Terriers

I'm breaking form and going WAY outside the movies-worth-a-watch realm here. But, there is a new TV series on FX called Terriers. San Diego based private detective show. Shows all sides of San Diego county - refreshing for some - dark and seedy for others.

Donal Logue plays a street smart but socially retarded ex-cop and recovering alcoholic. His business partner is the confusingly bipolar (brilliant-doofus) played by Michael Raymond-James. Other regular characters come and go depending on the week's episode (13 so far), but they are all very very good.

This may be the first TV series I've reviewed here, but not the first I have TiVo'd. Rescue Me and Castle are also both worth the watch in my opinion. I don't have time to watch many, and I consider these worth my time.

Watch this with someone who can see beyond the doofus to the genius behind.

Max Payne

Normally, the transition from the little screen to the big screen is awkward at best. In this case going from video game to feature film was not all that bad. Admittedly I had low expectations and have never played any of the Max Payne games. Those who are avid fans of the game may feel different however.

Mark Walhberg is stoic and brooding in this role, which is appropriate. In fact, until the end, he showed almost now emotion at all. Since I have no clue as to how the game character behaves I cannot make that comparison. But I was pleasantly surprised at how this story was told in bits and pieces and we were not given too much information too fast or too slow.

For example we are not told until just the right time about the dark angels who haunt the movie from the beginning. I liked that.

Beau Bridges plays an old family friend with conflicting interests. Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges (no relation) plays a similar character on the other side of the law. Nicely done. Mila Kunis, yeah the voice of Meg Griffin, plays a vague assassin for the Russian mob in New York and factors in more prominently as the movie goes along. Bond girl Olga Kurylenko has a delicious role early in the picture as the sister of the Kunis character and the catalyst that brings Payne and the assassin together. Chris O'Donnell and Donal Logue play interesting characters with too-short screen time.

Watch this movie with someone who has, AND someone who has not played the game, and see how their opinions differ. Let me know?

Just Like Heaven

If you like quirky romantic comedies, this one puts a cute spin on an old formula. Without being too sappy, this story puts destined souls together is an odd way. If you are big on fate, destiny, or soul mates, you may enjoy this story.

Reese Witherspoon's character pretty much has to die before she meets the man of her dreams. Mark Ruffalo plays the guy and holds his own with big star Witherspoon and a beautiful San Francisco setting. In fact, the setting is part of what brings these two together. The story even has a tidy, satisfying ending for the romantics in the audience.

There are some good laughs and wonderful scenery. There are some fun comic-relief characters as well in the form of Donal Logue (Tao of Steve) and Jon Heder (Napolean Dynamite).

If you like a challenge, watch the hospital scene with a comatose Witherspoon in the bed AND the standing Witherspoon in the same scene. See if you can figure out how they did that scene without special effects, which I assure you, they did not.

Watch this movie with someone from San Francisco who can point out what's real and what's now, if you can find one.

The Tao of Steve

I'm not sure which is more interesting; that Donal Logue (Sneakers, Blade, and Almost Heaven) pulls this movie off, or that this movie was made by a woman. Both are the case, and both ARE what make this movie more worth the watch.

Logue's character is a local loser who somehow quickly attracts, and as quickly loses interest in, women. He has a method. He calls it the Tao of Steve, but his character is named Dex. Steve McQueen is the uber-cool model for his personal laws of attraction. Logue's work here earned him a Special Jury Award in the 2000 Sundance festival.

Director Jenniphr Goodman has only this work on her resume, but it did earn her a Grand Jury Award nomination at the same Sundance festival. How she tells this story of boy-meets-many girls-and-loses-them is fascinating. I found myself actually feeling pity for Dex. I know too many guys like him. This movie has a much better ending that the guys I know.

If you like stories with character transformation, who doesn't, you may like this one. To what will a guy resort to win the heart of a woman he cannot have? That is most likely left unanswered, and this film does not give an exhaustive response.

Watch this movie with someone who will be patient still respect you afterwards.