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Little Fockers, a review by Dragonfire

Little Fockers

I really wasn't that eager to see Little Fockers.  I enjoyed Meet the Parents well enough at first, but for me, it isn't one I want to see again.  It just doesn't hold up well.  I saw Meet the Fockers and once was enough for that one as well.  I only have them because I got them as a gift.  It sort of made sense for the second movie to be made, though it really just a rehash of the first movie.  I don't think Little Fockers needed to be made, especially after so much time has passed since the second movie came out.  I ended up going to see it despite my reservations.  I should have gone to see True Grit or Tangled again.  Or stayed home and cleaned out the litter boxes.

So this one picks up years after the second movie.  Greg and Pam are happily married, though a bit stressed at times.  Jack is very upset because of problems Pam's sister has with her husband.  Jack is also dealing with a health problem, so he decides that he has to ask Greg to take over and lead the family..to become the god focker.  Jack and Dina arrive for the twins' birthday party and things just go downhill from there.  Greg is asked to do some work promoting an erectile dysfunction drug.  He takes the job because of the money, but he wants to keep it a secret from Jack.  That leads to Jack becoming more suspicious and jumping to conclusions about what Greg is doing.  Things are complicated a bit by the fact that Kevin, Pam's former boyfriend, is back and still carrying a torch for her.

Little Fockers is just more of the same nonsense of Jack being suspicious of everything Greg does that was in the first two movies.  Jack continues to be a control freak.  He has not changed or grown as a character at all.  Greg really hasn't either..he still doesn't deal well with Jack.  Pam and Dina - Jack's wife - really don't do much of anything.  They are just there.  It does seem like they are just there to witness the insanity of their husbands.  Greg's parents are just an after thought, tossed in a few short scenes in which they do nothing.  Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streisand are really wasted in the parts.  I read that Hoffman wasn't going to be in the movie because he thought the script was horrible.  Then there were new negotiations or something and he came back for the few scenes.  He should have stuck with his first instinct.  Jessica Alba turns up as a new character, Andi.  She is a former nurse that talks Greg into promoting the new drug.  Andi is a huge idiot and it isn't believable at all that she is a former nurse or holds down any sort of stable job.  The character is a complete waste.

Naming the movie Little Fockers is misleading.  The children are barely in the movie and they really add nothing to the movie.  Samantha is shown to be extremely intelligent and a lot like Jack, while Henry is made to look like an idiot.  Most of the movie is just focused on the nonsense going on between Jack and Greg.  Having their names in the title wouldn't have been as misleading.  The kids are just an excuse to get Jack and Greg together again to act like morons.  This movie really shouldn't have been made, but unfortunately, I have a bad feeling that another one may end up being made.  The ending leaves something open..and since this mess has made a lot of money, it will probably happen.

Overall, Little Fockers is a mess.  There are a few moments that are sort of entertaining, but that is it.  Too much of the humor is just a rehash of stuff from the first movies that wasn't that funny to begin with.  There is too much gross and crude humor.  This one really isn't worth seeing.

I did get a review posted on Epinions.

Little Fockers


(From Little Fockers on January 4th, 2011)

Iron Man, a review by KinkyCyborg

Iron Man



Title:Iron Man
Year: 2008
Director: Jon Favreau
Rating: PG-13
Length: 126 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Robert Downey, Jr. [Robert Downey Jr.]
Terrence Howard
Jeff Bridges
Gwyneth Paltrow
Leslie Bibb

Plot:
Suit up for action with ROBERT DOWNEY JR. in the ultimate adventure movie you've been waiting for, Iron Man! When jet-setting genius-industrialist Tony Stark is captured in enemy territory, he builds a high-tech suit of armor to escape. Now, he's on a mission to save the world as a hero who's built, not born, to be unlike any other. Co-starring TERRENCE HOWARD, JEFF BRIDGES and GWYNETH PALTROW, it's a fantastic, high-flying journey that is "hugely entertaining" (Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal).

Extras:
Scene Access
Bonus Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Closed Captioned



Time for my pick and I decided that since I just picked up the sequel I should get around to watching the first installment.

If you are looking for a good action movie to watch you can rarely go wrong by picking any one of the Marvel comic book film adaptations and Iron Man certainly delivered. Combine all the explosions in this movie and you have another Hiroshima! I like how the birth of Iron Man unfolded, using current day conflicts as a vehicle to tell the story. Not my favorite comic growing up (I was always partial to the Fantastic Four) but I sure liked his character in the movie.

This movie marked Robert Downey Jr's complete comeback from a drug induced abyss that took many good years away from his career and in so coming back he has actually ascended into the superstar stratosphere. Great for him but it has evolved into something that is now quite a pet peeve of mine. Every interview, every awards appearance, every time he sticks his face in front of a camera he is posturing, shades on, and playing the role of THE MAN which was funny and somewhat deserving at first but c'mon... zip it already! 

Interesting role for Jeff Bridges as the sans hair villain and I think he plays a bad guy very convincingly. Gwyneth Paltrow was neither her nor there in this one for me... probably they overpaid for a star for what could have been filled by any number of young, cute actresses. Much was made of the exclusion of Terrence Howard from the sequel but I'm not disappointed. Nothing about his performance stood out and I feel that Don Cheadle, his replacement, has much more personality anyway.

What impresses me most about Iron Man was that is was a great movie coming from director Jon Favreau, who also had a bit part in this one. I've always disliked his loudmouthed, vulgar roles as an actor save for his performance in Rocky Marciano. If this movie, it's sequel and the upcoming Cowboys & Aliens is any indication, perhaps he has finally found his calling. If he can consistently put out big budget, blockbuster caliber movies than he can thankfully put his sub-par acting career to bed.


KC

Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2010 on November 27th, 2010)

Charmed Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

9. Hulkus Pocus
When Billie is infected by a government-created virus that causes magical beings to "hulk out," Piper and Leo race against time to find an antidote to save her life.

My Thoughts:
This is another episode that I found a lot of fun. This time we have all 4 of the girls turning into something. This time it is a virus running rampant in the magical community that makes magical creatures (including The Charmed Ones) to become hulk like creatures shortly after the change the infected creatures die. 

10. Vaya Con Leos
Piper turns to The Elders and The Avatars to save Leo from The Angel of Death, while Phoebe and Billie hunt for Billie's sister and meet Burke, a demonic bounty hunter who freezes his victims into trophies.

My Thoughts:
Another really good episode. And time to say goodbye to Leo for several episodes.  For some reason Brian Krause (Leo) was not signed for the entire season like he was for the previous seasons. So this season we only got him for half the episodes. They handled it pretty well they made it be emotional... but kept the possibility of him returning.

11. Mr. & Mrs. Witch
When Billie discovers the power of projection, she inadvertently transforms her parents into cold-blooded assassins who are then hired to kill the CEO of a powerful company.

My Thoughts:
A good episode... but not great. Really was just a standard episode. Though it does go a little further into the Billie/Chrissy storyline.

12. Payback's a Witch
Paige tries to help Henry's parolee, Nick, get a loan at a bank, but when the loan is denied, Nick crashes his car into the bank and holds everyone hostage.

My Thoughts:
A good episode... but not great. Billie is still on a warpath trying to find her sister. And Paige discovers her powers as a whitelighter is increasing when she heals Henry.

(From Charmed Marathon on July 15th, 2008)