Fred's First Video Movie Review-Hamlet 2

Hamlet 2: Better than the first

* * * * 1/2 (out of 5)

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The Freditor

Hamlet2Review

Aliens vs. Predator--Requiem: Decent horror/action flick filmed without LIGHTS!!

* 1/2 (out of 5)

I would add a star if I could have seen what was going on.

A few months ago, I pulled the wires out of the back of my DVD system for a reason I'm not sure I remember. I didn't mark them, thinking I could remember where they went. I didn't. I criss crossed some wires and while I have a picture and good sound, I don't have color. Not a big deal to me, because I grew up watching TV in black and white, but it does take something away from the movie once in a while.

I am too complacent to fix the problem so I just live with it, but it does get confusing sometimes. Last night, I was watching the 6th movie in the Alien saga and the 4th in the Predator story, while reading the early edition of the Sunday paper. I started watching it last week with my wife and fell asleep around a half hour in. So I got the basic idea of the story, but I started it again to refresh myself. A boy and his father are hunting a deer, which means they have to be killed. A man is coming home from prison, which means he must be heroic. And a woman is coming home from Iraq which means she has to gently emasculate her husband. I got it the first time, now on to the Sports section.

But like last week, I said to myself, oh boy, I better fix those wires, the screen is so dark I don't have a freaking clue who's getting killed here. Then I read the Netflix viewer reviews and it turns out my player is fine, that it was actually filmed this way. Who's "bright" idea was that, pun intended. Half of the beginning of the movie takes place in the woods and sewer, but can we pretend there is some light in these places? Expenses were not spared regarding explosions and effects, so I'm guessing that this was an artistic decision. Artistry was lost on the Alien series, 4 movies ago and Predator never aspired to them. Let's get a grip here.

As these movies go, it's not boring. Well, it's not slow. All the killing does get a little boring after a while and the repetitive Terminator 2 "action" music gets very old when it is used throughout the entire movie. Does every scene have to be heightened dramatically. And this film is a little more nasty than usual. I thought it was harsh to have the alien jump out of a little boy's chest, but that was before the aliens embark on a maternity ward. When they were looking through the glass at all the infants I wasn't sure if the alien was excited about all the future implanting prospects or just looking at it like a buffet, but if he had harmed one of those infants I would have hit the Stop button on my DVD remote.

Twentieth Century Fox must use these movies as a testing ground for some of its lesser known TV stars. Steven Pasquale (Rescue Me), Reiko Aylesworth (24), John Ortiz (The Job), Johnny Lewis (The O.C.) all lead the cast. It reminds me of the old studio days in Hollywood where no one leaves the nest. All their acting is fine, but someone needs to write a better script.

The Freditor

Hellboy II: The Golden Army: Way Better than the first. More heart, humor, FX

* * * * (out of 5)

When I saw the trailer for Hellboy II, I said this looks amazing. The trailer had dozens of creatures like you've never seen before on the big screen. It was like the Tattoinne bar scene in the "first" Star Wars, but it seemed like it would be like that throughout the whole movie. The only problem was, I couldn't remember a thing about the first Hellboy.

So I recently rented it out on NetFlix and was pleasantly surprised. It was a much more entertaining film than I first gave it credit for. The always great Ron Perlman (TV's Beast in Beauty and the Beast) was very funny and had some great wordplay with several actors within. One touch I loved was when the nerdy chief of the U.S. Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, Tom Manning (Jeffrey Tambor) showed his thanks for Hellboy rescuing him. As Hellboy lit his cigar with a lighter, Manning stopped him and lit it for him with a wooden match, explaining, "you always light a cigar with a wooden match, it helps bring out the flavor." Hellboy was shocked by Manning's sudden humanity and by the fact that his cigar did taste better.

Here in Number 2, Hellboy and Manning are back at each others' throats. Hellboy longs to be a hero celebrity in New York and Manning is determined to keep his and the other identities of the BPRD secret so as not to alarm the public. Hellboy is caught on camera in a number of instances and this just boils Manning. But there are bigger fish to fry here. Apparently, an ancient sect of gods made an agreement with humans several millenniums ago to rule the forests while the humans ruled the cities. But the gods are angry and feel that man has reneged on the promise and vow to take it all back. Hellboy and his group are in charge of stopping them.

Having just seen the original, I can truly appreciate this film more. As has happened so many times in comic book film history, the first movie is the warm up and the second movie delves deeper into characters and does a better job of presentation for the audience. Superman II, Spiderman II, Dark Knight and X-Men II have all proven this and Hellboy continues the tradition. The interplay between Hellboy and his wife, Liz Sherman is fun, but more so he and his old buddy the alien/psychic Abe Sapien. An odd couple to be sure, but they both appreciate what the other brings to the table. Abe putting in saucer-sized contact lenses to impress a lady was a nice touch.

The villain Prince Nuada is impressive, played by former English pop star, Luke Goss, but the new boss of BRPD is even more so, Johann Krauss. Krauss is merely a gas who embodies a robot suit, but the powers he has with his gas are something to behold. In the coolest bit of casting, Krauss and his German accent are voiced by Mr. Family Guy himself, Seth MacFarlane (voice of Stewie, Peter and Brian the dog). He's very German in his harsh tone and demanding ways, but his role is just as important as the rest of the team, something Hellboy refuses to see.

Writer/director Guillermo del Toro elevated his game two years ago with his brilliant Pan's Labyrinth. A Spanish war drama/fantasy that introduced us to a world of characters we've never seen before. That inventiveness carried over to this film and it really has energized the franchise. On a smaller scale this is the most visually stunning of all the comic book films. The fights scenes might not be too spectacular, but it's who's doing the fighting that will enthrall you.

The Freditor

Step Brothers-Funniest Ferrell movie since Elf. Will and Reilly are a comedy Plant & Page

* * * * 1/2 (out of 5)

I can't oversell this movie. It had me in stitches right from the opening quote. George W. Bush's infamous: "Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream." In George W. Bush we find where Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly get their inspiration for retardation.

I cracked up at the quote and a lady next to me said to her kids, "I still don't know why that's funny." What I got from that was that this movie is good enough that people are seeing it a second time.

I'm sure you know the premise. Two guys who are at or near 40 live with their single parents and when the parents decide to marry each other, these "boys" are forced to move in with them. In the same room. And they hate each other, just because they feel they should. But one of the early priceless moments comes at dinner when Ferrell makes fun of Reilly and Reilly says something along the lines of "that's so funny I forgot to laugh", but he butchers the comeback and STILL Ferrell gets so upset that his face breaks down on the verge of tears. There are a few moments in this film where grown men crying is played for Huge laughs.

The man-child is a growing phenomenon in this country and I certainly know enough guys who come close to this category. A therapist in the film likens the ideal of grown men living with their parents and not supporting themselves to an addiction and the parents are enablers. The parents are well intentioned, but are crippling their children by not forcing them to grow up and sprout their own wings. But these are heavier issues than this film cares to deal with. Instead they prefer to watch as two grown men sleep walk like 8 year olds and tear the house to shit when they get in their fights. Tossing the decorated Christmas tree on their parents' bed was one milk snorting surprise.

If the movie is 92 minutes long I'd say there are at least 110 good jokes. When the father is so fed up with the "boys" that he threatens to sell the house, Ferrell asks quietly, "Why? Is it haunted?" Sometimes in films like these the lead actor is so funny and everyone else is just fodder for his humor, but there is plenty of funny to go around here.

Reilly is very much Ferrell's equal. He's a truly great actor, who's been nominated for Oscars and gotten tons of street cred in Hollywood, but people love him most for his dopey role in Ferrell's Talladega Nights. TN is good, but can't hold a candle to Step Brothers. Reilly and Ferrell are now so in synch, it's the comedy equivalent of Robert Plant and Jimmy Page on Led Zeppelin II.

Richard Jenkins (Ben Stiller's disinterested psychiatrist from There's Something About Mary) gets funnier with each movie, this time as Reilly's father, Dr. Robert Doback. When Reilly good naturedly asks if they could double team the new mom, Doback looks like he's going to have a stroke. Adam Scott as Ferrell's super successful brother Derek is like a post-Oprah Tom Cruise, filled with nutty narcissism and needs a punch in the face good looks. At Christmas dinner he brags in front of his kids about blowing a ".079 on the breathalyzer," thus beating the cop at his own game. His wife is played by Kathryn Hahn and her scenes with Reilly are both priceless and borderline disgusting.

But the straight person in the whole stew is the woman playing Ferrell's mother, Oscar-winner, Mary Steenburgen. She played Ferrell's step mother in Elf and does a great job acting as his loving mother here. As she gets older she still radiates charm and beauty and gives the movie a dose of class that it is missing on all other fronts. When she drives him to their new home, he's still in the backseat and talks trash like a kid suffering from Tourettes. Discussing his new step brother, "He better not get in my face cuz I'll drop kick that mother f***er." Several times in the movie you can see Steenburgen wanting to bust out laughing.

Oh, Warning. I saw tons of kids in the theatre, but this movie is rated R for a reason. The language is as raunchy as Goodfellas. But if you want to be a cool parent, your kids will have the best filthy comebacks to throw at their classmates in the schoolyard this Fall.

The Freditor