White House Down

It was a hot summer Friday night... what else to do but see an action movie with two Class II leads ?  (sorry guys)

Turns out that Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx may be moving up to Tom Cruise/Bruce Willis bucks after White House Down.  Foxx is President Swanson who is casually interacting with Channing Tatum (John Cale) and his daugther Emily Cale on a White House tour when a group of (white) terrorists [is there really such a thing?] blow shit up and take everyone in this White House hostage.

Little do they know that Hell hath no fury like a father's love.  Wait, haven't we seen this movie before? (Die Hard, Patriot Games, Death Wish).  Some serious ass kicking and name taking ensues, with a major supporting role of the military hardware of Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Browning, and so forth.  Helicopters, machine guns, missiles, bombs and more.  Tom Clancy would be proud.

Because the premise lies on the White House tour, there is also an educational aspect to this like in National Treasure or the Da Vinci Code.  See what you did and did not know about the White House.

* * *   [much better than expected and holds your attention well for the 135 minutes]

Monsters University

"It's like an Animated Animal House" were the last words I heard before going.  With a sendoff like that, I expected great things.  In return, I received good G-rated things.

No keg stands, no bong hits, no one-night stands, no suicides, no arrests, no puking, no skipping class, and so forth.  But lots of cute monsters.

One character stood out, Dean Hardscrabble [nee Wormer] who actually WAS a scary monster, like a pteradactyl.  Even being nice, she (Helen Mirren) was a formidable character.  Quite a difference from the Pixar universe.

Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sully (John Goodman) are 18 year old frosh at Monsters University in the Scaring School.  They are finding their way and become interested in the fraternity life.  There are the cool kids and the nerdy kids.  Guess who goes where?

Like in Cars, the college backdrop was a mashup of other universities.  I thought I noticed Berkeley a lot with a dose of Nassau Hall at Princeton.

Ultimately it was more kids movie than college movie.  What did I expect anyway?


* * 1/2

Jobs - release date is August 16

If this is half as good as the book Steve Jobs, it should be excellent:

Man of Steel

The Dark Knight team tackled the Superman franchise and had some fun sinking their teeth into a time we don't know much about:  the young adult years.  And when you fill in the holes, you have a lot of fictional room to run in.

Clark Kent is aware of his power but his father Jonathan keeps encouraging him to wait to use it.    Somehow, Clark searching for his real parents, makes his way to the North Pole where he encounters the Jor-El hologram who, in an Emperor Palpatine way, tells him of the history of Krypton.

No Lex Luthor here but the new villain is General Zad from Krypton.  There's a lot of characters whose name we don't quite find out:  who cares about Jenny right?  We're too busy paying attention to Lois Lane (nicely done by Amy Adams), Clark, the Kents and of course Perry White, the editor.

With something as all-American as Superman, this movie takes a familiar twist and flavors it up.  It still owes a lot to Spider Man, Iron Man and even the Iron Giant.

* * * of 4

This Is the End

Taking the concept of playing the same character, this movie stars Seth Rogen as..... Seth Rogen, James Franco as James Franco and so on.... Jonah Hill... Jay Baruchel....Danny McBride.... Craig Robinson.

After a party at James' house, the Rapture begins coupled with an earthquake and zombie attack.  The group holes up in a weed-induced paranoia.  Since the characters play themselves, it quickly becomes a spoof on anything they've every done.  With a bit of Rocky Horror camp thrown it.

Not much to this movie.  It did keep me out of the heat today.  So for a summer escape,

* * of 4

On second review, there actually WAS something to this movie. What are your thoughts on this
story about the "rape jokes"?

The Internship

At first I thought the multiple 80s references in this movie (for example, Flashdance ) was to highlight the age differences between the characters  who get an internship at Google with a lot of younger people.  Then I realized, "Hey, this IS an 80s movie".

Think of a 21st century version of Meatballs, or Revenge of the Nerds, or Mr. Mom, set  in Silicon Valley.  Throw it a bit of Back to School as well.  Mix it up and you've got the Internship.  Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson play Billy and Nick, who after getting laid off as salesmen (they're a team, like in Wedding Crashers), have to reinvent themselves.  They enroll at the University of Phoenix to get a Google internship.  After Google takes a flyer on them, the interns are grouped into competitive teams.  Of course no one wants to be with the old guys so they end up with a bunch of misfits.  The nerdiest of the nerds.

Everyone learns a little from everyone else.  Like a steeltown girl on a Saturday night, they just keep trying.

* * *

Now You See Me

Using magic to rob banks - an unusual premise but it comes together, thanks to Las Vegas.  Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson and Isla Fisher and Dave Franco are the Four Horsemen, a group of magicians brought together for a big heist in Las Vegas.  If that sounds like Ocean's Eleven, then you are correct, Sir!

The big cast, the bright lights and the glamour of the Vegas show are good points for the movie.  David Copperfield was a consultant on the movie and it shows.

Of course, no heist would be complete without the dogged FBI agent, played by Mark Ruffalo and his beautiful sidekick from Interpol Melanie Laurent.  Another interesting character is Morgan Freeman whose livelihood is to debunk magic tricks.  So both the police and this author have an interest in solving the mystery.

Another movie this reminded me of was the Da Vinci Code, another mystery wrapped around a heist.  There's also a European flavor here with the Interpol angle.

* * * 1/2