21 • July 22, 2008

21 (2008) - Starring: Jim Sturgess • Kevin Spacey • Kate Bosworth • Laurence Fishburne

Inspired by a true story, 21 mixes Las Vegas casino wheeling and dealing with college-kid angst: think OCEAN'S ELEVEN via THE PAPER CHASE. Kevin Spacey is crafty MIT professor Micky Rosa, who trains brainiac students to count cards and then flies them out to Vegas to raid the blackjack tables... Inspired by a true story, 21 mixes Las Vegas casino wheeling and dealing with college-kid angst. Kevin Spacey is crafty MIT professor who trains brainiac students to count cards and then flies them out to Vegas to raid the blackjack tables between classes. Super math genius Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) joins the ring in order to come up with the $300,000 he needs for tuition money. When he finds out Professor Rosa hasn't been dealing entirely from a straight deck, Ben's high-end shopping spree dreams turn sour and the battle of wits is on, no second chances given.

2 buns...an average rating for an average movie. The only aspect of this movie that was remotely intriguing is the fact that it's based on actual events. How much "artistic liberty" was taken we'll never know but the storyline with its twists & turns as well as its romantic sub-theme seemed very typical of a Hollywood template movie. One thing that was interesting is how they mention several times that "card counting" is not illegal yet the team survives on a system of false identities, code words and hand gestures to avoid detection. The fact of the matter is, yes...card counting, if you're smart enough to be able to pull it off, is not illegal, but as we all know, casinos don't like to lose money and therefore attempt to thwart these players by using thugs, threats, and physical intimidation. All in all, i did enjoy the film while i was watching it, but it never "wowed" me. A good 1-time view movie but not one that I'll be looking to add to my home collection. (Rated PG-13 for some violence, and sexual content including partial nudity.)



Yeay! Another movie set in Las Vegas! No I am not being facetious, I truly like movies set in America's playground. I do loathe going there myself but now not only empty pockets, strippers and cigarette smoke come out of Vegas but so does some good films like "Oceans Eleven", "Honeymoon in Vegas", "National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation", "Fools Rush In", "Indecent Proposal", etc. and now "21". "21" wasn't all shot in Sin City, half of the film was based out of Boston on a university campus so the diversity in the settings was quite refreshing. The name of the game is blackjack and it goes like this; five gifted university students are chosen by a corrupt college professor to 'count cards' and ultimately win a lot of money at the game. Don't ask me to explain the plan much further than that because most of this movie the mathematics involved made my head hurt. The game is always spearheaded by one brilliant student and this happens to be the main character, Ben. He drags his feet on participating at first but the allure of having much needed money for Harvard medical school and the attention of a beautiful girl on the team persuades him. The movie follows the main character from sweet, vulnerable kid trying to get through school to a cocky high roller in the biggest casinos in Las Vegas. I liked the contrast between lives in the this movie, it gave it variety. The gambling and money stashing was fasted paced and fun to watch but when Ben's life starts to fall apart I felt the Boston scenes were a little too after school special. There is a scene where he is apologizing to his best friend and the cheesy music was going, I thought he was going to pull out a Best Friends Forever bracelet or something. I would have liked the relationship between Ben and Jill, played by Kate Bosworth, to have been explored a bit more. I felt that part of the story was cut short. You know me, the hopeless romantic! Other than that the movie had great flow and fun music. It kept my interest especially the colorful scenes in Vegas. Overall I say see this movie, just try not to fully understand their rules of counting cards because you will have to follow this movie with a Diet Coke and an Advil like I did.

Penelope • July 15, 2008

Penelope (2007) - Starring: Christina Ricci • James McAvoy • with Catherine O'Hara, Reese Witherspoon and Peter Dinklage.

Christina Ricci stars as Penelope, a lonely heiress who has spent her entire life trying to break a strange family curse that left her with the nose of a pig. When she meets a charming aristocrat, James McAvoy, who seems to see beyond her physical appearance, Penelope begins to learn that loving herself is more important than breaking the curse.


Enjoyable from start to finish. Good moral to the story, clever wit, interesting characters, the list goes on and on. Not to mention that even a prosthetic pig nose can distract you from Christina Ricci's idiosyncratic and stunning good looks *wink*. Very stylish from the set design to the costumes making the whole movie a visual feast. The casting of this film was key, every character brought to life by the actors that portrayed them giving them unique personalities. A simple storyline that is fine tuned by a well crafted screenplay. The movie has a good pace and keeps your interest at all times. Not your typical sloppy romantic comedy, this film has class and heart. Check it out! (Rated PG for thematic elements, some innuendo and language.)


Yes, that's right! I gave it four buns! Baron says I am shooting my wad on only the second movie but I don't care, this one deserved it. This movie was sweet, poinent, funny, heart warming, and sarcastic in the best way. Christina Ricci plays a girl, Penelope, who was born with a pig nose because of a curse. Even with a pig nose Christina is beautiful. She is clever and witty in the deliverance of her lines and her chemistry with James McAvoy is undeniable. James McAvoy's character, Max, falls in love with Penelope in spite of her looks. He exudes confidence and carrisma in this film. Another gem is Catherine O'Hara. In each scene she is classic Catherine, scatter-brained hilarious! Have I used enough adjectives for you? The set design is stylish and almost story book like. I thought the film was entertaining and fun but best of all we could watch it with our kids. It goes to show that Hollywood can make wonderful movies in todays day and age without all the garbage. I highly recommend checking this out. As for me I want to buy it!

August Rush • July 08, 2008

August Rush (2007) - Starring: Freddie Highmore • Keri Russell • Johathan Rhys Meyers • with Terrence Howard and Robin Williams

There's music in the wind and sky. Can you hear it? And there's hope. Can you feel it? The boy called August Rush can. The music mysteriously draws him, penniless and alone, to New Your City in a quest to find - somehow, someway - the parents separated from him years earlier. And along the way he may also find the musical genius hidden within him.

It's no secret that this film is driven by the the mystery and majesty of music. Also very common knowledge is the fact that music , in so many forms, affects me deeply in my own life. So it's no wonder that i gave this film a solid [3 Buns]. The story is heartfelt, the score along with the fantastic guitar work is both an audio and visual treat. The dialogue surrounding the topic of music brings great depth to it as well as opening our minds and hearts to the music all around us. At times the acting and delivery of what should be key moments, falls short of the precedent the music sets. I feel the movie was well cast even with Freddie Highmore reaching that stage where talented child actors are just in too many movies, i thought his performance was solid. Jonathan Rhys Meyers singing his own songs was refreshing. Admittedly it is sometimes hard to watch Robin Williams in the roll of the villain with his background in lovable comedic characters but he does well regardless. Try not to pay too much attention to the close-up shots when "August" is playing the guitar because it's overly obvious that they are not the hands of an eleven year old boy. I was excited to hear Michael Hedges classic "Ritual Dance" as one of the songs played by the young prodigy. I had the great fortune to experience one of Michael's performances when he opened for Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1992 just 5 years before he died. If you get a chance i recommend you pick this movie up and enjoy this musical journey as i did, you won't be disappointed. (Rated PG for for some thematic elements, mild violence and language.)

Alright I'm gonna have to crank up the cheese factor on this one. Don't get me wrong I like my share of sappy movies but this one was poorly executed, it was more awkward and embarrassing than sentimental. Speaking of awkward and embarrassing the main character played by Freddie Highmore was just that. He was just goofy. It seems like his part would have worked better if he were a few years younger. Being a preteen isn't cute anymore. Keri Russell stumbled through her performance in this like a deer in the headlights. She stares off in space most of the time like she is a mental patient that hears voices. The only redeeming quality for me was John Rhys Meyers performance. It also couldn't hurt that he is a tasty piece of man candy. The movie consisted of the three main characters looking to the wind because they hear each other. I get kinda sick of looking at wind chimes. Robin Williams has a weird cameo as a crazy transient that exploits orphans by making them play music in public for money. This movie, to me, should have been a little lighter for a PG rating but putting that element in it bothered me. Also nothing is resolved with the rest of the homeless children besides the main character. I felt like there were holes in the plot and the ending was disappointing. You wait the entire movie for the main character, Evan, to be united with his parents and you don't even get to see them talk or hug, just stare at each other and...credits. Lame. I give this movie one bun because of the music, I did enjoy it but for a movie that is centered around music there should of been a lot more.

Short audio clip of one of the improv guitar pieces that you'll hear in the movie. I apologize for the poor quality, but i didn't want to bog down the blog with a large file.