• The Secret World of Arrietty
     
     http://bartybooks.com/the-secret-world-of-arrietty.htm
  • Gone
     
     http://bartybooks.com/gone.htm
  • Wanderlust
     
     http://bartybooks.com/wanderlust.htm
  • This Means War
     
     http://bartybooks.com/this-means-war.htm
  • Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
     
     http://bartybooks.com/ghost-rider-spirit-of-vengeance.htm
  • The Vow
     
     http://bartybooks.com/the-vow.htm
  • Safe House
     
     http://bartybooks.com/safe-house.htm

Movies under ‘Action’

This Means War

I was lucky enough to be invited to a screening in Sydney of This Means War.

FDR (Pine) and Tuck (Hardy, with his English accent in tact….YAY!!) are CIA agents and best friends. They would, literally, take a bullet for one another. When they discover they are dating the same woman, Lauren (Witherspoon), all bets are off. They decide to let Lauren decide who she wants to be with and….well boys will be boys.

The movie gets off to a cracking pace with a very cool opening scene. We have impossibly handsome CIA agents sauntering across the room targets in sight, said targets batting eyelashes for all their worth, bad guys showing up and ruining the oh-so-suave pick up lines. Then comes the CIA stuff. We have helicopters full of bad guys and cash, guns firing, glass breaking, slick spy sliding across the floor while firing gun moves, tall buildings being leapt from, tall buildings being thrown from, thugs, more guns. YEAH!!! Alas, this has all been a monumental screw up and our agents are grounded. Yep desk bound for the foreseeable future. And they are bored, bored, bored.

Enter Lauren, a gorgeous consumer products tester/reviewer who winds up dating both FDR and Tuck. Both men are very different personalities and how she ends up dating both of them is charming and genuinely funny. Lauren only falls for one guy initially.

Speaking of funny, Chelsea Handler is absolutely hilarious in this movie. Laugh out loud hilarious. She plays Trish, the perfect rude, crude and no nonsense counterpart to Witherspoon’s sweet and slightly wounded Lauren. The scenes with Lauren and Trish are some of the movie’s funniest with Handler throwing down the one liners with perfect comedic timing.

When FDR and Tuck discover they are both dating Lauren, they do the gentlemanly and honorable thing…….they set about sabotaging each other’s love life. This is where the real fun begins.

Remember how I said these men were bored? Well bored men with the entire CIA arsenal of technologies, gimmicks and let’s face it, really cool stuff at their disposal promises just one thing…..great fun. Covert teams are selected, covertly of course, and as they say, hilarity ensures.

Both men have their qualities, both men have their flaws. I couldn’t choose who I was cheering for. When I started wanting one to get the girl, I changed my mind with the next scene and wanted the other to win her. Even their teams start to become invested in their little side operation, providing some very funny moments.

This is a great, fun, funny and romantic movie. The pace never lets up and the laughs keep coming. It has enough chick stuff to draw out some genuine awwwws from the audience and enough CIA agent/boy stuff to keep the fellas more than entertained. I will be going to see it again once it’s at the cinemas.

This Means War opens February 14 (in Australia) and would be the most perfect movie for Valentine’s Day. Even if you don’t have a Valentine this year, get a group of friends together and go see it anyway…..plus you won’t have to share your popcorn with anyone.

Oh and yes, Lauren does pick her true love…..


Fast Tube by Casper

what happen in the end of this means war, Vesuvius Technologies LLC good or bad?

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

I liked the first Ghost Rider and collected comic books for years. I say that to let the reader know that I am also a fan of comic book movies normally and am not a stickler about a movie sticking to comic book canon. My problems with this movie have nothing to do with it being a comic book movie.

The special effects in the movie are very bad. I saw it in 2D since I do not like 3D but I do not believe that makes a difference. The new version of the burning skull is much worse than the original. Now, there is tons of smoke most of the time and it is hard to see anything. Like watching polar bears have a milk fight in a blizzard but in black instead of white. The excess smoke and a skull that sometimes blazes but often is just impossible to see in the smoke combine to remove some of the “cool” factor of Ghost Rider. In addition, the motorcycle and costume that were cool in the first one are gone. Replaced with a motorcycle that is hard to see (hello smoke) most of the time and when you can see it, it is basically an old motorcycle on fire. Not the awesome chrome and blazes chopper you would expect. The outfit is old leather that appears to be melting when you can see it through the smoke. I suppose that would be fine if you are going for more of a rotted zombie look but that is not Ghost Rider.

One of the main bad guys appears to be one of the ghost twins from the Matrix films and is about as interesting although he does have a cool power that the actor does a good job of appearing to enjoy. Sadly, he is on the screen far too seldom and is far too often in GR’s smoke.

Which brings me to the acting. Normally, I like Nicholas Cage but here he is different. His face is chunkier and he has replaced acting with turning his head sideways. Apparently, someone told him that instead of snappy patter or doing cool things, he would appear so much more menacing if he started just turning his head sideways. So he does it A LOT! As GR, he barely talks except for a few very poor one liners that are akin to Arnold’s “I let him go” in Commando.

In case the poor acting, distracting special effects and poor story are not enough, they also added annoying camera work. At times it has the hand-held shaky method so wonderfully annoying and at other times the director falls in love with closeups that add to confusion when you want to see what is going on.

In the first Ghost Rider, he could throw fire, he could use a Pennance (or Soul stare) Gaze. He could defy gravity with his awesome chopper. He made quips and was a hero. They did away with all of that and replaced it with….Nic Cage turning his head sideways. I know that he does gaze at a bad guy but although some might claim that is the Pennance Gaze, nothing seems to happen.

Finally, just in case all of the aforementioned was not enough, they made sure to have lots of people talking with odd accents to help make sure the mumbled dialog was harder to understand. An awful movie that I have 2 stars only because of my respect for comic book movies in general and I am glad someone tried to make a sequel. If only they would give the rights back to Marvel and let us get a decent Ghost Rider movie again.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49ivlFMvXAo&feature=fvst]

ghost rider 2 after credit scene, is there anything after the credits in ghost rider 2

Safe House

One of the CIA’s most wanted, Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington), is back on the run after a ten-year disappearance. This alerts the CIA and sends their team to a gripping chase in Cape Town, South Africa. At a remote location, the CIA’s safe house is guarded by a rookie operative, Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds). The house have been empty for years, involving no guests or action. At the arrival of Frost and the intelligence, a brutal investigation occurs. Phased by the presence of a notorious criminal, Weston becomes nervous and confused. In the midst of questioning, mercenaries invade the house and begins a killing spree in an effort to kidnap Frost as well. Frost reminds Weston, that as a house guest, he is to be protected. This sends Weston to a dizzying panic and eventually escapes along with Frost.

“Safe House” is a exhilarating action thriller with explosive stunts and sequences. The team behind the film stages multiple exciting scenes that involve beat down rooftops in the rural areas as well as heart-stopping car chases along the streets. Frost is an intelligent man. Being a former intelligence, who’s gone rogue, he knows the rules and procedures. Most of the time, he’s fascinated by watching Weston carry out his duties. Weston is continuously conflicted, looking for ways to hide Frost. Yet, Frost never makes it easy for him, as he tries to escape as well. Weston communicates with one of his supervisors, David Barlow (Brendan Gleeson), to determine their next move. But, the gunmen are determined to kill Frost, forcing Weston to take matters into his own hands.

Denzel Washington is an actor full of intensity. He can sit there and watch Reynolds do his thing and still convey the deepest of his character’s emotions. He gives Frost both a terrifying presence and a sympathetic feel. Ryan Reynolds, on the other hand, manages to stand along Washington and give the same intensity. His wits and charisma works perfectly for his distressed rookie persona. The film succeeds best because of this tandem, allowing the actors to build a good enough relationship to carry out the entire film.

“Safe House” is a great action thriller with non-stop action. This is the first mainstream feature for Daniel Espinosa and he comes forth as promising due to his skillful camera work with the action scenes. One of the most impressive is the rooftop chase at night. The editing is pitch perfect as it allows the audience to feel the danger of the situation from each point of view. This film could have been bleak and predictable if the leads were miscast but Washington and Reynolds’ enigma make the film satisfyingly fun and fresh.


Fast Tube by Casper

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