District 9 (Single-Disc Edition) [DVD]
District 9 (Two-Disc Edition) [DVD]
District 9 [Blu-ray]

Director: Neill Blomkamp
Writer(s): Neill Blomkamp
Terri Tatchell

Starring: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, Nathalie Boltt

Thank you once again Peter Jackson for being a part of amazing movies. Neill Blomkamp is the new to the scene director that Peter Jackson had hand picked to direct the movie adaptation of the popular video game series Halo. After a lot of work on the project Neill Blomkamp left it alone and was then given 30 million dollars from peter Jackson to make any project he wanted to do.

Peter Jackson has shown much faith on Neill Blomkamp as a director and in doing so it has paid off with one of the best summer movies, and definitely one of the better movies to come out in 2009.

District 9 is about a race of aliens that we dub “Prawns” comes to earth and as humans we expected some form of attack or hostility from them. The aliens turn out to be refugees and we allow them to live on earth but in a run down area known as District 9. The Government then decide they wish to move the aliens to a new area but require their written permission to do so, the new area comes across as being a form of concentration camp.

I applaud the work of everybody involved with this movie because it was done brilliantly. The movie at times appears to be part documentary and at other times seems almost like a news team following the happenings involved. District 9 did not need to use Hollywood hot shots to star in it to draw people in, the reviews from fellow critics and the movie going public itself drew enough attention to District 9.

Neill Blomkamp should be proud of himself because he has created something special with this movie. District 9 deserves any and all attention from movie goers. I would consider it a mistake for Neill Blomkamp to return to the helm of Halo as I feel he is better off with original ideas of his own.

All and all District 9 is a movie that is not only worth checking out, but would be best served in the ranks of your movie collection as well.

My Rating: 90%
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A Perfect Getaway (Theatrical/Unrated Director’s Cut) [DVD]

A Perfect Getaway (Unrated Director’s Cut) [Blu-ray]

Director: David Twohy
Writer: David Twohy

Starring: Steve Zahn, Timothy Olyphant, Milla Jonovich

Honeymoons, Killers, and plot twists oh my! A Perfect Getaway might be the one movie to come out this summer that most of the general public did not hear about. It appeared to have very low advertising for it, and just as quick as you could blink your eyes it was gone from theaters. Does this mean that A Perfect Getaway is a terrible movie? No, in fact this is so far from a bad movie it hurts to think that most people will not ever end up seeing it.

A Perfect Getaway stars Steve Zahn, Timothy Olyphant, and Milla Jonovich in what turns out to be a hell of a thrill ride. This thriller finds a couple on a Honeymoon in Hawaii where while on a hiking venture they end up hearing about a recent murder that occurred in the area. A young married couple on their honeymoon had been murdered by someone who was still on the loose.

The movie then becomes a who done it movie with subtle little clues being left throughout the movie to give us an insight in to who just may have been behind these murders. The acting from the cast is very well done and should not be taken for granted. I know there are a few things in the movie that prevent it from being a perfect movie but in a world where every type of thriller has already been done this movie just so happens to stand out a bit more amongst the crowd.

I have to say that this movie will go very under noticed by the movie going public and yet it should not do so. If you are in the mood for a movie that does the job it sets out to do then i recommend turning this movie on tonight. I know this one will manage to surprise some of you out there and that is just what we need sometimes when it comes to watching a movie.

A Perfect Getaway may at times be flawed, but I can look past the minor flaws of this movie and admire the good that it presents. Overall I recommend you all to at least give this movie a chance and let it speak for itself.

My Rating: 70%
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Julie & Julia [DVD]

Julie & Julia [Blu-ray]

Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously

Director: Nora Ephron
Writer(s): Nora Ephron (screenplay)
Julie Powell (book)

Starring: Maryl Streep, Amy Adams

Julie & Julia stars actresses Meryl Streep and Amy Adams in two different stories that coincide with one another. Meryl Streep plays Julia Child a woman who’s cook book changed the way that Americans eat, and Amy Adams plays Julie Powell a woman who decides to spend an entire year cooking every recipe in Julia Child’s cookbook and then blogging about it each day.

I have to say that I was torn on whether or not this was going to be a good movie or not, the preview did not really leave much to the imagination for me. I then went to a late night showing of the movie with my very loving girlfriend who really wanted to see this movie. I really was not expecting to get much out of this movie but I was proven wrong. The movie turned out to be a well served dish.

The performance of Meryl Streep as Julia Child was brilliant to say the least and I would say is one of the first performances I could confidentially say in 2009 deserves consideration for an Oscar nomination. There is still plenty of time and plenty of movies to be arriving before nominations but Meryl Streep I would say will definitely be getting considered at the least.

The movie goes back and forth giving us an insight into the life of Julia Child herself, and then returning remarkably back to Julie Powell and her cooking adventure.

Julia & Julia is not by any means going to be the best movie of 2009, nor will it even come close but the heart of the movie is in the right place and the acting of Meryl Streep put this movie in the category of well worth watching. I would say even to the skeptics who view this as being a movie that will bore them to just reconsider and allow yourself to watch this surprise hit.

Julie & Julia will leave most viewers quite satisfied and some will even be calling for seconds on viewing the movie. I say if you have not yet seen this movie then take the time out to do so, you will not be let down.

My Rating: 75%
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Surrogates [Blu-ray]

Surrogates [DVD]

Director: Jonathan Mostow
Writer(s): Michael Ferris
John D. Brancato

Starring: Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames

The Surrogates stars actor Bruce Willis who is in a futuristic world where human beings now control robotic versions of who they wish to be which are referred to as their Surrogates. The movie is based on a graphic novel series of which I have not personally read but have been informed that the movie does not quite hold entirely true to the graphic novels. That aside this is a movie review and we are going to look at it from that perspective.

Bruce Willis always manages to find himself in the middle of some quite interesting roles, even as he gets older I find his work continues to be a high level of interest. That being said Surrogates as interesting as it seems on the surface did not quite deliver the cinematic punch I was hoping for.

The movie revolves around Tom Greer (Bruce Willis) as he investigates the murder of two Surrogates which resulted in the murder of their human operates, a crime which has never occurred in the history of Surrogate use. Greer tends to believe that Surrogate life is overused and often tells his wife that he would like for them to spend time together outside of their Surrogate bodies.

The investigation leads Greer to a character that is known as The Prophet (Ving Rhames) who leads a group of human beings that believe Surrogate life is wrong and should not ever be used. This movie tends to posses a strong statement about technology and the direction our own world seems to be going in, yet it does not deliver the impact that it’s very own premise wants to deliver.

Surrogates is a movie which I am not going to steer people away from as I did find it quite interesting in many ways. The only trouble is that the movie itself does not surprise you in anyway, nor does it quite drive it’s own message home either. Surrogates is a wait for video type of movie and could very well find a good home in some peoples DVD or Blu-Ray collections as well. Overall the movie itself is worth a watch but not one to rush yourself in to.

My Rating:54%

All About Steve [DVD]

All About Steve [Blu-ray]

Director: Phil Traill
Writer: Kim Barker

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Thomas Haden Church, Bradley Cooper

Sandra Bullock stars in the supposed romantic comedy about Mary Horowitz who falls madly in love with Steve (Bradley Cooper). It is hard to watch a movie such as this seen as a actress the caliber of Sandra Bullock is in it playing such a paper thin character that the audience is left wanting to leave the theater.

This movie comes off as a surprise seen as Bullock did so well with the summer hit comedy “The Proposal”. All About Steve fails on every single level that it tries to achieve. The movie is not funny, romantic, interesting, or even well acted for that matter.

There was possibly no apparent way for director Phil Traill to save this movie from complete disaster. The writing of the script by Kim Baker I think is damn near 98% of the reason that All About Steve completely fails itself. The acting involved would be the other 2% of the failure of this movie. Why on earth Sandra Bullock ever agreed to playing this role has me absolutely baffled, I just hope for her sake that her upcoming movie saves her from what is a disastrous career move on her part.

I may seem like I am being harsh with this movie but there really is nothing good that one could say about it. All About Steve officially at this point has my vote for the worst film of 2009 and I would go as far as saying that it is among one of the worst movies I have ever witnessed in my life.

I want to send out a warning to everybody out there that you need to stay completely away from this horrid movie. If you dare to venture into seeing this movie just make sure you can spare those 90 minutes of your life and that you really do not want them back. Worst movie of 2009 and everybody should be made well aware of it. “YOU WERE WARNED”

My Rating: 0%
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Extract [DVD]

Extract [Blu-ray]

Director: Mike Judge
Writer: Mike Judge

Starring: Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Ben Afflek

If ever there was a director who always managed to grab my attention with his work it would most certainly be Mike Judge. I find the work of Mike Judge to be very satirical of the world around us. Mike Judge who’s other work includes “Beavis & Butthead: Do America, Office Space, and Idiocracy” now brings us a comedy about an Extract factory.

Jason Bateman plays the owner of the factory which he built from the ground up. Jason’s character is very proud of what he has accomplished but along the lines trouble is brewing. Mila Kunis (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) plays a cunning little thief who wants to do what she can to rob people blind. This is where the entire plot comes in to play.

A silly mistake at the factory leaves one of the top employees seriously injured. Mila Kunis hears of the accident in the paper and immediately attempts to shack up with the man who sustained the injury, her idea is to get the man to sue the company and become rich as a result.

The lawyer that gets involved with the lawsuit is beautifully played by Gene Simmons of the band KISS. Simmons portrays a real bad ass lawyer with attitude which leads to some remarkably hilarious scenes.

Like the previous works of Mike Judge this movie fell victim to a lack of proper attention from the movie going public. I however wish to recommend that people give this comedy the opportunity it truly deserves.

While fans of Mike Judge may be quick to write this one off being that it is not quite caliber of Office Space and maybe not quite the social statement film that Idiocracy was, in my opinion this movie still holds strong and should be appreciated for the fun and the laughs that it provides.

My Rating: 70%
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Whip It [DVD]

Whip It [Blu-ray]

Director: Drew Barrymore
Writer: Shauna Cross (screenplay)
Shauna Cross (novel)

Starring: Ellen Page, Drew Barrymore, Alia Shawkat

The directional debut for actress Drew Barrymore comes off as a pleasant surprise. Whip It might not be a groundbreaking movie by any means, nor is it going to raise any Oscar buzz this year or so I would think but however on the plus side of it all Drew Barrymore has turned over a really good start to her directing career.

The movie stars Ellen Page as a young girl trying to find herself and what it is she loves while trying to appease her mother who tends to hold her back from what she truly wants to do. What I did enjoy is even with a character like the mother in this movie I found that I did not really dislike any of the characters being portrayed at all. The movie itself leads you to feel like the characters involved are very human and as a result you feel a better connection with each of them.

Ellen Page is her role proves once again why she has tremendous potential as an actress in Hollywood. Page turns over a fantastic performance which might be the only one that could get a nod come Oscar season.

The movie is a sports based underdog story which does not fall victim to cliche’s of the genre. What we are inevitably left with here is a well presented, interesting, and overall feel good human story. I applaud Drew Barrymore for her turn as a director and look forward to more feature films from her.

My Rating: 73%
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Zombieland [Blu-ray]

Director: Ruben Fleischer
Writer: Rhett Reese
Paul Wernick

Starring:
Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone

Zombieland is a perfect example of why movies can be fun and exciting. Zombieland takes a simple age old story of zombie invasion and gives it a new and refreshing spin so that the movie going public is served up a amazing feast of blood, gore, and comedy.

Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg star in this comedy/horror and immediately present us with a perfect odd couple paring that captures the imagination from the moment they venture off in search of zombies, non infected territory, and of course twinkies.

I must say that throughout Zombieland I could not help but enjoy the narrative that is provided explaining rules of surviving Zombieland, or even the well presented “Zombie Kill Of The Week”.

Zombieland starts off on a funny note and the laughs never end until the credits finally begin to roll. There is even an amazing comical guest appearance in the movie, and I am not going to give away who it is as I believe you should see the movie and find out for yourselves.

Zombieland is the first major movie debut from director Ruben Fleischer and if this movie is a sign of things to come from Ruben then we will find ourselves treated to a delightful cinema experience with each release.

Zombieland in my humble opinion ranks up at the top of the list for movies to have been released in 2009. Zombieland exemplifies exactly what a true cinema experience is all about. I highly recommend everyone to check out this movie and be dazzled by something fresh on the market this year.

My Rating: 93%
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Couples Retreat [Blu-ray]

Director: Peter Billingsley
Writers: Jon Favreau
Vince Vaughn

Starring: Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, Kristen Bell

Couple Retreat is the kind of movie that could drive a person to the point of suicide. On the surface it seems like a potentially great idea for a movie right? That being said how could you go wrong when you fill the movie with some top names in the movie right? Well what probably seemed like a no brainer for the people behind Couples Retreat soon became a nightmare for those who had to witness it.

Couples Retreat is the story of four couples who are convinced into going on a relationship building retreat. It appeared to be a trip to paradise for the couples until they found out that they actually had to follow a specific guideline in order to be able to stay at this specific retreat. This is the point in the movie where supposedly the fun and excitement begins, although I truly never did find any of either.

There is a scene at the start of the movie where Vince Vaughn and his wife are at a home renovation store with their children, the little boy looks up at his parents with disgusted eyes and says “You guys this is sooooo boring” and here I was thinking to myself that this kid is right. It goes without saying though that this little kid then goes on to have the only two funny moments in the entire movie. I hate to say it but a kid who likely was paid very little money was more comical then the overpriced celebrity actors/actresses that graced the screen in Couples Retreat.

I know that many people have been to see this movie already, and I am sure some will even tell me that they found it to be a good movie also, unfortunately I do not share their ability to enjoy mindless movie babble. It also completely disgusted me at the obvious product advertising that can be found in Couple Retreat. I mean who sits there spending several minutes of screen time rambling on about Applebees? Well I guess Vince Vaughn does and it is sad to say that a once otherwise amusing actor has been reduced to this type of big screen trash. Couples Retreat honestly would not have even made a good made for TV movie. This movie is not quite the worst one I have seen all year but it sure as hell managed to come in a close race for the title. I recommend staying clear of this snooze fest, even if you guys out there are trying to impress your girl.

My Rating: 4%

Paranormal Activity

Director: Oren Peli
Writer : Oren Peli

Starring: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat.

I just want to say right from the start of this review that I know many of you out there loved this movie for what ever reason and hate me if you must but this movie was horribly disappointing in so many ways. When I originally became aware of this movie it had not even been released in small select theaters yet and already my interest had been peaked. I then saw the quick rise in popularity of this low budget film and anxiously anticipated the release of it in a Saskatoon theater.

After such a long wait and reading rave reviews for this movie, including the solid 85% rating it received on movie review website Rotten Tomatoes I was ready to go and witness what should have been a marvel in film making. I then proceed to the theater to see this movie and found myself highly unimpressed. I know it would be easy to say that I hyped the movie up way too much for myself only to be let down but in this case I feel the movie in general let me down.

I can say that I was impressed by one or two scenes in the movie and that did include the final segment of the movie itself, but the problem is that the movie drags on for so long otherwise. The film generally finds itself repeating itself frequently, same daily conversation, same old effects that I am most certain were more creative when they were used in the movie Poltergeist (1982).

There is one thing I do find rather interesting about this movie though and that is how the people behind it managed to turn a $15,000 movie into a multi-million dollar phenomenon. I figure that the majority of the $15,000 was spent on an internet marketing campaign, and if this is the case then my hat is off to the film makers here for their hard work in getting their movie out to the masses.

I will not recommend this movie to people at all, you will either find yourself liking it because everyone else said they did or else you find yourself bored out of your skull for 98% of the entire movie. This is definitely not a ground breaking by any means, and in no way is it really all that scary, a few cheap scares here and there will not save this movie from a negative review from yours truly.

My Rating: 25%