In space no one can hear you cry

Moon, currently an 8 theatre release written and directed by Duncan Jones, is less a sci-fi thriller and more a somber tagedy of one man's emotional turmoil brought on by desperate lonliness.

Sam Rockwell plays a lone crew member of a mining platform on the moon. At the start of the film, he has two weeks left in his contract before he is free to see his family back on earth. As events unfold, we see his nearly every reason for living is a lie.

Save for his robotical companion voiced by Kevin Spacey, Rockwell is the only true actor on screen for about 98% of Moon. This is not a slipshod move. Moon is an emotional rollercoaster and Rockwell will hold the viewer's hand to times of laughter and tears, just as Jones intended. He proves time and again that he can act better than most. It won't likely happen with Moon, but mark this reviewer's text, Sam Rockwell will win an Oscar before his career in acting is done.

What's interesting is this movie really could have taken place anywhere. Being that a one-man moon base with a view of Earth is probably the lonliest place a person could go, it gives the ideal setting. That said, the graphics of Moon aren't phenomenal; the moon-base Sarang looks very futuristic and iPod'ish, but it's nothing that hasn't been done before (think 2001: A Space Odyssey). The lunar surface is pretty cool, but not believeable. Again, it's Rockwell's performance that will convey the sad and lonely theme Moon aimed for. This is aided, however, by the music. Clint Mansell created some of the most morose tunes for this movie that have ever been put on a reel. This isn't surprising, he did The Wrestler, The Fountain and Requiem for a Dream. Perhaps Jones will use him in the future just as Aronovsky repeatedley has.

This is NOT a feel good movie. It is however a very good movie that will have you counting your blessings when the credits begin to roll, unless of course you begin to question if those blessings are truly what they seem to be.

9/10

The Hangover

Just go see it, it's good, well, hilarious. Way better than Starsky and Hutch, slightly better than Road Trip not near as good as Old School. Todd Philips really brings people the type of comedy that hasn't reared it's bastard head in a quite a while. So again, go see it.

8.375/10

Drag me to Raimi

The man who brought the world the cult classic Evil Dead more than 25 years ago now brings us easily the best horror film of the past 5 years, Drag Me to Hell. This movie has all the elements that made Evil Dead great; loads of gore, a ridiculous though semi good plot, and of course that awkward line between horror and comedy.

I won't say much about the plot other than it's a horror movie; a horror movie with demons, ghosts and posessions - much like Evil Dead. Truly the only difference between DMtH and Evil Dead is 28 years of technological and industry advances. Whether that tickles your fancy is up to you.

The dialogue and acting in DMtH is fair at best, but really, would you expect anything more from a horror movie? The special effects and sound especially are near Oscar quality. The graphic nastiness that DMtH brings to the table is truly disgusting. The amount of projectile vomit, blood, snot and other various body fluids and chunks is sweet, but when they're done with such finesse and care (like they are), snot becomes sexy.

See this movie with a bunch of friends and do NOT take it seriously. For what it is, it's a masterpiece. Spider Man was great, but Drag Me to Hell proves Sam Raimi's true calling is horror.

7.2/10

Summer Begins.

I know absolutely nothing about Star Trek. I have never seen an episode at any point during the different series of the show. All I knew were names of characters and that they were in this ship called the Enterprise.

To anybody out there who wants to make a great movie, this is how you do it. To put it as simply as I can, what makes this movie great is the story. The story is simple, how it plays out is not. As I mentioned before, I am not a Star Trek person, however, I am a LOST person. That being said, J.J. Abrams' influence from LOST was very apparent in Star Trek, and it only helped to keep my interest.

Many Sci-Fi films struggle with the necessity of explaining gadgetry and technology that only exists in the universe of the film. Star Trek brilliantly cuts out all the unnecessary technical jargon and is very straight forward. The acting is excellent. Hats off to Mr. Quinto as Spock, he was perfectly cast and plays the role extremely well. Every single character had an arc no matter how great or how small.

This is by far the best film of the year, so far. The graphics and cinematography were unbelievable. This movie pays great homage to the incredible epic that is Star Wars, but does so with grace and brings it's own ingredients to the formula.

I will note that Star Trek's tagline 'The Future Begins' was straight up jacked from Terminator Salvation. The first poster for TS had that as it's tagline which has now since been updated to 'The End Begins.' Anyway Star Trek = Amazing. See it. No matter who you are, this one's for you.

Best Sci Fi movie of all time?

No. George Lucas will always carry that trophy in his back pocket. But is Star Trek the greatest Sci Fi picture in the past 25 years? Arguably, yes. Abrams has created a middle ground where trekkies, Star Wars fans, and even new-to-sci-fi movie fans can come together and experience all the same emotions while watching this film. Star Trek has and will do what Casino Royale did for the Bond franchise, but it did it much, much better. Further it's much more likely that it's sequel will be much, much better than Quantum of Solace.

We're seeing a trend here. Remakes of good movies/stories and making them great. Two cases in point: Casino Royale and Batman Begins, but to a much more relevant and successful standpoint, The Dark Knight. Film makers are seeing these not to be taken seriously movies, watching crazy Koreans stealing diamonds to keep the sun shining all the time or hearing "Ice to see you!" and saying,"I could do better than that." And they do. They start from scratch, scrap all the bad, bring in more of the good, making fans of the series and new viewers alike very, very satisfied. Abrams hopped onto this wagon and truly breathed life into a dying genre.

Star Trek has everything; eye reddening action sequences, ear wax melting sound, ab hurting comedy and even an inter-species dorm room hook up sesh with a green chick. Additionally, all the actors do a fantastic job, most of them in roles that don't fit their MO. I won't go into detail here, but each actor plays their role so well that traces of characters they've played in the past are completely unapparent. The graphics and special effects in Star Trek are the best to ever grace the silver screen. The sleek futuristic beauty of the Enterprise and the dark terror of the Romulan's ship combined with the eery stillness of space bring to mind a similar achievement Kubrick made with 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Boldy go see this movie, and see it on IMAX. You'll be happy you did. Star Trek is by far the most entertaining and awe inspiring film of 2009 and has set the bar for all later films. The tag line get's it right: The Future Begins.


9.8/10

Jimmy Logan

X-Men Origins: Wolverine explains quite a bit: the origin of Wolverine, how Three Mile Island really blew up, and that prequels/sequels don't require skilled writing.

The cinematography and action in XMO:W are incredible, far more eye-catching and enthralling than any other this year so far. It's clear that director Gavin Hood planned each claw swipe, back flip, sword swipe, and teleport in a way that makes each sequence look raw, rough, and even sexy at times. Here's the problem: rough and sexy is all it is. XMO:W is plagued with scenes that have absolutely zero purpose other than generating an audience reaction of "Hmm, that was cool." Further, characters were introduced with large potential for development only to be roped after a few scenes. Beyond this, the dialogue was eye-rolling worthy, a giant cheese fest of velveeta covered filth. Almost as if the screenwriter (who wrote Rendition!?) gave a nod to Storm's line in X:Men "Do you know what happens to a toad when it get's struck by lightning? Same thing that happens to everything else." Ugghhhhh.

On the plus side, we get to see (a completely useless) appearance by Gambit, an (almost useless) introduction of Cyclops, a bald (strange cameo of) Ryan Reynolds, Liev Shreiber gettin' some on an M-60 Full Metal Jacket style, and of course, the origin of Wolverine, even if it's quick enough to be fit into a You Tube video.

XMO:W is like Superman ice cream. It looks cool, but once you realize it's really just vanilla it's a let down. XMO:Wolverine is very entertaining, but it leaves too many loose ends that could only be tied up in a sequel... to a prequel. A second 'origin' doesn't really make much sense, but it looks like it'll happen. Who knows, maybe this'll be another trilogy. Check it out, perhaps you'll agree.

6.5/10

In a jiffy and a little t.o.'d

Despite a screenplay that could have been written by a 15 year old rich kid, LA thug wannabe living in Hoboken, NJ, Fast & Furious is a cold-sweat-causing, red-eye provoking, kick-you-in-the-nuts-and-make-you-want-more testosterone fest of 'holy sh*t!'ness.

Fast & Furious takes place five years after the events of The Fast & the Furious and resurrects the main characters along with it. The events that bring them all back together (along with the entire plot of the movie) will have viewers thinking, "Wait, but... what?...Why would they... Oh! Look! Cars and breasts!"In other words, Fast & Furious is like that hot girl you know named Victoria (yup, her) that you love to go out with, but would douse yourself in 97 octane gasoline and ask her to light a match after talking to her for any more than three minutes. And she'd do it 'cause she's freakin' special! Like our beloved Victoria, where F&F lacks intelligence, it more than makes up with it's sexy, salacious, sweet and saucy form.

This 'form' is made up of imports, muscle cars, guns, scantily clad Asian chicks, and of course, Jordana Brewster, who is sadly only on screen for about 7 minutes. Michelle Rodriguez get's even less screen time, it evens out though with her flash-back time. Paul Walker is less 'Whoa! Paul Walker was freakin' sick in Running Scared!' and more, 'Oh, Joy Ride, that's Paul Walker right? Can I have two for Training Day instead?' Vin Diesel plays the perfect role as always.

Fast & Furious is not a first date movie, though it is definitely a 32nd date movie. Make sure you drive the lamest car possible to see it; obeying posted traffic laws, abiding crossing guards and driving on the right side on the way back will be a true test of citizenry.

Overall: 6.7/10