Leo and Roger's Week in Reviews!

During the week there are many movies that I view so I can keep my movie list growing more and more. Giving a full written review of every movie Roger and I have seen would just take too much time away from my actual job. So in order to show how many movies I am watching and putting on this list- I will be postig my quick review and Roger's review of movies I watched from this past week. This will be a weekly occurrence in addition to the 2 movies I review and post on the blog. 

Movie: Beverly Hills Cop
Staring: Eddie Murphy; Judge Reinhold; John Ashton
Director: Martin Brest
Ebert's Review- 2 ½ Stars
Leo's Review- 3 Stars


The original in the comedy/action trilogy. Ebert's review is 2 ½ but his review reads like a 1 star. He found Murphy at the time to be crude and the movie to not have an identity-comedy or action? I found Murphy to be very funny as the Detroit Police punk that he is in character Axel Foley. The movie is a combination of comedy and action almost comparable to a movie like "Rush Hour". The character of Axel Foley is Eddie Murphy being himself and for me that worked. He's funny and yet smooth at being able to take down the bad guys who killed his friend. Judge Reinhold and Bronson Pinchot are hidden gems in this film.

 Movie: Fly Away Home
Staring: Jeff Daniels; Anna Paquin
Director: Carroll Ballard
Ebert's Review- 3 ½ Stars
Leo's Review- 3 ½ Stars


A movie that me and Ebert see perfectly eye to eye on! This movie is a must see for families and is meant for all ages. Anna Paquin is just starting her acting career before winning an Oscar in "The Piano" or being a mutant in "X-Men". A great movie about a father, his daughter, and the two of them teaching a collection of geese to fly south after losing their mother to forest demolition. A must see for this movie is the beautiful scenery that is used by director Carroll Ballard. There are amazing views of the tree tops, fields and fall sunsets. A very good film!
    
Movie: Dinner for Schmucks
Staring: Paul Rudd; Steve Carell; Zach Galifianakis
Director: Jay Roach
Ebert's Review- 3 Stars
Leo's Review- 1 Star


I cannot express how uncomfortable Steve Carell's character Barry in "Dinner for Schmucks" made me feel. I find Carell very funny. I loved him in "40 Year Old Virgin" and I think his portrayal of Michael Scott on "The Office" was one of the best jobs of comedy in my lifetime! But Barry is Michael Scott to the EXTREME! The movie is about Paul Rudd's character Tim who works at an Investment firm that has a contest of brining the oddest guest to dinner. Who ever has the oddest "schmuck" will likely get the big promotion. Ebert found Carell to be brilliant in his acting as Barry-I see the brilliance because it is just SO insane! My problem was that none of this would fly in real life- and I know this is comedy- but the things that Carrel's character does to Rudd is so awful that I do not know how he has not called the police or punched him in the face! The dinner scene at the end is pretty good. Look out for a great battle between Carell and Zach Galafanakis.


Movie: The Phantom
Staring: Billy Zane; Kristy Swanson; Treat Williams; Catherine Zeta-Jones
Director: Simon Wincer
Ebert's Review- 3 ½ Stars
Leo's Review- 3 Stars


Nostalgia is all around in this super hero movie that looks like a 1930's comic that comes to life. Billy Zane plays The Phantom- a boy who grows to stop all evil and avenge his fathers death by Pirates. Treat Williams plays the evil Xander Drax who is looking for the myth of the 3 skulls that will give him all the power to rule the world. Ebert loves the colors, the sound and the super hero movie without all the pumped up CGI action. I loved the fact that it seemed like a movie that I would have been in awe of if I grew up in the 1930’s. Ebert is righ, the colors and the cinematography are great but I also sort of wished this movie was in black and white with a man doing a voice over saying “When there is danger have no fear “The Phantom” is here!

Movie: Unthinkable
Staring: Samuel L. Jackson; Carrie-Anne Moss; Michael Sheen
Director: Gregor Jordan  
Ebert's Review- DNR (Did Not Review)
Leo's Review- 3 Stars


Unthinkable” is the first movie of our blog where I could not find or did not see a review by Roger Ebert. The movie brings up the debate of interrogation of terrorists and how far is too far. The acting performances from Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Sheen are very intense. Maybe they are over-acting a bit but if you are a fan of a show like “24”- then this movie will bring back some memories. It is very graphic at times but is very thrilling. Kind of like “Speed”. The clock is ticking on our heroes and how much will it take to beat the clock. I do not know if Roger Ebert would have liked this movie, but I do not think he would hate it.


More Reviews to come! Please keep reading! Let me know what you think!


Leo Brady

Our First Review- The American- Not a good start Rog!

Movie: The American
Staring: George Clooney; Violante Placido; Thekla Reuten; Johan Leysen
Director: Anton Corbijn

Ebert's Review- 4 Stars
Leo's Review- 2 Stars

Our first written Review for my blog is "The American" staring George Clooney. Clooney plays an American assassin named Jack or... Edward? Is one of these names his real name? That we do not know. We know he is trained at creating handmade weapons, planning the perfect kill, and making sure it all goes down without a sound. What he is clearly not trained at is how not to let love get in his way.

The movie is directed by Anton Corbijn, who had only directed the 2007 movie "Control" and a collection of Depeche Mode and Metallica videos prior. The movie starts in Sweden with a bang. We know nothing about our characters and already they are being followed, hunted.

Later, our assassin settles outside of Rome, which offered Corbjin an opportunity to display very beautiful cinematography of Clooney in a small town in Italy.  While hiding out in this isolated location, our assassin is being paid to deliver the perfect handmade weapon to his assigned contact.

While in this small town, our main character meets the local priest and they form a sort of friendship, but he remains an isolated man of mystery.  In order to relieve his loneliness, Jack/Edward visits a local bordello and meets a woman by the name of Clara (played by the beautiful Violante Placido).   As we focus on our single main character, we question the motives of others as he does: Can we trust Clara? Is she a killer? We wonder if she may be blinding Jack/Edward with her beauty and therefore, you can sense Clooney's need to escape, but will he still be able to stay focused on his purpose in Italy? The suspense of these questions builds to the climax, and if you welcome this type of dilemma in your movie going, this type of plot may be for you, moviegoers.

Roger Ebert and I did not see eye to eye on this film. Ebert gave it a rating of four stars. I gave it two. My ratings tend to be fence ratings, meaning it could be 2 ½ or 2 or 1 ½ stars if a few elements of the film would have been carried out differently. This movie for me is a SOLID 2 Stars. When I see a film, pace is a very important factor. This movie has a quick jolt in the start, but it is WAY too slow in the middle, only to try to grab you back for the big finale. By that time it arrived I was gone; it was too late. As I said, the beginning intrigued me, but there wasn't enough time spent developing the plot OR the characters.. After the opening scene we follow Clooney through Europe and basically see him driving, sitting in cafes', doing push-ups, and assembling his weapon. What is the purpose of all this? Get to the point right? I love spy, espionage style films, so i really just wanted more substance.

Being the action movie fan that I am maybe I was just impatient? But it was more than that.  I felt there had to be more to Clooney's character. I see him doing push-ups in his room, I see him assembling guns out of car parts. But I want to know how he got there and why he stays in a profession of assassin if he is so careless with the woman he falls for.

Ebert may be right in that he believes the director Corbijn constructed the movie the way Jack/Edward constructs a weapon stating,”It is so rare to see a film this carefully crafted, this patiently assembled like a weapon, that when the word comes it strikes like a clap of thunder. A lesser film would have underscored it with a shock chord, punctuated it with a sudden zoom, or cut to a shocked close up. "The American" is too cool to do that. Too Zen, if you will."

This is maybe why Ebert is more movie savvy than I am. He sees this part of the movie as the craft of the director and the art of how the movie is put together. The movie had coolness, to Ebert. I noticed the beautiful cinematography, the isolation of our main character, the fine crafted calculation of his profession. But I also felt for an assassin he certainly did not have much of a threat or even enough dialogue for me to care about the plot. Is his relationship with the small town priest important? Should an assassin be wasting his time with prostitutes? Even if they are gorgeous? I did not see it as much of a necessity for a man who is an assassin-a job where you are supposed to be fast and quick –to be wasting so much time. Maybe if he wanted to do what he was doing he would take his job more serious.

I agree with some of Ebert's points on this movie and maybe I am learning from him on a movie like this. I just know that he saw this movie as a well made craft stating that what the director had was, “There is not a wrong shot. Every performance is tightly controlled. Clooney is in complete command of his effect. He sometimes seems to be chewing a very small piece of gum, or perhaps his tongue." Command is what the director and Clooney have in this film. I just wish they would have commanded more dialogue and not have lost me in the middle with what I thought was a movie with potential.

 2 STARS

Read Roger's Review @ http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100831/REVIEWS/100839999

The Start of a Journey with Roger Ebert

Movies. The single greatest conversation starter in the world.

"Did Crash really deserve Best Picture?"

"What would you have done differently if you were Scorsese?"

"I think Inception is the most well-thought out movie ideas ever!"

Me and my dog Redick

These are conversations that people begin every day because of MOVIES!
 
My name is Leo Brady. I am a 26-year-old male. I live with my girlfriend, Christina, and our two dogs. For the past 2 years I have put together a list in alphabetical order (starting with numerical movies) of every movie I have ever seen. Starting from (500) Days of Summer all the way to Zoolander. For each movie that is listed, I give my own personal rating of that movie. The rating system is your typical movie review, with the lowest being any negative amount of stars and the highest being 4 stars. Since the beginning of this list I have taken a side-by-side journey with Roger Ebert. Ebert, a world famous movie critic for the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper who gained his fame from his TV show, At The Movies, reviewing movies with his late best friend Gene Siskel. Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down! You all remember. 
 

After every movie I see I converse with Christina (or whomever I saw the movie with) about what we just saw and what we thought about the movie as a whole. I will give my review to her, document it on the list, and then proceed to my Smartphone or iPad using the IMDB Application, where I read Ebert’s review and determine whether I agree with him or not.

I work Monday through Friday 9-5-sometimes till 8 and sometimes weekends. Even with a busy work schedule you would be surprised how many films you can watch when you are committed to the movies! Sure, maybe some will think I am wasting my money because it can get expensive sitting in a movie theater once a week, but what else am I going to do? Besides- I love Movies! Ever since my World Cinema class in College I have been hooked. I am enjoying every minute watching a great art form known as Cinema!   


Movie man Roger Ebert



Even though this is a project that is already a year and a half running- it is still a very young idea. I think it is safe to assume that there are many people out there blogging about the films they have seen. Many people have Blogs, just about everyone has a Facebook page, and anyone who goes to the movies has an opinion about what they have seen. What is different about MY blog is that I am incredibly passionate about movies---to the point where I will not discriminate between WHICH movies I will see---and I will be comparing my personal reviews to the reviews given by Mr. Two Thumbs Up himself, Roger Ebert.   
Please read.  Please comment. 
My greatest hope for this project is that, like movies, this blog will entertain and become something we can all talk about. HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD!