Fast Five, 2011

Fast Five, 2011
Director: Justin Lin
Cast: Vin Diesel,Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson



Stage: local theatre, late Saturday show. Crowdy and unnacceptable smell in the hall. Yuk.

Fast Five in Short: Former cop Brian O'Conner partners with ex-con Dom Toretto on the opposite side of the law. Since Brian and Mia Toretto broke Dom out of custody, they've blown across many borders to elude authorities. Now backed into a corner in Rio de Janeiro, they must pull one last job in order to gain their freedom. As they assemble their elite team of top racers, the unlikely allies know their only shot of getting out for good means confronting the corrupt businessman who wants them dead. But he's not the only one on their tail. Hard-nosed federal agent Luke Hobbs never misses his target. When he is assigned to track down Dom and Brian, he and his strike team launch an all-out assault to capture them. But as his men tear through Brazil, Hobbs learns he can't separate the good guys from the bad. Now, he must rely on his instincts to corner his prey... before someone else runs them down first.


Preps: Trying to see this for some time now. A friend drags me in the movies, she is a huge fan of the muscles and cars :) I follow, humbly, as I want to see this also. However, my expectations are low as it is the fifth sequel and I don't have any good experience in a long run with them. Lovely cars and beautiful women, combined with a race. Is there anything more?


Reality: Nope. Nothing more. However, a spectacular view of Rio de Janeiro, in its poverty, overload of small detached houses/barracs, people with guns, chasing and running on the roofs, making the daily bread by stealing and other criminal acts.. One guy that rules the world. The god in the convenient role of a godfather, who is being chased by the main protagonists in this action movie.

The story will not impress you. As said, beautiful women, stealing and racing with cars, a grand theft in verses of The Bank Job or Mission Impossible, or Ocean's eleven (in this sense, Vin Diesel can be as charming as Clooney). The plan, that is swept away by local police, the seeking of the love, the boobs and asses at the chase racing playground.

Can people really be so enthusiastic about the racing? I guess so. I know personally some addicts in this area. Which doesn't mean I understand it. The movie implies the adrenalin they get, comes from the mere fact of a race and competition, and rarely reflects the prize the one who wins, gets or owns. Do you bet your car? In this game, you do. Do you bet your woman? Also.. the sky is the limit. The piece will take you through the same path the former Fast and Furious did, although with a slight change of cast, music, place and cars. Apart from that, the story is clear and not demanding for the viewer. Like a race in Formula one. Easy to follow, even easier to fall asleep inbetween (because you don't miss much). The music, however, is very powerful in the Fast Five. Not a surprise, the movies with beautiful women and cars are normalwise surrounded/accompanied by great music. Not as hillarious and emotional like some Zimmerman pieces, but mean, harsh and powerful, the way it fits to the purpose.


My personal rate: 5,0 (somewhere in the middle. However, you need to be a fan of racing, or a Vin Diesel fan, or want to see beautiful women. Not a lot of intelligence put into this piece, but a strong scene and materialism put upfront)

Fast Five on IMDB

Despicable me, 2010

Despicable me, 2010
Director: Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud
Cast (voices): Steve Carrell, Jason Segel, Russel Brand



Stage: Home Theatre


Despicable me in short: In a happy suburban neighborhood surrounded by white picket fences with flowering rose bushes, sits a black house with a dead lawn. Unbeknownst to the neighbors, hidden beneath this home is a vast secret hideout. Surrounded by a small army of minions, we discover Gru, planning the biggest heist in the history of the world. He is going to steal the moon. (Yes, the moon!) Gru delights in all things wicked. Armed with his arsenal of shrink rays, freeze rays, and battle-ready vehicles for land and air, he vanquishes all who stand in his way. Until the day he encounters the immense will of three little orphaned girls who look at him and see something that no one else has ever seen: a potential Dad. The world's greatest villain has just met his greatest challenge: three little girls named Margo, Edith and Agnes.


Preps: wanted to see this for a long time, so now it's about time to dig into this cartoon. Quite famous by slovenian youngsters, anyway. Let me see if I am up to the challenge :)


Reality: Well, sometimes villains do grow into great personalities. Or something deep down inside them sleeps and needs the right button to be pushed in order for good to start spreading around them. As I told you in my review of the Toy Story 3, it's not usual in real world, but in the animated world, it usually is the case. And so it happens here also. To steal the moon seems a good idea and something to play with, however, the three girls are something you cannot expect in advance. Using them as a tool to go to the theft or to perform it correctly, seems merciless, however in the process, the main villain (Gru) grows fond of the girls. In the villain world, that is considered a big mistake, because one power that is really given to the villains is usually emotionless heart, because they don't care about noone but themselves. In this case this changes, as Gru grows love for the three girls and becomes vulnerable in the area.
The side story (a truly sad one) is about orphanes, being put into an institution and waiting for the right potential parent to come by, having afterwards the chance to give the child back (that happens in real world also quite often).. however, we don't see the evolvement in this story up to the level, where it would reach out for your soul.
Gru grows fond of the girls and afterwards, decides to keep them forever. This is somehow expected end in this animated movie and will knock all the soft souls out. And another thing that will drive you nuts - Gru has an army of intelligent small creatures that cannot be more funny than they are shown in this piece. They programm and operate everything, so the only thing you want after this piece, is at least one of those small beings, being there to operate smaller stuff in your life and make up new intelligent ideas :) Although they don't say a word, you can really understand what they are mummbling about. And you need to love them, they bring a softer (not so bright) side of Gru out, just being there to make everything he comes up, in reality. And this is just the case behind every villain - they normally come equipped with a tactic and capable background. Like every president has his wife behind him to back him up or give him the backbone, these small cuties are Gru's backbone, invisible to the public, inevitable to make the grand ideas reality.




My personal rate: 8,5 (loveable and funny. It will make you grow fond for the wannabe fathers. Also, will make you want one of those small intelligent creatures)


Despicable me on IMDB

Inside man, 2006

Inside man, 2006
Director: Spike Lee
Cast: Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster, Clive Owen, Christopher Plummer



Inside man in short: From a cell, a man tells us he has planned the perfect bank robbery; he invites us to watch. An efficient gang enters a Manhattan bank, locks the doors, and takes hostages. They work deliberately, without haste. Detective Frazier is assigned to negotiate, but half his mind is occupied with the corruption charges he is facing. The bank's president has something to protect in a safe deposit box, so he brings in Madaline, a high-power broker with a hidden agenda. With an army of police surrounding the bank, the thief, the cop, and the plutocrat's fixer enter high-stakes negotiations. Why are the robbers asking for a plane, if they are so competent and they know they won't get one? Why aren't they in more of a hurry? If the job's perfect, why is the thieves' leader in a cell?

Stage: home theatre, TV selection of the evening


Preps: seeing this many times, it is no challenge to see a good piece again and search for even deeper theme.


Reality: The perfect bank job, with a strange line of twitches, where sometimes the robbers run the game, on the other occasions, police. The time in the movie jumps from the time of theft, to the time after, and in between it involves the crimes from WW2 and keeping evidence from that time in the safe deposit boxes. The action, victims, resolving the crime and looking (pursuing) the crime from WW2 that just until the end doesn't get resolved.

The crime is profound, thought up to every last detail, however the villain is not accepted as a villain in the eyes of the viewer. He's too soft to be commiting a crime, however, does a great deal or goes a line extra to show (or to make it look like) he is a true bad person. But the observer of the movie will not take him as that, because Spike Lee does an extra project of making him look decent and human.

THere are some parallell stories, like making a person that is obviously someone from Middle East, a criminal right away and throwing some bad words immediately when he shows up, complaining that he gets a shitty treatment wherever he is just because his origin. Those stories make this piece extraordinary. Spike Lee's efforts with the camera are superb and his excellence shows also in the defilee, where all the main protagonists get their moment on the stage.

My personal rating: 8,0 (one of stronger pieces, in this genre, refreshened by Jodie Foster and Washington in his premium role as the guy that solves the day. A good piece to see once more).


Inside man on IMDB

Getting even with dad, 1994

Getting Even With Dad, 1994
Director: Howard Deutch
Cast: Macauley Culkin, Ted Danson



Stage: home theatre, NY selection on local TV - afternoon

Getting even in short: Ray, an ex-con and widower, is planning a coin heist with two accomplices to help him to buy his own bakery. However, he doesn't expect his son Timmy, who was living with Ray's sister, to show up at the house right in the middle of planning. Timmy is ignored and Ray and his buddies pull off the heist. Timmy gets his father's attention by stealing the coins and hiding them. To get them back, his father must take him to a number of different places and treat him like he enjoys his presence. They grow fond of each other but Timmy won't stay with his dad unless he gives up the coins.


Preps: None whatsoever. Since I don't have a better idea for a Sunday afternoon I will look at what the decent TV folks are recommending for the after NY party mood.


Reality: Yuk. Macauley Culkin in another sync of Home Alone. Hmmmmm. Well, I guess he needed to cash in the fame he had in those years. After that they would always connect him with the main character he played in those HA movies. But.. there's also Ted Danson, who shot himself into the star world with this genre. In this case, he plays a foolish dad, that doesn't want to be recognized as dad, and that in any chosen moment in the movie states this aloud without any shame or doubt. And yet, (so Hollywood like), changes his mind in one week and wants to be a father after all. Yes, also the villains and robbers have souls and urge to be daddies. The story is underestimating the viewer, more than obvious exploiting the fame of Culkin (the script is so similar to Home alone funny scenes, it's pretty straightforward what the director is trying to pull off). And most of robbers are really jackasses, but do they need to be so dumb as they show in this piece?

I strongly disrecommend this, as it will give you nothing more than a headache. Predictable flow, predictable ending, horrible script, vague cast.. hm. Don't waste your time. It's not really a family comedy, mere a family copy of Home Alone. I know, even if you see that can turn over those steps for the xxxth time, it still feels funny. But this is only because we kinda grew up with Home Alone. And everything that looks up to that movie and tries to be a better copy, only fails badly.




My personal rate: 2,0 (I wouldn't call et even decent enough to recommend it a bit. However, if you like family comedies of low intel, then it's the right choice)


Getting even with Dad on IMDB

Cop Out, 2010

Cop Out, 2010
Director: Kevin Smith
Cast: Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, Juan Carlos Hernandez



Cop Out in short: A comedy about a veteran NYPD cop whose rare baseball card is stolen. Since it's his only hope to pay for his daughter's upcoming wedding, he recruits his partner to track down the thief, a memorabilia-obsessed gangster.


Stage: home theatre

Preps: Hmmm, seeing Bruce again would be nice. I have seen not so impressive trailer on this piece, however, due to respect I have for Willis' work, I tend to see everything he produces. Hence, the decision is fallen. How bad can it be?


Reality: It can be worse than you expect afterall. Bruce Willis is out of his shape in the piece, striving to get at least some attention of the viewer. The script must have been written in five minutes, as it doesn't give anything besides some weird comedy scenes, that I don't find half that amusing as the actors did. The cast is awful and the story doesn't achieve my blood stream even a bit.

I always am suspicious about movies that have the smell of cheap, yet beneficial to the older actors that still want to be a part of the game. I am used having Willis in more adult roles, and less making fun of himself. I think he never wanted to participate in this movie - at least that's the energy his character shows in Cop Out. I am sorry to say this is one of more disastrous pieces that Willis showed his face in. I didn't watch it till the end, because I thought there might be a better way to spend my time. I don't recommend it, however, to the viewers that enjoyed light humour comedies and for non-demanding audience, this might bring some fun. Sure didn't do the trick for me.


There were several comical moments, this is one of them (the quote):

Paul Hodges: Why did you smack me?
Jimmy Monroe: I was in the moment and the moment said smack ya.



My personal rating: 1,0 (just for the sake that I saw Die Hard hero again, even though in one of the worst roles ever).


Cop out on IMDB

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