RED 2

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjQ_bkEbT-SUstgZz5dsjLgDsfnzduoE-KUuLXTitMg3ZvHMoG6egpdOJzLzCfAT6G5uGhaUnRrZ_ixhFTzUbyEnblm6k-NuQcOlR-3qid3X508HRGlDAPBBuaMOqDba_sEdyaebQeOpy2/s1600/red2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjQ_bkEbT-SUstgZz5dsjLgDsfnzduoE-KUuLXTitMg3ZvHMoG6egpdOJzLzCfAT6G5uGhaUnRrZ_ixhFTzUbyEnblm6k-NuQcOlR-3qid3X508HRGlDAPBBuaMOqDba_sEdyaebQeOpy2/s640/red2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 cast: Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Anthony Hopkins, Brian Cox rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> If someone had the task of counting all the bullets fired in RED 2, the location-hopping follow-up to the DC COMICS graphic novel turned veteran actor ensemble, they’d have an easier time figuring how many grains of sand make up the Sahara Desert. Okay, that’s an exaggeration… And exaggeration is exactly what makes this movie so fun to watch.<br /> <div class="MsoNormal"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> Bruce Willis, as retired agent Frank Moses, is the man everything centers around. His very normal small town girl Sarah, played by Mary-Louise Parker, is along for the ride and, much like the original, can’t believe she’s part of the bloodshed. Thankfully this time she isn't so befuddled, and really wants to learn how to, along with John Malkovich’s crazy Marvin and Helen Mirren’s gun-toting Victoria, take down the bad guys and find a missing nuclear reactor. So once again we’re thrust back into a modern day Cold War: The Russians are present but not as villains – Catherine-Zeta Jones plays Frank’s former lover, a sexy Soviet agent bringing jealousy out of Sarah’s character, who uses her sexuality to help the group weave in and out of painted corners.</div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> The entire film goes from one gun-blasting situation to the next, each with a new European location and obstacles around every turn. Anthony Hopkins plays a highly regarded bomb expert who flipped his lid after spending thirty years in prison; he makes an awful secondary comic relief but there's more here than meets the eye. And in the token youth department Byung-hun Lee as Han, out to kill Frank at all costs, provides a few good karate kicks along the way. And with an overkill of perpetual violence, diminishing what could have been more creative espionage, this is all about the characters. Despite the fact that Malkovich isn't as crazy or humorous, he’s not trying so hard to be the quirky "Murdoch" (A-TEAM) and plays a relatively mellow second fiddle to Willis, who, at this point, can sleepwalk though action sequences and it wouldn’t make any difference… He and his pals are having a blast despite the bombarding cliches. </div> <!--EndFragment-->

2013, action, bruce willis, ensemble, helen mirren, john malkovich, sequel

RED 2

year: 2013 cast: Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Anthony Hopkins, Brian Cox rating: *** If someone had the task of counting ...

WARM BODIES

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgnLdUDHZTDtUbnp4zYQPKw2-IIkO7UNFaOB63dxSmo1sZ1ZnhhqRKSk5YQBqUprLYMbIiZRIKxfaSSSjgaEHB302lwkhjCArjCOsccn-dlUtG3i0mDM0Iu5ZTYg2DQTsvtMayvgURDeY/s1600/warmbodies_zpsb801c0ee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgnLdUDHZTDtUbnp4zYQPKw2-IIkO7UNFaOB63dxSmo1sZ1ZnhhqRKSk5YQBqUprLYMbIiZRIKxfaSSSjgaEHB302lwkhjCArjCOsccn-dlUtG3i0mDM0Iu5ZTYg2DQTsvtMayvgURDeY/s640/warmbodies_zpsb801c0ee.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>year:</b> 2013 <b>cast: </b>Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, John Malkovich <b>rating:</b> <i>***</i>1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> In the early pre-caffeinated mornings, we’re all zombies, aren’t we? And what’s that thing audiences seem to love about zombies anyway? And after so many ultra violent tales of flesh-eating foes, why should we suddenly feel for them now? <br /> <br /> They do walk slow, gaze longingly, and reach out their arms like someone about to give a great big hug, all the while groaning like love sick coyotes. <br /> <br /> The premise of WARM BODIES is that zombies are people too, especially R (we’ll explain that name later), who wanders an airport with a narrating/subconscious desire to be human, eventually boarding an abandoned jet plane where he listens to music (from 80’s pop to Bob Dylan) on a record player. <br /> <br /> Of course there are humans in this post-Apocalyptic world, banded within confined perimeters and, every once or twice, venturing outside. Armed with guns they have to fight off the zombies who, no matter how subliminally passive, still must dine on flesh and especially, like the cliché goes, brains!  <br /> <br /> There’s a unique “rule” introduced to the genre, which provides a lot of the plot points herein: When a zombie eats a human brain, it gains insight into that victim's memories. <br /> <br /> Let’s make it clear: with all the sinewy violence this is not a horror movie but a romantic comedy. Enter blond-haired beauty Teresa Palmer as Julie, one of a group of humans attacked by zombies, including R… He kills her boyfriend and winds up saving her life. <br /> <br /> Back on his airplane, the extremely polar opposites slowly bond through music-filled montages, and throughout all this, while secretly snacking on her boyfriend’s mind, R gets his flashbacks, also related to her life whilst providing glimpses into the pre-zombie backstory.  <br /> <br /> The underlying charm has R falling for Julie and, like any smitten male, he’s tongue tied in her presence. Although this particular fella does have an excuse – zombies can’t say much other than grunts and groans. <br /> <br /> The evolution of his speaking skills coincides with their blossoming kinship, igniting a peaceful desire within the other zombies – who aren’t completely safe either. Lurking about are fleshless zombies called “Bonies” providing the really cold-blooded antagonists: As is (at first) John Malkovich’s intensely narrow-minded head human leader Grigio, Julie’s father, who doesn’t instantly “warm up” to her daughter’s new crush. <br /> <br /> With just about everything that a horror/action movie would provide, including zombies eating humans, skeletons hunting zombies, and eventually a big bloody battle to save the human race, this is really a good old fashion love story. <br /> <br /> Lanky blue-eyed Nicholas Hoult is perfect as R (Julie named him that since “Rrrrrr” was the only thing he could speak when trying to recall his name)… The melancholy expressions, changing from a brooding corpse to a more animated lost soul realizing true love, seem genuine, making lines like “It’s easier not to feel… then I wouldn’t have to feel like this” more deep than corny.  While Teresa Palmer makes a worthy damsel-in-distress who’s equally assertive and headstrong. (Rob Corddry as R's zombie buddy is awesome too!)  <br /> <br /> So while the famously infamous TWILIGHT franchise wallows in pretentious melodrama that only starry-eyed teenage girls can relate to, WARM BODIES, mixing dark comedic romance with a parody of both the <i>young doomed relationship</i> and <i>zombie horror </i>genres, is something for just about anyone who ever fell dead in love with a desire to come back to life because of it.

2013, horror, horror satire, john malkovich, nicholas hoult, rob cordroy, teresa palmer, zombie

WARM BODIES

year: 2013 cast: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, John Malkovich rating: *** 1/2 In the early pre-caffeinated mornings, we’re all zombie...

BEING JOHN MALKOVICH

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUcgu2-TMzKhIsFfHrJUZC2jSeiOOHLl5Ut_VDJiwDP8nIhDdamBVdfA9hlmZW70RzLfX9OU3qEuyS-WqMbhhefNUADnK17jrQXqK-tySjXbjuY7Dlg-b-RuQz7TKTiK98FYHjWpYqreI/s1600/259507_f520.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581524914740797794" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUcgu2-TMzKhIsFfHrJUZC2jSeiOOHLl5Ut_VDJiwDP8nIhDdamBVdfA9hlmZW70RzLfX9OU3qEuyS-WqMbhhefNUADnK17jrQXqK-tySjXbjuY7Dlg-b-RuQz7TKTiK98FYHjWpYqreI/s200/259507_f520.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 173px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title: </span>BEING JOHN MALKOVICH<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">year: </span>1999<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">cast:</span> John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, John Malkovich<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> ***<br /> <br /> While this film remains creatively weird the whole way through, it's only the first half that works effectively. John Cusack, as an unsuccessful puppeteer hired to work on floor 7 1/2 of a mysterious building where the ceilings are very low, discovers a portal leading to the brain of John Malkovich, allowing anyone who enters a fifteen minute tour through the actor's eyes. It's when Cusack, in lust with his fellow employee and married to a sweet-natured scientist, becoming pawn of a love triangle in which Malkovich's body is a sexual vessel, that the intriguing mind-trip becomes a bit too convoluted. Yet it is <i>all</i> very unique... And the casting of Charlie Sheen as Malkovich's buddy/voice of reason is very timely, and more ironic now than ever. But in a nutshell, the half-floor has a lot more uncovered weird potential than being inside the actor's body.

cameron diaz, charlie sheen, dark comedy, independent, john cusack, john malkovich, mindtrip, nineties

BEING JOHN MALKOVICH

title: BEING JOHN MALKOVICH year: 1999 cast: John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, John Malkovich rating: *** While this film remains creatively...

RED

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKld6ELgE2KPsnk18Cu3zjaFBcecACN14zLY8fFbtvsdLcZXkli1QV66bRwktTXiu_94F2XSYqrXrm_u_ugaU20q-OpwT8X14FC-SBix8GEZbQ4UQ9hFFZzO1NsFf6LYDhAz4TqvC9pfY/s1600/RED.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568435304820374290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKld6ELgE2KPsnk18Cu3zjaFBcecACN14zLY8fFbtvsdLcZXkli1QV66bRwktTXiu_94F2XSYqrXrm_u_ugaU20q-OpwT8X14FC-SBix8GEZbQ4UQ9hFFZzO1NsFf6LYDhAz4TqvC9pfY/s200/RED.jpg" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 122px; float: right; height: 200px;" /></a><strong>title:</strong> RED<br /><strong>year:</strong> 2010<br /><strong>cast:</strong> Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren<br /><strong>rating:</strong> ***<br /><br />For anyone who says there's too much over-the-top, unrealistic action involving characters more like superheroes than humans, another can say, "But this is a comedy satirizing bombastic action films." And for those who say it isn't very funny, a response could be, "But it kicks ass." Well it does kick ass, but the characters are introduced as if we already know them: giving the feel of an anticipated sequel with people who already earned their stature, so there's not much development. Bruce Willis is good doing his usual, but he's hindered by love interest Mary-Louise Parker, playing the reluctant "I can't believe I'm in this situation" love-interest to an exasperatingly annoying level. John Malkovich, channeling Murdoch from THE A-TEAM, tries too hard as the comic relief; Morgan Freeman and Helen Mirren are way too endearing; Karl Urban makes a fine antagonist, but an old pudgy Richard Dreyfuss is misplaced as the main villain. And although there are terrific moments within, the entirety doesn't always gel: feeling like a spectacular highlights show of a big game... Yet the <em>plays </em>that work, do work well.

action, blockbuster, bruce willis, helen mirren, john malkovich, morgan freeman, tens

RED

title: RED year: 2010 cast: Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren rating: *** For anyone who says there's too m...