21 Jump Street

My View: 21 Jump Street (2012) In this comedy, based on the 80’s TV show of the same name, Jonah Hill plays a high school nerd, and Channing Tatum plays the big man on campus who gets all the girls with his looks and attitude. Seven years later, the two decide to help each other graduate from the Police Academy. After graduation, they join the 21 Jump Street program and go undercover in high school to stop a drug gang. This is Jonah Hill’s film (he co-wrote the story), and his type of humor is very evident throughout. There is good chemistry between Tatum and Hill, and both do a good job of playing off of each other. There are some very funny bits, like an extended chase sequence with a running gag that has a hilarious payoff.  Sometimes, though, the film goes just a little too far or goes for the easy joke. My Rating: Bargain Matinee    21 Jump Street Website

Indiefest (A Look at a Small, Indie or Foreign Film):  Friends with Kids (2012) Writer/Director Jennifer Westfeldt (Kissing Jessica Stein) is back with a look at a couple (Westfeldt and Adam Scott) who examine their unhappy married friends and decide they can raise a kid in a better environment by just staying friends and not complicating things with love/marriage. This is a highly entertaining film with a marvelous cast, including Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Chris O’Dowd all who play the two married couples.  Megan Fox and Edward Burns play the love interests of Scott and Westfeldt, but it’s Westfeldt who makes you love this film. She is perfect in the role of the insecure woman who wants a kid but also wants the dream man. As with Kissing Jessica Stein, Westfeldt brings a film to life that is an entirely new look at the romantic comedy. My Rating: Full Price   Friends with Kids Website

My View: Seeking Justice (2012) Continuing in the vein of crappy movies he has been making lately, Nicolas Cage plays the husband whose wife (January Jones) is brutally raped. In the hospital, Cage's character is approached by a man who says he knows who the rapist is and, if Cage gives the word, the rapist will be killed.  The only catch is that someday Cage will have to do a “favor” for the secret organization the man works for.  Cage agrees, the rapist is killed, and Cage must start doing what the secret organization wants him to do. This is a film that has the words “straight to video” plastered all over it, with bad writing (at times the plot becomes laughable), bad acting (January Jones is so robotic that I wonder if she is a Stepford wife) and a plot so transparent, the audience figures out things ten minutes before the characters on the screen do. My Rating: You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again   Seeking Justice Info

The 50 (A Movie From My Best/Worst Film of All Time)

24th Best Film:

Notorious (1946) Alfred Hitchcock directs this tale of intrigue, set in post World War II Brazil, full of spies, Nazis and love. A woman (Ingrid Bergman), whose father was convicted of helping the German government during the war, is approached by a US spy (Cary Grant) to help infiltrate a group of men who are members of the Nazi government in hiding. Using the connections of her father, the woman starts dating one of the leaders of the Nazi party while she is falling in love with the U.S. spy. This film has amazing suspense, and Bergman and Grant heat up the screen with their fiery romance. This classic film has one of the greatest camera moves in the history of cinema with a shot that starts high above a party scene and slowly lowers to a close-up of the hands of Bergman as she clutches a key behind her back.  It's a remarkable shot that makes this one of the best of Hitchcock’s films.   Notorious Info

Forgotten Film: The Hot Rock (1972) Robert Redford plays Dortmunder, a convicted thief who, upon his release from prison, is convinced by his brother-in-law (George Segal) to go on one last big score and steal a precious diamond from a museum. They hire a crew to do the job and plan an elaborate scheme to make the diamond heist. But, things don’t go as planned and get very complicated very fast. This is a very funny film with lots of twists and turns that have hilarious results, and Redford is perfect as the thief who, as things get more complicated, masterminds a break into not one, but two prisons.  My Rating: Full Price   The Hot Rock Info

In Case You Missed it (A Film Just Released on DVD): The Descendants (2011) A film that I considered one of the best of 2011 and certainly deserving of its Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. George Clooney is excellent as a father who tries to keep his family together after his wife is in an accident.  It's Shailene Woodley, though, as Clooney’s rebellious daughter, who makes this film work so well. My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again   The Descendants Website

In Memory of Ed Wood (A Movie I’ve Only Seen in Trailers but Looks Like a Bad Idea): American Reunion (2012) Do we need another sequel to the American Pie franchise? Someone please make it stop!   American Reunion Website

Weird Credits: From the credits of Seeking Justice: Special Thanks to Frye Boots

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You: The Cabin in the Woods (2012) This horror film comes from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer team of Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard and was a big hit just recently at SXSW. The film will be the closing night film of the Atlanta Film Festival at the end of this month.   The Cabin in the Woods Website

Until Next Time!