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Season of the Witch/Country Strong/No Strings Attached/Unknown - Reviews by Caleb Acker

Posted by Buddy Acker on February 26, 2011 at 1:40 AM

By Caleb Acker

Season of the Witch
Better than the critics say

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I wanted to see Season of the Witch in its opening weekend but I had a few complications with my daughter that wouldn't allow me to. As always, I logged onto Metacritic to see what the overall opinion of the movie was. I was blown away by all of the negativity and it almost stopped me from seeing the film. But I have a saying: "Opinions are like noses; everyone has one". As I'm walking into the screening room I get a huge feeling of OH NO, I MADE A MISTAKE! Then the movie began.

I may get slaughtered for saying this but I really enjoyed the film. It has great action sequences and a pretty good plot to boot, but what really stood out was the chemistry between Ron Perlman and Nicholas Cage. It was like second nature to them. Claire Foy was also very good as The Girl. All I can say is fans of Nicholas Cage should see Season of the Witch. This is one of the best Nic Cage movies in a long time.

Score: :):):)1/2


Country Strong
Unoriginal but very good

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Country Strong started out country strong with Beau Hutton (Garrett Hedlung) telling a story from his childhood while performing at an old bar. The music in this film is fantastic. If you are a fan of older country music then you should definitely check it out. Gwenyth Paltrow plays the main character, Kelly Canter, who is in rehab for alcoholism. When Hutton isn't playing at bars he works at the rehab facility Kelly is in. He and Kelly strike up a friendship.

Tim McGraw is fantastic in his role as Kelly's husband, James, who takes her out of rehab a month early to begin a comeback tour. James asks Beau to come out on tour with them to make sure that Kelly remains sober. He also offers to let Beau be one of Kelly's openers alongside Chiles Stanton (Leighton Meester). However, when Kelly gets stressed out about the tour and her marriage, things take a turn for the worse.

With an ending that shook me to my foundations I can say without a doubt that Country Strong is a pretty good film.  In my opinion it will not get the attention it deserves because of its content.  It has been labeled as "unoriginal" and I would agree with that but its contrivances are delivered effectively.  Anti-country music folks need not apply.

Score: :):):):)


QUICKIE REVIEW
No Strings Attached
The date movie for people who hate dating

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I'm not gonna take much time on this one. I really liked No Strings Attached. It is funny and sweet and Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman are excellent. The best thing about this movie are the hilarious jokes that pop up when Kutcher and his friends are drinking together. There wasn't a dull moment in the entire film. This is a movie that you can take your girlfriend to see...or you can have a guys' night out.

Score: :):):):)


SECOND OPINION - Review by Buddy Acker

I had mixed emotions about No Strings Attached.  I thought a lot of the jokes fell flat but there were also a lot that made me smile and some that even made me laugh out loud.  I disagree with Caleb about Ashton Kutcher; I still find him to be extremely annoying and really wanted him to just shut up in a lot of scenes.  I guess he does okay every now and then, especially with a great co-star like Natalie Portman.  I liked her more than anything else.  The ending is extremely predictable and I usually hate rom-coms but in the case of No Strings Attached, in my opinion, the good far outweighed the bad.

Score: :):):)1/2


Unknown
Much better than Taken

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Wow, what a unique experience Unknown was. It starts out with Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) and his wife, Elizabeth (January Jones), in a cab in Berlin where Harris will be giving a paper at a biotechnology conference. When he and his wife arrive at the hotel room he realizes that he left his briefcase at the airport. He quickly gets in another cab and heads to the airport.

On the way the cab crashes and Harris hits his head on the window, causing him to black out. When he wakes up he finds out that he has been in the hospital for four days. He has no memory of the crash, only of his wife. When he asks around about his wife he finds out that no one has asked about a Martin Harris. While eating dinner, he sees the announcement for the conference that he was going to make the speech at and remembers why he was there. He signs release papers from the hospital and heads to the hotel where the conference was held.

When he arrives he sees Elizabeth. However, when he walks up and hugs her she has no recognition of who he is. The rest of the film is about Harris seeking his identity. The cast is great and this is a very strong psychological thriller. The ending will shock you. I saw Unknown with two of my relatives and we talked about it for an hour after the credits rolled. It is a film that I would like to see again someday.

Score: :):):):)

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