GREEN ZONE
Bobert Liked It A Lot — ★★★½ out of ☆☆☆☆☆
Director: Paul Greengrass (SAHARA)
Writer: Brian Helgeland (PAYBACK), based on Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s original book
Starring: Matt Damon (THE INFORMANT!), Amy Ryan (GONE BABY GONE), Greg Kinnear (GHOST TOWN), Brendan Gleeson (IN BRUGES)
Bobert’s Take… The U.S. Military has occupied Baghdad, turned Saddam’s palace into a makeshift luxury resort, and left the nation of Iraq in governmental ruin. Mission Accomplished right? Now its time to find those WMDs! Enter Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller, charged with leading the search for the somewhat-coveted Weapons of Mass Destruction. After turning up nada three straight times, Miller begins to question the validity of the intel provided, a suspicion shared by journalist Lawrie Dayne. After breaking the story involving a mysterious  informant named “Magellan”, Dayne insists that she meets him in person to further confirm her story. A request that her secret government source, a Pentagon Special Intelligence agent, claims he doesn’t have the authority to grant. Pfft. But the head of the Baghdad bureau of the CIA also smells something fishy, convinced a cover-up is afoot — Watergate style. When an Iraqi civilian steps forward with information of the whereabouts of a displaced Army General, its a race against time to reach him before the elusive truth is lost forever.  All while negotiating the political minefield that is the — GREEN ZONE!
Bobert’s Blurb… GREEN ZONE works in so many ways where other films of similar ilk have failed. As a tempered indictment of the U.S. government’s declaration of War under false pretenses, as a rousing Action movie that moves with pulse-pounding purpose, and as a thrilling examination of the political maneuvers that happen off the battlefield. Matt Damon’s portrayal of officer Miller is essentially a glorified audition tape for the part of Captain America in Marvel’s upcoming film, and I mean that in the most complimentary way possible. Miller is a proud American solider that only cares about doing the right thing, regardless of the political machinations he’s forced to work under. Sure he’s a little older than one would expect, but if his performance doesn’t scream like a Steve Rogers character synopsis, I don’t know what does. Damon is surrounded by other great actors helping him succeed in selling this complicated and fast-moving plot, with the likes of Brendan Gleeson, Amy Ryan, Greg Kinear, and Jason Isaacs. The best supporting role however might be from Khalid Abdalla, playing an impassioned Iraqi citizen that finds himself becoming a U.S. military pawn after helping Miller discover the truth. The director of the last two BOURNE films, as well as less action oriented fare like UNITED 93 and BLOODY SUNDAY, once again pulls off what a lot of other so-called Action films lack. Namely, sequences that actually succeed in being visually stimulating while also providing coherent geography and emotional resonance. No small feet indeed. The marriage of fact and fiction is seamless, further cementing Greengrass as not only one of cinema’s top Action Autuers, but also as an exciting filmmaker capable of going to places that lesser directors would fear to tread. Without a doubt, Greengrass’ portrayal of a scheming U.S. Administration that plots assassinations and cover-ups will rub some viewers the wrong way. Based on the non-fiction book IMPERIAL LIFE IN THE EMERALD CITY, The film is by no means a historically accurate representation of what exactly happened in those early days of the Iraqi occupation. But enough facts are utilized in the telling of this tension-filled Political Thriller that many discrepancies can be forgiven in the name of entertainment — and what rousing entertainment this is! A thinking man’s Action film. What a concept!

Hello my peeps! Boy oh boy do we have a lot of new movies this week. Four wide releases made their debut this weekend. It’s enough to make you retarded. What does that mean? I don’t know. I’m retarded. Before I give you ladle scoop of movie info, let’s take a moment to see what is coming around the mountain in good old Sacramento. Actually let’s climb this mountain and head over to The Crest which is playing North Face, a German mountain climbing suspense film that has one of the stars of Inglourious Basterds. I’ll be checking this out this weekend. Also The Hurt Locker makes its triumphant return to the Tower Theatre after winning six Oscars at last week’s Academy Awards. If you haven’t seen it yet, do yourself a favor and check it out. Everything else is beyond the break… (more…)

Cop Out is the new buddy film featuring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan. Can these two cops deliver genuine laughs, or get booked for impersonating a Comedy? Go beyond the break to find out… (more…)

You may not think you know who Jay Baruchel is by name, but you have undoubtedly recognized him in a number of Apatow productions or perhaps even his memorable turn in Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby. His gawky frame and nice guy hang-doggedness is more than a suitable fit for the misfire that is She’s Out of My League, a wholly belabored film that doesn’t trust its audience enough to let the humor of the premise to permeate gradually. Instead, it goes for countless crass and easy jokes that have done dozens times before. The movie is afraid to try and that’s very disconcerting… (more…)

Well I figured Alice in Wonderland would open big, but this is just straight up retarded. The 3D extravaganza that is Tim Burton’s latest took in 116 million dollars this weekend! That’s pretty damn huge. This will put the movie in pace (unless word of mouth is convincingly toxic) to become Tim Burton’s biggest film ever. Too bad it’s also one of his least successful on a storytelling front. Nonetheless, 2010 has its first megahit! How did everything else do? Why go beyond the break to find out silly pants… (more…)

Couples retreat features a strong comedic cast and one of the funniest things in life: Relationships. Will you cherish this DVD in sickness and in health, or will you cheat on it with the next cute thing in a short skirt? There’s nothing in life like a relationship. They can bring us incredible joy or unbearable pain. Ironically enough, a DVD about relationships may leave you pretty ambivalent about the institution of marriage. Go beyond the break to find out why… (more…)

Hooray for Oscar night! The one day of the year where I go out of my way to celebrate celebrities and all of their shallow holdings. This year’s Oscars had promised to be shorter, but with the inclusion of five more Best Picture nominees, I held my expectations at bay. All I can say is I’m glad I live on the west coast. Poor east coast! Suckers!! So let’s get right into it shall we? Go beyond the break for the whole messy affair… (more…)

What up my creeps? McJeffrey is in full swagger today bringing you all the news on the big releases this weekend at your local multiplex. As always before we get into that lets take a gander over at what is arriving locally in Sacramento. Roman Polanski’s latest slow burner The Ghost Writer makes its SacTown debut at the Tower Theater and Olympus Pointe in Roseville. Word-of-mouth on this one is pretty strong, regardless of your opinion of the director. I’ll be checking it out for sure sometime next week. Also, veteran actor Hal Holbrook, who got a Best Supporting Actor nod a few years back with Into the Wild, has his first staring feature in almost forever coming to The Crest this weekend. It’s called That Evening Sun and well… it stars Holbrook. Research? I don’t any damn research? If you like old men in wife beaters (as that is what the poster image promises) then you’re set! Everything else? Go beyond the break to find out… (more…)

Country music is simple. Lose your truck, your wife, your dog. Does Crazy Heart follow this formula, or is there some heart & soul in this redemptive tale? Go beyond the break to find out… (more…)

Since 1997, I have taken it upon myself to drag my mom to every film that gets nominated for Best Picture by the Academy Awards. That first year we saw Good Will Hunting, As Good as it Gets, L.A. Confidential, The Full Monty and Titanic. My favorite was Confidential. She loved As Good as it Gets. Of course, Titanic won. This quickly became a tradition for us and a fine way to spend quality time yelling at each other based on the other person’s taste. She hated American Beauty, Moulin Rouge and Babel (three films I very much enjoyed). She also watched No Country for Old Men virtually from a slit between her fingers. She was that freaked out. However every once in a while, she surprises me. She enjoyed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, There Will Be Blood and Gangs of New York, three films I would assume she would despise. She loved Life is Beautiful, Juno and Finding Neverland, three films that she probably never would have seen unless we did this silly annual journey. This year, with the number of eligible nominees doubled from five to ten we had our work cut out for us. Fortunately, half of the films are available on DVD so our movie going budget stays the same at five films. Go beyond the break for our thoughts on the lastest two films viewed… (more…)