3.5 Razors

Festival of Beer

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

After the death of their grandfather (Donald Sutherland), two brothers (Paul Soter, Erik Stolhanske) travel to Germany with his ashes.  There they discover the secret underground competition known as Beerfest.  Teams of five from countries around the world compete in different events to crowned champions every year.

After being humiliated and thrown out of the competition, the pair decide to put together their own American team and return a year later to kick some ass.  They round-up three old friends (Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Jay Chandrasekhar), each with a specific beer related skill, and spend the next twelve months training (and getting really drunk).

…

Festival of BeerRead More »

Festival of Beer Read More »

Wait Until You Hear About the Mascot

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Accepted
  • IMDB: link

accepted-posterIf you liked movies like Waiting…, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Risky Business, and Van Wilder, then you should give Accepted a shot.  It’s a little of all of those movies, and others, rolled into one.  But what makes it different is the humorous AND seriousness with which it discusses our educational system – and that it has something to say, unlike most teen comedies these days, rather than just show.

Unable to find a college who will accept him, Bartleby Gaines (Justin Long) decides to create one instead.  With the help of his friends (Jonah Hill, Columbus Short, Maria Thayer) he creates a web page, leases a rundown mental hospital, hires a former educator to be their dean (Lewis Black), and thus creates the South Harmon Institute of Technology.  His parents seem convinced and he and his friends sit down to party all summer long.

…

Wait Until You Hear About the MascotRead More »

Wait Until You Hear About the Mascot Read More »

Barnyard

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Barnyard: The Original Party Animals
  • IMDb: link

Have you ever wondered what animals do when humans aren’t looking?  The answer Barnyard: The Original Party Animals suggests includes quite a bit of human-style partying and misadventure. 

Otis the cow (Kevin James) is the most popular member of the barnyard.  His crazy antics and love of fun with his friends Pip the mouse (Jeffrey Garcia), Freddy the ferret (Cam Clarke), and Pig the, uh, pig (Tino Insana), include surfing the local hills, “boy tipping” a local young ne’er-do-well (Steve Oedekerk), and throwing huge parties every night in the barn behind the back of neighbors Famer Beady (Oedekerk) and his nosey wife (Maria Bamford). 

…

BarnyardRead More »

Barnyard Read More »

A Prairie Home Companion

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: A Prairie Home Companion
  • IMDb: link

Garrison Keillor and Robert Altman do a very good job of showing the final day of the small radio show before the curtain is pulled down for good.  However when the film leaves the story for subplots involving an angel or the corporate hatchet man, it losses the feel and warmth that is so integral to making the rest of the film work.  The end result is a very good film that had it been handled a little different could have been great.

The film centers on an old time radio show that continues to broadcast in present day oblivious to the fact that time may well have past them by.  The performers are like a large dysfunctional but loving family that on this night, the final night the show will be broadcast, say goodbye.

…

A Prairie Home CompanionRead More »

A Prairie Home Companion Read More »

Your Mission if You Choose to Accept It

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Mission: Impossible III
  • IMDb: link

mission-impossible-3-poster

I wasn’t a fan of the first film, but enjoyed Mission: Impossible II for its style and big stunts (and the delectable Thandie Newton), but this film finally is what I’ve been waiting for from the franchise.  Big elaborate stunts, a comprehensible plot, a bad-ass villain, and a team of IMF agents working together doing their jobs (and not all killed off in the first ten minutes) this is the Mission: Impossible I’ve been waiting for.

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) has given up active assignments for the IMF and now trains recruits and spends time with his fiance Julia (Michelle Monaghan) who doesn’t know what he really does for a living.  Hunt is finally happy and at peace until a friend from the IMF (Billy Crudup) contacts him and tells him his star pupil (Keri Russell) has been taken hostage.  Hunt returns to the field with his team (Ving Rhames, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and Maggie Q) for a rescue mission.

…

Your Mission if You Choose to Accept ItRead More »

Your Mission if You Choose to Accept It Read More »