Clerks 2

If you've never seen the original Clerks movie, stop reading right now and go get it. It is a classic low-budget movie that is a must-see. Once you've seen it you can continue reading.

Okay, we can now assume you've seen Clerks.

My family and I went to Don Pablo's last night and somehow I consumed 3 glasses of iced tea giving me enough caffeine to stay awake for several days. So I started watching Clerks II at about 10:30pm. And I finished watching the movie. Boy am I going to be tired today!

The original Clerks is one of the funniest movies of the 90's. And it's in black and white! The conversation about blowing up the Death Star and killing all the contractors is worth the whole movie.

Now, Dante and Randal have left the quick market because of a tragic fire. Now they are both employed at Mooby's, a fast-food restaurant.

Dante (Brian O'Halloran) has a new girfriend (Jennifer Schwalbach Smith, who incidentally is actually Kevin Smith's wife) and a hot boss (Rosario Dawson). Randall (Jeff Anderson) is happy enough in life making food and tormenting customers and employees.

The banter between everyone is hysterical. Like the original Clerks, much of it revolves around Star Wars and there's an intense argument over which is better - The Lord of the Rings trilogy or the Star Wars trilogy. Then there's the pussy troll conversation with Elias, the very religous feminine burger maker with no self-esteem.

The movie involves a little more romantic adversity than I cared to hear or watch and the ending is totally predictable, but the situational comedy is very funny. Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith) make their appearances and Silent Bob actually speaks, though I think this may have ruined the aura of Silent Bob.

I give this movie 3 stars. The comedy was mostly good, but the romantic battle that Dante faces between his fiance' and his boss is a little drawn out. In one sequence I think the entire 1979 song by the Smashing Pumpkins is played while he is driving around town pondering what to do. Come on! The whole song?!!! It should have been about 10-15 seconds worth of pondering.

Beowulf

I'm not quite sure what to say about this movie. It was released on DVD this week and I knew that I had to see it. Today, I am not sure why I had to see it.

Beowulf is like a dark version of Shrek. The movie, like Shrek, is computer animation. I was watching a cartoon! I didn't realize this, though I have to admit that I didn't put much thought into it when I saw the commercials.

Beowulf, as any 12th grader studying British literature can tell you, is said to be the first written story. It dates from the 8th -11th century. Beowulf is the hero who defeats Grendel, the giant monster-like creature that attacks Heorot, in what is probably Denmark. He must then defeat Grendal's mother and later a dragon.

The movie stars Ray Winstone as the cartoon image of Beowulf, Anthony Hopkins as Hrothgar, and Angelina Jolie, who plays the often totally naked, but nipple-less and vagina-less cartoon image of Beowulf's mother. It's actually really creepy.

The movie is very violent, even compared to other cartoons like Ren and Stimpy or Itchy and Scratchy. Lots of people die. And by dying I don't mean stabbed or passing away because of heart disease or slipping in the bathtub and hitting your head. Dozens of people are impalled, one is ripped in half, and another has his head bitten off. Some are flogged against the ground and others used as bowling balls. It bordered on the rediculous.

I am having a difficult time rating this movie. For an animated movie, I guess the animation was good. The movie is based on one of the all-time classic stories in all of literature. However, it was mostly just silly and overdone. I will have to give this movie 2 stars. Too much shiny featureless naked woman, too much nonsensical death, and not enough believability, even for a mythical movie.

Sicko

Always good entertainment, Michael Moore has released his newest documentary/propaganda Sicko onto DVD.

In this (let's just call it a movie), Michael Moore visits several places in America and shows you how bad the medical system is. It is full of anecdotal evidence that our system is broken. For example, a woman was charged for an ambulance ride to the hospital after an accident because the ambulance ride wasn't pre-approved. He's right! The entire system is broken because of this incident!

He does focus on several people that helped with the World Trade Center rescue on 9/11 (or 11/9 if you're not from America). It was sad to see the conditions of some of these people and to learn that the government is not helping them. One victim was not an official rescue team member, just someone who jumped in to help. He now has chronic pulmonary problems and no one will cover his medical expenses. This is a crying shame.

Moore then travels to Cuba with some of the people that are having medical problems and shows us the wonderful medical system they have there. Inhalers only cost 15 cents and most of the medical care is FREE.

Moore then travels to Great Britain and France. In GB he searches a hospital for the cashier's office and constantly asks people how much they expect to pay for their medical service. The answer is always that it is FREE.

In France he dines with some people and they discuss maternity leave and how it is 6 months by law and you can take 12 months if you want to without pay. The government also provides discounted daycare and a nanny will come to your house for FREE. The nanny will also do your laundry and cook your food - for FREE.

Now, anyone that is a free thinker and took any type of economics class knows that nothing is FREE. These people are paying for their services through taxes. Michael Moore fails to mention this - even once. My opinion is that if people are happy paying higher taxes for these services, then that is their right. But Moore, being disingenuous as always, mentions none of this.

Is Michael Moore advocating socialized medicine in the United States? He sure is! He attacks the Bush administration, the Nixon administration, and the Reagan administration and their deals with the devils - pharmaceutical and health insurance companies. In fairness, he does mention that Hillary tried to socialize medicine during her husband's administration, but big $$$ made her shut up.

I do enjoy watching Michael Moore movies. I like to see what the liberal left is thinking. His movies are entertaining, even if the truth is highly distorted. I give this movie 4 stars. It does have some valid points and the movie kept my attention the entire time. I wouldn't spend money to buy this movie, otherwise you're supporting him. Instead I recommend getting this movie from your local free library!

Blind Dating

I originally saw the previews for this movie in the theater, which is a shock because I've only seen a small handful of movies in the theater in the past few years - Alvin and the Chipmunks, Shrek III, I Am Legend, and The Kingdom. Blind Dating is a movie that appeared to be really funny in the previews, but this shows that the people that create the previews can be pretty good at their job.

The concept of the movie is that a boy is blind (Chris Pine) and he wants to find love. His brother, Eddie Kaye Thomas, better known as Finch from The American Pie series of movies, decides to help him hook up. You can queue up the comedy of a line of girls going out with him and the humerous challenges that he must overcome until he finally meets the right girl.

In typical romance comedy fashion, the right girl initially turns out to be that chick with a 'tude that you don't like. But somehow her "soft" side suddenly jumps out when she wears some sexy outfit. The girl, Anjali Jay, is an Indian (from India, not Wyoming) and she's scheduled to be married in one of those prearranged things.

As you can predict, they fall in love, they have a fallout, then they overcome their challenges, then they come back together and everything is fine and they live happily ever after. Chicks dig this crap.

The movie lacked the humor that was portended in the movie trailer. Chris Pine's character is week, Finch is a bit of a jerk, but he's there for his brother. Anjali Jay does a nice job and I look forward to seeing her play in more movies.

Given everything, I had to give this movie 3 stars. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great. It is very predictable, but if you're in the mood to watch a movie with your lady (or your man) and you don't want to be burdened with keeping up with the plot, then this movie is for you.

Rendition

Another movie compliments of Netflix (and without delays in shipping or recognizing that they received my last movie at a reasonable time!), Rendition is about a man that was basically kidnapped by the United States government because they suspected that he was a terrorist. His wife, Reese Witherspoon, sets out to find out where he is and climbs the political ladder to get answers.

The movie is intense and has some disturbing scenes of torture, but I guess that's why my mother always told me not to be a terrorist, because torture is no fun. Jake Gyllenhaal, the Viking-sounding actor from Los Angeles, is the government operative that is helping to conduct the "examination and questioning" sessions. Also in the movie, Meryl Streep plays a high level government official who's a total bitch (if you can believe that) and Alan Arkin is the jerk-head politician (again - a jerk-head politician, who knew?)

A subplot of the movie is a bomb that detonates in an Egyptian market square at the beginning of the movie. The local police chief (Yigal Naor, one of several people from Munich to star in this movie), is investigating this bombing, in addition to trying to find his daughter. There is a great plot twist that if I say too much I will give it away. I totally fell into it and didn't see it coming.

The only thing that disappointed me was the ending. It was all too easy. Things don't really happen this way, especially in real life, but as we know, Hollywood and real life are two totally mutually exclusive things.

The movie did not receive high reviews, though I give it 4 stars. If it hadn't been for the pooper ending, I would have given it 5 stars. Reese's character wasn't all that strong, though it did not need to be. If you are going to watch this movie because she's in it, you may be disappointed. However, the good plot and action should keep you in this movie.

A View To A Kill

The next James Bond movie in my repertoire, A View To A Kill is probably the one I remember the most. This movie was released in 1985, when I was 13 years old. This is when I really started to appreciated James Bond movies. Heck, it may have been the first James Bond movie I ever saw.

This Roger Moore-based Bond flick also stars Christopher Walken, who, believe it or not is going to be 65 years old this year, as the crazy (if you can believe that) Max Zoran, Tanya Roberts (of Charlie's Angels fill-in and recently on That 70's Show), and Grace Jones (Conan the Destroyer). This is also probably the first movie that I saw a black woman kiss a white guy - not that there's anything wrong with that.

This bond film is short on corny Bond-isms, but high on nice looking ladies scenes. The action is solid throughout the film, though I did think that Bond's multiple escapes from certain death a little over the top.

Christopher Walken is classic cocky, confident, and arrogant, which makes for a perfect villain. He's the result of a German genetic experiment who has used his genetic genius to his advantage. Bond is out to bring him to justice.

Like all Bond films, the bad guy loses and the good guy wins and the movie ends with Bond in the sack with the pretty lady - which is not a bad thing. I give this movie 3 stars. I still like the classic Sean Connery Bond films more, not Moore. However, I do have good memories of watching this film with my good friend Brian. As you probably can tell, sentimental value helps to increase the rating of my movies.

Radio

Based on a true story, Radio is about a mentally disabled man who was nicknamed Radio because he, get this, always walks around with a radio. Gooding plays James Robert Kennedy, a black man living in the South during the early 1970's.

Convincingly played by Cuba Gooding Jr., Radio is the butt of a practical joke by the high school football team in Anderson, South Carolina (where several of my friends from college lived). The football coach, played by Ed Harris, decides to teach a lesson to the team and show some goodwill toward the man, to make Radio a sort of mascot. Also starring in the movie is Debra Winger.

At first, everyone wonders what the hell Coach Jones is doing, including the Principal and everyone at the barber shop. You'll have to see the movie to see what I mean about that one.

The movie deals with the adversity that the coach must overcome in dealing with a hostile townfolk. Radio is filled with light comedy and is sometimes sad.

A the end of the movie, you get to see the actual Mr. Kennedy, as he is still a fixture at that high school.

Radio is a great movie that my wife and I both enjoyed watching. You will be cheering for Radio at the end. I give Radio 4 stars. This is a good movie to watch with your lady that doesn't include castles, horses, English accents, or some horrible disease that ends up killing someone.

Moonraker

Produced in 1979, Moonraker is easily the worst James Bond movie ever made, though adjusted for inflation, it produced more revenue than the subsequent Bond movies up until Daniel Craig's Casino Royale.

This Roger Moore-based Bond movie has him tracking down Hugo Drax, the evil scientist, leader of Drax Industries, who has designed and developed several space shuttles. The one delivered to the United States is mysteriously hijacked and Bond must find it. Drax's idea is to take a super race of humans to outer space, destroy the Earth, then repopulate the Earth with his new super race.

Along the way, Bond meets metal-mouthed Jaws (Richard Kiel) and Dr. Holly Goodhead, which we assumes she does.

In his quest to stop Drax, he must hi-jack his own space shuttle into outer space to stop them from blowing up the Earth.

Of course, Bond succeeds, but only with the quick thinking of NASA which sends up their own shuttles with armed space soldiers who fight a galactic laser battle with the Drax soldiers. The whole movie loses all credibility at this point.

On succeeding, he begins his flight back to the Earth, but not before shacking up with the beautiful Dr. Goodhead. Much to his surprise, Q has decided to remote into the vehicle and simulcast to Buckingham Palace and the White House congratulate him, only to catch him in the midst of re-entry.

I give this movie 2 stars. Of the Bond movies, I liked this one the least. It just bordered ridiculous, rather then inspiring. The best part of this movie was the silhouettes of the naked women at the beginning.

The Cat From Outer Space

I found this movie on the shelf in the children's DVD section at the library. I immediately had sentimental yearnings to see this movie. This was, in fact, the first movie that I ever saw as a kid. My grandparents (Nana and Pop-Pop) took me to the drive-in movie theater to see this movie.

The Cat From Outer Space was released by Disney in 1978. It stars Ken Berry (Mama's Family), Sandy Duncan (Peter Pan on Broadway and Valerie Hogan on The Hogan Family), Harry Morgan and McLean Stevenson (M*A*S*H*).

In typical 1970's Disney style - this movie really sucks. The special effects are really special. The movie stars a cat (Morris?) that makes an emergency landing on Earth. The cat can talk to people and has a special collar that has super powers. He can make people freeze (as he did to Harry Morgan who re-awoke in his underwear, the comedic highlight of the movie).

Ken Berry must convince everyone that he is not crazy and help Jake (the cat) get the needed gold to fix his spaceship. Of course, Berry and the cat are able to save the day after a harrowing helicopter and airplane chase that left my kids and me on the edge of our seat.

Overall, I give this movie 2 stars. Netflix predicted that I would give it 4. Their Disney movie ratings predictor must be on crack. This movie would have been worse had it not been for the fact of its great sentimental value. If this wasn't the first movie you ever saw at the drive-in, I would not be clamoring to knock the kids over at the children's DVD section at the library. Get that disc 4 of the Gilmour Girls instead. You'll thank me.

The Hoax

The Hoax is a movie based a true story about Clifford Irving, a struggling writer who decides to write a biography on Howard Hughes, the eccentric and mentally ill billionaire.

Irving is played by Richard Gere, a practicing Buddhist that kissed Indian actress Shilpa Shetty at an AIDS Awareness rally for Indian truck drivers, a violation of the conservative Indian culture, which resulted in the warrant for arrest of both Gere and Shetty. Unfortunately, Gere was never arrested and has since acted in several movies.

The movie also stars Hope Davis (whose first movie was Flatliners), and Alfred Molina, though it was strange not seeing him without a spinal implant and 8 long metal legs supporting him.

Gere and Molina are working together to hype up the book and garner a book deal from a large book company. Their scheme gets complicated and they must work hard to keep up 'the hoax'. What perhaps is Howard Hughes last contact with the public, he does a phone interview with 7 reports to refute Irving's claim to have met him and write his biography.

Overall, I have this movie 3 stars. It was very average. Gere plays the same character that he plays in every movie, so nothing award-winning there, but it was interesting not seeing him with grey hair or a gerbil.

Molina, however, does a good job of playing a snivelling incompetant. The interactions with Howard Hughes are interesting from a historical perspective. But again, the movie is overly average.

Pretty In Pink

Everybody's seen this movie, right? Up until Saturday - everybody except me. Pretty in Pink is one of the so-called Molly trilogy (Pretty in Pink, Breakfast Club, and Sixteen Candles). One of my co-workers freely calls this one of the best movies ever made, though the least liked of the Molly-trio.

Produced in 1986 by 80's-teen movie producer John Hughes, the movie stars Molly Ringwald and Andrew McCarthy, though Jon Cryer likes to claim credit as a star. (Isn't he that gay guy from Two and a Half Men? Not that there's anything wrong with that!)

Cryer plays Duckie, the loser-like guy that does his own thing and is crazy for Andie (Ringwald). Andie, is the loser-like girl that does her own thing that doesn't really care for Duckie in that way. Blane (McCarthy) plays the rich kid that likes Andie, but is being pulled from her by his rich and stuck-up friends.

This is truly an epic socio-economic class struggle. A classical drama that has been told many times, but never this pink.

If you like 80's music, this movie is for you. It really helps that this movie was made in the 1980's, therefore it contains a lot of 80's music. I loved the clothes. (Did we really dress like that???)

Overall, I gave this movie 3 stars. It wasn't the best of the 80's movies. It cannot compare to the Breakfast Club, St. Elmo's Fire, or Super Fuzz. However, if you were not in the clique in high school, you can totally relate to this movie. If you were in the clique - don't watch this movie because you suck.

Everything's Cool

Everything's Cool is the liberal documentary about how stupid America is when it comes to understanding global warming. The movie was directed by Daniel B. Gold and Judith Helfand, though no one has ever heard of them.

The film has input from many global warming experts such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Al Gore, and Bill Maher. It spotlights several ex-hippie VW bug drivers who know what is happening to our planet and in between basket weaving and pot smoking, they get out to spread the message of our impending doom.

One of these characters goes as far as to say, "We need to convince everyone that there is a consensus on global warming." Say what? Isn't that oxymoronic? Or is it just ordinarily moronic? (Sorry, Marc!) If you have to convince people that there is a consensus, then there is NO CONSENSUS!!!

I have decided that this is no longer to be considered a documentary. It is propaganda. I'm not saying that global warming is not happening. However, when the "facts" are so one-sided, it is no longer an observation, it is propaganda. This movie makes An Inconvenient Truth seem like Britannica wrote it.

This movie is nearly unwatchable. If it were not for the consensus comment, I would have given this movie 1 star. As such, I give it 2. I forget how far into the movie you would need to fast-forward it, so be your own judge.

The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford

Easily the longest title of any movie that I've watched, The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford is a new release, which stars Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck, brother of liberal activist and sometimes actor Ben Affleck (pronounced Aflac, like the duck).

The movie is based on the story of Jesse James and most of the facts are true, at least as true as the legend has been passed over history. I made the mistake of looking up Jesse James and Robert Ford on Wikipedia while I was watching the movie and spoiled the ending for myself.

The movie kept me interested and always on edge, but not because of its constant action and dialog. It seemed like someone was always about to get shot. Sometimes it was true, sometimes it was not. (hey that rhymed, Dr. Seuss!)

The problem with the movie is that it was 2 hours and 39 minutes long. I watched an hour of it after dinner when the kids went to gymnastics, then I continued watching the rest of the movie at 10pm, which means I didn't finish watching it until 20 minutes to midnight.

Brad Pitt was Brad Pitt in the movie, so no one should expect an Oscar out of his performance. Casey Affleck, however, played a convincing coward who wasn't too bright. Now I don't know if that's because he is a coward who's not too bright or if he is actually that good of an actor.

Overall I gave this movie 3 stars. They could have trimmed 45 minutes from the movie, such as the 3 minute scene of a guy approaching on a horse. The dialog in places could have kept a better tempo. Most people I know don't talk that slow. However, I am a sucker for historical movies, so it wasn't a total waste on me.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Are sequels ever as good as the prequels? Sometimes. Elizabeth: The Golden Age is one of those cases where the prequel was better than the sequel. This movie is the sequel to Elizabeth, which was made in 1998.

An older and more sophisticated Cate Blanchett, this Australian does a fine job portraying the British Queen, as she also did playing a mystical royal Elf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

In The Golden Age, Elizabeth must deal with finding a suitor (does she have a crush on Sir Walter Raleigh?), in addition to living in terror of assassination from her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, who claims to be the legitimate heir to the thrown. And let's not forget the invasion of the Spanish Armada who sought to destroy England because of their dealings with the devil by becoming Protestant rather than Catholic.

Elizabeth overcomes several of her adversities, though not all of them, but does rule England for over 45 years. One of the best lines from the movie comes from when Sir Walter Raleigh, played by Clive Owen, claims that he has acquired land in America and named it Virginia in honor of the Virgin Queen. She responds with, "When I marry, will you rename it Conjugia?" I'm still laughing at that.

The movie is stricken with some slower dialog and more silent acting overlayed with music than the first movie. The battle with the Spanish Armada, I thought, should have been more climactic, as it destroyed the world's largest super power and ascended England to it's nearly 400 year reign as the new world superpower.

Overall, I give this movie 3 stars. I wanted to like it more, but it just didn't reach the benchmark set by the first Elizabeth. However, it is still a fine depiction of one of England's finest and most regarded rulers. Do you think Hillary could ever live up to this great female ruler?

This Film is Not Yet Rated

Another documentary. I am on a roll. This Film is Not Yet Rated is directed by Kirby Dick.

In this documentary, he tries to uncover the method and the people behind the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), though I think it would better if they renamed it the American Motion Picture Association of America.

Everyone knows that the MPAA rates movies either G, PG, PG-13, R, or NC-17. And you probably know that you never see NC-17 movies. The only one that I recall seeing in the theater was Showgirls. Apparently, getting rated is purely voluntary - unless you actually want you movie distributed to theaters and produced on DVD.

The documentary exposes the people behind the scenes and how inconsistent the process is. The ratings board has absolute and unfettered power over the movie industry. They are a corrupt group and ironically get praise as "helping parents decide what to allow their children to see".

What they point out and what you will probably agree is that the ratings of American movies are entirely backwards. How can graphic violence be rated PG or PG-13, yet a glimpse of a woman's butt or her breasts cause the movie to be rated R?

Think about this - you are in downtown Washington, D.C. with your children. Would you rather they see a violent shootout that results in 100 people being killed with enormous bloodshed - or a woman's breast? And don't even get them started about showing a penis - the scourge of all images.

What I get out of this documentary is that there needs to be another independent ratings board - one that is not controlled a bunch of California granola living in Hollywood. How in the world can you say that a group of people in California represent the average person in America. Other than being majority Hispanic, Californians have always been the joke of goofiness in America.

Like the Enron documentary, this movie will leave you a bit irked and irritated. John Waters offers insightful and hysterical commentary in addition to other directors and actors/actresses.

I really liked this documentary. I give it 5 stars. If you don't like watching documentaries, then watch this movie for the comedic experience. You will not regret it.

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

To me documentaries can be as good or better than movies. This is one of those cases. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room is about the collapse of the poster child for corporate greed - Enron! It is based on the book by the same name by Peter Elkin.

Most people have a general understanding of Enron and that they went bankrupt. However, I would be surprised if most people knew the whole story behind the scenes.

This movie was very informative. The story is told by former Enron employees, traders, investigators, and financial and utility experts. What they tell you will make you mad. They did more than go bankrupt and cause thousands of employees to lose their jobs and pensions. Enron actually F-d with the public, with regulators, and with politicians.

There's not much to comment on except that you need to see this movie. It is a documentary, so I can't give you a sampling of the plot.

I give this movie 5 stars. Don't waste time going to see the latest Oscar winner or watching American Idol (because it sucks anyway). Go out and get this documentary. You won't regret it!

Mrs. Miniver

Another movie set during World War II, Mrs. Miniver is also set in London just before England declared war on Germany.

Mrs. Miniver, played by Greer Garson, begins the movie as self-centered and materialistic, quite an unlikable character. She is married with several children, but states that she gets what she likes and she likes nice things. In her eyes, nothing matters but herself.

Upon the outbreak of the war, her oldest son joins the Royal Air Force and is sent to defend London during the German bombing raids. In the meantime, her husband is called to duty to help the country in the Dunkirk evacuation. Left alone for several days, she struggles with events that make her reevaluate what is important. She becomes strong and protects her family and becomes a more powerful woman.

The movie was acclaimed and won the Oscar for Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress, among the six that it won in 1942. In addition to Garson, the movie stars Walter Pidgeon (How Green Was My Valley), and Reginald Owen (Ebeneezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol).

Overall, this movie did not keep my interest as much as other black and white classics. The spirit of the movie, however, was strong. The German pilot - was not. I give this movie 3 stars. It was decent, but there are many more black and white movies that are more worth watching.

National Treasure

I watched National Treasure last night knowing that I should probably watch the first movie before I watch the sequel which is in theaters now. Unlike Jackass 2, this 2004 prequel is probably important in this case.

The movie stars Nicholas Cage, a prominent actor of our time, my favorite Cage movies were when he was young - Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Racing With the Moon, Peggy Sue Got Married, and Raising Arizona. John Voight, Diane Kruger (very attractive), Justin Bartha, Sean Bean, and Harvey Keitel are also in the movie as supporting cast.

In this movie, Cage plays Benjamin Franklin Gates, the son in the lineage of people who know about the Free Masons and their secret treasure that had been collected over history. There are clues that his family has that can help him find this treasure, but there are also bad people that are trying to beat him to it. He learns that the Declaration of Independence contains a secret map and must now prevent his arch-nemesis from stealing the map.

Cage conveniently figures out clues on the fly and somehow is able to get into places of prestige or with high levels of security unmolested. He makes a several day trip from D.C. to Pennsylvania to New York without ever sleeping or eating and though he didn't pack a suitcase, has a change of clothes. However, I wasn't too bothered with this minutia. The movie is rated PG afterall.

However, that does bring up one thing that did stump me - why the PG rating? Did they want this movie to appeal to kids? I cannot see that. The movie is a bit more cerebral that what a child could comprehend. Not only would my 8 year old daughter not understand the movie, I seriously doubt that she would be interested. She doesn't know about the Free Masons and their secret society that rules the world, nor would she care!

Overall, I gave this movie 3 stars. It was interesting enough to keep my attention, though I probably wouldn't go out of my way to watch it again. I expect the sequel to be similar, if not slightly less realistic.