The Expendables

Scott Pilgrim Versus The World

Eat Pray Love

August 19, 2010

THE EXPENDABLES

Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Terry Crews, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis… the cast alone is enough to make this a must-see for any action film junkie. Bringing action heroes both old and new all into the same film, whether it is by cameo appearance or in the thick of the explosive mayhem, you will never see this type of grouping again. There’s not much to say for the plot. It’s a lot of big guys with big guns, ultra violent fight sequences and a s***ton load of stuff blowing up. It’s the high octane explosive action-packed rollercoaster that finishes off this summer’s blockbusters with a very loud bang. - CHAINSAW

How is it possible to pack so much action deliciousness into one movie? It’s hard to believe that they were able to rope together so many action stars with a meager $70 million budget, there were obviously some favors called in! Still, I am thankful that all of the big guns signed on. There really isn’t anything like spending an afternoon watching things explode, and no bad guy is safe (Stallone angry, argggh.) I won’t write a list and take up extra space, Chainsaw has taken care of that, but I am still in wonder at the lineup. One thing I will say at the risk of my own embarrassment is that I still tear up thinking about Mickey Rourke’s monologue. That actor has made it through some crap in his life, and I give him so much respect as a person and a performer.

Photo: Mickey Rourke and Sylvester Stallone in The Expendables

So how to sum it up? Great movie, great action, fun dialogue (especially Jet Li) and GREAT carnage. However, I am still wondering what the parents in front of me told their little girl when people’s heads started blowing off? Please, enjoy the movie but leave the kids at home. - CLAM

SCOTT PILGRIM
VERSUS THE WORLD

Here is another entertaining movie. Honestly, without reading the book I enjoyed it myself. The combination of real life and video game battle (impossible as it may be) was just awesome! I mean, sure, it was cheezy at times, but that is OK with a movie like this.

And again, the line-up of actors was just fun. Heck, even Kieran Culkin impressed me. So, what else to say? I wish life and fantasy existed in reality - that would be awesome, but as they do not, you have to just enjoy it on the big screen. - CLAM

Not all comic based film are about guys in tights. Here we have the first ever, rock & roll, kung fu, video game, teen love story which is based on a comic book. A film which is guaranteed to feed the needs of any and all comic book & video game fanatics. The back story is simple if insane: bass playing, slacker Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) must defeat his dream girl’s seven evil ex-boyfriends in video game style duels if they are to be together.

It’s a non-stop chaotic method of story telling with extremely impossible fight sequences thrown in for good measure. Sure to be a hit with its youthful target audience and fans of this new genre; there’s so much going on in so many distractingly different directions how they not like it? - CHAINSAW

Photo: Michael Cera in Scott Pilgrim Versus The World

If you have questions or comments - please feel free to e-mail us at clamsaw@yahoo.com

`Eat Pray Love' will satisfy fans

By CHRISTY LEMIRE AP Movie Critic

``Eat Pray Love'' does exactly what it should to satisfy its core audience: It provides a gorgeous escape, exquisitely photographed and full of female wish fulfillment. Yet it also offers sufficient emotional heft and self-discovery to make you feel as if you actually have learned something and, perhaps, emerged a better person solely through osmosis.

It is easy to see why author Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir became an international phenomenon. Everyone is looking for something _ for answers, for his or her true and higher purpose _ and Gilbert had the fortitude (and the wherewithal) to take off alone on a journey around the world to find herself after her divorce.

Having Julia Roberts star as Liz Gilbert in the film version of the best-seller, in theory, only makes it more appealing to an even wider audience. Roberts is radiant as ever, and director and co-writer Ryan Murphy's adaptation allows her to show off her full range with plenty of hardcore hanky moments. Not unlike the production numbers in Murphy's juggernaut TV series ``Glee,'' the search for meaning in ``Eat Pray Love'' is played with complete earnestness. But even cynics viewing this movie (or the vast majority of men) would find it hard not to be impressed by the lush visuals and, on a more substantive level, moved by some of the performances.

In the India section of the story, Richard Jenkins pretty much steals ``Eat Pray Love'' away from Roberts as the hippie Texan who serves as the voice of reason when Liz is feeling lonely and sorry for herself. She accuses him of talking in bumper stickers, which the script from Murphy and Jennifer Salt is frequently guilty of, as well, but he shakes things up and, more crucially, delivers one hell of a monologue in which he describes what led him to the ashram. Jenkins is such an intelligent, honest actor, he makes every moment feel authentic. He kind of makes you want to see a movie about his character instead.

But ``Eat Pray Love'' is the story of how Liz, a successful author, leaves her husband (Billy Crudup) when she realizes she no longer wants to be married to him, then leaves her much-younger boyfriend (James Franco) when she realizes she is losing her identity to him, then leaves New York entirely.

Her first stop is Italy, a place she always has wanted to visit, where she immediately falls in love with the people, the sights, the language. This would be the ``eat'' portion of our adventure, and the scene in which Liz takes on a plate of spaghetti plays like food porn. She lovingly twirls the noodles around her fork then lifts them into that perfect mouth, slurping and sucking the pasta in with delight. Warning: Do NOT see this movie hungry. The Thanksgiving turkey she shares for breakfast with the locals and ex-pats who become her makeshift family is a nice touch, but it also looks seriously delicious.

Next, she is off to pray at an ashram outside New Delhi, which she finds is harder than she had expected; the whole process of keeping the mind still, and all. This is where Jenkins' character, Richard from Texas, comes into play. But Liz also befriends a 17-year-old girl on the verge of an arranged marriage _ a lively, colorful affair with gorgeous, intricate costumes _ and that relationship provides its own poignant moments.

Finally, she finds love in Bali, where she visits in the beginning of the movie and returns to learn from the elderly medicine man who prompted this whole journey. Since ``love'' is in the title, we know Liz will find it, so there's not a whole lot of suspense. Still, Roberts' scenes with Javier Bardem sparkle because ... well, he is Javier Bardem. And his character is just a real man: strong, confident, exciting, but also sweet and sensitive. He is comfortable about welling up as he says goodbye to his 19-year-old son, who is visiting from Australia. Again, it's that whole female wish-fulfillment thing.

Beautiful as it is, the Bali section is overlong and it wraps up the film with the kind of romantic comedy cliches that, for the most part, were blissfully absent from the first two-thirds. Regardless of how you feel about the movie, though, ``Eat Pray Love'' will make you want to head out for wine and pasta with your girlfriends afterward. Any excuse will do, and this is a good one.

``Eat Pray Love,'' a Columbia Pictures release, is rated PG-13 for brief strong language, some sexual references and male rear nudity. Running time: 133 minutes. Three stars out of four.