War Horse

It's 1914 and the world is being catapulted into chaos as World War I breaks out. In England a young man named Albert lives with his parents trying to scrape a living so they can continue to pay the rent and not be thrown out onto the streets. The war hasn't reached England yet, but everyone can feel the tension as it draws nearer. As a last ditch effort to keep their farm, Albert and his father go to the local market to buy a sturdy plow horse for the fields. When they get there, Albert's father gets drunk and also into a bidding war with a rival farmer, but not for a plow horse. Instead they bid on a beautiful stallion, one not built for plowing. Albert's father wins the horse in the end and must figure out a way to make the stallion work in the fields. Albert makes a promise to his father that he will train the horse and get the fields planted in time so they won't lose their house. Unfortunately the war soon catches up to England, and Albert must give up his beloved horse to the English army.

"Battles are ugly affairs" - Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

That line was said by Father Christmas when he met the Pevensie children in the film adaptation of the beloved children's series, but it could have easily been used in War Horse. What's interesting about War Horse is it is not only a story about a horse and his master, but it is ultimately a criticism on the effects of war. It is also told from the perspective of  the horse (who Albert has named Joey). Joey is taken from Albert to be used on the frontlines of World War I. The audience watches as Joey travels across Europe and experiences firsthand the pain and agony of war. War Horse is a well acted, fantastically well-made film reminiscent of films such as Black Beauty, Where the Red Fern Grows, and Old Yeller. It is a little slow in the beginning but once it gets past the first 15-20 minutes then it begins to pick up speed and gets much better from there. Jeremy Irvine, who plays Albert, gives a fantastic performance as the wide-eyed teenager that falls for Joey. If you have not had the chance to check out War Horse, I strongly encourage you to.

In Time

Will Salas lives in a world where time really IS currency, used to buy necessities like food and clothing. Science has figured out a way to allow humans to live as long as they can as long as they acquire more time on their biological 'clocks'. These biological clocks don't start ticking until an individual reaches the age of 25; after that they have one year left to live unless they can keep getting more time by working or trading for time. Will has survived for about 3 years by literally living one day at a time. One night he bumps into a stranger who has a century on his biological timer. Will has to save him from "time cops" because the government doesn't believe one should have that much time on their hands. As a reward the stranger gives Will all of his time left. Will Salas has to go on the run from the authorities due to him having an unauthorized amount of time on his timer. Along the way he turns into a futuristic Robin Hood by breaking into banks and giving the time to poor citizens.

In Time has to have one of the weirdest storylines I've heard in a long time, yet it turned out to be a pretty enjoyable film. I'm not a huge fan of Justin Timberlake (as a singer or an actor) but he did a decent job as Will Salas. I also liked the fact that (unlike most Hollywood films) it had a pretty good message for viewers to enjoy the time they have here on earth because it's so short and also that we weren't meant to live forever. A few minor hiccups, the language is a little on the the rough side but overall not that bad; and there is one scene where we see two characters playing strip poker.

In Time might seem like a film not worth seeing due to the weird story, but it is definitely worth checking out.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

The year is 1973 and the British government has just received intel that there is a mole within the Circus, the name given to the British secret service. In order to expose the mole the British government turns to a retired former agent named George Smiley. When Smiley was an agent he was the right hand man to the head of the agency, so the British government assume he's the right man for the job. Smiley has his work cut out for him this time because the mole is another agent, so they know every trick in the book to disappear without a trace. Smiley must work through deception after deception, not trusting anyone but his closest friends if he wishes to weed out the mole.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy can easily be summed up in one word: BORING. Completely and utterly boring. The film begins at a slow pace but unfortunately continues this way the entire time. There is no dialogue until at least 10-15 minutes in, and because of this it's hard to tell what is happening onscreen. Tinker relies heavily on the characters' reactions and movements to tell the story. I've seen movies where this method works, but unfortunately it falls flat here. I found it hard to care what happened to the characters onscreen.

As far as content goes, for a R-rated film this is actually not as graphic or raunchy as it could have been. Violence-wise we rarely see any violence except for a couple of scenes where characters are shot; most of the graphicness comes from the agents committing murder and we only see the aftermath. One character has their throat slit so we see blood dripping down the front of their bodies; another character is shot in the back of the head, and we see the blood spatter on the walls. There is a scene in a strip club, but as far as I could tell we don't actually see anything there. The main issue is the language: we hear the f-bomb close to 10-15 times, as well as a couple uses of d--n, s---, and h---.

I had high hopes for this one, especially when I found out Gary Oldman was going to be in it. It had a promising premise, and what I thought would be a strong cast. Unfortunately, not even Gary Oldman or any of the other great actors could help this disaster of a movie. Let me put it this way: If you saw it for free you would be paying too much. It is THAT bad.

Book of Eli

Denzel Washington plays a lone man named Eli on a journey west. We never fully understand his ultimate destination, just that he's headed west across a barren wasteland that used to be the US. The world has been devastated by a war and some sort of event that "split the sky in two", and is now pretty much entirely a dusty, dry, wasteland. As he continues on his journey we learn more about him and find out that he has a book in his possession. This book he believes will help bring about the restoration of mankind to the way things were before the war. The book he has in his possession? The BIBLE. Eli says that he is on his journey because a voice that he believes to be God's told Eli to bring the book to a place that is ready to receive the message within the pages of the Bible. Along the way he comes to a town where there is a man named Carnegie that wants what Eli has. Carnegie, however, wants the Bible for his own personal gain. Both men believe in the power of the Bible, but Eli wants to use it to save the people, Carnegie wants to use it to rule the people. Eli has to fight his way through Carnegie and his men to reach his destination if he wishes to save the Bible from falling into the wrong hands.

Going into the movie, I didn't really know what to expect. Up until yesterday I didn't even understand what exactly the story was even about. I knew that Denzel Washington's character had something in his possession that was supposed to help humanity in a post-apocalyptic world, but I never could tell from the commercials what exactly that was. I figured it was some sort of book (duh) or manuscript from the title, but was surprised with what book Denzel Washington had in his possession. I never would have guessed the Bible.

Once I heard that the Bible was the centerpiece that the story surrounds, I have to be honest: I pretty much expected the movie to somehow make fun of, or maybe screw things up to make Christianity look bad. I HAVE NEVER BEEN HAPPIER TO BE PROVEN WRONG. This is a great film that surprisingly doesn't make fun of Christianity; in fact in some ways it actually seemed to me to praise Christianity. I most DEFINITELY recommend this movie. Not just because it praises Christianity, but the fact that overall this is just a great movie. One of Denzel Washington's better performances. I would say the same for Gary Oldman. I loved him as Gordon in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. He does a great job as Carnegie in this film.

Word of warning though: This is rated R for a reason. There are multiple scenes of intense fighting, with several characters being killed by a) being decapitated; b) stabbed; or c) being shot in the throat or chest with an arrow. Those scenes can get pretty graphic. You also see two or three close-up shots of a man who gets his hand cut off by Eli. The language is pretty rough too, including at least 10-15 f-words. Not as rough as it probably could have been, but still enough for it to earn an R rating.

Horsemen

In Horsemen, a police detective named Aidan Quinn investigates a murder where the victim is suspended by hooks in a position that resembles being on hung on a cross and there is writing on the wall written in the victim's blood. The bloody writing are the words "Come and See". As Quinn is attempting to figure out who the murderer is a second victim shows up with the same modus operandi as the first murder, right down to the writing on the wall. When Quinn realizes there is a serial killer on the loose, he also realizes that the murders are connected to the Biblical account of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse found in the book of Revelation. Each of the first two murders correspond in some way (either by the color of the room, some object found near the body, etc.) to one of the Horsemen. Quinn has to race against time if he is to figure out the motives behind the murders before the serial killer strikes again.

Horsemen is intense, creepy...and yet at the same time it is amazing. I thought it was going to be a stereotypical serial killer flick, but it had a few plot twists that even I did not see coming. Dennis Quaid is one of my favorite actors and he does an excellent job as the detective. Lou Taylor Pucci and Liam James also were great portraying Dennis Quaid's sons. One thing I liked about this film is the fact that even though it is primarily a serial killer type of movie, it still has some important messages. One such message is the importance of family. Aidan Quinn shows how much he cares for his sons throughout the entire movie, even at one point apologizing for some mistakes of his past.

Horsemen is definitely not for young kids. For one thing it's rated R for disturbing images and violence. Some close up shots of the hooks digging into flesh might disgust some viewers. The language might deter some people also. There is a lot of language spread throughout. If you are able to look past these things however, Horsemen is worth checking out.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

In this sequel to the box office hit Sherlock Holmes we find Dr. Watson is about to get married, and Sherlock Holmes is on the trail of a conspiracy of one Professor James Moriarty. Holmes believes Moriarty is behind assassinations and bombings around the world; however, he cannot prove it. Moriarty has proven himself to be a crafty individual who is able to cover his tracks. Sherlock Holmes catches a break when he runs into his lover Irene Adler. Holmes intercepts a package that Ms. Adler possesses and that clue leads him to a Gypsy fortune-teller whose brother has been missing for some time. Holmes and Watson attempt to assist the fortune-teller in finding her brother while also searching for a way to catch Professor Moriarty before he can do any more damage.

As with the first film, A Game of Shadows is a fast-paced film that keeps you on your toes trying to figure out all the clues by the end before Holmes and Watson can. It reminds me of the old mystery movies where you actually had to watch closely if you wanted to know what was going on. The action sequences were well done also, reminded me of the Matrix trilogy with the slow-motion sequences. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law are at the top of their game as Holmes and Dr. Watson. There is so much packed into A Game of Shadows that you need to see it several times to feel like you're not missing anything. I've seen it twice and I realized there was a ton of things I was missing the first time.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

In Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, the fourth film in the Mission Impossible franchise, we find Ethan Hunt on a mission to stop a Russian terrorist from getting his hands on a satellite that would enable him to gain control of nuclear missiles. This time around Ethan is joined by a team of IMF agents to help him out. Before they can accomplish their goal, an unknown assailant blows up the Kremlin. The Russians think the IMF agents are responsible, so the U.S. government disavows IMF and initiates Ghost Protocol so as not to start a conflict with Russia. It's not entirely clear what that means, but we find out that at least the agents in Hunt's team are the only ones left. The agents have to race against time and Russian police who are pursuing them in order to stop the terrorist from firing the nuclear missiles and starting World War III.

For a sequel, Ghost Protocol is actually very entertaining. I was a little worried that this wouldn't live up to the first three films, but it held its own. To be honest though, MI2 is still my favorite. Tom Cruise still fits the role of Ethan Hunt perfectly. Jeremy Renner is fast becoming one of my favorite action stars. I have yet to see a movie I haven't liked with him in it. Simon Pegg is hilarious as the IMF tech agent. MI4 is still the stereotypical spy flick, with a bunch of explosions, fight scenes, car chases, etc.; but despite that Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, and Paula Patton made this one an entertaining popcorn flick. It's one to at least see once, maybe a couple times.