Psych 9 [2010]

Plot:On the list of worst job descriptions: file clerk in a spooky, rundown, recently closed hospital… on the night shift. But this is the very job taken by Roslyn (Sara Foster), a troubled young woman looking for peace and quiet. Unfortunately for Roslyn, Psych: 9, an offering from Ghost House Underground's line of straight-to-video shockers, offers little of either. To make matters edgier for our high-strung heroine, a serial killer known as the Nighthawk has been murdering women in very near proximity to the hospital. Well, a job is a job in these uncertain economic times, and where would horror movies be if young women didn't occasionally work night shifts at abandoned hospitals? Whatever promise Psych: 9 holds as a genre exercise quickly dissipates in its one-note design and its unlikely, borderline-incoherent plot turns. Foster gives a gutsy enough performance, with support from alienated husband Gabriel Mann, sympathetic doctor Cary Elwes, and unsympathetic detective Michael Biehn. When the third act's big reveal is a device most casual moviegoers will be able to spot at least an hour earlier, a movie is in trouble. This one has a terminal condition.

 Let me start off by saying were they kidding when they said this is a Horror, Mystery & Thriller? This movie starts off bad and just keeps going downhill, it also seems as if the director does not know what they wanted to do with movie as it takes some weird turns but does not explain why or even give background. Sara Foster and Cary Elwes make this whole movie as their acting is on point especially Cary Elwes as Dr. Clement which is probably his best roll after his roll in Saw.

Psych 9 does not know which direction to take is it either a supernatural horror film or a serial killer horror film or a delusional horror film, either way it puts all these together thinking it will be a good movie but fails miserably. There are some scenes in the movie that could resemble a horror film but the movie is so horribly directed that you start to wonder what the hell your watching. Feels like a low budget kinda movie with weird angles and green color editing to make the movie feel more of a horror film. To my surprise there was not a lot of gore or any real scary moments in the movie.

Psych 9 tried to tell a story about a sexually abused girl with a lot of psychological problems and trying to sort them out after not being able to have a baby with her husband. Then the movie takes a turn into some serial killer killing women at night time and a detective trying to figure out who the killer is.

Without spoiling it for anyone I'd have to say the last 10 minutes are the most confusing of the entire movie as the story starts to unfold it still is unclear of what is going on and while your trying to figure that out the movie just goes into some weird scenes that should definitely not be in the movie. 

Overall I thought it was a waste of my time and would NEVER recommend anyone to watch this movie.

Rate - 3/10

Fair Game [2010]

Plot: A suspense-filled glimpse into the dark corridors of political power, 'Fair Game' is a riveting action-thriller based on the autobiography of real-life undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts), whose career was destroyed and marriage strained to its limits when her covert identity was exposed by a politically motivated press leak. As a covert officer in the CIA's Counter-Proliferation Division, Valerie leads an investigation into the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Valerie's husband, diplomat Joe Wilson (Sean Penn), is drawn into the investigation to substantiate an alleged sale of enriched uranium from Niger. But when the administration ignores his findings and uses the issue to support the call to war, Joe writes a New York Times editorial outlining his conclusions and ignites a firestorm of controversy.

This movie starts off a bit slow but it picks up midway and this is where it gets very interesting as the thriller part of this movie begins and grabs a hold of you and never really lets go. A true story told on film of what really happened before the invasion of Iraq during the Bush administration and told from the other side for once in a very dramatic way.

This movie goes into specific details about how our own government can and will betray you to save their own face. This is well told by the director in my opinion and I feel the acting was on point and superb as the drama in real life is portrayed very well in this movie. Fair game goes deeper then just a government scandal but also shows how that scandal effected a marriage and in a very dramatic way.

Overall this is a good movie to watch and would recommend Fair Game to anyone interested in watching political thrillers or dramatic movies in general.

Rate - 8/10

Stone [2010]

Plot: Parole officer Jack Mabry (Robert De Niro) has only a few weeks left before retirement and wishes to finish out the cases he's been assigned. One such case is that of Gerald "Stone" Creeson (Edward Norton), a convicted arsonist who is up for parole. Jack is initially reluctant to indulge Stone in the coarse banter he wishes to pursue and feels little sympathy for the prisoner's pleads for an early release. Seeing little hope in convincing Jack himself, Stone arranges for his wife Lucetta (Milla Jovovich) to seduce the officer, but motives and intentions steadily blur amidst the passions and buried secrets of the corrupted players in this deadly game of deception.

Stone starts off pretty interesting but never really seems to pick up along the way but it is pretty entertaining to watch 3 greats actors on a screen together. The acting is superb but the storyline is a little off at times and not a lot of background story to really understand what is going on with the characters. At times you feel like the storyline takes so weird turns and then does not explain why but the amazing acting holds your interest to just brush it off and keep watching.

I would say my expectations of the movie coming in where way higher because of the outstanding lineup of actors but I'm not gonna lie I was disappointed but still was a good movie to watch and at times very entertaining. Edward Norton's acting in this movie though if very superb and on point with all his facial expressions and gestures as a white thug in prison for a crime he allegedly did not commit. Milla Jovovich was also on point with her acting and honestly it was something you do not expect as she barley plays in any movie with a serious act but more of a sarcastic feel to them, but in Stone she really shines especially when trying to seduce Jack Mabry (Robert De Niro).

I feel that Stone tried too hard to explore spirituality  and religion but failed along the way. What also failed in this movie was the fact that it was supposed to be a Thriller but ended up being more of a Drama with no thrills at all.

Overall its a movie that you watch once and don't really get the urge to watch again.

Rate: 6.5/10

The Mechanic [2011]

Plot: Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham) is a "mechanic" -- an elite assassin with a strict code and unique talent for cleanly eliminating targets. It's a job that requires professional perfection and total detachment, and Bishop is the best in the business. But when his mentor and close friend Harry (Donald Sutherland) is murdered, Bishop is anything but detached. His next assignment is self-imposed -- he wants those responsible dead. His mission grows complicated when Harry's son Steve (Ben Foster) approaches him with the same vengeful goal and a determination to learn Bishop's trade. Bishop has always acted alone but he can't turn his back on Harry's son. A methodical hit man takes an impulsive student deep into his world and a deadly partnership is born. But while in pursuit of their ultimate mark, deceptions threaten to surface and those hired to fix problems become problems themselves.

This movie grabs on to you from begging and doesn't really let go, the action is there the plot is pretty good but don't get me wrong its not like its never been done before but who cares if it has as every movie has done a scene from another movie so lets not get into that. The point is Jason Statham as usual does his best action character and surprisingly so does Ben Foster and with a little good directing and some sex scenes makes for a good action film.

 It starts off pretty action packed from the begging with Arthur Bishop killing right off the start and then slows down a bit to give you some background. You come to find out that Bishops friend Harry was involved in some undercover plot to let a Target know about the contract that is out on him, which leads to 5 contracts being dead because of it. This is when the plot thickens and you start to see what kind of person Arthur Bishop really is. 

This is when Harry's son comes in full of revenge and needs Arthur's help to become a contract killer like himself. This is when the movie goes into some Karate Kid scenes with Arthur (Jason Statham) teaching Steve (Ben Foster) how to become a contract killer. This makes for some good gun shooting scenes and an action packed fight with a 300 contract killer.

Anyways Arthur comes to find out he was double crossed by his boss and leads on mission to kill him. The action at this point is very well done and the scenes are great. The ending you will find is a bit predictable but inevitable as the story leads up to it and you can foresee it from the middle of the movie. Even though you kinda figure out whats going to happen you still want to sit there and watch it as the action will grab on to you and you don't want to let go.

Overall the movie is pretty good, the acting was on point and the action scenes were not overdone. Definitely a good watch for the Jason Statham movie lovers and also for the casual action movie watcher.

Rate: 8/10

All-Star Superman [2011]

Plot: Lex Luthor enacts his plan to rid the world of Superman, once and for all. Succeeding with solar radiation poisoning, the Man of Steel is slowly dying. With what little time remains, the Last Son of Krypton must confront the revealing of his secret identity to Lois Lane and face Luthor in a final battle.

All Star Superman is a mix of fast paced stories told in one movie which will keep you entertained  if your a Superman fan and know the story of superman and his villains but can be a bit confusing for the casual movie watcher. The graphics are good but not superb in which today's technology with animation would lead us to believe that it should be. The story is good and predictable which most Superman movies are but its all put together well for one who knows his history on Superman.

Lex Luthor is portrayed very well in this movie as Superman's greatest arch-enemy and it seems that from the beginning of the movie he seems to pull off what he always wanted to do which is kill Superman in this case send him on a mission to the sun which Superman gets to close to and ends up finding out he is slowly dying from the. The sun which gives Superman his powers has now turned on him and is slowly killing him, where Superman finds this out he feels that he needs to tie up some loose ends especially with Lois Lane.

This is the heart of the story as Lois Lane gets a gift from Superman on her birthday which gives her his powers for 24 hours, this leads to them having a date and a love story during the movie. Some of the stuff that happens seems a bit silly but nonetheless gives the movie a good storyline.

I do feel though some of the stuff could have been better such as the graphics and the storyline (eg. some stuff left out as it was not necessary to put them in). Overall I would say this is a good movie to watch for anyone that loves Superman and his story and especially for Superman geeks :).

Rate: 7/10

Ticking Clock [2011]

Plot: Lewis Hicks (Cuba Gooding Jr.) is a reporter and journalist specializing in writing about the crime of murder. Instead of writing his next story, Lewis becomes the story when his new girlfriend is sadistically murdered, and he is the only suspect. Lewis investigates the murder himself and finds the killer's journal with his past victims and a death list of his future prey. Lewis believes that he is the only person who can stop the killer before time runs out for his next victim. 

Starts off slow and nothing excited, the movie pretty much drags on and the with some gory scenes here and there with some terrible acting. What the hell was Cuba Gooding Jr. thinking about when he said yes to this movie? Looks more like a low budget movie made by someone just starting in the movie industry.

There's a lot of cat and mouse chasing scenes in Ticking Clock from both Lewis Hicks with the killer and the cop with Lewis Hicks, he gets accused of doing all these murders because he stumbles unto the killers scrapbook and figures out his going to kill again and knows when. Every time he goes to save the person the killer is going to kill the killer ends up disappearing and leaving him left behind to hold the bag so to say.

Basically the whole movie is about Lewis Hicks (Cuba Gooding Jr.) trying to stop the killer but at the same time clear his own name. A story that is told way to often and here the story and acting where both terrible and its sad because you could see the movie has potential but no where near with that kind of script.

Overall I would say to skip this movie in its entirety and just watch something else as you will feel like its a waste of time.

Rate: 3/10

Grown Ups [2010]

Plot: In 1978, five 12-year-olds win a CYO basketball championship. Thirty years later, they gather with their families for their coach's funeral and a weekend at a house on a lake where they used to party. By now, each is a grownup with problems and challenges: Marcus is alone and drinks too much. Rob, with three daughters he rarely sees, is always deeply in love until he turns on his next ex-wife. Eric is overweight and out of work. Kurt is a househusband, henpecked by wife and mother-in-law. Lenny is a successful Hollywood agent married to a fashion designer; their kids take privilege for granted. Can the outdoors help these grownups rediscover connections or is this chaos in the making? 

Just finished watching this and I'd have to say it was OK and nothing really hilarious like Adam Sandler's older movies.

It starts off pretty slow and not funny at all but there are moments when one of the jokes will make you chuckle but not really think about it twice. The pretty corny jokes go on pretty much the whole movie and you seem to say to yourself why the fuck am I watching this right now and then one good funny joke appears and it seems to just get you by to the next one. They seemed to make way to many jokes which really got old and pretty quickly might I add.

The story is not really a bad one and in my opinion could have been told better but it was pretty predictable at times as Adam Sandler's newer movies are. There are some pretty gross moments with Rob Schneider and his movie wife and the old gradma with her bunions, which will make you say ahhh what the fuck.

Overall Grown Ups is a movie you watch once and never really want to watch again, probably a good movie to watch with a girlfriend or fiance/wife. Not really a waste of time but somewhere in between, I could have done something better with my time and well some of the jokes were pretty funny.

Rate: 5/10

Unthinkable [2010]

Plot:Unthinkable hovers around a terrorist who has planted three nuclear bombs in United States of America and a black ops interrogator who is responsible to make that surrendered terrorist in divulging the locations of those bombs. As the story progresses it is witnessed that a combination of psychological techniques and extreme torture is applied on the terrorist who knows more than he claims he knows. 

This movie grabs a hold of you from the begging and never really lets go, there is definitely a thriller feel as you seem to try to figure out whats going to happen next and how much torture one man can take and if they will find the bombs or not. As the story progresses you see a good cop(Agent Helen Brody) bad cop(H' Humphries) go into play and most of the movie revolves around this kind of method. Which is great as you get to see both sides of a human being - one that will inflict as much pain as he can to get the truth out and one that thinks by speaking to someone she will get the truth out. 

This movie goes into great detail between being moral and human survival tactics, always questioning how far one will go to save him/her self and his/her families and billions of innocent people in the crossfire. This however is set at a slow pace within the movie which makes for a better understanding of "Unthinkable", rather then just getting to the point. When the unthinkable grabs you mostly in the last 30 minutes your in for a hell of a ride and what a ride it is. 

I did think though that the ending scene was a bit dull and could have been more dramatic and without giving anything anyway I will say it could have gone into more detail at the ending scene rather then just cutting away when it did.

Overall I have to say that I enjoyed this movie and I am sure you will too, no matter if your a thriller/drama lover (like myself) or just the occasional movie watcher this will definitely entertain you/guest.

Rate: 8.5/10