ShmuelReuven Reviews

Open Season (2006)

Fun for the whole family! A great start for Sony Pictures Animation!

[8/10 · 29 September 2006]

What's a 'unihorn' you may ask? Well, it's a deer that only has one antler, of course. And you'll only see one in the new Sony Pictures Animation film, Open Season, starring Martin Lawrence, Debra Messing, Ashton Kutcher, Gary Sinise, Jon Favreau, and many more.

Martin voices the lovable Boog in the film; he's the main attraction of a show at the zoo with his best friend, Beth (Debra Messing). Boog also lives with Beth, equipped with his stuffed animal, Dunkleman. On a completely side note, what would a Sony film be without a reference to one of their own. Before Boog settles in for his comfy night sleep, he checks out Pat Sajak on Wheel of Fortune.

They have a great life together doing shows for the fans, even exchanging powerful roars. But that's before Elliot (Ashton Kutcher) shows up, the hapless one-antlered deer who's been captured by the evil Shaw (Gary Sinise). Boog helps Elliot escape and makes Boog's and Beth's life miserable, forcing Beth to send the two animals away into the forest.

On his own for the first time, Boog now has to rely on himself, or be stuck with Elliot. And that means figuring out how to go to the bathroom in the wild. That's when he first runs into McSquizzy, the squirrel (voiced by Billy Connolly) – McSquizzy is the ruler of the forest trees, and has a great and powerful squirrel Army to back him up, equipped with thousand of acorns. Without a doubt, McSquizzy is one of the highlights of Open Season! He's got wit, humor, and a ton of Scottish charm.

Boog realizes having Elliot around is the only way he'll get back to Beth. So they become 'partners,' much to the dismay of Boog – but the delight of Elliot, who just needs a friend. With hunting season right around the corner, the two must work together to sneak around the hunters.

But when Shaw breaks the hunting season date, the animals switch their thinking – instead of running away, they're going to fight back! And fight back they do! Trying to run away, Boog crosses a dam; unfortunately, his 900 pound body crumbles the wood.

That's when Open Season turns into Hill Street Blues! There is one of the most amazing chase scenes I've ever seen in the movies. Boog, Elliot, and their porcupine friend try and escape the gun shots of Shaw – but on water. Bobbing and weaving through the water, under water, above water, around rocks – great scene! There's even a waterfall at the end to top it off! I have somewhat of a test for animated movies I've been giving myself over the past few years – ever since seeing the water scenes in The Incredibles, and noticing how real it looked, I've started to take an eye to the screen. If water doesn't look real, than it doesn't pass the test. Let's just say, Open Season aced my test. This water chase scene goes on for about 5 minutes, maybe a little more; but it's so exciting and amazing to watch! It's not just the water of Open Season, it's the entire field of animation; the animals really come alive on the screen. I'm a huge fan of animation; I think it has to do with the fact that anything done with computer fascinates me. The detailed description of each character, from their eyes, nose, mouth, walk, and hair – and in this movie, fur; it's just so amazing! But back to the story - after meeting back up with the group of beavers, led by Reilly (voiced by Jon Favreau), some of Elliot's former deer mates (Patrick Warburton and Jane Krakowski), and a few other animals, Boog and Elliot team up and go on the attack against the hunters. Bras, plungers, grills, forks, knives, spoons, and basically, anything they can get their hands on – sorry, whatever they can get their paws on – they use to charge the hunters with.

Open Season is directed by Jill Culton, Roger Allers, and Tony Stacchi; each has a number of major credits to their name. Both Tony and Jill make their feature directorial debut on this film; however, Jill has worked at Pixar on the character development for Monsters Inc. and Toy Story. Tony worked on a number of films for ILM including Hook and Ghost. Roger Allers co-directed The Lion King, and has just recently completed The Little Match Girl – a short attached to The Little Mermaid.

Open Season is a fun and very enjoyable film for kids and families. It's definitely a film you'll be talking about for a long time. And don't forget, you can also check out the film in IMAX 3D, opening at major theaters across the country.

Crank (2006)

Speed on foot! Jason Statham is all about the action! Great stunts, fast paced, and a sex scene with Amy Smart!

[8/10 · 1 September 2006]

British actor Jason Statham is best known for his roles in both Transporter films, The Italian Job, and of course Guy Ritchie's Snatch and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels.

In Crank, he's raised his status as an action star big time! The premise of the film is Chev Chelios (Jason) is a hit man/mobster; after messing with the wrong group, they drug him and inject a poisonous substance where he only has a few hours to live.

In order to prolong his imminent death, he must keep his heart rate up, and adrenaline pumping. Achieving that goal takes driving around the city streets of Los Angeles at crazy amounts of speed, standing on top of a moving motorcycle, getting electrically shocked at a hospital, getting into a fight at a strip club with eight gunmen, and running around LA in nothing but a hospital gown – yes, you get to see his rear.

And all that action really takes place in the first 30 minutes; the major stunts happen later in the movie, including an open-air sex scene in the middle of Chinatown with his girlfriend, Eve (Amy Smart). I won't tell you too much about that scene, but let's just say it was hilarious and sexy all at the same time. Even the tourists who got to watch the action were laughing! Crank is written and directed by commercial directors Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine; they also shot a lot of the footage themselves on hand-held cameras. Believe me, it works; from the beginning scene, you're in the eyes of Chev, literally. That first scene takes place in Chev's apartment, after receiving the injection; we follow him as he gets out of bed and stumbles to the TV to watch a taped message from his assailants, headed by Ricky Verona (Juan Pablo Cantillo).

Realizing what he must do, he picks up this amazing 60-some inch flat screen TV and throws it at the wall, destroying it. I have to say, watching that TV get destroyed killed me inside. But there's great camera focus while all the craziness is happening around him.

Throughout the movie, there's great music – and that also starts with the opening credits; a real 1980's feel, with hip 80's music, and Atari-like graphics. Along with the theme of the movie, while Chev is in a taxi, the Billy Ray Cyrus song, 'Achy Breaky Heart' comes on the radio – classic placement! Crank also stars Efren Ramirez (Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite) as Chev's 'partner in crime.' Fortunately for Chev, he doesn't have to rely on him too much for the action; Efren plays Kaylo, a gay drag queen. Efren is only in the film for a little bit, but does provide for some good humor, and that definitely goes for his clothing, mannerisms, and his dancing.

As we follow Chev on his hunt for Verona, Mark and Brian used the internet program Google Maps for location purposes. It's the first time I've ever seen the use of that sort of thing actual locations were used and shown in a movie.

Along his chase, and running out of adrenaline, Eve (Smart) joins back up with Chev; she gives him enough energy to make it just a few more hours – the only way she knows how.

I'm always incredibly impressed with the amount of stunts Jason does, and at his ability to pull them off. Crank is no exception! The film is intense as all hell! Crank is one of your best bets for ending the summer! It's in theaters now, rated R.

Accepted (2006)

Absolutely Hilarious! The Funniest Movie Since The 40 Year Old Virgin!

[9/10 · 12 August 2006]

I've seen funny movies before in my life – recently, my favorites have been The 40 Year Old Virgin, Wedding Crashers, and most recently a little movie called Accepted! Accepted is so funny and so classic, I'm saying something very strong – it's this generation's Animal House. I know, I know…them's fightin' words in some places, but it truly has that element to the movie – a college setting, tons of laughs, tons of gags, and some pretty hot women (including Blake Lively). What makes Accepted even better, it packs in the laughs with a PG-13 rating. Believe me, there are plenty of things that happen that don't make it seem like a PG-13 – in fact, I truly kept thinking that I couldn't believe it wasn't an 'R' when I saw it.

The film stars Justin Long as Bartleby 'B' Gaines, a senior in high school who's been trying to get accepted into any college. Unfortunately, he ends up not getting into any, much to the disappointment of his parents (especially his father). After his best friend, Sherman (Jonah Hill) finds out he's going to Harmon College, B has enough.

He decides the only way he'll ever please his parents is by getting accepted, so he decides to make up his own college to fool them. He has Sherman build a fake website, he's written a fake acceptance letter, and convinced his mom and dad that the South Harmon Institute of Technology wants Bartleby Gaines as a student.

If you haven't figured out already, the acronym for the school – S.H.I.T. – yes, you're reading that correctly. You see, B didn't think about the name too long; but, he's fooled his parents enough into thinking he's made it to a school and so his father gives him a check for $10,000.

Of course, not thinking again, B must think of a way to fool the folks one more time – there's orientation and meeting with the dean and the professors of the school. He uses that money from his dad and rents out an old abandoned hospital with his other buddies, Roxy (Maria Thayer), Glen (Adam Herschman), Hands (Columbus Short), and Sherman. One of the most hilarious things in the film is when they first go inside the hospital to clean it up, Sherman screams uncontrollably reacting to a fake body falling from the ceiling - the noise that comes out of his mouth is priceless!

The comedy continues when Lewis Black arrives on the screen; he plays the 'dean' of the South Harmon Institute of Technology. When a stint as a full-time professor at Harmon College didn't go as well as he expected, he was fired. If you've ever heard or seen the comic styles of Lewis, then you know he's got classic rants about anything and everything; he's most famous for his appearances on The Daily Show and his stand-up comedy tour. But, man does he know how to make you laugh.

I'll warn you now – anytime he is on the screen, do not have anything in your mouth cause it'll end up on the head of the person sitting in front of you – and I don't mean in a nasty way. You'll be laughing so hard, you won't be able to keep your mouth closed!! With his parents happy, B is able to sit back and have fun.

What ends up happening, there was a glitch on the South Harmon Institute of Technology website Sherman created – it turns out, by clicking in the 'Everyone Gets Accepted' box, everyone got accepted. As he and his friends are sitting around playing video games – a knock at the door – hundreds of kids who clicked on the S.H.I.T. website are waiting outside, each with their $10,000 tuition money. Without being ready, B and his crew must figure out a way to house these 'new students.' Of course, he also must now figure how to tell these people that this isn't a real school.

Instead, he comes up with the plan to run the school – have the kids pick their own classes, and use the money they gave him for tuition to throw massive parties every night. And those classes - Slacking 101, Free Thinking 347 - the list goes on, but the gags keep rolling in!

In Accepted, the antagonist is the real dean from Harmon College, Richard Van Horne (Anthony Heald). His plans are to turn Harmon College into an exclusive 'gentleman's college' like Harvard or Yale – only accepting the very best. To achieve his goal, the land where the South Harmon Institute of Technology must go. When B doesn't go along with those plans, Van Horne does a little digging and finds out the truth about the college – that it's not real.

Accepted marks Justin Long's first role as the stand-out lead – he takes it and runs with it, just as B runs with his ideas for running his own school. There are some things Sherman gets into, trying to fit in with his potential fraternity brothers; Jonah Hill plays the part – you feel for him and you laugh at him. And if you ever see him on the streets – don't forget to 'ask him about his wiener.'

There are really some moments in this movie that I have watched over and over and over again and just laugh – and I laugh hard every time I see them, and you will, too!! Plus, there is a good message that's learned.