Green Zone: In Theaters 3.12.2010

"Green Zone" is a film directed by Academy Award nominated director Paul Greengrass ("The Bourne Supremacy", "United 93", and "The Bourne Ultimatum") and stars Matt Damon. The film is a thriller that takes place in the Green Zone of Iraq during the surge from the United States. Damon plays Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller, a rogue U.S. agent who must hunt through covert and faulty intelligence before war escalates in an unstable region. Other cast members include Academy Award nominee Amy Ryan as Lawrie Dayne, a foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, who investigates the U.S. government's claims of the existence of weapons of mass destruction, Academy Award nominee Greg Kinnear portrays Clark Poundstone, a CIA officer, and Brendan Gleeson as Mr. Sheen, CIA Baghdad bureau chief. The film was very good and gave a very interesting take on the Iraq war. The film really dwells into the whole WMDs mess and makes you think about the bad people in the world. I know I've said it a lot but Matt Damon is the man and if you love the Bourne series, you'll love this movie. "Green Zone" was written by Academy Award winner Brian Helgeland, writer of "L.A. Confidential", "Mystic River", and "Man on Fire". The film is inspired by Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone written by Rajiv Chandrasekaran. "Green Zone" receives a good 3 1/2 wheelchairs out of 5. View Trailer Here

Up in the Air: The Best Film of 2009

The

Best Film

of 2009

"Up in the Air" is the third film by Academy Award nominated director Jason Reitman and stars Academy Award winner George Clooney. Reitman previously directed 2006's "Thank You for Smoking" and 2007's "Juno". George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a corporate downsizing expert who travels around the country firing people. Ryan doesn't have a personal life and he numbs himself with sex, booze, and air miles. On occasion he delivers motivational speeches about the virtue of a relationship-free life. His life on the road however is threatened when his company chooses to ground him at corporate headquarters and when he meets the frequent-traveler woman of his dreams, Alex Goran. The film is cross between a comedy and a serious drama. There are plenty of funny lines and there are many lines that makes think about life itself. The movie co-stars Vera Farmiga ("The Departed") as Alex Goran, Anna Kendrick ("Twilight"), Jason Bateman ("Extract") as Ryan's boss, Danny McBride ("Pineapple Express") as Ryan's brother in-law, J.K. Simmons ("Spider-Man"), and Zach Galifianakis ("The Hangover"). The film was written by Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Turner previously wrote 2005's "The Longest Yard" and 2006's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning". The movie is loosely based on the 2000 novel "Up in the Air" by Walter Kirn. This movie is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time and couldn't of been released at a better time. The subject matter in the film really hits home because of our country's current economic struggles. George Clooney is simply fantastic as Ryan Bingham and is definitely Oscar worthy. The character is extremely likable, funny, and incredibly cool. I really believe no one else could of played Ryan Bingham but George Clooney.The Departed's Vera Farmiga is very good as the cool, sophisticated, and sexy Alex Goran. "Twilight" star Anna Kendrick plays Natalie Keener, a young Cornell graduate, who after she convinces the company to fire people via webcam, she learns the trade from Ryan when she accompanies him on the road. Anna Kendrick was unbelievable in her role and is definitely a star in the making. "Up in the Air" have won numerous awards already, the biggest award being the Golden Globe for Best Screenplay. The film has recently been nominated for 6 Academy Awards, consisting of Best Picture, Best Director (Jason Reitman), Best Actor (George Clooney), Best Supporting Actress (Vera Farmiga), Best Supporting Actress (Anna Kendrick). "Up in the Air" is now one of my favorite movies of all-time and is the best film of 2009. I think "Up in the Air" should win the Oscar for Best Picture. View Trailer Here

Inglourious Basterds: 2nd Best Film of 2009

2nd

Best Film

of 2009

"Inglourious Basterds" is the new film from acclaimed director Quentin Tarantino and it stars Brad Pitt. The movie opens in Nazi-occupied France, in 1941. It is here where we meet Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), who is in charge of tracking down and killing Jewish families hiding in France. We then cut to the Basterds, a group of Jewish American soldiers led by Aldo "the Apache" Raine (Brad Pitt), Raine orders his crew to produces 100 Nazi scalps. The Basterds were specifically chosen to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis. The Basterds are made up of Eli Roth as Danny Donowitz, Til Schweiger as Hugo Stiglitz, Gedeon Burkhard as Wilhelm Wicki, B.J. Novak as Smithson Utivich, and Omar Doom as Omar Ulmer. The acting is this film is out of this world, Brad Pitt is funny, Til Schweiger is terrifying, and "Hostel" director Eli Roth is very surprising in his biggest acting role. The two female leads were played by Melanie Laurent and Diane Kruger. They are both very good and very attractive in the film. The standout star though was Austrian actor Christoph Waltz. Waltz was amazing as the Colonel. Waltz has won a Golden Globe and SAG award already, and is the frontrunner to win the Oscar. Tarantino veterans Samuel L. Jackson and Harvey Keitel each make uncredited appearances in the film. Jackson plays the narrator and is heard twice, each time was done to perfection. "Inglourious Basterds" is quite an entertaining film, its cool, awesome, funny, dramatic, and at times is very gruesome. Tarantino did a great job on this one and you have to think he is back to his old ways. To me "Inglourious Basterds" is his best film by far this decade. "Kill Bill: Vol. 1", "Kill Bill: Vol. 2", and "Death Proof" were also released in this decade and are all well below average films. "Inglourious Basterds" has been nominated for 8 Academy Awards, consisting of Best Picture, and Best Director (Quentin Tarantino), and Best Supporting Actor (Christoph Waltz). The film has also been nominated for Best Original Screenplay (Quentin Tarantino), which I think it should definitely win because this movie is as original as it gets. "Inglourious Basterds" is the second best film of 2009. View Trailer Here

The Hurt Locker: 3rd Best Film of 2009

3rd

Best Film

of 2009

"The Hurt Locker" is an Academy Award nominated war film directed by Kathryn Bigelow ("Point Break"). The movie follows a United States Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team during the Iraq War. During the course of the film, the team has to contend with defusing bombs, the threat of insurgency, and the tension that develops among them. And not to mention the possibility of death. The movie stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, and Brian Geraghty. Renner plays Sergeant First Class William James, the team leader. James is a renegade for who the thrill of the dismantlement seems to be the ultimate goal regardless of the safety of his fellow team members or himself. Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty play Sergeant J.T. Sanborn and Specialist Owen Eldridge, whose jobs are to communicate with their team leader via radio inside his bombsuit and provide him with rifle cover while he examines IEDs. Other cast members include Ralph Fiennes ("The English Patient"), David Morse ("Disturbia"), Evangeline Lilly ("Lost"), and Guy Pearce ("Memento"). The acting in this movie was very good, lead by Jeremy Renner who is unbelievable as the insane thrill seeking bomb defusing Sergeant First Class William James. "The Hurt Locker" has been nominated for 9 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Kathryn Bigelow), Best Original Screenplay (Mark Boal), and Best Actor (Jeremy Renner). The Hurt Locker" was an excellent movie and it really makes you think about how hard it is for our troops over in Iraq. Unlike "Avatar", I understand what all the fuss is about. "The Hurt Locker" is the 3rd best film of 2009. View Trailer Here

The Informant!: 4th Best Film of 2009

4th

Best Film

of 2009

"The Informant!" is a dark comedy that stars Matt Damon. Damon plays Archer Daniels Midland executive Mark Whitarce, who in the early '90s blew the whistle on the company's price-fixing tactics. In 1992 Whitarce confessed to the FBI that he and other executives had routinely met with competitors to fix the price of lysine, a food additive. Whitarce secretly gathered hundreds of hours of video and audio over the next 3 years. Damon is simply spectacular as the bipolar informant. He makes you laugh by his quirkiness, insanity, and just downright dumb behavior. His behavior is so idiotic you'll be shaking and scratching your head almost the entire movie. My favorite part of the character is the unbelievably outrageous internal narrations. Damon had to gain 30 pounds for the title role. Scott Bakula ("Quantum Leap") and Joel McHale ("The Soup") co-star as FBI agents. This has been Bakula's biggest role in a very long time. Joel McHale was very impressive in his largest film role to date. I have never been a fan of his acting, especially in Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man 2". Though his acting drastically improved in this film and in his NBC show "Community". "The Informant!" was written by "The Bourne Ultimatum" co-writer Scott Z. Burns and directed by Academy Award winner Steven Soderbergh. Soderbergh previously directed Damon in "Ocean's Eleven", "Twelve", and "Thirteen". This movie is not a dumb comedy, it is very well written. "The Informant!" is the 4th best film of 2009. View Trailer Here

Star Trek: 5th Best Film of 2009

5th

Best Film

of 2009

"Star Trek" is the eleventh film in the longtime "Star Trek" franchise. This movie establish an alternate reality through time-travel that freed the film and the franchise from continuity constraints. The film follows James T. Kirk and Spock before they unite aboard the USS Enterprise to combat Nero, a Romulan from the future who threatens the United Federation of Planets. The film. The movie stars Chris Pine as James T. Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, and Eric Bana as Nero. Other cast members include Karl Urban as Leonard McCoy, Zoe Saladana as Nyota Uhura, Simon Pegg as Montgomery Scott, John Cho as Hikaru Sulu, and Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov. Leonard Nimoy is also in the film, he plays Spock from the future. This movie really surprised me because it was directed by J.J. Abrams, a director I really don't like but that aside, I loved this film. "Star Trek" is the 5th best film of 2009. View Trailer Here

Shutter Island: In Theaters 2.19.2010

"Shutter Island" is a film directed by Academy Award winner Martin Scorcese and stars Academy Award nominee Leonardo DiCaprio. This film is the fourth collaboration between Scorcese and DiCaprio. The film follows two U.S. Marshals who are sent to a psychiatric hospital on an island in Massachusetts to find a patient who has recently disappeared. After investigating the hospital, they discovered many ugly truths about the facility. DiCaprio plays Teddy Daniels, one of the marshals, while Mark Ruffalo plays the other. The film also features Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley as the hospital's chief psychiatrist, Dr. John Cawley, Jackie Earle Haley as patient George Noyce, and Michelle Williams as Dolores Chanal, Teddy's wife. The acting in the movie was more than superb. DiCaprio amazed me again with just ridiculous acting and Ben Kingsley showed you again what a great actor he is. The underrated Mark Ruffalo also delievers a great performance in the film. The movie was very well done, it was crafted beautifully by the master Martin Scorese. He did an excellent job at creating the right levels of suspense and eerieness. There are some scenes that really creep you out. "Shutter Island" was based on the 2003 novel by Dennis Lehane, who also wrote other best-selling novels like "Gone Baby Gone" and "Mystic River", and not to mention was a staff writer for the hit HBO show, "The Wire". "Shutter Island" receives 3 1/2 wheelchairs out of 5. View Trailer Here