One Vantage Point Will Suffice

The last movie I saw in the theater was Kung Fu Panda for the second time. Yes, it's that good. Eventually I'm going to see Pineapple Express and Tropic Thunder in theaters. Until then, Netflix will have to fulfill my movie needs. Sometimes it does its job well. Lately, not so much. I shouldn't blame Netflix as I'm the one who sets up the queue. I'm much more liberal with our Netflix selections as it's free (thank you Wendy) and unlimited in the number of rentals. The last two movies we watched were ones I would never pay to see in the theaters. But for free when it's mailed to my house? I'll kill a couple hours watching a questionable movie. I usually never regret watching a movie. Dude, Where's My Car? and Wing Commander are two that I regret, but that's because I paid good money to see them in theaters. Ah, the foolishness of youth. The only movie I regretted watching from Netflix was Saw III. I knew it was going to be terrible when I put it in, and it did not disappoint. Now there are two movies I regret watching from Netflix. Guess which one it is from these two reviews!

Stop-Loss - Ryan Phillipe and the exceptional Joseph Gordon-Levitt star in this debate stirring film about American soldiers returning from Iraq and their attempts to return to a normal life back home. Ryan Phillipe's character is ready to leave the army and begin a new life in Texas when he is stop-lossed, a loophole the U.S. government uses to extend a soldier's service past their end of service date. Enraged, Phillipe goes a-wall in an attempt to find a way out of the army. While he's on the run, the other soldiers he returned home with our having problems of their own readjusting to life outside the military. The soldiers can't escape the things they did and saw in Iraq and the memories affect their current mindset. It's a decent movie that doesn't try to force any message upon the viewer. The characters are forced to make many difficult decisions throughout the film and you can agree with their choices or not. It's a bit long and drawn out at some points with some questionable acting. I know the ladies love him, but Channing Tatum is a poor actor. Phillipe is decent, even with the funny Texas accent. Gordon-Levitt once again shines above the other actors. If you haven't seen Brick or The Lookout, check them out. You will understand why I rave about Gordon-Levitt. While it has some flaws, Stop-Loss is a decent, thought-provoking film that's worth checking out.
2.5/4 Chicken Nuggets

Vantage Point - I want an hour and a half of my life back. Well, make that an hour and fifteen minutes cause I didn't watch the last fifteen minutes. Does that sum up how engrossed I was by this movie? I was able to skip the climax and still know exactly how it finished. What a waste of money and good actors. Forest Whitaker, Dennis Quaid, and Matthew Fox are all decent actors who I enjoy in other roles. Whitaker has even won an Oscar for his superb work in The Last King of Scotland. How these three got roped into such a mundane, predictable, run-of-the mill thriller I will never know. The plot is nothing new: U.S. president is making speech, terrorists attack, president is in danger, secret service has to find the bad guys, there are some twists that make the plot more convoluted, yada yada yada. Supposedly the technique that makes this film unique is that it reveals the story through the eyes of five or six different characters. The viewer gets all these different "vantage points" of the incident that allows the audience to piece together the plot. There wasn't much to piece together. I expected the plot to be more intricate and elaborate, but it is all predictable and stale. The different "vantage points" add nothing and drag the movie out, even though its only an hour and a half! Awful dialogue, horrendous acting, and lame plot twists make Vantage Point a huge waste of time. I want my hour and fifteen minutes back! Oh, I'd only waste them anyway.
.5/4 Chicken Nuggets

The good news is that Netflix rents TV shows. This has allowed us to watch the first three seasons of one of the greatest television shows ever, The Wire. It's comforting knowing that after I watch a putrid pile of garbage like Vantage Point, Jimmy McNulty, Omar, and Avon Barksdale are there to reinforce my trust in the entertainment industry.