Movie #219 - G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
2009 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 58 min
Director: Stephen Sommers
Starring: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Christopher Eccleston, Sienna Miller, Byung-hun Lee, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rachel Nichols, Ray Park, Jonathan Pryce, Marlon Wayans, Dennis Quaid

In the grand tradition of comics and cartoons turned big-screen blockbusters, this movie tries to capture the magic of the rebooted Transformers franchise with another American hero.  I was not a G.I.Joe fan as a kid (I'm a girl, ok?) but I hear that the characters are all pretty much in line with the originals, so it's got that going for it.

Mostly, this feels overcomplicated. It's one big excuse to blow stuff up, but it wants you to take it seriously.  This movie wants to be a real action/adventure when it grows up, not just a cartoon turned live action. And as one friend commented, the good guys kill more people than the bad guy. Speaking of bad guys, I could not take Joseph Gordon-Levitt serious in this movie. At. All.

It was a worthy effort, but at the end of it, GI Joe failed to pull me in.

Movie #207 - Flight of the Phoenix

Flight of the Phoenix
2004 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 53 min
Director: John Moore
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Miranda Otto, Giovanni Ribisi, Hugh Laurie, Tyrese Gibson, Tony Curran, Scott Michael Campbell

Look, it's Dr. House! Also, one of his patients (Scott Michael Campbell) from that episode when the cop gets sick from the pigeon poop and Foreman catches it too... remember that one? Rad.

Anyway, that's not this movie.  This movie is all right, nothing incredible.  It's a remake and since I haven't seen the original, I can speak to how well done it is, or if it improves on the first one.  Anyone seen it? Care to elaborate?

Meanwhile, Giovani Ribisi is super annoying. And he kinda talks like he's impersonating Hannibal Lecter, which is somewhat creepy but mostly just douchey.  Talk. Like. A. Normal. Person.

I don't have much to say about this cookie-cutter adventure movie.  It's your typical band of strangers pooling their resources and efforts to overcome impending death.  Fly out of the desert on a plane you just built? Yeah, no problem. It's good, thanks to some of the performances, but it's not one you absolutely must see.  It scores a solid 50 on my 0-100 Meh-o-Meter.

Movie #152 - The Day After Tomorrow

The Day After Tomorrow
Twentieth Century Fox
2004 - Rated PG-13 - 2 hr 4 min
Director: Roland Emmerich
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emmy Rossum, Sela Ward, Ian Holm

In this first attempt to destroy the world, Roland Emmerich freezes the northeast in a flash blizzard the likes of which has not been seen since wooly mammoths walked the earth.  Dennis Quaid can't save us all, but he'll save his son from the New York Public Library.  If he doesn't freeze first.

Doom, destruction, and general mayhem.  Could this be our future? Emmerich posits through this cinematographical adventure.  If it is, I want Quaid headed in my direction.

Movie #25 - American Dreamz

American Dreamz
Universal Pictures
2006 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 47 min
Director: Paul Weitz
Starring: Hugh Grant, Dennis Quaid, Mandy Moore, Willem Dafoe, Chris Klein and Jennifer Coolidge

"Imagine a country where the president never reads the newspaper, where the government goes to war for all the wrong reasons, and where more people vote for a pop idol than their next president."

That's the tagline for this one, and it pretty aptly sums up the premise. On one hand, you have a hugely successful pop idol selection show (sound familiar?) and on the other, you have a bumbling president who suddenly decides to start learning about foreign policy (ahem). Anyway, what happens when these two collide on one night of television? Did I forget to mention the terrorist cell that has a plant on said pop idol selection show?

It sounds overly satirical and too tongue-in-cheek to be funny, but the political undertones are well hidden. Subtle, even. You just get to sit back, relax, and pretend this stuff would never happen in the US. Right?

Good times.