The Matador

The Matador: Pierce Brosnan plays a hitman who befriends salesman Danny Wright (played by Greg Kinnear). I can’t say I disliked the movie, but I did not really enjoy it either. It was just sort of a rhythmic watch, just good enough to keep my interest. The comedy element works, with the 2 different backgrounds of the men colliding. If you like Brosnan (I don’t), you may laugh a bit more than I did as he does have some comical moments. The plot does get a bit interesting near the end and because of this I am giving a slight….recommend.

“Pick it Up”

Curse of the Golden Flower

Curse of the Golden Flower: It seems that ever since the success of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon we are good for one of these colorful, stylized martial art films a year. Of the 5 or 6 I have seen like this – Golden Flower is the worst. It really is not much of a “martial arts movie” as it is a “family drama”. It is a very slow developing story of deceit. By the time everything is revealed and the action begins, I could have really cared a less. The story is too heavy on drama – even though the trailers for the film make it look action packed….talk about deception…..

“Kick it on the Floor”

Duane Hopwood

Duane Hopwood: It seems when actresses want to shake a squeaky clean image, they do some provocative nude scene. As for their male counterparts, well they play drunks or drug addicts. In Duane Hopwood David Schwimmer (of Friends fame) plays the title role and is indeed an alcoholic. The film opens with Duane Hopwood being arrested for a DUI while having his 6 year old daughter in the back seat. This prompts his ex-wife (played by Janeane Garofalo) to cut off his child visitation rights. This sinks Duane to a new low, but is it enough for him to hop off the wagon? The acting is supposed to be the highlight in the small Indy film and it is fairly good, but nothing remarkable. At the midway point I found myself thinking this would be a good “made for TV movie”, but not up to snuff for a theatrical run. If you come across it – watch it, but don’t go out of your way….now that is some FRIENDly advice.


“Pick it Up”

The Good Shepherd

The Good Shepherd: A movie about the birth of the CIA with such names attached as Damon, Jolie, Baldwin, and De Niro, how could it be bad? Yet the movie was panned by most audiences and critics a like. Now that it is on DVD I gave it a spin…and LIKED it…….A LOT. I can see some of the obstacles the film has – 1) the long run time (167 minutes) and slow moving pace will cause a lot of viewers to give up. 2) The film is also heavy on dialogue and information rather than action. However I found the whole premise of the film to be engrossing. The only problem I had was the “aging” or actually the “lack of aging” for Matt Damon’s character – I found it a bit distracting that he looked so young in the later years of the story. That aside, what we have here is a solid film about a very interesting subject matter.

“Pick it Up”

Happy Feet

Happy Feet: Another computer animated movie about talking animals…..when will we get our fill? Our subjects this time are penguins who live up in the North Pole. The film supplies plenty of musical numbers, the idea in the movie is that the penguins sing songs to find their mates. The songs are everything from Elvis to Prince and really make the beginning of the film very entertaining. The star penguin of the movie – Mumble (voiced by Elijah Wood) does not have a musical note in his body, instead he was blessed with dancing (or happy) feet. Because of this, he is labeled an outcast by the elder penguins. The rest of the story is weak and gets weaker as it moves along. The ending of the film tries it’s hardest to make a political message about the ecosystem. Because of the outstanding animation and the funny sidekicks (a staple in these kinds of movies), I give it a slight recommend.

“Pick It Up”