Dollhouse

TJ Says...I didn't expect much from this show. It's a new show on Friday night's that stars Eliza Douchcu (Spelling highly incorrect). It's marketed on the backend of Terminator, and I'm in on that show...so let's give dollhouse a go.

Basically, It's a remake of My Own Worst Enemy. Eliza has her brain wiped clean every time the man has ended their use of her. Then she is a blank slate. Then, when they need her for a mission, they can program her with all the appropriate information and memories, and she can be an expert at whatever. Then, when it's over, wipe her brain clean again. In the pilot, she's a kidnap negotiator, negotiating with bad guys to get a kid back, without going through the authorities.

I really didn't think it was terrible, which is good enough for me. I was entertained by the plot of her actual mission, but irritated by those that she worked for. They were kinda just pissy a lot.

TJ's Review...I'll watch it again. It's better than anything else not named "Psych" on Friday nights. I've definately watched worse (Lost).

Chad Says...Joss Whedon created this show. That's reason enough for me to watch it. He was the guy behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer (not the reason I like him b/c I never watched that show) which is why Eliza is in this show. The reason I love the creator is b/c he also created a show called Firefly. It only lasted one season but it was one of the coolest shows I've ever watched. Go rent that first (only) season. Then go rent a movied called Serenity. After Firefly got cancelled they made the movie which was basically his idea of the entire second season crammed into one 2 hour movie and it's one of the best sci fi movies I've seen. I'm a huge fan of both of those.

Moving on. The pilot was okay. They did a bunch of setup of the main character giving background and what not to help us understand why she's where she is and how this "Dollhouse" is going to work. Along with the fact that it's a super secret organization and they already have one guy that's trying to unravel it's secret (behind his bosses back!). It's a rare thing when a pilot is fantastic and it wasn't the case for this show but I'm going to keep watching.

I was afraid when I heard Eliza was the main character b/c I don't like her very much but she's actually good in this (read: not irritating). She seems smooth and can handle all the action they're going to throw at her. A pet peeve of mine is throwing a hot chick in a show that has no action training and all the action scenes are quick cuts that don't show much b/c SHE'S A GIRL and can't hack it (just kidding ladies). She seems more like a Jennifer Garner from Alias. Also a great show (if you only watched the first two seasons).

So with Terminator and Dollhouse on Friday I'm a happy camper. These shows should nicely compliment each other and i'm already a fan of Terminator. ACTION!

Chad's Review...In on the creator alone but i'm hoping the show lives up to my hype of him :)

Push

TJ says...I should have not got my hopes up too high when I saw Johnny Storm as the hero. But, did I listen to myself? No. The previews looked pretty good, with the guy from Blood Diamond as the antagonist, and throw in a little Dakota Fanning...it should be at least well acted.

Uh....wrong. This movie was bad. It wasn't "terrible" because there was enough (barely) action to keep the rating from sinking too low. It's about paranormalists with different types of paranormal skills. You had the people who could put thoughts into your mind (Pushers), people who can see the future (watchers), people that can move things (movers) and a few asian guys that scream real loud and break glass and make your brains tomatoy (douchers...probably not their real nickname, but they were douchee).

As with any movie where you can see the future, or act on the future, there are plot holes. And this movie had a ton of them. Most the time, though, they make up for it with cool plot. This movie made up for it with douchee asian guys that scream. There's not a whole lot of positives to say. Oh, and they completely setup for Push 2: Push it Real Hard (all sequels need a real hard in the subtitle...or they would if I was a movie exec).

TJ's Review...Plot sucked. Acting was bad. No hot chics. Minimum action. Rent it when there's nothing else to rent.

Chad Says...I went into this movie expecting it to be the non-sucky version of Jumper. So I had the understanding that I was seeing a bad movie that I was going to like because lots of cool stuff happened. Luckily my expectations there were met.

The movie is way too complex for it's caliber. They try to cram in a whole world of people with abilities and give them very generic names like, "reader" or "stitcher". Here's the problem though. They invite you into this world of theirs and you, being the nice guy that you are, accept the rules of this new world. The main guy can "push" stuff. He throws energy at it and it moves it or punches it or whatnot. Okay so now I believe and accept this but once I'm there they want me to just hang on for a second b/c they need to lock the pusher in a trunk which he somehow can't open. Or the bad guy can hold him down and he can't push him while this is happening even though when the other pusher he just fought a little bit ago held him down he could get him off by using his abilities. So they should have had some sort of switch where they told my brain to be in "Push reality" then back to "reality" so I wouldn't roll my eyes at them.

Dakota Fanning is all grown up and she got her bottom teeth fixed. You ever notice those things before? She could have eaten corn on the cob thru a chain link fence with those chompers. Now she looks nice with her good teeth. And she cried a few times in this movie to let us all know she can act well. Oh, real quick - so she was a "watcher" so mental images came to her and she drew them. Problem is, her drawings looked like my 6 year old did them. Terrible.

Chad's Review...Push as in blow as in air moving out of something like a vacuum which does the opposite. Sucks.

Taken

TJ Says...I was highly anticipating this movie since I saw the trailer with Liam Neeson on the phone with his teenage daughter, and she gets kidnapped. Then the kidnapper gets on and Neeson threatens the kidnapper! Awesome. I AM IN.

So I convince my wife to attend with me. Hello date night. This movie was fast paced with lots of Liam kicking tail. By the end of the movie, I seriously thought that Liam could take Jason Stathem in an MMA bout. Get those 2 in the octogon, and if JS has kidnapped LN's daughter, watch out. Maybe that could be the plot of Taken 2: Taken Real Hard. I digress.

I was thoroughly entertained in this movie. It was fast paced, and kept me interested throughout. It was very intense, not really scary or a thriller, just intense. The only part I didn't like was the daughter (who was 17) acted like she was 13 most of the movie. It was uncomforatble to watch sometimes. But for sure that ass kickings Liam hands out make up for it, big time.

Oh, one other warning. The previews for this movie were terrible. The worst of which was "Crank 2", another Jason Stathem vehicle (when you're in the industry, you can use terms like "vehicle" to mean movie staring a certain someone). I hope I warm up to Crank 2 because I want to see it, but that trailer was wretched.

TJ's Review...Take the wife and go see it. Awesome. If you have a daughter (as I do), it'll convince you to never let her go to Europe.

Chad Says...Liam Neeson is a bad-a. Straight up. I think I said this in another review but I love movies where the main guy is really good at something and displays it in full effect. He is a "Preventor" in this movie but when something can't be prevented he turns into a convincer that the bad guy should have allowed him to prevent his deed. Yikes.

Usually when a trailer is as awesome as this one was, the movie doesn't live up to it (see Wanted) but man on man, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time eating this action up!

His daughter - who was Boone's sister in the first season of Lost, yeah I research, so what? Anyway, she was borderline terrible in this movie. But who cares! Liam Neeson was awesome. Remember Commando? Arnold's daughter is kidnapped so he straps on some boots and a knife and ices every mofo that had anything to do with it? This reminded me of that. LN took on every bad guy single handedly but this time I bought it. Trapped in a room with 6 dudes with guns yet he is the only one breathing at the end of the scene? Sold.

Chad's Review...Be my Valentine, Taken. You had me at "Good luck."

Paul Blart Mall Cop

Chad Says...I enjoy Kevin James' sense of humor and wanted to like this movie. Problem is it really wasn't that funny. The trailer was though. I was surprised to read that he co-wrote this. Because it really was just ok-funny. Long periods of non-funny to the point that my son (whom I brought with me on this comedy endeavor) kept asking me, "When is this going to be funny?" Awe.

Once the action kicked in it got funny but outside of that it was really bland. He really had zero supporting cast (outside of a segway) and it was reliant on him to drum up all the comedy. And there was a little bit of it. The jokes about being too depressed to eat but then mentioning that a sloppy joe would be nice was good stuff.

Chad's Review...it was just an okay movie. I might even pass on this one for a rental. Shame on you Kevin James.

TJ Says...Look, I'm a kevin james fan. I thought he was funny in King of Queens, and I thought he was GREAT in Hitch. And this scenerio looked funny, and I thought my wife would like it, so, helllllllo date night.

Story is pretty simple. Mall cop aspires to be realy cop, and without much training or authority saves the mall from a hostile take over. The entire movie is this simple. There are several chuckle moments, and a few laugh out loud moments. I thought Kevin James was good and funny, just not a whole lot to work with around him. My wife enjoyed it, so that was a bonus.

Oh...the best of the co-stars was the WAY over the top pen salesmen. That guy was genius. And I hated him.

TJ's Review...it's worth seeing. Probably just a rental though.

Four Christmases

TJ Says...This is the new Vince Vaughn/Reese Witherspoon christmas joint. I was looking forward to this, as it fits my "Stuff blows up or makes me laugh" criteria to go see a movie. And anything with Vince Vaughn in it makes me laugh.

I thought this movie was good. I went with my wife and it ended up being a good date movie. I mean, as with any RoCo (romantic comedy) there are plenty of plot holes. Like their relationship is rock solid at the start of the day, and by visiting all 4 families for christmas, some how it all falls apart at the end. Really?

With that being said, I laughed plenty of times. There was plenty of new family humor in there, and there were several ladies laughing in the theather. As a matter of fact, Ms. John Madden was sitting next to us, giving a running commentary of what was happening on the screen. HIGHLY annoying.

TJ's review....Go see it. Lighthearted and funny. I enjoyed it. Just don't sit next to old ladies that like to talk to the screen.

Chad Says...Man I liked this movie A LOT more than TJ. This might be one of Vince Vaughn's best roles up there with Swingers. He was hilarious in this movie. I laughed out loud so many times to the point where Kiley started elbowing me. And Reese was great in this too. She's funny. Her reactions to some of the situations were wonderful.

I'm a fan of the uncomfortable situation comedy stuff ala Meet the Parents and this one fits snugly in that category. Robert Duval was awesome in this too. "I don't want to disrespect your mother on Christmas but that woman is nothing more than a common street whore." Genius.

This is a good all around movie. Not necessarily a date movie but the ladies will like it too.

Chad's Review...See this. Or rent it since it's taken me this long to write this review. My bad.

Transporter 3

TJ says...Transporter 3 is the most recent (I dare say final) of the Transporter series. Jason Statham driving cars and kicking people? I'm in.

I didn't anticipate too much going in, other than a good time and watching stuff and people get jacked up. This movie had plenty of that. However, there was a good 45-50 mins in the middle of the movie where there was just dialogue. WTF? Come on. It's Transporter, not Pride and Prejudice.

TJ's Review...WAY to much talkie, not enough blow S up. Go see it, because J.S. is a bad mofo, but be prepared for the talking. Boo.

Chad Says...Oy vey was this movie terrible. Jason Statham doesn't make great movies, he makes action movies that are great. This one is the exception to the rule. Annoyingly horrible acting that the action couldn't make up for.

Chad's Review...Don't get me wrong, I'll still go see Transporter 4.

Quantum of Solace

TJ Says...OK, not too excited about this movie. It looked good and based on Daniel Craig, I definately wanted to see it, just not too excited. I don't remember a lot of Casino Royale, but I do remember liking it (probably because it had a lot of poker)...so let's go see QoS.

Basically, James Bond cannot be hurt by mere mortal bad guys. The movie starts with a car chase, followed by a foot chase, then here comes a boat chase, then a nice air to air combat/dog fight and finally a fire fight (both literally and figuratively at the same time). At no time was Bond ever hurt more than the obilgatory cuts and scratches. He even opened his parachute about 100 ft above ground, did the tuck and roll, and was unharmed. Come on.

The story...eh...not too exciting. Fighting fake environmentalists to control "the most important resource in the world". Not too enticing. The fight/chase scenes were cool, I just didn't think the plot was all that great.

TJ's Review...Stuff blows up, a lot. And I was entertained for two hours...so I gotta say, go see it and it's worth the time. But I guess I'm not too pumped about giving it 2 thumbs up.

Chad Says...So apparently this movie has a story. A plot if you will. Which was weird to me b/c I don't remember one. What I do remember however was a LOT of action.

The story was confusing and lost me. I don't remember the movie before this but apparently if you do this one makes sense. I had actually watched the second half of the Casino Royale a bit before this came out and remember thinking - I don't recall any of this plot, just the action.

So at least they stuck with the theme on this one.

Chad's Review...Go see this if you like action but not if you like understanding what's happening in between all that glorious action.