Directed by Phil Alden Robinson
Starring Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, Dan Aykroyd, River Phoenix, David Strathairn, Mary McDonnell, Ben Kingsley, Eddie Jones, Timothy Busfield, Donal Logue, Stephen Tobolowsky, James Earl Jones, Bodhi Elfman

Sneakers (1992) is one of those movies I grew up on. I used to watch this almost once a week but hadn't seen it now for at least a decade and it couldn't have been better after all this time. Don't you find it refreshing when time hasn't ravaged the memories you hold dear..? It sadly isn't always the case but holy shit how I loved this film still!

 Redford plays Martin Bishop, a man who with the aid of his team of mixed experts tests high security facilities by breaking into them. On one fine day the NSA knocks on his door and let's Bishop know that they're onto his illegal activities from his distant past and are willing to wipe the man's record clean if he and his team pull off a job for Uncle Sam. What they're after is a brilliant code breaking device which turns out to be an extremely dangerous item to anyone who hold it in their possession.

 Sneakers is a perfect mixture of masterful tension and humor. Results on said balance that are as brilliant as this have been attempted by many but they've failed almost without exception. Sneakers is that exception. Director Robinson (The Sum Of All Fears) uses his top notch cast to their best abilities and all other departments are firing on all cylinders as well. Especially brilliant is James Horner's (Titanic, Braveheart) at times haunting and on the other very relaxed and humorous score. The one thing some anal-retentive geek might critique is that the techology is badly dated. I actually heard this as a serious argument for trashing another film dealing with computers and hi-tech, called Hackers. That is NOT a valid argument because A) you don't trash Star Wars either for it's effects being old and not on par compared to recent action films and B) it really has fuck all to do with what's essential in the actual core of the film itself. Sneakers is a brilliant feel good film with a dark and very intelligent edge. A rare gem to find these days.

Whistler: I want peace on earth and goodwill toward men.
Abbott: We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing!


Priceless.

KITEYTETTYNÄ SINIVALKOISILLE
Sneakers (1992) on kohta parikymmentä vuotta vanha elokuva, joka ei ole menettänyt yhtään charmiaan eikä tehokkuuttaan. Allekirjoittanut on tuijotellut tätä leffaa ipanana alituiseen ja luojan kiitos, se nerokkuus jonka muistan leffasta ei ollut vain hyvä muisto vaan jotain ainutlaatuista ja loppujen lopuksi filmi, jossa näyttelijät ovat parhaassa terässä, ohjaus on häkellyttävän taitavaa ja James Hornerin nokkela musiikki viimeistelee huolellisesti kelatun komediajännärin (äärimmäisen harvoin ja näin letkeästi toimiva genreyhdistelmä), joka myös nuoremman polven kannattaa katsoa mahdollisista ennakkoluuloista huolimatta. Suokaa anteeksi karkea ranskani, mutta aivan vitun hyvä leffa.

Sneakers at IMDb

Directed by Mike Newell
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina, Toby Kebbell, Richard Coyle, Ronald Pickup, Steve Toussaint

I don't play video games. Never have and can't see a future where I'd really get into it either. That's partly why movies based on them have never really been that exciting for me because I'm not a member of the built-in audience. Partly though, it may also have something to do with the fact that films based on video games have mostly been shit. And gamers can hardly argue against that themselves.

Gyllenhaal plays a prince on the run who's been framed for the murder of his father and all of this is due to a supernatural dagger that can turn back time but destroy the world in the process. He's joined by a princess (Arterton) who is entrusted to protect the dagger and while they can't get along at first (can you see where this is going?), they must ultimately stop the true guilty parties of using the damn thing.

The plot is filed comfortably under Who Gives A Shit because honestly we're here for the action and thrill of adventure. Sadly this is realised only to a modest degree since director Newell (Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, Pushing Tin) doesn't know how to do mind blowing action set pieces which at the end of the day is what these kind of films are all about. Prince Of Persia plays like producer Jerry Bruckheimer tried to start another Pirates Of The Caribbean type franchise but Gyllenhaal - though he gives it his best - is no Johnny Depp. The effects are glorious and the film is visually stunning but since there's a little thing called a soul missing, the film feels mostly a bit hollow. There are some redeeming qualities like Arterton's (Quantum Of Solace, Clash Of The Titans) elegance and beauty and the ladies will probably enjoy Gyllenhaal's rugged looks but best of all is Molina's (Spider-Man 2) hilarious supporting comic relief, a small time hustler obsessed with conspiracy theories, ostrich races (?!) and really really weird anecdotes such as "Did you know ostriches have suicidal tendencies..?"

KITEYTETTYNÄ SINIVALKOISILLE
Prince Of Persia on videopeliin pohjautuva toimintaleffa jossa menoa riittää ja fantasia jyllää. Se on myös hieman tylsä sillä toimintakohtaukset juonesta puhumattakaan ovat tylsiä ja koko leffa tuntuu olleen tuottaja Jerry Bruckheimerin yritys luoda uusi Pirates Of The Caribbeanin tyyppinen elokuvasarja, mutta ensinnäkään Gyllenhaal ei kaikesta ahkerasta pinnistelystään huolimatta ole Johnny Depp, Jack Sparrow'sta puhumattakaan. Kyllä tämän silti kerran katsoo mielellään, sillä visuaalisesti leffa on näyttävä ja sivuosassa hyppivä Molina (Spider-Man 2, Boogie Nights) pitää hauskaa salaliittoteorioista ja strutsikisoista (?!) nauttivana pikkurikollisena.

Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time at IMDb

Directed by James Mangold
Starring Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard, Viola Davis, Jordi Mollà, Paul Dano, Maggie Grace, Dale Dye

I've always appreciated Mangold (Copland, Girl Interrupted, Walk The Line) as a director but I fucking love him now. It is one thing to direct deep, character driven drama but to be able to do films like this as well..? That shows multi-talent and deserves to be applauded. And by the way I don't wanna come off as if directing Walk The Line would be easy compared to this - it's not - but to be able to do both so well, that takes a special kind of guy.

June (Diaz) meets a nice guy at the airport on her way to her sister's wedding and that guy turns out to be Roy Miller (Cruise), an agent on the run and on a mission to protect his friend who has developed an energy source capable of solving the energy crisis. Naturally it is a hot item to multiple interests and June soon finds herself in the middle of an international hunt for the coveted invention.

Knight & Day is the best offbeat action comedy since the terrific Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005). The humor is exactly on the same level as that of Smith and the action is never too serious yet without being campy and constructed the same way as a side dish for character development. In fact, chances are if you loved  Mr. & Mrs. Smith, you'll most likely love Knight & Day but if you thought Smith was badly executed, irritating and too simple, you might wanna approach this with causion because while K&D has much in common with the Mission: Impossible franchise it is never as serious as those films. The action sequences must be mentioned separately because they really are stunning, innovative and fuelled with adrenaline. Bravo, mr. Mangold.. who would've thought?!

KITEYTETTYNÄ SINIVALKOISILLE
Knight & Day osoittautui lopulta olevan juuri niin hyvä kuin olin uskaltanut toivoakin. Vakavaa Medusan Verkko-leffojen kaltaista vibaa etsivät katsojat tulevat pettymään, mutta letkeästä ja aidosti viihdyttävästä toimintakomediasta nauttivat tulevat kaiketi ihastumaan. Knight & Day on hyvin pitkälle saman tyyppinen elokuva kuin loistava Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005). Toisin sanoen toiminta jyllää täysillä ja huumoria ei ole unohdettu ilman että kumpikaan tekijä kumoaisi toista vaan homma on kudottu kasaan miltei täydellisellä harmonialla ja tylsää hetkeä ei ole koko leffan keston aikana. Henkilödraamojen ohjaajana kunnostautunut Mangold (Girl Interrupted, Walk The Line) on tehnyt mallikelpoisen aluevaltauksen toiminnan saralle. Toivottavasti ei jää viimeiseksi yritykseksi.

Knight & Day at IMDb

Directed by Dennis Dugan
Starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob Schneider, Maria Bello, Salma Hayek, Maya Rudolph, Colin Quinn, Steve Buscemi, Tim Meadows, Jamie Chung, Madison Riley

On the outside Grown Ups looks like the comedic equivalent of The Expendables with it's all "star" male cast but reality is sadly very far from the belly laugh inducing no brainer it should've been. And I put the word star in quotes because David Spade and Rob Schneider can hardly be called stars or comedic masterminds and for a good reason too.

The five leading men play childhood friends whose basketball coach has passed away and they all meet up on their old turfs for the funeral and bring their families in order to catch up on good old times.

What makes Grown Ups patricularly disappointing is the horrible fact it's actually a cheesy, sentimental family film advertised as an all out, no holds barred comedic event. The jokes bomb one after another and not because they're too stupid - hell, that's what we hoped we were in for! - but because they are easy and family friendly boring tosh! Come on guys, what the hell happened?! The Expendables was no masterpiece but at least they delivered on what they promised: entertainment in great volume. Grown Ups is mildly silly and irritatingly safe entertainment. What's happened to the likes of The Waterboy, The Wedding Singer or even You Don't Mess With The Zohan? Those films were fucking stupid but they were funny.

KITEYTETTYNÄ SINIVALKOISILLE
Oikeesti Aikuiset on ärsyttävän kiltillä ja turvallisella huumorilla kyhätty tylsä komedia. Itse asiassa leffasta voisi mainoskampanjan perusteella luullakin, että se on vatsanauruja teettävä, hulvaton komedia, mutta se on valitettavasti jotain paljon petollisempaa ja hirvittävämpää: pikkuhauska perhe-elokuva, joka on naamioitu hersyväksi komediaksi. Ja en nyt todellakaan tarkoita, että leffa olisi liian typerä ollakseen hauska vaan nimenomaan päin vastoin! Oikeesti Aikuiset ei ole tarpeeksi ääliö leffa toisin kuin Sandlerin kulta-ajan tuotokset The Wedding Singer, Juomahemmo ja jopa hiljattain ulos pukattu Zohan.

Grown Ups at IMDb

Directed by Steve Pink
Starring John Cusack, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke, Rob Corddry, Lizzy Caplan, Collette Wolfe, Chevy Chase, Crispin Glover, Sebastian Stan, Lyndsy Fonseca

I honestly didn't know what the hell I was in for when I started watching a movie called Hot Tub Time Machine. But you see there's a hot tub and it turns out to be a time machine. Hence the title Hot Tub Time Machine. Simple. And so is the movie by the way but who gives a shit since it's funny. The snobs might want to skip this one when cruising the isle at the local video store but for the rest of us, a new sunday hangover classic might be upon us. Also, it's great to see Chevy Chase back in action after a hell of a long absence.

Cusack, Robinson and Corddry play childhood pals with Duke as Cusack's nephew. The older guys decide to relive some golden memories by checking into a winter resort where they used to party and get down with the babes. They drag Cusack's nephew along and in a weird Chernobly-energy drink accident (?!) the hot tub in their hotel room transports them all back to the jolly heydays of 1986. The guys must now literally relive their awkward moments again and also figure out how to get back to the present.

The time travel consept has definitely been done before albeit minus a fucking hot tub but the script has good jokes and the four leads pull it off nicely with Corddry (Semi-Pro) and Duke (Sex Drive, Kick-Ass) stealing the best one-liners for themselves. Steve Pink might be a relatively new talent as a director but he knows how to pace and construct a joke so the punchline delivers the laughs. He also co-starred with Cusack in the masterful action comedy classic Grosse Pointe Blank back in 1997.

KITEYTETTYNÄ SINIVALKOISILLE
Hot Tub Time Machine - Kasarikankkunen on riemukkaasti ja letkeällä fiiliksellä koottu komedia. Tosikkomaista ja konsepteiltaan realistista komediaa etsivät snobit saattavat joutua suuntaamaan pakoon toiseen päähän vuokrahyllyä, mutta kivaa sunnuntaista krapulakomediaa etsivät katsojat saattavat löytää tästä jopa pienen helmen. Yhdessä vuoden 2010 parhaimmista leffoista, Kick-Assissä ja hulvattomassa, mutta turhan vähälle huomiolle jääneessä Sex Drivessä esiintynyt Clark Duke tulee vielä olemaan iso(mpi) nimi ja olipa muuten kiva nähdä Chevy Chase pitkästä aikaa.

Actor Clark Duke at IMDb

Hot Tub Time Machine at IMDb

Directed by Joonas Neuvonen

Reindeerspotting is a hard hitting Finnish documentary which centres around Jani, a twenty year old drug addict from a northern town of Rovaniemi, Finland. He hates living in a town so remote from anything and spends his time shooting up Subutex and getting high on various pills and other drugs. Getting in trouble with the law is a regular activity as well because wouldn't you know it, he has to take down scores in order to pay his debts and finance the drug habit. Jani dreams of nothing more than to be able to leave Rovaniemi for something bigger.

I'm gonna come off like a heartless asshole I guess, but I just don't have any sympathy for Jani or his friends who are all getting high on various shit. I don't give a shit. Addiction is not a disease, it's a choice. They've made their's and that's it. There is so much information given to teens and children alike about the dangers of drugs and if they still want to get fucked up on them, hey, they're on their own as far as I'm concerned. It's like when some people always go on about Jim Morrison.. "oh isn't it horrible how he got into all that and died so young..?" no, no it isn't, ok?! With all that we know of the dangers of drug abuse, if anyone is still stubborn enough to shoot up, why in hell should I be worried about protecting a guy who's stupid enough to not wanna protect himself by just simply staying away from that stuff? We've all got problems, ok? Drugs are never the answer. Duh! It's like Denis Leary said "Life sucks, get a fucking helmet!"

As a documentary, Reindeerspotting is semi-interesting because on one hand it really does show the day to day life of a drug addict in 2003 very, very gruesomely and in your face. It is quite interesting to see how bad the youth of our nation is feeling at it's worst and how it deals with it by escaping reality with substance abuse. On the other hand it is just the drug abuse that we're shown for a good 83 minutes plus some travelling around Europe. The central character of this documentary film, Jani was found dead recently in Asia as he hung himself and the pictures taken by a local news agency were put up on the internet. This got the film some extra attention. The critics of Reindeerspotting have accused the film for presenting drug abuse in a positive light but after watching the film I cannot imagine where that argument comes from and all I have to say to them is that the fact that they clearly show someone shooting up really doesn't promote the activity itself, you morons.

KITEYTETTYNÄ SINIVALKOISILLE
Reindeerspotting on koruton ja lohduton kurkistus huumeaddiktin surkeaan ja rikosten kierteessä vietettyyn elämään. Tätä dokumenttia on syytetty huumeiden käytön ihannoinnista, mutta filmin katsottuani en tajua miten helvetissä tuo argumentti pitää mitään katetta. Se että näytetään jonkun tykittävän paskaa suoneen ei todellakaan provosoi ketään järkevää ihmistä itseään leikkimään neuloilla. Sitä paitsi ihmiset tulevat käyttämään huumeita jatkossakin ja sitä ei voi estää sensuroimalla dokumenttielokuvaa. Oma myötätuntoni näitä käyttäjiä kohtaan on kovin vähäinen sillä addiktio on AINA valinta, EI tauti. Elokuvana Reindeerspotting on jokseenkin kiinnostava, mutta se näyttää silti lopulta vain pelkkää kaman vetämistä ja vähän Euroopan reissaamista. Kauhisteltu hype on siis todellakin ollut liioiteltua.

Reindeerspotting at IMDb

Directed by Luis Berdejo
Starring Kevin Costner, Ivana Baquero, Gattlin Griffith, Samantha Mathis, Erik Palladino, Noah Taylor, James Gammon

Here in Finland this film was advertised as Costner's comeback which isn't true because he hasn't really been gone now has he? He's done a film per year such as Swing Vote, Mr. Brooks and The Guardian. The New Daughter was released here straight on DVD and after watching it I can see why.

Author John James (Costner) moves to a remote house with his son Sam (Griffith from Changeling) and daughter Louisa (Baquero from Pan's Labyrinth) after going through a painful divorce with his wife who's found new love and decided to abandon her family. Upon moving, Louisa finds a strange mound near the house and soon her behavior starts to shift and odd noises and happenings begin to manifest.

The New Daughter is mediocre horror fare. It manages to create tension within the first two reels but it is ultimately wasted since the final act turns once again into a creature hunt with some slimy mutated pieces of shit hunting down the main characters. This would be totally fine if it was executed in a fresh exciting and truly entertaining way but no, The New Daughter is finished off with clichés in a boring way. Shame. If you wanna see a good film of slimy mutants going to town on a group of unsuspecting lambs for slaughter, see The Descent part 1 and/or 2.

KITEYTETTYNÄ SINIVALKOISILLE
The New daughter on paikallisten mainosten perusteella Costnerin näyttävä comeback, mutta se ei pidä paikkaansa, sillä äijä ei itse asiassa ole missään vaiheessa poistunut kuvioista minnekään ja toiseksi, kyseinen leffa osoittautuu lupaavasti rakennetun alun jälkeen keskinkertaiseksi hirviöhipaksi. Alkupuolen muutama hauska idea ei riitä pelastamaan tätä syystäkin suoraan DVD:llä julkaistua huliviliä. Hyvää hirviöhuvittelua kaipaavalle suosittelisin mielummin esim leffoja The Descent 1 ja 2.

The New Daughter at IMDb

Directed by Phillip Noyce
Starring Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor, August Diehl, Daniel Olbrychski, Andre Braugher, Olek Krupa

For a good while now the centre of these spy thrillers (such as Body Of Lies and From Paris With Love) has been Middle Eastern terrorism and arguibly for a good reason. After all most films are a reflection of the times they are made in. But for Salt we go back to the good old archenemy of the US which is of course Russia.

Evelyn Salt is a CIA operative who is outed as a Russian spy and escapes her collagues in order to find her husband who's now been endangered by the circumstances. Soon Salt finds herself in the middle of a hunt for a rogue Russian militia group who are about to impose a major attack on the US which also involves an assassination of the Russian president who's on an official visit in New York in order to attend the funeral of the US Vice President.

As an action movie Salt is surprisingly perky and it goes straight to the point as it reaches almost Jason Bourne-like pace in it's action set pieces at the very beginning of the picture. Then starts the rug pulling from under the audience's feet and the film sadly loses some it's whit and hard built tension for the favor of shocking plot revelations. Director Noyce (Patriot Games, Clear And Present Danger) is an expert in this genre but sadly this time the script doesn't do him justice which is sad also because Salt was written by one of my favorite filmmakers, Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium). Without Jolie's involvement the film would've most likely stayed very much under the radar.

KITEYTETTYNÄ SINIVALKOISILLE
Salt on oiva toimintatrilleri, joka tavoittaa jo melko alussa loistavien Medusan Verkko-leffojen tiiviin tunnelman ja toiminnan nerokkuuden, mutta se valitettavasti heitetään hieman hukkaan, sillä pian filmi alentuu kovin helppoon ja vaivattomaan shokkipaljastuksilla mässäilyyn. Ohjaaja Noyce osaa vakoilugenren loistavasti, mutta muuten niin taidokkaan Kurt Wimmerin käsikirjoitus ei ole tällä kertaa ihan sillä tasolla jolla sen kuuluisi olla.

Salt at IMDb