The Factory

AKA creepy! No, super creepy. A cop, Cusak (Say Anything) is a cop on the trail of a kind of serial killer. The killer, Dallas Roberts (The Walking Dead) kidnaps young hookers and forces them to give birth to his kids. What about the babies?! Well, turns out the 1st girl he kidnapped and raped was never able to have kids. They are so in love that he looks for other girls. Roberts makes the mistake of taking the teenage daughter of the cop (Mae Whitman from One Fine Day). So the cop and his partner, Carpenter (Dexter), must hurry to find her. Guess who the 1st girl was? Yes, Carpenter. She kills Cusak and the daughter, although free, knows Carpenter is behind the whole thing. All in all, I say: SKIP IT - in fact try to forget you ever read the plot to this horribly disturbing film.

The Numbers Station

This movie won't be released until April. I rented it on Directv. Cusak (Gross Pointe Blank) plays a CIA assassin who fails to kill a witness - who was a young girl - so is punished by becoming a "fail safe" for a coder. She (Akerman a Swede from Watchmen) makes and breaks codes that are broadcast to agents in the field to give them their assignments. The code bunker is infiltrated and 15 assassination orders went out over the broadcast. Will Akerman be able to decode and resend the orders? Will Cusak keep her safe or kill her when all is said and done? All in all, I say: SEE IT but not in theatres.

Stellina Blue

Named Stellina Blue because she had a "code blue" 8 times while in a coma from being shot in a robbery. None of the main characters are well known outside of independent films, but the co-stars are recognizable. Richard Riehle (Office Space) plays a doctor. Muse Watson (Franks from NCIS) plays the father of Stellina's love interest. Navid Negahban (Homeland) plays the father of a dying girl Stellina heals. IMDB writes, "Shot during a failed robbery attempt, a reclusive woman mysteriously acquires an extraordinary gift that challenges her beliefs and the beliefs of those around her." Basically, as she heals others she gets their illness, and dies in the end. It was good until the end. I HATE unhappy endings! All in all, I say: SKIP IT

Flight

IMDb writes,"An airline pilot saves a flight from crashing, but an investigation into the malfunctions reveals something troubling." It turns out Washington (Glory) is an addict. The whole movie is him realizing he's an addict and him finding God. Goodman (The Artist) plays his friend. Reilly (Above Suspicion) plays his girlfriend a recovering addict - they meet in the hospital. Greenwood (Star Trek) plays an old friend and union rep. Cheadle (Crash) plays his lawyer that almost gets him off. All in all, I say: SKIP IT - I hate movies about addition - you've seen one you've seen them all.

Alex Cross

Alex Cross before he becomes Morgan Freeman's Alex Cross. Tyler Perry (Good Deeds) is Alex before he joined the FBI; back when he was cop he had a wife who was pregnant, and he had 2 kids. A sociopath killed his wife and his partner's girlfriend. Burns (She's The One) plays his friend and partner. Fox (Party of Five) plays the sociopath - really well too - he's really fit in this. Nichols (Continuum) plays the girlfriend. Tyson (The Help) plays Alex's mom. Reno (The Professional) plays the rich man behind the whole mess. It takes place in Detroit. The acting by everyone except Fox is HORRIBLE. The plot is made convoluted by the screenplay writers and the editors. All in all, I say: SKIP IT - I want Morgan Freeman back!

Argo

Based on the true story of a recently declassified CIA mission. Declassified by Clinton during his administration. Affleck (The Town) and Cranston (Drive) play the CIA agents behind the mission; Affleck is also the director. Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine) and Goodman (The Artist) play the filmmakers behind the mission. Garber (Alias) plays the Canadian Ambassador to Iran during the mission which interestingly enough took place on my 6th birthday. Donovan (Good Night, and Good Luck), DuVall (Carnivale), McNairy (Monsters), Cochrane (Dazed and Confused), Denham (Shutter Island), and Bishe (Red State) play the six Americans. IMDb writes, "A dramatization of the 1980 joint CIA-Canadian secret operation to extract six fugitive American diplomatic personnel out of revolutionary Iran."  All in all, I say: RENT IT but I really don't see why it is being nominated for Best Picture.

Safe Haven

Hough (Footloose) plays Katie who is running from her abusive husband played by Lyons (Revolution). She lands in a small beach town and meets a widower played by Duhamel (Transformers) who has two kids. Katie makes a friend that has a secret, too (Smulders from How I Met Your Mother). I went with two people who had read the book and they both said the movie was better. All in all, I say: SEE IT

A Good Day to Die Hard

The fifth in the series written by Skip Woods (Thursday). IMDb writes and perfectly so, "John McClane travels to Russia to help out his seemingly wayward son, Jack, only to discover that Jack is a CIA operative working to prevent a nuclear-weapons heist, causing the father and son to team up against underworld forces." The action is good - the plot is thin, but so what. All in all, I say: SEE IT if you have seen all the others. McClane's son is played by Jai Courtney from Jack Reacher.

Deadfall

IMDb writes, "A thriller that follows two siblings who decide to fend for themselves in the wake of a botched casino heist, and their unlikely reunion during another family's Thanksgiving celebration." Bana (Munich) is Addison a criminal and protector of his younger sister,Liza played by Wilde (House); he has decided to bring her into his world. She runs into Jay (Hunnam from Sons of Anarachy) who just got out of prison for throwing a fight. He got into a fight with an old trainer and is running to his parents to hopefully escape questions the cops will have for him. Everyone ends up at Jay's parents (Spacek from Carrie and Kristofferson from Blade) house including a young cop (Mara from Shooter) whose father is the Sheriff (Williams from White Collar). They all have their family issues and all these issues will be resolved at this meeting during Thanksgiving  Who will live, who will die? All in all, I say: RENT IT

Beautiful Creatures

IMDb writes, "Ethan longs to escape his small Southern town. He meets a mysterious new girl, Lena. Together, they uncover dark secrets about their respective families, their history and their town." Ethan is played by Ehrenreich from Stoker (he is a DeCaprio look-a-like). Lena is played by Englert daughter of Oscar winning director Jane Campion. Irons from Dead Ringers plays Lena's uncle who wants to see Lena develop good magic instead of evil. Davis from The Help is a long time family friend who is looking out for Ethan. Rossum from Shameless is Lena's cousin who was chosen by the evil side. The movie is based on a series of young adult novels that take place in South Carolina. The plot is a lot more complicated and I think it's because there might be more films coming out based on the other books. All in all, I say: SKIP IT and perhaps just read the books.

Your Sister's Sister

IMDb writes, "Iris invites her friend Jack to stay at her family's island getaway after the death of his brother. At their remote cabin, Jack's drunken encounter with Hannah, Iris' sister, kicks off a revealing stretch of days." Iris (Blunt from Looper) dated a guy once and became really good friends with his brother Jack (Duplass from The Mindy Project). Jack's bother has died and he is having a hard time getting past it, so his friend Iris's sends him to her family's cabin. Iris's sister, Hannah (Dewitt from Mad Men) has recently broken up with her girlfriend, so she is at the cabin, too. They get drunk and have horrible sex. When Iris shows up to find them both there she is so excited to have them meet and it seems like it's going to be a great holiday - but will it when she finds out her sister and her best friend have had sex. Will it when everyone learns the real reason why a lesbian had sex with a guy? All in all, I say: SEE IT - it is slow so you have to be in the mood.

Beasts of the Southern Wild

You think I would know better by now - if everyone is ranting and raving I should go with my instincts and skip it. Well, I didn't. A girl and her drunk, psycho of a father are living along the cast when the hurricane hits and their home - if you can call it that - is gone. I gave up watching because it was frustrating and made no sense. All in all, I say: SKIP IT

Hiding

A girl witnesses her parents murder and sends the murderer to prison - catch is - he is the younger brother of a very rich and powerful crime boss. So, now she is in witness protection and goes from NYC to Montana. This story had a lot of potential and the people in it, although unknown, can act. Biggest problem, editing. Horrible editing which ruins the film. All in all, I say: SKIP IT

MIB3

J (Smith from MIB2) has to go back in time to save K (Lee Jones from MIB2) from Boris the Animal (Clement from Flight of the Conchords). While in 1969 J meets the young K (Brolin from No Country for Old Men). Thompson (Sense & Sensibility) makes an appearance as the new head of MIB as agent O. It would be cool in 3D I think. I watched it on Directv on Demand. All in all, I say: SEE IT if you have seen the others. They explain a lot.

Warm Bodies

This is a Romeo & Juliet story. The Capulets are Corpses (Zombies) and the Montague are the military, I guess. Julie (Palmer from I Am Number Four) is alive and R (Hoult from About A Boy) is a zombie. The connect which allows the zombie to come alive again just in time for the zombies to help the humans fight off the Bones - the real evil. The inner monologues of R are very funny. Malkovich (ConAir) plays Julie's father the head of the military - he has a small but good part. All in all, I say: SEE IT

Touch

IMDb writes, "Martin Bohm is a widower and single father who is haunted by an inability to connect to his emotionally challenged 11-year-old son Jake. But when Martin discovers that Jake can predict events before they happen, everything changes." Jack uses numbers and events to lead his father to find people and help them. The premise of the show is that we are all connected - when one of us is suffering we all will suffer. Like my tattoo Shen. This show - although I don't believe in supernatural things like this - is so well written and acted it sucked me in big time. This show makes me cry almost every episode. Martin's wife was in the Towers when they fell on 9/11. I can't wait for it to start up again. Season 2 in only a couple of weeks. Sutherland plays the father - a much different character than his 24 character to be sure. And you can expect a corporate cover up and conspiracy, too. All in all, Is say: STREAM IT on Netflix before season two starts.

DCI Banks (UK)

On BBC America - a crime drama. It's in season three in the UK, but I've only just found it and I can't find anyplace to watch older British tv shows. For American shows there are tons of places online like Hulu or by simply going to the channel the show plays on - not so with British tv - I have to resign myself to the fact that I may never see some of these great show from the UK. Anyways - cops solve crimes. It well written and acted. All in all, I say: SEE IT

White Collar

IMDb writes, "A white collar criminal agrees to help the FBI catch other white collar criminals using his expertise as an art and securities thief, counterfeiter and racketeer." On season four of USA network - this one hour comedy slash crime drama follow a thief (Bomer from Chuck) and FBI agent (DeKay from Swordfish) solve crimes and catch criminals while dealing with the drama of their private lives, too. The FBI agents wife is Thiessen from Beverly Hills 90210. The thief's best friend is a conspiracy theorist, weirdo played by Garson from Sex in the City. All in all, I say: SEE IT if you like that sort of thing - some of the seasons I found boring others were pretty good.

The Americans

Russian sleeper agents living in the suburbs of the US next door to an FBI agent whose job it is to catch Russian spies in the US. Russell (Felicity) joined the KGB when she was 17 was trained - raped in training - assigned to live in the US with a man she had never met before - by the age of 20 something was in the US spying and acting as a housewife with 2 kids. She sees her life as an assignment and has an almost cult like obsession with not betraying her mother Russia. Her fake husband on the other - we don't know his past yet - is madly in love with her and his kids and would rather not be a spy, but just a regular American. The pilot is a lot to handle, but it seems very realistic. All in all, I say: TRY IT if you like that sort of Cold War thing like I do. The music alone is worth it!

Ripper Street (UK)

Jack the Ripper has already torn Whitechapel apart - still fresh from the failure of not capturing the killer the cops of Whitechapel carry on solving murders in one of London's worst areas. IMDb writes, "A new drama set in the East End of London in 1889 during the aftermath of Jack The Ripper murders. The infamous H Division - the police precinct charged with keeping order in the district of Whitechapel- is in a chaotic state trying to keep order after a tumultuous time for London and reported infamously worldwide." Macfadyen (MI-5) is the head detective (he's also the same age as me - go figure - he looked older to me). It's in its first season on BBC America - seems to be on the same schedule in UK too. It's very gritty - a CSI of the 1880s. All in all, I say: SEE IT

1600 Penn

Exactly what you think - it's about the President and his family. It is a half hour comedy. Pullam plays the President - not liked he played the part in Independence Day. Elfman (Dharma and Greg) plays his second wife and step mom to his four kids. His oldest daughter is very smart and pregnant from a one night stand with a guy that works at Old Navy. His oldest son is a college drop out despite the fact he was in school for over six years - he the idiot, goof. The younger two haven't really had much in the way of parts. The only other significant character is the President's Press Secretary who secretly had an affair with his daughter. Some episodes are just ridiculous and others are funny. It's seems to be hit or miss with the clever comebacks, too. All in all, I say: TRY IT.

Merlin (UK)

Obvious plot - this is Merlin and Arthur when they first met. It doesn't follow any particular version exactly in my opinion. The most interesting thing about it - the dragon - who is voiced by John Hurt from Alien. There were five seasons - it's over with in UK, but US is on the last one. So far, Arthur has no idea Merlin is a wizard - which I think takes away from the fun. All in all, I say: unless you like the Arthur myth - SKIP IT

The Big Bang Theory

Another half hour comedy show I can't believe I haven't blogged about. This one has tons of re-runs out there to enjoy.

IMDb writes, "A woman who moves into an apartment next door to two brilliant but socially awkward physicists shows them how little they know about life outside of the laboratory." My favorite character is Sheldon - he knows he is the smartest person on earth. He has a roommate agreement that is hilarious, a song he likes sung to him when he is sick that is hilarious, and he has a ton of quarks that are - you guessed it - hilarious. Galecki (Rosanne) is Sheldon's roommate. Sheldon is played by award winning Jim Parsons (The Muppets) and just like his character he is from Texas which is the butt of many a joke. It has six seasons and aside from re-runs on tv it might also be on Netflix streaming. Cuoco from 8 Simple Rules plays Penny the pretty next door neighbor.  The best though has been seeing Bialik from Blossom as Sheldon's girlfriend. All in all, I say: SEE IT

Modern Family

On season four - this is a half hour comedy. There are 3 families - they are all related. There is the dad and patriarch of the family played by Ed O'Neill (Married With Children - who FYI is from Youngstown, OH like someone else I know - me) and his younger trophy wife played by Sofia Vergara (Pepsi commercials) who has a son from a previous marriage. The other 2 families are his kids. O'Neill's daughter, Julie Bowen (Ed) is married to Ty Burrell (Dawn of the Dead) and they have three kids. Their oldest daughter is the ditsy one, their younger daughter is the really smart and nerdy one, and their son is exactly like his dad - kind of clueless, but fun. The last family is O'Neill's son played by Jesse Tyler Ferguson (guest judge for So You Think You Can Dance) is gay and lived with his partner played by Eric Stonestreet (Bad Teacher) - they have an adopted daughter from Asia. All in all, I say: SEE IT

Happy Endings

IMDb writes, "This Chicago-set sitcom follows the intertwined lives of six young urbanites trying to learn the ropes of adulthood. Through breakups and whatever other curve-balls life throws them, the pals stick together." It's a comedy where a group of friends have their own inside jokes, their own quirks, and their own language  No outsiders can understand. The each have something unique about them - the best character is played by Damon Wayans, Jr. His dad even appears on one of the shows. There are three seasons and I cam late to the game. I really have enjoyed only a hand full out of all three seasons combined. All in all, I say: SEE IT if you like half hour comedies (it's not like Friends) or SKIP IT if you need some meat to your shows.

Justified

I can't believe I have never blogged about this FX show that started in 2010. IMDb writes, "Old-school U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens is reassigned from Miami to his childhood home in the poor, rural coal-mining towns in Eastern Kentucky." What makes this show super cool - Olyphant - so good to have him in a hat again like in Deadwood. Also, a cop again of sorts. This time he is a US Marshall with a killer (pun indented) trigger finger and aim. He's smart too and some of the scenes between him and his not so smart criminals are hilarious and have to be watched more than once. For example, the scenes with the table cloth - you'll see. It's in season 4 and there aren't many shows per season, so there is a lot packed in. Most of the finales leave you screaming - what just happened or oh no he didn't! Every good guy has to have a bad guy and that would be Walton Goggins from Django - he is amazing in this. The show was created by Graham Yost who wrote Speed and based on a character by Elmore Leonard. My oh my - the guests they have - the southern twangs - the music - the opening credits use a song from the new genre gangstergrass. All in all, I say: SEE IT

Continuum

Yay! A new sci-fi show. IMDb writes, "A detective from the year 2077 finds herself trapped in present day Vancouver and searching for ruthless criminals from the future." It's a Canadian show, so Americans need to be patient. The fighting scenes are super cool - she can kick some butt - well her stunt double can. The technology is also fun. They really spent time and money on this. The states are getting it a little late, but better late than never. They are in season 2 in Canada now. Erik Knudsen from Jericho plays a techno genius who is in our present, but the main characters past - who knew he was Canadian?! Rachel Nichols - American - from GI Joe has the lead - brunette in this. Victor Webster from 4 shows of Castle is the current day cop that works with Nichols the future cop. They do a good job of making her realtable by adding flashbacks of her life before or rather in the future with her husband and son. Those scenes are sad - there are all kinds of connections between the past and future that are coming together that make it intriguing. If you like sci-fi - All in all, I say: SEE IT

Shameless (UK)

This came before the US version on Showtime. It is exactly the same as the US version - I mean exactly. Granted I've only gotten to a couple of episodes in season one, but wow - the same. Bad news - it is hard to understand them sometimes and I don't always get the slang. Good news - James McAvoy plays Steve - YES - I know right. Who knew, not me. McAvoy the hunk from Scotland that was in Wanted, X-Men: First Class, and Becoming Jane. Just read my other entry on Shameless (US) for plot. Both of them are vulgar with cursing and nudity. All in all, I say: SEE IT - this one is on Netflix streaming.

Victory Sandwich

Located in Inman Park, Atlanta this place has a rather large outdoor area and inside a bar as well as more seating. They play old tv shows on the cement wall across from the bar while alternative and rock music plays. As the night wore on the music gets louder and it becomes difficult to talk not only that but the tables are close so that just adds to the volume. I would love to go back when it gets warmer. There were several sandwiches on the menu I would like to try. I had one called Cool Chick - it's not on their menu on-line - they must change out the sandwiches. The have salt & pepper homemade chips. The menu is not long, but there is something for everyone. They are small as you can see from the photo, so I recommend an app - like the hummus of the day. I had a veggie hummus which was to die for. The servers are polite and the crowd is 30s. All in all, I say: TRY IT and take me because there is no way I would drive in that area and be forced to find parking - heck no!

Seven Psychopaths

Netflix writes, "Marty (Colin Farrell), a struggling writer, needs inspiration to finish his screenplay, "Seven Psychopaths." He gets plenty of it when his oddball friends nab a crazed gangster's beloved pooch and he inadvertently gets caught up in all the action." It's a movie about a movie which is supposed to be about real life. It is a little confusing in the middle. It could have been better - screenplay wise. The acting was good - an amazing cast. Farrell (In Bruges) gets to use his own accent, Rockwell (Charlie's Angels) does a good crazy as always, Walken (Deer Hunter) plays a Quaker and yes he is one of the psychopaths, and then there is Harrelson (Cheers). The main character is Martin, the writer and director of the film is Martin, so it is based on a dream he had - based on something they said in the film. All in all, I say: SKIP IT

The Last Days of Emma Blank

IMDb writes, "Mr. Haneveld runs the household like a devoted butler in Emma Blank's Dutch seaside villa. It's a crazy mix of disgruntled staff, unstable lovers and incestuous offspring, constantly harassed by Emma's absurdly inconsistent orders. Her brother Theo even literally plays the family dog. Only Gonnie, Hanevlet and Emma's daughter, finds an external lover, Martin, who later shares in their pointless misery. When Emma discloses the inheritance everyone waited for without pay is lost in stock crises, only the house is left, a grim finale ensues."  This is subtitled and super weird. All in all, I say: SKIP IT