Collateral (by Chuck)

3/4 stars

Max the cab driver picks up Vincent the hitman. Vincent has 5 jobs to complete before the night is out. Unfortunately, for him, his first job is sloppy and involves Max the cab driver and the cab which start to slowly give Vincents position away to the authorities.

Max is then faced with (unwillingly) aiding a murderer or be killed himself. From this point on it's pretty heavily packed with action and shooty, lots of shooty - Vincent is after all an assassin.


The ClearPlay experience
I often times watch my movies with captions - after everyone has gone to bed, so as to be able to know what is being said without making it too loud for those sleeping, which is how (if you've read previous posts of mine) that I know when language is muted or skipped entirely, if there is language at all.

Collateral has the typical R-rated language, with heavy amounts emphasis on the F-bomb.

And an assassin movie really can't be such without guns and lots of shooting.


Collateral is Rated R for Violence and Language and has a common sense rating of a heavy PG-13, since all instances of swearing were wiped out nicely and a lot of the violence was fairly blood-free which means that the shooting was more on the PG-13 side.

However there is a lot of shooting and such an excess is considered to be pretty hard for younger viewers to watch, which is where it earns it's R rating from, in an unfiltered state. (e.g. Matrix [rated -R], is fairly, if not entirely blood-free, but the amount of shooting is extremely excessive.)
A lot of the shooting was kept in, mainly because it's Vincent's method to move things out of his way (windows, walls, etc) and the movie would feel rather disjointed if a clean office building was all of the sudden torn to shreds, if you didn't know Vincents turned the place in to Swiss Cheese. So, on that note even with swearing eliminated entirely, a lot of the violence had to stay in, for continuity sake.

Captain America: The First Avenger (Reviewed by Chuck)

4/4 Stars


If you have not read the comics or do not know anything about Captain America or even know there is a Captain America, and do not want to be spoiled on any level, stop reading now!


Steve Rogers, a scrawny young man from Brooklyn with a laundry list of physical ailments yearns to serve his country, as a man with nothing to lose as he is an orphan - He actually has a family, this is simply deviation from the comics that they couldn't afford to spend time.

After 5 failed (4 of which were illegal) attempts to enlist in the service, Rogers is complaining to a friend that now one will give him a chance. This is overheard by a scientist spearheading a secret super soldier program from the government.

Rogers is chosen to be the gineua pig for the program, because if his pure-blooded desire to serve his country, which is seen in his determination to not give up in his excersizes in basic training. He also passes a test of courage that everyone fails, except Rogers (who passes with flying colors) because he truly is an un-selish guy that is not afraid to stand up to the bullies of the world since he has been bullied and beaten up his whole life.

This undying patriotism of Rogers and his desire to stand up to the bullies of the world, is what drives this character and you feel it throughout the movie.


Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, the Nazi's are up to no good... again. Hitler has an R&D division called Hydra that is building exprimental weapons (that have a tie in to Thor, so if you haven't seen Thor you might be scratching your head at the end of the movie) that disintigrate the victim, or anything for that matter. They are just about to unleash this terror on the world when they learn about Captain America and see him as their ultimate threat that will shut down hydra and their chances for winning the war.


This is definitely a PG-13 movie that is not appropriate for younger audiences and maybe not even be appropriate for 13-16 year olds (depending on the maturity level of your teen.) On top of the type of weapons, this is a very shooty movie... lots of gun use in the one. We even have a somewhat gory moment of an expandable Hyrda soldier and a propeller blade of a moving plane. We have very little swearing and no sex, at all.

Harry Potter 7.2 (Reviewed by Ed)

3.5 Stars out of 4

 

Well the final installment of the most financially successful movie franchise has come to a close.  I have to say they did a great job in wrapping everything up and allowing the boy wizard to deal with his fate and what would become of the people that surrounded Harry. 

 

There were things about the movie that I really liked and things about the movie that fell short for me.  Again the acting was great, the special effects were wonderful, the action sequences were pretty cool and the plot was good.  Also, being able to see some of the not as popular characters get their day in the sun was good! (i.e. Neville and Prof. McGonnigal)  This is what was good for me.  Now for what fell short…2 MAJOR things in the movie let me down just a bit from giving this movie a 4 out of 4 star rating and that was 1.) that it was too short.  I believe the running time was around 2 hours (which they could’ve easily added 30-45 minutes more so as to not rush things), and 2.) (spoiler alert!!) when Harry finally kills Voldemort the final battle, to me seemed a bit anti-climactic.  When Voldemort dies it was a bit different from the book so that took away from the overall experience.

 

Either way it was a great ending to the 3^rd greatest movie franchise in the history of movie-dom.

 

Can’t wait to see it again this weekend!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (chuck) 3.25/4 stars

This movie is action, from the word go. Part 1 sets up the plot and part 2 is chalked full of action and some emo.

We have our closure for the major story/plot points and for the most part director David Yates handles them quite well.

Because so many much major plot points had to be addressed, it felt like they could have easily made this a 3 hour movie and it still would have been just fine.

The final battle between Harry and Voldemort deviated slightly from the description in the book and sadly this is where the movie left me disappointed. Not because it strayed from the book, but only looking at the final battle and how the victor wins - from a movie stand point- it was actually quite a disappointment and far shorter than I wanted.

Some Potter purists might be disappointed in how the final battle is wrapped up, but overall Harry Potter 7.2 was quite enjoyable.