Knowing

What if you knew when and where a disaster was going to happen? What if you were told the date of your death? How would you live the last moments of your life if you could predict the total destruction of the world? These are the questions put before us in the movie “Knowing” staring Nicholas Cage. I happen to be a big fan of Nicholas Cage and have seen most of his movies (looking for a good Nic Cage rental try Matchstick Men 2003) However, I don’t expect Nic to “knock one out of the park” like a Tom Hanks. His performance in “Know” was consistence with my expectations. Two supporting actors in this movie also did a great job-Chandler Canterbury(who plays Nicholas’ son Caleb Koestler) and Lara Robinson. Lara plays both the disturbed school kid of 1959 and her present day grandchild. Parents should pay attention to the PG-13 rating of this movie. In my movie theater, one mother brought her 8 year old daughter and spent most of the movie sitting in the lobby. Today’s special effects can seem very real!

I Love you, man!

I Love you, Man!

As Peter Klaven(played by Paul Rudd) prepares for his wedding to Zooey(played by Rashida Jones) he realizes that he has no one to be his best man(usually reserved for your best friend). This motivates him to go “shopping” for someone to play this role. His process for finding a best friend resembles that of finding a soul mate. This leads to the kissing of some frogs (both figuratively and literally!) Like dating, when you least expect it, your “intended” will appear. Peter finds kinship in the likes of Sydney Fife(played by Jason Segel) Jason Segel is hilarious as usually. Jason (who also started in “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Knocked up”) has no trouble carrying the movie. Because Peter never had a best friend(or many guy fiends for that matter) growing up, he does not know the vocabulary and mannerisms of the average American Neanderthal male. Learning to talk and act like a guy puts Peter into some funny scenes. It is not surprising that the king of male testosterone (Lou Ferrigno/The Incredible Hulk) makes several cameos in the movie. As an added bonus, Peter and his new best friend Sydney share a love of the 70’s rock group RUSH. They go to a RUSH concert that features their hit “Limelight”. The movie earns its “R” rating due to its dialog. A must see for any guy that enjoys poking fun at the strange things guys do and say.

Push

Like many movies before it, Push uses the “humans with special powers” formula to entertain its audience. Set in Hong Kong, Push introduces us to: Watchers(can see the future), Pushers(can influence your thoughts), Movers(can move objects with their mind), and several others. I especially liked the scenes containing both the good and bad characters possessing the same special power. The result is both physical and mental warfare. Dakota Fanning plays the main character(Cassie Holmes) and is the big star in the movie. She did a great job and I look forward to seeing her in many future mature roles. A wide age range of viewers will enjoy this movie. The younger viewer will appreciate the special effects and the older viewers (like me) will enjoy the plot. One test of a good movie is its ability to bring you back for a sequel. The writers leave that door open and I believe I would go see it.

Milk

Milk is the true story about Harvey Milk and takes place in the Castro District of San Francisco in the 70’s. Harvey Milk was California's first openly gay elected official. He held the office of San Francisco Supervisor. At first glance, you might think this is a movie about gay rights. You would be right but it is about much more. It is about human rights. It is about living a meaningful life and it is about being brave and doing what’s right. Sean Penn and James Franco did an awesome job as Harvey Milk and Harvey’s gay lover respectively. Although the love scenes were uncomfortable, it added realism to the movie. That being said, it is “R” rated for a reason and is not appropriate for younger kids. Because it is a true story, we all know that Harvey Milk(and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone) is shot and killed by another San Francisco supervisor-Dan White. For those of you that are too young to remember seeing this on the TV News in 1979, Google the term “Twinkie Defense”. It will make you think twice about consuming mass quantities of junk food high in sugar!

Slumdog Millionaire

This is my first five Swedish Fish rating and for good reasons. The movie has everything I enjoy in a movie: great plot, believable story, intriguing characters, and an interesting backdrop for the movie (Mumbai, India). Slumdog Millionaire’s underlining theme is we are all a sum total of our experiences. Jamal Malik(played by Dev Patel) uses his experiences to answer obscure questions while on India’s version of “Who wants to be a Millionaire”. Watching a very poor and homeless Jamal (and his brother Salim played by Madhur Mittal) growing up in Mumbai; my first thought is “how can anyone live like that”? The answer came again and again as Jamal and others are determined to survive doing wherever it takes. If you watch closely you will notice several subplots: the love and the betrayal of a brother, rags to riches physically but never really leaving the slums mentally, the desperate children that are ultimately stronger than those that take advantage of them. Freida Pinto plays Latika who is Jamal’s friend as a child and who becomes his destiny as an adult. Slumdog Millionaire gets my vote for Academy Award’s Best Picture. Not too bad for a movie that was originally scheduled to go directly to DVD!

Yes Man

I find people either love or hate a movie where Jim Carrey is in the starring role. You couldn’t pay my wife to sit through a movie with him in it but I am the exact opposite. In his comedy movie’s (i.e. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective-1994) he is “spilt-the-gut” funny. In his serious roles (i.e. The Truman Show-1998) he is very believable. This is one of his classic comedy movies. Yes Man has your standard gags but also has your unexpected twists that keep the movie interesting. The movie also stars Zooey Deschanel who plays Carrey’s love interest- Allison. I have never seen her in any other movies but I think she did a great job alongside Carl Allen (Jim Carey). The movie pokes fun at the motivational speaker stereo type with the all too real “cult-like” following. However, before the movie ends, it does show you the “man behind the curtain”. A very funny supporting character is Carl’s boss Norman played by Rhys Darby. Norman’s “Harry Potter” and “300” theme parties are very comical. If you like Carrey’s type of humor you will enjoy this movie.

Gran Torino

I have been a big fan of Clint Eastwood from the Spaghetti Western(i.e. High Plains Difter) and the Dirty Harry days. He embodies all of the attributes of a strong male leading actor. As he has gotten older, he has focused more on the Directing and Producing side of the film industry. In Gran Torino he does all three!
The movie opens with a glimpse into the life of Walt Kowalski(Clint). As he reviews his relationships and experiences, over the years, he has mixed feelings. Ultimately, he comes to terms with what he has accomplished after his Hmong(Asian ethnic group in the mountainous regions of southeast Asia) neighbors become his very unlikely friends. I especial like the Hmong teenager Sue Lor. She is played by newcomer Ahney Her. She not only exposes us to the traditional Hmong culture but also to the integration challenges of any non-American culture in the US. To add to these challenges, Sue’s younger brother (Thao played by Bee Vang)is being recruited by the local Hmong street gang. To keep Thao away from the gang life, Walt shows him what he means to be a real man and it leads to some very funny dialog. The movie pulls no punches with the racial slurs used by Walt. This movie is not appropriate for younger viewers and the powerful ending has lots of religious overtones.