NMR: The Book of Eli

At this point I've grown a bit weary of all the post-apocalyptic films that Hollywood is offering, but this one is not terrible. In essence it plays more like a Western than an armageddon film. Starring Denzel Washington, as the man tasked with protecting a book and Gary Oldman as the man desperate to get it, these two great actors give strong performances. One of the things I didn't care for though is the disconnect between the film's message and the amount of violence depicted. This is one of the most graphic films that uses the word of God as its crutch. How much you like this film will most likely depend on your feelings on the film's ending. It provides a twist that is both clever and befuddling at the same time. I legitimately did not see it coming, so kudos to them for that. But the more I thought about what happened, the more I felt it made no sense whatsoever. At times, this film is very engaging, but the sum of the parts here doesn't add up to a whole lot. Rating: ***

Dinner theater

Steve Carell has been everywhere lately doing publicity for Dinner For Schmucks and thankfully one of his stops was a visit to the Between Two Ferns set. Check out the profanity-laced and hilarious video between the two costars below.

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis: Steve Carell from Between Two Ferns

NMR: Girl power

Here's a pair of films I recently caught about varying forms of female empowerment.

Whip It: I don't know what was the deal with this film but it took forever for this to arrive from Netflix. I swear they only had one copy of this film for the entire country. And of course, it wasn't worth the wait. Directed by Drew Barrymore, this film about a female roller derby offers no surprises. It hits all of the typical sports cliches, which at times are enjoyable but also nothing new. The film sports a decent cast, which made the film a draw in the first place, but Barrymore lacks skill as a director. The same immature, carefree attitude that she embraces in life is represented here in her work. The one nice thing about this film is seeing Daniel Stern working again - where the hell has he been for the past decade? If you enjoy sports movies, there's enough here to make this a pleasant outing. Rating: ***

The Brave One: This 2008 Jodie Foster thriller misses its mark. It's meant to show a woman's ability to bounce back from a mugging that ended up costing her fiancee's life. As it turns out, this plays more like a female version of Dirty Harry. While seeing thugs getting their comeuppance can be fun, the way it's down here is both ludicrous and too gritty. Foster's acting, as always is solid, but she is let down by the material. I also liked Terrance Howard as a cop who befriends her. If they had been given better subject material, this might have been worth your time, but sadly you should skip this one. Rating: **

Dream deconstruction

Still confused by Inception? Well maybe this infographic will help makes things more clear for you. Or maybe it will just make things more confusing. That's the crazy thing about dreams. For a larger view, just click on the image.

Jhonny Be Gone

Ever since the All-Star Break it seems that the Cleveland Indians have been making some smart moves that have been paying off. They've been bringing up some of their younger talent, playing loose and the result has been more winning. Well now they've gone and made the best move yet - from SI.com:

The banged-up Detroit Tigers acquired third baseman Jhonny Peralta from the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday for minor league left-hander Giovanni Soto.

Detroit also received cash considerations in the trade. Peralta will fill-in for Brandon Inge, the Tigers' injured third baseman.

"I was trying to do something to help our ballclub and do something to stay in this," Detroit general manager Dave Dombrowski said before the game against Tampa Bay. "We think this helps our ballclub with a solid big league player. We've got a lot of young players. Right now it gives us another veteran in our lineup."

Dombrowski said Inge (broken left hand) and second baseman Carlos Guillen (strained right calf) could return in the next two weeks. Outfielder Magglio Ordonez (broken right ankle) is expected to be out six to eight weeks.

Detroit manager Jim Leyland, after the Tigers were beat 7-4 by Tampa Bay, said Inge will start at third when he returns and that Peralta will get playing time at shortstop and DH.

"I think it sends the right message to the team," Leyland said of the trade. "We're going to do something."

The Tigers started Wednesday third in the AL Central, four games behind the Chicago White Sox.

Peralta, who might join the Tigers for Thursday's day game at Tampa Bay, was in the lineup for Cleveland's game against the New York Yankees on Wednesday, but was pulled around 6 p.m. He's batting .246 with seven homers and 43 RBIs in 91 games.

The 28-year-old Peralta is in the final season of a five-year, $13 million contract. He's making $4.6 million this season and the club has a $7 million option for 2011.

"The stark reality was we had come to the decision we were not going to pick up his option for next year," Indians general manager Mark Shapiro said.

The 19-year-old Soto has spent the entire season at Class-A West Michigan and will be assigned to Class-A Lake County. He is 6-6 with a 2.61 ERA in 16 starts.

"We're trying to make some moves that maybe help us a little bit. I don't have anything else right now," Dombrowski said.

Infielder Luis Valbuena has been called up from Triple-A Columbus to take Peralta's roster spot.

Shapiro said infielder Jared Goedert, who is batting .304 with 17 homers at Columbus, will be called up this season.

"We wanted to take a look at some of our internal alternatives at third base for next year," Shapiro said.

To make room on the 40-man roster for Peralta, Detroit designated outfielder Wilkin Ramirez for assignment.

All I can say is good riddance to a fat waste of space. I've been begging this organization to drop this bum for years and they've finally heard my pleas. All it took was for the team to hit rock bottom for them to do it. In the meantime, I think this is the start of our move back to greatness. Hey, a man can dream, can't he?

NMR: Green Zone

I'm finally starting to play catch up with all the spring movies that have come out on DVD. This one starred Matt Damon in yet another collaboration with director Paul Greengrass. Unfortunately, this one does not yield as good of a film as their previous efforts together in the Bourne franchise. The biggest problem with this film is that it can't figure out whether it wants to be a realistic depiction of the events that have taken place during this second Gulf War or if it simply wants to be 'Bourne goes to war'. It makes a political stance about the lack of WMDs in Iraq and the error in going to war for insufficient reasons, but yet it doesn't really reference any actual figures involved with the war. What we're left with is a mix of sermonizing and shaky cam action scenes. Having said all that, this is not necessarily a bad film. Damon and Greengrass are both skilled enough at what they do to make this an enjoyable ride. Most will also agree with the message of the film, even if they didn't do a decent job supporting it. There have been a lot of bad movies made about the Iraq war, but this isn't one of them. So while it's somewhat disappointing, it's a better choice than most of the ones out there. Rating: ****

Mind heist

So of course I'm still thinking about Inception and one of the things that I failed to praise in my review was the riveting score by Hans Zimmer that's heard throughout the film. One of the pieces was also used in one of Inception's trailers as well. I'm not the only one to take notice of it apparently as there is a new Internet fad where people are using the music to create trailers for other films/shows. Below are four of my favorites that use the music well and have it sync up nicely with the images used.

MotherChucker

Big news coming out of Comic-Con today regarding the upcoming season of Chuck and specifically the announcement of who will be playing the superspy's mom this fall. Here's EW.com with the report:

The search for Chuck’s mom has officially been terminated, and with good reason: Linda Hamilton has already landed the part!

The erstwhile Sarah Connor will make her first appearance as Zachary Levi’s MIA spy mama Mary Bartowski in Chuck‘s fourth-season premiere on Sept. 20. (Hamilton’s hiring is slated to be announced at Chuck‘s Comic-Con panel this morning.)

“We’re always looking for guest stars who will be great in the part, but who also speak to our audience and feel like it comes out of the universe of our show,” says exec producer Josh Schwartz. “If Chuck and Morgan were watching Chuck, they would be excited about Linda coming on board.” Adds fellow EP Chris Fedak: “Chuck was certainly a Terminator fan, and Morgan was a Beauty and the Beast fan.”

But Schwartz is quick to add that Hamilton brings more to the role than just a fanboy-friendly resume. “Obviously her body of work was important to us, but also knowing what this part was and the intensity that we were going to need from someone, Linda was a natural fit. She’ll be [kicking ass] right out of the gate.”

“The mystery surrounding Chuck’s mom is at the heart of the season, and there are going to be some shocking surprises in the first episode,” previews Fedak. “By the end of the episode we are going to turn everything on its head with regard to who she is.”

NMR: Bonus Nolan

Most people probably believe that Christopher Nolan's first film was Memento, but you would be wrong. Turns out he made a small independent film back in 1998 called Following. The story involves a man who has a bizarre habit of randomly following people out of curiosity and his habit ends up turning his life upside down when he meets a small time crook. It is clear very early on that a lot of the themes that are present in all of Nolan's films began here. The story is very unique, but this is the definition of shoe string budget. Shot in black and white, the film doesn't have a great look, but Nolan's certainly does the best with what he has. This is not a film for everyone, but if you're a really big fan of his work, this is worth a watch, if for no other reason than sheer curiosity. The film is currently available for Instant Viewing on Netflix. Rating: ****

Buried treasure

So I saw Inception last Saturday, but I held off on the review in hopes that I would actually get to see the film again. Since that hasn't happened yet, I figured I might as well and do this write up now before it gets too late.

Director Christopher Nolan has quickly gotten the reputation for being one of the most inventive filmmakers of this era, so it's saying something when I tell you that this may be his most creative yet. This mind-trip of a film will stick with you long after you leave the theater. At one point in the film, Cobb (played by Leonardo Dicaprio) says that an idea is the most persistent thing in the world today - once it enters your mind, you can't get rid of it. Well this movie is certainly reflective of that. It will leave you guessing as to what you are seeing on the screen is real or not.

Trying to explain this film is somewhat difficult given that I don't want to give too much away (the less you know going in, the better) and because it's not an easy concept to explain in the first place. The premise though is that Cobb has the ability to enter someone's dream and steal secrets and thoughts that are trapped in that person's subconscious. He, along with his crew, are hired by a Japanese businessman (played wonderfully by Ken Watanabe) to head into the mind of one of his rivals.

Soon things get real crazy as they are able to enter into dreams of dreams and dreams of dreams of dreams. This multi-layered approach requires your full attention, but the viewer is also rewarded. One of the best things about this film is that it works on several different layers. If you're not into the head games so much, you can also enjoy the film for its action as Cobb's team tries to commit this heist. One of the best scenes in the entire film is the anti-gravity fight scene that takes place in a hotel hallway. Wonderfully shot, the scene is enthralling and clever all at once. And you'll appreciate it more when you read how this was done using old school filmmaking instead of using a bunch of CGI.

There's also a romantic subplot interwoven into this film as well. As Cobb tries to pull off his caper, he also is trying to deal with the death of his wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard). Her presence has a profound effect on Cobb and how successful he is in doing his job. Just as we've seen in many of Nolan's films, this is ultimately a story about a man, his obsessions and the toll that obsession has on him and everyone around him. We root for him to overcome his demons, even though we realize it may not be possible.

Of course, the part most everyone is already talking about and will be for a while is the film's final shot. I obviously don't want to say what that involves here, but I absolutely love how much fervor and discussion it has generated. To me, I find that to be one of the marks of a great film. When just a simple image can generate such passion and theorizing from audiences, you know you've done a good job. I know I will want to discuss the meaning behind the shot with anyone and everyone that's willing to talk about it with me.

I'm glad to see that this film has already done well at the box office, but if you're still on the fence, let me give you that last shove. Go see this movie! And if you've seen it once, see it again. Like most of Nolan's films, viewers are rewarded with repeat viewings of the film. There are plenty of films that are suitable as passive entertainment, but there are only a few films that can enthrall your eyes and your mind and every other part of your body like Inception does. It's the type of film that most people in Hollywood can only dream of. Grade: A-

Scooby Doo Dis

Apparently, a new version of Scooby Doo debuted on Cartoon Network recently and as Joel McHale of The Soup points out here, they've decided to throw in some social commentary to these new episodes. Take a look.

NMR: Que Cera Cera

Youth in Revolt: This is a bizarre coming-of-age film that couldn't really seem to find the right tone. Part of the problem is that it reportedly had been sitting on the shelves for a while before getting released and the marketing behind it focused on aspects that do not play a large role in the actual film (like Zack Galifianakis' presence). At times the film wants to play like a realistic portrayal of teen angst, and then other times it tries to have a whimsical, fantasy feel too it. While it boasts an impressive cast (besides those mentioned already, Fred Willard, Justin Long, Jean Smart, Ray Liotta, and Steve Buscemi all show up at various points), that actually works against the film. None of it feels very real when all of these big names keep popping in to scenes. The film has a few funny moments to avoid it from being a complete waste, but for the most part this feels like been there, done that (better). Rating: ***

Paper Heart: Released in 2009 this is documentary with fictional elements. It centers around Charlene Yi (Knocked Up) and her quest to not only find out what love is, but find love for herself. Along the way, she meets Michael Cera and they begin a (real?) relationship. The concept sounds interesting, but it doesn't work in its execution. If this is an actual relationship between these two, it's too intimate of a subject for it to be captured on film. And if it's a phony relationship, then why put on the pretense of it being real? The other parts of the film where Yi interviews other strangers and friends about their feelings on love feel too random and disjointed to draw you in. While some may find the central actors appealing, their quirks were too much for me and ruined the film. Rating: **

Boston baked Bens

Here's a pair of trailers featuring Ben Affleck in his native Boston. Both seem to be striving to make a splash come awards season, but I have my doubts as to whether either will actually succeed. Take a look for yourself and see what you think.

How bout them survivors?

Some interesting, and frankly shocking news about who one of the new castaways will be on this upcoming season of Survivor taking place in Nicaragua. From dallasnews.com:

Jimmy Johnson won a college football championship and two Super Bowls. But can he survive in the wilderness?

The former Dallas Cowboys coach will be a contestant on the CBS reality show "Survivor: Nicaragua" this fall, a source close to Johnson told the Dallas Morning News.

The series is being taped in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. Filming started at the end of June, according to local reports.

The filming schedule will leave Johnson plenty of room to return in time for the NFL season. Johnson is an analyst for the Fox NFL Sunday studio show.

Johnson, 67, will be one of the oldest contestants to ever appear on “Survivor,” one of his favorite television shows. The Miami Herald reported last year that he was almost a contestant on "Survivor: Gabon" (which aired in 2008), but he failed a physical. He has lost weight since.

Johnson coached the Cowboys from 1989-1993 and won back-to-back Super Bowls. He also coached the University of Miami, Oklahoma State and Miami Dolphins.

"Survivor: Nicaragua" will be broadcast in September on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. (a switch from its Thursday time slot in recent years). CBS usually releases a cast list a few weeks before the first episode.

"Survivor" throws contestants into the wilderness with little or no supplies and food. Contestants face physical and mental challenges and are voted out by their tribe members. The last remaining contestant after 39 days earns the title of Sole Survivor and wins $1 million.

Social gathering

The teaser came out a few weeks ago and now here is the first full trailer for the upcoming film on Facebook's founders called The Social Network. The subject seems a little too recent to be made into a film, but this still intrigues me nonetheless.

NMR: Genre du jour - 80s comedies

Here's a trio of films that are shockingly now over 20 years old (That makes me feel old).

Bachelor Party: I know this is supposed to be only of the classic 80s comedies, but I did not enjoy this at all. I found most of the characters to be unlikeable and annoying. And I didn't get the humor in most of the pranks they pulled. The only bright spot was seeing that Tom Hanks was clearly a star in the making. He's the only thing tolerable in this film. It's interesting to note that I did not care for this or the classic 70s comedy, Animal House. Yet, I love more modern ones like Old School, American Pie, Wedding Crashers, and The Hangover. I wonder if there is something about needing to be young in the era the film was made in order to appreciate this genre or if these more recent films are actually better than these supposed classics. Rating: **

The Dream Team: A wasted opportunity here. The premise offered a lot of promise - a doctor takes four of his mental patients to a baseball game, but ends up getting attacked, leaving the patients to fend for themselves in New York City. Instead of really trying to have fun with this notion of nutcases loose in a major city, the plot resorts to tired cliches involving corrupt cops and silly chases. Instead of depicting true mental illness, the four patients (played by Michael Keaton, Christopher Lloyd, Peter Boyle, and Stephen Furst) just come off as mildly annoying. This is pretty standard fare. Rating: ***

Parenthood: Finally, we get a winner. This is a wonderful film showcasing a variety of familial situations. On paper, the characters seem like they'll be cliches, but the wonderful cast makes them fully realized and true. Credit to Ron Howard who is able to balance the large cast and give each of them significant time to allow their story arcs play out. While I doubt this will encourage me to see the new NBC drama based on the film, I can now see why they would want to develop it into a series. Of the three, this is the one I'd recommend you check out if you've never done so before. Rating: ****

An appetite for change

I know I'm a few days behind on this, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to post this hilarious video from this past week's ESPY awards featuring Steve Carell and Paul Rudd spoofing the Lebron James 'Decision' special.

*cue losing horns

It appears The Price is Right has lost its voice. The news below comes from Buzzerblog and pretty much expresses the same sentiment that I feel regarding this unfortunate news.

Sadly, news was confirmed today that Rich Fields is no longer the announcer for the long running CBS daytime game show The Price is Right, hosted by Drew Carey. Rumors about this have been swirling for around two months now. Rich has been the announcer of the show since 2004, taking over for the deceased Rod Roddy. I wish Rich the best. He’s a great friend to the site and unbelievably nice.

On-camera auditions will take place the first few weeks of the new season of Price which begins in September. New tapings start next week and hopefully we’ll hear back. And just before the deluge of questions come on: I truly have no idea what happened. I’m usually in the loop for this stuff, but I’m stumped on this one.

One more request, also. The show’s not going to suddenly self destruct so I’d really like to kindly ask people to not do the usual Price thing where something changes and there’s a witch hunt against Drew and doom being spouted left and right. Be supportive and wish Rich your best. He reads and your messages are welcome.

I know these rumors have been around for a while. I have a rule that I won’t post rumors about people like this. It’s just without taste to post rumors about someone’s career. It’s confirmed now, and I hope to see Rich somewhere else soon.

Reynolds' wrap

Here's your first look, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, at Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern, which comes out in theaters next summer.

Save the Date

Check out the first trailer for Todd Phillips' (The Hangover) latest comedy, Due Date, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Zack Galifianakis.

Hulk clash!

Looks like Bruce Banner is getting another facelift for the upcoming Avengers movie. From comingsoon.net:

Edward Norton will not be reprising his role as Dr. Bruce Banner, reports HitFix, who say that Marvel Studios plan to cast a new actor in the part.

The report theorizes that a deal could not be made, despite Edward Norton wanting to join the ensemble cast that will include Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Chris Evans as Captain America.

Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige confirmed the report with the following statement he sent to the site:

"We have made the decision to not bring Ed Norton back to portray the title role of Bruce Banner in the Avengers. Our decision is definitely not one based on monetary factors, but instead rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members. The Avengers demands players who thrive working as part of an ensemble, as evidenced by Robert, Chris H, Chris E, Sam, Scarlett, and all of our talented casts. We are looking to announce a name actor who fulfills these requirements, and is passionate about the iconic role in the coming weeks."

Marvel Studios is planning a May 4, 2012 release for The Avengers.

NMR: Defiance

If you're unfamiliar with the title, this was the WWII film released a few years ago starring Daniel Craig and Liev Schrieber. It's clear watching the film that they had high expectations for this to compete during the awards seasons, but it's so far away from being an award-worthy film, it's not even funny. The film hits every single cliche from the war genre and each one feels more false than the previous one. Despite some quality actors trying to turn in good performances, nothing around them works. This is based on a true story, but everything you see on screen feels like a manufacture of the Hollywood machine. It's a shame seeing talented actors wasted like this, but they are and everything can go ahead and skip this one. No history lesson will be learned here. Rating: **

Stephen v. Steven

In case you missed, you can check out below the awesome highlights of Steve Carell's recent visit to The Colbert Report with his old Daily Show chum, Stephen Colbert.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Carell Corral
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election Fox News

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Steve Carell
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election Fox News

Emmy please!

So today the Emmy nominations were announced. You can read the full list here. Here are some quick thoughts I have based on the list...

- Overall, I would have to say that this was one of the least offensive list of nominations in quite a few years. Particularly on the drama side of things I felt almost all of the categories had worthy nominees, even if there were some omissions.
- The comedy side of the nominations was a little less appealling. I still don't get the appeal of either Glee or Modern Family, but I'm not blind so I fully expected to see them get as many nominations as they did.
- Happy to see Amy Poehler get a nom for Parks and Recreation, but sad that it failed to get any other major nominations. Where's the love for Ron Swanson?
- Disappointed that John Noble (Walter Bishop on Fringe) didn't get a nomination, but when you look at the other nominees in his category, it's hard to pick someone there who didn't deserve one. With Lost now done, hopefully that will open up some room for him to get a nomination next year.
- Speaking of Lost, it was nice to see them get plenty of recognition on their way out. On top of Ben and Locke getting noms in the supporting category, Matthew Fox picked up his first nomination in the lead acting category.
- Shocked that Survivor did not get a nomination for best reality show for it's Heroes vs. Villians season. How it didn't get chosen over Project Runway or Dancing With the Stars is baffling.
- As usual there was the usual Emmy darlings that had no business getting nominations; I'm talking about picks like Tony Shaloub for Monk and Jon Cryer for Two and Half Men.
- And in some small sense of vindication, Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show got a nomination for Best Comedy/Variety Program and Leno's did not. The Emmy's air on NBC this year, so it should be interesting to see what happens when Conan comes back to his old network for one night. You can watch that and all the other festivities when the Emmys air on August 29th.

Come on!

I got hopeful that this was a real trailer for the Arrested Development movie, but apparently I made a huge mistake. Instead, this fan-made trailer is cut so as to make the movie seem like it would be an action thriller instead of a comedy. Nicely done, but I so wish it would have been the real thing.

NMR: The Wolfman

This oft delayed film turned out to be not as bad as I feared. While it covers a lot of familiar territory (let's face it this isn't an original idea), I give director Joe Johnson for giving this film a great look. The way he depicts foggy old England creates an eerie atmosphere that is perfect for this film. Benecio Del Toro is fine as the Wolfman and Anthony Hopkins hams it up as Del Toro's father in a way that only he can do. Emily Blunt is beautiful as always, however I didn't necessarily buy the romance they try to create between her and Del Toro. As for the action, for every scene that's done effectively, there's another scene that comes off very cheesy. In the end, this will probably only be appreciated by those who enjoy films from this genre. Rating: ***

Happy 4th!

Enjoy your holiday everyone! Be safe and don't do anything stupid like this guy.

NMR: Genre du jour - 90s sci-fi

I don't know what it is about Dayton, but ever since I've moved back, my Netflix service has been lacking. I don't get new releases immediately like I used to when I was in NC. As a result, I've been catching up on a lot of older movies that I never had a chance to see when they were first released. Today, it's a pair of science fiction films from the 90s.

Stargate: It's a wonder how there have been multiple, successful spin-offs television shows given how underwhelming I thought this movie was. Everything pretty much felt phoned in here. They started off with an interesting concept (finding a portal that can send you through time to different universes) and then did nothing with it. I felt like I could predict how everything would play out well before it happened. This movie seemed to just borrow ideas from other, more successful sci-fi films and try to pass them off as fresh. I would imagine most of the visual effects look good for the day, but now they come off looking bad as well. A definite disappointment here. Though I've never seen an episode of the spin-off shows, it sounds like everyone would be better to just watch them instead. Rating: **

Demolition Man: Starring Sly Stallone and Wesley Snipes, this is one loud, noisy sci-fi/action picture. On one hand, I'd like to credit them for some inventiveness in the way they depict the future as this utopian, pacifist place, but I found the execution of this idea to be irritating after a few minutes. There are also some subtle jabs at 90s culture in the film, but sadly those feel dated now. Once you strip that away, you're left with the action sequences between Stallone and Snipes which were run-of-the-mill and unengaging. I wish I could have liked this film better, but time has not aged it well. Rating: **