Collateral

Collateral (2004)
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, and Mark Ruffalo
Directed by: Michael Mann
Nominated for Academy Award: Jamie Foxx - Best Supporting Actor
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Grade: B

This was a good movie overall. The only thing I didn't like was seeing Tom Cruise as a bad guy. (Hello, Maverick? He can't be a bad guy!) This movie is about LA cab driver Max Durocher (Foxx), who is dedicated to his job. So dedicated, that he keeps his cab in perfect shape. After giving a ride to a pretty US Attorney (Jada Pinkett Smith), he picks up a mysterious man named Vincent (Cruise), who tells him he'll pay him hundreds of dollars to drive him around to different meetings through the night. At their first stop, a body falls onto the cab, understandably freaking Max out. Things go from bad to worse when he realizes that Vincent killed him and his "meetings" are other killings he's been hired to complete. While the two speed through the streets of LA, with Vincent trying to complete his job and Max trying to stay alive, a tough detective named Fanning (Ruffalo) is on their trail. The FBI thinks that Max is in on it but Fanning isn't so sure. Fanning has to try to find Max before either the FBI or Vincent kills him in order to prove his innocence. Great performance from Tom Cruise, as usual. Jamie Foxx is also great. Mark Ruffalo is almost unrecognizable in this role; I only recognized him because of his voice. Great cast, and good movie.

Inglourious Basterds

Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Starring: Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, and Christoph Waltz
Directed and Written by: Quentin Tarantino
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Grade: A

I love World War II movies. While this one wasn't a normal World War Ii movie (by any means), it was still good. Tarantino definitely isn't focused on being historically accurate. He is, however, focused on making a good movie. And he does that here. I didn't like it as much as Reservoir Dogs, this one was good, too. The movie starts out in Nazi occupied France, where young Jewish refugee Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent) witnesses the slaughter of her family by Colonel Hans Landa (Waltz). Narrowly escaping with her life, she plots her revenge several years later when German war hero Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Bruhl) takes a rapid interest in her and arranges an illustrious movie premiere at the theater she now runs. With the promise of every major Nazi officer in attendance, the event catches the attention of the "Basterds", a group of Jewish-American guerilla soldiers led by the ruthless Lt. Aldo Raine (Pitt). As the relentless executioners advance and the conspiring young girl's plans are set in motion, their paths will cross for a fateful evening that will shake the very annals of history. Also stars Michael Fassbender as a German speaking British officer sent in to help a double agent (Kruger).

Zodiac

Zodiac (2007)
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., and Mark Ruffalo
Directed by: David Fincher
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Grade: A+

I love movies about crimes...I don't know why...I'm not that violent... Anyway, this is one of the best I've seen, sticking very close to the real-life story. Paul Avery (Downey Jr.) is a star reporter with the San Francisco Chronicle. Also working in the office is Robert Graysmith (Gyllenhaal), a political cartoonist with a love of puzzles and no respect. A letter arrives at the Chronicle telling of two murders committed. In the letter, the person that wrote it took responsibility for both and sent a cypher to be published in the next edition. The paper doesn't take him seriously, which leads to more killings and more letters, from a man now calling himself "the Zodiac". At first kept out of the loop, when Graysmith solves one of the killer's cyphers and makes several guesses about the killer's next move, Avery starts sharing information with him. As they form a partnership, detectives Dave Toschi (Ruffalo) and Bill Armstrong (Anthony Edwards) start investigating the case when the killer crosses into their county. As many obstacles enter the picture and many years pass, it becomes clear to most of the people involved that the Zodiac will never be caught. While he is fading in the public interest, Graysmith is only becoming more obsessed. As his obsession grows and he gets closer to the truth, the more he is putting himself and his family in harm's way.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, and Simon Pegg
Directed by: Brad Bird
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Grade: A++

I have always loved the Mission: Impossible movies. The first movie is strictly an espionage movie, the second is just bad, and the third is more of an action movie. This one is much more like the third. Although I always like Tom Cruise and Ethan Hunt, the addition of Jeremy Renner as Brandt makes the movie even more exciting. The movie starts with Benji (Pegg) breaking Ethan Hunt (Cruise) out of jail in Russia. The other member of the team, Jane (Paula Patton), informs Hunt that she and Benji's original partner, Hanaway (Josh Holloway), was killed during a seemingly routine op by an assassin. This same assassin plans to sell the documents that she stole to an unstable terrorist. Hunt's team is given the mission (should they choose to accept it) to invade the Kremlin and find the file on this terrorist. But, during their escape, the Kremlin is blown up, which is blamed on not only Hunt but the entire IMF. The secretary of defense picks up Hunt and tells him that the president has initiated Ghost Protocol and the IMF has been disavowed. After their car is hit, Hunt narrowly escapes with the secretary's chief analyst, Brandt (Renner). As they try to get to the assassin before she sells the documents, it becomes clear that there is more to Brandt than meets the eye. Overall, great movie, my favorite M:I so far. I'm excited to see what will happen with Brandt if they make more movies.

The Mechanic

The Mechanic (2011)
Starring: Jason Statham, Ben Foster, and Donald Sutherland
Directed by: Simon West
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Grade: B

I would watch any movie with Jason Statham in it. So I was really excited for this movie. I didn't feel like it was worth the wait. While Statham was good, as usual, the story seemed kind of rushed and not really written well. Overall, a good story but not executed in the best way. Arthur Bishop (Statham) is a "mechanic", with the problems he fixes being people. After his boss, Dean (Tony Goldwyn), tells him that his mentor and best friend, Harry McKenna (Sutherland), is betraying the government and selling secrets. They tell him that he can either kill him or they will hire outside their agency. Using his connection with McKenna, Arthur reluctantly does the job. After the funeral, he is approached by McKenna's estranged son, Steve (Foster). When Arthur finds out that McKenna was framed, Arthur takes it upon himself to find and kill those responsible. After training Steve, Arthur, along with Steve, sets out to hunt down Dean and the rest of the people who ordered the hit on McKenna. Like I said, good story but, after the movie and the ending, it leaves the viewer hanging.

Water for Elephants

Water for Elephants (2011)
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, and Christoph Waltz
Directed by: Francis Lawrence
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Grade: A+

The only reason I watched this movie was, of course, because of Robert Pattinson. He's hot, he's Edward...what's not to love? In this movie, he plays Jacob Jankoski, a man who's parents recently died in a car accident. He jumps on board a train, not knowing that this train is carrying a traveling circus called the Benzini Brothers. After being hired as a vet, he gets to know August (Waltz), the owner and leader of the circus and his wife Marlena (Witherspoon). August has an awful temper, which Jacob experiences first hand, especially after he and Marlena grow closer. After August finds an elephant to add to the show, Jacob is in even more demand, having to take care of the elephant. As the circus falls apart around him, Jacob watches as August starts to lose control and tries to keep Marlena out of harm's way.

Tower Heist

Tower Heist (2011)
Starring: Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, and Casey Affleck
Directed by: Brett Ratner
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Grade: A

This movie was quite funny. It could have done without a lot of the raunchy humor, it was still good. Josh Kovacks (Stiller) is the manager of the Tower, an upscale apartment building where an apartment costs millions of dollars a month. Josh is great at his job, making sure all of the tenants are happy and all of his workers are doing their jobs. What he doesn't know is that the Tower's richest tenant, Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda), an investment banker, has been arrested for fraud. At first, Josh thinks this must be a mistake. He soon finds out, however, that, when Shaw said he was going to invest all of the worker's paychecks, he really just stole all of the money. After Josh is fired, he decides that he needs to get the money back. Josh, along with a former tenant named Mr. Fitzhugh (Matthew Broderick), the Tower's former concierge Charlie (Affleck), a new worker to the Tower named Enrique Dev’Reaux (Michael Pena), a maid named Odessa (Gabourey Sidibe), and a petty thief from Josh's past, Slide (Murphy). As the team plans the difficult heist, they also have to make sure that suspicious FBI agent Claire Denham (Tea Leoni) doesn't catch them in the act.