Please 'Go' 'Away'

I really wish I could have the last 100 minutes of my life back, because that was painful. I almost started pulling my hair out. I'm sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself: I really disliked the movie "Away We Go." It is insufferably boring, whiny and depressing, all at the same time. Honestly I'm surprised I sat through the whole thing because I disliked it that much.

The premise of the movie is that a couple, Burt (John Krasinski) and his girlfriend Verona (Maya Rudolph), unexpectedly, but not unhappily, find themselves pregnant at the age of 33 and 34, respectively. That is, she's pregnant, and not with emotion. After learning Burt's parents (played by Catherine O'Hara and Jeff Daniels in what amounts to a cameo for both) won't be around to act as grandparents, and we as viewers learn Verona's parents are dead, the couple decides to go travel and find a place to raise their child. Their travels take them to Arizona, Wisconsin, Montreal and Miami. In each place, they visit an old friend or relative, and encounter something they dislike about it. Mostly what they dislike is the unhappiness they encounter about some aspect of their friends experiences with children. Each couple they visit gives some sort of advice about parenting that Burt and Verona either accept or reject. Each couple they visit is depressing in some respect.

Plus, the premise of the movie makes it seem like the viewers should pity them. Oh no, they're a perfectly happy mid 30s couple expecting a baby and they don't know where to live! Waaaaah waaaaaah...who cares. They both have jobs that don't require trips to the office and seem to pay well, based on the cash they drop during their road trip that involves air travel, trains and rental cars. So we care because they can't find that perfect place to raise a child? Correction: no one cares, that's why this movie fails. Did I mention it's extremely boring as well? It's so slow I...I...I don't even have a stupid cliche to describe it.

The only part that is pretty funny is when they travel to Madison, which is supposed to be the city in Wisconsin, but is clearly the only city in the whole film they don't shoot on location (unless during my four years there I never saw any place they show in the film, including campus). There they find Burt's super hippy professor cousin LN (yes, pronounced "Ellen," and played by Maggie Gyllenhaal). The scene at LN's house with her husband and weird child is pretty funny, and the best attempt at humor in the whole film.

The rest of the comedy seems kind of forced, which surprised me because Maya Rudolph is hilarious on "SNL" and in the movie "Idiocracy", while John Krasinski is better known as Jim on "The Office", a show that I don't know anyone to dislike. And comedian Jim Gaffigan, who has hilarious stand up comedy, is in it. Come on people, give me something better than this! Add to that that the movie is directed by Sam Mendes, the guy who directed "Revolutionary Road", "Road to Perdition" and "American Beauty," all movies I really liked, yet this boring movie was the best they could do. I'm really disappointed, as you may be able to tell, because I had such high hopes.

"Away We Go" is rated R for language, sexuality and boringness. If you want to be depressed and not take anything away from a movie, rent it. I'll give it 4 out of 10 stars. This is the first new release I really disliked; I hope it's the last! I rented a few other movies released earlier this summer that I'll try to review later in the week.

A baaaad rent-a-cop

When I first saw trailers for "Observe & Report," I thought it looked hilarious. It had a lot of great elements for a good comedy: Seth Rogen, who I think is funny in almost everything he's been in, Anna Faris who is also pretty hilarious and director Jody Hill, who created "Eastbound and Down" and 'The Foot Fist Way." "Foot First Way" is a movie from a few years ago about a karate instructor (Danny McBride) who is pretty crazy. "Eastbound and Down" stars McBride again, this time as Kenny Powers, a former baseball player down on his luck after getting kicked out of the major leagues. Both TV show and movie are very funny, so I had high hopes for "Observe & Report." And I was not disappointed.

The reviews I read after it came out in theaters were mixed, and I think the people who disliked the film took it too seriously. I can't stress enough: it's a movie, a parody of real life, made for entertainment. It doesn't say "based on a true story" at the beginning because it's not, it is just a ridiculous take on the life of a bipolar mall security guard. Rogen leads as Ronnie Barnhardt, the aforementioned mall security guard who makes it his mission to take down a flasher who has been running around the mall making everyone, including the love of Ronnie's life Brandi (Faris), miserable.

During the movie, Ronnie tries to catch the flasher and become a police officer, both in the hopes of impressing Brandi, who is a trashy make up counter girl at the mall. We also see how depressing Ronnuie's life is: he is dealing with his bipolar disorder, has an alcoholic mother that he still lives with and is generally unhappy at his low-level job. But that's what I like about this movie. It is sad and somewhat dark, but still very funny. It runs in the same vein as all of Hill's movies/TV shows, and I like his formula.

Rogen has also done a variety of different roles, and I think he's really proven himself as an actor. Though all of his films are basically comedies, Rogen plays each one well, no matter what the role. I think people can relate to him, and I that's part of the appeal of movies he is in.

"Observe & Report" is rated R for nudity, strong language, sexual content, nudity, drug use and just about anything else that makes a movie R. It may be offensive to some people (remember, it's not real life!) and it is a very adult movie, both in theme and content. I liked it a lot, possibly because Jody Hill's humor is intended for my demographic (22 year old male). Anyways, its available at Crazy Mike's, and I thought every funny.

7 out of 10 stars

"Crank" it up

I really like music in movies and the first "Crank" opens with Quiet Riot's "Metal Health," a song that rocks and is also heard in "The Wrestler." I figured that was a good omen about 'Crank' and it was; the movie is awesome, and, I thought, much better than the second, which usually seems to be the case.

The movie opens with our favorite hitman Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) waking up and realizing he has been poisoned by a Bejing Cocktail, which blocks your natural adrenaline and eventually stops your heart. Chev's doctor-friend warns him that Chelios must keep his heart rate up to survive. Just like in the second film, Chev must do wild things to keep his adrenaline up, and he wants revenge on the guys who poisoned him.

This movie is much better than the second. The characters are cooler and more developed, and the action is more exciting, and not quite as contrived as the second film. The music fits really well, and just little aspects of this film make it overall that much more fun to watch. I really liked it; I just wished the second one had lived up to this ones standard.

"Crank" is rated R for much of the same things you'll find in the second one: violence, language, drug use, sexuality, etc. 7 out of 10 stars, and highly recommended.

New movie Tuesday

It's been a busy week and it keeps getting busier. I watched the original 'Crank,' as promised, and hope to have a review up soon; it was way better than the second one. Today is Tuesday, so we had new release DVDs. I rented 'Observe and Report' with Seth Rogen and Anna Faris, so I should have a review up tomorrow or so.

As for the movie theaters, Friday will see two new movies. In Polson, 'District 9' will take over for 'Inglourious Basterds' and 'Julie and Julia' will stay for another week. At the Ronan Entertainer, 'Whiteout' will take over for 'Public Enemies.' I hope to see both 'Whiteout' and 'District 9,' so once I go see them I'll get a review up.

A bite and a blog

Knowing nothing about the new film "Julie & Julia" may have helped me like the film more than if I had known the story. So I'm going to ruin it for you by telling you the story.

I'm just kidding, it didn't ruin it for me, but it was cool really not knowing anything about it, from what it was about to who the main character was. The movie begins with a caption telling you it is based not on one, but TWO true stories, which is correct: one part of the movie is based on the life of Julia Child, the legendary cook, and the other on the blogger who emulated her to the point of obsession, Julie Powell. Child's part of the movie is based on her memoir "My Life in France," while Powell's part is based on her book "Julie and Julia: 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment."

Julie is played by Amy Adams ("Doubt"), and tells the story of how she started a blog chronicling her attempt to cook all 524 recipes in Child's cookbook "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" in one year. It's her life as a lowly cubicle worker at a bureacratic organization, paralelled with the joy she has when cooking.

Her story is intertwined with Child's, played by Meryl Streep ("Doubt") which explores how she got into cooking while living as a diplomat in France. The idea is that you will see the similarities between the two, despite 50 years difference in time and two different mediums, books and blogs. It's an interesting way to look at this story, and I thought it was very well done.

I love food, and the cooking scenes are fabulous, especially the finished products, some of which look absolutely delicious. With the rise of the Food Network and how popular cooking has become, most people will have no problem watching this film. It's about life and cooking and that fuzzy line in between; for Child and even Powell, cooking was the best part of their lives. We see each struggle, Child as a diplomat moving from place to place, and Powell in a dead-end job living in a small apartment in Queens. It's real life played out on a big stage for both, and the film does a great job of paralleling and comparing the two.

I have little doubt that Meryl Streep will be nominated, and quite possibly win, the Academy Award for her portrayal of Child. I had never seen Child's cooking show before, so I didn't really get Streep's performance until I watched some of the real Child's PBS show on YouTube. Child stands out; she's tall, curly haired, and she had a great voice that fluctuates in sound. It seems like the upper part of her body is constantly in motion. Streep nails her every tic, which makes the movie that much more fun to watch.

Adams is great as well. It's almost scary how obsessed it seems Powell was with not only Child's cooking but Child herself. Still, she has a great story as an aspiring blogger who gains a real following, but I don't really feel sorry for her at any point. I see where she's coming from as a blogger though. As someone who writes a blog, I too wonder, is anyone reading this? Does anyone care about my perspective or opinion? Does anyone even read these words I write? It brings up such great questions about the internet: everyone can have a voice for free, but does anyone hear that voice? In her case, they did; in mine, I think not so much. But I still love this form of expression, and so did she, regardless of if people read her blog; she just liked doing what she loved.

As I walked out of the theater, someone in the small crowd described the film as "refreshing," and I think that's a nice way to describe it. I really enjoyed it, and it's a happy, fun film. I think it will appeal to most people, regardless of age group.

"Julie & Julia" is rated PG-13 because of some language, and sexuality. I think it's OK for all ages; I saw kids of about 8 or 10 in the theater. Might be more appreciated by older people than that, especially those that love food. It's playing at the Polson Showboat until at least Thursday, so check it out while it's still around.

7 stars out of 10

Fun at the expense of "Natzis"

If you're a fan of Quentin Tarantino, you'll love his new film 'Inglourious Basterds.' If you're not of fan of his and his unique directing style, you probably won't. I fall into the category of 'fan,' so naturally I loved it. It's a throwback to his great films, like 'Pulp Fiction' and both 'Kill Bills'', and better than his mediocre 'Death Proof.'

The film is vintage Tarantino through and through, starting with the opening credits, which roll with a spaghetti-western tune before a single scene of the movie is shown. This film has chapters, like 'Kill Bill' beginning with number one, which is titled, "Once upon a time in Nazi occupied France." The opening scene is so Tarantino, so built up and epic, and it sets the tone for the whole movie. To make a long story short, an idyllic scene of the French countryside in 1941 is shattered when SS agents, led by Col. Hans Landa, find and kill a Jewish family hiding in a house. One of the Jews, a teenage girl named Shoshana, escapes the massacre. Landa, by the way, is played brilliantly by Christoph Waltz, who may very well win an Oscar for his gleeful portrayal of a heartless, merciless SS agent. The scene is beautifully shot, and it features great dialouge, a trademark of awesome QT films.

We next are introduced to the Basterds, a group of American-Jewish soldiers working guerilla missions in Europe taking out and scalping as many Nazis as possible. Brad Pitt plays Lieutant Aldo Raine, who claims he has Indian blood and goes by "Aldo the Apache." He's from Tennesse, and has an accent to match; he pronounces 'nazis' as 'NAT-zis' and he is generally hilarious throughout the film. My favorite line of the movie comes in this scene, when Aldo tells a Nazi prisoner, "Well, that's exactly the response we were hoping for cause watchin' Donnie bash Nat-zis heads in with a baseball bat is like going to the movies for us." "The Bear Jew," or Donnie, proceeds to do just that. The crew also has an Austrian born members and a German member that the Basterds helped escape from prison so he could join in their rampage. The Basterds goal is to match the Nazis at their game of ruthless killings.

Our third scene finds the escaped Jew from France, Shoshana, now living in Paris 3 years later. She is the owner of a movie cinema, and keeps to herself. But when the Nazis want to use her theater for a movie premiere, the intersection of all the stories comes to fruition. As you can tell from this simple description, the plot is classic QT, where it mixes in different storylines to tell one total story that in the end, all makes sense.

The film is excellent, and like 'Pulp Fiction,' makes great use of flashbacks to describe how a character came to be a certain way, or do a certain thing. This is one of my favorite trademarks of Tarantino, and he does it masterfully in this film. It's an epic, clocking in at just over 2 hours 30 minutes, but the prolonged, tense scenes he utilizes make the time worth it, and important. I can't really think of a point he could have shortened or cut entirely from the movie. I also really enjoyed the flawless use of multiple languages; French, German, English and Italian are some of the languages spoken, so if you don't like reading subtitles, don't go see this movie. At it's base, it's a revenge movie on those Nazis, so kind of unrealistic, but none of that took anything away from it. You'll also notice the voices of two Tarantino mainstays throughout the film: Samuel L. Jackson, who acts as a narrator, and Harvey Keitel, who acts as an American military commander. Both actors were stars in 'Pulp Fiction' and Tarantino loves little things like using favorite actors, even for small things like this.

Like I said, I highly recommend this film. It's still running at the Polson Showboat for at least this upcoming week, so go see it while it's playing. 'Inglourious Basterds' is rated R for violence, language, and cause it's a freakin' Quentin Tarantino movie. That should tell you what you're gonna get.

This is the first movie I'll implement my star system of ratings. I'll give each film I watch from now on a number of stars out of 10. This film I give 8 out of 10; I really liked it, and may even go see it again. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

'X' Marks the Spot

Ok, I've had a busy but fun movie-watching week, so I'm a litte behind. I watched "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" on Tuesday, and have to say, it exceeded my expectations, considering what I had read about it, which wasn't all that good. I was never a big comic book reader, but I did play X-Men video games, and I've seen the previous three films, so I feel like I have a decent base of X-Men knowledge, though not as much as many of you, I'm sure. Though not a remake, I still feel like the purist comic book reading niche probably doesn't like these movies, but for pure entertainment value, I do. Also, here's a SPOILER ALERT because it is kinda hard to describe this film without going into a fair amount of detail.

The film begins in Canada in 1845 with a young James lying in bed, sick, with his father by his side and his friend Victor at the door. A yelling voice is audible from downstairs, and James' father leaves the room. A single gunshot rings out, and James runs downstairs. Upon seeing his father dead on the floor, James freaks out and rushes the murderer; his rage causes bone-like claws to come out of his fists, and he kills the murderer, Victor's father, with them. As the murderer dies, he tells James that he is his father, meaning James and Victor are brothers. Knowing they'll be hunted, Victor and James Logan flee into the woods.

Victor is also a mutant, who has long finger nails and fangs, and in the comic book is known as "Sabretooth." The next few shots show the mutant brothers fighting in a long line of American wars, from the Civil War to Vietnam, protecting each other as brothers. In Vietnam, James (Hugh Jackman) finally sees how crazy his brother Victor (Liev Shrieber) has become with his mutant power as he tries to assault a Vietnamese girl, and kills a superior officer. James and Victor are sentenced to death, but survive the firing squad because of the mutant powers they both possess.

Sitting in jail after surviving their execution, Major William Stryker comes to see them and offer them spots on an elite X team with other mutants that acts as a guerilla group going on missions around the world. They accept, but when Logan realizes that the team is acting in the interests of Stryker and killing innocents, he leaves the team.

Logan ends up in the Canadian Rockies six years later, living a peaceful life working as a lumberjack with his beautiful wife Kayla Silverfox. His world is shattered when he is visited by Stryker, who tells him that someone is killing off former members of the X team. I'll leave the plot at that, but the twists and turns really start at this point, and what I've said thus far merely sets up the film.

The movie was released as an early summer blockbuster, and in following that vein, it has lots of CGI, action and explosions. At times it is a little over the top, and the plot is convoluted and full of fairly obvious twists. For me, it wasn't so much about the plot, but seeing a prequel to the other films. The fact that its title is "X-Men Origins" would lead one to think that there will be other films about other characters as well. Getting a glimpse of other X-Men, like Sabertooth, Gambit and Cyclops is also cool. We get to see how a young Professor Charles Xavier meets some of the team as well. This is a good movie, but obviously very hyped up for the blockbuster movie it was, so don't get too excited.

"X-Men Origins: Wolverine" is rated for PG-13 for some serious mutant violence and such. If you have an opinion on it, think it is nothing like the comics, etc., please let me know. And hopefully a new one will be out soon.

New movie Tuesday

So I just went a rented "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." I'll try to have a review up sometime tomorrow.

Also, really excited about what's playing in Polson at the Polson Showboat. What I can't wait to go watch is "Inglourious Basterds" with Brad Pitt. It's directed by Quentin Tarantino, which always means a gory show. "Basterds" plays at 4:00 and 7:15. Also showing in Polson is "The Time Travelers Wife," and in Ronan, "Aliens in the Attic."

On Friday, "Basterds" stays in Polson but "Time Traveler" is booted for the critically-acclaimed "Julie & Julia," starring Meryl Streep about chef master Julia Child. Both movies are supposed to be excellent. On Friday in Ronan, "Aliens in the Attic" is replaced with "Public Enemies," starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. I saw it, and enjoyed it. This is a good week for movies, so go out and see one (or more)!

Sept. 15 DVD Releases

Not a huge selection of new ones coming out on Tuesday. My pick will hopefully be "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." I wanted to see it, but it got pretty bad reviews when out in theaters. I've seen the three "X-Men" films, so I'm pretty psyched to watch this one. I'll let you know whether the critics got it right, or whether it's worth a watch.

I'm also on the final episode of season one of "Deadwood." Like I mentioned before, it's a great show; can't wait to watch the finale and then the next season. I'll have a review up Wednesday of next week. Thanks for watching!

A 'Day' of reckoning

Remakes can traditionally go one way: worse than the original. Lots of times, with lots of remakes, I've never seen the originals because they are really old and I just don't watch them. People who love the originals bemoan the fact that the remake is terrible because it's not like the original or just not good. I do understand this, but a lot of times, I think taking each film seperately is a better route than comparing them.

The remake I watched was "The Day the Earth Stood Still," which came out in April but I just watched it this week. I haven't seen the original, but now I'd like to, and compare them. I actually really liked this film, whether it stuck to the original or not.

The movie opens in 1928, with a hiker in India coming upon a glowing sphere during a major snowstorm. He touches the sphere, blacks out and awakens with a circular scar on his hand.

Cue up present day, where we are introduced to Dr. Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly), a renowned scientist at Princeton University. She is rounded up by a group of FBI-looking people, thrown into a Suburban and given a police escort to a military base. Once there, Benson and other scientists learn that an unidentified object is headed for Manhattan, and will hit in just over an hour. They can't stop it, so they have to prepare for "the aftermath."

As the object approaches earth, it slows down, landing gently in Central Park. The scientists surround and approach it, as do military personnel and NYPD. A being emerges from the sphere, and Benson reaches out to touch it, but someone shoots it. The being is taken to a hospital, while a giant robot life like looking thing emerges from the sphere as well, a seeming guard for the being.

The being is of course an alien named Klaatu, and takes the form and is played by Keanu Reeves. He wants to speak to our world's leaders to discuss the human race, which the US Secretary of Defense Regina Jackson (Kathy Bates) disagrees with. Klaatu escapes, but his purpose is clear: he is to reason with humans and stop them from ruining the earth's environment, or wipe them out.

This isn't an action packed movie, but there is action, and it is enjoyable. It did make me want to see the original; I have a long list of films I need to see now! If you've seen the original and/or this one, comment on the blog, and tell me what you think.

"The Day the Earth Stood Still" is rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence and general apocalyptic themes. I'll let you know if Crazy Mike's has the original as well.

Definitely 'High Voltage'

As I mentioned earlier, I rented "Crank: Hight Voltage" yesterday, the sequel to the action-packed first "Crank." I thought I had seen the first movie, but as I watched the second one, I realized I was mistaken. I now have to rent that so I know a little more background.

Anyway, the film picks up where the first one leaves off: Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) gets thrown out of a helicopter, hits a car on the road, bounces into the street, where a van pulls up, uses a shovel to pick him up and throw into the van, and he's taken away. Dead, right?

Wrong. Chev wakes up to open heart surgery by a group of Chinese surgeons. He sees his heart taken out, put in a red cooler and replaced by a plastic artificial heart. His heart is taken away by a goony looking dude with piercings all over his face. Chev passes out.

When he wakes up, he sees a diagram of what the surgeons intend to do: keep him alive for a while so they can harvest the rest of his organs. When he realizes the first one they want is his, ahem, "man organ," Chev decides enough is enough. He escapes leaving many bodies in his wake. His quest is to find his stolen heart, a bloody undertaking.

Along his way he meets his old flame Eve (Amy Smart) who has become a stripper in the three months since he last saw her. She acts as his sidekick on his journey, which goes from a strip club to a horsetrack to a guys limo, and on and on. The key factor is that in order to keep his artificial heart pumping, he must continually shock himself with something, be it a cops taser or grabbing "high voltage" equipment, and yes, even generating friction from body to body contact, something he and Eve perform on a horse race track, during a race.

The movie is crazy, and moves at hyper pace, with weird camera angles and weirder flash-backs and scenes. It's non-stop action, and actually pretty funny. I like Statham as an actor, and even the late David Carradine has a tiny role as an Asian gang lord. I'd like to see the first one too now so that I can really appreciate the second.

"Crank: High Voltage" is rated R for just about every possible reason: graitutious amounts of violence, gore, nudity and profanity. Definitely for an older, but not too old, crowd. The other key is you can't take it seriously. This movie makes fun of people who do. How else does Chelios survive a drop from a helicopter, and an action-packed day on an artificial heart?

Sept. 8 DVD releases

So today being Tuesday, new DVDs hit the shelves. "Dance Flick" and "Crank: High Voltage" came out today. "Crank" features Jason Statham, who kicks serious ass in "The Transporter," so I went with that one. I'll try to have a review up tomorrow morning. Not the best week for new releases, but "Crank" does look pretty cool. Go rent something for tonight!

A long, dark 'Road'

When I first saw the previews for "Revolutionary Road," I thought it looked unbelievably depressing, and I had no desire to see it. I came around and rented it, and I actually thought it was an excellent film.

The movie reunites Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet from when they were young stars in the box office hit "Titanic." They're older now, and play a married couple, Frank and April Wheeler with two children leading the stereotypical lifestyle of a 1955 suburban family unit: Frank commutes to New York City for a boring office job while April is the loving housewife. Except she's not so loving anymore, and she has grown tired of their uniformal lifestyle.

A big fight between the two after a terrible performance in an amateur play by April leads her to desire to leave their lives behind and moving the family to Paris to start anew. She wants to work while Frank "finds" himself. Frank finally agrees, and they decide to leave in the fall. The marriage is saved, and both are happy again.

But things have a way of unraveling, especially in unhappy people in unhappy marriages. That's all you need to know about the story; it is worth watching.

Kathy Bates gives a great performance as the Wheeler's neighbor Helen Givings, who doubles as a real estate agent. Her pinings on how great the neighborhood is give context to how miserable it really is, especially for the Wheelers, who apparently once were you free thinkers with loads of ambition. Her son John (Michael Shannon) is literally crazy, but also emerges as one of the sanest characters in the film for his blunt assessments of life. He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, and was truly excellent. Kate Winslet was excellent as well; she totally fits her role as an unhappy housewife. I was not as convinced with DiCaprio's role; he didn't fit for me. I kept seeing his character from "The Departed" or something. I think a different actor could have been better, and maybe been nominated for an Oscar. It was that type of role, I just thought Leo was sub par.

"Revolutionary Road" was directed by Sam Mendes ("American Beauty") and is rated R for sexuality, nudity and a lot of adult content. It is a pretty intense movie with very adult themes, and I would not recommend for any child. Plus, they just won't enjoy it. But you will. Though a dark topic, I thought it was terrific.

A non-stop 'State of Play'

My new release pick for this week was the political/journalistic thriller, "State of Play." And it certainly did not disappoint.

A few things attracted me to this film: the journalist and blogger main characters and that it took place in Washington, D.C., where I'm from. Many scenes were filmed there, and anyone from the area or who has visited will appreciate the shots of Georgetown, Ben's Chili Bowl, the Metro and other noticeable D.C. landmarks.

The film starts with a man running through Georgetown, clearly from someone or something. That someone ends up shooting him in a back alley, picking up the metal briefcase the he was carrying before shooting a pizza deliveryman on a bike, a witness to the first shooting. The running man ("DeShawn") dies, while the pizza man lies in a coma. The shooter gets away.

We are then introduced to Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe, "Gladiator"), the epitome of old-school journalist: he wears an old suit, drives a 1990 Saab, has long hair, sings and eats while driving, yet has the street smarts to be a quality reporter with good connections. He starts investigating the double-shooting, not getting very far, before he heads to the office.

We then meet Rep. Stephen Collins, a Congressman leading a panel investigating corruption charges against PointCorp, a military defense company that is virtually "mercenaries for hire" in the same vein as Blackwater. Just before the day's hearing is set to begin, Collins learns that one of his aides, Sonia Baker, died earlier that morning in a Metro accident. Baker was Collins top researcher for the hearing. Collins is clearly upset during the hearing, and bloggers immediately start to speculate a romantic relationship between Baker and Collins, which turns out to be true. Collins is shamed, and plastered on all the news station.

McAffrey sees Collins on the news, and we learn that the two were roommates in college, and supposedly good friends. They meet later that night, and McAffrey has reason to believe Baker's death, ruled a suicide, and the shooting at the beginning of the move may be connected. That's all I'll give you, but it takes off from there.

The investigative journalism is great, and its a good story full of twists and corruption. The rest of the cast is great as well: Rachel McAdams as Della Frye, McAffrey's colleague and blogger; Helen Mirren as the Globe's editor; and Jason Bateman and Jeff Daniels in somewhat smaller roles. If you like suspense/thrillers/mysterious, you'll like this film.

"State of Play" is directed by Kevin Macdonald ("The Last King of Scotland") and is rated PG-13 for language and some violence. It is available on DVD at Crazy Mike's. The film was taken from a 6 part British mini-series in 2003, and I hope to watch that and possibly compare the two. I'll keep you updated.

Hopefully the "Final" one

Gory, scary movies are usually the things I enjoy. They are like a guilty pleasure to me. Friday I went to see the latest installment of a gore-fest in the form of "The Final Destination." One thing about "the" movies before I go on: when you take the name of your first movie, add "the" to the beginning, and release it as your fourth movie, there is a serious issue. Take the "The Fast and The Furious" franchise. For their fourth installment, they dropped the two "the's." That's all I'll say.

This was the fourth "Final Destination," and it reminded me a lot of the first one, which may have been my favorite. All the films have the same basic premise: a group of friends are at an event or somewhere with a lot of people, and one of the friends has a vision of a horrific catastrophe. When he snaps out of it, he gets his friends away, and in the process, saves some other bystanders.

In the case of this "Destination," a group of two men and two women are at a stock car race. One of the men, Nick O'Bannon, has a vision of a bloody demise as cars explode and the track basically collapses on itself. Shaken up, he urges his friends out of the venue, bringing along some unlikely companions he has disturbed while on his way out. Needless to say, the tragedy occurs, and the friends and about 5 bystanders survive.

Until a mysterious fate begins to kill the survivors off one by one. The reason "Final Destination" has survived for so long is because of the unique way people die. The watcher of the movie KNOWS the people will die, its just a question of how. And the people who create these movies find gory, bloody and exotic ways for each to die. Not by simple things; it usually takes a string of seemingly unrelated events to claim their victims.

As the survivors who die do so in order that they did in his vision, O'Bannon realizes that if he stops someone from dying, then the chain is broken, and the remaining survivors will live. That's as far as I'll go with the plot line; you'll have to see it for the rest.

Like I said, you don't go see this movie for plot or acting; you go for action and crazy death scenes. Though not as good as the others, it wasn't a terrible movie, and I did enjoy, and even laugh, at some of the craziness of the movie. "The Final Destination" is rated R for lots of gore, some nudity, language and general death/mayhem. Now playing at the Ronan Entertainer.