American Reunion

The American Pie gang is back together again for their 13th High School Reunion. Getting back together for the weekend of the reunion and catching up on where their lives have taken them, the crew try to capture the special times they had in high school, only to discover that things aren't what they used to be. But some things never change. And nothing ever goes as planned.

Starring: Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Tara Reid, Seann William Scott, Mena Suvari, Eddie Kaye Thomas and Eugene Levy

Who will like this movie:

Fans of the original "American Pie" movie (and perhaps even some of the sequels) will undoubtedly enjoy the reunion movie. This is an escape-from-your-life and put your brain in the cup holder movie for those who just want a nice break. A comedy along the same lines as "The Hangover", "Van Wilder" and "Something About Mary". Although you may have fun with this one if you've never seen the original, a lot of the comedy stems from things that happened before, gearing it more toward fans of the 1st one.

Phantom Thoughts

To be honest, I wasn't expecting too much from this movie. And when I started watching it, I thought I may have been right. However, after a kinda slow and not as humorous start, things begin to pick up speed about half way through and gave me what an American Pie sequel should be. It's unusual to be able to get an entire ensemble cast together for another movie, especially 13 years later but I'm glad they were able to pull it off. The story lines of the main characters intertwined pretty well without too much feeling of forcing a story just to give a character a bigger part, which can be a pitfall in a movie like this. Of course, the driving storyline is Jim and Michelle and the stereo-typical rut new parents get into. The reunion weekend is the perfect opportunity for them to re-ignite that spark that seems to have gone from their marriage. But this is an American Pie movie, so nothing...and I mean nothing, goes according to plan. One of the things that throws a monkey-wrench into the works is Jim's (now 18 year old) next door neighbor, Kara- played by Ali Cobrin. She and her wonderfully ample breasts make an abundant appearance. That is not the only nudity in the movie however. The other scene is more surprising and disturbing, but very funny at the same time. They worked some new comedy into this one as well as using some of the same jokes in different situations as the first. Although in most cases, it didn't seem as much as beating a dead horse as it did just extending the joke further.

Eugene Levy is just comedy gold and he has refined the Jim's Dad character perfectly! I loved how he and Jason Biggs played off each other and think their banter may be even better than it was in the first movie. Mini Spoiler: When I said they got the whole cast from the first one, I mean they got the WHOLE cast. A few were just kinda cameos toward the end, but even they were worked in well. Also, don't get up right after the credits start as there is another really good scene about a minute into the credits.

In my opinion, it wasn't the funniest movie, but it was really good for what it was.

Until next time, see you in the center seat!

Mirror, Mirror

A bit of a modern adaptation on the Grimm Fairy Tale of Snow White. For those of you unfamiliar with the story (and I don't know who would not have EVER heard of the story at the very least) it is a tale of an Evil Queen who is the step-mother of a princess named Snow White, so named for her fair skin and dark hair. The Queen is obsessed with being the most beautiful in all the land, and with the help of a magic mirror, she learns that Snow White has taken her place in that category. She sends her into the woods to be killed by one of the Queen's servants. He cannot do it and lets her go, where she finds 7 dwarfs who take her in and help her. This movie deviates from the original story in several aspects, the most obvious is taking the "Princess in need of rescuing" out of the equation.

Julia Roberts as the Evil Queen, Lily Collins as Snow White, Armie Hammer as Prince Alcott, Nathan Lane as Brighton, Danny Woodburn as Grimm and Martin Klebba as Butcher

Who will like this movie:

A family film for families with children  who are not very young or impressionable. The commercials and trailers I've seen make it seem that this is more of a comedy for the whole family, but the truth is that it will not keep younger viewers interest and may be too frightening at parts for them.

Phantom Thoughts

This is the first of two Snow White based films set to be released this year. When news of this was released, neither studio decided to drop the project and the race was on to get each film done. Unfortunately, it shows with this one. The costumes were magnificent and the cinematography was fantastic, however it falls short of what it could have been. Nathan Lane and his comedic talent was extremely under-used in this project. Julia Roberts was great as the Evil Queen who was not just evil for the sake of being evil, but expressing her vanity as the driving force of her actions. She delivers the lines perfectly and with a hint of sarcasm makes her performance really enjoyable to watch. The twist in the tale, is that although Snow White starts out as the familiar "damsel in distress", she does not end up that way. Snow White (Played by Lily Collins who strikes an amazing resemblance to a young Audry Hepburn) finds out what the Evil Queen has done to her Father's kingdom and when she is left in the woods by Nathan Lane's character, she comes across the 7 dwarfs. SPOILER: During her time with them, they teach her how to fight and give her other skills needed to stop the Evil Queen. When the Queen puts a spell on the Prince to fall in love with her, it is actually Snow White's kiss to the Prince that breaks the spell. And it is Snow White who fights the "beast" said to be stalking the woods.
    I really feel if they had made this a bit funnier and more kid friendly, it would have been a really good movie. But in my opinion, it was just "OK". There were some really good parts (like the dwarfs as thieves in spring stilts). I can't help but think that if they had not worried about getting it out before "Snow White and the Huntsman", they could have fine tuned the script and let Nathan Lane do some of his magic to create something really special. BIG SPOILER: The other thing that bothered me was the very ending. The Evil Queen makes one last ditch effort to kill Snow White, but her plot is realized, and instead of showing mercy in what would have been the "good guy" thing to do, Snow White instead gets revenge while using the EXACT WORDS the Evil Queen used on her in the beginning of the movie! Followed directly by a song and dance ending while the credits roll. Ugh! It's good enough for a discount viewing, or even a rental. Better yet, go rent "Ella Enchanted". That was a great movie and how this one SHOULD have been like. SPOILER: I did enjoy at the prologue of the characters, revealing that one of the dwarfs named Grimm went on to write fairy tales, giving a cinematic nod to the original authors of the story, The Brothers Grimm.

Until next time, I'll see you in the center seat.

John Carter

John Carter  is largely based on A Princess of Mars (1917), the first in a series of 11 novels to feature the interplanetary hero John Carter (and in later volumes the adventurers of his children with Dejah Thoris). The story was originally serialized in six monthly installments (from February through July 1912) in the pulp magazine The All-Story; those chapters, originally titled "Under the Moons of Mars," were then collected in hardcover five years later from publisher A. C. McClurg. In both the novel and film John Carter is a former American Civil War Confederate Army officer who is mysteriously transported to Mars, which is known to its inhabitants as Barsoom. There he finds himself in Mars own Civil War along with Native American type aliens called the Tharks.
He is reluctant to take sides in this thousand year old war, much like he did on Earth, choosing to focus on returning home. But soon cannot help but become involved to help the Helium princess.
It stars Taylor Kitsch as John Carter
Lynn Collins as Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium
Samantha Morton as Sola, daughter of Tars Tarkas
Willem Dafoe as Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of the Tharks
Thomas Haden Church as Tal Hajus, a vicious Thark warrior
Mark Strong as Matai Shang, leader of the Holy Therns

Who will like this movie:
In the 1980's, Disney bought the rights to make the movie in an attempt to compete with Star Wars and Conan the Barbarian. John Carter has elements of each and if you like epic fantasy fiction, you will enjoy this movie. It has the action and special effects that kids will like, but has a complex enough story for adults to sit through as well. Those who did like are in luck, as it was set up to be a trilogy. Plans are in the works for making the next two novels into movies. Producers Jim Morris and Lindsey Collins are working on a sequel to be based on the second Burroughs' novel, The Gods of Mars; the working title for this sequel is John Carter: The Gods of Mars

Phantom Thoughts:
Although it was meant to be on the scale of the Star Wars trilogy, it fails in it's attempt. The special effects were amazing and the story is good and original. However, it may be too big for it's own good. First off, it's almost 2 and a half hours long, and it feels it. There is just too much story for one movie. The other thing is that the names of the characters, locations, races and even the planets Earth and Mars have very alien sounding names that made it hard to follow. The fact that the human looking characters were in a civil war made it difficult to figure out who was who as well. They want to appeal to a large audience, but I really had a hard time figuring out who would really get into this movie. It's just too long and complex for young kids and wasn't sci-fi enough for the Star Wars/Star Trek/Lord of the Rings audience that it should be geared to. It has a little dose of the romantic angle to try and get that 20 something female audience, but it is lost in everything else going on. 
For what it's worth, I'd skip it. I'm gonna move on to the next movie. See you in the center seat!