Total Recall

My View: Total Recall (2012) Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell) is a factory worker who is unhappy with his boring life and decides to visit Rekall, a company that, for a price, offers artificial memories of the life you wished you had lived.  Douglas, though, learns that he has a past life, a past that someone or something doesn’t want him to remember, and his new recollection could lead to his death. Think of this film as not a remake of the 1990 version starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, but it's more of a re-tooling of the film with some changes in the storyline.  I like Farrell as the man who has a hidden past, but it’s Kate Beckinsale who makes this film watchable. She is non- stop action with an attitude, and it's just a blast to watch her kick butt all over the screen. The film is a little too long and gets somewhat confusing, but it’s a good popcorn film to end the summer.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Total Recall Website

Indiefest: Ruby Sparks (2012) Calvin (Paul Dano) is a writer whose first and only book was released ten years ago, and now he is struggling to write his newest book. Inspired by a dream, he begins writing about a girl whom he names Ruby Sparks. Calvin’s life changes when he realizes that what he writes becomes real, including Ruby and her adventures. Zoe Kazan stars as Ruby (Kazan also wrote the screenplay) and is marvelous in the part of the woman that Calvin creates. The first 30 minutes of this film are really clever and amusing. The witty and clever film gets a little bogged down when it becomes more serious, but I did like the ending.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Ruby Sparks Website

Family Faire: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (2012) Greg (Zachary Gordon), Rowley (Robert Capron) and the rest of the gang are back as school is out for summer break.  Greg’s big plans have fallen through.  So, now what’s a kid to do for a whole summer? You will like this film if you are six years old and under, and any adult will just hate this stupid and unfunny film.  Greg is a whiny kid who ends up lying to just about everybody to impress the girl whom he secretly admires. Let’s hope that now that the cast has grown up and no longer fit the parts, these films will stop being made.  My Rating: You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again   Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days Website

Forgotten Film: The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980) A Bushman named Xixo (N!xau) finds a Coca-Cola bottle in the desert (it was dropped from the air by a pilot flying a plane), and he has never seen anything like it. He believes that God has given him this object, and after his fellow Bushman fight over the object, he decides to travel to the end of the earth and give the bottle back to God.  On his journey, Xixo meets rebels trying to take over a country, a school teacher who has gone toBotswana to follow her dream of educating  children and a clumsy biologist who tries, in the worst way, to meet and date the school teacher. This is a funny and smart film that treats Xixo and his ways with reverence. The romance between the biologist and the school teacher is charming, and the film ends with a satisfying big finish.   My Rating: Full Price  The Gods Must be Crazy Website 

In Case You Missed It (A Film Just Released on DVD): Detention (2011) I absolutely loved this strange film, a comedy where the student body of a high school deals with an axe-wielding serial killer named Cinderhella, who slowly kills off students. This rarely seen film is funny and has just about everything in it including spaceships, aliens, time travel and possibly the end of the world.  As I said in my review, “Any film that has a bear boarding a space ship can’t be at all bad."   My Rating: Full Price   Detention Website

In Memory of Ed Wood (A Movie I’ve Only Seen in Trailers but Just Looks Like a Bad Idea): The Possession (2012) A young girl finds a box at a yard sale with a bad spirit living in it that eventually possesses  the girl.  Another kid-possessed movie...just what the world needs.   The Possession Website

Weird Credit: From the credits of Total Recall: Piano Coach

Coming Soon to A Theatre Near You:  For a Good Time, Call… (2012) Two former school enemies (Ari Graynor and Lauren Miller) are forced to live together in an apartment. To make money, they join forces and start a phone sex line. Ari Graynor is going to be a big star, especially if she keeps making good comedies like this one.   For a Good Time Call Website

Until Next Time!