martinbaggs

Director: Rupert Wyatt, 2011. (PG-13)  As the title makes clear, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a prequel seeking to show how the apes took over planet earth. However, it does not go that far, merely showing how the apes became sentient simians. Really, it is a vehicle for Wyatt to get the major fight scenes on the Golden Gate bridge that climax the film. The rest is mostly fluff. The story begins with Will Rodman (James Franco, 127 Hours ), a scientist working on a drug to cure Alzheimer... Read Full Story

Director: Michael Bay, 1995. (R) Buddy cop movies have been around for almost half a century, but Bad Boys was perhaps the first that paired two black cops. And they bring with them a new take on the genre: more jive talk, more swearing, more negro jokes, more action. Indeed, billed as an action crime comedy, it is shorter than expected on the laughs but longer on the action. Fresh from his TV role as "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" Will Smith was cast as Mike Lowery in this film that turned... Read Full Story

Here are the tentative plans for movie group for February (2/18) and March (3/10). In February, we are plannnig to go out to a theater to see one of the big Oscar contenders, either Hugo or The Artist . We have not decided which film or which theater. But the date is firm for Saturday 2/18. In March we are considering watching Terence Malick's The Tree of Life at church on 3/10 around 4:45pm. This is also up for the Best Picture award. I will repost once we have firmed up the February... Read Full Story

Director: Edgar Wright, 2004. (R)  Before Hot Fuzz , one of my all-time favorite comedies, Edgar Wright cut his teeth with this horror comedy debut feature. Working with the same two main actors, Simon Pegg (who has gone onto fame in the Mission Impossible series) and Nick Frost (whose flame has not flared so brightly), Wright shows flashes of comedic brilliance. Seeing it for the second time it is not as funny as I remember, although it parodies English culture well. Pegg plays the eponymous... Read Full Story

Director: David O. Russell, 1996. (R) Flirting with Disaster starts out with Mel Coplin (Ben Stiller) talking to his adoption counselor Tina Kalb (Tea Leoni), a seemingly serious occasion and conversation. But very quickly its true nature emerges as it ascends into screwball comedy. And it is funny, laugh out loud funny, even if it is highly sexualized throughout. Mel is adopted. We find that out in this first scene. And that has him stuck. His wife Nancy (Patricia Arquette) gave birth to... Read Full Story

"Christianity Today" just released their list of their Critic's Choice Movie Awards for 2011 . At the top of their list is Terrence Malick's contemplative film: The Tree of Life . Other films on this top ten list include: Win Win , Drive and their most redeeming movie of the year Of Gods and Men . Read Full Story

Director: Nicolas Refn, 2011. (R)  The opening scene is a car chase through the dark streets of Los Angeles. The Driver (Ryan Gosling, Crazy, Stupid Love ) tells the two robbers, before letting them out for the robbery, “If I drive for you, you give me a time and a place. I give you a five-minute window, anything happens in that five minutes and I’m yours no matter what. I don’t sit in while you’re running it down. I don’t carry a gun. . . . I drive.” Offering no margin for error, Driver has... Read Full Story

"Christianity Today" just released their list of " The 10 Most Redeeming Films of 2011 ." At the top of their list is a contemplative yet moving French film set in a monastery: Of Gods and Men . It's worth checking out these. Their "Critic's Choice Films" follow later this week. Read Full Story

Director: Joe Cornish, 2011. (R)  British cinema saw the emergence of B-movie horror films with the Hammer studio in the 1950s. Here, writer-director Cornish’s debut film echoes that genre. The low-budget Attack on the Block has a B-movie horror feel with some very dark British humor thrown in. And the accents are thick and dark, so may be a little difficult for non-Brits. The movie opens with Sam (Jodie Whittaker), a young nurse, walking home through the streets of inner city South London... Read Full Story

We have firmed up the details for the movie group outing this Saturday. Here they are: Movie: Drive (R)   Place: Academy Theater (which is at 7818 SE Stark Street) Date: Saturday 1/21/12 Time: film shows at 4:50pm; meet in lobby at 4:30pm Coffee and Discussion: Bi-partisan Cafe after the film (which is at 7901 SE Stark Street) Note there is no parking lot, so you have to find off-street parking, like on SE 78th or SE 77th. However, the cafe is right opposite the theater, so once parked you... Read Full Story