Category: Movies

Get Smart was a very enjoyable movie. It was funny and made me laugh. That by itself is enough for me to get my money’s worth. But it was more than your typical comedy. It had an intriguing plot involving spies and secret agents and bombs and evening wear.

It all had to do with Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) who was a desk jockey for the government spy agency, CONTROL, until he finally got a promotion to field agent. The female lead was Anne Hathaway as Agent 99. She and Max were trying to stop a Russian nuclear weapon operation that was trying to sell bombs to unstable countries.

The special effects and stunts (a lot of people and things smashing into other people and things) were first rate. And of course there were the requisite explosions, plus a fair amount of gun play. The penultimate chase scene was a classic battle of banner-pulling prop plane vs. Cadillac SUV. It was edge-of-your-seat, action-packed and very entertaining. Throw in deadly laser beams and a lethal Swiss army knife and you have everything you’d expect from a spy movie worthy of the genre. There was even something for classical music lovers as …

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Tina Fey is easily one of Hollywood’s best talents. She has the ability to write, act, produce, sing, and everything in between. Her sitcom, 30 Rock, is one of the most well written television series of all time. So why, then, does Baby Mama not feel quite as funny as what Tina Fey fans are used to?

For all intents and purposes, Baby Mama is well acted. As previously stated, Tina Fey is one of the best Hollywood has to offer. She has little trouble being funny, while also showing a surprising capability for dramatic situations.

Greg Kinnear is also excellent as Fey’s love interest. A rare underrated actor, Kinnear does not need to try to be funny, instead allowing the situation to be humorous and acting like a normal person would. Few actors try for the understated performance, especially in comedies, but Kinnear is an expert at his craft.

Where Baby Mama starts to rip at the seam is with supporting characters. Aside from Fey and Kinnear’s characters, everyone else is displayed as a caricature. Dax Shepard is a typical white trash dirt bag, Steve Martin is a sort-of-creepy new age business mogul, Sigourney Weaver is a perpetually …

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Duncan Jones’s 2011 sci-fi thriller “Source Code” revealed a thematic continuity from his debut film “Moon.” His movies search for humanity within the fantastical realms of science. While in essence most all science fiction is just that, Jones does so with a philosopher’s gumption.

With “Moon” Jones explored how identity could be violated through a harvested clone, played by Sam Rockwell. In an intimate story, “Moon” questioned the very nature of what it means to be human if cloned. With “Source Code” he superimposes this philosophical question of identity over the idea of alternate, or multiple universes.

Reviews labeled “Source Code” as a thrilling, yet confusing film, which forewarn unsuspecting audiences, but conceptually it’s nothing new to cinema. Alternate realities go back as far as Frank Capra’s “It’s A Wonderful Life,” the difference being that angels like Clarence evolved into scientific theories. A list of comparisons to “Source Code” are plentiful: “Groundhog Day,” “Frequency,” “12 Monkeys,” “Sliding Doors,” “Run Lola Run,” “The Butterfly Effect.” Of course “Donnie Darko” as well, which starred Jake Gyllenhaal who is the heart of “Source Code.” It was Gyllenhaal who championed Ben Ripley’s “Source Code” script into the hands of Duncan Jones.

Gyllenhaal plays a …

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I’ll be honest, I don’t know much about the original Get Smart but I’d been seeing previews for the new movie and thought it looked okay. I enjoy Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway, but the previews didn’t really promise anything too funny so when my Dad suggested seeing Get Smart, I thought why not. After seeing the movie I was glad he had, because I found this movie to be hilarious!

Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell, The Office) works as an analyst for a secret agency called Control. He always dreamed of being an agent, but was unable to pass the test. Finally, he passes and can’t wait to get started; unfortunately the Chief (Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine) can’t afford to loose his best analyst and does not promote him. A chance arrives soon enough when Control is infiltrated by KAOS, Control’s number one enemy, who steals all their secret agents identities and begins killing them off. Smart and a recently surgically changed Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway, The Devil Wears Prada) are the only agents not compromised and are teamed up to solve the case.

Get Smart is a movie filled with comedy and action. Director Peter …

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