The King's Speech

Don't Be Deceived by Trailers...

Being a teenager, I didn't expect to enjoy this movie. I was, however, very pleasantly surprised. This tale of King George VI (Collin Firth) focuses on his embarrassing speech impediment and stutter. It has always been a problem for George or "Bertie" as he is known to his family and close friends, but when suddenly forced upon the throne, he is told he must address all his subjects with a live radio broadcast. Afraid, and unsure of himself, George feels lost until his wife arranges for him to see unusual speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). Logue's unorthodox methods confuse and anger George at first, but he soon comes to accept the man and his odd ways. Logue eventually forces a strong, everlasting friendship with George that serves him and his country well. England is on the brink of World War II when George takes the throne. This movie was well written, well acted, and well directed. It also had a fresh, original plot which was fantastic considering how many film makers have fallen asleep at the wheel as of late. This is a movie anyone, mature teens and up can enjoy. Just give it a try - King George VI will steal your heart and leave you cheering.

4 Stars

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Of All the Cinematic Disappoints....

Ok, this was far and away the worst movie I have seen in a long time. Being a slacker and a struggling, young musician myself, I tried hard to get into this movie - nothing worked.

A young musician who barely graduated high school is living with a gay roommate, and dating an geeky girl from a strict catholic high school (yes, she's still in high school so their relationship is illegal) when he's dragged my his band mates to a party where he meets a strange girl with pink hair who he'd dreamed about the night before. She makes it clear very quickly that she couldn't be less interested in him but for some reason he remains on her trail until she agrees to go out with him. They sort of hit it off, but what she doesn't tell him is that she has seven evil ex-boyfriends, all of whom have superpowers and that's where our story begins. Scott discovers that to win Ramona (thats the girl's name in case you haven't already figured that out or didn't know or both) he must first battle all her ex-boyfriends and win. Adding to the mix is Scott's gorges ex-girlfriend who has hit the big time since her breakup with Scott and who's guitarist happens to be one of Ramona's evil ex-boyfriends. Scott is faced with seven grim battles that he must fight and win to win the girl of his dreams. This was just a badly written movie with way too many special effects. Don't bother seeing it. Some graphic novels should just stay on paper.

2 Stars

Social Distortion - Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes

True - Blue Fans Will Not Be Disappointed

Social Distortion never ceases to amaze me.

As a long time fan I was pumped when I heard Social D was putting together a new album. I bought it the day it came out and upon hearing the first two songs was not disappointed. It's a solid album with ten solid songs - nothing that compares to "Sick Boys," or "Born to Lose" but its good stuff. Be warned though, the sound is different (different meaning bluesy and slower than their earlier albums.) Mike Ness experimented with the blues years ago on "Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell" with "Bad Luck" and now he seems to be using that style on a whole album. His voice is still buried behind the mic but if you don't mind that you won't mind this album. The top songs would have to be "Machine Gun Blues," "Alone and Forsaken," and "California (Hustle and Flow)" which for some reason unclear to me was offered on iTunes as the free "single of the week" the week of the album's release. Seems strange but hey, when Owl City's "Fireflies" was first released on iTunes it was also the "Single of the Week" and a few weeks later it was number one on the charts. God knows I hate Owl City but I love Social Distortion. Give this album a spin.

4 1/2 Stars

Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns

Some good stuff, but an overall disappointment to the fans of old..

Linkin Park Timeline -

200 - Release of Hybrid Theory: Linkin Park bursts onto the scene and delivers awesome songs such as "Papercut," "One Step Closer," and "In the End."

2002 - Linkin Park remixes Hybrid Theory and titles it "Reanimation." Different, but still some solid music.

2003 - Linkin Park tops their debut album with the release of "Meteora" featuring songs such as "Hit the Floor," "Breaking the Habit," and "Nobody's Listening."

2004 - Linkin Park teams up with Rapper Jay-Z and produces "Collision Course" six wonderful collaborations. 

2007 - Linkin Park releases Minutes to Midnight featuring awesome new rap type songs such as "Bleed it Out," and "Hands Held High." Though some hardcore fans were unhappy with the new styles, it was still a solid album.

2010 - Linkin Park sells out and releases "A Thousand Suns" a disappointment of an album full of techno such as "The Requiem," and "Fallout." Another great band selling out to what is popular just to sell more albums.

Just another great band selling out...first the Black Eyed Peas and Now Linkin Park..who's next? Can't wait to the next from Escape the Fate or We Came as Romans. All we can do is hope that all the bands who have yet to sell out stay true to who they really are when their writing their next album.

1 1/2 Stars

Vampires Suck

Vampires Suck and So Does This Movie

The title explains it all - Another cheap spoof from the idiots who brought us "Disaster Movie," "Epic Movie," and several other cinematic abortions comes "Vampires Suck" from the guys who couldn't sit through another vampire movie. I myself couldn't sit through another vampire movie but due to countless ravings from friends (both good and bad) I just had to give it a try. I didn't think I could find another movie that could possibly make any part of the Twilight saga look good but this movie proved me wrong. It follows more of less the same story line but in this case, following the Twilight storyline is not typically a good thing. This was a movie that couldn't even make me laugh.

I won't bother summarizing the plot since I'm sure your all familiar with the oh so popular series - girl moves to small town, falls for pale guy who turns out to be a vampire..bla, bla, bla...point is avoid this movie at all costs. This was two hours of my life I'm never going to get back.

1 Star

Grown Ups

You'll Laugh till You Cry....and Then Some!

I had high hopes for this movie and it didn't disappoint me! Anything with the words "Happy Madison" in the opening credits has to be good.

I mean seriously, combine Happy Gilmore, The King of Queens, Dicky Roberts, Duce Bigalo, and Caretaker - how could it not be funny? This movie featured five of the funniest men in hollywood as well as a great supporting cast (which included Salma Hayek, Maria Bello, and others).

The movie opens with the fab five playing basketball as middle schoolers in the final seconds of a championship game. The youngsters who played Sandler, James, Rock, Spade, and Schnider as kids actually somewhat resembled the actors they were playing as children.

Twenty of so years later the fab five is forced to return to their small New England town to morn the death of their beloved basketball coach. Lenny (Sandler) is a sucessful, wealthy, hollywood agent with a fashion designer wife (Hayek), three bratty kids and a nanny. Feeling ashamed, her tries to keep his good fortune secret from his friends. Eric (James) has a wonderful wife and two great kids but can't let his friends know that he's currently out of work and not as sucessful as he pretends. Kurt (Rock) tries to hide the fact that his pregnant wife works all day while he stays at home cooking and cleaning. Along for the ride is his rude, crass mother in law who tries to blow his secret. Hopeless romantic Robbie (Schneider) disgusts his friends by bringing his much older wife along. They are soon joined by his three daughters from three previous marriages (two of them gorges) which distracts his friends, including Marcus (Spade), a playboy who never grew up. After the funeral, the five friends and their families head to a lake house for some fun and catching up - and that's where our story begins.

Many hectic adventures follow, starting with the fab five rowing to a nearby island to spread the coaches ashes and ending with a basketball rematch against their old rivals, who are still bitter about the loss so many years ago. The game ends with Lenny teaching his son a lesson in humility. Eventually everyone secrets come out of course, but the best scene is when the fab five leads their kids down a lake trail to an old rope sing hanging over the lake. "You see a rope and a lake and that doesn't make you wanna go nuts?" Lenny asks his kids. Eric volunteers to try it out but just as he's soaring over the lake he get scared and forgets to jump off, crashing onto the hard, rocky ground below and crushing a bird. The fun continues at a water park where we get to see Adam Sandler do a flip off a zip line and land in the water!

If your among the thousands who loved The Benchwarmers, Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison, Blades of Glory..ect, give Grown Ups a try. Anyone who's looking for a laugh will not be disappointed!

5 Stars

Alice in Wonderland

Not Gonna Lie..............Surprisingly Enjoyable

Knowing Disney, I didn't expect to be impressed by Tim Burton's adaption of Lewis Carroll's classic children's story. I was, however, very pleasantly surprised. The special affects are good, the acting was great and it stayed moderately true to the original story. We all know the story of course, Girl (Alice, if case you hadn't figured that one out) falls down a hole chasing a rabbit that no one else can see, meets a crazed hat maker, a lunatic rabbit (not the same one she followed), two short fat twins who love to argue with each other, and a slew of other oddball characters. In this version, a young Alice tells her father of a strange dream she had, involving all the wonderland characters. "Have I gone mad?" she asks him, to which

he replies "Yes, I'm afraid so. Your entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret - all the best people are" Years later, Alice's father is gone, and her mother is anxious to marry her off to a rich noblemen. While visiting a candidate's home, Alice spots a rabbit in a waste coat - the very same rabbit she saw in her dreams years before. She chases it, falls down a hole and ends up in "Wonderland" a strange place ruled by the evil Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter). Alice soon meets "Chesh" a vanishing cat with a very big smile. He takes her to the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) and March Hair, two oddballs stuck in a time wrap cause of a fight the Hatter had with time. The Hatter tells her of the White Queen, the true queen of Wonnderland who was dethroned by her sister the Red Queen. Alice also learns that she must slay the dreaded "Jabberwocky" and defeat the Red Queen. Thinking it is all a dream, she agrees, only to discover that her visions of Wonderland years before were no dream but a memory. This film has it all, action, romance, humor and even some life lessons. An all around great film for families!

3 1/2 Stars