Movie Reviews

Never Back Down

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Never Back Down
  • IMDB: link

“Win, lose, it makes no difference.  This is my fight; everyone’s got one.”

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Ripping off the plot of The Karate Kid the film focuses on a high school student in a new school trying to fit in only to get bullied by the local martial arts stud (Cam Gigandet).  Jake (Sean Faris) is an angry young man who blames himself for the death of his father (Steve Zurk), and although he is never looking for a fight, somehow one always manages to find him.

Jake makes the move with his little brother (Wyatt Smith) and mother (Leslie Hope) who disappears for large stretches of the film only to show up to treat her son like shit, until, of course, the plot calls for her to gain insight and understanding and support him in his big moment.

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Nanking

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Nanking
  • IMDb: link

“We have to keep in mind that it’s not just about the numbers of people who died; it’s also the manner which many of these victims met their deaths. “
—Iris Chang

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To tell the story a group of actors is assembled together.  Each is assigned a role and will read the letters, diaries, journal entries, and accounts of that person which are then intercut with real footage of Nanking.  This unusual set-up takes a little to get used to, but by the time the historical context is covered and the film moves into the gory and ghastly details of the Rape of Nanking you have forgotten the actors and are completely immersed in this horrific tale.

Nanking was the Chinese capitol in 1937 when the Japanese army invaded the country and took control of the city.  The occupation of Nanking lasted for more than six weeks and visited such atrocities on the civilian population it has been named the Nanking Massacre and The Rape of Nanking.  A small group of missionaries from foreign countries including America and Germany created a safety zone in the city for refugees and survivors.

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10,000 Clichés

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: 10,000 B.C.
  • IMDB: link

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I’ve given all-around awesome German Roland Emmerich credit before for making kick ass blockbusters like, as the zillions of ads this weekend say, Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow; but his newest mega-budget effort 10,000 B.C. is proof that the guy isn’t infallible.  His scripts have left something (a lot of something) to be desire; but he can usually make up for it with some expert action directing.  So what happens when the he’s off his game?

You know how it goes.  Your father ditches your pre-historic village one night, and the rest of the tribe treats you like shit for it.  Sucks, right?  Well, so it goes for our hero, the eloquently named D’Leh (Steven Strait).  He does finally catch a break when he wins the woman of his dreams (Camilla Belle) by killing an animal, but then these asshole Mongol-Viking hybrids come along and all like kidnap her and most of the village.

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The Bank Job

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  • Title: The Bank Job
  • IMDB: link

“We’re not bank robbers.”
“Maybe that’s why we could get away with it.”

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Terry (Jason Stratham) and his small-time crook pals (Daniel Mays, Michael Jibson, Stephen Campbell Moore, Alki David, James Faulkner) are offered a chance at the biggest score of their lives by one of Terry’s old flames, Martine (Safron Burrows).

Trouble is they only know have the half the story.  Martine is actually working for MI5 (British Intelligence) who desperately need some damaging photographs from a safety deposit box owned by a black militant (Peter De Jersey) who is using them to blackmail the government.

Tim (Richard Lintern) is given the assignment of capturing the damaging material without using any company resources, as the government can not be tied to the operation if all goes wrong.  He blackmails Martine into getting her friends to do the job.

The job is further complicated by a pornographer (David Suchet) whose ledger of police payoffs is also hidden among the treasures the team lifts from the bank.

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Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
  • IMDB: link

“I, for one, am not running around town with Oliver Twist’s mom.”

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Delysia Lafosse (Amy Adams) is a lounge singer and aspiring actress.  She’s sweet, lovable, and willing to use her sexual wiles to make her dreams come true.  As the film opens Delysia is dating three men: the owner of the club where she works (Mark Strong) who provides her with a luxurious apartment, a young Broadway producer (Tom Payne) who is casting a coveted role, and Michael (Lee Pace), a penniless piano player and the love of her young life.

Into this juggling act arrives Guinevere Pettigrew (Frances McDormand), an out of work governess unable to find work.  Taking the job as Delysia’s social secretary under less than reputable circumstances, Mrs. Pettigrew becomes the friend and older sister Delysia so needs.

There’s not much to the plot other than misunderstandings and white lies.  Almost everyone here could do what the script calls for in their sleep.  McDormand is the star of the piece.  Adams is sweet as the lovable mixed-up tart.  And everyone else is mostly forgettable.

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