'Death Race 2000'

David Carradine stars in this suped up futuristic NASCAR race that is part Frogger and part 'Mad Max'. 'Death Race 2000' is a cult classic that was remade in 2008 by Paul W.S. Anderson and starred Jason Statham. This movie is as campy as movies can get and I pitched a tent several times during it. 'Death Race 2000' is set in the future when the country has gone under and even the president is scared to stay within it. It's here we get to take part in the Transcontinental Road Race, a murderous cross country race from New York to L.A. where anything and everything goes. The problem is, apparently the writers couldn't think of any possibilities whenever "Anything and Everything" could go down. Sly Stallone plays a character called Machine Gun Joe and his roadster has 2 big machine guns on the front of it, however, they might as well been hood ornaments because they never fired. Carridine plays Frankenstein, a character so bruised and battered that he must wear a mask to cover his hideous face. This movie came out 2 years before 'Star Wars' and I'm certain they stole the concept for Darth Vader from Paul Bartel's portayal of Frankenstein. In the film the racers get rewarded points based on how many people they run down in their cars. They have an outlandish scoring system that rewards them more for taking out the very young (toddler age) and the very old. This movie was very bad, but a film like this provides blueprints for up and coming directors so they can take an existing thought and fill in those blanks in such a way to truly enhance a story for a new generation. This movie reminded me alot of 'Rollerball' in the fact that both films have an amazing concept that just sparks the imagintion and then both had action packed remakes, but the originals were both lifeless and dull. Don't get fooled by this one. End result is 1 1/2 out of 5. 

'Mirrors'

You would think with such seasoned actors like Kiefer Sutherland ('A Time to Kill', 'The Lost Boys') and Paula Patton ('Deja Vu', 'Precious') that this movie might be able to live up to some sort of potential. Think again. 'Mirrors' is as cliche as they come. Even though the story and the element they use to try to terrify you is original (other than it being a Korean remake from 2003), the fact that they tried to turn something ordinary and plain into something horrifying is almost a joke. It has been done and redone so many times over the past few years that there are almost too many to count ('Pulse', 'One Missed Call'(Cell Phones), 'The Ring', 'White Noise'(TV), 'Feardotcom', 'Stay Alive'(Internet), 'Unborn'). And to top it all off, they throw in the atypical paranormal child that is creepy, but so familiar you would swear they live next door because you see them so much ('The Shining', 'The Sixth Sense', 'Stir Of Echoes', 'The Ring', 'Pet Sematary'). Amy Smart provides the audience with the one truly terrifying scene. You would think there would be more "shock and awe" moments considering Alexendre Aja was behind this reflective thriller (he was responsible for 2003's 'High Tension' and the remake of 'The Hills Have Eyes'). If you're looking for a cookie cutter thriller that has very minimal scares and the worse ending to a movie since Tim Burton's 'Planet of the Apes', then check this out. End result is 1 1/2 stars out of 5. 

'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'

This second installment of the 'Harry Potter' franchise has us back at Hogwarts as Harry starts his 2nd year. Chris Columbus comes back as director and takes the helm. Other than doing the first 'Harry Potter', Columbus is also known for directing 'Home Alone' and 'Mrs. Doubtfire' as well as writing movies like 'Gremlins' and 'The Goonies' too. The first movie was so family friendly and cuddly, there was nowhere to go but a little darker. Although this one was a little kiddy, it started the slow trail of darkness that eventually the other films took. I really enjoyed how "Sherlock Holmes" Harry and his friends felt during 'The Chamber of Secrets'. They seem to do more investigating in this one than most of the other ones combined. I also love to see the backstory of Potter unfold throughout these films. At the end of the day, now that all 8 of the films are out, I rank this one 7th among the series just for the simple fact that this film serves as a crossover from the kid friendly fun of the first and the serious struggle of death in the 3rd. I still enjoyed it immensely and 'The Chamber of Secrets' will continue to be a fun re-watch for years to come. End result is a 3 1/2 out of 5.

'Dinner for Schmucks'

'Dinner for Schmucks' is nonstop laughs. Unfortunately, most of the laughs within the movie are at the expense of these misunderstood characters. You can't help but smirk and chuckle, but everytime you do you feel like a bully in high school. This film is like a slow moving train wreck; you don't want to look, but you just can't help yourself. There are lots of films out there that are like this, most of them starring Ben Stiller. 'Schmucks' is a film where the main character is a good enough guy, but for some reason the director thought it would be funny to crap on him for an hour and a half. Films like 'There's Something About Mary', 'You, Me, and Dupree', 'Meet the Parents', 'Along Came Polly', and 'American Pie' all come to mind when I think about what Paul Rudd goes through in this movie. This film is actually a foreign remake from 1998 called 'The Dinner Game'. Jay Roach (director of the 'Austin Powers' franchise and 'Meet the Parents' movies) did an uncanny job in casting for this picture. I always say that Paul Rudd is better used as a supporting character, that he's not able to carry a story on his own. I still feel that way, but having a huge and supremely talented core of actors backing him up lifted his talents to new heights. For not being a fan of these "ruin the nice guy's life" movies, I still thought the performances by Rudd, Galifianakis, Carell, Clement, and Livingston was worth seeing Paul Rudd get pooped on by every big name in the business right now. End Result is a 3 out of 5. 

'Despicable Me'

Steve Carell proves that sometimes it's good to be bad. 'Despicable Me' stars Carell as a bad guy named Gru and his attempt to become the world's greatest super villian. This is yet another PG rated animated comedy that is truly entertaining for people of all ages. 'Despicable Me' follows in the footsteps of other recent films like 'Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs', 'Monsters vs. Aliens', and 'Up'. Carell also got to butt his comic genius against the likes of Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Will Arnett, and Jemaine Clement (who plays Jerry the Minion). The 3-D aspect was some of the best I've seen (it ranks right up there with 'Avatar' and 'A Christmas Carol'). The roller coaster seen in particular was breathtaking and showed us why 3-D is truly the future of cinema. I thought the story was a smash and the symmetry and metphors used were so smart and fresh coming from an animated story. I haven't seen so much thought and emotion put into a non-live action story since 'Finding Nemo'. I really think that hollywood has discovered an untapped resource with animated features and really ever since 'Toy Story', they have taken that extra step to make sure they live up to or surpass their live action counterparts. End result is 4 1/2 out of 5. 

'The Other Guys'

I believe that comedies, especially the spoofs and satires, have gone way down hill compared to the 'Airplane!' and Mel Brooks days ('Blazing Saddles', 'Spaceballs', 'Young Frankenstein'). I don't think the 'Scary Movie' franchise helped at all. Top all that off with the "Epic, Diaster, Date, Superhero, Meet the Spartans, Vampires Suck" movies that became unwatchable and embarrassing and you have the spoof movies of the last decade. Adam McKay took a stab at the buddy cop comedy and really made it work. 'The Other Guys' takes a good mix of action cop movies ('Bad Boys', 'Lethal Weapon') and crosses them with the spoof comedies of the 80's and 90's ('The Naked Gun' and 'Police Academy' series, 'Loaded Weapon') to immerge as this hilarious "Quote" machine that will be talked about for a long time. Will Ferrell and I have a love/hate relationship. I love it when he's in a role and he doesn't have to take the reigns and lead the whole time. He has been so much more successful being able to bounce off other actors ('Old School', 'Land of the Lost', 'The Other Guys') as opposed to having to be the only big laugh in a film ('Kicking and Screaming', 'Bewitched', 'Semi-Pro'). I think you will be surprised by who you end up laughing at in this film. McKay was able to pull together some really talented actors that you may not expect to be super funny and they really pulled it off. While 'The Other Guys' excells in laughs, it does lack a bit in story (you'll be laughing so hard sometimes you'll forget what the story even is). This is a fun movie to set back and lose yourself in. I know I'll have to check it out again because the jokes are so fast and furious that there's no way you can catch them all in one viewing. Be sure to check out Adam McKay's cameo as Dirty Mike, it's pretty good. Enjoy. End result is 3 1/2 out of 5. 

'Scott Pilgrim vs. The World'

Very rarely do you go into a movie with high expectations and not only are those expectations matched, but surpassed. 'Scott Pilgrim vs. The World' is such a film. This film if from the man who brought us 'Shaun of the Dead' and 'Hot Fuzz'. 'Scott Pilgrim' has it all. It's a mix of live action anime, superhero action, video game sequence, and romantic comedy. Edgar Wright gives us that brilliant comedy that he threw into his previous work and along with the thrilling special effects and elaborate fight scenes, provides non-stop ecitement for the entire film. I promise you that you have never seen a movie like this before. Since this movie set a new standard for cinema, I'm sure you will see tons of copy-cats in the next year try to repeat the success that I know this film will get. Kieran Culkin (aka Kevin's cousin Fuller from 'Home Alone') was one of the brightest spots of this film. You will find yourself begging to have him in every single scene. Wright pulled out all the stops when it came to the whole cast in general. Besides the always awesome Cera, we have Mary Elizabeth Winstead ('Live Free or Die Hard'), Aubrey Plaza ('Funny People'), Chris Evans, Ellen Wong aka Knives, and the always pleasant Jason Schwartzman. With all the films coming out that are getting the 3-D makeover, I was shocked that this film didn't take advantage of that third dimension. I've only seen 2 other films that matched the overall movie experience that 'Scott Pilgrim' gave me; 'Avatar' and 'Jurassic Park'. 'Scott Pilgrim' is my favorite movie of the year (sorry 'Inception') even though I know it won't win any Oscars. It's definitely a film that you need to experience in theaters. End result is a perfect 5 out of 5. My all-time #15 favorite movie.