Feeling a bit lazy this week, probably due to too many hours playing Path of Exile, so here are some quick reviews of movies I have seen on DVD lately. All of the movies are out and available in the US through Netflix (and other sources).
I don't know about your house, but in our house we like to tease each other regarding our celebrity "girl/boyfriend" - those celebrities we think each of us secretly wants to end up with. This game tends to be more fun for my wife who has decided that there are several actresses I secretly want to date and there are very few actors that she cares about. Her ideal man would be Al Giordino from the Dirk Pitt series of novels by Clive Cussler. Basically a capable, no-nonsense, hands on guy with snarky humor who helps get the job done without having to have all the ego of the main character. Which brings me to this week's movies - two of which star one of our girlfriend/boyfriend celebrities.
Byzantium - Neil Jordan's (The Crying Game) 2013 vampire movie starring Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan. In modern day, we follow two woman, who look like sisters, as they move from one town to another avoiding discovery. This is a moody and sometimes violent movie that plays with the vampire idea (yes they can walk in the daylight - though they don't seem to like it). It is an interesting film, but a little angsty. My wife thought I only got this movie since it had my "girlfriend", Gemma Arterton, in it. Byzantium gets 3.5 Mick Happies. P.s., if you want to see more of Saoirse Ronan doing a fantastic job in a really good movie, check out Hanna.
The Heat - Paul Feig's follow up to Bridesmaids stars Sandra Bullock as an up-tight FBI agent who has to work with a shoot from the hip detective played by Melissa McCarthy. This straight-up buddy comedy takes us along for the ride as these two learn how to work together to stop a drug ring in Boston. There are laughs here and awkward moments but overall a fun movie. Not as funny as say The Proposal, but worth watching. Doesn't hurt that it had my wife's "girlfriend", Sandra Bullock, in it. The Heat gets 3.5 Mick Happies.
Pacific Rim - We round out this post with Guillermo del Toro's homage to the Japanese Kaiju (monster) movie. Here, gargantuan monsters invade Earth from a inter-dimensional portal under the Pacific Ocean and wreck havoc on the countries in the Pacific Rim. Enter the Jaeger (hunter) program consisting of giant robots piloted by two humans who have melded their consciousnesses to allow them to work together to run the huge machines. The rest of the movie is about mankind's fight to stave off these monsters and save the world. Standard science fiction fare here with some humor, an obligatory love interest story line and a guy who was a cocky hero, fell out and has to come back to try to save the day. There are some cliched bits to the story and nothing here is overly surprising. But it is a visually great film and there are lots of fun battle scenes if that is what you like. All in all, I give Pacific Rim 3.5 Mick Happies.
There you have it. A post full of celebrity girlfriends, action, comedy, vampires and giant robots. What more could you ask for?
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