Here is another in a series of posts I have been doing where I briefly discuss the latest movie rentals I have seen from my Netflix queue.  Did the title already say that?  I will shut up then now.  Previously, there were several films I mentioned in this prior post, so I will pick up where that one left off.  Do you see the natural progression here?  The dvd rental, or blu-rays in some cases, in the post are in chronological order of video rentals or simply, the films I have seen – so here is the most recent batch of films for your perusal. Yes, there are likely spoilers all over these write-ups, so be warned if you haven’t seen the films.  As usual I will give you my Netflix star rating, based on their somewhat flawed IMO, five-star system.

Greenberg

Ben Stiller, Rhys Ifans and Greta Gerwig in Greenberg.

I was looking forward to this quirky indie starring Ben Stiller as a 40-ish single man returning to California coming off of a stint in rehab/mental institution.  While that aspect of it is not explored, the film finds Ben’s Greenberg struggling to connect with those around him, including former close friend and ex-bandmate Ivan (Rhys Ifans) and a potential love interest in Greta Gerwig’s Florence.  Greenberg floats unevenly through various situations from bizarre sexual mishaps to drug induced partying to quiet restaurant moments that turn ugly.  Director Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale) lets the action unfold naturally, but the pacing is almost too slow with the events too disconnected at times to be engrossing.  Greenberg is a movie worth watching for indie fans, but a pass for people who think they are getting the Meet the Parents type of Stiller. His performance is far more nuanced and reserved here.  3 out of 5

Cloverfield

The Godzilla-esque Cloverfield made waves at the box office, opening big and getting some of the stars steady work in films after its release.  The movie is set in New York and while it can be a bit lazy with its entirely hand-held camera (yes, I said the ENTIRE movie is hand-held(!)).  It kept my interest, which is more than I thought it might.  I thought some of director Matt Reeves visuals were pretty imprressive (the characters crossing between two high-rise building touching hundreds of feet above ground was particularly cool).  The acting is fair; tolerable given that nobody has ever been in a situation quite like the fantastical one presented.  This is not a repeat viewer, but I thought it was serviceable.  Another 3 out of 5.

Surrogates

Bruce Willis’ career has to be on a steady decline.  Surrogates‘ sci-fi, futuristic premise where we live in a world where our clones interact and humans never leave the house is an interesting one.  But the CGI is pretty lame, the story lacks substance and in the end, it was a forgettable experience.  This felt like a B-level movie with a (former(?)) A-list star in it.  The ending is semi-predictable and there is not enough there to warrant much else.  I am surprised that the teaming of Willis and Ving Rhames (two Pulp Fiction stars) have fallen off as bad as to end up in this.  Disappointing. 2 out of 5.

Cop Out

Bruce Willis sleepwalks his way through the horrible Cop Out.

Did I just say I was disappointed in Bruce?  Oh my.  Kevin Smith’s wholly generic Cop Out with Willis and Tracy Morgan playing partners who end up on the outside of their jobs trying to solve a case that involves murder, drugs, a baseball card, a potentially cheating wife, corrupt cops and a bunch more.  This film attempts to have laughs, yet instead repeats generic one-liners like Morgan’s “I love you like a fat kid loves cake.”  Are you f*cking serious?!?  This film is an outright travesty. The “stars” are completely mismatched.  The acting is horrible and Bruce looks entirely disinterested.

I suspect that Smith (Zack & Miri Make A Porno) will pass it off that it was supposed to be this way.  I call that BS.  You wasted your time, the stars time, the audiences time and the studio’s money.  Smith is bordering on a thin-line that should find him on the outside of Hollywood for good if his next film doesn’t succeed.  Its too bad, because I like the man, but he really shows little talent for directing (a basic point and shoot-style), a marginal talent for writing (but at least he is a unique voice to be sure), and I’m just entirely disappointed in the man that once made the respected Clerks. That was so long ago.  1 out of 5 stars.

Green Zone

This was a somewhat surprising revelation.  I found the film to be totally acceptable and am in many ways sorry that it did so poorly at the box office.  I understand why, but I feel sorry for the film, as it is quality through and through.  Director Paul Greengrass leads Matt Damon’s Roy Miller into Iraq on a (likely fantastical) story of a man and country of troops searching for WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction).  While Miller and his Marine brethren continually invade and investigate supposed locales for WMD, he begins to question the intel which leads to government conspiracies and cover-ups which will potentially be largely eye-opening for any American (and even Iraqis).  This is a sad tale but tautly and smartly told with little wasted effort.  It is not a Jason Bourne clone which it seemingly was marketed to be.  It is a thrilling film about politics and war, that should have more Americans (and viewers in general), questioning the validity of the way their government conducts their democracy.  4 out of 5 stars.

W.

Oliver Stone’s biopic of George W. Bush was a perfect film to follow seeing Green Zone, though unintended.  I felt Stone presented a fair and compelling look into Bush and his presidency, with the looming presence of George Sr. a constant driving force for his son.  I didn’t expect to be as interested in this as I was.  There were strong acting performances in several roles, most notably Thandie Newton’s Condi Rice imitation and of course, Josh Brolin’s brilliant W.  Highly surprised he didn’t get more props for his acting here.  Scott Glenn’s incredibly moronic Rumsfeld, Richard Dreyfuss’ Dick Cheney and the always strong Jeffrey Wright (does he ever misstep?) as Colin Powell also rated well.  This was an interesting film, well shot, and a nice look (potentially) into areas of his personality and presidency that the laymen would never know.  Good stuff. 3 out of 5 stars.

Remains of the Day

A rare light moment for Stevens in Remains of the Day.

After seeing Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go based on Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel, I decided to look up the author and discovered that his most revered novel Remains of the Day was made into a movie which garnered 8 Oscar nominations in 1994 (for the ’93 film).  Hence, I watched the film, which stars Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson as servants to a rich man with Nazi ties.  While Hopkins’ Stevens is loyal to a fault, his inner struggle was difficult for me to fully see on film.  I wanted it to be harder for him to maintain his staunch demeanor than it was seemingly revealed. Still, I can’t deny it was fine acting.

If he is belittled, he takes it every time, just going about his work and never encroaching with his opinion.  Whether losing his father or living his life without a chance at love, Stevens stayed strong.  Still, this was an interesting depiction of a man who seemed to have misplaced his loyalty and hurt the possibility for a greater life as a result.  That is something that many of us can relate to.  This was an interesting film, but it never really took off for me and I didn’t see a payoff I was expecting.  3 out of 5 stars (though I’d give it 2.5 if I could – it deserves the rounding up).

ScreenDaily is reporting that Helen Mirren has joined the cast of Summit Entertainment’s DC Comics adaptation, Red, with Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman. The three-part comic book miniseries was originally published in 2003 and was written by Warren Ellis and drawn by Cully Hamner. The screenplay was adapted for the screen by Jon and Erich Hoeber (Whiteout), with Robert Schwentke (The Time Traveler’s Wife, Flightplan) set to direct.

Red is a contemporary CIA story about a retired agent, Paul Moses (Willis), who is forced to run from the new CIA Director (Freeman) after a group of assassins unsuccessfully attack him at his home. The Oscar-winning Mirren will likely play Freeman’s predecessor.

Nothing about the film – or the comic book series, for that matter – seems overwhelmingly original or inspired, and the casting matches that sentiment. No, there’s nothing wrong with Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman or Helen Mirren, but they all fit almost too perfectly, this is a role we’ve seen Willis play to death, most recently in the redundantly-staged sci-fi thriller Surrogates. Nevertheless, principal shooting is expected to start on January 11th, 2010 with a U.S. release tentatively set for November 2010 as one of Summit’s biggest films of the year.

In a rumor that was preordained upon initially hearing about Sylvester Stallone’s planned movie The Expendables, it is being confirmed by MTV that Bruce Willis is going to have a small role in the movie.  The news is not entirely shocking, though personally, I think Willis should be “above” such a project – to some extent.  His part will ultimately result in mostly a cameo in all likelihood as he says:

“I haven’t united with them,” he said. “I’m waiting for a call from Sly about when we’re going to try and make that happen. I don’t know anything about [my character] yet, haven’t seen any pages yet, but I’m excited about it.”

Now, I guess since he pretty much reinvented the action genre with Die Hard (at least he starred in the movie credited with reinventing the action genre), it makes sense on some levels that he would be in the film.  I have always liked Willis, way back before he ever did Die Hard.  He was on a sitcom called “Moonlighting” and he was charismatic and charming (a different version of “Cheers” star Ted Danson’s Sam “Mayday” Malone, the best TV sitcom character of all-time in my book.)  While I say he is “above” it – in reference to the film, I mean it in the sense that a guy like Stallone is honestly, a has been, and his recruitment of other action stars like Jason Statham and Jet Li, prove he needs more modern, bankable names to make the film work.  Sorry, but Dolph Lundgren and Randy Couture don’t count. That’s not to dis Stallone, I like the guy, I grew up with the guy, Rambo, Cliffhanger (a sequel?), and of course Rocky are classics.

In the end, I like the move.  It’s another feather in the cap of what could be a truly fun-filled time at the theater, where you attend only hoping to see some smash-bang action and watch some of your boyhood action stars (in my case, anyway), take a trip down memory lane to some extent.  I hope the film does well from that standpoint and the addition of Willis helps make this more attractive to me.  Agree? (mainpage image courtesy of Screenrant)

If there is one actor who is synonymous with action films, it would have to be Bruce Willis. It all started for Willis back in the late 80s with one of the best action movies ever made, Die Hard. Die Hard was a genre defining piece of cinema and almost single-handedly created what we now know as the modern action film. Almost every action film produced afterward was just a different version of Die Hard. Action movies that followed were often described as Die Hard on a (fill in the blank).  Unlike other action stars of the 80s, Bruce Willis has continued in the genre that made him a household name, recently even reprising his role as Det. John McClane for 2007′s third Die Hard sequel and fourth film in the series, Live Free or Die Hard (great title by the way).

In his latest film, Surrogates, Willis plays a cop again, only this time a cop in the future. Willis plays FBI agent Greer, who is tasked with finding the killer of a gifted college student who is linked to the creator of surrogates. What are surrogates? Well they aren’t just women paid to give birth to another woman’s baby anymore. No, they are robots that have been designed to look exactly like their human operators – only better. In the future world of this film, the purpose of a surrogate is to go out in the world and live a human’s life in place of them. While the surrogate is out in the world, the operator stays in the safety of their own home. The human operator sees and experiences everything that their surrogate does, while maintaining complete control of their mechanical twin from a distance.  The human gets to stay at home free from crime, violence, disease, and any other danger a flesh and blood human could encounter in the harsh world.

"You dragged me out of the house for this?"

As the surrogate version of Agent Greer and his partner, Agent Peters (Radha Mitchell) investigate the death of a young man, they soon find that when the man’s surrogate was destroyed he was also killed. As the investigation continues, Agent Greer’s own surrogate is destroyed in an attack. After this occurs, Greer must do something no one has done in years. He must leave his home and venture out in the real world to find the person responsible for the murders.

Surrogates is directed by Jonathan Mostow (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines) and the script was written by Michael Ferris and John Brancato. The script is adapted from the graphic novel (comic book) of the same name. The film also stars Ving Rhames (Mission: Impossible) as The Prophet, the leader of a group who wants to end the world’s dependence on surrogates. Rosamund Pike (Die Another Day) also costars, playing Willis’ wife, Maggie.

"I've. Fallen. And. I. Can't. Get. Up."

Surrogates reminds me of the Will Smith flick I, Robot, as both plots revolve around humans using robots to perform functions of their daily lives. The film has a great look to it, and I am still wondering what they did to create the robotic versions of the actors (digital air brushing?). I also think that given the film’s late September release date, it has a good shot at performing well at the box office. Any time you have Bruce Willis in your film it’s never a bad thing.  He almost always gives you your money’s worth.

Surrogates opens September 25th.

Someone who has long been one of my favorite actors, Morgan Freeman, is in talks to star in Red opposite Bruce Willis. Red is a DC Comics, 3-book tale, based on a black ex-CIA Special Ops Agent (Freeman?) and a new technology assassin intent on ending the retirees life (Willis?). The espionage thriller is yet another in a long-line of comic properties that appears set to come to the big screen. I am wondering at what point in time these become redundant?

In some ways, comic books and the big screen are a perfect marriage; an opportunity to see the 2-D image on the page sprung to life on a 60 foot screen complete with all the visual effects one can imagine replacing the “bangs” and “pows” of the comics themselves. However, with the multiplexes being hammered by so many of these ventures in recent years with the hopes (usually) of turning them into cash cow franchises, I am wondering when public burnout will officially set in. This year, while the comic properties have done well, its the traditional thrillers like State of Play, The International or even “Taking of Pelham” remake that have not done incredibly well. I think it might all be cyclical as eventually auds will have had enough of the comic book come to life and the traditional dramas and thrillers will make a triumphant return. I don’t know.

This news also leads to one of those questions often pondered, whether we can separate the man privately from the actor on screen. Freeman has been mired in controversy in the last year with all sorts of sordid details coming out surrounding a secret love child and the messy divorce with his ex-wife, etc. Some of the news has been gossip, but it is difficult to not look at Freeman differently, as challenging as it may be, kind of like when Michael Richards (TV’s Kramer from “Seinfeld”) dropped his n-bombs on some heckling patrons during a live stand-up show. Richards has never been able to live that down in (mine or) the public’s eyes, and I wonder if Freeman will be able to survive his scandal of a different kind. At this point, with his possible casting, it appears so. Good or bad news for this comic property? Share.

It’s time to stir the pot once again. Indiana Jones 5 is definitely being worked on and will almost assuredly go into production within the next couple of years, but what’s the point of talking about something so concrete? Let’s take what was essentially a two-word response from the filmmaker and turn it into a story. That’s what MTV Splashpage did when they spoke to M. Night Shyamalan about The Last Airbender and asked him about Unbreakable 2. So, if it’s seemingly so insignificant, why report on it? Because it’s Unbreakable 2. The possible sequel to, with the possible exception of The Dark Knight, my favorite superhero movie ever.

“During a recent press event, Shyamalan addressed that very question as put forth by MTV News — is he still considering ‘Unbreakable 2′? According to the director, that answer is a resounding yes.

‘I am,’ revealed Shyamalan. ‘I don’t know where all the parties are in the world. Sam [Jackson] is like “Mr. Comic Book” now. And Bruce, I don’t know what he’s up to. I don’t know where Disney’s at in their head and what kind of movies they’re up for making. But yeah, I love that movie.’”

“I am” being the two words I referred to in the first paragraph. They’re essentially the only two that confirm he’s interested in doing one. This sequel talk of course has been rumored since the film’s released in 2000. Sadly, it hasn’t occurred to this date and Shyamalan seems to get crushed more and more with every new release. I just read that The Last Airbender is being planned as a trilogy and the producers want Shyamalan to do all three. Of course those plans are predicated on the film’s success, so he might have the time. Ultimately I don’t see an Unbreakable sequel ever happening and even though I think the original is so great, I’m okay with that. You?

Kevin Smith has had a rough go of it since his Zack & Miri Make A Porno failed to do the $60mm in box office he was hoping for.  FYI, it earned about half of that.  I thought he deserved better and it should have found a larger audience, although the film was by no means great.  Smith’s latest though to me has a much better chance at succeeding.  A Couple of Dicks stars Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan (whom I admittedly don’t think is funny, see here), in a cast that includes Sean William Scott and Adam Brody as well.  We have talked about the premise before, but the cops try to track down an expensive baseball card is the main plot point revealed thus far.  Here we have a few pics, courtesy of Film Junk and Accidental Sexiness (who has a few more basic ones).  I personally think that the Morgan as celly pic is brilliant with the pit bull chasing his ass.  I hope this one turns out well, we’ll keep you in the know as things develop.

Here with our weekly Wednesday news recap, we decide to start off familiarly with some comic book news. Kenneth Branaugh’s big screen adaptation of Marvel Comics’ Thor seems to have cast its two primary characters. Thor himself is to be played by 25-year-old Australian actor Chris Hemsworth, whom you probably saw for the first time in Star Trek, as James T. Kirk’s father. [Deadline Hollywood]

Branaugh also found a foe for Hemsworth in British actor Tom Hiddleston to portray Thor’s nemesis, Loki. Hiddleston is even less known than Hemsworth, but both will be blowing up come May 20, 2011. [The Moving Picture]

From comics to board games (the latest craze for some very unknown reason) comes the news that director Peter Berg (Hancock) is looking to turn Battleship into a feature film. This craze hasn’t actually materialized in a film just yet, but I’m curious to see what the result will be. I honestly can’t imagine all these things will continue to be greenlit after the first one comes out. [Film-o-filia]

George Clooney is set to star in A Very Private Gentleman, about an assassin who hides out in a quaint village and ends up developing relationships with the townsfolk, doing his best to conceal his identity. Assassin movies are always cool. Clooney is always great. I’m sure the marriage of the two will be something to behold. [Celluloid Tongue]

Check out some concept art of Mickey Rourke as Whiplash in the upcoming Iron Man 2, courtesy of [New Film Dimension]. I think it looks kinda cool.

I didn’t think we needed another Grimm-related film after the atrocity that was The Brothers Grimm, but that’s what we’re getting with Grimm, which Bruce Willis is helping deliver to us. [Latino Review]

Lastly, we leave you with some Ghostbusters 3 news in which Dan Aykroyd states he wants Eliza Dushku (“Dollhouse”) and Alyssa Milano (“Who’s the Boss”) to be the new team of people who bust ghosts. WHAT? [Rama's Screen]

Sony is giving away movies for free online at crackle.com.  Spider-Man 2, Godzilla, and Stripes are among the recently added titles.  [After Dawn]

The Wackness‘ Josh  Peck is set to voice a character again in Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.  [Cinema] has a full interview with the star. I think that might be an old interview for his first go ’round…my bad.  On another note, Peck is also set to star with Ashley Tisdale in They Came From Upstairs.  [Cinedump] says he plays an alien in the sci-fi flick.

[Fused Film] says that Robert Zemeckis wants to go through with Roger Rabbit 2.  Hollywood will make this happen, don’t you just know it?  Blah.

Bruce Willis is in talks to star in 3 more action movies says [Risky Business Blog], so who says action stars can’t make it in their 50′s?

Todd McFarlane is prepping a Spawn sequel.  I didn’t see the first, I remember Ebert giving it 3.5 stars though.  [Total Film] has more info.  Any interest in this one?

[Chatter Box] has a breakdown of the indie Hesher cast.  It includes, Natalie Portman, Rainn Wilson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.  Nice, solid cast.

People around the ‘net are getting excited for Rian Johnson’s Brick follow-up, The Brothers Bloom, like this [IFF Boston Interview].  Don’t forget we reviewed it a while ago if you want the goods.