Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies” (Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, etc.)  Thumbs down for me, I’m afraid.

In a word, I found this movie tedious. Very slow-moving between the action scenes, and not in a “let’s take a breather” sort of way. More of a “let’s take a nap” sort of way.

Also, it was too confusing. There was very little explanation of how people knew what they knew, why they did what they did, at any particular moment. Maybe they figured everyone knows the story so well, there’s no need to spell things out? Well it didn’t work for me.

Also, the look of the film was not that impressive. The interior shots all looked like low-quality video! I guess there’s no theoretical reason why a good movie can’t be made on video, but the look makes me feel like I’m watching a cheap TV show.

The actors were mostly pretty boring, especially the lead. I think me might have been reigning it in on purpose, to avoid people thinking he was still Capt. Jack. I just thought he was sleepwalking. Only Stephen Lang (the old Fed at the end) and Peter Garity (the defense lawyer) seemed to imbue their characters with any personality.

For the record, the story: John Dillinger and the Feds that are out to bring him to justice.  Based on historical facts, this story has been told many times before (and more excitingly, as in John Milius’s “Dillinger” starring Warren Oates).

Anyway, that’s the way I felt. I found I was more interested in the scenes from “Manhattan Melodrama” that were shown in the movie-within-the-movie! Now Clark Gable, there was an actor!…….Jake

This week’s movie was McG’s “Terminator Salvation” starring Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Helena Bonham Carter, Anton Yelchin, Bryce Dallas Howard, Michael Ironside, and a few surprise guest stars. I enjoyed it a lot. This is one that you have to see in the theater.

This week’s movie was Ron Howard’s “Angels & Demons,” starring Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgård, Armin Mueller-Stahl, and a whole bunch of other people you probably don’t recognize, including Ronny’s own dad, Rance Howard.

I haven’t read the book, so don’t ask me how it compares.  My girlfriend tells me they left a lot out.  But what they included makes for a good, rousing, fast-paced scavenger hunt through Rome and the Vatican, and hundreds-of-years old art treasures.  Basically, somebody has wired up the Vatican to explode at midnight, and Harvard Professor of Symbology Hanks thinks he can find the bomb.  How?  Well, a secret society knows as The Illuminati has taken credit for the upcoming explosion, so Hanks (playing a combination of Sherlock Holmes and Indiana Jones) follows historical clues to try to track down their secret lair.  Along the way, we face chase scenes, gun fights, priceless historical artwork, high-energy particle physics, political backbiting between Vatican officials, and a severed eyeball.  Something for the whole family!

I’ve never been a huge fan of Ron Howard’s directing; he has a tendency to be too sappy and sentimental for me.  Not this time!  This movie goes for broke with non-stop action, violence, and grim determination.

One caveat:  Don’t think about the story TOO hard, or, like cotton candy, it starts to fall apart.  But as I gulped it down by the sweet mouthful, I couldn’t help but enjoy it.

My one quibble:  I’ve been to Rome, and it is very beautiful, in a decadent, decaying, tumbling down ruins kind of way.  I was hoping for some beautiful photography to take me back.  No such luck.  The camera work virtually ignored all the beauty and fallen majesty, and focused on the action.  On the other hand, if they had lingered lovingly on every statue and tapestry, that might have slowed it down too much and I’d still be bitching.  Oh well!!

This week’s movie is J.J. Abrams’s “Star Trek,” starring a bunch of new people that you probably all know by now.

Full disclosure:  This reviewer is a total Star Trek geek, so I went in to this movie with a bit of apprehension.  So far, in my long misbegotten career of watching Star Trek television series and movies, they have all been shepherded by either original creator Gene Roddenberry, or his hand-picked successor, Rick Berman, and they all conformed to the same ethos, which I loved.  Now, we have a new guard, selected by the suits at Paramount.  Naturally, I was apprehensive.  But, I am glad to report that they very nearly got it right.

As a movie, for the casual fan or the new fan, it was very very good.  Lots of good action, good special effects, good acting, just the right amount of comic relief without going overboard (as the “first generation” movies tended to do).  Modern sensibilities, directing, writing, and so on, with no feelings of nostalgia.  So, if you are not a Star Trek geek, but love modern action movies like “Die Hard” and the like, I think I can unreservedly say that you will probably love it.

For the true geek, such as myself, there is the little nagging matter of violating “canon,” or those established “facts” that all previous incarnations stick to.  Since this movie hinges on time travel (which, I must confess, I’m really tired of in Star Trek plots), and a resetting of the time-line, you could argue that older, established facts are not “ignored,” but are truly changed within their own universe due to the time travel.  Whatever.  It bothers me a little, but not enough to take away from my enjoyment of the movie.  And, on the plus side, ST Geeks like myself will enjoy arguing about them for years!

What, the story?  Oh, all right: it’s an “origins story” about the early years, and how Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, et. al., end up on the Enterprise and begin their storied careers.  The bad guys are Romulans who have been thrust back in time from a century or so in the future, and hold a major grudge, especially against the planet Vulcan, but with enough animosity left over for the Earth and the Federation, too.  Hilarity ensues.  No, not really hilarity, but major explosions and some nice butt-kicking.

So, bottom line: go see it, whoever you are.

We saw Olivier Megaton’s “Transporter 3” (with Jason Statham, newcomer Natalya Rudakova, and Jeroen Krabbé).  While it was fun and well done, I was still a bit disappointed.

I’ve been a big fan of the first two Transporter movies, because they combined fast chase scenes, lots of explosions, and furious fist fighting (staples of many action flicks) with humor, creativity, and amazingly creative fighting styles.  Basically, they were Jackie Chan movies without Jackie Chan.  Unfortunately, this one seemed to forget about the humor and creativity, and just gave us the chases, explosions, and fisticuffs.  Oh, and it added in a romantic sub-plot to make up for the missing creativity, I guess.

Frank (Statham), the Transporter, is coerced into transporting a kidnap victim across Europe against his will, while her father (Krabbé) is being coerced by the kidnappers.  Frank has no idea what is going on, only that neither he nor the girl can leave the car by more than a few yard without being blown up by their radio-controlled wrist bands.  He finds that his famous three “rules,” delineated in the first movie, must be compromised, one by one, if he hopes to survive.

Basically, I’d sum up this review with a “rent it.”  And don’t come out of the movie shaking your head at how “unrealistic” it is.  That’s part of the deal going in!……..Jake

P.S. - Just for the record, Frank’s three rules:

Rule One: Never change the deal.
Rule Two: No names.
Rule Three: never look in the package.

This week for Thursday Night Movie Club we saw D.J. Caruso’s “Eagle Eye,” starring Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, Rosario Dawson, Michael Chiklis, Billy Bob Thornton, William Sadler, and the voice of Julianne Moore.

This is a thumbs-up movie for me, but hardly a great one. The plot is kind of muddled and random, and the special effects are not as good as most recent thrillers. But the action is non-stop, the stunts are thrilling, and it keeps you on the edge of your seat. Plus Billy Bob has some hilarious lines. Michael Chiklis makes a fine Secretary of Defense, and Rosario Dawson is okay as a USAF cop, but she looked much better in her leather catsuit in “Sin City.”

A young slacker dude comes home to find his crummy apartment filled with high-tech explosives and weaponry. WTF? Also, his bank account has been inexplicably filled with gobs of cash. Clearly, he’s being set up, but by whom? An anonymous female voice on his cell phone starts giving him directions about how to escape the fuzz. He is reluctant at first, but soon finds that he must obey, or die.

Before long, he is joined by a young single mom, likewise being manipulated by the voice on the phone. The voice can apparently control just about everything: cell phones, traffic lights, power lines, construction equipment, airport baggage handling equipment, you name it. It’s a technophobe’s worst nightmare. Bring your tin-foil hat!

Why has this innocent man been singled out to do the bidding of the megalomaniacal voice? Well, we’re given a hint early on, but I won’t spoil it for you. I thought it was a pretty clever resolution.

So basically, go see it, but don’t expect “Die Hard” or “Transformers” level of quality…….Jake

We saw Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” (Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy, Eric Roberts, and Anthony Michael Hall). Second film of the rebooted Batman franchise, and this was one really good movie. Although it felt more like THREE really good movies! Take a piss before you sit down, and don’t get the large soda!

Basically, it’s Batman vs. The Joker, with little bits of The Scarecrow and Two-Face along for the ride. The major theme of the film seems to be that good intentions are not only insufficient, but are pretty much counter-productive. Also, that you have to be willing to embrace the Dark Side if you want to actually do Good in the world. I guess I can buy that. Also, of course, lots of excellent chase scenes, explosions, and other assorted violence.

The Joker is nominally a bank robber, but he doesn’t seem to crave money. He prefers mayhem, lunacy, and chaos, and showing people that they are just as depraved as he is, when pushed.

Much is said about the performance of the late Heath Ledger, and I agree that he is quite awesome here. He did a great job of integrating the insane and the brilliant aspects of the character. And he completely immersed himself in the role: If I didn’t already know it was him under the makeup, I would never have guessed who it was. Also, I loved the psuedo-Chicago accent that he adopted; I actually know people who talk a lot like that!

Speaking of which, the real star of the movie was Chicago itself, where the movie was shot. Great views of Navy Pier, Lower Wacker, LaSalle Street, Clark Street, the El, and (I think) The Equitable Building as Wayne Enterprises!

The other performances were also uniformly excellent: Bale is suitably dark and brooding as the Batman, Caine and Freeman are easily elegant, and Eckhart is awesome as Harvey Dent, DA. One of my favorite actors in the world, Gary Oldman, plays the cop Jim Gordon, and he does an okay job with the role, but there isn’t much for him to do. I don’t know why they wasted his talent in such a bland role. It was a nice surprise to see Eric Roberts and Anthony Michael Hall pop up, too.

My only real quibble is that there seemed to be almost too much plot; they could easily have split this into two, or maybe even three separate movies! And it is long, but as Gene Siskel said: “No good movie is too long, and no bad movie is ever short enough.”