Movie review: You Don't Mess With The Zohan

If you have seen the trailer for You Don't Mess With The Zohan, then you probably saw many of the best jokes from the movie, but there are still more to be seen and heard. It's not the best comedy of the summer, but I liked it. There are a few very funny scenes.

It stars Adam Sandler, John Turturro, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Rob Schneider and many others. I guess it's a little "risqué", dealing with Middle East and American people, with many stereotypes throughout the movie, but the conclusion is actually quite positive. You don't really see this kind of comedy for the message, but I like how they did made one of tolerance. You know, humour is probably a good way to do it, after all.

The plot is well explained in the trailer, but if you have not seen it, it's about a very skilled anti-terrorist army guy who grows tired of the fighting and move to America (aka the United States) to live his dream of becoming a hair stylist. His idol is Paul Mitchell and after being turned down from his salon, he finds a more modest one to start his new career. Of course, his past will come back to haunt him and he will need to rely on his fighting skills from time to time.

This is obviously an Adam Sandler movie, so keep that in mind when deciding to see it or not... I like him, so I had fun. :-)

Flash mob in Montreal

I witnessed my first "Flash mob" yesterday, during the Photo Safari Montreal outing we had on "The Main" (St-Laurent street), thanks to a tip sent to the group's fearless leader. We had a place, an approximate time and...nothing else! We had our cameras ready watching everyone for something unusual. We got it! I decided to go for a video instead of photos and I'm glad I did.



Have you witness one?

Movie review: The Incredible Hulk

I saw The Incredible Hulk and I really liked it. Much better then the first one. It's what Hulk should be, with lots of action and smashing. Good casting too, starring Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, the beautiful Liv Tyler as Betty Ross, Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky and William Hurt, barely recognizable as General Thaddeus Ross, amongst others.

As expected, Banner is on the run from the government and is looking for a "cure" to his condition. The intro is a brief explanation of what happened to him and the ones around him when he got his overdose of Gamma rays. The story is interesting and well told, special effects are great a sequel is just about guaranteed, at this point. There are a few nods to the TV series and also a few cool cameos. There was also humour throughout the movie, of course...

At the end, there is a little scene that connect the movie to other ones, like another recent superhero movie... But it's before the credits, not after. We were a lot of people who stayed until the very end, hoping for one last shot which never came and there was some disappointment about that. But the movie itself being what it is, I don't think anyone regretted having been there on opening day.

Movie review: Kung Fu Panda

Kung Fu Panda is a DreamWorks Animation production and it is very funny! Good animation, good story and a lot of humour. It has an all-star cast of voice talent such as Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Lucy Liu, Michael Clarke Duncan, Seth Rogen and Jackie Chan. It's about a panda who dreams of being a Kung Fu master, but doesn't have what it takes. Or does he? I don't think it would be much of a spoiler if I said that, of course, he does achieve his dream in a big way...

I know I wasn't the only one enjoying this movie, from the laughs I heard all around me throughout the movie. It is PG, because of the animated violence, but I don't think it should be a problem for most kids, so bring the whole family! I saw the Imax version and it looks beautiful.

I didn't hear about a sequel being planned for this movie, but I can easily imagine they are already in "secret pre-production"... Talking about sequels, one of the previews was Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, another DreamWorks production. It looks like it's going to be another funny one!

Movie review: What Happens in Vegas...

I wasn't in a big hurry to go see What Happens in Vegas, but I did want to see it, particularly after seeing that it was getting good reviews on the Cinema Montreal site (even though that is not the case on IMDB, once again). It stars Cameron Diaz (All the Shrek movies, both Charlie's Angels, Minority Report, There's Something About Mary...) and Ashton Kutcher (TV's Punk'd and That 70's Show, The Butterfly Effect, Open Season...), who work well together on the big screen.

It's a romantic comedy of two people who meet by chance in Vegas, don't like each other much but get married after too many drinks and as they agree to annul the marriage, the win a $3M jackpot on a slot machine. They each claim it's theirs only and ends up in court. The judge condemns them to live together and prove that they will work on their couple and freezes the money until they come back in court. Of course, they pretend they are happy when they really hate each other's guts and try to trick the other in doing something that would make them lose their half of the money. As the story progress, the hate diminishes and something else seems to take it's place. Will they end up loving each other by the end? Well, here's one clue: It's a Hollywood movie!

It's a cute movie, with a lot of humour and some serious moments. I've liked Diaz since I first saw her in The Mask and started appreciating Kutcher's work after seeing him in The Butterfly Effect, where he showed he could actually act. Good movie to see if you like silly fun and don't want to have to think too much. The story is pretty easy to follow! :-)

Movie review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a long title, but the first two words pretty much was enough to sell me, as well as many others, a ticket to this movie. And they sure can't be accused of rushing this one! It has been a while since we had the pleasure of seeing Indiana Jones on the big screen, but it was worth the wait.

Harrison Ford is getting older, but he still can hold is own in this action movie. Coming out of the movie, I was thinking it could have used a bit more action, but I think I was just being picky. It has plenty of it. We get to see familiar faces in this story, as well as new ones. Shia LaBeouf is one of these new characters and I have a feeling we'll get to see more of him in other Indiana Jones movies, should they decide to keep the franchise alive... If not, well, he still has Transformers 2 in the work (which I am looking forward to as well).

Crystal Skull follows the usual type of story that previous I.J. movies offered us, with a twist that reminds us who the director is. It's Steven Spielberg, in case you didn't know. We have action, stunts, chases, humour and mystery. It all adds up very well and makes this a very enjoyable movie. I do hope they make more of them...

Movie review: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

A worthy sequel to the first Narnia movie (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), Prince Caspian is also a very good family movie from Disney, even though it does have some violence, so parental guidance is important for the younger audience.

The visuals are again amazing, with giant battles and many creatures such as Centaurs, Minotaurs, Satyrs and talking animals (mice, badgers, lions, etc.). Dwarfs and Humans also have a big role here, of course.

The same four young heroes from the first movie are summoned by Prince Caspian to help him regain control of his future throne and restore order in a world that is much different this time around. Also, he doesn't quite believe the legends of the Four Kings & Queens is true. This is mainly because around 1300 years has past in Narnia while only one year has in our world.

The movie offers us many action scenes, touching moments, some morales and a fair dose of humour. I really enjoyed this movie and I think you will too, if you enjoy the genre of fantasies movies that this one is part of. I'm looking forward to the next "Chronicles of Narnia" chapter, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which should be out in 2010 with some of the same characters as Caspian...