Rainy Day Movie Reviews

Rainy day Saturday - over two inches. Cars never left the garage. We did not overeat junk food (though I really wanted to bake a chocolate cake). Ray and I did our Wii workout in the morning. That gave us permission to be sloths the rest of the day. I perused my Time magazine and EW, plus read. And we downloaded a documentary, Senna. I've included that mini-review, plus some others I've compiled the past month or so for the Little Paper of San Saba (a town without a cinema).

For future rainy days - here you go:
In theaters now, but probably appearing on DVD quickly I recommend two action adventure flicks. Haywire is a small film with a great cast and is surprisingly entertaining. Gina Carano, a female mixed martial arts star, is pretty, agile, and a natural on film as she's running, kicking, breaking guy's necks, and trying to figure out who's double crossed her. It's a double triple cross and by the end I'm still not entirely sure who was bad or good.

Nonetheless, Gina matched wits and fists with Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, and Channing Tatum. There's CIA/FBI/Special Forces craziness. The movie is very violent, and yet it's that over-the-top look at us do these stunts kind of violence. Not appropriate for kids, but wildly fun for adults. Haywire is great on a wintry day of doldrums. The adrenaline kicks in, and your heart will race as you run with Gina. The moral is look over your shoulder, don't trust anyone, and make sure you do your cardio everyday. Whew!

Contraband is another "don't mind the plot, but enjoy the chase" movie. Set in New Orleans, Mark Wahlberg's out of the game,no longer running drugs or stolen goods. But apparently he was the best. Now his wife's (Kate Beckinsale) little brother's been caught, dumped his stash, and owes a ton of money to the bad guys. Ooops. Mark's dragged back onto a huge container ship, with his normal crew and great timing. His goal is to smuggle conterfeit American money from Panama back into the states, make a gob of money, pay the kid's debt, and go back to his honest security system business.

Well, it's not going to be that easy. The kid gets antsy and uses their seed money to buy more drugs. That's not going to fly with the Panama crime kingpin (Diego Luna) and he forces Mark to join them on a heist. It all goes down in a hail of gunfire, but Mark manages to get back to the ship with the funny money covered by a paint spattered tarp (an unbeknowst to them Pollock!). More super double cross goes on as the ship's captain (JK Simmons) tries to pin smuggling on Mark. There have been a lot of calls from ship to shore. Mark's best friend can't be trusted. The New Orleans crime sleaze, Gianni Ribisi, threatens the wife. Everyone is snitching on everyone. Tension rises and you root for Mark as you eat your big tub of popcorn. Contraband is sheer fun, with plenty of tough guy attitude.

On DVD or download now:
Rise of the Planet of the Apes should win some special effects Oscars. Andy Serkis is the ape, Cesar, and he's chillingly cold in his revolt. Scientists conduct genetic research on apes creating evolved primates. Well, be careful what you wish for. Cesar and other advanced intelligence apes unleash a war for dominion over the Earth. Exciting and well done.

Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon - We watch the 1969 moon landing and per director Michael Bay, the Apollo 11 astronauts found a downed Transformers craft. Flash forward to now, and the Decepticons are ready to exact revenge on the Autobots. Shia LaBeouf is Sam, the Autobots human ally. Lots of special effects and things that go boom in this film. Fancy fake science talk, and plenty of ducking behind buildings. Crank up your surround sound and turn down your brain. This is very noisy fluff.

Senna - a moving documentary about Aryton Senna, the hot Brazilian Formula One champion who sadly crashed at the top of his game at age 34. I knew nothing about this sport, but enjoyed watching young Senna grow from Go-Karts to the real deal. His rise to stardom was quick. He could drive faster in rain, on any track, and had the magic touch. But the film shows the danger of driving at high speeds in these fragile race cars. Very scary. He was family oriented and loyal to Brazil. Senna, the documentary is quite complimentary and fascinating.

There you go - movies for any mood. Rainy days are necessary for guilt-free lounging.