Sunday, September 21, 2008

FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL NOW AVAILABLE

FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL FROM IMDB


Devastated Peter takes a Hawaii vacation in order to deal with recent break-up with his TV star girlfriend, Sarah. Little does he know Sarah's traveling to the same resort as her ex ... and she's bringing along her new boyfriend.


HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL FROM DVDTALK

For some, the Apatowing of American comedy has perhaps lost its luster through repetition. For others (and this would be me), the unwashed comedic sensibility of the Apatow family is a godsend, and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" is another barnstorming success, flush with peculiar performances, a frothy stream of vulgarity, and a universal tale of brokenhearted loathing that's sure to make it the finest awkward date movie of the year.

A television composer, Peter (Jason Segel) is happily dating small-screen superstar Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell). When she leaves him for rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand), Peter is torn apart, lost without the comfort of his girlfriend. Trying to clear his senses and find his center, Peter takes a trip to Hawaii, only to find Sarah and Aldous on vacation at the same resort. Now even more miserable, Peter finds peaceful energy with fetching hotel employee Rachel (Mila Kunis), which leaves Sarah in a jealous rage, soon questioning her own slapdash relationship.

Truthfully, Judd Apatow only produces "Sarah Marshall." However, the man's fingerprints are all over the material, written by Segel and directed by Nicholas Stoller, executed in the same freewheeling, semi-improvisational format that informed "40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up."

The beauty of "Forgetting" has to be that it's a decidedly angry film about relationships that strives to misdirect the audience into thinking it could be something more saccharine and cutesy. Granted, the film eventually wields cupid's arrow, but the rest of the picture is a supremely toxic expression of breakup rage and hatred for the ex. Credit Segel's disarmingly feral screenplay, which has a blast toying with audience expectations while picking away at some genuine moments of disgust and self-loathing. The laughs here are quickly chased by sympathetic stomach cramps.

As with other Apatow-approved endeavors, casting is the key. The ensemble here is terrific and startling, especially Kunis, who after spending nearly a decade on the shrill "That 70's Show," reveals a newly freshened allure as Peter's rebound girl, who also happens to be the best antidote for him in his time of need. Kunis is funny and utterly lovable, and holds her own against Segel, who obviously caters the screenplay to his strengths of punching-bag straight man comedy and bursts of full-frontal nudity. Brand and Bell make for fun adversaries, though both take some time to warm up to the speed of the material.

It also wouldn't be a party without plenty of guests, and appearances by Bill Hader, Jonah Hill, Carla Gallo, and Paul Rudd as a sun-baked surf instructor add their special sauce to the mix. Even William Baldwin pops up as the co-star on Sarah's awful "C.S.I." rip-off crime show, channeling reptilian Carusoesque pausing like a heavyweight champ.

Segel's gift is making weird situations bleed into the uncomfortable, and "Forgetting" is ripe with sequences that dive off the deep end of absurdity, yet still remain a plausible gas. Peter's ambition to write a rock opera about Dracula (performed by puppets) is a perfect example of how Segel boldly walks this thin line throughout the picture, yet his comfort with ludicrousness is where the film is most confident and uproarious. It's a corrosive feature, with Peter slowing coming to the realization that Sarah is Satan incarnate, and the material rides that perfect razor's edge between humanity and throat-slicing comedy, never pausing for comfort.

"Forgetting Sarah Marshall" is non-stop laughs in both the obvious and the sneaky material stuffed into the corners of the film. It's a firecracker of a picture, paying tribute to stomped hearts everywhere, not to mention throwing valentines toward the Muppets, luscious Hawaii, and the comedic value of the penis.

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WILD CHILD NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie Wild Child from imdb

Sixteen-year-old Poppy Moore (Emma Roberts) has always got what she wanted and lives a pampered life in her L.A. world. Though she's handed credit cards with unlimited balances and surrounded by countless hangers on, Poppy can't escape the mounting frustration she feels with her family situation and she makes sure everyone knows it. After an over-the-top prank pushes her father (Aidan Quinn) one step too far, Poppy is shipped off to an England/English boarding school.

Finding herself in a foreign world of early curfews, stern matrons, and mandatory lacrosse, the United States|American princess has finally met her match: a school of British girls who won't tolerate her rebellious ways. Under the watchful eye of the school's headmistress (Natasha Richardson) and surrounded by a new circle of friends (Josie, Kate, KiKi & Drippy), Poppy begrudgingly realises her bad-girl behavior will only get her so far. But just because she must grow into a fine young lady doesn't mean this Wild Child won't be spending every waking hour shaking up a very proper system. Poppy Moore starts Abbey Mount as she means to go on-her way,or no way.


Realising her Dad's not coming back to get her, and having nowhere to fit in, room-mate Kate tells Poppy she'll have to get herself expelled. Later that night, Poppy reads a book (Alice In Wonderland - her punishment for fighting) with a lighter when her room-mates sneak up on her with torches, and offer their help. They give their ideas on how she can get expelled, and act on them as a group, and let her take the blame. This brings the girls closer, but Poppy still wants to leave. When none of the plans to get Poppy expelled are working the girls realise they will have to go all out and hit the headmistress closer to home by snogging her son Freddie, which is completely forbidden by the school. After some flirting, Freddie asks Poppy out on a date, during which they kiss. Before going out with Freddie, Poppy is so excited she doesn't log off the computer, and runs off. Harriet takes her revenge on Poppy by rewriting her emails to best friend Ruby, and sticks one on the girls' door, suggesting that Poppy is just using them and is faking the friendship. Harriet also rewrites an email about Freddie, stating Poppy's plan to kiss him only to get expelled and that she thinks he is a loser.


Coming back from her night out, Poppy is ready to confess she's actually happy, to find the girls upset. They read the email to her and leave. Upset, Poppy goes to see Freddie but he has found the email about him also and feels betrayed. Poppy, with no one else to turn to, sneaks down to the cook's room to use the phone and rings Ruby, who it turns out is sleeping. Even more alone, Poppy starts playing with her lighter, setting a curtain alight. Hearing footsteps, she quickly puts out the fire and runs off. A few minutes later, she looks out her window to see a fire, and wakes Kate and the rest of the school. After the fire is put out, Freddie looks at the damage and finds her lighter. He gives it back to her, refusing to listen to what happened. Poppy goes to the headmistress and confesses. Poppy also asks Mrs. Kingsley to give a letter to Freddie apologizing and confessing her feelings about everything.


While waiting for the Honour Court which will decide if she should be expelled, she finds a picture of her Mum and the lacrosse team. Poppy sits with the picture when Freddie finds her crying. After a heart to heart, they are friends again. At the Honour Court, Poppy tells her story while her room-mates find out Poppy was out with Freddie when the email was sent, and Harriet was the only one around. Going to the court,they get the whole school to confess they were present at the fire. Harriet then lets slip about Poppy's lighter being used to start the fire, which only Poppy and Freddie knew about, and accidentally confesses to restarting the fire after Poppy successfully put it out. Poppy is innocent. The movie is left off where Harriet is expelled, and Poppy will remain at Abbey Mount.


Here is the direct download for the movie Wild Child.

NIMS ISLAND NOW AVAILABLE

NIM'S ISLAND NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE NIM'S ISLAND FROM IMDB

Anything can happen on Nim's Island, a magical place ruled by a young girl's imagination. It is an existence that mirrors that of her favorite literary character, Alex Rover - the world's greatest adventurer. But Alexandra, the author of the Rover books, leads a reclusive life in the big city. When Nim's father goes missing from their island, a twist of fate brings her together with Alexandra. Now they must draw courage from their fictional hero, Alex Rover, and find strength in one another to conquer Nim's Island. Written by Anonymous

A young girl inhabits an isolated island with her scientist father and communicates with a reclusive author of the novel she's reading. It is an existence that mirrors that of her favorite literary character, Alex Rover, the world's greatest adventurer. But Alexandra, the author of the Rover books, leads a reclusive life in the big city. When Nim's father goes missing from their island, a twist of fate brings her together with Alexandra. Now they must draw courage from their fictional hero, Alex Rover, and find strength in one another to conquer Nim's Island. Written by Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE NIM'S ISLAND FROM DVDTALK

I think it's wonderful to see Jodie Foster attempt to break out of her cycle of gritted-teeth dramatic roles with a fluffy family comedy. However, the grating "Nim's Island" is pitched too aggressively, and Foster's bug-eyed, pratfall-packed performance is embarrassing to witness.

Nim (Abigail Breslin) is an adventurous pre-teen girl, living on an isolated South Pacific island with her scientist father, Jack (Gerard Butler), passing the time reading her favorite books by author Alex Rover. In San Francisco, Alex Rover (Jodie Foster) is an agoraphobic novelist currently stuck on her latest work, e-mailing Jack for information on the local volcano. When Jack finds himself stranded at sea, Nim is left alone on the island to fend for herself against storms and tourists. Fearful, she e-mails her hero Alex to come help her, sending the violently phobic writer out into the big scary world of germs and human interaction with the help of her Indiana Jonesesque literary alter-ego (also played by Butler).

Based on the book by Wendy Orr, "Nim's Island" is an unruly family film tied to the idea that restless direction and a blaring soundtrack will keep the antsy kids in the audience glued to the screen. What directors Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin are pursuing with "Island" is a dreamlike quality, where fantasy and reality intermingle on a colorful scale. The filmmaking embraces cartoon qualities by giving Nim animal friends with human characteristics, or the island setting itself, which is a McDonald's Playland of volcanoes, zip-lines, and Talking Heads dance parties. I can understand the temptation of such material, but Flackett and Levin sell the whimsy of it all with a jackhammer, playing to the rafters any chance they get. They seem more interested in elaborate transition shots and other showoff camera tricks than finding a flexible, working tone for the picture.

The result is a headache-inducing film that grows more obnoxious as it plays, but the most piercing element of the movie is Foster. It's not that she's terrible in the frantic role of Alex, but the actress is trying with every fiber of her being to be funny, and bless the multifaceted Foster, but clowning around just isn't in her DNA. Alex is supposed to be a complete pill, but the squeaky way Foster plays the anxiety is difficult to watch. Flailing about like a puppet, Alex spends the entire picture confronting her fears (a major theme of the picture), but the situations provided by the screenplay consist primarily of Alex horsing around or plugging Progresso Soup and Purell, not really making inroads on her list of uncertainties.

"Island" is really three stories in one, following Nim, Alex, and Jack as they fight separation in their own comical ways, but it never ties together. "Nim's Island" isn't dreary, just miscalculated by filmmakers too eager to please and a lead actress much too willing to be the butt of a joke.

HERE IS THE DIRECT DOWNLOAD FOR THE MOVIE NIM'S ISLAND.

MADE OF HONOR NOW AVAILALBLE

MADE OF HONOR NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE MADE OF HONOR FROM IMDB

Made of Honor revolves around Tom and Hannah, who have been platonic friends for 10 years. He's a serial dater, while she wants marriage but hasn't found Mr. Right. Just as Tom is starting to think that he is relationship material after all, Hannah gets engaged. When she asks Tom to be her "maid" of honor, he reluctantly agrees just so he can attempt to stop the wedding and woo her. Written by Orange

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE MADE OF HONOR FROM DVDTALK

At this rate, it looks like the entire cast of "Grey's Anatomy" will eventually have an awful wedding movie to call their very own. Coming right off the heels of Katherine Heigl's unwatchable "27 Dresses" is Patrick Dempsey's "Made of Honor," and it's as robotic and tedious as can be expected from fluffy summer-weekend counterprogramming.

A womanizer who lives by a series of strict rules of feminine engagement, Tom (Patrick Dempsey) can't wait to spend quality time with his long-standing best friend, Hannah (Michelle Monaghan). When Hannah heads off to Scotland on an extended business trip, Tom comes to the realization he can't live without her. When she returns, Tom is ready to admit his attraction, only to find Hannah has found a fiancé (Kevin McKidd) and wants Tom to be her maid of honor. Accepting the responsibility only because it offers a shot to disrupt the engagement, Tom faces a huge speed bump in his plan when it's revealed that Hannah's new love is just about perfect in every way.

Actual human characters are in short supply in "Honor," and heaven knows this material could use any speck of unpredictability it could locate. It's a mechanical romantic comedy, meant to trigger wedding day goosebumps and leading man heart palpitations in the audience, but there's no pizzazz to "Honor," and it features a complete absence of inspiration. It's a lazy picture, and, even worse, it's difficult to sit through. A simple love story shouldn't feel like a prison sentence.

Perhaps equating "Honor" to jail time is an inch too harsh, but watching the filmmakers lead the material through every possible cliché is discouraging. There are some jewels to be mined in the film, especially scenes with Tom's gender-confused role as maid of honor. The concept swings open large comedy doors that should rightfully exploit the situation for every last bachelorette party faux pas, but "Honor" only wants to make sexual preference jokes and take hoary bridesmaidzilla jabs. Dempsey is breezy enough in the role and appears ready to jump off the page and liven up the proceedings, but he's held down by director Paul Weiland, who has some strange ideas of what makes for a giggly, romantic night at the movies.

Let's just say that glow-in-the-dark anal sex toy sight gags fail to conjure up a desired mood of friendly, good-natured fun.

Much like "27 Dresses," the predictability of the material is exasperating. Weiland is terrified to challenge anything in the script, and he gives himself over to the most moronic ideas of conflict, chipping away at basic (and needed) relationship logic to make it all fit together. Traditionally, cliché can be subdued by some fragment of imagination, but once Tom finds himself off on a horse to stop a wedding in the finale, all hope is lost that anyone associated with the production was interested in elevating the material to either funnier or more emotional ends.

Again, Dempsey is good here, and shares pleasing chemistry with the adorable Monaghan, but it's hard to isolate their obvious allure when "Made of Honor" remains such a blinding display of loathsome formula.


HERE IS THE DIRECT DOWNLOAD FOR THE MOVIE MADE OF HONOR

MIRRORS NOW AVAILABLE

MIRRORS NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE MIRRORS FROM IMDB

Kiefier Sutherland is a ex NY cop battling sinister forces in mirrors that endanger both him and his family.

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE MIRRORS FROM DVDTALK

With the magnificent "High Tension" and his exhilarating remake of "The Hills Have Eyes," director Alexandre Aja positioned himself as a genre innovator with unusually lucid ideas on how to return some fright to horror cinema. "Mirrors" is Aja stepping up to the big leagues, taking on his largest budget to date and working with an authentic Hollywood star. It's a tricky position for Aja to find himself in, and the obscene pressure has blurred his once pristine vision for scares.

Reeling from an accidental shooting during his time as a NYPD detective, Ben Carson (Kiefer Sutherland, putting forth minimal effort) has drowned his guilt in booze and rage. Trying to clean up his act and win his family (including Amy Smart and Paula Patton, fighting her cleavage for screentime) back, Ben takes a job as a security officer guarding the spooky ruins of a department store that suffered a massive fire. During his rounds, Ben spies strange visions in the massive mirrors that decorate the hallways, images that forecast gruesome death. Attempting to investigate the history of the store and its past tragedy, Ben finds he's brought the visions home to terrorize his loved ones, forcing him to fight back against the ghostly wrath of the mysterious reflections.

A remake of a 2003 Korean production, "Mirrors," like all of these reheated Asian imports, fails to sniff out how to accurately translate supernatural scares for American audiences. What's here really isn't a horror film but a mystery, with Ben spending more time piecing clues together than feeling the heat from demonic forces. Aja seems at a loss how to process the material, perhaps envisioning "Mirrors" as his transition piece out of the scare zone, yet he doesn't possess the dramatic storytelling tools necessary to keep Ben's personal crisis convincing. In short: "Mirrors" is pretty damn boring.

The picture is often slapdash in execution as well. The dialogue consists of painfully awkward expositional conversations, not pulse-quickening exchanges of worry; every single time a character opens their mouth, it's only to restate the obvious or patch holes in the script. Instead of plunging into the glassy unknown right away, some time with the leads would've been appropriate, instead of obvious character positioning for future torment. Again, Aja appears bewildered on how this film should ultimately stitch together, caught between the chills he knows like the back of his hand and the more leashed menace he's unfamiliar with.

When "Mirrors" slips into terror mode, it mucks with the story even further. The bloodletting doesn't feel organic to the plot, showing up in a vague studio-mandated fashion over an instinctive need to creep out the room. "Mirrors" confounds at times as well, with Ben diving headfirst into the mystery of the department store without blinking an eye, even after witnessing events that would make the Ghostbusters wet their pants. A supporting character's literal jaw-ripping death doesn't seem to rattle the narrative either, with Ben and the local cops carrying on as though nothing occurred, when clearly it has to be the most heinous crime imaginable, even by loose NYPD standards.

If you sit down with "Mirrors" and end up invested in Ben's lukewarm detective work, consider yourself the most patient filmgoer around. With Aja slathering on the cheap boo scares, overseeing rancid performances, barely investing in his screenplay, and showing questionable gorehound taste in violent imagery, "Mirrors" eventually reflects absolute tedium, not appealing supernatural fury.

HERE IS THE DIRECT DOWNLOAD FOR THE MOVIE MIRRORS

DEAL NOW AVAILABLE

DEAL NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE DEAL FROM IMDB

As an ex-gambler teaches a hot-shot college kid some things about playing cards, he finds himself pulled into the world series of poker, where his protégé is his toughest competition.


HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE DEAL FROM DVDTALK.

THE FILM

Poker has been dealt some terrific cinematic hands before, but "Deal" is hardly cinematic. The feature finds a perfect home on the small screen, where the curious lack of energy running through this picture doesn't seem quite as severe. "Deal" is a passable diversion for poker junkies, but I fear will hold little interest for anyone not enthralled by gambling.

A poker prodigy at age 21, Alex (Bret Harrison) has trained himself with online tournaments and dorm room games. Now vying for a shot on the professional poker circuit, Alex piques the interest of former gambler Tommy (Burt Reynolds), who takes the young man under his wing and teaches him the details of the game. Ready for his shot, Alex heads to the World Poker Tour tournament in Las Vegas to match skills with the best of the best. However, ego and mistrust rear their ugly heads, leaving the partnership strained and futures uncertain with a multi-million-dollar jackpot on the line.

"Deal" is a film of limited ambition, yet I think someone forgot to explain that to director/co-writer Gil Cates Jr. Intoxicated by the recent chess-like romanticism of poker, Cates Jr. directs with an aim to be cutting edge, often abusing commonplace editing techniques, blasting whiny emo-rock leftovers, and idolizing the nightlife of Las Vegas with all the visual invention of a Travel Channel special. He's sweating hard to make "Deal" feel electric and edgy, at the same time filling up his screenplay with hoary scenarios of conflict and redemption that keep the whole affair thoroughly sedated.

It's difficult to tell if poker maniacs will dig into what "Deal" has to offer, but the film appears to get the surface details of the game right. It's a familiar road of tells, bluffing, and bravado, but "Deal" does settle into a passable atmosphere of high-tension gambling, using WPT iconography for street cred and the likes of Jennifer Tilly to cameo, lending the picture a reality the rest of the film is sorely lacking. Perhaps Cates Jr. is ultimately more fascinated with the bright lights of competition than the mechanics of the game, but when "Deal" focuses on the cards and chips, the film's nagging problems melt away.

The mere presence of Burt Reynolds offers a mixed bag of production quality reactions; however, he's the best thing to happen to "Deal." Sure his hair looks like a tennis ball and the man's face is pulled tighter than the villains of "Star Trek: Insurrection," but he's the only one in the cast with Hollywood-bred gravitas, making Tommy far more complicated (and therefore compelling) than Cates Jr. could have ever dreamt of. It's a sharp performance of concentration and star-powered snap, and he burns his co-stars off the screen; leaving me to wonder why the production even bothered with the Alex arc, since Tommy and his troubled road back to the limelight is sturdy enough for its own movie.

THE DVD

Visual:

Heavily tinkered with in post-production, the anamorphic widescreen image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) on the "Deal" DVD brings out the details - an unfortunate quality for Reynolds's plastic surgeon. Black levels tend to mush together, but colors pop generously and grain remains.

Audio:

The 5.1 Dolby Digital mix does just fine with casino atmospherics, but keeps most of the action up front. The dialogue and soundtrack are separated agreeably. A 2.0 mix, French 5.1, and Spanish 5.1 are available as well.

Subtitles:

English and Spanish subtitles are provided.

Extras:

"PokerStars Presents: Winning Big at Texas Hold 'Em with Isabelle Mercier and Greg Raymer" (13:22) offers the DVD viewer a primer on cards from two champions. Walking through the intricacies of betting, bluffing, and (hopefully) winning, the featurette is ideal for the poker buff in your life. For added fun, it's hilarious to listen to Mercier's French-Canadian accent tackle card table lingo, especially her repeated use of the term "to da nuts."

A Theatrical Trailer for "Deal" has not been provided on this DVD.

FINAL THOUGHTS

"Deal" is confused when separated from the comfort of the green felt, piling on way too many clichés. As a poker diversion, it should pass the time, but if you're hoping for a dramatically rewarding piece of filmmaking, your odds are better with a different movie.


HERE IS THE DIRECT DOWNLOAD FOR THE MOVIE DEAL.