Let Me In: Going Steady

Official Site: www.letmein-movie.com
Director(s): Matt Reeves
Writer(s): Matt Reeves, John Ajvide Lindqvist
Producer(s): Alexander Yves Brunner, Guy East, Carl Molinder, John Nordling, Simon Oakes, Nigel Sinclair

Starring: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Moretz, Cara Buono , Elias Koteas(IMDb). Rated-R, 115 min.

Owen is a reclusive 12 year old boy, who spends most of his days avoiding bullies, and eating candy. On an ordinary night, Owen was looking out of his window, and he noticed a young girl, Abby, about his age accompanied by an older man. When Abby and Owen first met, Abby warned Owen, that they could not be friends. Despite this warning, Abby and Owen developed a strong bond that was questionable in sanity.

The relationship Abby and Owen developed was cute and disturbing; cute, two prepubescent kids forming a bond that is apparently innocent; disturbing, Abby is a vampire, who kills people for their blood. In some of the scenes where they hug each other, there is so much innocence there, but when deeply considered, Abby's nature presents itself, and thus the disturbing aspect of their relationship sets in. Owen is arguably disturbed himself. He is timid and frail, but he has dark tendencies. The actors chosen for the roles of Owen and Abby, were perfect, because both Mcphee, and Moretz seem so harmless in appearance.

Overall, the film had a slow pace that could have rendered it boring, but it did not, because there was something interesting occurring in every scene. Some of the camera angles were effective, and creative in their use. A historical explanation of Abby's vampirism would have been nice, but it seems this was deliberately kept a mystery. According to metacritic.com the film received generally favorable reviews, and rottentomatoes.com granted the film 96 fresh tomatoes to 16 rotten ones. I liked it, it gets an 82.

Toy Story 3: The Claaaaw

Official Site:disney.go.com/toystory
Director(s):Lee Unkrich
Writer(s): Michael Arndt, John Lasseter
Producer(s): Darla K. Anderson

Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Michael Keaton, Wallace Shawn,
Estelle Harris, John Morris, Jodi Benson,(IMDb). G, 103 min.

Andy is all grown and he is on his way to college, so The Cowboy and the rest of the gang are worried about what will happen to them once Andy leaves. Already feeling lonely and abandoned because they rarely get played with, the toys are afraid Andy's departure to college means they will be thrown away. However, Andy decided to store them in the attic, but the toys never reached that destination due to a slight confusion on the part of Andy's mom. The Cowboy and the gang end up at a day care, seemingly perfect at first, until they learned more about Lotso.

Toy Story 3 was not one of the films on my to see list this summer, but Pixar's reputation for great stories motivated me to see this film. Again Pixar created another beautiful animation picture, that had a plot within a plot, which was exciting, suspenseful, and funny.

The most interesting character in the film was Lotso. There was a Machiavellian element to Lotso's mode of operation that seemed to have developed on account of his unfortunate past experience. Lotso understood resource management in how he related to his minions. He was a well crafted antagonist who was equably duplicitous. According to metacritic.com the film received universal aclaim, and rottentomatoes granted the film 182 fresh tomatoes to 3 rotten ones thus far. Awesome. It earns a 95. Stay tuned, movieporium.blogspot.com.

Jonah Hex : Eli Whitney Jr.

Official Site: jonah-hex.warnerbros.com
Director(s): Jimmy Hayward
Writer(s):Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor
Producer(s): Akiva Goldsman, Andrew Lazar,

Starring:Josh Brolin, John Malkovich, Megan Fox, Michael Fassbender, Will Arnett,(IMDb). PG-13, 80 min.

The past transgressions of Jonah Hex(Brolin) came back to haunt him through the vindictive might of Quentin Turnbull (Malkovich), who took away everything Hex loved in one unforgettable night. Turnbull and his crew left Hex to die, but fate preferred to keep Hex alive, and he was rescued and treated by Indian medicine men. Subsequently, Hex was endowed with, what could be described as purgatorial powers of communication. Hex could talk to the dead, and he would use this power to seek vengeance on the man who took everything that was valuable to him.

The writing was exclamatory, bold, and insightful. Using Eli Whitney's creation as a key driver of a very important element in the plot, made the film more significant in a rather ominous manner. Eli Whitney was involved in weapons manufacturing, but not to the extent the film suggested. This bit of realism, may induce one to question, did Whitney secretly invent such a weapon for the government?

The production was excellent, as it managed to present the film in a soiled, colorful, but stylish manner. Dirt laden costumes, grungy wooden buildings, and shacks were constitutive of praise worthy production . All the weapons were very cool. I believe there was even a submarine in one scene.

A good pace, good action scenes, and no lag, Jonah Hex was entertaining. While the action was good it was not mind blowing. The PG-13 rating may have hurt some of the action scenes. Also the editing was not excessive, but awkward. One of the main contributors to the entertainment value of the film was John Malkovich. He was an awesome villain. According to metacritic the film received generally unfavorable reviews, and rottentomatoes granted the film 13 fresh tomatoes to 76 rotten ones. Not a bad action flick, I'll grade it a 79. Stay tuned, movieporium.blogspot.com.

The Karate Kid: Cobra

Official Site: www.karatekid-themovie.com
Director(s): Harald Zwart
Writer(s):Christopher Murphey,Robert Mark Kamen
Producer(s): James Lassiter, Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith,

Starring: Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, Taraji P. Henson, Wenwen Han,(IMDb).

Sherry Parker decided to leave Detroit to work in China, and her son Dre Parker was not enthusiastic about leaving to a country where he would have to learn a different language, and adopt a different culture which included being educated in a school system he was wholly not accustomed to. Briefly after arriving in China, Dre befriends a neighborhood kid who invited him to a nearby park. After giving the invite some thought, later, Dre walked to the park, and began playing basketball. On account of jet-lag, Dre played horribly. After playing ball, pressured by his new friend, Dre decided to talk to a girl he was starring at, and this resulted in a confrontation with a group of skillful martial students, one of which was friends with the girl's family. The outcome of the confrontation was very painful for Dre, and ultimately, with Mr. Han (Chan) as his trainer, this placed him on the path of becoming the Karate Kid.

Admittedly I was very skeptical about this remake, but Smith and Chan arrested my skepticism. Both made a satisfactory on-screen duo. However, the purest in me perceives "Danielson", as oppose to "Shao Dre", as indelible, and Mr. Miyagi still sounds far more interesting than Mr. Han. Despite these differences, this remake was a good modernization or upgrade." Cruel summer", was not the music used roughly at the beginning of the film, this was reserved for Hip-Hop. Both Dre and Mr. Han were more acrobatic in the their practice of kung-fu than Daniel and Mr. Miyagi were in their practice of Karate. In modernizing this film, I'm curious why the writers made the main character younger?

The pace of the film was satisfactory enough to repel lag. Emotionally, this film was engaging, as one cannot help but cheer for the charming, honorable, brat named Dre. Despite how good of a story Karate Kid is, one could always argue about the unlikelihood of a neophyte martial arts student, learning kung-fu in a couple of months to a skill level to win a competition. It's not realistic. It's Hollywood. According to metacritic,the film earned generally favorable reviews. Rottentomatoes granted the film 94 fresh tomatoes to 42 rotten ones. This was a touching story of friendship between generations. I'll grade it an 83. Stay tuned, movieporium.blogspot.com.

A-Team: Flying The Tank

Official Site:www.ateam-movie.com
Director(s):Joe Carnahan
Writer(s): Joe Carnahan, Brian Bloom
Producer(s):Stephen J. Cannell,Jules Daly, Ridley Scott,Tony Scott, Spike Seldin,Iain Smith,Alex Young.

Starring:Liam Neeson,Bradley Cooper,Jessica Biel,Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson,Sharlto Copley,
Gerald McRaney,Brian Bloom. (IMDb). PG-13, 1hr, 57 min.

Hannibal, B.A Baracus, Face, and Murdock, were brought together by a series of circumstances driven by fate, to become what is known as the A-Team. However, after successfully completing a mission that required them to return stolen currency plates used for printing US money, the A-Team was dismantled and falsely convicted of stealing the very same plates they supposedly returned. Imprisonment was not a mighty foe for Hannibal's acumen in planning. With the help of a suspicious CIA agent, Hannibal escaped from prison, and freed the rest of his Rangers to seek justice by clearing their name.

The casting was commendable. The group of actors selected for their respective roles were superb in portraying each A-Team member as they are traditionally known. My favorite was Murdock. I'm not familiar with Sharlto Copley as an actor but he played Murdock well.

The pace of the film was just right, with absolutely no lag. There was something significant occurring in every scene. The plot was clear, but slightly complex, but none the less still clear. Yes, a lot things blew up in this film, but this was not a completely inane action flick. A-Team had a measure of depth that was manifested in one scene where Hannibal sardonically criticized Pike, one of the two main antagonists, for being a member of "Black Forest", a private military company, supposedly a reference to Black Water. With very creative action scenes, and unyielding humor, A-Team lived up to the hype. According to metacritic the film received generally mixed or average reviews. Rottentomatoes granted the film 63 fresh tomatoes to 59 rotten ones. Awesome action flick, I'll grade it an 89. Stay tuned movieporium.blogspot.com.