Rental Reviews!

I am a bit behind but the following will review The Wolfman, Invictus, From Paris With Love, Horsemen and The Princess & The Frog. Feel free to comment!

The Wolfman: I am not exactly sure what this yawner was supposed to do. Was it a tribute movie? Re-telling? Re-make? Or Mess? I will go with the later - a mess. Most people are familiar with Lon Chaney, Jr.'s original 1941 version of The Wolf Man. It has been what all others have been based on. A version that brought to the American collective psyche the curse of being a werewolf. The werewolf lore has been in everything from Wolf to Underworld to the Twilight series and back again. The full moon makes all of us just want to howl...it's natural.
What is not natural is this boring movie that is supposed to retell the lore of the werewolf. Much like the 1941 original there are mysterious Gypsies, wild eyed townspeople with pitchforks and damsels in danger.
Benecio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins almost look embarrased as they trudge there way through this movie. The changing into the werewolf is no great special effects and then to have them look like the l941 version almost looks silly. It worked for that movie but not for a modern take on it.
Predictable and plodding I was sorry that this movie could have gone in many interesting directions but didn't. And a small scene in the beginning with Max Von Sydow tells us nothing but we longed for him back on the screen.
Rent the original and the many good werewolf movies that have come since. The fact that Lon Chaney, Jr. was a suffering soul his entire life will make the original more poignant by far.
YAWN. (No M's)

Invictus: Clint Eastwood does it again as he directs this powerhouse of movie. Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon are brilliant as two men who have different motivations on winning the world rugby cup for the new country of South Africa.
Some Americans do not remember what apartheid is and that is a shame or what a man like Nelson Mandela meant to an entire nation. Some in South Africa saw him as a terrorist and others a patriot (as those often go hand in hand, depending on the side you are on). If you need a refresher on those difficult times then I recommend it before watching this movie BUT it is not necessary for the enjoyment.
Mandela (Freeman) as the newly elected president of South Africa wishes to ease tensions and bring a truly divided country together. He is not out to win a popularity contest with his own party or the party before his. He wishes for a unified South Africa. He realizes that sport can do that. He focuses on the South African rugby team. This team was very popular among South Africa's whites but not blacks. The black South Africans saw the team as a symbol of the old regime. Mandela saw it as an opportunity to have all sides cheering for a common win - a world cup. He enlists the help of the team's captain, played by Damon, and puts him in motion to make it happen.
An inspiring movie that will have you cheering in the end and believing that maybe we can all make some kind of peace in the world.
MMMM (out of 5 M's)

From Paris With Love: I enjoyed this movie in the same way I enjoyed The Long Kiss Goodnight. Clever script and lots of action with a great cast encourages you to just sit back and enjoy the ride. The previews made me in now way interested. John Travolta with a goatee and bald? No thanks! But I am so glad my husband got this. We watched it several times and even kept it an extra night.
A thriller with an incredible body count, you must watch and listen as you are taken for a ride, literally and figuratively, and you don't know who to trust or even what the truth is. Travolta is some kind of government agent that is to train a new guy, Jonathon Rhys Meyers, in how it works. Travolta's character lets the the new guy in a bit at a time, just enough to confuse him and draw us in.
Great fun and is worth the rent.
MMM 1/2 M (out of 5 Ms)

Horsemen: Dennis Quaid is what I like to call a "reliable" actor. He has done a few duds but the guy works at his craft and works hard. I have seen about 3 movies in the past 3 months he has been in. I am eagerly awaiting his Jeff Bridges moment at the Oscars. It won't be with this movie but he has been creating an abundant and varied body of work that this can fit into.
Quaid plays a dental forensic police specialist that is first called into a case because there were teeth found at what appears to be a murder scene with cryptic messages in blood written around. He begins to work on it but doesn't think anything of it until more bodies start turning up. Then it becomes an obsession.
Through his research he realizes that the murders are related to the story in the book of Revelations of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. There are many twists and turns and you will probably figure it out but it is a nice little thriller. Then end could have been tidied up better but it works.
I will warn you that it is pretty gruesome.
MM 1/2 Ms (out of 5 Ms)

The Princess & The Frog: This is a fun animated movie that takes a new twist on an old story. It is cute yet will keep the interest of any adult that has to sit down with their princess to watch it. The music is catchy and you be on the edge of your seat (with your kids) as you wonder if the good guys will prevail. This is Disney...so you know how that goes. Not the best animated movie of the year but worth watching and buying for your own princess to enjoy - over and over!
MMM 1/2Ms (out of 5 M's)