You can almost feel the grit coming off this picture | Photo courtesy of Lionsgate Entertainment
I've always thought it was a shame that Jason Statham got stuck in the ghetto of glossy, empty action flicks. You'd never guess it by watching The Transporter 2 or Crank but Statham can be a legitimately good actor. I'm glad to see him in The Bank Job, a re-telling of the 1971 Baker Street bank robbery. Director Roger Donaldson has made some real stinkers in his career (Cocktail, Dante's Peak), but The Bank Job looks to be a winner.
10,000 B.C., on the other hand, looks terrible. It may turn out to be the worst movie in director Roland Emmerich's career which is really saying something since he directed both Godzilla and The Day After Tomorrow. 10,000 B.C. seems to have no relation to reality (mastodons and sabre-toothed tigers co-existing with advanced civilizations?) so at least it will be good for a couple unintentional laughs.
There are very few things I know for certain in this life, but one of them is that a movie titled College Road Trip should not be rated fucking G! Is that not a complete disconnect? I went to college for almost 6 years, and I don't really remember it as a time of clean living. Raven-Simone and Martin Lawrence star as a father and daughter on a cross-country road trip to find the perfect college. Bring your kids and take a nap.
Chris Cooper agreed to forfeit his salary for this scene | Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
I love detailed period pieces so I expect Married Life will be right in my wheelhouse. Director Ira Zachs previously made the very underrated Forty Shades of Blue and Chris Cooper, Rachel McAdams and Pierce Brosnan are all actors I'll pay to watch. Married Life tells the story of an adulterous husband in the 1940s who plots to kill his wife instead of putting her through the shame of a divorce. That is my kind of twisted.
I'm not exactly sure what to make of Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. I like Frances McDormand, Amy Adams and Ciaran Hinds. I especially like the unwieldy title and the dizzy period production design. What I usually don't care for are movies that take place over the course of one day which is the case with Miss Pettigrew.
I liked but didn't love Stephen Chow's previous cross-over hits, Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle. They were full of invention and visual wonder, but both felt a little thin in the narrative department. That also looks to be the case with his latest, CJ7, a sentimental science-fiction story about a boy who receives a strange new toy.
The story of making Last Stop for Paul is probably more interesting than the film itself. Your typically movie is meticulously planned and involves hundreds of cast and crew. Last Stop for Paul was made by two guys who took a camera and traveled to the Full Moon party in Thailand, making up the film as they went along.
It's always tough to get people into the theater to see a documentary so all I'll say is that if you go to see Girls Rock!, you will almost certainly be glad you did. Part Jesus Camp, part School of Rock this is a rare and wonderful portrait of young girls who realize that--yes--they have it in them to rock and rock hard!
Tickets & Showtimes
The Bank Job
10,000 B.C.
College Road Trip
Married Life
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
CJ7
Last Stop for Paul
Girls Rock!
Reviews
The Bank Job
10,000 B.C.
College Road Trip
Married Life
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
CJ7
Last Stop for Paul
Girls Rock!
Previews
The Bank Job
10,000 B.C.
College Road Trip
Married Life
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
CJ7
Last Stop for Paul
Girls Rock!
