The Collector

Starring: Josh Stuart, Michael Riley Burke
Horror, 2009 (Rated R)


A man returns to his employers home where he works construction with the intent of robbing him only to find himself in the middle of a madman's fun house with no way out. Everywhere he turns is near death and the man behind this is unrelenting in his desire to maim, torture, and kill.

• When this movie started I had to double check that I had the right Collector. It appears to be very dated and kind of has an old school 70's quality about it.


• A flat screen computer here, botox injection there, and a cell phone are about the only indicators that the movie is current. The house where the movie takes place is this huge Victorian mansion type house with bear claw bathtubs making it difficult to grasp the time.


• It is a very dark film with a lot of shadows also which may bother some people.


• I was definitely on the edge of my seat with this one. Many tense and gory moments throughout made it just my kind of movie.

4 STARS

Law Abiding Citizen

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler, Leslie Bibb
Rated R, 2009

A man looses his entire family in a senseless act of crime and over time he plots an elaborate diabolical plan to avenge their death. He really has nothing to loose and pursues those who played a part in the crime and subsequent legal trial that did not do his family justice. With cutting edge maneuvers and surprise attacks he lauches his plan that has everyone confused and searching for answers.

• I have loved Gerard Butler ever since 300. He did the tough guy gladiator thing, a romantic comedy (The Ugly Truth) and now he is taking on the role of law abiding citizen gone deranged killer. He does them all well.
• This movie was very good. It kept me guessing. It was a bit long but I didn't notice because the movie action just kept coming.
• Jamie Foxx is awesome as usual. He is funny as ever but takes on this role of hot shot city attorney and plays it to perfection.
• I have to say that I loved that the mayor was this incredibly powerful black woman yelling at the power suit wearing DA and city attorney Foxx to fix this mess now!! Their eyes got big as she told them how badly they screwed up. I felt sorry for them because honestly, what is anyone to do? This was kind of an unusual situation after all.
• By the end of the movie I didn't know whether to love or hate Clyde (Butler). I mean, how far is too far especially considering all that he lost and how the system failed him?

5 STARS

Couples Retreat

Starring: Vince Vaughn, Malin Akerman, Jason Batemen, Kristin Bell, Jon Favreau, Kristin Davis and Faizon Love
Comedy, 2009 (PG 13)

With their marriage quickly falling apart at the seems spurred on by infertility issues Dave and Cynthia enlist the help of their friends by asking them to go with them to a couples retreat where they can get counseling so that the price will be affordable. The other couples have no interest in couples counseling but motivated by a week in paradise and their friends' plea for help they decide to accompany them. It turns out that Dave and Cynthia weren't the only ones in need of a relationship overhaul. The singles island is a temptation for one and they all find themselves in a place they didn't think they would on their tropical vacation paradise retreat.

• This movie was funny but not as funny as I thought it would be.
• There was a lot of wordy dialogue throughout so there were moments that kind of got slow for me.
• Vince Vaughn was hilarious as usual. He plays the same kind of character over and over but does it well.
• Actually, they all did a great job showcasing their comedic acting abilities and it was a really great cast that I enjoyed watching.
• Malin Akerman is cute as a button.
• Kristin Davis has a great body. She was the oldest of the female leads but she looked just as good as the young bucks. It's always fun to see her in other movies after loving her so much as Charlotte in Sex In The City.
• I really like the storyline. The idea of couples working on their marriages and re connecting.
• That freakin' island was amazing!! I wanted to jump through the screen and be there myself it was so beautiful and idyllic. It was filmed in Bora Bora which is an island in Tahiti.

3 STARS

Bright Star

Starring: Abbie Cornish, Ben Whishaw
Drama: 2008, Rated PG


This is a period drama set in 1800's london and is the true story of Fannie Brawne (Cornish) who falls in love with writer John Keats (Whishaw). Initially, John thinks not much of her kindness to him while his brother is dying and her subsequent interest in poetry piques his interest. John's friend and Fannie have an utter dislike for each other but despite this John is smitten. Their love can go no further because Keats does not make an income and therefore does not have the money it would take to marrie Fannie.

• I got this movie because Abbie Cornish is in it. I think she is beautiful and quite a talented actress. I also like love stories.
• She did a great job in this movie but nothing much could help the fact that the movie was dry and quite boring for the most part.
• It just went on and on and to be honest I shut it off probably missing the last 10 minutes or so because something was coming on TV that I wanted to watch. Instead of finishing it later I just figured I wasn't missing much and called it a day.

2 Stars

The Stepfather

Starring: Penn Badgley, Dylan Walsh, Sela Ward, Amber Heard
Suspense/Thriller, 2009 (Rated PG 13)

A teenage boy (Badgley) comes home from military school to find that his mother is about to marry a man she has known for six months. The guy is likeable enough. The scariest thing about him is that he is almost too perfect but strange bits of information and behaviors keep popping up that make Micheal suspicious. When Michael catches him in a lie he is determined to find out exactly what his soon to be stepfather is hiding.

• This movie was full of suspense and had me jumping and holding my breath on more then one occasion which I like.
• It was a typical kind of story line about a crazy person who sets out to fool everyone and hide his mental illness.
• Michael's girlfriend Kelly (Heard) is obviously the eye candy in this movie and there were several convenient shots of her in her undies. Her primary wardrobe was a bikini and midriff baring shirts. She has a hot bod and they certainly wanted everyone to see it.

4 Stars

Motherhood

Starring: Uma Thurman, Anthony Avery and Minnie Driver
Drama (Rated PG 13)


A stressed out frustrated mother of 2 who splits time with her husband between two rent controlled apartments in New York ponders the meaning of Motherhood as she tries to find time in her busy schedule to write an essay about that topic to enter into a contest. She is a stay at home mom who obviously loves her children but also mourns the loss of putting her dreams on hold and feels conflicted about how her life has turned out.

• This movie does a good job of showing the reality of being a mother. You are supposed to love it and it's supposed to be the most fulflling thing in the world but sometimes at the expense of yourself which seems to be the way it's supposed to be.
• Thurman does an excellent job as usual. I am used to seeing her play a glamorous or beautiful professional type lately so it was interesting to see her playing such a "drab" role.
• The movie was a little slow at times.

2 Stars

Ice Castles

Drama, 2010 (Rated PG)

A young skater who skates for fun on her pond in Iowa is discovered by a big time figure skating coach who wants to coach her to the World and Olympic level. She agrees to go to Boston and train risking her relationship with her boyfriend who is a Collegiate hockey player at Michigan State. Her life is changing faster then she ever imagined and the exceptional talent she didn't know she had takes her to the top of her sport when disaster threatens to take it all away from her.

• Needless to say I was super excited at the prospect of a remake. I loved the music and the amazing images from the original 1979 version with a passion.
• a lof the the details felt really phony and flimsy. The figure skating club attached to the hotel. The photo shoots. I am not a figure skating insider but even I know that a lot of this was fluff.
• In typical fashion this re make fell extremely short of the original. The acting wasn't the greatest and the drama and passion of the original film just wasn't there.
• They did not use any body doubles. The ice skater that played Lexi was actually acting for the very first time and while I think she did a decent job you could really tell she was new.
• I loved figure skating so really enjoyed the story and the performance of the whole thing but it really just wasn't the same.

2 Stars

The Surrogates

Starring: Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell

Sci Fi, 2009 (Rated PG-13)

Welcome to the future where humans can't be bothered to actually live their own lives risking injury or death and instead send surrogates out into the world who are genetically engineered to look perfect while they sit at home hooked up to a chair. The world is divided by those who use surrogates and those who don't. When a high profile "operator" ends up dying when his surrogate is struck by a car FBI agent Greer must find out why.

• I have to be honest and I say that while I loved this story line and concept for a movie I kind of have no idea what the heck happened.
• I have a tendency to get lost in moves with super intricate plots and that's exactly what happened here.
• I love the concept though. Imagine a world where you could physically be anybody you want to. Everyone was perfect, young and beautiful because that's what they wanted to be.

3 Stars