Defendor

Not a well-publicized movie, but an interesting movie, nonetheless.

Defendor stars Woody Harrelson as Arthur Poppington, a man of lower intelligence under the grasp of demons from his childhood. Now a man, Arthur decides to go after the people that are bad - the kinds of people that hurt his mother and made his life scary.

Poppington dresses up in a superhero disguise, calls himself Defendor, but has no special powers. But he does have a lot of nifty ideas. Marbles anyone?

The story is told from memory as Poppington is talking to a psychiatrist (Sandra Oh). When Defendor seeks to destroy the Empire of Industry he comes across a prostitute (Kat Dennings) whom he suspects is being harmed, so he saves her. And she subsequently becomes the love interest.

However, in his quest to rid the town of the bad guys, he accidentally comes across a crooked cop and some actual bad guys. Not having real powers, Defedor finds himself in a tough situation, more than good friend Paul (Michael Kelly) has the ability to help him. Defendor now needs to find a way to win and he's not going to let anything stop him.

Defendor is rated R for violence, language, and some sexual situations. Directed by Peter Stebbings, the movie is an hour and 40 minutes long.

I give Defendor 3 stars. It was a combination of an action movie, a drama, and a comedy. There were parts of the movie that were very sad. Other parts were just plain old silly. As the poster correctly shows - "Darkly Funny". That is a very accurate description of Defendor. Not a bad movie.

Zombieland

I watched this movie a week ago courtesy of Netflix. Actually, I paid for it, so it's not really a courtesy, is it?

Zombieland is a mild-humored horror about zombies. Some time in the future, a disease breaks out and Metallica plays great music and many people become zombies. Now living on his own in fear of zombies, Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) narrates the movie and gives us tips for living with zombies. Tips such as 'don't forget the double-pump'.

Suspicious of everyone, Columbus (who uses this name because that's where he's from) runs into Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson). Tallahassee has a fetish for Twinkees and a no-nonsense way of dealing with zombies - and this means fire power.

On their journey they run into 2 girls, Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) and Wichita (Emma Stone) who initially pretend to be sisters, but con the guys and steal their truck. After conning each other a couple of times, they eventually conclude that they need to work together and head to an amusement park where it is rumored there are no zombies.

Zombieland is gory-funny. It's not scary at all. Directed by Ruben Fleischer, Zombieland is 88 minutes long, which I thought was too short, and is Rated R for continuous violence, gore, and language.

I got a good laugh out of this movie. And with a cameo from Bill Murray, this movie my kind of horror movie. Nothing made me jump. And that's good. Additionally, there is awesome music throughout. And Emma Stone is pretty hot. For these reasons, I give Zombieland 4 stars.

Management

Sometimes a movie has one scene that is totally worth seeing, even if the rest of the movie sucks. Management is one of those movies. In fact, I would not blink an eye if the director told me that the movie was originally written around that one single scene. Imagine, write a storyline for a single funny scene, then build a movie around it. It has to happen, right?

Management stars Jennifer Aniston and Steven Zahn, 2 actors that can be hit or miss. You may know Steven Zahn from such monster box office hits as Sunshine Cleaning (which actually wasn't that bad), Strange Wilderness (which was dreadfully horrible), Rescue Dawn, and Daddy Daycare. And everyone knows who Jennifer is.

The premise of the movie is that Aniston is a traveling saleswoman who sells corporate art. Zahn is the night manager for his parents' motel. The owner is Fred Ward. Anyway, Zahn immediately falls in love with Aniston and on his shift struggles to think of a reason to visit her room. He then finds a way. With some persistence, he eventually scores, but Aniston then finds out that he won't leave her alone, and follows her across the country (interestingly all the way to Baltimore and Columbia, Maryland).

After that previously mentioned scene, the movie is unbelievably predictable and uneventful. Think of it - what other movie has the underdog dude go after the attractive sophisticated woman and not get her? It's the fibre of a successful romantic comedy. Without it, it's not funny....or romantic.

Management was directed by Stephen Belber, basically an unknown. The movie is an hour an a half long and is rated R for language and sexual situations. The movie also stars Woody Harrelson as Anistons on-again off-again mentally deranged boyfriend, a role that he has perfected. Harrelson has been a busy woody, staring in nearly a dozen movies in the past 2 years.

If it weren't for that one scene, this movie would have been a dud. However, because that scene made me laugh so hard, it deserves the big 3 stars.

Semi-Pro

My latest movie from Netflix, Semi-Pro is the story of The Flint Tropics, the fictional basketball team from the old ABA (American Basketball Association).


The movie is set in 1976, the year that the ABA folded. That year, the NBA allowed the ABA to merge 4 teams into their league. These 4 teams included the Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs, New York Nets (which became the New Jersey Nets), and the Denver Nuggets. Not making the cut were the Kentucky Colonels, Spirits of St. Louis, Virginia Squires, San Diego Sails, and the Utah Stars.


Like any good sports movie set in the 1970's, there are short-shorts, knee-high striped socks, and big hair, Will Farrell included. And who can live without sexy groovy 70's disco music and fur coats?


This fictional comedic version of the story stars Will Farrell, who plays Ron Burgundy, who plays Chazz Reinhold, who plays Chazz Michael Michaels, who plays Ricky Bobby, who plays Buddy, who plays Jackie Moon. Other than dropping the F-Bomb more frequently than in previous movies, presumptively to get that special R Rating, this movie is just like all other Will Farrell movies.


Also starring in the movie are Woody Harrelson as Monix, Andre' Benjamin as Clarence "Coffee" Black, Maura Tierney (ER), DeRay Davis as Bee Bee Ellis, Jackie Earle Haley as Dukes, Will Arnett as the drinking, smoking, cussing sportscaster Lou Redwood, and Andrew Daly as straight-laced sportscaster Dick Pepperfield. Oh, and David Koechner, who makes an appearance in EVERY Will Farrell movie. Each of these characters is pretty funny in their own right.


Jackie Moon is the bankrupt owner, coach, player for the Flint Tropics, a fitting name for gloomy cold and wet Flint, Michigan. Additionally, he is also the singer of the hit song, "Love Me Sexy." With 8 players on the team, I think this would qualify the Tropics as the largest single employer in Flint, Michigan. When he learns of the league's plan to fold the other teams and merge the 4 best teams, he challenges the league to accept the best team at the end of the season, not just the best teams as of the league meeting. The chairman agrees and the Tropics decide to get it together and win it all.


Of course, with any Will Farrell movie, nothing ever goes right or he gets so close only to be the perennial loser in the end. This movie is no different. Some funny quotes, "I got traded for a washing machine?" and "No no no, no no no. Mrs. Pepperfield is watching this, she watches all the broadcasts, and I just want you to know that I have no interest in these ladies what-so-ever. I think they are appalling."


The movie is Rated R for language and some sexual content. It is about 90 minutes long. I gave this movie 3 stars, just like all the other Will Farrell movies - since they're all the same - sort of funny, but the same.