review by Russell Pinkston

I seen a few movies this week (thanks to Redbox and my local library)..

First up….the bad.

Shark Night (not in 3D):  I was kind of excited to see this movie every since I won an autographed movie poster on Twitter.  I kindof like Piranha 3D (especially the T&A) so I thought…this can’t be that bad.   Yeah right.   First off…the movie was PG-13 (so no T&A and no gore).   Second and most importantly it was poorly written and acted.  I wanted to like it but the whole time I felt like I was watching a really back Sy Fy Channel movie.   And what the BEEP was that Shark Bite music video at the end of the credits.  I am glad the cast and crew had fun making the movie but I wanted to have fun watching it….and I didn’t.  I say SKIP THIS MOVIE

The Smurfs (again not in 3D):  I loved the Smurfs as a kid and collected many of the figures (some I still have today) but seriously What a SMURFING piece of SMURFING SMURF this movie was!  The live action actors were bad especally Hank Azaria who played Garamole.  Wow…I can’t put into words how bad his acting and the writing for his character was.  This movie makes me seriously reconsider how bad I thought Alvin and the Chipmonks: Chipwrecked was…cause compared to The Smurfs…Alvin is a masterpiece (of what…you can probably imagine).   I say SKIP THIS MOVIE

Rubber:  My daughter and I seen the previews of this movie along time ago.  And Dan of The Director’s Cut Radio Show ranked it in his Top 10 Movies of 2011.  So my daugher was excited to see it.  I was somewhat interested in the concept of a tire that killed people.    I mean it’s a tire…and it rolls around blowing things up including people’s heads.   Cool idea.   But instantly it lost us when it opens up with people watching the tire from a distant in the desert and with the thought…is it real or is it a movie….is it more than a movie….yeah…it’s big pile of rubber crap.   I say SKIP THIS MOVIE

and now The Good:

50/50:   Seth Rogen once again brings humor to a film about someone who is dying (Funny People).  This one stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a guy who discovers he has cancer.  His girlfriend bails and he is left with his friend (Rogen) and his therapist (Anna Kendrick).  This movie allows you take a funny look at a not so funny situation.   I like it.  It was a good story and well acted.   I also liked the special features on the making of the movie.   I say SEE THIS MOVIE

Chronicle:   3 high school kids find a mysterious hole in the woods, they go in and make a discovery not of this world….and contact with changes their lives.  They develop telekinetic powers and start off messing with people but one boy takes it too far and decides to use his power for evil and not just for fun.   I like the idea of this movie.  I am not a huge fan of the “found footage” type of filmmaking but it works with this story and the director uses more cameras than just the ones the two characters use in the movie.  I say SEE THIS MOVIE