brino7 Reviews

Juno (2007)

This movie has stayed with me

[9/10 · 28 November 2007]

I saw this movie at a preview in St. Louis about ten days ago and can't stop thinking about it.

I had no expectations going in (as I was given three free passes) as I took my teenage daughter and her friend. Learning about the subject matter, I was quite anxious how it would be shown and frankly I thought it was done very well.

First of all everyone has gone to High School with a Juno. That smart alec independent tomboy, cute, refreshing & fun to be around but not cool to date or be seen with. And the further removed from high school you are, you look back and wonder why? The acting by Ellen Page was outstanding (I had no clue who Ellen Page was - I have since watched Hard Candy). I can't remember a film that I was so drawn in by the main character.

I've always told friends for me the mark of a good movie is the character actors and their performances. They all deliver in this movie. I'm not going to go overboard and say its the best movie this year but it is one that I would recommend. Its rare I go to a preview and actually want to go see it again. Count me in come Dec 14th.

Stealth (2005)

It will be on DVD by September. Oh Jamie Foxx how could you stoop so low!

[2/10 · 16 July 2005]

OK, I'll say it. If you liked XXX and the Fast and the Furious then this possibly may be your cup of tea. I guess if you are at a Drive-in theater, between guzzling a six-pack and rubbing noses with your sweetheart and then the occasional bathroom break, this may be the perfect popcorn movie for you this summer.

Stealth starts out with the three amigos; Lt. Ben Gannon - Josh Lucas -you know the dude from "Sweet Home Alabama", Kara Wade - Jessica Biel- she is easy on the eyes, and Henry Purcell - Jamie Foxx (how could you read this script and accept it?), getting familiar with their characters. The sexual tension between Josh Lucas and Jessica Biel you can cut with a knife. I guess thats why you'll see "Top Gun" references but there is no comparison. I'm sorry, and no offense to our military but someone please send me a photo a pilot this hot. And Josh Lucas spends a day with Jessica at a river bank taking photos of her backside but is too wimpy to breakup the team by jumping her bones? Come on Josh, the scene before you're basically hurtling straight from space at warp like speed to deploy a bomb, risking passing out and killing yourself but you let Jessica off the hook? Hmmh? And Jamie Foxx. A string of roles like this could be a career killer. If you can picture an organ grinder with tin-can and a monkey on his shoulder, then you can picture Josh would be the organ grinder and Jamie the monkey. Jamie's role is simply the goof ball and while its cute, it gets old, real fast!

Many things bugged me about the movie. The flight scenes were somewhat cool but obviously computer generated. I always hate movies where I see the helicopter stalled -then explodes before being hit. Or a Jet before it crashes into a mountain is stopped, explodes then runs into it? Its almost like these machines were on strings and blown up for the camera. Not very realistic. The parachute scene was the best but I hardly can recommend a movie for one scene.

And for the old-timers, why does every computer generated voice have to have the same HAL voice from movie "2001?" Why does every time Josh peer out the window towards the computer driven Stealth, he talks over to the computer like the computer is looking back? I didn't know if this was a serious movie or an attempted comedy at times. What happened to the village where over 100,000 people got smacked with the radioactive dust? Last command I heard was Jessica barking, "We need some medical attention down there." Yeah - I guess so.

The movies becomes a global where's waldo affair as Josh Lucas is headed to Alaska in a few scenes that are just plain confusing. Meanwhile, his love interest, Jessica is shot down in all places, North Korea and is running for the border. Of course, Josh gets out of Alaska, and happens to track down Jessica at the exact spot of where shes being shot at. OK, they have tracking devices but the amusing part was Josh flying in the middle of the night, beat-up from the Alaska fiasco, he peers out the window and picks her out without skipping a beat? I'll remember this next time a jets is flying over my home at a killion miles per hour that they could actually spot me, I might as well waive. Hey, if there's someone like Jessica flying around why not?

OK I'm done. I'd have much more respect for a studio if they did this. They take the money they budget for a film like this and simply mail out $50 checks to everyone that wants one. The advertisement is simple, "WE ARE SORRY WE ARE MAKING TRASH BUT CANNOT STOP OURSELVES." If you would interested in $50, please send us your name and address. In the future we will release movies that have a point. But for now we simply can't do this. But please take the $50. Just think of the money they would save!