The A-Team

I've never seen the tv series that this is based on, but pop culture has filled me in on all I need to know. We're living in the Age of the Remakes, and the big-screen adaptation of the A-Team sees when the four heroes put their team together, with an absurd, fun escape that just doesn't seem possible. Of course, over the next two hours, these four characters weave themselves in and out of impossible situations, but always manage to escape, no worse for the wear, and able to quip about their close calls. And of course, they work in their well-known lines with Hannibal saying, "I love it when a plan comes together," while Baracus steadfastly refuses to get on an airplane. As expected, they also are framed for crimes they didn't commit, making them fugitives on the run. Make no mistake, this is a campy film. It is not award-winning stuff. The plot is more than a bit convoluted, and villains repeatedly pass up chances to kill our heroes until... sometime later.

This is a pretty by the numbers action movie so there isn't much to talk about. With Liam Neeson leading the team as Hannibal, they definitely cast the right actor to lead the ragtag team of ‘soldiers of fortune. Bradley Cooper also is perfectly cast here as "Faceman," the smooth-talking, womanizing member of the squad. Sharlto Copley is the goofy Murdock character here. And of course, Quinton Jackson plays the character B.A. Baracus, who was famously played by Mr. T in the TV version and sadly doesn't cameo here in the film.My only real gripe with this movie is the same I have with lots of action movies these days: It's way too rapidly edited, to the point that I found it hard to register what the hell's going on during some of the action sequences. I also find a few of the characters a tad annoying, but it wasn't enough to distract from what was a pretty solid action movie.

Best Movies of 2009

I actually think I went to the movies this year more than I have in the last six or seven years. Much like my television picks, I missed out on most of the big budget releases. Almost the entire summer blockbuster season when unnoticed by me, I haven't gotten off my butt to see Avatar (came close though), and as usual I missed out on Pixar's latest inevitable award winner. Overall, people seem to note that 2009 was a pretty lousy year for movies and I can agree with that. The summer blockbuster period was littered with just awful and lazy 80s cartoon adaptions and sequels and the roughly seven or eight movies I actually went out to see ranged from pretty good to just plain boring. I had some difficultly picking five movies that I really like and like the television picks, there is one movie on this list I haven't talked about yet.

Best Movies of 2009

5. Zombieland

Horror is not my genre of choice, but Zombieland succeeded in entertaining me mostly because it focused more on the comedy and relationships between our heroes than on the onslaught of the undead. The surprise celebrity cameo may be one of my favorite sequences of the year and the finale at an amusement park is probably the most purely inventive scene I've seen in a action-related context. Despite my aversion to almost anything horror related, I wouldn't mind seeing the creators continue the story of four strangers looking out for one another.

4. I Can Do Bad All By Myself

Tyler Perry seems to have figured out that if he is going to do a drama/comedy film, the two genre elements must bounce off one another naturally instead of randomly switching off at any given moment. That was the problem with "Madea Goes To Jail", but "I Can Do Bad" fixes this and is all the stronger for it. The movie doesn't do anything groundbreaking, it's just well paced and has solid cast work.

3. Star Trek

I haven't talked about this film mainly because I saw it before I started posting my opinions of things on this site. This movie was my first proper exposure to the Star Trek franchise and though it didn't make me want to rush and watch any of the various series, it was still an enjoyable science fiction outing. The movie managed to do a lot to make both series fans and newbies happy, and I think it succeeded in most areas. Zachary Quinto makes a memorable Spock, even if I still see him as the villain from Heroes and Simon Pegg as Scotty pretty much made the movie for me. The movie is well set up for further cinematic outings and I'll be waiting in line if it comes.

2. Precious

This is the type of drama that Tyler Perry should aspire to create. Precious is a truly emotional and dark movie and it never really gets much lighter, just deciding to end things when there is some small hope present. I said it before but the real strength of the movie is it's cast. Mo'Nique made an unbelievable transformation from a decent no-nonsense comedic actress to a extreme villainous force to be reckoned with and Gabourey Sidibe perfectly captured crushed innocence and lost potential for the title character. This is just a great movie.

1. The Hangover

I love comedy films and The Hangover can stand up with the classics of the genre. It is without a doubt one of the funniest film I've seen in a while. The combination of Helms, Cooper and Gilifanakis is a combo that shouldn't work, but works flawlessly. I said it before and I'll say it again, if you’re looking for a good, fun movie, look no further.

The Hangover (Review)

My friend wanted me to go see this with him. I went even though I didn't really think a movie about four guys waking up in Las Vegas after a bachelor party, not knowing what happened the night before would be that great...I can admit when I'm wrong. The Hangover has to be the funniest film I've seen in a while and it seems to be one of those rare comedies that we're going to be quoting lines to our friends for weeks afterward.

The film plays out like a comedic mystery as three of the four guys have to wonder around piecing together what happened the night before in order to find their friend, Doug, who was absent when they woke up. The best part is that there are real clues to where Doug has vanished and it is possible figure the truth out before the big reveal. Something else that I really like is that when the guys first wake up, their room is destroyed and many odd things are in the room: a tiger, a baby, one of the guys is missing a tooth and another apparently went to hospital. What's cool is where most films would have left that as a just an unrelated joke, The Hangover actually takes time to explain where these things came from and often the truth is just as funny as what could have been implied.

It is the acting talent and the dedication of Helms, Cooper and Gilifanakis that make the movie work. Bradley Cooper has a few laughs in his role of the likeable dickheaded group leader. Ed Helms wears the role of a guy broken down by his bitch girlfriend like a glove. But the comedy crown goes to Zach Gilifanakis as Doug's future brother in law. If you didn’t know who Zach Gilifanakis was before this movie started, you’ll know who he is now. He not only steals the movie, he runs away with it early on and never looks back.

The only problems I had in the movie was that the Asian mobster that appears late in film is very annoying, although he does get some good lines in and I also didn't like that the way guys figure out where Doug is due to a random dialogue exchange rather than from a concrete clue. Other than that I really liked this movie. All I can say is that if you’re looking for a good, fun movie, look no further.