geekdrifter

Directors: Phil Lord, Chris Miller

Stars: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube

21 Jump Street does not take itself too seriously. In fact it pokes fun of itself during one of the scenes where stars Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum are sitting with the captain of the police force. Forget the plot. It is merely a helpful guideline to keep the movie from becoming the funniest hour and a half episode of ‘Cops’ you will ever see. I must admit I do remember the original tv show, but could not tell you the character names or a specific episode. The good thing about 21 Jump Street is that you don’t need to have watched or been a fan of the show to enjoy the movie. Although fans of the original will be pleasantly surprised.

For those who are interested in the plot, Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum are two undercover cops assigned to a high school to contain a popular new drug from spreading to other high schools and the city. Hill’s character Schmidt is the brains of the duo. Acing his police academy exams yet failing the physical tests, he befriends Jenko(Tatum) who is the dim witted good looking athlete who helps Schmidt get in shape. In return Schmidt tutors Jenko and the two become partners. Jenko, who was the popular kid in high school thinks returning to high school is going to be a walk in the park. Schmidt on the other hand is worried that he will remain unpopular and is surprised to find that he fits right in with the youth of today. Concerned about keeping the earth green and with all the technology woven into the daily lives of almost everyone, Schimdt finds this to be the time of his life. Jenko on the other hand is forced to swallow his pride and become friends with the science nerds who befriend him and show teach him about chemistry and other nerdy things. It’s a very funny role reversal that plays well into the movie.

As far as buddy cop movies go, 21 Jump Street is more Dumb and Dumber than Bad Boys. It’s good to see Jonah Hill back to being a funny guy after his last effort with ‘The Babysitter’. Channing Tatum showed his chops by hitting with one liners and physical comedy that was truly funny to watch. Overall I enjoyed this movie and think it could be a hit with the young audience along with older fans of the original tv show. This movie isn’t going to replace The Hangover or Superbad, but it’s a good comedy that you will enjoy.

Director: Nima Nourizadeh
 
Stars: Thomas Mann, Oliver Cooper, Jonathan Daniel Brown
 
Personally I’m not a big fan of movies that sell the audience on the fact that it’s being produced by a director (Todd Phillips) from an entirely different film that did very well (The Hangover). With that said, Project X is still a fun movie that will be talked about and referenced to for weeks to come. There’s nothing more fun than being at a great party, and Project X puts you square in the middle of one the craziest and largest house parties ever.
 
It starts off with Costa, the wannabe gangsta that wears a sweater vest throughout the entire movie. It’s clear Costa is the troublemaker of the trio. His search for social approval among his friends is the most important thing to him and decides to take it upon himself to throw his friend Thomas a huge birthday party that will get them the recognition he wants. Thomas is the reserved type who drives the family minivan to school which he got from his parents as a birthday gift. He’s against the idea and only wants a “max of fifty people” to attend his party. More than fifty show up. A lot more.
 
From here the roller coaster begins and it doesn’t stop until the final scene. The characters, like two skinny twelve year old security guards taking their job way too seriously to a small person who goes around punching people in the groin, are the glue that keeps Project X from becoming just another pop music video. One thing to note: the cameraman is actually a character in the movie. Rarely seen or heard from except for a few self shots in the mirrors and interaction with the main characters, the audience is put into his perspective which I thought was genius. You really feel the atmosphere of the party while walking with the cameraman. It added a sense of realism to the movie.
 
If you have any expectations about Project X they will be met and probably exceeded. It’s not The Hangover like the movie studios want to make you believe, but it is a unique and fun movie on it’s own to watch.

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Director: Andrew Niccol
 
Stars: Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy
 
Set in a fictional near future the human species has mastered the ability to control the aging process where everyone does not age past twenty five as long as they have enough time. Justin Timberlake (Will Salas) is a hard working average male who is living with his mom (Olivia Wilde). Will saves a rich man from death by a group of thugs and is given over a century in time. With time he decides to cross the time zones, where the different classes are separated, and take down the system that keeps people down.
 
Talk about being relevant to the times. Take away the sci-fi and you find a story that could be the benchmark for the Occupy Wall Street protestors here in Houston. Will Salas has a plan to take down the company and finds a partner in crime in Amanda Seyfried (Sylvia Weis). Sylvia is the daughter of uber wealthy Philippe Weis. She is attracted to Will and finds his unique outlook on life as a way of pissing off her father. There’s a strong Bonnie and Clyde vibe going on with Will and Sylvia that I got when they began to rob the banks that manages the time needed to live. Even giving away the time to people in the ghetto and time zones. Robin Hood would have been so proud.
 
In a major city you find the hustle and bustle of everyday people and don’t think much of it. But when Sylvia watches Will run, the act revealed Will’s true identity among the rich. I found this very honest and raw with respect to the real world and how it works in much the same way. Those who have don’t feel rushed, and those who don’t have rush along. This one scene really brings home the fact that Will is fighting for something he truly believes in and made me believe as well.
 
Cillian Murphy (Raymond Leon) is a timekeeper whose job is to keep track of time being distributed among the people. In short he is basically the time police. When Will and Sylvia are robbing the banks of time, Raymond is sent to capture them and restore order. Murphy’s character was a tough one to figure out. On one hand he is a by the books kind of guy who built his way up. Yet on the other hand he is in the same situation as Will where time is not a luxury afforded to him either since timekeepers aren’t paid well.

The one constant throughout the movie were the number of time references/puns. It seemed like every exchange of conversation mentioned how much time they have or how time could not be wasted. In Time kept me entertained with both it’s witty dialogue and James Bond like action sequences that should be a movie to look for in theatres.

Director: Chris Miller
 
Stars: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton
 
Coming off the huge success of the Shrek movies, the lovable and yet deadly Puss in Boots gets his own movie to explain his origin tale. Set in the similar fantasy world as Shrek, Puss in Boots 3D is a great spin-off film that continues the laughs for the young, old and everyone in between.
 
Voiced by Antonio Banderas, Puss in Boots is like the “most interesting man in the world” from those Dos X’s commercials. Always a step ahead of everyone and somehow manages to be at the right place at the right time. However when Puss runs into a mysterious feline with his type of flair and talents, he is shocked to learn it is the stunning Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek). Almost immediately Puss is changed and turns into a gushy teenage boy flushed with love.

Humpty Alexander Dumpty is introduced as Puss’ childhood best friend when the two were orphans living in the same town. They become enamored with the idea of magic beans that can make them rich when used to climb a beanstalk and recover the golden eggs from a castle in the sky. This leads to Puss and Humpty becoming thieves and running into trouble with the law. They disappoint their foster mother Imelda who believes they are better than that. Puss is tricked into a bank robbery that forces him to leave the town that he loved.

As a kids movie there are some pretty grim characters like Jack and Jill that added a sense of scary that might be too much for young moviegoers. One scene where Jack shoots a patron (offscreen) of a hotel seemed a bit too much. Wielding a gun and being described as murderous villains doesn’t sound too nice or happy for a kids flick about animated kittens and geese.

In my opinion, 3D is best utilized when used with animated movie like Puss in Boots, and it does not disappoint. With a familiar character and a new story, Puss in Boots is a great family flick that could expand the fantasy universe that Shrek opened.

Director: Ariel Schulman, Henry Joost
 
Stars: Christopher Nicolas Smith, Lauren Bittner, Jessica Tyler Brown, Chloe Csengery
 
Paranormal Activity 3 continues the prequel to the series by taking the audience back to the beginnings of Katie and her younger sister Kristi with experiences of a demonic entity. The third film takes place in the late 80’s as Katie and Kristi are young girls. A couple new characters are introduced to the series. First are the parents of Katie and Kristi, Julie and Dennis. Dennis is self employed as a wedding videographer, and must be extremely expensive seeing as he purchased a new home while also providing for his family of four. But that’s besides the point. Julie is the mother who is a stay at home mom, as far as I can tell. She is the skeptic that doesn’t believe anything that Dennis brings to her as evidence.
 
The third installment is an origin tale of how the paranormal activity came about and in my honest opinion, does a very terrible job of building up the suspense. The opening scene shows us Katie, Kristi and her husband Daniel in the basement going through some boxes full of old pictures and clothes. While sifting through the boxes, they come upon some old VHS tapes. These tapes turn out to be old footage of Katie during her birthday party in 1989. Not sure what the significance is, maybe I missed it.
 
Anyways, these old VHS tapes take us back to when Dennis, Katie and Kristi’s stepfather, and Julie first move into their new home. After a couple days, the thing that brought us to watch this movie starts to happen. Now this was my first viewing of a Paranormal Activity movie in theatres, so I was excited/nervous about the reaction I was going to let go. There’s something about being freaked out with an audience that just makes it much more memorable. The cheap thrills were there, along with the truly shocking images that were not shown in the trailer, which is very satisfying to me personally.
 
Kristi befriends an invisible friend that no one can see but her and with the recent awkward situations, Dennis sets up his VHS recording cameras to capture whatever might be going on. Dennis has a friend/coworker that helps him named Randy. Randy is a young guy who just so happens to mention the “Bloody Mary” dare that is overheard by Katie. So, one night while taking care of Katie, Dennis is coaxed into performing the dare. Bad move.
 
If you are looking for more of the same from the first two movies you won’t be disappointed. New directors Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost from Catfish fame, do a respectable job. However, fans looking for a shocking conclusion may be disappointed with the reveal. I would not be surprised to see this series push out more movies every Halloween. Go see it and have some fun getting scared. Happy Halloween!

Director: George Clooney
 
Stars: Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood and Marisa Tomei
 
The Ides of March is a political thriller that follows Stephen (Ryan Gosling), a bright young campaign advisor, during his work with potential presidential candidate Gov. Mike Morris (George Clooney). Also working on Gov Morris’ campaign is Paul Tara (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the senior campaign advisor for Gov. Morris and Stephen’s mentor. With the Ohio primary only days away, Stephen begins to see the dirty underbelly of politics that has him right in the middle.
 
Stephen truly believes in Gov. Morris and is betting his life that Morris will win the Democratic nomination for president of the United States. However, when Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti) calls Stephen to reveal some disturbing news to Gov Morris’ campaign, Stephen’s life begins a downward spiral that can only end with his candidate losing the election.
 
With so many scandals painting the newspapers and blogs online nowadays, Ides of March takes a page from any one of those stories, and adds a bit of flair for the dramatic to create a thrilling drama that truly impresses. The all star cast takes Ides of March up another level with so many wonderful scenes of honest dialogue. Taking a topic most people find boring and turning it into an attention grabbing thriller is a feat upon itself. George Clooney achieves a great feat with this film and I’m looking forward to his next project.