Push

Push was directed by Paul McGuigan, which is a director you have probably never heard. He filmed "Lucky Number Slevin" and "Wicker Park". Both of which are good movies, but never had a real impact at the box office. Well, he did it again. Push, a relatively good movie, barely made a dent in the box office since its release. If McGuigan doesn't crank out a blockbuster soon, he's going to be finished as a Hollywood director.

Like his other films, Push is solid movie but seriously lacks in some areas. The acting is much better than I expected. Chris Evans is a goofball (see Fantastic Four) but his machismo and charm translated well into this movie. Dakota Fanning, who is now a teenager, is still a brilliant actress who should have a long and prosperous career in Hollywood. The downside is the story and directing. Overall, there seems to be too much style and not enough substance. The directing is disjointed and chaotic and the story is choppy and not fully developed. But even with that, there are still cool, super-human abilities on display which help distract you from these faults.

Rating: 5.5 out of 10

Taken

If you take equal parts of The Bourne Identity and Denzel's Man on Fire you would create the formula that Taken uses. The movie plays out like Jason Bourne's retirement years. A retired special government operative has his daughter kidnapped so he uses his unique set of skills to get her back. Although the movie combines two great movies it does not achieve the greatness that the other two movies achieved on their own. But that's not to say this isn't a good movie.

The movie was written by Luc Besson who was once a great director (La Femme Nakita, The Professional, 5th Element) but who now makes his living by writing screenplays (Transporter, Unleashed, Kiss of the Dragon). Luc Besson cranks out movie screenplays like Oscar Meyer churns out hotdogs. And although the end result always seems to be edible, I can only guess that he has some kind of plot device dart board that he uses to piece his stories together. His stories are always predictable and routine.

So back to Taken. Great acting. Liam Neeson is a brilliant actor and pulls off the retired action-star just fine. All of the other actors are just fodder for him to kick and punch so it doesn't really matter if they can act or not.

Overall, I recommend this film.

Rating: 8 out of 10

The Wrestler

I’m a fan of the director of this movie, Darren Aronofsky. He is by far one of the most unique and creative new directors on the scene. With movies like Pi, Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain, he has proven his genius. I must say though The Wrestler was pretty disappointing. I’m not exactly sure why the critics have fallen in love with this movie. To me, it was a slow and tedious journey through the life of a has-been professional wrestler with small moments of impact and insight.

The Wrestler stars Mick, who is of the most hit-and-miss actors of all time. For example, he had hits with “Sin City”, “Angel Heart”, and “Domino”. But then he missed big with “Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man”, “Double team” (with Dennis Rodman and Van Damme), and “Another 9 ½ Weeks”. The fact that this man is up for an Oscar worries me. What has happened to the Academy?

The movie itself tries too hard to get you to like the wrestler. You feel of since of hopelessness, isolation and pity for the man who functions great in the wrestling world but is a big f*ck up in the real world. When the wrestling world begins to collapse around him because of his age, he pretty much has nothing left to live for. Watching the movie is like living through the wrestler’s depression. If you like feeling down, alone and depressed, then this movie is for you, because the small moments of happiness are rare and fleeting.

This is definitely not a main stream movie and I would not recommend it to the populace. But if you like slow, emotional, dark movies then give this one a try.

Rating: 5 out of 10