Piranha 3D (2010)

I saw JAWS when I was eleven years old and it didn’t scare me at all when I watched it. But when I first heard about PIRANHA 3D, I went to see it, and it really frightened the hell out of me. I kid you not! Directed by Alexandre Aja (Mirrors, 2006’s The Hills Have Eyes) and Produced by Mark Canton (300), the film is about an unlikely band of survivors, led by the town’s county sheriff Julie Forester (Elizabeth Shue), who must band together to stop a swarm of prehistoric, razor-sharp toothed piranhas, who have been laid dormant for two million years and set loose after a sudden underwater tremor, terrorizing the waters of Lake Victoria. Not to be confused with Africa’s Lake Victoria, the film’s location was shot in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. The film also stars Adam Scott (Step Brothers) as seismologist Novak Radzinsky, Jerry O’Connell (Stand by Me) as the eccentric Derrick Jones, Ving Rhames (Mission: Impossible) as Deputy Fallon, Steven R. McQueen (TV’s The Vampire Diaries) in his feature film debut as Jake Forester, Jessica Sczohr (TV’s Gossip Girl) as Kelly Driscoll, British model Kelly Brook as Danni, Ricardo Antonio Chavira (TV’s Desperate Housewives) as seismologist diver Sam, with Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future) as Pet shop owner Mr. Goodman, and Richard Dreyfuss in a near-incarnation of his JAWS character Matt Hooper. This was second film I saw in 3D, being that the first one was Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland months before. I got to tell you, this movie was a lot scarier to watch in 3D than 2D, and thank god that Aja converted it during post production, although he filmed it in 2D, using the Real-3D conversion process developed by the company, Inner-D. Although this is supposed to be a horror movie, remade from the classic 1978 B film by GREMLINS director Joe Dante, this is also a funny combination with blood, guts, terrifying teeth, and wet, beautiful, naked girls flashing themselves on the screen. The actors I liked were McQueen, who was very good in his performance, and Brook, who I thought was really sexy to watch. The most horrifying scene in the film is seeing 20,000 kids being chewed up and killed by the deadly piranhas. This is also the first time a saw a very violent horror movie on the big screen, but I did have a strong stomach to watch it though. If you love Horror movies or not, than I recommend PIRANHA 3D to all you movie lovers. It is an old fashioned, thrill ride of a horror film and Steven R. McQueen said in an interview that it’s a cross difference between JAWS and SNAKES ON A PLANE, and I totally agree with him.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

Based on the graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O’Malley, This movie is a love story/romantic action-comedy with a pop art feel to it that I thought was very entertaining to watch while I was in the theater. It’s called SCOTT PILGRIM vs. THE WORLD. Directed by Edgar Wright (Shawn of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), the film tells the story of Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera – Juno, Superbad), a 23 year old slacker from Toronto and bass guitarist for his friends’ rock band “Sex Bob-omb”, meets the girl of his dreams in the mysterious American Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead – Live Free or Die Hard, Death Proof). As he gets closer to Ramona, Scott learns that he must defeat her seven evil exes who are coming to kill him: first evil ex Matthew Patel (Satya Bhabha), skateboarder-turned-action movie star Lucas Lee (Chris Evans – Fantastic Four, Captain America: The First Avenger), base guitarist/psychic vegan Todd Ingram (Brandon Routh – Superman Returns), self-conscious half-ninja Roxie Richter (Mae Whitman – TV’s Parenthood), Japanese Pop stars Kyle and Ken Katayanagi (Shota and Keita Saito), and the evil mastermind Gideon Gordon Graves (Jason Schwartzman - Rushmore); in order to win her heart before they defeat him. The film also stars Kieran Culkin (Home Alone 1 & 2) as Scott’s gay roommate Wallace Wells, Alison Pill (Milk) as the miserable Sex Bob-omb drummer Kim Pine, Brie Larson (TV’s United States of Tara) as Rock star and Scott’s ex Natalie V.“Envy” Adams, Johnny Simmons (Jennifer’s Body) as the self-proclaimed “Young Neil” Nordegraf, and Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air, the Twilight saga) as Scott’s sister Stacey. I really enjoyed the humor and the action sequences that this film had to offer, including how the film was like a video game, and who would’ve thought that it featured the actors who played The Human Torch aka Captain America and Superman make special appearances as some of the evil exes. I think the best fight scenes would have to be with Cera fighting Evans and Schwartzman. It’s a shame it got #5 at its opening weekend on August 13th, 2010, with mixed negative reviews from movie critics and a total domesticated gross of $31,524,275, but I don’t care. With incredible visual effects and great comedic humor, I consider SCOTT PILGRIM vs. the WORLD a definite must-see for all movie lovers to enjoy and it’s one of the best movies I’ve seen in 2010.

The Expendables (2010)

My father took me to see my first action movie called TRUE LIES, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Directed by James Cameron, when I was five years old. Over the years, I started watching other great action classics like: DEMOLITION MAN with Sylvester Stallone, DIE HARD with Bruce Willis, BLACK MASK with Jet Li, and UNIVERSAL SOLDIER with Dolph Lundgren. At age 21, I saw a very entertaining action blockbuster, that features an ensemble cast of some of Hollywood’s greatest action stars in Director Sylvester Stallone’s THE EXPENDABLES. Released in 2010, the film tells the story of Fearless paramilitary leader Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) and his team of loyal, highly trained, dangerous mercenaries: close quarters combat expert and second in command Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), martial arts expert Yin Yang (Jet Li), Swedish sniper Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), demolitions expert Toll Road (Randy Couture), and heavy weapons specialist Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), who call themselves the “EXPENDABLES”, get sent on a mission to a South American country to overthrow its brutal dictator General Garza (David Zayas). And as the mission begins, Ross discovers that the situation is not as it appears and he and his team must make the ultimate sacrifice to do what they have to do to survive. The film also stars Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) as former expendable turned Tattoo artist Tool, Eric Roberts (The Dark Knight) as the cold-blooded ex-CIA officer James Monroe, former WWE wrestler Steve Austin as Monroe’s muscle Dan Paine, Gisele Itié as Ross’ contact Sandra, Charisma Carpenter (TV’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer) as Christmas’ girlfriend Lacy, and a special appearance by Bruce Willis as the mysterious Mr. Church and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Ross’ old rival Trench. Out of all the actors, I’d have to say that I really enjoyed Lundgren’s performance as the loose cannon Gunnar Jensen. After spending the last two in a half decades starring and directing in direct-to-DVD films, THE EXPENDABLES marks his first theatrical release film in fifteen years since the 1995 Keanu Reeves film JOHNNY MNEMONIC, and his second with Stallone in twenty five years since 1985’s ROCKY IV. The scene in the church with Stallone, Willis, and Schwarzenegger was both funny and cool to watch. And for years and years, they have been trying to work together and now they finally did. I would have to say that the best scene would have to be with The Expendables infiltrating Garza's compound, and ending it with a huge bang. One thing that disappointed me was that the song “Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom)” from the hard rock band Shinedown, did not appear in the film but on the theatrical trailer. It’s a great song and I listen to it on my I-pod all the time. I was really hoping for this film to beat out SCOTT PILGRIM vs. THE WORLD and EAT, PRAY, LOVE for the #1 opening spot at the box office, and I was right. If you love action movies, than you’ll love THE EXPENDABLES. It is to me one of the best movies of 2010 and I definitely recommend this great, kick-ass, and entertaining film to all movie lovers.

Analyze This (1999)

We have all heard and seen Mafia movies that have become Hollywood classics: Francis Ford Coppola’s THE GODFATHER, and Martin Scorsese’s GOODFELLAS, CASINO, and THE DEPARTED. All those movies were serious and brutal films, but there’s one mob movie that will have you laughing out loud, and that movie is called ANALYZE THIS. Directed and co-writer of the screenplay by Harold Ramis (Caddyshack, Groundhog’s Day) and released in 1999, the film tells the story of Paul Vitti (Robert De Niro), a powerful New York City mob boss who suddenly starts having problems: a certain disability to kill people, anxiety attacks and reduces to tears because of problems from his past. He seeks for a shrink in the name of Ben Sobel (Billy Crystal), a family psychiatrist who also has problems of his own: his son keeps listening in to his sessions, while his patients are not-challenging enough and his upcoming second wedding to Laura MacNamara (Lisa Kudrow) in Miami. In just days before a big meeting with other mob bosses, Sobel must help Vitti resolve his emotional crisis and turn him into a happy, well-adjusted gangster, but it won’t go perfectly well. This film also stars Joe Vitrelli (Shallow Hal) as Vitti’s moronic henchman Jelly, Leo Rossi (1981’s Halloween II) as Vitti’s cousin Carlo Mangano, a special appearance by Molly Shannon (TV’s Saturday Night Live) as Sobel’s whining patient Caroline, and Chazz Palminteri, who was suggested by De Niro after having worked together in 1993’s A BRONX TALE, as Vitti’s long time rival: Young Turk boss Primo Sindone. I was close to seeing this movie in theaters when it came out that spring, but I never did. I can still remember my parents checking out show times, why we didn’t go remains a mystery to me. The scenes between De Niro and Crystal were hilarious to watch. These two guys were terrific together and it makes them a perfect odd couple between a mob boss and a psychiatrist. De Niro’s Paul Vitti is loosely inspired by real life mobster John Gotti, and De Niro’s collaborator Martin Scorsese was first approached to direct but turned it down to do BRINGING OUT THE DEAD instead. When it was released on March 5th, the film became a big commercial success by grossing over $117 million. It also received positive reviews, scoring a 67% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and Kathryn Kinley of WPIX-TV/NEW YORK giving it four stars, the funniest comedy in a decade. The film spawned into a 2002 sequel, which I had the fortune to see with my family when I was fourteen, and it went on to gross over $55 million internationally and significantly less than the first one, which I prefer more than the sequel to tell you the truth. ANALYZE THIS is one of the greatest movies of all time and it’s a true favorite to all movie lovers, even if your either a DE NIRO fan, a CRYSTAL fan, or a gangster movie fan.

Ronin (1998)

“In feudal Japan, the warrior class of samurai were sworn to protect their liege lords with their lives. Those samurai whose liege was killed suffered a great shame, and they were forced to wander the land, looking for work as hired swords or bandits. These masterless warriors were no longer referred to as Samurai; they were known by another name: such men were called RONIN.” Released in 1998 and Directed by legendary filmmaker John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate, Reindeer Games), the film tells the story about a group of covert international mercenaries, including a former CIA agent named Sam (Robert De Niro), who are assembled in France by a mysterious client for a seemingly routine mission: steal a heavily guarded, top-secret briefcase, that is wanted by the Russian mafia. But greed, political maneuvering and shifting loyalties lead to betrayal and murder. De Niro leads an all star international cast of actors that includes Jean Reno (Léon: The Professional) as French former Euro Intelligence agent Vincent, Natasha McElhone (The Truman Show) as Irish IRA organizer Deirdre, Stellan Skarsgård (Pirates of the Caribbean II & III) as former German KGB electronics expert Gregor, Sean Bean (007 - GoldenEye) as British weapons wrangler Spence, Skipp Sudduth (TV’s Third Watch) as American driver Larry, Michael Lonsdale (007 - Moonraker) as Vincent’s friend Jean-Pierre, and Jonathan Pryce (Brazil) as Deirdre’s Irish handler Seamus O’Rourke. Filmed from November 1997 to March 1998 throughout Paris, France, with an estimated budget of $55,000,000, Frankenheimer said on the film’s DVD commentary that 2,200 shots were used to film the story. He also notes that the film is unusual in containing no wipes, dissolves or similar techniques; all scene transitions are handled with suitably paced cuts. The film is noted for its sensational car chases, which I thought were fantastic to watch. As a former amateur racing driver, Car work has been a specialty of Frankenheimer, ever since his 1966 film, Grand Prix. The cars that were used in the film are the Audi S8, a Peugeot 406, a Citroën Xantia and XM, a BMW M5 and Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9, and a rare Mercedes-Benz W116 variant with a high-powered engine. Sudduth did his own driving in some of the scenes himself, while other cars were driven by stunt drivers, one of them was Formula 1 driver Jean-Pierre Jarier, using right hand drive models, and a total of 80 automobiles were destroyed during the filming. Frankenheimer wanted to film all the sequences live, to obtain the maximum level of authenticity, instead of using digital special effects. When it was released at the 1998 Venice Film Festival on September 12th, and then 12 days later in the U.S., RONIN grossed over $12,697,641 its opening weekend. All and all, I consider RONIN one of the greatest action movies of all time. And it was directed by “a master of intelligent thrillers”, said Roger Ebert.

Kick-Ass (2010)

I’ve seen almost every single superhero movie that I can think of: BATMAN, X-MEN, SPIDER-MAN, IRON MAN, THE INCREDIBLE HULK, etc. etc. But for this movie, it involves badass, gun shootin’, knife throwing superheroes, but I still add this to my “Superhero movie” list. Based on the hyper violent MARVEL ICON comic book by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr., Co-Produced by Brad Pitt, and Directed by Matthew Vaughn (Stardust, Layer Cake), comes the 2010 action-thriller-comedy KICK-ASS. The film tells the story of an ordinary teenager named Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), an unnoticed high school student and big comic book fan, who sets out to become a real-life superhero, even though he has no powers, training, or any meaningful reason to do so, called Kick-Ass. Overcoming all odds and quickly becoming a famous phenomenon on the internet, he soon gets caught up in an even bigger fight involving two other superheros: a Batman lookalike named Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and his deadly, foul mouthed eleven year old daughter Mindy aka Hit-Girl (Chloë Moretz), who are on a quest to bring down New York’s evil drug lord Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong). The film also stars Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad) as D’Amico’s son Chris aka Red Mist, Lyndsay Fonseca (Hot Tub Time Machine) as Dave’s longtime crush Katie Deauxma, Clark Duke (Hot Tub Time Machine) and Evan Peters (An American Crime) as Dave’s fellow comic book loving best friends Marty and Todd, Michael Rispoli (Death to Smoochy) as D’Amico’s right hand guy Big Joe, Xander Berkley (Terminator 2: Judgment Day) as NYPD Detective Gigante, Yancy Butler (Hard Target) as D’Amico’s wife Angie, Omari Hardwicke (TV’s Dark Blue) as NYPD officer Sgt. Marcus Williams, and Jason Flemyng (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) as D’Amico’s building lobby man goon. I thought Johnson was okay in his performance, but both Mortez and Cage take the cake in theirs and Same with Strong’s performance as D’Amico. The beginning of the film was a little boring, but I thought the action sequences were awesome. Nothing like seeing bad guys getting shot and stabbed to death is always fun to watch for an action movie lover like myself. Some of the music on the film’s soundtrack, like Joan Jett’s Bad Reputation and Elvis Presley’s An American Trilogy, worked very well in some of the action scenes. Filmed from Toronto, Ontario, Canada to the Elstree Studios in London, England with a budget of $28 million, the film earned over $12 million internationally in advance of opening in the United States. On its debut weekend in the US, it took in $19.8 million in 3,065 theaters, averaging $6,469 per theater. I consider KICK-ASS one of the best movies of 2010. USA Today says it’s “Irreverently Entertaining”, and I totally agree with them.

Jaws (1975)

There is a creature alive in the ocean who has survived millions of years of evolution. Without change, passion and logic, it lives to kill. It is a mindless eating machine that will attack and devour anything. It is as if god created the devil, or basically it’s based on author Peter Benchley’s bestselling 1974 novel and was later adapted into a feature film by a young filmmaker named Steven Spielberg (E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan), who was chosen by Producers Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown, to direct Universal Pictures’ 1975 horror/thriller classic JAWS. Before codifying with 1977’s Sci-Fi classic STAR WARS, This was the film that set the standard for the new Hollywood popcorn blockbuster while frightening moviegoers out of the water and would become one of the greatest movies of all time. In the summer resort Town of Amity Island, swimmers are being killed by a gigantic great white shark. In order to stop this horrific monster from killing more victims, it will take Amity’s water hating Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), grizzled local shark hunter Quint (Robert Shaw), and wisecracking Marine scientist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) to hunt it down. The film also stars Murray Hamilton (The Graduate) as Amity’s ignorant Mayor Larry Vaughn, Lorraine Gray (1941) as Martin’s wife Ellen Brody, and author Peter Benchley making a cameo appearance as a television interviewer. My parents were around their early 20’s when this film came out that summer, and I would never see it till I was eleven years old on the year of its 25th anniversary in 2000. It scared me a little bit when I first saw it, and as I grew up, It’s not that much scary to me at all. Shot in 159 days from June to September of 1974 in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts; the filming of JAWS was a disaster from delayed shooting days, an unfinished script, bad weather, and three nonfunctional mechanic sharks that forced Spielberg to shoot most of the scenes of the shark only hinted at. The great white shark, nicknamed “Bruce” by the production team after Spielberg's lawyer Bruce Raimer, was made by Production Designer Joe Alves and Special Effects artist Bob Mattey. When they were completed, they were shipped to the shooting location, but unfortunately they had not been tested in water, and when placed in the ocean, the full model sank straight to the ocean floor. When it was released in 464 theaters on June 20th, 1975, the release was subsequently expanded on July 25 to a total of 675 theaters, the largest simultaneous distribution of a film in motion picture history at the time. During the first weekend of wide release, JAWS grossed more than $7 million, and was the top grosser for the following five weeks. During its run in theaters, the film beat the $89 million domestic rental record of the reigning box-office champion THE EXORCIST, becoming the first film to reach more than $100 million in U.S. box office receipts. Famed Music Composer John Williams, who had previously scored Spielberg's feature film debut THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS and went on to collaborate with him on almost all of his films, contributed the film’s score that won him the Academy Award for Best Music - Original Score and went on to rank #6 on the American Film Institute's 100 Years of Film Scores. Director Steven Spielberg’s JAWS is an absolute favorite to all movie lovers. See it before you go swimming!