Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on June 25th, 2013
Burned, Recruited, Coerced, Betrayed, and Framed; in the past five seasons of Burn Notice, Michael Westen has been all of these things. The constant fluctuation in his ever-changing status is enough to drive a person mad, but through it all Michael has managed to stay level-headed and remain confident that he would find a way out. That confidence in his abilities is no doubt sustained by the support of his eternally loyal love, Fiona Glenanne. Fiona is Michael’s anchor; she keeps him centered, and as evident in last season when Fiona was framed for a bombing by Anson, Michael will go to any extreme to keep her safe; he needs her. However, when Season 6 opens up, Fiona has turned herself in to FBI to protect him from being used. What will Michael do now that the love of his life may be gone forever?
Season 6 picks right where the last season left off: Fiona turns herself in to the FBI and is taken into custody as Michael watches. Unable to save her, Michael becomes a man on a mission as he enlists the help of Sam, Jesse, and CIA officer Dani Pearce (Lauren Stamile) to find Anson (Jere Burns) and bring him in to clear Fiona’s name. Michael receives word of Anson’s plans to flee Miami as his identity has been compromised and he is being hunted. He catches up with him but is forced to let him go, condemning Fiona to her fate.
Posted in: The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on June 20th, 2013
“Let’s go shopping.”
Proof that the internet in the wrong hands can be a dangerous tool; it was the highlight of celebrity news in 08 and 09; a rash home invasions and robberies committed on the residences of Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Rachel Bilson, Audrina Patridge, Megan Fox, and Orlando Bloom. As reported by TMZ and news outlets alike, the group broke into the celeb’s home stealing cash, jewelry, and apparel quickly earning the name “The Bling Ring.” News of their actions and their ability to avoid detection despite being caught on caught on a security cameras fueled the crime ring’s boldness as it was reported that the group returned to Hilton’s home several times after the original robbery. Ultimately, an anonymous tip lead to the arrest of the group’s ringleader and her original co-conspirator and when it was discovered that this crime ring was nothing more than a bunch of teenagers, their story became so big that there was only one inevitable resolution: to make a movie about it.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on June 19th, 2013
“Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum, ask not whence the thunder come. For between heaven and earth it’s a perilous place, home to a fearsome giant race. Who hunger to conquer the mortals below, waiting for the seeds of revenge to grow…”
Jack the Giant Slayer is the mash-up adaptation of two classic fairy tales; Jack and the Beanstalk and Jack the Giant Killer. Now adaptations are big business in today’s industry, but is combining two different source materials wise, or a recipe for disaster? To answer that question, let’s examine the recipe of this film: two popular children’s stories, Bryan Singer at the helm, top-shelf actors Nicolas Hoult, Ewan McGregor, and Stanley Tucci. Well, considering that the resulting brew is an entertaining, family-friendly fantasy film, my answer is going to be coming up on the positive side.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on June 18th, 2013
Enigma: something hard to explain or understand: well, that about sums up Charlie Zone. The story itself is mildly interesting but takes its time building traction. I was expecting to be introduced to a film about underground fighting and instead was introduced to a film about two people who were dealt a bad hand and are thrust into a life-or-death situation. At odds at first, the two must work together in order to survive. Does this plot theme sound familiar to anyone else?
Paul Avery (Glen Gould, Cashing In) was once an up-and-coming boxer from the Indian Reservation. He was thought to have a real chance at a pro career until he got caught up in a smuggling racket and served four years in prison. After losing his boxing license as well as four years of his life, Paul now struggles to make ends meet and has turned to participating in recorded internet street fighting for extra cash.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on June 12th, 2013
Hansel and Gretel, everyone has heard of this fairy tale, right? The Brothers Grimm tale about a brother and sister lost in the woods who come across a house made of candy. They go inside and are soon captured by a witch who goes about stuffing them with candy to fatten them up to be slaughtered. Somehow the cunning pair manages to escape their shackles, and while the witch is distracted with the oven, they push her into the oven and destroy her. We have all heard the tale, but what happened afterwards? Did they go back home, or did they live out their days in the witch’s house? Clearly I’m not the only one to wonder what happen to this pair of siblings, and now thanks to Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, and the folks at the Paramount and MGM, we have our answer.
Fast forward many years later (as the film doesn’t give a specific number of years that have gone by), Hansel and Gretel have grown up to become famous and equally dangerous witch hunters. When the town of Augsburg is plagued by witches who have been abducting the town’s children; the incompetent Sheriff Berringer (Peter Stormare, Prison Break) and a mob of townspeople are in the process of condemning a local woman to be burned at the stake without any evidence of guilt. The mayor in an attempt to calm the panic of the townspeople has brought in Hansel (Jeremy Renner, The Avengers) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton, Prince of Persia).
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on June 7th, 2013
Ever notice when an actor is having a good year, suddenly a film that they made years before their success makes an appearance? I refer to this movie as “the bandwagon film.” It is film that is shelved and does not have a prayer of being released. It happens too often for it to be coincidence and usually features said actor center stage on the cover art with the mention of the popular film that the actor took part in. Take Christian Bale for example: not long after the release of Batman Begins, a low-level film by the name of Harsh Times came to theaters. In the case of Dead Mine, that actor would be Joe Taslim. Taslim is having a good year with a starring role in the action packed The Raid: Redemption and scoring a bad guy role in Fast & Furious 6; the movie had promise in the beginning, but as the film progressed it launched into complete insanity and will likely be an anchor holding Taslim down.
Legend tells of an abandoned Japanese World War II bunker hidden in the Indonesian jungle that stores a vast fortune of Yamashita gold. After an excavation turns up the bunker’s location, rich boy Warren Price (Les Loveday, Sweeney Todd), Rie (Miki Mizuno, The Flying Publicist), a wide-eyed researcher, and Stanley (Sam Hazeldine, The Raven), an engineer from his father’s company. Given the uneasy and dangerous circumstance of the area, the group is appointed a security team led by Captain Tino Prawa (Ario Bayu, Java Heat).
Posted in: The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on May 31st, 2013
“Fear is not real. It is a product of thoughts you create. Do not misunderstand me. Danger is very real, but fear is a choice.”
It’s been seven years since father and son Will and Jaden Smith partnered up for Jaden’s first film role in The Pursuit of Happiness. Since then, Jaden has managed to forge a path similar to his father’s albeit his own starring in his blockbuster films The Day the Earth Stood Still and a reboot of 80’s popular franchise The Karate Kid. No doubt Will Smith looks upon his son’s accomplishments with pride, but no matter how fulfilling it may be to forge your own way, there is something to be said about the comforts of familiarity. Opportunity for a re-teaming comes in the form of the Shyamalan-directed dystopian film After Earth.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on May 27th, 2013
If I had to sum up Last Kind Words in one word, I’m afraid that word would be “forgettable”. Harsh, I know, but that is but the most fitting because the movie failed to leave a lasting impression. I don’t need much to find a movie entertaining: A steady storyline, interesting characters, and good dialog; my issue with Last Kind Words has to do with my uncertainty about the kind of film it was intended to be.
The story follows Eli (Spencer Daniels, This is 40), a seventeen-year-old only child whose family is forced to relocate to his father’s hometown after his father is laid off from his job at a power plant. His dad manages to secure work for the family on a farm owned by Waylon (Brad Dourif, Catch .44), the older brother of his father’s former flame who ran off back when they were teenagers. Despite being employed, the situation has put a strain on Eli’s home life as his father has turned to drinking to cope, making him very abusive towards Eli and his mother.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on May 14th, 2013
“An affair born in betrayal will end in ashes.”
And a movie starring Lindsay Lohan and Grant Bowler depicting Hollywood’s most controversial and scandalous couple will share the same fate. Liz & Dick tells the love story of two-time Academy Award winning actress Elizabeth Taylor and respected theater actor turned leading man Richard Burton, documenting from their first meeting to Burton’s death in 1984. The key element to love stories, especially biographical love stories, is casting two people that will have chemistry that not only emanates on screen but resembles that of the two actors you are portraying, and Lohan and Bowler failed to deliver.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on May 9th, 2013
“Season of the equinox, the witch besets her kill; one last soul, the town to know taken against their will.”
I’m not the type that scares easy, and I’m not overly superstitious. But when it comes to urban legends, I know there are a few things I never intend to do: I never intend to say “Bloody Mary” three times in the bathroom mirror, I never intend to mix Pop Rocks and Coke, and, if there is a legend about a witch that will come after you if you break one of windows of her house, guess what? I won’t be picking up a rock. Mind you, this is less about fear and more about having no desire to deal with the consequences if I’m wrong. If only the teens of The Wicked shared my views.
