Leaves of Grass

"Weeds" from HBO meets "Prince and the Pauper" meets "Doc Hollywood."  I could not finish it.  I had seen the true ingredients from which this deal was created and knew where it was going.  The brotherly conflict, the big city dude lured back to the thules by a down to earth 'real' woman, the eccentric mother, Norton's dual role (well acted gig) wasn't enough.  I tucked her back into her red envelope and sent her home.

Jonah Hex

Okay, so I have been gerkin' a bunch of well funded deals and have strayed from the indie's which are like huge oysters: occasionally I get a pearl, but most often, it is like having to slowly knaw through an overly sized phlegm ball.  Jonah Hex was okay.  It did not have enough of something to keep me in there for long periods of time but it was nonetheless something to sorta look forward to.

Where Josh Brolin has come from I don't know, but within the last 3 to 4 years, he has suddenly been in a lot of stuff beginning with "No Country for Old Men."  He carries his weight and does well against John Malkovich who, like Michael Cera, seem to be the same character no matter where they are cast.  Megan Fox, well, what Megan Fox brings to the screen (and what I want and expect and I did not get) is not her acting.  If you catch my drift, go back and see "Transformers" or find the 2009 issue of Maxim.

Entertaining but a 4 nighter for me.  The directing is good, the acting is there, the script is cool,  and the cinematography is just fne.  Nothing to really write home about, but if you are low on selection, this will keep you satisfied.

Inception

Total effects movie.  The acting is good, the writing is good, the cinematography is good, and the directing is good.  The plot is hard to follow but who cares, the effects were/are insane!  It is interesting to see some up and coming actors/actresses...aside from Michael Caine who rocks in everything, starting to get the major parts.

DiCaprio has become a solid performer in just about everything.  He is as solid and dependable as Hanks and his (small roler) costar Caine.  The effects were just totally crazy and it wasn't until a day after I had placed the wee disc in its red envelope and returned it to its home that I was actually able to piece together the plot and get it to make sense for me.

I don't think I would watch it again, but who knows.  Maybe after I get into a wasteland void of new things to see will I possibly watch it again.

Pi

No one I have ever seen or anyone I have ever heard of is in this...aside from Mark Margolis who I can remember only as the landlord in "Ace Venture; Pet Detective."  I was a bit apprehensive as I usually pan the black and white films and ones that I am forewarned have something other than crystal focused filming.  I took a chance on this one and was very surprised and pleased.  It is gritty and it is fast paced and extremely watchable.

In short, there is a guy who stared into the sun when he was 6 becuase he was told not to.  With that deal came a rainman like ability to work with numbers and see patterns.  Also with it came cripling migraines.  Nice.  He feels all can be explained by numbers and math and once the pattern is figured out, it can be used to predict future events...like the stock market values.  Somehow, his ability with numbers is picked up on the radar of an investment firm and they are after his abilities.  He is also pursued by Haisidic Jews who (act all cool and nice and who hide what they know about him and) want his gift to help them to a revelation of sorts.

Funniest part for me was an Asian kid coming up to him (a white guy) with a calculator asking him to solve a math problem in his head and then using the calculator to check the answer.  It is usually the other way around.  Okay, it would not be at the top of a must see list, but it was a good, intriguing film that could offer, if anything, a history lesson on math theorists.

Cinematography, well, not my favorite style, directing was okay and the script was good and engaging.  Acting, yeah, that was good too.

Splice

Couldn't finish it.  Life is good and I can handle watching a train wreck once in awhile, but this one took too long to happen.  Okay, so the 2 lead doctors (Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley) are about to have the direction they want their research to go get shut down in order for the company that funds them to get a quick guaranteed payout from something they have already created but that the 2 doc's find boring.  Okay, so what do we do...?  Oh yeah, we put it all in jeapordy and splice the DNA of roots, animals, and a HUMAN into something that flies out and looks like a chiglett (Chick + Piglett).

As the chiglett grows, it starts to look more like a mutated upright walking plucked chicken.  If this were something that could be bred, the legs on the things would be the rage at KFC for drumstick lovers.  It gets more and more human but still way too strange to be mistaken as one.  It gets carted around in a box once in awhile to hide it from the eyes of nonunderstaning NORMAL MORAL people and all.  After a bit, all I could see going down was the thing having to be killed or it killing someone or whatever and it just got a bit too much to sit there and look at.  Sarah Polley was perfect in the role....I hated her.  Pass on this one.

Lottery Ticket

Good humorous film with a predictable plot, but entertaining all the same.  Script, acting, directing and cinematography were all good.  There seem to be 2 crews of black actors: the one with Samuel L. Jackson, Laurence Fishburne, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Denzel Washington and then the crew that you find here with Ice Cube, Terry Crews, Keith David, Mike Epps, etc.  Both seem to have their line of movies they are cast in and each line is distinctly different.  Crew 2 always seems to be in more of a "Hood" (as in neighborhood) film and is always a departure from the mainstream.

There is nothing to really write home about, but after the last string of movies I have seen, partially seen, and sent back prematurely, this was alright.  I would not make it an primary choice, but if you are out of options. this is all good.