GET SMART NOW AVAILABLE

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HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE GET SMART FROM IMDB

Bungling secret agent Maxwell Smart, also known as Agent 86 for CONTROL, is on a mission to battle the forces of their evil crime nemesis known as KAOS with his more-competent partner Agent 99, (whose real name is never revealed) at his side. When the headquarters of U.S. spy agency Control is attacked and the identities of its agents compromised, the Chief has no choice but to promote his ever-eager analyst Maxwell Smart, who has always dreams of working in the field alongside stalwart superstar Agent 23. Smart will do whatever it takes to thwart the latest plot for world domination by KAOS. Written by Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE GET SMART FROM DVDTALK

"Missed it by that much!" is the classic line from the "Get Smart" television series and could easily describe the latest big screen incarnation. A woefully uneven motion picture, "Smart" is a misfire, but not entirely ineffective.

When Siegfried (Terence Stamp), the leader of KAOS, engineers a massive plan to sell nuclear weapons to all of America's enemies, it's up to the agents of CONTROL to stop him. However, almost all of those agents have been assassinated, forcing The Chief (Alan Arkin) to promote analyst Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) to spy duty as Agent 86. Paired with Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway), the duo partake in a little globetrotting to sniff out KAOS's plans, while a peculiar competitive/romantic chemistry forms between them. When matters go from bad to worse, it's up to 86 and 99 to thwart KAOS's evil scheme and save the world from certain doom.

Based on the marvelous 1960's Bond satire show, the big screen "Get Smart" voyage has a devil of a time trying to decide what sort of film it wants to be. The television series was a slapstick creation, though frosted with black humor and now quaint cold war undertones. "Get Smart" the movie is trying to play by more predictable multiplex rules, and the result is a schizophrenic affair that reaches for belly laughs, shovels in famous references, and stages blow-em-up action choreography all at the same time.

Director Peter Segal is trying to pull off too much with "Smart." It's a complex take on a simplistic series, attempting to find some action heat beneath all the silliness. Segal certainly has great ideas for bullet-dodging set-pieces, but the picture indulges mayhem much too often, inadvertently handicapping Carell and the cast, who have the unfortunate task of keeping things light in a film that doesn't allow much time for such luxuries.

A "Get Smart" movie without laughs? A strange concept, but one this feature almost achieves. Don't get me wrong, Carell makes for a fine Smart, picking up nicely where Don Adams left off, though a resuscitation of Adams's more famous catchphrases feels a little superfluous. Carell finds new verve inside of the character, removing his dim-wittedness and replacing the void with an intriguing confidence. The actor is home with Smart, sharing pleasing chemistry with Hathaway and Arkin (who nearly steals the movie) and, aside from the painful series references, makes the character his own. Granted, it's a carb-panicky, anal analyst take on Smart, but it's not a methodical piece of Adams mimicry, and that's a blessing.

There are fragments of satisfying absurdity that poke through the smoke Segal leaves behind, but it's not enough to make for a rewarding sit. "Smart" is chasing too many differing tones and nothing clicks, leaving the film a pile of unfinished moves. It's a distracting aesthetic, lessening the impact of the comedy and action by trying to please every member of the audience.

Perhaps the television "Get Smart" wasn't a diamond of quality, but there was a certain indefatigable silliness about it the film doesn't know how to recreate. It forces the production to employ standard summer fare moves, and it robs this eager film of delight. "Get Smart" isn't bad, just underwhelming, trying on too many tones without seeing any of them to satisfying conclusions.

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THE PROMOTION NOW AVAILABLE

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HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE THE PROMOTION FROM IMDB

Two assistant managers of a corporate grocery store vie for a coveted promotion.

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE THE PROMOTION FROM DVDTALK

I really like comedies where two stubborn individuals battle it out for one coveted prize, ignoring all common sense and social grace. Think War of the Roses or Grumpy Old Men. The Promotion really wants to be that kind of film, but sadly, it is not.

For his directorial debut, writer Steve Conrad (The Pursuit of Happyness, The Weather Man) takes two regular guys and pits them against one another to see who can get the manager's job at a new location for the grocery chain they both work for. Will it be mild and meek Doug (Seann William Scott, still looking like he's trying to make sense of Southland Tales), who has lived in the same Chicago suburbs and worked at the nearest store for many years? Or will it be new guy Richard (John C. Reilly), freshly arrived from Quebec with his family, carrying a bunch of odd personal baggage with him? Which is sufficiently lacking in conscience to screw over the other man? Which one is enough of a buffoon to screw it up for himself?

Well, neither as it turns out, and that is the problem. The Promotion comes across like an eager nerd that wants to be everybody's pal, when it should be the kind of movie where we're rooting for the characters to get ruder and cruder and as mean-spirited as can be. Either that, or there has to be a clear hero and a clear villain so that we can take somebody's side. By default, the hero role seems to fall to Doug, who is our point-of-view character and the one who is having his territory invaded. Conrad takes great pains to make us think he's a decent guy who just needs to stand up for himself, even going so far as to let us into Doug's head via painfully redundant voiceover narration. Doug wants to move up in the world so he can buy his girlfriend (wife?) a house, getting them out of their rinky-dink apartment with its walls that are so thin they can communicate with their banjo-playing neighbor just by speaking in conversational tones.

At first, it looks like Richard is going to be a manipulative bad guy, smiling to your face and telling you a big story while he's secretly reaching around and stabbing you in the back. Except, he's not just telling stories, he's telling the truth, and so it seems like we're supposed to like him at least as much as we're supposed to like Doug. Even when the two of them do bad things, they quickly come around and try to make up for them. It's the worst case of mixed signals I've seen in quite some time, and it totally backfires. I'd rather these two dorks were easy to hate, because as sympathetic characters, they aren't very bright and are both such losers, it's hard to believe anyone would give either of them a job.

One thing I hate about reviewing a comedy like The Promotion is that even though it's kind of sucky, the cast is very good and very committed to trying to make the movie good, and I really want it to be better for them. John C. Reilly is terrific, as always, and SNL's Fred Armisen gets several laughs as Doug and Richard's vacant boss. The female roles are underwritten, meaning Lily Taylor is wasted as Richard's wife (and saddled with a ridiculous Scottish accent to boot), and Jenna Fischer once again gets short changed. It would have been nice had she had more to do, rather than the director skating by on having us believe Doug would fight for her solely on the basis of her being Jenna Fischer. As usually happens with a movie featuring Fischer, most guys will watch The Promotion and wish she was their girlfriend.

Even Seann William Scott, who can't really pull off being the underdog, tries his best. But it says something about a movie when the whole ninety-minute show is stolen by a five-minute cameo. As a motivational speaker, Jason Bateman performs at several levels above the material, momentarily elevating The Promotion to a comedy that gets repeated laughs rather than intermittent ones. His scene even has the best Fred Armisen moment.

Once that scene is over, however, it's back to business as usual. The Seann William Scott narration returns, stamping down on any momentum the movie manages to build like a giant foot landing on a parade of determined ants. I think it's the voiceover that bugged me the most about The Promotion, actually. The way it is written and performed, I can feel Steve Conrad straining behind it to make the audience accept that this is a quirky, quaint comedy about quirky, quaint people. As I was watching the movie, I started analyzing scenes where the narration appeared, and every time, what I was being told was unnecessary to my understanding of the film and undercut what was actually happening. Beneath the wimpy monologue was not the mean-spirited comedy I might have been hoping for, but an awkward comedy along the lines of something Ricky Gervais or Christopher Guest might make. The two best scenes in the movie--John C. Reilly before the board of directors explaining a fart joke for way longer than required, and the paper-bag moment at the motivational outing--elicit laughs by making us squirm in our seats. The genial tone of the narration smashes against those uncomfortable pauses and makes it so either we're jerks for chuckling at the awkwardness or chumps for putting up with the rest of this dull charade.

Which is a shame, because I went to this movie to laugh, not make a mealy mouthed new best friend. (Well, unless it was Jenna Fischer, of course.)

Jamie S. Rich is a novelist and comic book writer. His current novel is entitled Have You Seen the Horizon Lately? and was released by Oni Press in the summer of 2007. It follows up on both of his successful books from 2006, the pop-culture hit The Everlasting, and his original graphic novel with Joëlle Jones, 12 Reasons Why I Love Her. Rich is currently writing the ongoing independent comic book series Love the Way You Love.

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BIGGER STRONGER AND FASTER NOW AVAILABLE

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HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE BIGGER STRONGER AND FASTER FROM IMDB

In America, we define ourselves in the superlative: we are the biggest, strongest, fastest country in the world. Is it any wonder that so many of our heroes are on performance enhancing drugs? Director Christopher Bell explores America's win-at-all-cost culture by examining how his two brothers became members of the steroid-subculture in an effort to realize their American dream. Written by BSF Film

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE BIGGER STRONGER AND FASTER FROM DVDTALK

Like many impressionable kids of the 1980s, Chris Bell wanted to emulate his wrestling idols, including the outrageous tearaway-shirted one, Hulk Hogan. Unlike many kids of the 1980s, Bell and his two brothers took the extra step and embarked on a bodybuilding career to toughen themselves up and reach goals previously thought unattainable. It didn't take long for Bell to learn the ugly truth behind dominating physical achievement.

"Bigger, Stronger, Faster" documents Bell's journey of discovery as he struggles to understand why so many popular and aspiring athletes turn to anabolic steroids and other performance enhancers to "cheat" their way to the top. To Bell, the recipe for success was simple: eat your vitamins and say your prayers. However, after years of toiling away on the weightlifting circuit trying to achieve the perfect body, Bell discovered that it takes more than a couple of Flintstones chewables to position himself as a competition brute.

"Bigger" is a convincing argument for sporting disgrace. The way Bell sees it, the taint of enhancement is everywhere these days; professionals are routinely coming under fire for usage of steroids, only to deny what is patently obvious. The juice is loose, and the past 20 years has seen a surge of opportunists trying to sneak in and exploit the largely American-bent need to dominate at all costs.

The unfortunate kink in the legitimacy hose of "Bigger" is Bell, who places himself in the Michael Moore role, taking the camera with him to investigate the bitter 'roid-world. Bell isn't much of a camera presence, and he's an even worse journalist, but his ambitions for this documentary are commendable and, at times, incredibly eye-opening.

The puffed finger of blame extends beyond professional wrestlers (the Chris Benoit story is rightfully covered) to investigate Ben Johnson, Lyle Alzado, the failure of the U.S. government to properly deal with steroids (not to mention the wild west atmosphere of the performance enhancer industry), the death of the classic Gold's Gym era, and the modern-day juicing nightmare known as professional baseball. What, you didn't really believe that endless shattering of home run records was a result of actual talent? Bell has his doubts too and it makes for a fascinating portrait of fractured fandom and underhanded glory. However, Bell reserves his largest wellspring of disappointment for Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Before he was crowned the King of California, Schwarzenegger was a body builder, and, at one point, was refreshingly honest about his steroid abuse. For Bell, this was a crushing blow; a reveal of deception from an idol, turning a hero into a hypocrite as the political machine swooped up The Arnold and molded him into a role model for physical fitness and celebrated his jewel-encrusted achievement of the American Dream. Does this mean that steroids should ultimately be tolerated? It's an interesting questing Bell deals with meticulously.

Eventually, "Bigger" narrows its spotlight to Bell and his emotionally damaged weightlifting brothers, who admit they've used steroids and show little shame, even promising further abuse to manipulate results. Obviously, this is Bell working out some of his personal demons, but the intimacy is welcome, showing Bell's family as a loving group who can't seem to shuffle past their addictions. In many regards, steroids are the death of honesty to Bell, who shapes the movie as a dirge for organic sporting achievement. It's impossible to disagree with the sentiment after watching his take on the relentless enhancement of America and the blurring lines of true achievement.

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