, B-movie experience!



Zombieland follows four misfits who somehow manage to survive after a massive outbreak turns most of the human population into zombies. Not really able to trust each other, the four decide to join forces and embark on one crazy adventure after another.


Woody Harrelson steals every scene in this movie. He is perfect in the role of Tallahassee. His character seems to find his life's passion in killing zombies and surviving. Constantly striving to attain the title of "zombie killer of the week" by developing creative ways to disarm zombies, Tallahassee is a force of nature.

Jesse Eisenberg is also impressive in this film. Last seen in Adventureland, Eisenberg holds his own in his role as Columbus. He plays the same sort of character as seen in Adventureland, Columbus is a rule following, anti-social guy whose knack for keeping to himself might be the sole reason for his surviving so long. He creates a list of fail safe ways to prevent a zombie attack in the beginning of the film that is very funny.



Rounding out the cast are Emma Stone as Wichita and Abigail Breslin as Little Rock. The two are sisters that give Tallahassee and Columbus a run for their money. Outsmarting the boys more often than they would like to admit, the girls are a great addition to the group. The four balance each other out well and create good chemistry throughout.



Perhaps the greatest scenes in the movie come when the four run into Bill Murray. Hijinks ensue and the result is hilarious. There is a scene at the end of the credits with Murray that didn't make the film, stay through to see it!

I love zombie movies and this one might just make it into my top 10. The story is great, the acting on point and the zombie killings are so creative! I say job well done!

4 Buckets

Extract

I want to say first, that I REALLY wanted to like this movie. I had been seeing trailers for this one for a while and am a big fan of Jason Bateman. Unfortunately either my expectations were too high or this movie is a dud.



Extract is Mike Judge's (Office Space, Idiocracy) latest effort. The film follows the owner of an extract plant, Joel, (Jason Bateman). Bored with his job, unhappy with his marriage and desperately seeking a change, he searches out ways to put his life back on track. Following some awful advice from his bartender friend (Ben Affleck), he embarks on a series of misadventures. Thrown into the mix is Mila Kunis' character, Cindy. She decides to intern at the extract company following an accident that takes place during working hours.



The actors in this comedy, are without a doubt fantastic. David Koechner is brilliant. He plays the kind of annoying neighbor, that I think just about everyone has encountered at one time or another in their lives. His character gave the audience just the right amount of awkward tension and comedy. Ben Affleck plays his character very kooky - which I think works for him. Also keep your eye on newcomer, Dustin Milligan. Although not impressed by him on 90210, his portrayal in this movie is very funny. Also, Clifton Collins Jr, all over the place this summer, is a presence on screen.



My main problem with this movie was the story. It never commits. The story consists of a bunch of random events that never really come full circle. I think what frustrates me most is that this story has so much potential! The characters are great but, I was never fully invested in anything they were doing. It bounces around things so unevenly. Maybe the cutting room floor houses some answers...

There are a few specific scenes that are good. Unfortunately, there wasn't much in the in between to connect. I think one of the things I loved so much about Office Space was how close to home some of the office humor really was. In this one, there is nothing to connect to. There was no reason this story needed to be told.

If you go, go because you like 1 or 2 of the actors and go in with your expectations low.

1.5 buckets

Gamer

Violent and disturbing only mildly describes the movie I just walked out of. On one hand it was a cookie cutter action movie, predictable till the end. Then there were parts of this film, we'll call social commentary, that truly disturbed me. Let me just say before I continue further that Gerard Butler is a bonefide action hero. Mark him up with Stallone, Willis and Schwarzenegger, this guy is the real deal. A moment ago I was looking at the box office report and it looks like Final Destination is still hanging on to the top spot, with Gamer 3rd with 9 million. I'm actually surprised by this. I guess we'll have to see what Gamer does on Monday, but I was sure that this one was going to rake in at least 30 million opening weekend. It just goes to show that you can't predict them all. Now I'm not implying that this film is great by any means, it's a loud and at times over the top action film. If you liked the Crank movies then you should love this one. Still the visceral nature of Gamer has really stuck with me for some reason. It feels a lot like the first Robo Cop. There were silly elements sure, there was extreme violence but there was also a social message. A seedy disgusting element that truly makes you want to look away. I felt that in a big way through portions of this movie.Gamer follows the best real/Avatar soldier ever, Kable (Gerard Butler.). Kable is a death row inmate who is given a chance at freedom as long as he survives a real war zone. The catch is that his movements are controlled by another human. A seventeen year old brat to be exact, named Simon (Logan Lerman). It's kind of like if you were playing the on-line video game Call of Duty and instead of controlling a computer simulated person, you are actually in charge of a living breathing and possibly bleeding human being. Kable is just a few missions away from obtaining his freedom. But the creator of the game called Slayers, Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall), is more interested in Kable meeting his death in a blaze of glory as well as controlling the world. Kable receives some help from an underground group called the Humanz led by Brother (Ludacris) and Trace (Alison Lohman). Every futuristic film where society is controlled has to have an competent underground organization to mix things up. It's just the rules. Remember Edgar Friendly? As I said before the movie is fairly cut and dried. Kable is a bad ass good guy, possibly framed, and on death row. He's got a wife and a daughter he's trying to get to-- yada yada. These elements were fun and exciting but as I said before extremely predictable. If you've seen Running Man or Logan's Run then you'll get where this is going quickly. Now here is where it gets interesting, when they start to explore Castle's other creation, called Society. Society, like Slayers, has Avatars as humans that are being controlled by people at home. The difference here is that it's not a war zone it's more like the Sims. But when you see a few of the people controlling these avatars, especially the one controlling Kable's wife Angie (Amber Valletta). You totally feel nausuous at this fat lazy blob sitting in a chair acting out his sick fantasies through this woman. You hope and pray that our society never even enters into this realm of the absurd and the humiliating. We are so desensitized to violence that I suppose, if we are not careful, we could become this uncaring sack of shit sitting in a living room playing puppet master with someone's life. Let's hope not.Overall the flick was fun and extremely violent. The dialogue was cheesy pretty much all the way through. One of the heavies in the flick played by Terry Crews is just so ridiculous it's hard to take him seriously. The guy is big and he could be scary for sure but his character is so silly that he doesn't feel like an obstacle at all. I was just waiting for Gerard to double-tap this guy in the skull. The same goes for the number 1 baddie. (You see how de-sensitized I have become, geez.) Michael C. Hall is a great actor. If you've seen Six Feet Under or Dexter then you know this guy is a top-notch thespian. His first mistake was the corn-pone accent, I couldn't take him seriously after that. The movie works for what it is, Gerard Butler is, as always, a joy to watch. If you haven't seen the Basterds then this should be your next stop on the Action Movie gravy train. I would skip All About Steve and Final Destination. They both look terrible regardless of the box office numbers. Gamer is a true action flick and it does exactly what it's supposed to do.

Grade 3 Buckets

The Time Traveler's Wife

I suppose it is time to add a bit of a female perspective to this blog and luckily Jeff is in agreement. I absolutely love movies and go see them pretty regularly so I hope I can contribute, if even a little. So in this, my inaugural post, I will talk about The Time Traveler's Wife.

First, full disclosure, the closest I have come to this book is perhaps giving it a glance in a Borders, so I came into the movie with absolutely no background. The only thing I knew was that Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana were to star in it and being fans of both I was excited to see how they interacted together. I also happen to be a science fiction fan so the time traveling element intrigued me.



The story begins with the first time Henry (Eric Bana) time travels. He never is able to take clothes with him as he travels - which presents somewhat of a problem when he gets to wherever he goes. He is constantly in a state of flight, looking for clothes and then trying to blend in until the next time he travels. He seems to be pulled into big events - one of which is Clare (Rachel McAdams). The story very early sets up the history of Henry and Clare, though it is not especially clear if he met her first as a child or as a young adult (time traveling can be rather confusing). The movie has him going back and forth between seeing her as a young girl and being with her in their adult life with a little bit of him traveling to random places in between.

I happen to like a good romantic comedy but I'm not quite sure this one hit the mark. Most of the movie Henry and Clare don't seem happy and there are few truly romantic/happy spots. I also was distracted by the time traveling aspect quite a bit. For one thing, I don't know if they age Henry enough. I went with a friend and she didn't realize that he was traveling from the future to the present at some points because Eric Bana had little more than some grey spots in his hair to show he had aged. I also didn't see the point to the random spots he visited. Most times these random travels showed little more than him running away with stolen clothes. Maybe it's that way in the book and I am being too harsh - but I probably could have done without those scenes.

I did really enjoy the performance of Ron Livingston who played Gomez, the friend to both Henry and Clare. He was funny in scenes that needed some humor but also played sensitive when it was called for. I haven't seen a lot of him since Office Space and so he was a nice surprise.


Performance wise I thought Rachel did a really good job. I think she is one of the few actresses who manages to not over act in intense scenes. There is one scene in particular when Clare and Henry are in a fight and she manages to make it more true to life than movie dramatic. I appreciate that. Eric Bana, I was a little bit less impressed with. I've seen a lot of him this summer with Star Trek and Funny People and I've got to say, I don't know that this type of movie is his bag. I think he was a bad reactor, if that makes any sense. He is not good in a reaction shot, especially to big news.

Random fact for music fans: Broken Social Scene makes a cameo as the wedding band.


The song they choose to perform in the movie is weird if not comical but a decent band nevertheless.

I think my favorite part of the movie was the end and that's not to say that I was only happy when it was over. I thought the final scene was touching and maybe the most heartfelt part of the movie. Seeing the film, did spark my interest in reading the book, but I'm not sure I would see the movie again.

Grade: 2 buckets