T Movies
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
Who’s in it
Will Ferrell, John C. Riley
Should you see this movie?
Yes. I turned it down on two seperate occasions, only to see it on the plane back home from Australia. Unlike most movies like this, not all the funny parts are in the commercials, and in fact, most of the stuff in the commercials was the stuff I didn’t find funny. If you don’t like Will Ferrell at times because he is too over the top, then take heart. His crazy scene is only about 20 mintues or so, and then it is funny again. The best parts are the dinner scene, any scene with the French driver and Ferrell, and any scene where there is talk between the drivers. I laughed a ton, and if you have liked him in the past, this may be one of his better ones in my mind.
Trust The Man (2005)
Who’s in it
Julianne Moore, David Duchovny
Should you see this movie?
Holy Baby Mushrooms no! It’s a veiled love story that tries too hard, the guys are supposedly outspoken and sarcastically funny (not), and they both mess up their relationships because they are unsure for a while about love. They’re scared. Their traites are fairly quirky and different but the base is the same as everything else, and no one in this movie is notable. No one buys Duchovny’s part, he still hasn’t found a role that anyone thinks of him as anything else than Scully. Don’t waste your time, even if it is free.
Team America (2004)
Who’s in it
Voices: Trey Parker, Matt Stone
Should you see this movie?
I think you’ll know if you have an interest to see this movie. If you know who those names are, and what you will see when you get involved in anything they do, you go prepared and are still shocked. I will give this to them, an all puppet animated feature that tackles world politics, only they could pull it off. It was a decently entertaining movie that I wouldn’t probably watch again with over the top puppet sex and violence, but it was something else to see the amount of work that went into it, and is a nice progression for these guys, they keep trying to push the bar.
The Transporter (2002)
Who’s in it
Jason Statham, Matt Shultze, Qi Shu
What was good
The plot and most of the movie. The idea is, this ex-military guy drives people or objects without any questions to their destinations based on an initial agreement. If the initial agreement is broken, then nothing happens. Frank’s (Statham) attention to detail, martial arts skills, and nerves of steel make him an extremely compelling character.
What sucked
Not too much. The movie starts to get a little muddled in focus by the end of the movie, where it starts as Frank as the transporter, and in the end because more of a love story between him and Lai (Shu). Lai’s english was really distracting also, it was very broken and hard to follow. But if that sort of stuff doesn’t bother you, then don’t worry. I think this was originally released in England, so this one has a much more British feel, especially with some of the driving scenes, then the second one.
Who should go see this
There is violence in this movie as well, but I think that this is more along the lines of a James Bond flick, then a hyped Mission Impossible movie like the second Transporter. I would probably recommend this to my parents, and to most of my friends who like a compact, funny, action movie with some amazing stunts.
The Transporter 2 (2002)
Who’s in it
Jason Statham, Amber Valetta, Kate Nauta, Matthew Modine
What was good
Most of the fight scenes, the highlight being the firehose fight scene. These intensely choreographed scenes are not something you have ever seen before, and are pulled off so much more convincingly and with more convinction than say crazy man Jackie Chan in some of his movies.
What sucked
How over the top in disbelief some of the scenes were, from a car driving off the side of a building into a parking garage to an airplane that hits the water and doesn’t shatter into a million pieces. This second movie was really all about the stunts and effects and less about the story than the first. I know that is all relative, but just look at the bad girl in this movie and you will know what I am talking about.
Who should go see this
I would recommend this movie to most people. Probably not either sets of parents, just because there is a decent amount of violence in both movies, plus all of the hand to hand combat scenes. But both movies are short, entertaining and funny, with an interesting premise, so if you can stand a little violence, rent this series.
True Lies (1994)
Starring Arnold, Jamie Lee Curtis, Eliza Dushku, Tom Arnold, Bill Paxton and Tia Carrere this is a fun action packed movie about marriage and saving the world by James Cameron.
Real short rundown. Arnold is the secret agent with a legal secretary wife. They have been married for 15 years and she thinks he is a computer salesman. Then, one day Arnold walks into her office, and catches her talking to a man, and thinks she is having an affair. He does some investigating and figures out she is being played by a sleezy guy. In the end, his game goes horribly wrong as they are both taken hostage by the real terrorists. The terrorists have four nuclear warheads and are making cash demands of the USA. Well, you guess it, Arnold wins in the end any everything is safe.
I just love the cast. Paxton plays class A jerks so well, and for me, this is a great role for Arnold. Semi-serious, doesn’t demand him to be too over the top, instead he can be a cocky secret agent who just whoops the bad guy butt. Not to mention, for 1994, this had some great action sequences and effects, from Arnold flying a fighter jet in the city, to the car cash on the Florida Keys bridge and Arnold pulling Jamie Lee out of a burning limo while hanging upside down with one hand. Curtis is no slouch in this movie, and she has this strip tease scene when Arnold is playing her which shows how really beautiful she is. She also plays a decently convincing housewife who is stuck in the middle of something secretive.
Rated R for violence and that striptease scene, I recommend this movie to anyone. A fun movie that will keep you entertained for over two hours, this is timeless classic in it’s own right.
Trading Places (1983)
Starring Eddie Murphy, Dan Akroyd, and Jamie Lee Curtis, this movie’s idea is simple. In different circumstances and opportunities, would a rich man who became poor turn to crime and other pitiful activities to make it by, and would a criminal, given a better life excel in his newfound environment.
Murphy is the criminal who one day, on the whim of a bet, is given an upscale, well to do life of a successful businessman (Akroyd) and Akroyd is then framed and reduced to nothing, everything he had taken away in a heartbeat. Soon Murphy beings to excel, leaving behind and looking down on all that he was, and Akroyd soon turns to drinking, stealing, and attempted suicide to escape the hell that was now his life. But, by a chance of luck, both Murphy and Akroyd find out that they were the subjects of a terrible joke, two bored men playing with their lives for a simple transaction of a dollar.
In the end of the movie, they retaliate, and turn those men into what they thought was a joke, poor and hollow. This movie is a great role for both Murphy and Akroyd. Murphy is still at the height of his career, around the time of Beverly Hills Cop, funny and engaging. Akroyd play the part of a stuffy upperclassman perfectly, to a point where you don’t really think he is acting, only portraying a side of himself you secretly know is probably his predominant side. Jamie Lee Curtis is the lost hooker trying to make money off the whole situation, and really is just the pretty face in all of this.
It is rated R, and there are some parts that I am sure my parents wouldn’t like and would feel are unnecessary. I think the movie is solid, entertaining, short, and to the point, with a good splash of silly. I think most people that like Murphy in any of his early 80’s roles, and didn’t know about this one would love this movie.
