Sugar

I think baseball movies are simply one of the greatest genres of sports movies. I could sit and watch Bull Durham, Rookie of the Year, The Natural, A League of Their Own or The Minor Leagues collection for the rest of my days and be happy.

Sugar offers a perspective I couldn't help but think STL great Albert Pujols endured on his climb to fame. The movie is subtitled through most of the film as it depicts young men from the Dominican Republic coming to the States to play in minor league ball out in Iowa and Kansas. These men, just like young American boys, dream of the days the announcer calls their names over the loud speaker at Yankee Stadium.

These boys who get "the call" up to the States to play in these farm towns, barely speak English and what they do know of English is "fly ball, home run, strike." One particular scene in the restaurant harps on this fact as the boys eat french toast for a month at every meal, since they don't know how to say anything else.

The film takes a different spin after some time and you see Sugar (the main character) depart for New York and his desire to do everything possible to stay in the States. Really makes you appreciate the fact you're already here.

The Soloist

I've never really been a fan of Jamie Foxx. Not sure why, but I'm pretty sure it has everything to do with his The Jamie Foxx Show on The WB, back when The WB existed.

His performance in The Soloist was truly breathtaking. He plays the part perfectly and quite comically. And the movie was more than just the idea of someone who plays music beautifully; it was in sight into the Los Angeles homeless sector. Being someone who's been sheltered in suburbia, I found the scenes at the shelters extremely interesting and sad. Homelessness carries a stigma which isn't necessarily true. This film helps bring that thought to light.

The movie should have had a guitar box set up outside the theatre to collect spare change for the LA homeless shelters, as I wanted to empty my pockets of all the change.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

You know what you're getting into when you buy a ticket for a Rom-Com with Matthew McConaughey: eye candy for the next 1 1/2. Yet, throughout this film, I never saw it. He plays a successful photog who just loves women (hello ad man from How to Lose a Guy). To help him see his true gal pal for life love, he is visited by all of his girlfriends from the past who point him in the direction of Jenny, played by Jennifer Garner.

The true icing on this wedding cake were characters played by Emma Stone (Jules from Superbad) and Lacey Chabert (her father invented the Toaster Strudel in Mean Girls). Stone plays a ghost talking McConaughey through some past flames. Her outfit is amazing and when you learn of how her and McConaughey's character hooked up, you can't stop laughing. Chabert plays the lass marrying McConaughey's brother, played by Breckin Meyer (RoadTrip fame). She's a bridezilla on acid, crack and uppers. Watching her on screen is a treat.

As for Garner's character, I felt like she never got fully developed and she was hardly on screen. I was excited to see her paired with Rescue Me's fireman Daniel Sunjata, but felt like their scenes were cold and flat.

And having Michael Douglas in this film was completely unneccessary. He was a creepy corpse and extremely reminisent of the Tales from the Crypt guy. Douglas brought nothing to the screen and he looks awfully, awfully, painfully old. It was hard to watch.

This is one ghost I hope is done haunting me.

17 Again

Growing up, the go to movies in my family were What About Bob? and Big. So you can imagine my horror when 13 Going on 30 came out. But then I learned, not only did the main character age, so did the world around her. Okay, okay. Still a stolen idea, but only partially stolen.

17 Again is a direct ploy off of Big, just instead of getting older, you get younger. Three reasons why this movie was a rip off:

1) The go-to best friend to help you find your way through the newer/older you. Josh Baskins had Billy. In this film, we have Mike and Ned. Ned's character, played by Thomas Lennon, is quite possibly the greatest character in this movie. The Star Trek ears, the one-liners, his passion for the magical word, I couldn't get enough of it.

2) When Josh Baskins makes the switch to adulthood, he buys a sweet pad and fills it with all the greatest toys and furniture (I'm getting a trampoline in my apartment once the ceilings call for it). Mike moves in with his friend Ned, who being the complete weirdo he is, has a sweet pad full of fast cars, amazing pool and collectible toys and swords laying around. This film just switches out the bunk beds ("I call top!") for a race car.

3) The creepy item/person to get you to the new you. Josh Baskins tried his luck on the Zoltar machine, which really made me fearful of any type of tarot card reading and fortune tellings. Here, Mike looks to this creepy janitor who appears and then disappears. He's like a bad version Doc from Back to the Future holding a pail and mop instead of keys to a DeLorean.
At times, I must say, I did enjoy the film. But the whole Zac Efron (who plays the younger version of Matthew Perry's character Mike) and Leslie Mann, who plays Scarlett, Mike's nearly ex wife, were too creepy to enjoy. It was worse than Mrs. Robinson since at least Mrs. Robinson was seducing a recent college graduate and not a high school senior.

As the jerk Paul said at the Christmas Party in Big:
Paul: The guy's a goddamn knock-off artist.
Man: What do you mean?
Paul: The Amphibian?! He takes 10,000 G.I. Joes, slaps some gills on them, webs their feet and packages them in seaweed.

Looks like we have another knock-off artist behind 17 Again.

State of Play

At the ripe age of 16, I was forced to sit, watch and write a review on All the President's Men. After this movie, I thought becoming a journalist would be the coolest thing in the world. You get to interview people with names like "Deep Throat", constantly be on your feet running from one lead to the next and get to break stories that would shape a nation.

State of Play is this century's All the President's Men. Yes, State is fictional, but it can't help but make you wonder/think/know that these kinds of things are going down on Capitol Hill.

If you aren't aware, Brad Pitt and Edward Norton were originally slated to fill the roles of Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck (respectively). Crowe plays the part of a reporter so well. Dingy apartment, eclectic clothing, followed by driving a car over a decade old and the whole scraggly beard thing. His dedication to the craft of investigative reporting is inspiring: a reporter's work is never done.

Enter Rachel McAdams. She plays the newspaper's savvy new blogger. Loved seeing the conflict, interaction and education going on between here and Crowe. I think any Generation Y-er out there will easily identify with her frustrations and lack of being taken seriously.

The paper they both work for is going down (hello, true story of today's world) and this story, uncovering the mystery of the death around one of Affleck's interns, will make or break the deal. The ending throws in another twist that even I had trouble wrapping my head around, but it's sure to leave you questioning/debating with audience members.

Stay for the credits. It's the best tribute to newspapers I've seen.

Fast and Furious

Not be confused with The Fast and The Furious or Make it Fast, Make it Furious(my personal fav), the 2009 version is plainly Fast and Furious. Now I hate to admit this right off the bat, but I actually really like this film. Yes, of course there were moments when I was thinking "okay that line was ridiculous", but it was hard not to revert back to the original when I was a mere 15 yr old, thinking 1. Paul Walker is a hottie(yes I used the term hottie in HS) and 2. I want to have NOS in my car.

The team behind Fast and Furious were able to keep the same atmosphere from the original, but also able to make it a 2009 movie. No worries there are lots of half naked women and street racing cars in full throttle , but they incorporated some new technology with GPS systems that I thought was quite innovative.

They also decided to bring back four of the original characters. Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto(I prefer Dom), Paul Walker as Brian O'Conner(now an FBI agent), Michelle Rogriguez as Letty, Dom's bad ass girlfriend and of course Jordana Brewster as Mia Toretto.

Needless to say, after an accident happens Dom and O'Conner are forced to join forces in order to bring down a heroin importer by going undercover and becoming part of his operation. There is a nice twist at the end that kept me engaged in the action of the story.

All and all it was an entertaining film, that allowed me to reminisce about the good 'ol days of early high school. Although they did bring back the four original characters, Jesse was one of my favorites from the first film and I was hoping that he would have some sort of a camio in this one... no luck there.

Adventureland

From the Director of Superbad comes Adventureland, a comedy set in the summer of '87. This story is centered around its main character James Brennan trying to figure out what his next step is after college. When things don't seem to turn his way, he settles for a nowhere job at an amusement park, where he encounters a full array of locals as co-workers.

There were so many treats about this movie its hard not to gush it all. First up is Ryan Reynolds character Mike Connell(the repair man at the amusement park). When he tries to act 'above the crowd' by telling of his musician days, its hard not to see the past comedy of his work on Just Friends. Yet, as his character unfolds Reynold's does a surprisingly great job of letting the truth of Connel's sad life unravel before the audience.

Perhaps my new favorite upcoming star is Jesse Eisenberg, who plays the main character Brennan in this tale. He is a mix between Michael Cera and Andy Samberg, with his cute boyish personality, yet his comedic timing is none the less hilarious. You will have to see this movie to fully grasp his true potential (and don't forget to be looking out for his new movie The Education of Charlie Banks).

Other great actors that are a part of this film include Kristen Stewart of Twilight, Bill Hadar of Superbad, and Wendie Malick whom I love in Just Shoot Me.

To wrap it up, this movie is full of laughs and sad stories. I would recommend it to anyone who can appreciate awkward comedy.

RIDES RIDES RIDES

GAMES GAMES GAMES